Israel-Gaza war

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Will be interesting to see which Dems have a conscious.

I'm guessing it'll be about 85-15. Van Hollen, Warren, Markey and Merkley are guaranteed yeas. A ceasefire polls extremely well so I think a few other Dems from more liberal states might surprise here.

Hamas basically saying Israel needs to do a unilateral permanent ceasefire before they'll even negotiate about the hostages has probably taken a lot of that momentum away. Remember, Biden already brokered one successful ceasefire, which he gets zero credit for.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

I do wonder what Biden will do if/when The Hauge comes back with a ruling demanding the fighting stop.

Israel will absolutely ignore it, but Biden doesn't have to.

Biden will continue to support our ally over a court that neither Israel nor the US accept the authority of.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

I do wonder what Biden will do if/when The Hauge comes back with a ruling demanding the fighting stop.

Israel will absolutely ignore it, but Biden doesn't have to.

Biden will continue to support our ally over a court that neither Israel nor the US accept the authority of.

Why is Israel participating in the proceedings by sending lawyers to argue on their behalf if they do not recognise the court's authority?

They normally wouldn't, but I think this case was so blatantly fraudulent that they felt the need to humiliate the kangaroo court in front of the world by debunking their evidence. This may not work in terms of the verdict, but it'll definitely work in terms of bolstering their support among their allies.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

https://twitter.com/tparsi/status/1749483187309326846?t=scYcn5VXXoqpbWDUzrd-Lw&a...

https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-01-22/25000-deaths-in-gaza-why-the-destruction-of-this-war-exceeds-that-of-other-major-conflicts.html

This pace has caused the death toll in Gaza to reach 10,000 after just the first month of attacks. In Ukraine, it took a year and a half to reach that number (including civilians only) (...)

These numbers are explained, in part, because the magnitude of Israel’s attack is unprecedented. There have never been as many airstrikes with civilian casualties in the Middle East conflicts as those that were recorded in October and November in Gaza and the West Bank: 1,614, almost all of them in Gaza, according to data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED).

(...)

A direct consequence of these bombings is the destruction in Gaza. Around half of the buildings in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, a figure that rises to between 72% and 84% in the north of the Palestinian enclave, according to an analysis based on images from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite

(...)

At the start of the war, military spokesman Daniel Hagari admitted that the “emphasis” of bombing was on damage, not precision. U.S. intelligence services estimate that about half of the munitions Israel has dropped from the air are unguided.

(...)

Among those killed in Gaza, there is no way to distinguish between Hamas militiamen and civilians, but the death toll has been contrasted and verified in several international scientific studies. In addition, there is a very high percentage of women and children, who are unlikely to be militiamen, among the victims.
.
The figures are partly explained by the demographics of Gaza, where one in two people is underage: it is sadly logical that in an indiscriminate bombing one in two victims would be a child.

(...)

Gazan authorities, who are publishing a list with the names, surnames and ID of the deceased, also estimate that there are about 7,000 people under the rubble. The situation makes it difficult to estimate deaths due to lack of medical care (more than 62,000 injuries have been recorded), hunger (most people can hope for no more than one meal a day) or illnesses caused by sleeping in tents in the coldest months of the year.
 

Imagine actually believing Hamas’ numbers

Especially as quoted by an infamous Iranian propagandist associated with the Quincy Institute.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Israel is committing war crimes and genocide on the people of Gaza. They are blowing up homes, schools, refugee shelters, hospitals, churches, and mosques to make Gazans flee and then telling the media they are destroying "terrorist infrastructure" which is inane doublespeak.

Opening with a blood libel indicates that there is no point in debating the rest of your points.

The only act of genocide in this conflict was perpetrated on October 7th by Hamas.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Israel is committing war crimes and genocide on the people of Gaza. They are blowing up homes, schools, refugee shelters, hospitals, churches, and mosques to make Gazans flee and then telling the media they are destroying "terrorist infrastructure" which is inane doublespeak.

Opening with a blood libel indicates that there is no point in debating the rest of your points.

The only act of genocide in this conflict was perpetrated on October 7th by Hamas.

 Tens of thousands are already dead in Gaza. Israel's massive and inept intelligence failure and Hamas's attack on Oct 7th does not justify the continued killing of innocent civilians.

Even President Biden has said that Israel has engaged in indiscriminate bombing, so one has to wonder when he will stop supplying them with bombs!

 Your "Blood Libel" nonsense accusation is a desperate and weak attack to not deal with reality and accept the truth. What Israel is doing is wrong.

Israel's bog-standard military response to an attack of this scale would not be considered genocide or even war crimes by literally any other country if an act of genocide was perpetrated against them. We know what this is. The crime is existing as a Jew, the penalty is death, and the act of self-defense is evidence. Same as it ever was, except this time we're done listening.

If Hamas wants to live, they can surrender and give back our people. If the rest of the world wants the conflict to stop, they can work to make that happen. Any attempts to force Israel to stop will escalate the conflict, not lessen it.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Give it a rest, even many Jewish people are increasingly speaking out against these brutal war crimes and receiving hatred and even having their identity questioned for not supporting this lunatic right-wing government of Israel.

