Israel invades Lebanon. Again

"No"

While I appreciate you answered this time (and didn't run away again), I am left wondering if you are a monster or maybe an 'I'm alright Jack' type with absolutely no empathy for muslim children. I can only presume you do not have children. Nobody ever suggested that Hamas shouldn't be dealt with by force but how you can say 20,000 dead children was a proportionate response is psychopathic. It makes you utterly morally bankrupt. Under International Humanitarian Law, the illegal use of civilians as human shields by Hamas does not lift or eliminate the legal obligations of the attacking army. UNICEF have reported that over 50,000 children have been killed or injured in Gaza. Women and Children make up 70% of those killed in residential strikes. Under the Geneva Conventions, the principle of proportionality makes it a war crime to execute military actions where civilian harm outweighs the direct military advantage. The scale of the destruction (90% displaced) disproves any sense of targeted strikes. The IDF bombed schools and refugee camps and hospitals and tents. They created a famine by refusing to allow aid in - children died of malnutrition and disease with food/water/medicine just miles away at the border. The cutting off of electricity and fuel supply caused incubators to shut down, leading to the deaths of many premature babies. 114 children under the age of 15 were documented by Dutch journalists to have been shot with single bullets directly to the head or chest, drawing conclusions from international doctors of aimed fire. The list of how the children died goes on and on and on. We would know a lot more if international journalists were let in. And the murder of innocent children is ongoing…

"Collateral damage" - You might think you are cool somehow but I think you will regret this stain on your conscience one day.

Sometimes these people need to be exposed for what they are.

As some of Israel's detractors have pointed out, genocide is not necessarily based on numbers. You claim that 20,000 children have been killed in the Gaza war, or by UNICEF estimates over 50,000 killed or injured. That may be true.

You raise the question of proportionality and you are correct to do so - what makes this proportional is that Israel's fights with Iran and its proxies (of which Hamas is just one) are a fight to death. There is literally no peaceful solution possible, no circumstances under which the Ayatollahs of Iran will ever agree to even "live and let live" with the State of Israel as a Jewish state.

Under these circumstances, questions of proportionality, IMHO become largely irrelevant, as the country targeted for complete destruction should simply do whatever the sodding heck it has to do. It also means that anyone who has an opinion on the topic has to pick a side - the theocratic despots running Iran, or the existence of Israel.

Not only have I made my choice, but I apply the same rules to other conflicts of a similar nature, e.g. Russo-Ukraine war which is similar to the Iran-Israel conflict. There too, a larger state is determined to obliterate the people and nation of another. So I don't care what Ukraine has to do to protect itself, and would support it pretty much no matter what it did to the Russians. Same if China decided to attack Taiwan. Same if North Korea decided to attack the South. Same rule - you start a fight to the death, don't complain when the other side hits back.

Did you feel embarassed writing all that nonsense? Let's parse it.

"You claim that 20,000 children have been killed in the Gaza war" I don't claim it. It's a fact. Can you refute it? Of course not. It's well over 20,000 now. Don't be a denial creep. Own your hate.

"what makes this proportional is that Israel's fights with Iran and its proxies (of which Hamas is just one) are a fight to death" Pure and utter BS. Did you understand my post? Under the Geneva Conventions, the principle of proportionality makes it a war crime to execute military actions where civilian harm outweighs the direct military advantage. Your spoof about "fight to the death" and Israel's "existence" is absolute waffle. Israel is under zero danger of being wiped out and you know that. Tell me this, how many Israelis have been killed since the Oct 7th terrorist attack? When was the last time Hamas fired a bullet? "Fight to the death" - are you 7?

"Not only have I made my choice". Your last paragraph was silly. It's not about your choice, it's about IHL which you don't seem to know anything about. Israel have been terrorising the Gazan population for over 2.5 years. There is only one population in danger of obliteration. Israel fully intends to take over large parts or all of Gaza and expel/murder the Palestinians.

