UN must step in to bring an end to the bloodshed

WHILE EVERY report of lives lost is sad and discouraging, the Israeli bombings in Gaza are especially tragic because they signal a definite end to the languishing Annapolis peace process. There is no way Hamas will negotiate with Israel now as it has zero leverage at the bargaining table, despite its leaders' legitimate claims that Gaza is undergoing a severe humanitarian crisis.

To move an inch from its stated purpose to end the occupation at all costs would cause surrounding Arab countries to condemn Hamas for betraying its people; already Egypt has been (rightly) denounced for collaborating with Israel by preventing Gazan refugees from fleeing across its border.

With Hamas's hands bound by its proclamations and duty to the rest of the Arab world, the Palestinian people in Gaza are left without recourse to peaceful negotiations as there is no one else in the Gaza government willing to step up and compromise. Without a Yasser Arafat or a Mahmoud Abbas, there is no one willing and able to talk to Israel to end the bloodshed. The United Nations must step in and find a peace partner that can signal a cease-fire, else an already starving people will bury themselves beneath the pained and angry rhetoric of their leaders.

LYDIA DALLETT
Andover