I am surprised to find how some individuals and organisations in India are defending the terror outfit Hamas that carried out a bloody rampage in Israel last weekend, committing crimes of bestiality against innocent men and women. More than 150 people have been kidnapped by Hamas terrorists, who have threatened to kill them, one by one. I am appalled how people are so insensitive to the cries and wails of innocent children facing murderers who went on sprees of massacre. The gory visuals of women and daughters brutally murdered and then displayed naked by Hamas terrorists have shocked the world and yet there are people who are justifying these attacks. This is utterly shameful. This was not a war between Israel and Palestine. What the Hamas terrorists did was an attack on humanity. And while doing so, they carried the fig leaf of religion. While committing atrocities, they chanted slogans like ‘Allahu Akbar’ (Allah is great!). This makes their crimes more sordid. No religion in the world permits such bestial crimes. Those trying to defend these brutal murders cannot be called true Muslims. This war is not being fought for the dignity of a nation. Wars are fought between soldiers belonging to conventional armies, not against innocent children, helpless women and sick people. By carrying out the blitzkrieg on Saturday, Hamas has punctured the invincibility of Mossad, which can no more claim to be the world’s cleverest espionage agency. Questions are being raised on how Hamas, in a daring plan, carried out incursions into Israeli territories on land, sea and air, and inflicted casualties. The invincibility of Israel’s Iron Dome has been shattered. Hamas did all this, but to what end? Does it think, Israeli will tremble in fear? Will Israel vacate Palestinian territories? What is happening in retaliation has also shocked the world. Lakhs of civilians living in Gaza Strip are living a life in hell, with Israel imposing a blockade on food, fuel, water and electricity supply. For the last five days, Israeli warplanes have been hammering many localities in Gaza Strip reducing buildings to rubble, with thousands of civilians scurrying to safety. The war has, till now, claimed 2,100 lives, and it is expected to escalate after Israeli forces are fighting Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and Syria. In Gaza alone, more than 900 people, including 260 children and 230 women, have died, while thousands have been wounded. More than 2.5 lakhs people have fled their homes in Gaza to save themselves from bombardment. On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden condemned the weekend attacks by Hamas as “pure, unadulterated evil”. Biden said, “in this moment, we must be crystal clear: We stand with Israel”. He warned adversaries not to take advantage of the crisis. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his telephonic talk with his Israeli counterpart Bejamin Netanyahu, expressed solidarity with Israel and said, “the people of India stand firmly with Israel in this difficult hour and India strongly and unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations”. Netanyahu assured support for the safety of nearly 18,000 Indians living in Israel. I completely agree with the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Gueterres, who said, “I recognize the legitimate grievances of the Palestinian people, but nothing can justify acts of terror and the killing, maiming and abduction of civilians”. Hamas terrorists are now behaving like the dreaded terror outfit ISIS, by hiding behind civilians, in order to maximize civilian casualties in Gaza and trying to make the world forget the massacre of hundreds of Israelis that started this war in the first place. The misadventure by Hamas will cost the Palestinian cause dearly. This bloody conflict will not help either side. We must try to understand the entire situation with an open mind. Massacres and killings of innocent civilians are blots on humanity. Let us all decide not to directly or indirectly support terrorists who have committed brutal atrocities on innocent children, women and civilians. This is the call of the hour.