Readers respond to an article by Nesrine Malik and object to the implication that Israel launched an unprovoked invasion into Gaza, just as Russia did into Ukraine

In her article (As brutal war rages and famine looms, look at pictures of Gaza and keep saying: ‘this is not normal’, 25 March), Nesrine Malik compares the invasions of Ukraine by Russia and Gaza by Israel and the US reaction to them. She seems to think she is comparing like with like, but she is not.

Ukraine, prior to the Russian invasion, was a peaceful country that posed no threat to its neighbour, and the invasion was entirely unjustified. The same could not be said of Hamas, which was the de facto government of Gaza when it entered Israel on 7 October. Hamas militants murdered more than 1,000 people and took over 200 hostage. They still hold many of these captive.