Israel-Hamas Thread II

[essentialsaltes]

Israeli minister says it may be ‘moral’ to starve 2 million Gazans, but ‘no one in the world would let us’​

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said “it may be just and moral” to starve 2 million Gaza residents until Israeli hostages are returned, but “no one in the world would let us.”

“It is impossible in today’s global reality to wage war – no one in the world would let us starve and thirst two million citizens, even though it may be just and moral until they return our hostages,” he said, adding that if Israel controlled aid distribution instead of Hamas, the war would have ended by now and the hostages would have returned.

“You cannot fight Hamas with one hand and give them aid with the other."

A United Nations statement, citing independent experts, indicated last month that famine has spread across the entire enclave. The experts accused Israel of conducting an “intentional and targeted starvation campaign,” which they termed a “form of genocidal violence.”

The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of “starvation as a weapon of war,” among other allegations.

 

[Stellar Vision]

Israeli minister says it may be ‘moral’ to starve 2 million Gazans, but ‘no one in the world would let us’​

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said “it may be just and moral” to starve 2 million Gaza residents until Israeli hostages are returned, but “no one in the world would let us.”

“It is impossible in today’s global reality to wage war – no one in the world would let us starve and thirst two million citizens, even though it may be just and moral until they return our hostages,” he said, adding that if Israel controlled aid distribution instead of Hamas, the war would have ended by now and the hostages would have returned.

“You cannot fight Hamas with one hand and give them aid with the other."

A United Nations statement, citing independent experts, indicated last month that famine has spread across the entire enclave. The experts accused Israel of conducting an “intentional and targeted starvation campaign,” which they termed a “form of genocidal violence.”

The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of “starvation as a weapon of war,” among other allegations.

The evidence of their genocidal intent is almost as much as the bodies of children they pile up in the streets of Gaza.

Speaking of which, while food and medical supplies barely trickle through, Israel managed to deliver a truckload of bodies for the people of Gaza to bury.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-returns-80-palestinian-bodies-gaza-keeps-up-military-pressure-2024-08-05/

 

[Merrill]

Israeli minister says it may be ‘moral’ to starve 2 million Gazans, but ‘no one in the world would let us’​

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said “it may be just and moral” to starve 2 million Gaza residents until Israeli hostages are returned, but “no one in the world would let us.”

“It is impossible in today’s global reality to wage war – no one in the world would let us starve and thirst two million citizens, even though it may be just and moral until they return our hostages,” he said, adding that if Israel controlled aid distribution instead of Hamas, the war would have ended by now and the hostages would have returned.

“You cannot fight Hamas with one hand and give them aid with the other."

A United Nations statement, citing independent experts, indicated last month that famine has spread across the entire enclave. The experts accused Israel of conducting an “intentional and targeted starvation campaign,” which they termed a “form of genocidal violence.”

The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of “starvation as a weapon of war,” among other allegations.

Notice how the situation in Gaza / Palestine has completely dropped out of the news in the US, and Democrats no longer talk about it

meanwhile, more US warships and Marines are being deployed to the US

left-wing media outlets, such as the Young Turks, aren't saying a word about what is going on over there since Kamala Harris was installed as the nominee. Left-wing pundits complained that Josh Shapiro was too much of a Zionist and IDF supporter

but when Harris selected Tim Walz, who is even more of a Zionist than Shapiro (receives AIPAC funding and has spoken at their events, is endorsed by J Street, has met Netanyahu, and expressed unconditional support for Israel) everyone suddenly changed their tune. Zero commentary on Walz's positions on Israel and Palestine

the 15 minute attention span of low-information voters and activists is spent. Now that their preferred candidate is selected, the Palestinians are no longer a consideration

 

[essentialsaltes]

Notice how the situation in Gaza / Palestine has completely dropped out of the news in the US, and Democrats no longer talk about it

Hello, I'm right here.
(As is CNN FWIW.)

 

[Merrill]

Hello, I'm right here.
(As is CNN FWIW.)

and I commend you for that

but don't you find that it is interesting that since Harris was installed as the nominee, this issue has basically been memory-holed?

