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Israel formally declares war against Hamas as it battles to push militants off its soil

Israel formally declared war on Hamas on Sunday, setting the stage for a major military operation in Gaza as fighting rages on Israeli soil. The declaration comes after Hamas, an Islamist militant group, launched a surprise assault this weekend that has so far killed over 600 Israelis.

Saturday was the deadliest day in decades for Israel and came after months of surging violence between Palestinians and Israelis, with the long-running conflict now heading into uncharted and dangerous new territory. Questions remain over how the Israeli military and intelligence apparatus appeared to be caught off guard in one of the country’s worst security failures.

Over 400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza as Israel responds with airstrikes in the densely-inhabited enclave. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed retaliation, warning his country would take “mighty vengeance” and was readying for “a long and difficult war.”

He urged Palestinians living in Gaza to “leave now.”

SAF77 ,
@SAF77@lemmy.world avatar

I despise the government of Israel, and everyone who supports it, but killing civilians is not acceptable. I don’t care about dead military personnel, soldiers are a legitimate target, but civilians? Th fuck, Hamas, THE FUCK.

Zaktor ,

With the acknowledgement that the current attacks are mostly along the Gaza border, where do the West Bank settlers fall in that dichotomy? Because they’re not just passive citizens of an oppressive nation, they’re very much a participant in the oppression. And on the other side, military service in Israel is compulsory. There are soldiers who didn’t want to be soldiers and think occupying the West Bank is wrong that are in that set of legitimate targets. Maybe it just sucks to be them and they should have tried harder to pursue a non-military service option, but it’s not an easy sort where uniform = agent of oppression and civilian = neutral third party.

SAF77 ,
@SAF77@lemmy.world avatar

The military is the main tool of oppression and as such is a valid target. The individual soldier might not be the issue but the military in its entirety. Of which said soldier is a part of. The individual soldier simply doesn’t matter. And that has been the case in every war that was ever fought. The individual does not matter.

Cleverdawny ,

Seems like the Israeli military is a good shield against people fighting “oppression” by slaughtering random innocents at a music festival and stating their goal as eradicating all Jews from the “river to the sea.”

Spzi ,

Settlers moving into occupied territories blur the line. They are neither fully civilian, nor clearly military. Something in between. They fulfill a strategic role, following and protected by armed forces. They also fulfill a strategic role for the negotiation table. And I guess they all know they run a greater risk, if alone for being closer to the frontlines.

Cleverdawny ,

This is what Hamas is, what they believe, what they do. They’re religious extremists who want genocide, and the only thing that’s stopping them is their physical inability to make it happen.

Draedron ,

Tbf it is also what israel is doing in retaliation. Both sides are absolutely terrible

Cleverdawny ,

They’re going to eliminate the threat. Which is going to mean hundreds or thousands of deaths. But Hamas knew that. They hide behind civilians to try to make Israel kill them, so they can get more recruits. It’s an intentional strategy. I’m not really interested in people both sidesing this. It’s a dishonest tactic intended to excuse the actions of monsters.

I have many criticisms of Israel, but they do not wish a genocide. Hamas does. There is no both sides. Hamas must be eradicated, and if the Palestinians won’t do it, Israel will, and the Palestinians in Gaza will have no one to blame but themselves for all the pain that process will involve.

Zaktor ,

In the same breath you’re expecting Israel to cause thousands of civilian deaths you talk about how it’s wrong to excuse the actions of monsters. At best we can hope the “kills thousands of civilians” is bundled up in your tidy “I have criticisms”.

Cleverdawny ,

Hamas is ultimately causing those deaths by forcing the war and then hiding among civilians. It’s unfortunate that Israel doesn’t have magic powers and cannot eliminate these monsters without civilian casualties, but the only way for the Palestinians in Gaza to be free from threats caused by Hamas is to kick Hamas out.

Shit sucks, I get it, but life is a bitch and if you support terrorists you can’t be surprised if the people they attack don’t just bend over and take it up the ass.

