Israel to "conquer" Gaza

CAIRO, May 8 (Reuters) - Hamas militants engaged in "fierce fighting" with Israeli soldiers on Thursday in the south of the Gaza Strip near Rafah, the Palestinian militant group said.
The statement, issued on Telegram, suggests that Hamas is still active in areas where the Israeli military has expanded its control, more than 19 months after the start of Israel's air and ground campaign in Gaza.

If all Palestinians were supporters of Hamas, I think it would be easier to watch them erased by the IDF, but we know that's not true. We don't assume every British person is a football hooligan, a rioter who tries to burn asylum seekers in their beds or a mask wearing anti semite because we see pictures of people behaving like this in the media.
Pope Francis spoke to Palestinians every day, he wanted a pope mobile converted to help injured Children in Gaza. He called for an investigation into how Israel was conducting the war and if it was committing Genocide. I'm not a Catholic but thank goodness he was willing to speak up against this dreadful war and I hope Pope Leo does the same.

My goodness annie that first sentence took my breath away.

Palestinians are Hamas, calling them civilians is an excuse to deny this fact. All those Palestinians mocking the hostages were
Palestinians, the crowds cheering as a body of a young murdered hostage was driven around Gaza were Palestinians

It’s becoming increasingly obvious that if the current Israeli government continues its attacks on civilians, Palestinians will inevitably be driven to support Hamas. We’ve seen this so often, terrorists being seen as freedom fighters.
I’m in no way supporting this and feel despondent. I’ve visited Israel once and found a welcoming country with Arabs and Jewish people living and working side by side. This is over 20 years ago in a period of relative stability.

I rather think that the future of Gaza is in the hands of the Israeli government.

David49

Whitewavemark2

David49

Just like most media they have a biased agenda on many subjects, usually to make news more “dramatic”.
Whether you like that bias depends on your personal opinion of any situation, in the case of Gaza the bias is massively pro Hamas, repeating Hamas propaganda many times.

Gosh, that is quite a biased opinion david

You should look at your own very biased opinions. Some of them are quite extreme

Gosh which ones are they? I would not class myself as extreme, but it is interesting to know your opinion of examples of any extreme views I espouse.

Thanks in advance.

I would also be interested to read instances of the BBC’s bias towards Hamas.

AN41

Don't forget that Hamas was their duly elected government and army long before they were labelled as terrorists but yes, as they watch their beloved children turning into skin and bone from starvation now, with their big eyes and deformed limbs, the ordinary Gaza people must be begging them to surrender.
Israel won this war already , ages ago, but they seem to want to finish the Gaza people off. No food has been allowed in for over a month and there was precious little when that started and they are trapped.
Now they just want to reduce numbers i.m.o. to make the expulsion easier when it happens.

One thing of interest and great unease to me is that Smotrich said earlier that the world would never allow them to starve Gaza into submission "even though they deserved it".

And we did. We have allowed it. Why?
What's that saying about those who watch and do nothing?

Hamas promised a better future for Gaza and got elected, after which the murdered the opposition and changed into a terrorist organization that wanted to destroy Israel. All they have achieved in Gaza is death and destruction, the UN and other aid organizations have sustained Hamas in power, without achieving any agreement with Israel.

It is now up to Gazans to remove Hamas from power or Israel will do it for them, the future of Gaza is in the hands of Gazans

Whitewavemark2

David49

Just like most media they have a biased agenda on many subjects, usually to make news more “dramatic”.
Whether you like that bias depends on your personal opinion of any situation, in the case of Gaza the bias is massively pro Hamas, repeating Hamas propaganda many times.

Gosh, that is quite a biased opinion david

You should look at your own very biased opinions. Some of them are quite extreme

Iam64

No one here is suggesting protecting terrorists. The consensus is of rejection of Hamas and increasingly of the current dangerous right wing Israeli government

👏

Anniebach

Quote Iam64 Thu 08-May-25 19:24:23
No one here is suggesting protecting terrorists. The consensus is of rejection of Hamas and increasingly of the current dangerous right wing Israeli government

I do not believe Hamas will cease being terrorists , will honour any agreement and will strike again

Of course they will. Even if every single current Hamas member were to be killed (and I'm not sure who actually counts as a member of Hamas) this period in history will not be forgotten for generations. So what's the point in trying to eradicate Hamas because it's not achievable, unless there's some attempt at conciliation.

So how would you define genocide Anniebach?