I don't see anyone protesting. Zero criticism of Walz's past Zionist positions. Nothing on CNN this morning about what is happening in Gaza or even Israel. Just puff-pieces about Kamala

you have to go to Al-Jazeera to figure out what is going on the ME

when college students return to school in a month, are they going to protest? or simply move on to other things, because Harris is the nominee, and it might make her look bad?

 

[essentialsaltes]

but don't you find that it is interesting that since Harris was installed as the nominee, this issue has basically been memory-holed?

I don't believe that's the case.

I don't see anyone protesting.

I understand protests were/are already planned for the DNC in Chicago.

 

[Merrill]

I don't believe that's the case.

I understand protests were/are already planned for the DNC in Chicago.

or it could be this

the paid protestors have been instructed by the DNC to stay home, since their job is done

and that job was to create chaos and concern among the electorate, so that Joe Biden could be replaced by the preferred candidate Kamala Harris

the Saul Alinsky tactics become clear when one starts digging

the Palestinians are going to get literally genocided and no one on the political left in this country is going to say a thing

because it was never about the Palestinians

just like the traditionally anti-war left is now in the pocket of the military-industrial complex and shills for them endlessly.

 

[essentialsaltes]

or it could be this

No, that's not really plausible.

the paid protestors have been instructed by the DNC to stay home, since their job is done

We'll find out in a couple weeks.

 

[essentialsaltes]

No, that's not really plausible.

We'll find out in a couple weeks.

Or sooner.

Harris responds to Gaza protesters at rally: ‘I am speaking now’​

 

[Merrill]

Or sooner.

Harris responds to Gaza protesters at rally: ‘I am speaking now’​

Harris receives funding from AIPAC and has spoken at their events more than once

as Al-Jazeera remarks "Activists say expressing sympathy for Palestinians without pursuing a meaningful shift away from the US’s policy of unconditional military and diplomatic support will not help Harris win back voters alienated by President Joe Biden’s approach to the war."

Harris has not expressed any meaningful policy changes towards Israel, and she has not once notified that nation that if it continues attacking civilians, pushing into Gaza, etc. there will be manifest, meaningful consequences

Her running-mate is a hardcore Zionist who unconditionally supports Israel

make no mistake: a Harris victory in November means tens of thousands of Palestinians are going to get killed, and there could be a wider war with Iran and Lebanon. Kamala will let Netanyahu do whatever he wants, and give him the weapons to do it

unfortunately, Trump promises virtually the same thing

so the real losers here are the Palestinians

but let's not create these fake, fantasy stories about how Kamala is going to save the Palestinians and end the conflict. She has zero intention to do that

 

[essentialsaltes]

Questions mount over six hostages’ fate in Gaza after IDF finds gunshot wounds​

There has been no official explanation yet of how the six died.

[IDF] has not determined whether the gunshot wounds were the cause of death (of the hostages)

[Four presumed Hamas guards were found dead as well, but without gunshot wounds.]

Israeli outlet Ynet had reported on Tuesday that an IDF preliminary assessment was that the hostages [and presumably the Hamas militants] may have died due to suffocation after the IDF hit a nearby Hamas target and carbon dioxide flooded the tunnel where they were being held.

[As for when they died, IDF spox] Hagari referred back to a statement he made in June, when he had said the “the hostages were killed while our forces were operating in Khan Younis.”

 

[essentialsaltes]

Israel orders evacuation of former Gaza safe area; U.N. aid convoy fired on​

Israel’s Health Ministry said Friday that it has detected a strain of the polio virus in Gaza’s sewage as a sanitation crisis mounts.

Baby in Gaza partly paralysed from polio in territory’s first case for 25 years​

The UN is appealing to Israel and Hamas for a humanitarian ceasefire to allow humanitarian workers to carry out the immunisation campaign.

 

[Landon Caeli]

Baby in Gaza partly paralysed from polio in territory’s first case for 25 years​

The UN is appealing to Israel and Hamas for a humanitarian ceasefire to allow humanitarian workers to carry out the immunisation campaign.

