I’ve witnessed conflicts between Israel and Gaza before. This is different

Speaking from Jerusalem, the Methodist minister Rev David Hardman says Christians are called to follow the Prince of Peace

I think it’s safe to say, both in the West Bank and here in Jerusalem, there is a tremendous amount of uncertainty. That seems an obvious thing to say, I suppose. But we’ve witnessed conflict in Gaza before. We’ve witnessed rocket attacks, and we’ve witnessed Israel retaliating to that.

What happened over the weekend was quite unprecedented. The fact that Hamas fighters actually got out of Gaza into southern Israel, there’s a real sense of not knowing how this is going to escalate. You can never tell, of course, but there has been a pattern in the past that people are used to. Most people are thinking: This seems different.