We can see the ICJ has gone down the toilet.
Rafah is the last remaining hideout of 4,000 Hamas fighters.
Ever since Israel were preparing to finish the job, suddenly a court with no jurisdiction suddenly makes a decision on the offensive?
Israel presses on with Rafah Offensive
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-26/israel-gaza-war-world-court-ruling-rafah-invasion-continues/103893792
"Israel says it has kept the Rafah crossing open and has asked Egypt to coordinate with it on sending aid convoys through it, however Egypt has previously refused, fearing the Israeli hold will remain permanent, and demanded Palestinians be put back in charge of the facility."
Egypt being totally uncooperative to everyone but Hamas. Egypt's and the ICJ's decisions have been perfectly aligned with the needs of Hamas at every step.
Did anyone tell the Americans not to land on the Island of Iwo Jima in 1945?
Did they tell the Allies not to partake in the Battle of Monte Cassino?
Was it announced by George Clooney?
This is absurd. Israel are going to be digging out terrorists from Hamastan for the next 40 years.
I don’t think Rafah is the last holdout of Hamas. It has become increasingly clear that while Hamas some well-armed battalions there, it is not the central base of operations it was made out to be by Israel. Yeah, they may have needed to go in eventually and have been far more careful (so far, at least) than they were elsewhere in Gaza, but it has become abundantly clear that the Rafah offensive is little more than Netanyahu having lost the plot of his own demagoguery and not wanting to be perceived as backing down.
Israel should be focusing on the Old City district of Gaza City (the large and centrally-located heart of Gaza City that has been ignored by on-the-ground Israeli troops despite being widely regarded as Hamas’ base of operations in Gaza City) and especially Khan Yunis (where it sure seems like at least some of the remaining bigger names are hiding underground). Even dismantling the underground tunnel networks in places like Jabalia and the Jabalia and Nuseirat refugee camps would be a far better use of IDF soldiers than invading Rafah because then Israel could stop launching air strikes at those refugee camps to hit underground tunnels.
What is happening in Rafah should enrage anyone who views Israel’s security as more important than Netanyahu’s pissing contest with Biden. All the Rafah offensive will do is waste resources and piss off an international community that will always be inclined to view anything Israel does through the least sympathetic lens possible. Whether in Israel or anywhere else, the Jewish community cannot afford this sort of nonsense.
And speaking personally, as someone who has gone to the mat to pushback against anti-Israel misinformation despite utterly despising both the current Israeli government and its policies (and being well aware that folks like Netanyahu and Smotrich want to eliminate the right of return for Reform Jews such as myself because they don’t regard us as actual Jews), this is infuriating. It is emotionally exhausting enough defending Israel against the bad-faith and/or anti-Semitic attacks without them doing stupid stuff like the Rafah offensive.
And for what? Israel took their shot at the only truly notable Hamas guy whom there was AFAIK good reason to think was hiding in Rafah, the Commander of Hamas’ military forces in Rafah, and it’s not clear they even got him (looking increasingly like the airstrike was a close miss though). So now he’s probably hiding somewhere new.
Most importantly, there were tons of civilians taking refuge in Rafah. Absent a pretty d*** good reason, that should’ve been the last place Israel went to so everyone there could be evacuated to literally anywhere else in Gaza. Instead, Israeli troops haven’t even tried to enter one of Hamas’ main strongholds (the Old City district of Gaza City) and never bothered fully clearing out Hamas or its tunnel network in Khan Yunis. IIRC roughly 3/4 of Hamas’ tunnels beneath the city are believed to be perfectly intact due to Israel never really committing sufficient troops to throughly dismantle Hamas there before inexplicably withdrawing most of their troops from Khan Yunis.
@Meclaizine: I apologize for the rant (I’ve wanted to get all this anger and frustration about the Rafah offensive off my chest all week) and none of my frustration in this post was directed at you. It’s just me venting about the present situation in Rafah.
