Incompetent and discredited leaders, in thrall to worn-out ideologies, have brought Israel and Gaza to this catastrophe.

From Israel, Lebanon and Palestine to Egypt, Syria, Libya and back to Turkey, such men, in thrall to worn-out ideologies and prejudices, hold leadership positions by reason of longevity and guile, not wisdom or sense. They rule by fear and division, abuse the tenets of their faith and poison the minds of children. The young pay the price. Take for instance Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s expensively suited 61-year-old chief. He ordered last weekend’s atrocious onslaught on southern Israel from the security of his Qatar office. Martyrdom, it seems, is not for him – unlike the psychopathically deluded, criminally misled young men he sent to murder, maim, rape and die in the Negev. Now, a week later, Haniyeh looks on again in safety as the youth of Gaza and their families face Israel’s crushing fury.

Simon Tisdall 

 Read more