White House interns demand a Middle East cease-fire in letter to Biden
NBCNOV 2023
UN Secretary-General Invokes Article 99 Over Gaza War
Image copyright: Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images News [via Getty Images]
The Spin
Pro-Israel narrative
Though this has been a tragic war, Israel cannot allow Hamas to survive. Hamas seized upon last week's temporary pause to mark Israeli positions and prepare itself for continued attacks on Israeli forces in Gaza. Israel will have to work intelligently in its campaign in the south of the strip to fully eliminate the terrorist group so it can never launch an attack like Oct. 7 again — the UN chief's rare move only seeks to impede Israel's right to defend itself.
Pro-Palestine narrative
Israel continues to demonstrate that its war is not against Hamas but against the Palestinian people as a whole. Nowhere in Gaza is safe, and Israel has effectively rendered the north of the strip unlivable. Unfortunately, the temporary ceasefire only gave civilians a few days of relative rest, and now Israel has returned to killing Palestinians at an unprecedented rate. Guterres is right to exert more pressure to end the war.