A few hundred kids trying to piss off their parents by advocating for their own extermination are not a social movement. Regardless, they are still irrelevant. Hamas and the ensuing carefully coordinated global wave of violent Judenhass has awakened every bit of collective trauma from Jewish history. The world is now finding out what we actually meant when we said "Never Again". Pay attention.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Give it a rest, even many Jewish people are increasingly speaking out against these brutal war crimes and receiving hatred and even having their identity questioned for not supporting this lunatic right-wing government of Israel.

A few hundred kids trying to piss off their parents by advocating for their own extermination are not a social movement. Regardless, they are still irrelevant. Hamas and the ensuing carefully coordinated global wave of violent Judenhass has awakened every bit of collective trauma from Jewish history. The world is now finding out what we actually meant when we said "Never Again". Pay attention.

That sounds like a threat, to be honest.

I don't have the power to execute any threats on this issue! But Israel definitely wants this attitude to be seen as a threat to any who would escalate this conflict beyond the Israel-Hamas one it is right now, yes.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Give it a rest, even many Jewish people are increasingly speaking out against these brutal war crimes and receiving hatred and even having their identity questioned for not supporting this lunatic right-wing government of Israel.

A few hundred kids trying to piss off their parents by advocating for their own extermination are not a social movement. Regardless, they are still irrelevant. Hamas and the ensuing carefully coordinated global wave of violent Judenhass has awakened every bit of collective trauma from Jewish history. The world is now finding out what we actually meant when we said "Never Again". Pay attention.

That sounds like a threat, to be honest.

I don't have the power to execute any threats on this issue! But Israel definitely wants this attitude to be seen as a threat to any who would escalate this conflict beyond the Israel-Hamas one it is right now, yes.

So moderate criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic?

Don't accuse me of something you know damn well I'm not.

I'm not! I wasn't talking to you here! I was responding to someone who invoked the "genocide" blood libel about Israel, which is definitely not mild criticism of Israel and is definitely antisemitism.

Really, at the core of this is that Israel simply cannot live with Hamas on its border anymore. That's non-negotiable, and that's Hamas' doing.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

With the new UNRWA allegations proving to be true, things are not looking good for the end of the war.  Netanyahu now has enough proof to claim international conspiracy and continue the war.  In fact, and in spite of what Israel says (under US pressure), I believe that any autonomous government in Gaza is now not going to happen in any scenario.

I cannot fathom what Hamas wanted to achieve in October.  They have set back the Palestinian cause by over 50 years and perhaps doomed the chances of an internationally recognized Palestinian state permanently.  Yes, Israel reacted disproportionately and civillians are hurting, perhaps they are even engaging in genocidal activities, but did the Hamas leadership really expect anything else?

It seems likely that Hamas was hoping that Hezbollah and the West Bank/Jordan would follow suit, pulling off similar incursions inspired by them and causing six figures of casualties and taking thousands of hostages. When that failed to emerge, all they were left with was an enraged Israel that was still intact enough to respond with overwhelming, unending force.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Yeah, whatever comes next, there will have to be some hard decisions made to protect Israel's security and ensure a stable and acceptable resolution for the Palestinian people happens -and Netanyahu and his goon squad are uniquely unqualified to deal with it.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Yeah, whatever comes next, there will have to be some hard decisions made to protect Israel's security and ensure a stable and acceptable resolution for the Palestinian people happens -and Netanyahu and his goon squad are uniquely unqualified to deal with it.

What a great way to say, "Crime against humanity about to occur." Prior to the attack two-hundred-thousand Gaza residents snuck into Israel for work. That created stability among those workers, and their families. Now, that has been completely destabilized. Short of mass transfer, it is instability for the foreseeable future. Mass transfer simply is not "acceptable" in a way. It is a recognized crime against humanity.

Don't throw out your back with that reach. My post was agreeing with those saying a mass transfer wouldn't be a feasible solution.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

The Islamist left is complaining about this. When Israel was bombing Gaza, they cried that Israel should only be using targeted assassinations so there wouldn’t be civilian casualties. But now targeted assassinations are a war crime too.

-Snip-

And as a member of the oh, so, scary Islamist left that apparently has all of you pro-Israel people quaking in your boots, the key part that you're conveniently ignoring is the fact it took place in a hospital, and they were disguised as civilians.

Yes, that is what a covert Mossad operation to kill genocidal war criminals looks like.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Very detailed map shows just how widespread the destruction in Gaza is.

https://twitter.com/MichaelLynk5/status/1752357923534037394?t=DkXwOZqlxkasp4KX8j...

I'm sure Japan and Germany looked horrible after the genocidal war they started as well.

