Israel-Hamas War

Paul Kearns: The brutal Israeli occupation and the savagery of Hamas are both evil

Both parties to this conflict are responsible for unimaginable suffering, and it shouldn’t be necessary to take sides to criticise either of them

An Israeli soldier walks past body bags of dead Hamas militants in a field at Kibbutz Be'eri, where dozens of civilians were killed days earlier. The national mood in Israel is deeply grim, palpably fearful, and largely unforgiving. Picture: Alexi J Rosenfeld/Getty

As the people of Gaza face daily bombardment and an unimaginable humanitarian catastrophe, Israelis remain in a state of shock at the massacre of 1,400 of their fellow nationals two weeks ago.

The slaughter of 260 young music festival-goers struck a raw nerve in Ireland. But it was the sight of the bullet-ridden bodies of families in their homes, some decapitated, gun-downed pensioners strewn across Israeli streets, and reports and images of babies shot dead ...