PETE Winstanley (HAS, April 7) considers my analysis of the Israeli elections (HAS, April 4) to be flawed. He then proceeds to ignore the central and key issue, which is the refusal of Hamas and Hezbollah to accept the two-state solution.

The outgoing Israeli government was wedded to the principle of an independent Palestinian state co-existing in peace alongside the Jewish homeland.

But the terrorist factions running Gaza and south Lebanon do not recognise the right of Israel to exist and therefore embarked upon a series of provocations that tilted public opinion into the arms of the Likud hawks.

Hamas and Hezbollah want a one-state solution in which there is no place for a country called Israel. They will do anything to further this ambition and if it means keeping the war going ad infinitum and supplying the morgues with a never-ending stream of Palestinian civilian corpses, then this is a price worth paying.

When will Mr Winstanley join the UN, EU, UK and countless other governments in accepting that Hamas is a terrorist organisation, instead of making excuses for its cruel actions?

David Lacey, Durham.