I appreciate this post, but will quibble with one part of it. If we are to solely focus on Hamas’s actions on October 7th (and up to now) and Israel’s reaction to that, as you have in your post, then yes I would agree that there would be a false equivalence.
But that focus fails to take into what has happened in the decades of occupation before 10/7. IDF soldiers (and other Israeli security forces) have employed sexual violence, including rape, against Palestinian women (cites provided by request). According to the UN, an average of almost 1 child per week is killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank. An additional 700 are arrested and detained, without trial. UNICEF details practices that are classified as “cruel, inhuman, or degrading” according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Convention Against Torture, both ratified by Israel and the PA.
I don’t think it’s a false equivalence to say that rape and murder/torture of children when performed by Hamas is bad and that rape and murder/torture of children when performed by Israeli forces is bad as well. I don’t think one is “less bad” than another.
That being said, I don’t think that Hamas and Israeli are equal, despite their actions having some equivalence. Hamas is a terrorist organization, Israel is a liberal democracy with the benefits (American $ and weapons) and responsibilities (to both their citizens and to their Palestinian subjects) that come along with being a member of world community. Israel should be held to a higher standard than Hamas.