Fear not, thereâs always the UK politics thread and losing the midriff wobble threads before hitting the very bottom.
watching then news and the build up of Israeli troops on the border of Gaza, ready to go in
I cant help think that this is what Hamas want,
a guerilla war fighting in tight streets among the rubble,
I can see alot od Israeli soldier dying if it goes this way
My thoughts exactly. Hamas would be expecting the Israeli response and who knows what is waiting in Gaza?
I donât think Israel will be entering naively. Hence the evacuation order, they will flatten a block of apartments to shut down a single sniper. Sadly, it seems very unlikely the apartments will be empty.
Not much after all the bombing you would imagine.
It is what Hamas wants, as they are happy to see their civilians suffer if it keeps them in the news.
Donât expect any major military surprises with the overwhelming superiority of the Israeli forces and weapons.
I donât expect any major surprises either, but if 80 years of modern urban combat has established one basic point, it is that air support doesnât help much, artillery only a little. See Bakhmut for a reasonable example. There could be thousands of dead civilians, and a prepared and committed force would still be able to sustain determined resistance.
Sure, but the raids became stronger and stronger with time going by⌠and ultimately, Rome was plundered by these same barbarians. If Israel arenât careful, the same could happen to them eventually. Hopefully itâs not too late for them to start accepting that theyâll have to live with the Palestinians, not against them. And of course, the inverse is true as well.
Years ago, I saw a magnificent French-Israeli film, called Live and Become, from Radu Mihaileanu. Iâd recommend this film to anyone who hasnât watched it yet, itâs really moving and also highly instructive.
There is a scene in which an old man talks to a young boy, and speaking about the Palestinians and the Jews, shows him two trees which are next to each other. One is old and planted by a Palestinian a long time ago. The other one is younger and smaller, and has been planted by this Jewish man when he came to Israel. He tells the boy that independently from all rights and wrongs in the past, both trees have now a right to exist on this land, as have the people and their descendants who planted them.
So, both sides need to accept this simple reality: they will live together, but it will be their choice how they do that. Ideologues like Hamas or Netanyahouâs Likoud chose the worst possible way, and it prevails for the time being. But they wonât be there forever, and might hopefully let place for more promising people on both sides who will strive for a life in peace. A lot of people do this already, with fantastic, very diverse projects trying to bring Jews and Palestinians together (the western media very rarely tell these stories). At some point, hopefully not too far away, their turn will come.
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Looks like a film set. But sadly it isnât.
I doubt they are targeting civilians. Itâs the unfortunate reality that in a conflict zone, people are misidentified, rockets go off target, or there is âfriendlyâ fire from Hamas, who have apparently (and most likely) prevented civilians from leaving.
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Obviously fake news, it seems that the rhetoric here is that the Israeli solders would have executed them in the vehicle.
They have the ammo to do just that.
Flatten the entire city and then look for the tunnels.
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The wife and I have been getting into watching Anthony Bordainâs Parts Unknown. By chance Iâm watching his episode on Israel which includes him travelling to the West Bank and Gaza.
The episode offers no solutions, because there are none, but I think its a great episode at humanising the people who live in these areas.
Bordain was born Jewish but has never practised. He spends time in Jerusalem and with Jews in the West Bank. I think he is visibly uncomfortable in the West Bank Jewish community but I admire his bravery in challenging the narratives they try to spin to him about Palestinians being happy that Jews are moving in.
Then he spends time in the Muslim communities of both the West Bank and Gaza, as well as eating at a restaurant owned by a married Jewish/Muslim couple. The show was filmed in 2012 - its notable to me how beautiful the country is, especially as images of it being blown to pieces.
The episode ends with Bordain speaking with a former IDF soldier, who runs a restaurant 7 miles from Gaza and who had a daughter killed by a Hamas mortar. This man, despite his personal loss, hopes to see an integration between the two regions. There are sane people on both sides, who are not filled with hate. Its a tragedy that they are not the ones in charge.
I recommend it, highly.
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As always , the voices of the vocal minority trump those of the silent majority.
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- NYT report claimed that to make it easier for its soldiers to operate, the Israeli militaryâs rules of engagement have been loosened to allow troops to make fewer checks before shooting at suspected enemies, the three Israeli officers said.
The IDF have a long history of âmisidentifyingâ civilians, and not uncommonly celebrating about it.
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I used to feel quite strongly for the Palestinian cause but seeing nothing at all happen and their decades upon decades of suffering has just left me jaded
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At what point does US decide Israel has had enough ârevengeâ and reign them in ?