5 days ago
Macron's pledge on Palestinian statehood is not the way to bring about peace
SIR – Emmanuel Macron, the French president, has pledged that France will recognise Palestine as a state (report, July 25) – without first demanding agreement from all Palestinians and the wider Arab world that Israel has the right to exist.
Unless that point is accepted, there will never be peace in the Middle East.
Mina Bowater
Blandford Forum, Dorset
SIR – How can you recognise a state with no agreed borders? This is a reckless move from a G7 nation.
Brian Hoffmann
York
SIR – The humanitarian disaster now unfolding in Gaza must be remedied. No one could possibly exonerate Hamas for October 7, nor for a minute imagine that Israel is not under intense and perpetual threat from its enemies in the region, including Iran. The hostages also go unmentioned. I write this letter as a plea from all those who cannot bear to see how the women and children of Gaza are suffering. It is unconscionable.
In 2014, with massive support from the Conservative front benches, I brought forward my International Development (Gender Equality) Act. It imposed a statutory duty on the British government to guarantee the protection of women and children in deprived countries as a cardinal principle of British humanitarian policy.
The tragedy of Gaza has gone too far. I call upon Sir Keir Starmer to concentrate on providing the necessary aid, rather than grandstanding like President Macron, with his calls for a Palestinian state.
Sir Bill Cash
London SW1
SIR – As one of the 82 per cent in Israel who want the hostages home and the war against Hamas to end, I have been struck by the pronouncements of David Lammy, the British Foreign Secretary, on the matter. Israel has negotiated with terrorists, and bent over backwards making major additional concessions so that a ceasefire could succeed. Yet Mr Lammy stood up and stated that, if there was no ceasefire, he would punish Israel.
Hamas, as expected, decided to move the goalposts, making further absurd demands, and talks have now collapsed. Britain and the world deserve better than Mr Lammy's naivety and incompetence.
Michel Norman
Hod Hasharon, Israel
SIR – I fundamentally disagree with A Lloyd (Letters, July 23), who asserts that 'the Israeli government has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent men, women and children'.
The responsibility for those deaths and the ongoing suffering lies squarely with Hamas.
Israel will never abandon the hostages and will always defend itself, whatever the consequences.
Alan Tomlinson
Cheadle, Cheshire
SIR – Hamas's attacks on October 7, its hostage-taking and its targeting of civilians are indefensible. But they do not justify Israel's punishment of an entire population.
The idea that Hamas can be destroyed to bring about peace is dangerously naive: like the heads of the mythical Hydra, it will emerge again. From the ashes of Gaza, something even more dangerous may rise. Violence breeds extremism.
If our Government truly believes in human rights and international law, it must demand accountability from Israel.
Suzanne Temperley
Sale, Cheshire
