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Washington Post Columnist Lambastes US for Supporting Israel’s War Against Hamas
Yahya Sinwar, head of the Palestinian terror group Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City on April 14, 2023. Photo: Yousef Masoud / SOPA Images/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
In a recent opinion piece for The Washington Post (“Biden’s Gaza policy is the latest major U.S. foreign affairs blunder,” December 13), columnist Perry Bacon Jr. questioned both the morality and integrity of the United States’ foreign policy over the last two months, as it continues to support Israel both militarily and diplomatically in its fight against Hamas.
For Bacon Jr., the support by US President Joe Biden and his administration for the Jewish state’s war against a genocidal terrorist enemy is a blunder that is “blotting out positive memories of Biden’s foreign policies — perhaps permanently.”
However, in making his case against the US administration’s steadfast support for Israel’s war in Gaza, Bacon Jr. makes it clear that he has a faulty and simplistic understanding of Israel, Hamas, and both the purpose of the war in Gaza as well as the nature of the intense urban warfare currently taking place in the coastal enclave.
The U.S. wants to lead the world on global policy issues. But the past two months are the latest illustration of why people and nations across the world are so skeptical of American foreign policy and global leadership. https://t.co/skxnVUX0Mq
— Perry Bacon Jr. (@perrybaconjr) December 13, 2023
According to Bacon Jr., Israel is currently engaged in the indiscriminate killing of Palestinian civilians as well as the “bombing [of] everything in Gaza,” ultimately intent on destroying the entire area. To support his claims, he points to Israeli strikes on hospitals and schools as well as the mass displacement of Gazan civilians.
However, the key factor missing from Bacon Jr.’s analysis is the role that Hamas plays in this war. Nowhere in this 17-paragraph piece is it mentioned that Hamas, an internationally recognized terror organization, embeds itself within the general population, using the cover of civilian infrastructure to conceal its gunmen, rocket launchers, elaborate tunnel system, and ruthless terrorist leadership.
Thus, Hamas’ use of these locations takes away their civilian protection and turns them into legitimate military targets. Similarly, Israel encouraged the movement of civilians from northern Gaza to the south in order to shield them from the fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas terrorists.
This is in sharp contrast to the conduct of the Russian military in its invasion of Ukraine, with its indiscriminate attacks against civilians and non-military targets, which Perry Bacon, Jr., incorrectly compares Israel to a number of times.
Footage published by the IDF shows Hamas operatives opening fire at troops from an UNRWA school in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun, and a strike in response. pic.twitter.com/eNpNsTsJJ4
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) December 9, 2023
Not only is Hamas’ cynical manipulation of Gaza’s civilian population and infrastructure not mentioned once in the piece, but the terror group and its barbaric actions on October 7 only warrant a couple of passing references.
For anyone unacquainted with the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, this piece will leave them with the false impression that the Jewish state is the aggressor in Gaza, without any context or reasoning given for why it has been conducting a large military operation over the past two months, and why there has been so much fighting in supposedly civilian areas.
But it’s not only Israel’s conduct in Gaza that Perry Bacon, Jr., has a problem with — it’s Israel itself.
Citing the US administration’s support for Israel as a democracy in a region that is no stranger to autocracies, monarchies, and dictatorships, Bacon, Jr., seeks to undercut this impression of the Jewish state by questioning its democratic bona fides.
The claims put forward against Israel’s democratic character include the assertion by certain human rights organizations that Israel is practicing apartheid, that Israel has been targeting journalists throughout the war, and that Israel is stifling expressions of criticism of the war in Gaza.
The charge of apartheid has been thoroughly debunked on numerous occasions, including by HonestReporting, as a legal fiction that has been concocted by opponents of the Jewish state and is not grounded in reality.
Concerning the second charge, Bacon, Jr., writes “Over the past two months, dozens of journalists have been killed in Gaza, with credible accusations that the Israeli military has intentionally targeted journalists.”
However, this analysis is belied by the fact that most killed journalists in Gaza did not fall in the line of duty and that the source for the claim that Israel is “targeting” journalists is a single quote by Lebanon’s Minister of Information Ziad Makary. The IDF has also continually asserted that it does not intentionally target journalists.
The third charge against Israel’s democratic character is described by Bacon, Jr., as “a member of Israel’s Knesset was suspended after criticizing the bombing in Gaza.”
However, a look at the source provided for this claim, an article from the Israeli daily Haaretz, proves that it is not as straightforward as he would have us believe.
In mid-October 2023, an extreme-left Jewish parliamentarian, Ofer Cassif, was suspended by the Knesset Ethics Committee for implicitly comparing Israel’s conduct in Gaza to the Holocaust. According to the findings of the Committee, Cassif’s statement was inappropriate to “his status as a Member of Knesset and severely harms the Knesset’s standing and the public’s trust in the Knesset.”
This is a far cry from a blanket suspension of an MK solely for “criticizing the bombing in Gaza.” In fact, there have been expressions of opposition to certain aspects of Israel’s conduct in the war in the Israeli public sphere without reprisal by the government.
From this piece, it is clear that Perry Bacon, Jr., has a superficial understanding of the current war in Gaza, with no nuance or complexity to temper his denigration of Israel and its military activities.
He even admits as much when he writes, “I don’t follow foreign affairs as closely as I probably should.”
This has not stopped him, however, from penning a one-sided critique of the United States’ courageous support for Israel as it combats an immoral terror group bent on the Jewish state’s destruction.
The post Washington Post Columnist Lambastes US for Supporting Israel’s War Against Hamas first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.