Zaktor ,

Shit sucks, I get it, but life is a bitch and if you support terrorists you can’t be surprised if the people they attack don’t just bend over and take it up the ass.

The exact same words could be applied to Israel.

Cleverdawny ,

Nah. They don’t support genocidal terrorists. If Israel wanted a genocide against Palestinians, it would happen.

Zaktor ,

They’re engaged in terror and are actively engaged in ethnic cleansing. That it’s a slow grind rather than a fast act that would shock the world doesn’t change what it is.

Cleverdawny ,

Israel’s doing a terrible job of ethnic cleansing, then. Lmfao

Boggy ,

What a stupid comment.

Cleverdawny ,

Check population numbers of Palestinians and Israeli Arabs

Boggy ,

Thanks for proving you have no idea what genocide actually means.

Cleverdawny ,

An attempt to eliminate a racial or cultural group of people, generally via either forced deportation or killing.

Since neither Israeli Arabs or Palestinians are seeing population declines, there’s no attempt at genocide going on.

Boggy ,

I didn’t mean the google definition. I mean the definition used within political science (which I have a degree in) that is used to distinguish war from genocide. I was hoping you’d assume as much but disappointed again. There has been a decline in fertility rates in Palestinians in Gaza, West Bank, and Palestine. Furthermore there has been a decline in education of the same groups as well as a large difference in COVID response when compared to Israelis. These are just a few examples of what educated people talk about when they speak about the beginnings of genocide of the Palestinian people.

c0mbatbag3l ,
@c0mbatbag3l@lemmy.world avatar

“Not the actual definition, MY definition!”

Boggy ,

No I literally explained. The definition and criteria through political science. Not the laymen’s definition. Laymen.

Cleverdawny ,

So not the actual definition, you mean one you made up

Boggy ,

Nope. I explained in my comment. The one used in political science, not the laymen’s definition. However by all means continue to be wrong, it doesn’t matter to me if you can’t wrap your head around what’s going on.

Cleverdawny ,

Uh huh okay

And what is this definition of genocide which you feel Israel meets

Boggy ,

You aren’t very clever dawny, my comment gives three examples. Limiting education, healthcare, and therefore fertility. All are part of the larger criteria for a violent conflict being more than just a war, but a genocide. Change your name to Laymendawny.

Cleverdawny ,

…k

Israel doesn’t occupy Gaza. If their healthcare and education is limited, it’s by their own government. Which is Hamas.

And, also, even if what you said WAS true, reducing education tends to INCREASE fertility, Mister “I have a political science degree”

Boggy ,

You are just making shit up. Education decreasing does not increase fertility. Nor is hamas the Palestinian government. Why do people insist on talking out their asses about things just to look to be knowledgeable on a subject.

Although you are right. This is something I have a degree in so yes I will correct people spreading misinformation. I’m not some guy with an opinion. I’d love to talk to you about something you have a degree in. It’s clearly not this.

Cleverdawny ,

You don’t have a degree in political science if you don’t know basic shit like the fact that Hamas is the Gazan government.

At best, you did poli sci 101.

Boggy ,

we weren’t talking about the Gazan government were we? We were talking about the Palestinian government. Two completely different things. Work on your reading comprehension. I think this is more than just laymendawny…dummydawny has a ring to it though no? It just fits.

Cleverdawny ,

Why would we talk about a government that doesn’t control Gaza lmfao

Just admit you don’t know what you’re talking about

Boggy ,

What kind of people live in Gaza? Palestinians. You can talk about whatever you want. I’m talking about the government representing the people who have been forced to live in Gaza. It’s really not that hard to follow what I’m saying. Is English your first language?

I feel bad for people that know you in real life. Lemm.ee’s most insufferable smoothbrain.

Cleverdawny ,

The government which represents Gaza is Hamas. Fatah doesn’t control Gaza.

Boggy ,

it doesn’t seem like you know what criteria makes something a genocide. Either that or you are just bias.