Quote Maremia Thu 08-May-25 21:06:32
Wonder, and worry, what it would take for some to call it a genocide.

What it would take for someone to think,as you want them to?
to agree with you ?

Wonder, and worry, what it would take for some to call it a genocide.

Hamas was formed in 1987, voted into power 2007, 20 years for voters to know their ambitions

Don't forget that Hamas was their duly elected government and army long before they were labelled as terrorists but yes, as they watch their beloved children turning into skin and bone from starvation now, with their big eyes and deformed limbs, the ordinary Gaza people must be begging them to surrender.
Israel won this war already , ages ago, but they seem to want to finish the Gaza people off. No food has been allowed in for over a month and there was precious little when that started and they are trapped.
Now they just want to reduce numbers i.m.o. to make the expulsion easier when it happens.

One thing of interest and great unease to me is that Smotrich said earlier that the world would never allow them to starve Gaza into submission "even though they deserved it".

And we did. We have allowed it. Why?
What's that saying about those who watch and do nothing?

Quote Iam64 Thu 08-May-25 19:24:23
No one here is suggesting protecting terrorists. The consensus is of rejection of Hamas and increasingly of the current dangerous right wing Israeli government

I do not believe Hamas will cease being terrorists , will honour any agreement and will strike again

No one here is suggesting protecting terrorists. The consensus is of rejection of Hamas and increasingly of the current dangerous right wing Israeli government

What is happening is protection from Hamas and their drive to
kill all Jews

Terrorists are a group so must be protected ?

Anniebach

Mass denial in Israel, but we read in this thread that there are
mass demonstrations in Tel Aviv for the war to stop and
Netanyahu out of office.

So confusing, but I disagree, with the chap ,it is not genocide

What would genocide be, according to your definition?

Raphael Lemkin, the Jewish-Polish legal scholar, who coined the word 'genocide', and who was the force behind the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention, said that it does not need to look like the Holocaust to be a genocide.
Each genocide looks different, and not all involve the killing of millions.
There does need to be a clear intent.

We know today that there is a clear intent to destroy Gaza and its population.
What is happening in Gaza is genocide.

No support for Hamas from me
No support for the settlers approach, or Netanyahu’s governments approach

It’s possible to have mass denial alongside other Israeli’s calling for a more liberal, compassionate government. It’s possible to want the hostages home withiut slaughtering innocents. It needs less anger brutality, more talking no matter how hard that is. This seems to me to be a war that can’t be won

CariadAgain

Wyllow3

Quoting from more of the article

"Gaza annexation not ruled out
Meanwhile, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Monday that “we are finally going to conquer the Gaza Strip.”

Annexing Gaza is a possibility, and once the military expands its operations in the enclave, it will not pull back – even if Hamas agrees to a new hostage deal, he said at a conference in Jerusalem, referring to the security cabinet decision on Sunday.

“Once we conquer and stay – we can talk about sovereignty (over Gaza). But I didn’t demand that it be included in the war’s objectives,” he added.

“Once the maneuver begins – there will be no withdrawal from the territories we’ve captured, not even in exchange for hostages.”

Unfortunately that's what it's about...it's what it has always been about.

The Israeli Government isn't going to stop until they've stolen every last square foot of Palestine I'm afraid. Netanyahu and some of his buddies simply aren't human....and then there's those awful settlers....

I’m afraid the 10s of thousands Hamas scum and those that support them simply aren’t human.

Mass denial in Israel, but we read in this thread that there are
mass demonstrations in Tel Aviv for the war to stop and
Netanyahu out of office.

So confusing, but I disagree, with the chap ,it is not genocide

Wyllow3

Quoting from more of the article

"Gaza annexation not ruled out
Meanwhile, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Monday that “we are finally going to conquer the Gaza Strip.”

Annexing Gaza is a possibility, and once the military expands its operations in the enclave, it will not pull back – even if Hamas agrees to a new hostage deal, he said at a conference in Jerusalem, referring to the security cabinet decision on Sunday.

“Once we conquer and stay – we can talk about sovereignty (over Gaza). But I didn’t demand that it be included in the war’s objectives,” he added.

“Once the maneuver begins – there will be no withdrawal from the territories we’ve captured, not even in exchange for hostages.”

Unfortunately that's what it's about...it's what it has always been about.

The Israeli Government isn't going to stop until they've stolen every last square foot of Palestine I'm afraid. Netanyahu and some of his buddies simply aren't human....and then there's those awful settlers....