That's the thing. Total war is a horrible thing. We've never had to watch it unfold in real time. But Israel's conduct in this war is totally unspectacular if someone accepts that the country has the full right to respond with total war until Hamas surrenders and returns the hostages.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

https://twitter.com/democracynow/status/1752875163035594774

I don't see how she would possibly have inside information of this.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Arab Muslims in Israel.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2onIzWIFY9/

After the events of the last 4 months, none of them are leaving to go to Saudi, Jordan or Lebanon.

Post removed by moderator.

I think he's trying to point out the overall quality of life of Arab Muslim Israelis in Israel proper, which is generally true but also kind of feels like a non-sequiter in this thread.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

I would like to hear proposals for how people would like to see this conflict end.  Based on what appears to be Hamas's current negotiating position that they won't "grant" Israel a ceasefire, they will only accept a permanent peace treaty where Hamas stays in power and Israel funds them.

A) Israel accepts Hamas's demands and the war ends (presumably Hamas spends a few years re-arming, on Israel's credit card, and then attacks again in Biden's second term).

B) Israel rejects Hamas's demands and continues bombing Gaza to smithereens, presumably with some hope of eventually eliminating Hamas, rescuing the hostages, and occupying/rebuilding Gaza under Israel's terms.

C) Israel doesn't accept Hamas's demands, but they do unilaterally end the war and abandon the hostages to torture and death, leaving Gaza under Hamas's control.

D) The international community intervenes to end the war by forming an anti-Hamas coalition that occupies Gaza without Israeli involvement.

E) The international community sanctions, and even possibly takes military action, against Israel to force them to abandon the hostages.

I can't think of any other options?

D would obviously be ideal and should have happened on October 8th, but many of the countries most sympathetic to Israel were obviously war-weary. Otherwise, B is the only option that has a chance of happening and won't result in a global war.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

https://twitter.com/financialjuice/status/1755284262574584062
Really bad for Biden's odds

Imagine actually believing this will hurt Biden

The point is that there is no ceasefire like Biden is trying to push for. Usually each side underestimates the time it will take until victory, so the war will likely last quite long (with the Red Sea blocked and Iran fighting a proxy war against American in other countries as well).

If the Red Sea is blocked, then the best thing Biden could do for his re-election odds is to unblock it with force.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Biden: Please end the war, it's hurting my reelection chances.

Blinken: We are so close to a ceasefire deal. We are making progress.

Qatar: Hamas responded positively, and we're about to get a deal.

Netanyahu the next day: Invades Rafah

Hey, quick question, what was in Hamas' offer of a ceasefire deal?

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

The IDF just rescued two male hostages in an operation in Rafah. So If I were to guess, I imagine there are probably more hostages there. Which bodes poorly for Rafah, since that probably reinforces the idea that Israel needs to take it.

Hamas and its apologists have displayed a massive lack of understanding of Israel's psychology from minute one.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

The IDF just rescued two male hostages in an operation in Rafah. So If I were to guess, I imagine there are probably more hostages there. Which bodes poorly for Rafah, since that probably reinforces the idea that Israel needs to take it.

Hamas and its apologists have displayed a massive lack of understanding of Israel's psychology from minute one.

Sure, I've been accused of supporting slavery, being a Nazi sympathiser, an anti-Semite and now a Hamas apologist. Keep'em coming.

You REALLY need to step away and try to chill, because there was zero indication in my post that I was referring to you. I wouldn't describe you as a Hamas apologist, as opposed to a select few people, on this site - and I wasn't even referring to anyone on this site! My post was about the real world and how a fundamental lack of understanding of the Jewish psyche has made this conflict worse at every turn.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

The IDF just rescued two male hostages in an operation in Rafah. So If I were to guess, I imagine there are probably more hostages there. Which bodes poorly for Rafah, since that probably reinforces the idea that Israel needs to take it.

Hamas and its apologists have displayed a massive lack of understanding of Israel's psychology from minute one.

Sure, I've been accused of supporting slavery, being a Nazi sympathiser, an anti-Semite and now a Hamas apologist. Keep'em coming.

You REALLY need to step away and try to chill, because there was zero indication in my post that I was referring to you. I wouldn't describe you as a Hamas apologist, as opposed to a select few people, on this site - and I wasn't even referring to anyone on this site! My post was about the real world and how a fundamental lack of understanding of the Jewish psyche has made this conflict worse at every turn.

So, I'm not not a Hamas supporter, just a slavery supporter and a Nazi. Thanks.

I have not seen you called either of those things, nor would I say you are. Again, this is about the real world - the people like Francesca Albanese who thought the Jews could easily be driven to despair and surrender. Everything since has proven how very wrong they are.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

"Minors" is a perfectly acceptable journalistic term to use and it's really weird how normally reasonable people have gotten about it today.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Bernie Sanders is one of the few US politicians with a sense of morality

https://twitter.com/SenSanders/status/1757257562708218358?t=LwSMPPap9EIlguXyxNuo...

5x Corbyn endorser does what Corbynists do.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Why can’t Israel invade/occupy through the ground? Why must they keep bombing?

Full ground warfare would likely be far deadlier for both sides of the conflict.