Is Israel completely beyond any control?

Now, it may be just a coincidence, but I was reading in the Observer yesterday that Netanyahu was on the verge of losing power in Israel and that the new government was likely to be a coalition of Israeli &Arab parties. The Arab party has now withdrawn.

I agree with you Peasblossom. It's like fighting a well organised army with pea shooters.

I don't understand the lunacy of Hamas. They know perfectly well that Israel will retaliate and will cause more destruction.

World opinion is, on balance, in favour of Palestine, so they would (in my opinion) be better to let the diplomats find a compromise and apply sanctions to Israel if they overstep the mark. I think Fatah and Yasser Arafat understood that.

Just in case anyone draws conclusions from those statistics.

The conclusion I would draw would be that the Israelis have better protection. As is clear from your post.

OTOH, I'm sure that the Palestinians are well aware of Israel's superior defences and that Israelis are equally well aware of the inadequacy of the Palestinian defences.

MaizieD

Now, it may be just a coincidence, but I was reading in the Observer yesterday that Netanyahu was on the verge of losing power in Israel and that the new government was likely to be a coalition of Israeli &Arab parties. The Arab party has now withdrawn.

Yes, I read that too. Who knows? It's certainly true that Netanyahu doesn't have 100% support in Israel and is a wily politician. That's why turning on Jews (or even Israelis in general) is so awful.

Thought the conclusion some might draw was fewer casualties one side meant less violent intent from the other.

people do interpret on limited information.

I think one thing that drives Hamas to break out into action sometimes is the complete disregard of the problems when everything is peaceful. The violence focusses the world's news on Gaza and the Palestinian cause.
Palestinians are dying anyway through lack of proper medical care
And Medicine Sans Frontiers was treating Palestinians in Israeli territories on 10th May way before there were any Hamas rockets
On Monday 10 May 2021, Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) started supporting the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in Jerusalem to assess and stabilise hundreds of Palestinians injured by the Israeli police.

“We spent a whole day treating Palestinians, including children, with rubber bullet, stun grenade and blunt trauma injuries. People had also been sprayed with a chemical fluid known as skunk water and had inhaled tear gas. Many patients have received head, chest or eye injuries from rubber bullets. We have seen many children injured including a 12-year-old with a femur injury and a 14-year-old with an eye injury,” said MSF’s medical coordinator in Palestine, Dr Natalie Thurtle.

The only conclusion I draw is that Israel has more sophisticated weaponry and defence systems, and innocent people are suffering, and have been for years, because they are pawns in the cruel power game.

I'm sure you're right. If Hamas were to be handed efficient weapons, I'm sure they'd use them.

Part of the problem with any Arab-Israeli confrontation is the amount of fake news published on the internet. I've been reading about some of the doctored pictures. Even photos can be interpreted differently if they're taken from a different angle or with a different lens. Some of the photos have been shown not even to have happened during this conflict. Both sides are guilty of misinformation, which is why I wondered about the bombing of the AP and Aljazeera offices. Aljazeera is known to be more pro-Palestine, but AP is usually fairly neutral and publishes real news. If I were a sceptic, I might think that somebody wants to stop unbiassed news. We only have Israel's word that the building was housing Hamas weapons.

Peasblossom

Thought the conclusion some might draw was fewer casualties one side meant less violent intent from the other.

people do interpret on limited information.

Did I say that?

All I am saying is that the Israelis (sorry to generalise, but how else am I supposed to identify them? ) know that they can kill more people.

I think you could be right too trisher, which is why I wondered about the destruction of AP's and Aljazeera's offices. Both do report regularly on the situation in Gaza and the West Bank.

And Medicine Sans Frontiers was treating Palestinians in Israeli territories on 10th May way before there were any Hamas rockets
On Monday 10 May 2021, Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) started supporting the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in Jerusalem to assess and stabilise hundreds of Palestinians injured by the Israeli police.

I was wondering about that, trisher. The mosque attack seemed such an inexplicable thing to do, though no doubt I don't know the full story.

I'm afraid that reading about Netanyahu facing the prospect of losing power seemed to answer a question or two.

Yes, trisher. It is heartbreaking. I have heard first hand of the restrictive and difficult conditions many Palestinians are living in day to day, even when there is no bombing, from those who have managed to travel in the West Bank, not Gaza.

