The Bible scholar Ronald Hendel analyzes the tale of the first murder:

In the biblical story, Cain has several motives for murdering his brother Abel. The most obvious motive is jealousy that God accepted Abel’s offering over Cain’s. But this is more than simple envy: as the firstborn son, Cain holds legitimate authority over his younger brother. . . .

Cain . . . is the family’s firstborn son, offering his sacrifice first. And by the normal rule of family authority, his sacrifice should be accepted first. But it isn’t—God defies expectations and accepts only the younger son’s offering. . . . The normal hierarchy of the firstborn and younger child is turned upside down.

If there is to be peace, Palestinians will have to unlearn the hatred of Israel they have imbibed during nearly two decades of Hamas rule. This will be a difficult task, but Cole Aronson argues, drawing on the experiences of World War II, that Israel has already gotten off to a strong start:

The population’s compliance can . . . be won by a new regime that satisfies its immediate material needs, even if that new regime is sponsored by a government until recently at war with the population’s former regime. Axis civilians were made needy through bombing. Peaceful compliance with the Allies became a good alternative to supporting violent resistance to the Allies.

Israel’s current campaign makes a moderate Gaza more likely, not less. Destroying Hamas not only deprives Islamists of the ability to rule—it proves the futility of armed resistance to Israel, a condition for peace. The destruction of buildings not only deprives Hamas of its hideouts. It also gives ordinary Palestinians strong reasons to shun groups planning to replicate Hamas’s behavior.