Netanyahu’s premiership has been a complete net negative for Israel, in my opinion. Burning bridges all over.
There’s an article in the New York Times regarding the Israeli’s government’s efforts to win Eurovision:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/24/arts/music/eurovision-israel-votes.html
I think it does highlight how isolated Israel is becoming internationally, when their soft power involves gatecrashing a daft, camp song festival.
In a way, it’s a pity because the original public service Israeli broadcaster had been a great supporter of the EBU and had used the contest to give a voice to minorities within Israel.
The question is, whether the other EBU members now regard this as overstepping the mark of government interference.
That has been reported by saudi and qatari papers, and Hamas launched one of their super rare rocket attacks after; so presumably yes.
This family had ten children. Nine of them were killed in an Israeli strike, and the father is between life and death.
On other news on this thread. Hamas does agree for ceasefire.
Not thay it’s going to change much
Seems a definite confirmation that Mohammed Sinwar is dead.
Hmmmmm… I wonder who to believe?
The Grauniad is reporting there was one fatality:
Imagine you’re just on your way to pick up some food…
Just reiterating what I’ve always said.
People = shit. Thanks slipknot
And at this point, I’m becoming immune to this. I’ve lost whatever faith I had.
Hamas might as well surrender because no one is there to hold Israel to their warcrimes and genocide. That’s how the world really is.
Israel seems intent on showing a future with Hamas still in Gaza (and the continued genocide by Israel) is worse than the alternative (which is atrocious btw)
Hamas should have capitulated long ago, as they were defeated long ago. But as a religious jihadist movement, they will not because they do not bother with being a responsible state. And Israel exploits this, making the Gaza operation as traumatic and punishable for the civilian populace as possible; so their can sear the trauma into their very national psyche as a true nakba.
It is one of the very obvious Israeli War Goals. To punish Gazans for supporting Hamas.
The other war goals, ethnic cleansing and tertiaty, hostages; are afterthoughts in many ways and develop gradually through the war as Israel tests the waters as to what it can get away with. It turn out they can get away with a lot, so the push and push, exapnding their political war goals.
In the very beginning of the war, it was about destroying Hamas militarily and getting hostages back as well as critically, punishing the populace for supporting the war. Since Hamas is an entity that does not surrender and israel is allowed to continue by the US, their war goals have gradually increased in scope as well. So it gets worse and worse for Gazans. As the war goes on and with added political opportunities from defeating Hezbollah and Assad’s fall as well as a severely weakened and threatened Iran; Israel sees new opportunities and expands their war goals. So what would have been possible a year ago (capitulation by Hamas, their leaders going into exile), is perhaps no longer possible since Israel now thinks it can even get more out of it.
So new war goals, initially only ideas pandered by the most extreme segment of Netanyahu’s gov (ethnic cleansing in scale), is now to persuade several hundreds of thousands of Gazans to emigrate by making the strip as unlivable as they can get away with. And for this, they need Hamas to remain.
Therefore, I think it is now too late for Hamas to capitulate unless Trump leans heavily on Israel and forces them to accept it as a victory. War goes on, terms changes.
The fact that six people were injured at a rally in Colorado appears to be more important to the BBC than the fact that 21 people were killed in Gaza yesterday.
Says it all, really.
Who’s leading Hamas now ?
Both the Sinwar’s are dead. Is there a crisis of leadership?
Is that because 6 people being injured like that is novel. It doesn’t happen often. 21 people killed in Gaza is just another day.
Has anyone heard of this?