Hamas is excited. The more human sheilds they can find the better.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Hamas is excited. The more human sheilds they can find the better.

I suppose Israel will be forced to blow up children in iron lungs, because there might be Hamas Inside™

 

[rjs330]

Yes, if Only the enemy would come out and fight [the heroes] where it’ll be easy for [the heroes] to mow them down!

Exactly. Since they don't, then the heros have to go after them wherever they are hiding. If you can't win a war then you shouldn't start it.

 

[rjs330]

Palestinian homes were destroyed ‘for revenge,’ says Israeli soldier who served in Gaza​

He said that the anger felt by Israelis after October 7 and calls for revenge were expressed openly in his unit, as they waited to be sent into Gaza, and called it the “demonizing” of Palestinians.

“In the days before we entered Khan Younis … there was this atmosphere that was kind of growing of demonizing the Gazans,” he said, adding that he heard people “speaking about killing, ruining all of Gaza. Wiping it out became something that people (were discussing), as if it was some kind of a legitimate idea.”

“We’ve seen a lot of destruction that was not necessarily related to military reasons. Everything tends to (get) really mix up, you know – people are destroying houses because they believe that they should (get) revenge (for) what happened on (October 7) and it mixes up with the reasons to destroy houses for military reasons,” Green said, adding he witnessed “chaos … I could tell you 100% that we’ve destroyed houses at least for reasons that … we don’t care enough about the lives of Palestinians.”

--

The possibility that hostages have been killed during Israeli bombardments is a sensitive one in Israel. There have been occasions when officials have announced that hostages were believed to have been killed while in captivity, but at no point have any such announcements been attributed to Israeli airstrikes. The Israeli army has not responded to CNN’s request for comment on Green’s claims.

I'm actually not surprised with this. Revenge is a typical human response when friends family members are slaughtered for no reason. And then you find out the Gazan civilians were involved and are hiding g and helping Hamas, then revenge is understandable. Even though we feel revenge is the wrong motive.

We all know who is actually responsible for driving rhe revenge factor. The Isreali soldiers would never have been there exacting revenge if it weren't for Hamas, most likely driven by Iran. If they would have left Israel alone, none of this would have happened.

 

[Valletta]

The evidence of their genocidal intent is almost as much as the bodies of children they pile up in the streets of Gaza.

Speaking of which, while food and medical supplies barely trickle through, Israel managed to deliver a truckload of bodies for the people of Gaza to bury.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-returns-80-palestinian-bodies-gaza-keeps-up-military-pressure-2024-08-05/

Hamas has no qualms about piling up the bodies of children.

 

[Landon Caeli]

I suppose Israel will be forced to blow up children in iron lungs, because there might be Hamas Inside™

Oops?

 

[essentialsaltes]

Hostage abducted on Oct. 7 rescued from Gaza, Israeli military says​

Kaid Farhan al-Qadi, 52, spent 326 days in captivity in Gaza before he was rescued by Israeli troops.

The Israel Defense Forces said Qadi, 52, was kidnapped by Hamas during the group’s Oct. 7 cross-border attack into Israel. He is in stable medical condition in Israel, the IDF said in a joint statement with Israel’s security agency.

The father of 11 was abducted from his security job at a factory in Israel’s Kibbutz Magen, the forum said, noting that Qadi had spent 326 days in captivity before he was rescued by Israeli troops.

[I was curious about the name - others are reporting he is Bedouin.]

 

[essentialsaltes]

World Food Programme halts Gaza staff movements after vehicle fired upon at Israeli checkpoint​

In a statement, the World Food Programme (WFP) said the incident happened at the Wadi Gaza bridge on Tuesday evening as two of its armoured vehicles were escorting a convoy of lorries with humanitarian aid.

The WFP said that while nobody was injured, one vehicle was directly hit, despite the convoy being clearly marked and "receiving multiple clearances by Israel".

Executive director Cindy McCain described the incident as "totally unacceptable".

"I call on the Israeli authorities and all parties to the conflict to act immediately to ensure the safety and security of all aid workers in Gaza," she added.