The Gaza Strip attack on Israel has left hundreds, perhaps thousands dead on both sides of the war.
Joel Schwitzer, the regional director in Dallas of the American Jewish Committee said the conflict is not with the Palestinian people. They are hurting too.
"Hamas in its charter at its core, its aim is to destroy Israel and kill Jews," Schwitzer said. "That's not the Palestinian people, that is Hamas. You're dealing with an organization that has no reservations about putting its own people in danger, who has been noted to hide caches of weapons in hospitals and schools."
He states that Hamas believes collateral damage is a way to amplify their message and bring people to their side. That puts Israel in a position no one wants to be in.
And to the extent that Hamas is running the show in Gaza, "we're living in a neighborhood we just can't live in anymore," Schwitzer said. "The brutality and the barbarism that we've experienced over the last week has put any illusions to rest in that regard."
There are calls for opening a humanitarian corridor. Schwitzer said that opens a route for Hamas terrorists to gain access to weapons. Egypt also shares a border with Gaza. Egypt has rejected setting up a corridor for refugees who want to flee.
Schwitzer said no one wins, but Israel does not want people to suffer and has always made every effort to notify civilians when bombings are about to occur.
"Israel goes to unprecedented lengths to try to preserve lives, and while Israel mourns every life that is lost on both sides, Hamas celebrates, Schwitzer said. "They parade bodies through the streets. They desecrate human remains. There's no moral equivalence."
He notes that it didn't have to be this way, the Hamas party was elected. Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip in 2005 and residents there held an election the next year and voted for Hamas over the Fatah party.
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