Thank you for your editorial ( “The cost of war is so great that compromise should not be a dirty word”, Thursday 16 January) which noted that the cost of the conflict between Israel and Hamas has been monstrous and tragic, with the destruction of property, livelihoods and hope.
What we need now, to stop the cycle, is a huge international effort, not just to ensure that properties are rebuilt but to ensure that Palestinians are treated justly, have equal rights with Israelis, and that through civil society and free media, understanding and empathy is built between Israelis and Palestinians.
Alexandra Lucas
London W14
As both presidents try to claim credit for the Gaza ceasefire, I wonder if it needed them both ( “Is Trump right to take credit for the Israel-Hamas ceasefire?” Thursday 16 January). I can imagine the Biden and Trump teams playing “good cop, bad cop” to focus the thinking of the participants.
David Watson
Henley-on-Thames
Rotten borough
Spelthorne Council has frequently been in the headlines in recent years. The borough is hugely indebted, to the tune of over £1bn, and government inspectors had to be called in to examine how it is run. Now we have a tragic murder and assault in a local block of flats used to house the homeless (“Screams heard as mother killed and toddler injured in ex-office block used for temporary housing”, Friday 17 January).
While the causes of these crimes will no doubt take time to establish, the state of the accommodation where they took place cannot be ignored. For months, residents have been campaigning to alert the council to the deeply unsatisfactory nature of the block.
It must be hoped that this deeply unsatisfactory authority will be brought to book at last, particularly with the inspectors due to report shortly. Its long-suffering residents deserve nothing less.
Andrew McLuskey
Ashford, Middlesex
History repeating
Although we are served up cliches such as “lessons will be learned”, I submit that this cliche is also false.
The Coronavirus pandemic of 2020 was around 100 years after the Spanish flu. The Balkans War in the late 1990s was stirred up by Slobodan Milosevic in 1989, uttering a clarion call to avenge the 1389 Battle of Kosovo.
Preaching 600 years of hate and handing that down the generations is hardly a precursor for establishing any valid peace. Will human beings ever learn?
Martin Levin
London, E4
Reality (spell)check
For goodness’ sake, Independent: Trump will “rein” in Israel’s bombardments, not “reign” them in – although he might argue that both are appropriate!
Linda Calvey
Northampton
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