You have zero empathy for the 20,000 dead children. Or the maimed/starving children. You have lame excuses to back that up. Would it be easier to admit you are Islamophobic? There is no other explanation.

Just to add, Israel have killed 3,700 people in Lebanon since 2-March. 730 of them women, children or medics. Is that just a "fight to the death" too? Simplistic drivel. Death on one side only? It's Gaza all over again.

"Collateral damage" - You might think you are cool somehow but I think you will regret this stain on your conscience one day.

No it's fine. He cannot be that shallow. Deep down it's getting through. You cant be dishonest with oneself indefinitely.

Did you notice how he didn't even acknowledge the sniping or malnutrion/starvation or hospitals/refugee camps? He was happier talking about Taiwan and South Korea. Telling.

I don't think he particularly cares about Israelis either. I think it's pure Islamophobia. I don't know why people don't own that. If it's your feeling, admit it.

Still trotting out the same old canards I see.

Let's see if the ICJ rules (next year hopefully) that Israel has, in fact, committed Genocide against Gaza. And let's see if enough evidence materialises for Israel to find itself before the ICJ for committing Genocide in Lebanon.

Of course, many other reputable organisations, Jewish Holocaust survivors, scholars and academics have already stated clearly that Israel is committing Genocide in Gaza. But that isn't good enough for you. I suspect you would even hand wave away the ICJ ruling of Genocide.

Your posts contain statements that only the likes of Ben-Gvir and Smotrich and other poisonous far right nutters in Israel make. You justify murder and atrocities in the way those odious malevolents do. That started in Gaza, spread into the West Bank with the IDF and Settlers colluding and now into Lebanon (Gaza II).

When the dust settles and justice is seen to be done - ICJ finding of Genocide and Gallant, Netanyahu, Smotrich and Ben-Gvir rotting The Hague - those who raged against this murderous Israeli regime will remember with utter clarity those who didn't.

If the US had invaded (or supported proxy belligerents against) those countries to erase them and deny their people a right to exist, then yes. It would be entirely appropriate for those peoples to do whatever they had to do to survive.

However, I note that the countries you've referenced are all nasty dictatorships. Would you care to explain why you used these countries as examples?

They were provoked into invading both. I know you'd like to pretend Hezbollah, Hamas and their Iranian backers don't exist. There were no Israelis or Jews in Gaza on 6/Oct/23.

I have condemned actual war crimes and acts of no military purpose (e.g. sniping children, raping prisoners etc). These things are unjustified, I've been clear on that. I have zero interest in defending vile things IDF members do just for kicks and giggles.

I don't condemn them for refusing to withdraw from strategic highlands, nor will I condemn them for going all-out against mortal enemies.

They didn't. Nobody in America (with the possible exception of Donald Trump but he spouts so much rubbish it's hard to tell what is serious) wants Iran, Venezuela or Cuba to stop existing as countries or for their peoples to be erased. Nobody in the US wants to annex those countries. The US quarrel is with the despotic regimes running those countries and they have good reason to do so:

The Venezuelan dictatorship is actively destabilising the surrounding Americas (both because it has caused massive refugee flows and also through transnational crime), Iran is waging proxy wars across the Middle East (including attempting to destroy a US ally) and Cuba was a proxy front for the Soviets during the cold war. In each case:

1. The US was provoked.
2. The objective is not the destruction of the countries, just their dictatorships.

Neither is true of Iran's quarrel with Israel. They just want it - and its people - gone, completely, because … reasons.

OK, let's say that Ben-Gvir, Smotrich etc are pieces of s***. I'll concede that. How does it change the fact that Israel is locked in a fight to death with the Ayatollahs' and their proxies? How does Ben-Gvir being a POS change the fact that the West Bank and the Golan Heights are strategic highlands?

What options do Israel have that would actually result in peace? How could a less right-wing government appease those who want them all dead?