Ruthless

Stormy weather in the north of Britain today, only gusty winds reaching overcast Cardiff and persistent drizzling rain all morning. Housework after breakfast, then cooking a fresh veggie dish to go with rice pasta. I cooked tomatoes with garlic separately for myself, to add to the sugo at the time of serving. So naturally sweet and delicious!

Netanyahu is talking about resuming the offensive in Gaza, as Hamas will not agree to a cease-fire or to hostage release unless Israel agrees to a two state solution. Eighty percent of Israelis are opposed to his proposal, and to withholding of sufficient aid to feed the starving Palestinian population, likewise the international community of nations. There's a genuine risk of many more being killed in a new offensive and of losing any remaining hostages still alive. If a point is reached where Hamas loses what's left of its hold over the populace, there's nothing to stop the slaughter of surviving hostages as an act of revenge. 

In an effort to stop Netanyahu from pursuing his plan, six hundred former senior Israeli security officials have written to Trump urging him to use his influence to dissuade Netanyahu. It's a powerful statement underlining the minority stance of the regime on continuing the war. Can anything come of this? 

After lunch there was shopping to do, as ever, then a walk in Llandaff Fields. The wind had by then driven away the clouds, the sun shone, and the air was scented with floral aroma following the rain earlier. In the evening after supper I watched more episodes of 'Classified'. The story-line is in the classic cold war spy genre, except that it's about the Canadian secret service agency defending its domain, contending with the American CIA. It says something signficant about the perceived ruthlessness of the USA in asserting its dominance, behind the scenes as well as openly, as a superpower determined to maintain position at any cost, no matter who suffers as a result. We see echoes of this in everything that's happened in the Holy Land, not only in the past two years, but for most of my lifetime.