The target: a cease-fire

Re “Truce brings quiet to Gaza, Israel,” June 20

The Times’ article accurately describes the real significance of the truce between Hamas and Israel as a historic demonstration of their willingness to engage each other.

This isn’t the first time Hamas has extended an olive branch. The recent situation in Gaza would never have taken place if Israel and the Western powers had not stubbornly held on to their outdated views of Hamas and faced the facts, whether they wanted to or not.

This is a detail that should not be overlooked any longer.

Natasha Murtaza

Winnetka

Of all the harebrained schemes ever concocted, this so-called cease-fire really takes the cake. The concept of making deals with terrorists, other than accepting their unconditional surrender, is immoral and delusional. And the criminals in Hamas are the worst of the worst.

How can you sit down and schmooze with mass murderers? What does a piece of paper signed by serial killers mean? Do genocidal monsters keep their promises?

Does Prime Minister Ehud Olmert really think Hamas is going to honor this agreement, or that when it expires it will have mended its ways and become a peaceful neighbor? There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that this “cease-fire” is going to save lives or end well.

It’s bad enough that Olmert is a corrupt politician, but he should be out there defeating the terrorists, not legitimizing and empowering them. We’re going to need a miracle to survive this fiasco without a lot of dead and injured Jews.

Douglas Miller

Miami Beach