Dreamer ,

but they do not wish a genocide

Lmao

callouscomic ,

In a country with mandatory military service, I disagree that soldiers are a legitimate target as a blanket statement. As the rich and powerful wage wars, it’s the poor and those with limited options who die.

Tarkcanis ,

In the same vein, would that not make all Israeli citizens (except those under 18) semi legitmate targets since they’re trained military personal and potential combatants?

callouscomic ,

That’s what I’m talking about. They don’t get a choice. They are required to train. I think that’s disingenuous to say they are guilty by what is simply existing there.

I’d say the same if true for the other side about mandatory military service.

Dreamer ,

Shouldn’t we put the onus of responsibility on Israeli’s leadership and all that support this kind of ruling which blurs the lines between civilian and combatant?

It doesn’t help that Israel uses its military to protect and bolster settlers in plain clothes as they commit terrorism against the indigenous populations. In a sense, Israel is using its noncombatant civilian population as a “human shield” as sorts because they know that Palestinian resistance groups lack the luxury to sift through potential targets because time and technology is limited, and the risks are sky high. Perhaps, this was done by design to force everybody to have a stake in the conflict, whether they wanted to or not.

Franzia ,

No, I think target identification and official uniforms are key to any state military.

Sooperstition ,

Whose soil? The soil that was handed to the Zionists by the British? Or the soil that the Zionists violently forced people off of to form a country on stolen land?

Sivalente ,

The soil of the sovereign state of israel.

jcit878 ,

whenever someone uses the term ‘zionist’, you already know they don’t have a clue what they are talking about

Akasazh ,
@Akasazh@feddit.nl avatar

In this case it was used absolutely correctly in the first sentence, but retirement in the second. Zionists were the Jewish organization that strove towards a Jewish nation in the location of the biblical land of Zion.

It’s used sometimes to refer to the Israeli people, as descendants of these people, but the term loses meaning when the nation of Israel was created.

kbotc ,

Ah yes, Jordan, Egypt, and Syria have no blame for this situation. It’s not like there was a major international body that attempted to create borders and one side agreed to and the other side attempted to exterminate the other in a belief they could win a war, then attempted again a few decades

A party that should be holding the major bag is the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Hamas is a major wing of their organization and yet, they keep the border closed. They could set up a major airport in Rafah and open trade routes into Gaza. Israel would have no say, but they don’t.

Cleverdawny ,

The Muslim Brotherhood doesn’t hold power in Egypt, a military dictator does. Egypt cooperates with Israel on most security matters concerning Gaza, and events of the past few days have shown why. They don’t want extremists running around their country either.

Jaytreeman ,

Well, this sucks

BubblyMango ,

The only truth here

filister ,

From all the nations in the world one would expect that Jews should have learned that being an oppressor is not a recipe for peace.

At the end of the day all comes to politics and media propaganda on both sides. Both sides think they are morally right, but the truth is that neither is and that in most cases innocent civilians are suffering the most as a result. Really sad!

Marsupial ,
@Marsupial@quokk.au avatar

Israel took all the wrong lessons from the Nazis.

Murvel ,

Now what in the goddamn fuck does the jews have to learn from the nazis? What are you talking about man?

Marsupial ,
@Marsupial@quokk.au avatar

Well instead of learning that say oppression of an entire peoples is bad, they’ve gone and done exactly that.

flossdaily ,

Israel has never had a choice.

Palestinians have NEVER agreed to any peace deal that wouldn’t fully destroy the state of Israel.

nyar ,

Cause Israel is founded upon stolen land.

flossdaily ,

… Which was formally stolen from the Jews.

I mean, my support for Israel has nothing to do with ancient history, but if your want to go down that road, you lose pretty spectacularly.

stifle867 ,

Honestly land should belong to the people who live there, not a religious faction. How can Muslims and Jews, who both have claims to the area, ever live in peace when one religion wants to rule over the other? This is why most civilized countries seperate church and state.

kbotc ,

Sounds great. When is the appropriate time to claim “The land belongs to those who live there” in this conflict?

