Readers React: Who’ll stop the killing in the Gaza Strip?

To the editor: Although it is true that too many people are dying, your headline for the print version of this story (“‘Too many innocent people are dying’”) was unfair because it undercut what Israel has attempted to do: minimize Arab casualties while trying to defend the safety of its citizens. I know of no other country that is so moral that it calls civilians to warn them that the country is about to attack. (“Israel pounds Gaza neighborhood it says is rocket-launching site,” July 20)

Yes, too many people are dying. The Israelis want no one to die; what they do want is the violence against their country stopped.

The Arabs argue about Israel not being moral enough. But where is the Arabs’ moral ground? How is it that they don’t complain when Hamas puts its weapons in tunnels under homes and schools, acting like they do not care if their people live or die?

If Hamas doesn’t want people to die, it should agree to the proposed cease-fire, as Israel did. Thank you for every effort you make to be more fair.

Lisa Kassner, Northridge

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To the editor: A cease-fire is needed now to stop the killing that has exceeded 500 people. But I fear neither side wants a cease-fire until more people are dead.

Israel says it wants to so damage Hamas that there will be no more rockets, yet the rockets keep flying. Hamas says it wants the blockade to end, and that means it will keep fighting until there are more Israeli deaths and world opinion turns against Israel for too many Palestinian deaths.

President Obama should be pushing more forcefully for a cease-fire, but he is justifying the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip. This means the killing will continue.

What is needed is a Palestinian state alongside Israel that will allow each people to express their identity in a state.

The United States must stop funding the Israeli military until Israel stops blocking a fair Palestinian state.

Jeff Warner, Los Angeles