Netanyahu tells Israel ‘We are at war’ after Hamas launches an unprecedented attack, killing at leas

Very disappointing to say the least. It looks increasingly like genocide.

 

I've been wondering what it's really like in Gaza. Isreal completely controlls the narrative. Once Palestinian cell phones died, there was no way to recharge them seeing as Isreal controls the electricity in Gaza to recharge the phones, the fuel to run generators, and all fixed, cellular, and internet services.

With no way of self reporting via cell phones, 89 journalists killed, and 147 press headquarters damaged/destroyed, Isreal controls almost ALL reporting, with the exception of outside reporting like the link you provided.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/22/gaza-israel-war-20000-dead/

Flat out dropping huge bombs on civilians with no precision, mass murder on a grand scale.

 

And not to be forgotten, by Israel's own account, they dropped 6,000 bombs in the first 6 days of the conflict.

 

Looks like Israel found terrorist headquarters underground and blew it up. Check out the website: the picture of the explosion (from the fireballs emerging above ground) indicates that the explosion was massive (maybe two city blocks).

Israel blows up ‘subterranean city’ in Gaza where Oct 7 massacre was hatched

 

Although I have been defending Israel it's definitely time for a ceasefire. The humanitarian catastrophe that has resulted from the bombing can longer be justified. That being said the Israeli strategy in Gaza can no way be described as "genocide" at least the way that term is normally used. Genocide is the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. A prime example are the provisions of the Hamas charter calling for the eradication of Israel and the extermination of Jews. What Israel has done in Gaza and at this point it is still difficult to justify can best be described as the infliction of excessive collateral damage to civilians in pursuit of a legitimate military objective. Routing tunnels used by fighters for concealment, for command and control facilities and for the storage of weapons under civilian residences, hospitals and schools is nothing more than using civilians as human shields. The tunnels are legitimate targets. Once again the damage suffered by civilians has reached the point (and it probably reached the point weeks ago) may not be justifiable based on humanitarian concerns it's not genocide and the real war crime is the de facto use of civilians as human shields. I should also add that Hamas values martyrdom and that includes turning the civilian Palestinian population into martyrs. Although Hamas may be losing militarily the terrorist organization may ironically be achieving the goal intended by the terrorist attack of October 7 on Israel.

 

Ok perhaps genocide is not the right word. But it’s still a seemingly flagrant disregard for collateral damage resulting in the mass killing of innocents. That video of the IDF commander vowing to reduce all of Gaza to rubble is extremely disturbing. It screams vengeance and bloodlust.

 

Why shouldn’t he want to completely destroy a terrorist irganization that has repeatedly attacked and killed his countrymen?
He didn’t say all of Gaza or all of Palestine

 

Sure but at all cost?

 

Yes he did. He said all of Gaza should look like Beit Hanoun, which has been reduced to rubble.

Edit: in my post you quoted i inadvertently said Hamas instead of Gaza. I fixed it.

 

Israel killed a sr IRGC officer while hitting hezbollah munitions storage and Iran is threatening Israel.

Iran issues ominous threat to Israel after IRGC commander killed

Iran has warned Israel that it will "pay the price" after allegedly killing a top Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) adviser in Syria.

Iranian state media reported that IRGC adviser Sayyed Razi Mousavi was killed in an airstrike near the Syrian capital Damascus on Monday. The death of Mousavi, who was reportedly the chief coordinator of the Iran-Syria military alliance, was confirmed to Reuters by three security sources.
Mousavi was reportedly described by Iranian state television as "among those accompanying Qassem Soleimani," the deceased leader of IRGC's Quds Force. Soleimani was killed in Iraq by a U.S. drone strike in January 2020.

 

Eyewitness accounts of sexual violence by Hamas is sickening. It is hard to believe people who consider themselves civilized march in support of this group. *Warning* This article contains graphic descriptions of the depravity Hamas perpetrated on women Oct 6.
‘Screams Without Words’: How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on Oct. 7
And The Times interviewed several soldiers and volunteer medics who together described finding more than 30 bodies of women and girls in and around the rave site and in two kibbutzim in a similar state as Ms. Abdush’s — legs spread, clothes torn off, signs of abuse in their genital areas.

The first victim she said she saw was a young woman with copper-color hair, blood running down her back, pants pushed down to her knees. One man pulled her by the hair and made her bend over. Another penetrated her, Sapir said, and every time she flinched, he plunged a knife into her back.

(and the descriptions get more horrifying).

 

Large pro-Hamas protests are scheduled to interrupt New Years Eve commerce in NYC this evening. Best wishes for no violence but low expectations.

NYPD ‘prepared’ for large pro-Palestine protests during New Year’s Eve bash at Times Square

 

Opinion | What Is Happening to Our World?

Long but great read on this conflict.

 

Turns out the Israelis had it right when they accused Hamas of using al Shifa hospital (or more accurately tunnels directly below the hospital) as a command center and weapons storage facility.
Hamas Used Gaza Hospital as a Command Center, U.S. Intelligence Says

 

My Father Is an Imam in Gaza. Hamas Kidnapped Him for Refusing to Be Their Puppet.
My Father Is an Imam in Gaza. Hamas Kidnapped Him for Refusing to Be Their Puppet.
Last weekend, twenty masked men dragged my father away. His crime? He refused to brainwash his people with their politics.

 

hopefully this drives a permanent wedge between Israel and CHina

Hamas using top-grade Chinese weapons in Gaza, including assault rifles and grenade launchers, says Israel (msn.com)

Hamas has a large stockpile of Chinese weaponry in Gaza, including assault rifles, grenade launchers, and advanced communications equipment, according to the IDF, the Telegraph reports.The findings raise questions about how the weaponry reached Hamas, potentially straining relations between Israel and China.

The IDF's findings also include telescopic sights for rifles, M16 cartridges, listening devices, and tactical military radio.

Israeli intelligence sources observed a significant upgrade in weaponry and technology acquired by Hamas, raising concerns about whether the Chinese supplies came directly from China or through a third party.

"This is top-grade weaponry and communications technology, stuff that Hamas didn't have before, with very sophisticated explosives which have never been found before and especially on such a large scale," an Israeli intelligence source told The Telegraph.

 

As much as I hate seeing Gazan civilians wasted by the thousands, I can’t see any scenario where Palestinians can be negotiated with. Listening to one of the freed hostages accounts, she was held by a Palestinian family. Wife and children took part in it.

 

I’ll say it again, Hamas could surrender today and the Arab civilians would have their ceasefire today.

 

No, they wouldn't. They would still have Israeli occupation. And do you really expect Arabs to take what has happened in the last 3 months sitting down? What Israel has been doing is simply setting the stage for the next inevitable bloodbath. I mean, if I was an Arab, living there, I'd want revenge too. Look at how many families they have destroyed in such a small amount of time.

The best long-term strategy for Israel at this point is to leverage this to lean very heavily on the U.S. to squeeze Iran like we were doing from 2017 through 2020. Israel keeps the peace (for the most part) and drives out their largest antagonist in the process. What does Biden have to offer Israel now other than saying "hey, you really need to stop?" Why would Israel listen? Israel needs to stop the slaughter, but use the threat of to leverage pressure on Iran. It starts and ends there. Keeping in mind, Israel and Saudi Arabia were (and still are) in talks to normalize relations.