Spzi ,

While a great argument at first, it struggles when you consider strategic settling. Russia did so in Crimea and Donbas, Israel does too.

If “land belongs to people who live there” was the decisive law, that would be a strong incentive for genocide and settlers, which we rather want to prevent.

Because of that, I feel the acquisition must not be ignored.

MossyFeathers ,

Careful, that logic can easily be used to justify prejudice and bigotry towards native populations.

“We’ve had this land for hundreds of years, it’s ours now; doesn’t matter that it’s holy to you or that it was taken from you by force, we’ve been here long enough that it’s ours now.”

To be clear, I’m not defending Israel; just that the argument that the land should belong to whoever lives there could easily be used to justify an American corporation bulldozing a Native American religious site because the site isn’t part of the tribal lands recognized by the US government.

Evilcoleslaw ,

Okay “Bibi”? Where are they supposed to go? Are you going to let Palestinian civilians enter Israeli territory? Is the border crossing with Egypt open? Will Egypt let them in? Or do you just want to say this so the thousands of dead civilians get blamed for not leaving?

flossdaily ,

If people actually cared about the Palestinian civilians, they would have been encouraging them to make peace.

Instead, for decades people have been cheering on their terrorism as if their indiscriminate killing of Jews was justified.

Evilcoleslaw ,

FWIW I agree that the Palestinians haven’t been trying for peace, but at the same time, Israel hasn’t really been serious about keeping the peace either. The whole thing is a mess and each side can go on listing grievances and doling out recriminations, but more violence solves nothing.

flossdaily ,

Historically, violence has solved a lot of things. Notably the civil war and WWII, which ended slavery and Nazis, respectively.

And Israel kicking their aggressive neighbors’ asses as solved the problem of them worrying about their existence.

And violence against terrorists has greatly reduced their ability to hurt Israel in the long run.

I’d argue that history has shown that violence has been working out pretty well for the Israelis.

Now, the Palestinians on the other hand… They never take out military targets, only civilians, which does nothing to weaken Israel, and only strengthen’s Israel’s resolve.

I think it’s clear that the Palestinians are the ones who need to take a note from Martin Luther King or Gandhi about the benefits of passive resistance.

Maalus ,

Nice b8 m8

aniki ,

deleted_by_author

    •
    Maalus ,

    Way to go getting angry at random people on the internet.

    Madison420 ,

    Just as an fyi the US has never officially ended slavery and it is in fact enshrined in the bill of rights.

    Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

    jscummy ,

    They’ve been pushed to evacuate to shelters further south from Gaza, which is kind of the only option aside from Egypt opening up. Given that this is all caused by Palestinian terrorists entering Israel, I don’t think anyone can blame them for not opening up their border to let more in

    And obviously there’s plenty of innocent civilians who could be admitted no problem, but Hamas is still the governing party with majority support and would undeniably use that as an opportunity to sneak more militants in

    Madison420 ,

    Bro you know they told a bunch of people to shelter in the city center and then bombed the city center right? There’s at least a dozen reports of similar that very definitely seen credible.

    jscummy ,

    I’ve seen this on lemmy, but is there a real source?

    Madison420 ,

    Define real, war zone coverage is always a bit questionable at the best of times and Israel has a multi billion dollar industry of media propaganda.

    0ddysseus ,

    middleeasteye.net/…/israel-palestine-war-gaza-are…

    All Jazeera on the strike, no mention of the message from the IDF though: aljazeera.com/…/we-will-never-be-safe-a-day-of-bo…

    Spzi ,

    Is the border crossing with Egypt open? Will Egypt let them in?

    Honestly, what’s up with Egypt? Just reading comments one could get the impression Gaza was entirely encircled by Israel. But Egypt is mostly Muslim, too? And shares a 12km border with Gaza.

    Goes on to read en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt–Gaza_border

    Ok, I’m at a loss.

    Gaza was occupied by Egypt, then by Israel.

    Israel is building a steel wall near the Gaza-Egypt border and demolishing homes while fighting terrorists.

