Letters to the Editor: Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack caused the suffering in Gaza. Don’t forget that

To the editor: No compassionate human being would fail to feel immense pain over the suffering of people in the Gaza Strip.

In his op-ed article, Emad Moussa quotes a dentist from Jaballa as saying that the Israelis are trying to make the lives of Palestinians in Gaza “sustainably unbearable.” Unfortunately, he is not alone in blaming Israel.

Are we forgetting who started this conflict with its barbaric attack on Oct. 7, 2023? Are we forgetting who slaughtered about 1,200 people? Are we forgetting that Hamas took more than 240 people hostage, including women, the elderly, children and even a 9-month-old baby?

Are we forgetting that Hamas is a terrorist group that not only planned and celebrated this assault, but has pledged to do it again?

Israel wants peace, but with a guarantee of safety. If on Oct. 8, 2023, the innocent hostages taken into the dark tunnels of Gaza had been returned and Hamas surrendered, there would have been no war. Place accountability where it is deserved.

Linda Goldfinger, Irvine

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To the editor: A recent news article mentioning President Trump’s suggestion that Palestinians be removed from Gaza and sent to Jordan and Egypt states that this would constitute a second Nakba, or “catastrophe,” for Palestinians. The Nakba is described as “their reference to the founding of Israel in 1948, during which millions of Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes.”

There is no credible source that claims “millions of Palestinians” fled or were driven from their homes in 1948. Even the most anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian scholars do not put this number at more than 750,000.

Jeffrey Auerbach, Northridge