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Hamas/Israel conflict: news and discussion

The Israelis are frantically trying to find a way to deal with the impossible situation Hamas has backed them into. If they invade the Gaza Strip, it’s going to be an utter bloodbath, and not just there — I’d expect a ground invasion by Hezbollah along the northern frontiers, for example. If they don’t invade, they appear weak. It’s an utterly unenviable mess, and thus a brilliantly nasty piece of strategy on Hamas’ part.
 
the attacks of october 7th was a fucking clockwork orange horrorshow.

the al quassem brigades massacre of a thousand civilans is the single worst act of brutality in the israeli-palestinian conflict since defense minister sharon gave the fascist butchers of the phalangist lebanese forces led by elie hobeika free reign for to torture, maim, rape & kill defenseless palestinian refugees in sabra & shatila 1982.
the death figuers range from obvs underestimates of 460 to a 'rough maximum' of 3500; no one knows for sure.

hamas has never done anything close to this scale before. israel hasn't experienced anything like it.

to see the leaders of hamas trying to deny what happened in interviews like the one teqniq linked to rasha nabil vs khaled meshal or sarah ferguson vs basem naim is surreal.

don't know if you've seen this - haaretz list over israel's dead. pictures provided by their loved ones. i took the time to scroll all the way through it, trying to show some kind of respect. it's grim & it just goes on. those 'legitimate targets' - the soldiers - were mostly 19-21 years. the ravers were 24-28 - their older siblings, i suppose.

in this time of national trauma & grief, israel is led by a corrupted criminal & a coalition of fascists & other bastards. & the western major powers offer them 'unconditional support'...

now we got another list of names, 7028 of them. stand by for updates.

we gotta stop this madness now.

...no barrage of missiles, no awesome Iron Dome defenses, no brutal airborne firepower will ever compare to the strength it takes to create a lasting peace. To learn to love the children of the enemy as much as you love your own.
 
On the law side, open letter from British lawyers calling for ceasefire published.

Letter... The full letter runs to about 10 pages, only skimmed as have work to do, but worth a read I think:


Graun:


Header text of letter:

London

26 October 2023

Dear Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, Defence Secretary,

We the undersigned legal practitioners, legal academics and former members of the judiciary, in the United Kingdom (UK), dedicated to upholding the rule of law both domestically and internationally, call on the UK Government to act urgently to fulfil its international legal obligations in relation to the ever-escalating conflict in the Middle East.

In doing so, we are deeply mindful that many people in the UK – including Israelis and Palestinians, and those in the broader Jewish, Arab and Muslim communities – have close ties to the region, and we express our sympathy to all of them, particularly the bereaved, and those whose loved ones are still in grave danger. We are moved to intervene because, in a region already accustomed to great suffering, the death and other harm visited on individuals, families and whole communities in the last 20 days has been truly terrible.
 
A complete ceasefire is pretty much a non starter as far as I can see. The only acceptable endgame for Israel now is the complete eradication of Hamas and vice versa. Not really a basis for negotiations.
There might possibly be the odd pause to let aid in and give time for both sides to tool up ready for the next round but what's been done (by both sides) can't be undone and there is no going back to the situation on Oct 6. This conflict is going the distance.
 
Al Jazeera live feed:

‘Soon many more will die’ from Gaza siege: UN​


The United Nations warns “many more will die” as a result of Israel’s ongoing “total blockade” of the Gaza Strip, saying basic services in the Palestinian territory are “crumbling”.
“People in Gaza are dying – they are not only dying from bombs and strikes, soon many more will die from the consequences of [the] siege imposed on the Gaza Strip,” said Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
“Basic services are crumbling, medicine is running out, food and water are running out, the streets of Gaza have started overflowing with sewage.”
 
A complete ceasefire is pretty much a non starter as far as I can see. The only acceptable endgame for Israel now is the complete eradication of Hamas and vice versa. Not really a basis for negotiations.
There might possibly be the odd pause to let aid in and give time for both sides to tool up ready for the next round but what's been done (by both sides) can't be undone and there is no going back to the situation on Oct 6. This conflict is going the distance.
You may be right. But the complete eradication of Hamas will also mean the complete eradication of Gaza as a place to live any kind of normal life, probably mass murder of thousands of civilians, the displacement of god knows how many Palestinians to god knows where, probable renewed carnage in the West Bank, likely hostilities with Hezbollah in Lebanon, and much more. That would mean the end of any possibility of peace for years to come and the end of any two state solution. So Israel has to be encouraged to step back. So western governments have to start applying pressure and no longer give unconditional support for a supposed right of self defence.
 
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