    Egypt is building a steel wall near the Egypt-Gaza border and demolishing homes while fighting terrorists.

    Either way, it seems Egypt is also not an option.

    Evilcoleslaw ,

    Egypt was the first of the Arab countries to make peace with Israel (tired of getting their asses kicked). They tend to cooperate quite a lot with Israel with respect to the border checkpoints, blockade, etc. My question about it was semi-rhetorical as I know Egypt probably isn’t going to let a flood of Palestinian refugees in.

    jscummy ,

    Look up Black September and what’s happened when Palestinians were allowed into Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and Syria. Gaza gets called an “open air prison” and Israel gets blamed, but they are there because no one else will have them

    Eheran ,

    So they can/could leave Gaza? People often say they can not just leave Gaza due to checkpoints and what not?

    Riccosuave , (edited )
    @Riccosuave@lemmy.world avatar

    Netanyahu is saying that for show. It gives the Israeli government a blanket justification to ignore any collateral damage caused in this conflict because they will just claim that they warned them to leave.

    Does anybody really believe that the insanely sophisticated security apparatus of Mossad didn’t know these attacks were coming in advance? This has the same stink of the Bush administration ignoring repeated warnings of attacks by Al Qaeda pre-9/11 to justify war in the middle east all over again.

    ThePyroPython ,

    There’s going to be some warcrimes coming. I’m not looking forward to this, nor am I looking forward to the increase of Nazis and Communists using this as justification to tar all Jewish people as evil.

    Riccosuave , (edited )
    @Riccosuave@lemmy.world avatar

    My thoughts exactly. The reality of sectarian violence (whether it be ethnic or religious in nature) is the justification of more atrocities. Hurt people hurt people, and the historically oppressed can sometimes find themselves becoming the most effective oppressors. It’s all bad, it’s all sad, and it’s all a reflection on the failures of humanity by extending the saber far more often than the olive branch…

    evulhotdog ,

    Extending the olive branch certainly has a closer to home meaning when it’s Israel.

    nyar ,

    I looking forward to the increase of Nazis using this as justification to tar all Jewish people as evil.

    Fixed that for you.

    ThePyroPython ,

    Not really. The Communists were quite happy to play into antisemitism and even encouraged it painting all Jewish people as bourgeois elites.

    …wikipedia.org/…/Antisemitism_in_the_Soviet_Union

    I’m already seeing users from .grad and .ml defending Hamas’ actions.

    Doesn’t matter if left, right, religious, secular, whatever, fascists who think any means justify the ends of the “perfect” state are an ideological cancer and therefore should not be tolerated in a tolerant society.

    chowder ,

    Coming? My guy there are already decapitations, slaughtering civilians in their homes, the music festival massacre, POW executions, rape, idk if it’s specifically a war crime, but the whole kidnapped Jewish children in cages.

    QHC ,

    This is standard policy for Israel, the same entity that pretends giving people a ‘warning’ before blowing up their home is a good enough excuse.

    flossdaily ,

    What a stupid take.

    Israel goes out of us way to destroy terrorist INFRASTRUCTURE instead of people, and you whine about it like it’s a bad thing?

    If some organization thought my home was an enemy base, and sent me an SMS message to give me enough time to get my kids out, I’d be pissed about the house, but my family would be alive.

    Compare that to Hamas who deliberately target civilians.

    PyroNeurosis ,
    @PyroNeurosis@lemmy.world avatar

    Any reimbursement for the home and whatever wealth you left there?

    Uranium3006 ,
    @Uranium3006@kbin.social avatar

    We need to get the hard proof out there so we can discredit Bibi and destroy the Israeli far right altogether. It's the only road to lasting peace

    flossdaily ,

    The only road to lasting peace is for Palestinians to agree to a peace deal that doesn’t call for the dismantling of Israel.

    They won’t. They choose terrorism every single time.

