Muslim militants slit the throats of about 26 people inside a church: "All non-Muslim men over the age of 12 were separated out before being killed. – acnuk.org, August 30, 2024 — Burkina Faso

"So let everyone know that the role of Christians in Lebanon has ended! You have become a minority in this country, and yet you still hold high positions... Nobody would accept this issue. The coming generations will... not accept that the president must be Christian; he must be a Sunni Muslim or Shi'ite." -- Reda Saad, pro-Hezbollah commentator, x.com, August 18, 2024

"We informed the police about the accused, but they still did not take any action, giving sufficient time to Asad to convert the minor child and contract an Islamic marriage with her.... Fairy is just 12 years old. She had no access to a cell phone and rarely went out of the home by herself...." -- Parveen Shaukat, mother of Fairy Shaukat,12, abducted, converted and married by Muhammad Assad; morningstarnews.org, August 28, 2024 – Pakistan

"The accused not only kidnapped the child, he converted her and contracted an Islamic marriage to save himself from prosecution [a common practice by kidnappers to sexually exploit underage non-Muslim girls]." -- Sumera Shafique, Christian attorney; morningstarnews.org, August 28, 2024 – Pakistan

"Women who disappear and are never recovered must live an unimaginable nightmare. The large majority of these women are never reunited with their families or friends because police response in Egypt is dismissive and corrupt." -- Coptic Solidary report, "'Jihad of the Womb': Trafficking of Coptic Women & Girls in Egypt", copticsolidarity.org, September 10, 2020 -- Egypt

On August 5, a Muslim migrant from North Africa was arrested for robbing a church in Turin. There were many other acts of arson, desecration (including of a Christian cemetery), statue breaking, and thefts targeting churches in Italy throughout the month of August, including here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. – torinotoday.it, August 6, 2024 – Italy

On Sunday, Aug. 18, a mob consisting of local officials forcibly dragged a Christian pastor from his church and sealed off its site on the dubious claim that the place had originally belonged to the government.... "What was disappointing was those people who closed my church were my friends...." morningstarnews.org, September 3, 2024 -- Indonesia

On Aug. 30, a massive fire "broke out" in the Coptic Christian Diocese of Beni Suef in Egypt, consuming all of the five-story Christian building's contents.... [T]his is only the latest of many churches in Egypt—see here, here, here, and here—to be torched and immediately attributed to "faulty wires" and other natural causes. In one month alone, August 2022, a full 11 churches reportedly "caught fire."... Also "interesting" is that "accidental" fires in mosques—which outnumber churches in Egypt by a ratio of 40 to 1—are completely unheard of." – copticslodarity.org, September 2, 2024 -- Egypt

Then there's Kirby's delicacy in describing how "it doesn't appear like Mr. Sinwar is prepared at all to keep negotiating in good faith—especially after he murdered six hostages in a tunnel ... execution-style."

When, one wonders, did he ever negotiate "in good faith?"

Somebody should let [US National Security spokesman John] Kirby know that "all those people"—as well as the majority of Israelis throughout the country—have been urging Netanyahu to eliminate the threat through serious military action beyond tit-for-tat strikes of attrition.

Stephanopoulos pressed him further. "So, what is the U.S. doing exactly to advance a diplomatic initiative?" he asked.

"We have been involved in extensive and quite assertive diplomacy," Kirby said proudly, clearly referring to pressure on Israel from the White House and State Department.

[Kirby] failed to clarify that Hezbollah attacked Israel, unprovoked, a day after Hamas committed the worst atrocities against Jews since the Holocaust. Nor did he bother to remind Stephanopoulos that both are Iranian proxies. He did stress, however, that "we don't believe military action is in either side's best interest."

Here's a news flash for him and anyone else who hasn't been facing a seven-front war of annihilation: Diplomacy gets you slaughtered. Military action, which is the only option in this case, should be welcomed—and victory championed—not hampered, by Israel's professed allies.