Interesting points. The Arab position on Palestine—that the entire region become an Arab-national state with a Jewish minority as reflected in the League of Nations charter calling for self-determination—flew in the face of reason, given that by 1937 the Peel Commission concluded that the interests of both groups were irreconcilable. What the AHC demanded would have been an un stable nation with a more affluent, permanently rebellious minority.

How would that have worked?

Further, one recurrent Arab demand was an end to Jewish immigration, which the British essentially granted after the first Nakba, the 1937 Arab revolt that left the Palestinians essentially leaderless & disorganized. However, in addition to Britain caving in to Arab demands (noting that the 1939 White Paper also called for a Palestinian state with a Jewish minority), Germany also acceded to the Mufti's demand that Jews not be allowed to emigrate to Palestine.

A close examination of wartime rescue proposals shows that nearly all foundered on the simple fact that there was no place for Jews to go.

Given these circumstances, along with the history of Arab-run anti-Jewish riots & violence in the interwar period, is it so difficult to see why the Jews of the Yishuv said essentially, To hell with the Arabs!

It's wrong to steal land, yes; but it's even more wrong to be murdered.

Now we're given to understand Hamas was fighting against extermination. While I agree that the argument that Israelis had withdrawn from Gaza so it was free is nonsense—Israel still controlled its access points, airspace & water supplies—I think a region that boasts at least 12 universities & 32 hospitals isn't exactly an "open-air concentration camp". Then Hamas suggests concern over possible plans to take over the Al Asqa Mosque by Neo-Kahanists like Smotritch played a role. Could they not see that Netanyahu was losing support, that Israelis were engaging in unprecedented acts of civil disobedience in opposition to his gang of criminals & extremists?

So what do they do? The one thing that puts him firmly back in the driver's seat. They use the bodies of the men, women & children whose future they're putatively fighting for & put them on the firing line, without their foreknowledge or consent in order to win public opinion.

So no. We can't support the IDF in its current role, but the Palestinian struggle, as furthered by Hamas is equally insupportable.