Israel fired back at Palestinians in Gaza and killed about 2,300 people. But that’s not the whole story.

As a part of the safety for Israel following the horrifying attack by Hamas, which was backed by Iran and Iraq, probably among others, Israel closed its borders and shut off supplies to Gaza.

I understand this, because weapons and terrorists could easily cross into Israel amid the chaos following the attack. It makes sense: you’ve been attacked. Now you have to defend and shoot back. It’s how wars are fought.

And make no mistake: this is an active shooting war, with Netanyahu denying on Monday that any ceasefire had been declared.

However, people in Palestine are suffering and thousands more will die without aid and supplies. Denying medical aid and supplies like fuel for power, food, medical aid and doctors from going to help those in peril or casualties is part of an ongoing shooting war.

It is, in this case, a display of terrorism and dishonorable actions.

There’s one hospital in Gaza City, one in perhaps all of Gaza as far as I know, and as their auxiliary generators run out of fuel, infants on respirators, such as what preemies often need, will die.

Does that avenge the kids and infants taken or killed outright by Hamas terrorists?

It may seem so, but no, it does not. More people dying in this war because of religion and skewed principles makes absolutely no sense. You can see; read the reports. Not from Fox or OANN, Newsmax or any other source. Read the analysis of a scholar, statesman or reliable and objective source.

When I first heard about the Hamas attacks, I too reacted emotionally. I hate terrorism in every form. It’s never anything warranted, but always barbarians who engage in it, targeting, almost exclusively, “soft” targets: civilians, public buildings, infrastructure and hospitals or emergency medical services. There is little on this earth more disturbing, disgusting or dishonorable than attacking civilians, children and hospitals. That is as evil as humans ever get.

And whereas this is an emotional time for every country in the Middle East and the entirety of the Levant and beyond, and people everywhere want blood, it isn’t the time for that.

I fear, though, that not much can stop the war from spreading. It may be soon, too. A conversation between Turkish president Erdoğan and Iranian officials resulted in a warning not to let things escalate. I’m ashamed of both countries for their respective recent crimes against humanity, mainly against women in Iran, but this exchange is promising. They really screwed up, backing Hamas in the planning and arming of guerillas for the despicable attack on Israel.

But will it be good enough?

Glass half-empty. I can’t see it any other way. This mess could, along with the war in Ukraine, be the beginning of World War Three. A lot of things need to fall into place first, but this shows how easily that could actually happen. We don’t need this. No one needs this.

I shared the outrage last week. I was all for retaliation. But looking back, I see how wrong I was. A rocket strike was understood to be the tactically sound response; letting civilians and babies die of starvation or life support failure is a whole different thing.

Gaza is not getting medical aid, food or fuel. Its sole power plant has been shut down. Now we’re in a humanitarian crisis that is unforgivable. There’s nothing righteous about it. Nothing honorable. It’s just evil.

US President Biden has opposed an invasion of Gaza by Israel. He’s not wrong. Doing so would cause a major war that would spread throughout the entire region. Pulling every variable apart and assessing them would take someone with expertise, and I do not have that. My statement that I support Israel is no longer applicable. I stand for peace, careful consideration of the consequences and for the sanctity of life. Neither ISIL, ISIS, Hezbollah nor Hamas represent all people in their respective areas of influence and operations. Killing thousands will take the lives of innocents and make different groups, like Hamas and Hezbollah, unite against Israel.

This is despite the basic difference between the two. Hezbollah claims the Shia beliefs of Islam, Hamas the Sunni beliefs. Yet Iran absolutely played a role in arming and helping Hamas in infiltrating Israel. You don’t underestimate either of them now; as allies with Israel, we could be next. Our intelligence is good, but so is Israel’s, and they missed what was about to happen. Last week’s attack has been said to be Israel’s 9-11. But it could have been far worse. The United States is no different. We’ve been infiltrated by Chinese operatives, Russians, radical religious extremists and who knows what else.

It is time for cool thinking, peace talks and an end to lax national security. For all of us.