Seán Boyle says that the Hamas attacks of 7 October, while never justified, were “predictable”, given that “oppressed and dispossessed people will vent their resentment and fury, often in brutal and savage ways” (Letters, 17 October). The murderous violence was indeed predictable, but not for the reasons cited by Mr Boyle. What people need to remember is that Israel left Gaza in 2005, uprooting 9,000 Jewish settlers in the process. From the moment its forces left, Gaza ceased to be an occupied territory, with Israel no longer responsible for Palestinian lives. Far from being dispossessed, Gaza had the opportunity for a prosperous state of its own, a prospect enhanced in recent years by an increasing number of Palestinians working in Israel. Hamas wrecked those hopes. The Islamist rulers of the enclave have made it clear that they wish to destroy Israel and kill Jews wherever they find them. They reject a two-state settlement or peace plans or any kind. Thus Hamas’s evil actions, far from being an expression of resentment and fury, are designed to avoid any possibility of coexistence and understanding between Israel and its neighbours. Jeremy Havardi Director, B’nai B’rith UK Bureau of International Affairs