You note in your recent statement that all innocents are valued equally, and that the price of war can not be destruction of "all" innocent Palestinians. You, sir, ask that Israel exercise "maximum restraint".
Let me start with saying that I , too, am concerned about the innocent Palestinians. People who have sufferred harm at our hands (even if that was caused by the policies of Hamas) are more likely to engage in terror down the road, than those who have not sufferred loses. Not only is this a humanitarian issue, but it is in Israel's best interests to be concerned by the plight of the Palaestinians.
But here's the rub, while all innocents may be equal, not all enemies are. Hamas has proved again and again that they care not a whit about their fellow citizens (or anyone else). They consistently use civilian mosques, hospitals, schools, and homes for military purposes. They use materials needed for local infrastructure and hospitals for war. They have often prevented civilians from taking advantage of any advantages for safe passage to safer areas. They have lied consistantly to the press about their actions. (Remember when they blamed Israel for the missle that hit Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, which was later seen to be a failed launch of their own? And how they deny having murdered Israeli babies in cold blood, despite their OWN videos showing the same? )
In addition, Hamas has expressed, again and again, a desire to completely wipe out any Jews and Christians, to kill anyone not willing to 100% accept their ideology. They are similar to ISIS, and the horrific tortores carried out on innocent Israelis has shown them to be acting worse than animals, with no mercy whatsoever.
So what SHOULD we do, Mr. Trudeau? In 2005 we took out ALL Israeli forces and citizens from GAZA. We urged the citizen of GAZA to build up the Gaza strip as we did in Israel. They could have done so, but Hamas squanderred that opportunity and showed that building a good life for their citizens was not a priority (to put it mildly).
What would you have us do today to protect the innocent civilians? We have asked the civilians to evacuate, and now that we are in Gaza, have tried our best to provide corridors to do so. We have even supplied soldiers to help guard the civilians evacuting from Hamas members who would shoot them for leaving their posts as living shields. We have supplied food and water. Yes, it is not enough, but unfortunately we know from experience the penchant Hamas has for sneaking in weapons, and trying to take supplies for themselves. We even sent in incubators and Arabic-speaking doctors to al-Shifa Hospital to help in evacuation of civilians.
So now you ask for "maximum restaint". We have been doing our best. But we must bring pressure on Hamas, in order to get them to agree to return our hostages. What pressure would YOU recommend? Do you really think Hamas will start acting "nice" if we stop attacking them? They will simply crow that they have won! You must realize that the HAMAS leadership does NOT have a mindset like yours. They do NOT desire peace. Look at what they teach their children, and compare it to what we, and you, teach our children.
I don't see ANY Arab country offering even temporary assylum to Palestinian refugees (understandable, if you look at the history of how past Hamas/Palestinian refugees have formented revolt in every Arab country they went to).
I don't see you making any coordinated effert to free Gaza from Hamas, nor to protect us, Europe, and even Canada from their radical theology. I hate to inform you of this, but if someone wants to slaughter you (and in a brutal way, at that), you can not make peace with them.
So should we just stop the war for several days or more , letting Hamas regroup, so that we can lose a HIGHER percentage of our young (and not-so-young) soldiers when the fight reconvenes?!?!?!?!?
Or should we settle for a ceasefire and "enjoy" another repeat of massacre/hostages/war two or three years down the road? (And the war WILL restart, if the leadership and military strength of Hamas is not obliterated, because their stated objective is to wipe us out!).
Or should we just lay down and let them slaughter us?*
WHAT would YOU have us do, Mr. Trudeau? If you have ANY practical suggestions, believe me, we are all ears.
* Nope, we are not about to let THAT happen.
BRING THEM HOME!