    Nutteman ,
    @Nutteman@lemmy.world avatar

    Stick to dental advice

    Vilian ,

    This has the same stink of the Bush administration ignoring repeated warnings of attacks by Al Qaeda pre-9/11 to justify war in the middle east

    but did he wanted a war in the middle east?(not trolling i never knew about that teory)

    Riccosuave , (edited )
    @Riccosuave@lemmy.world avatar

    That is such murky territory that any answer requires some degree of speculation.

    What is clear is that the Bush administration ignored direct warnings from the CIA regarding credible threats of attacks from Al Qaeda within the United States, and both the FBI and CIA were aware of the identities of some of the hijackers previous to the attacks.

    Additionally, the Bush administration overtly and continuously lied about the presence of WMD’s (Weapons of Mass Destruction) in order to justify their offensive invasion and continued occupation of Iraq.

    So, whether they were complicit in allowing 9/11 to occur through malice or incompetence is almost irrelevant because it was still used as a carte blanche excuse to push pre-existing neo-conservative foreign policy objectives.

    chaogomu ,

    Bush wanted to finish his daddy's war, because the Saudi government wanted Iraqi oil production disrupted/brought to heel.

    Bush was trying to drum up support for military action against Saddam from day one, but in a sort of lazy way. He spent several months of his first year in office on vacation.

    Anyway, Bush had been told about Bin Laden, and Bin Laden's people being in the US in early August 2001.

    There were other warnings, but all of them were ignored.

    Here's another fun fact, Daddy Bush was in a meeting of the Carlyle group on 9/11. Also present, were members of the Saudi royal family, and the Bin Laden family.

    Baby Bush personally granted exemptions to the nationwide no-fly zone after 9/11 to let the Bin Laden family members flee to Saudi Arabia.

    Also of note, the Carlyle group made a shitload of money in the newest venture, Defense Contracting. Specifically, they owned the production facilities that made the Abrams tank.

    baronvonj ,
    @baronvonj@lemmy.world avatar

    He wanted an excuse to go after Saddam Hussein, who had reportedly put together and assassination attempt on Bush Sr during a trip to Kuwait. Bush Jr was also surrounded by the PNAC crowd, who had published (before getting into the white house) goals to have a permanent US military presence in theiddle east to secure oil interests, and that they would likely need some catalyzing event to garner public support in the US.

    flossdaily ,

    Not all of them, no.

    But that warning will surely save some lives.

    jscummy ,

    There are multiple cities in the Gaza Strip, the largest being Gaza City. They can leave Gaza City to another city in Palestinian territory but can’t cross the border into Israel/Egypt.

    PyroNeurosis ,
    @PyroNeurosis@lemmy.world avatar

    Does this include the West Bank? Cause I don’t see how that’d work…

    jscummy , (edited )

    I’m not sure what you mean by that, the West Bank is on the other side of the country

    Edit: Nevermind, I get it. I’m really not sure, I guess Egypt/Jordan could facilitate people moving from Gaza to the West Bank

    autotldr Bot ,

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    Saturday’s shock attacks by Hamas led to the deadliest day in decades for Israel and come after months of surging violence between Palestinians and Israelis with the decades-long conflict now heading into uncharted and dangerous new territory.

    Netanyahu announced Israeli forces have started an “offensive formation” which will “continue without reservation and without respite until the objectives are achieved.” Among the decisions made by the cabinet is to stop the supply of electricity, fuel and goods to Gaza.

    The highly coordinated assault, which began Saturday morning, was unprecedented in its scale and scope and came on the 50th anniversary of the 1973 War in which Arab states blitzed Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

    “We had no warning of any kind, and it was a total surprise that the war broke out this morning,” Efraim Halevy, the former head of Mossad, Israel’s Intelligence Service, told CNN.

    “This Iron Dome is being fired up all around us right now, it’s illuminating the sky here,” said CNN’s International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson in Zikim, Israel, referring to the Israeli rocket defense system.

    On Saturday he tracked her phone and saw it was located in Gaza; later that day he recognized her in a viral clip of people loaded into the back of a truck flanked by Hamas militants.

    The original article contains 1,772 words, the summary contains 219 words. Saved 88%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

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