Life under bombardment in Gaza is hell. Schools and hospitals are destroyed, water and electricity mostly cut off. Housing and safe refuge are gone. Many thousands of children are dead or grievously wounded. The promise of civilian safety somewhere has become the reality of safety nowhere.

Relentless bombing makes most of Gaza unlivable, unsafe for any human life. Is this the aim of the no-holds-barred, all-out destruction? Meanwhile U.S. leadership voices support and gives massive military aid for this unending assault on Palestinian life.

Some argue that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s ongoing ruin of Gaza is a justified retaliation for the horrific Oct. 7 attack on Israelis by Hamas. But this rationale for the collective punishment of all Palestinians in Gaza has long worn thin. The unending brutality can never substitute for a negotiated solution that treats all inhabitants of the region with dignity and respect.

Start with a lasting ceasefire now.

Pamela Mills,

Waldron Island