Peace in Gaza

This letter was published in the Daily Telegraph, 5 June 2025: 

SIR - Philip Crowe writes that “the suffering inflicted upon the innocent is unacceptable.” War is unacceptable, but it is sometimes forced on a nation, as it was forced on Israel on October 7, 2023. Hamas, backed by Iran, is openly engaged in an attempt to eliminate Israel as a sovereign nation, killing as many Jews in the process as possible. Its spokesmen have threatened to repeat the massacre of 7 October “again and again.” That is why Israel is seeking total victory over Hamas, and its disempowerment. It also explains why calls for a ceasefire that allows Hamas to remain in control in Gaza is unacceptable to those responsible for the protection of Israel and its citizens.

Neville Teller



This is the letter as submitted:

SIR - I suspect that many like me who lived through the Second World War would find Philip Crowe’s position on the Gaza war (Letters, June 4) inadequate. He writes, putting all other considerations aside, “the suffering inflicted upon the innocent is unacceptable.” Equally unacceptable, from a humanitarian point of view, was the flattening of Berlin and other German cities with their vast civilian death toll and suffering, to say nothing of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. War itself is unacceptable, but it is sometimes forced on a nation. It was forced on Israel on 7 October 2023. When it was forced on Britain, Churchill gave voice to the nation’s aim: “Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival."

The Nazis were not threatening Great Britain with annihilation but with subjugation. Hamas, backed by Iran, is openly engaged in an attempt to eliminate Israel as a sovereign nation, killing as many Jews in the process as possible. Its spokesmen have threatened to repeat the massacre of 7 October “again and again.” That is why Israel is now seeking total victory over Hamas, and its disempowerment. It also explains why calls for a ceasefire that allows Hamas to remain in control in Gaza is unacceptable to those responsible for the protection of Israel and its citizens.

There is ample evidence that the Israel Defense Forces expend very considerable efforts to minimise civilian suffering, while Hamas – holding on to its illegally snatched hostages – uses for propaganda purposes the inevitable casualties of the war they initiated.

Neville Teller