THE sheer scale of the loss of life in Gaza is incomprehensible. Some 18,000 people have died and countless more have been injured at the hands of the Israel Defence Forces.

Israelis too have suffered, not just in the shocking Hamas attack in early October which claimed so many innocent lives, but in the war of attrition which has followed.

Ireland’s response has been compassionate and nuanced. But elsewhere, what has been happening in Gaza has become a proxy for geo-political manoeuvring between the west and Russia.

Read more:

Patricia Mac Bride: Time for Sir Jeffrey Donaldson to decide if he’s a Nutcracker or Mouse King

A 15% rise in regional rate bills? Building a fairer system would make revenue-raising easier - Newton Emerson

• May the light of humanity shine on Gaza this Hanukkah – Patricia Mac Bride
• Mary Kelly: Slaughter in Middle East needs to stop now
• Ireland to push for EU sanctions on ‘terrorist' settlers in the West Bank

The United States’ default position is, and likely always will be, to side with Israel. It’s not just about the size of the Jewish vote in the US. Israel is of enormous strategic, political and military importance. It is seen as........

© The Irish News