Hamas strike on Israel - mod warning in OP updated 19/10/23

Check out my later post from yesterday evening - an Israeli commenter suggesting that the Israeli public are fully aware of the death toll in Gaza, but mostly don't care or even worse, strongly approve of the targeting of civilians (to them, the entire population of Gaza are Hamas supporters and deserve to be punished unmercifully for October 7th).

Absolutely. Palestinians that have spoken out against them have been severely punished

I wouldn't believe much of what I hear from either side in this conflict. I agree about the tunnels. I think the top leadership have planned for the day they might be cornered by the IDF by extending the tunnels into Egypt in order to try and escape too .

Thats my point. If they truly valued death/martyrdom over life they wouldn't take that into consideration. If they start a direct war with Israel the Iranian Leadership know full well they will be targeted and the country destroyed

They do, and have done, repeatedly.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/bennett-reveals-details-of-two-direct-strikes-on-iran-in-2022-while-he-was-pm/

Is this in any way significant?

https://www.independent.ie/world-news/south-africa-seeks-international-court-of-justice-genocide-order-against-israel/a1330594059.html

I've lived in Islamic Country's for many years, and I'd divide Muslims into 3 categories, broadly speaking. Nr 1 and the majority of Muslims just want a normal life, their biggest worry, just like their non-Muslim counterparts is providing for their families, and in a lot of Islamic Countries, that's a daily struggle. Jihad and martyrdom are not high on their agenda, if it exists at all. But they are devout Muslims. Nr 2 who I would describe as being very relaxed about their religious intent, and would best be termed as basic,,,they drink, and indulge themselves in a manner that Mohammad might not approve, to put it mildly!! And finally, Nr3. the radicals. The most dangerous Muslims of them all. Normally they would be clerics, and they have the power to whip up fanaticism, especially in Nr 1 category by simply reminding them of their obligations to Islam and Allah, and their eternal reward after martyrdom. In many Islamic Countries, the level of education, especially in rural areas, is very low, and surprisingly enough, many will only have the most rudimentary reading and writing skills, and basic religious teaching. These will be the ones most influenced by radical mullahs preaching Jihad and martyrdom. Overview, in the situation we now have in Gaza, all 3 categories will have been mobilized.

problem for them is that if they do use them, they will be nuked in turn and will be destroyed permanently.

iran will be a nuclear state unless america does some sort of deal with them, and there are other nuclear states around who would feel threatened understandably by an expansionist israel who doesn't recognise the concept of borders.

america isn't going to go as far as using nukes itself to protect israel or in their defence, the american population, even the hardest right headbanger won't tolerate it.

What is the point of fighting over the west bank when a one meter sea level rise will submerge it ? The west bank will be under water in a hundred years unless of course it remains under Israeli control. Israel will probably protect it from flooding. The Palestinians would probably not have the means to stop it flooding. So why fight for something they won't be able to keep? The sea will have it or Israel. There is no other outcome.

More evidence of the rapes and sexual violence perpetrated against women by the hamas terrorists. Hopefully the deniers can shut up now. Link to the times of Israel as the original nyt report is behind a paywall.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-harrowing-detail-nyt-shows-weaponization-of-rape-sexual-violence-during-oct-7/

I said the coast because I knew you were trying to talk about Gaza which is on the Mediterranean coast but you were mistakenly referring to it as the West Bank probably due to unfamiliarity with the area. I've been to the region so I know I wasn't talking about the Dead Sea.

But look at the comments underneath the article. Numerous full blown psychopaths using these rape atrocities as justification for what's happening in Gaza and saying 'no Gazan is innocent'.

By contrast, has a single person claimed in the last three months that Israeli women 'deserved' to be raped?

But there have been lots of attempts to justify the attacks, people "celebrating" them as "resistance against the oppressor" - including people in the US who are not being oppressed by Israel. The fact that they denied the rapes happened isn't a get-out clause, unless they now apologise for disbelieving Israeli women and accept that Hamas uses rape as a tactic. Which won't happen.

I'm starting to think that this account is some kind of art project.

If avenging a number of rapes was the military goal of the invasion of Gaza, that would be very odd. Have you seen any statement to this effect from the IDF or the Israeli government or is this just a projection of your own world view onto others?

As I understand it, Israel has sworn to prevent Hamas from being in a position to launch any future such attacks. Do you have a reason to believe that is not their aim? Or that preventing future attacks on their soil is not a reasonable goal for a country to have?