Editor,

It is beyond time to call out the indiscriminate killing of innocent Palestinian women and children. I believe the Israeli goals are obvious. They want to eradicate the Palestinians from both the Gaza strip and the West Bank in its entirety.

The Palestinians are considered as lesser people or the Israelis would not be using unguided “dumb” bombs on the area from both air and ground tanks, completely leveling the landscape so that there is nothing to return to, and blindly shooting from ground troops at anyone or thing that moves, including sadly hostages.

Yes, the hard reality is ethnic cleansing. There was no need to go after Hamas in a campaign that has caused the deaths of twenty thousand so far. Israel is on a high-tech footing and has demonstrated using facial recognition in smaller villages. They could have done the same on a massive scale throughout Palestinian areas and specifically eliminated Hamas leaders without the collateral bloodshed.

And the lack of U.S. pressure toward a ceasefire is reprehensible, regardless of the unspoken intent to protect our interests. A ceasefire must be enacted immediately to stop the carnage. And the purpose should no longer be toward an unworkable two-state solution. Build a one-state formation of all the territory from the Mediterranean Sea to Jordan, northeast by Syria and from the north to Lebanon and to the southern border with Egypt. One state, one country, inclusive of all Christians, Jewish and Muslim, with equal rights under the same laws and conditions, living in peace. No longer the Jewish state, but a fully democratic state with lands repatriated to their rightful owners.

Then there would be no more infighting and need for “security” per se. Before the latest Hamas conflict, Israel had taken 70% of Palestinian land since the 1947 Balfour mandate. I do not condone the savagery attack on Oct. 7, but I do understand the frustration of the Palestinians in being caged up behind walls and under IDF military control. It is time to seek peace and justice among all.

Thomas Carey

Freeland