Editorials / Opinion

Corrected version

Guest columnist Dore Gold offers three ways for Israel to deal with Hamas [“How can Israel defend itself without accusations of disproportionality?” Opinion, Aug. 5].

But there is another very simple way: End restrictions on the amount and type of humanitarian goods that Israel allows into Gaza. These are not goods donated by Israel but from the U.N. and others. The only reason for restricting anything is to apply a collective punishment on Gaza.

Eliminating (not easing) restrictions would go far to show the claimed goodwill on the part of Israel for the civilians of Gaza — and respond positively to a reasonable demand from Hamas to stop its rockets.

Bert Sacks, Seattle

Information in this letter, originally published Aug. 8, 2014, was corrected Aug. 11, 2014. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Israel restricts food shipments to Gaza. Israel only restricts other types of goods, such as construction materials.