It’s bound to be a breeding ground for terrorism if children are growing up under such conditions.

The reason for the greater number of Palestinian casualties is because according to Intelligence, it's because the Hamas store their weapons in people's houses so when the IDF or IAF fire their weapons they hit the houses with the stores of arms-----what kind of people allow weapons to be stored in family homes ?? There's bound to be casualties !

The Middle East has been a tinder box for years. I would like to see representatives from all those countries with mediators sit round a table and discuss their problems. It will need give and take on many sides but surely that would be better than this bombing and destruction.

EllanVannin

The reason for the greater number of Palestinian casualties is because according to Intelligence, it's because the Hamas store their weapons in people's houses so when the IDF or IAF fire their weapons they hit the houses with the stores of arms-----what kind of people allow weapons to be stored in family homes ?? There's bound to be casualties !

But that's Israel's side of the story. It could be true - or maybe not. The editor of AP has asked for proof that the building where AP's offices were situated did indeed also accommodate anything to do with Hamas. At this point, none of us knows the truth.

Sarnia

The Middle East has been a tinder box for years. I would like to see representatives from all those countries with mediators sit round a table and discuss their problems. It will need give and take on many sides but surely that would be better than this bombing and destruction.

That's what Fatah and Arafat were trying to do.

It's not the Palestinians themselves, it's the terrorist group which was formed the Islamic fundamentalists known as Hamas, the militant group who rules Palestine and whose people are fearful of them.

It would be like us living under the laws of Islam if we did nothing about terrorists----so what's it to be ?
We have above 200 terrorists/ extremists in our prisons, do we set them free ? Wave their flags instead of ours ? Take your pick !
This is how the Palestinians have to live while Hamas are free to carry out their killings, so I say thank goodness for the IDF and IAF for assisting freedom for the people of Palestine.

growstuff, like us, Israel have a good Intelligence system and know their targets.

Hamas WON'T agree to peace talks. It's been tried before.

Maybe the problems in the wider region go back a long way - back to the way it was carved up into different countries by the British and other super powers. For example, I read that Jordan was created because someone who helped Lawrence of Arabia with the Arab revolt was promised a kingdom. Tbe sykes Picot agreement also created artificial countries with borders literally drawn with a ruler!

Perhaps they had to do these to get an established peace at that time but ownership of land and borders of countries have been fought over for centuries and make it very hard to find peaceful solutions.

Remember the Manchester bombing ? This is how the Palestinians have had to live for years, only worse because their terrorists have never been captured.
Somebody's got to put a stop to it, it's as simple as that.
What if we'd have sat back and done nothing ?

I can't forget that because my stepGD was there with my step GD going around in hysterics looking for her, stepping over bodies.

EllanVannin

The reason for the greater number of Palestinian casualties is because according to Intelligence, it's because the Hamas store their weapons in people's houses so when the IDF or IAF fire their weapons they hit the houses with the stores of arms-----what kind of people allow weapons to be stored in family homes ?? There's bound to be casualties !

EllanVannin have you looked at the size of Gaza and its population 2 million people in just over 300 square k. Some of which is an Israeli no-go buffer zone. There aren't many places to put weapons apart from near people.
What about the Palestinians injured in Jerusalem were they all terrorists?

EllanVannin

Remember the Manchester bombing ? This is how the Palestinians have had to live for years, only worse because their terrorists have never been captured.
Somebody's got to put a stop to it, it's as simple as that.
What if we'd have sat back and done nothing ?

I can't forget that because my stepGD was there with my step GD going around in hysterics looking for her, stepping over bodies.

Well imagine if the attack had come from a country which overules your country and no one is going to be punished or held to account for those murders because the perpetrators are more powerful and are armed by the richest country in the world

Somebody's got to put a stop to it, it's as simple as that.

Well no-one's going to put a stop to it by bombing them, EV.

On the Ferrari show today, Jewish people who live in North London said they were scared of the insults and calls for violence. And I truly feel for them. There is NO excuse for the language and threats used in past couple of days in London and elsewhere in the UK. NONE, and I will NOT be an apologist either.

But it made me think- if those shouts and insults feel so scary and threatening- what must it feel like for Palestinians to have your home taken away, your land taken and all your century old crops burnt to the ground, your water deliberately polluted,

and bombs falling on your family, day in, day out.