Editorial | Negotiated settlement the only answer to Israel-Hamas war

Hamas has carried out the most deadly attacks inside Israel since the country was founded 75 years ago. Many of the more than 1,100 known dead on both sides so far were civilians. The militants also claim to be holding about 130 Israelis hostage in the Gaza Strip. Civilian casualties have rightly been met with horror and condemnation. Israel has formally declared war, vowing to destroy Hamas’ “military and governing capabilities” – raising the risk of regional conflagration. The international community must unite behind calls, urged by China, for an immediate ceasefire.

The fighting adds to one of history’s longest-running humanitarian tragedies. What sets it apart is the element of total surprise. The attacks must have been months in the planning, from strategy to tactics to operational detail. That they came as a surprise raised serious questions about Israel’s intelligence services.

It is no time to take sides. The attacks have, understandably, generated widespread condemnation across the globe. But such is the violent territorial hostility between the two sides it is problematical to label them as unprovoked. Ironically, in that regard, aggression by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank had prompted the Israeli army to divert forces from Gaza, weakening its defences.

While Hamas is saying the attacks were triggered by Israeli suppression and aggression, that would not be new, so the militants’ reaction was politically calculated. Some suspect Hamas wants to sabotage potential normalisation of ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations, supported by the United States. These attacks may make that politically difficult to achieve. Any escalation of violence that involved other countries could get out of hand. With the Ukraine war continuing, another war in the Middle East would devastate the global economy.

Given that the Hamas attacks are apparently a calculated move, the best way for Israel to react is with a measured response. An eye-for-an-eye military retaliation will not achieve a political solution. The fighting poses a diplomatic challenge to China, which has positioned itself as a regional peacebroker ever since it played a role in the normalisation of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran.