Letters to the Editor: Gazans are angry at Hamas, but not over the Oct. 7 massacre. How can there be peace?

To the editor: Your article about civilians in the Gaza Strip being angry at Hamas made me ill.

It seems that the majority of Gazans are angry that Hamas did not plan to to take care of their people with food, drink and money before the group launched its massacre of innocent Israelis on Oct. 7.

Hamas has never cared about taking care of the people of Gaza; it cares about destroying Israel, which is in the group’s charter.

As has been said by others, if the Palestinians were to put down their weapons, there would be peace — but if the Jews were to put down their weapons, there would be no more Israel.

Dafni Black, Culver City

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To the editor: When I saw your article about Gazans being angry at Hamas, it gave me hope.

Perhaps there were stirrings of empathy in Gaza for the Israeli victims of Hamas’ Oct. 7 pogrom. Maybe Gazans were realizing that butchering and burning Israeli babies in kibbutzim; slaughtering hundreds of young people at a music festival; raping and sexually mutilating women, girls and men; and kidnapping 240 people, including women, toddlers and an infant, was morally reprehensible and would reverberate to their own detriment.

Then I read the article, and my heart sank. There was no hint of empathy for raped, slaughtered and kidnapped Israelis, no willingness to acknowledge that Hamas brutally massacred Israeli civilians.

Gazans “celebrated” the attack; they criticized Hamas not for its barbarity, but for not planning better for the war.

Without empathy, there is no path to an enduring peace.

Stephen A. Silver, San Francisco