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“For the Israeli hostages being held incom­mu­nic­ado in Gaza under the most horrific con­di­tions, the ICJ’s ruling is tan­tamount to a death sentence, or at the very least an indef­in­ite pro­long­a­tion of their agony.

“For the people of Israel, the ICJ has decreed that they must live under the perpetual shadow of terrorism and genocide.  For the people of Gaza, the ICJ offers only the dismal prospect of a rein­state­ment of Hamas’s tyranny and the degrad­a­tion, brutality, poverty and fear that are its bitter fruits.

“For the world at large, the ICJ has dealt a dev­ast­at­ing blow to inter­na­tion­al law and the system that was so carefully con­struc­ted after World War II to preserve inter­na­tion­al peace and security, and risks a breakdown in that system and a reversion to inter­na­tion­al anarchy and bloodshed.

“Israel has taken more pre­cau­tions than any other country fighting a war in an urban setting to avoid harm to civilians.  But there is no gentle way of dealing with the butchers and rapists of Hamas.  Their capacity for murder and mayhem needs to be destroyed, root and branch.  No demo­crat­ic country faced with similar cir­cum­stances would dis­em­power itself in the face of ter­ror­ists, or should call on Israel to do so.”