Israel and Hamas trade blows yet again; may possibly escalate into a ground war

[Fragony]

Had some prehistory. Appearently some non-Hamas salafi militia killed Israeli soldiers in some border skirmish. Since it's Hamas' responsibillity to control those (Hamas being the goverment in Gaza) and they haven't done so, Israel got fed up (the situation in Syria probably influenced greatly) and took out that Hamas leader.

And fed up covers the issue pretty much.

It probably even wasn't Hamas but Islamic Jihad who are much worse, that is also the difficulty Hamas is facing, even if they wanted to form a government more radical elements won't allow it. It ain't going to happen, Hamas will have to control even more radical factions if they try to be reasonable and become a target itself.

[Idaho]

No country or province in the world that is subject to blockade and military strkes is going to have a moderate and non-militarised political structure. Can you imagine the kinds of political front runners you would get in texas if Mexico locked down it's borders and sent in the occasional air strike?

[Hooahguy]

I hate my fellow Jews so much. Cant stand them. In an effort to show why the Palestinians might just be a bit angry at Israel I posted this image:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

with the caption: "It is important in this conflict to try to see both sides of the issue."

Oh boy did that open a storm.

I got three messages calling me a terrorist sympathizer and a storm of angry comments. Just ended up deleting the picture.

And people wonder why I am anti-Zionist.

[Lemur]

A good question: What is Israel's long-term strategy?

Short-term, I understand: No state can agree to have its civilians rocketed. But long-term, do Israeli leaders believe that they possess a military solution to their political problem in Gaza? There is no way out of this militarily. Israel is not Russia, Gaza is not Chechnya and Netanyahu isn't Putin. Even if Israel were morally capable of acting like Russia, the world would not allow it. So: Is the goal to empower Hamas? Some right-wingers in Israel would prefer Hamas's empowerment, because they want to kill the idea of a two-state solution. But to those leaders who are at least verbally committed to the idea of partition, what is the plan?

[Montmorency]

The only short-term solution? Any old casus belli will do, I suppose.

[Montmorency]

As is the assassination of a high-ranker.

But proportionality is not a concern when the goal is to obviate negotiations.

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

I hate my fellow Jews so much. Cant stand them. In an effort to show why the Palestinians might just be a bit angry at Israel I posted this image:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

with the caption: "It is important in this conflict to try to see both sides of the issue."

Oh boy did that open a storm.

I got three messages calling me a terrorist sympathizer and a storm of angry comments. Just ended up deleting the picture.

And people wonder why I am anti-Zionist.

I long ago separated "Jews" and "Israelis" - Israelis are screwed, long term, unless they give Palestinians equal rights and end Apartheid.

Jews are just people - but some of them think they're the same as Israelis, when really they're not.