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

An airstrike on the logistical support headquarters of an Iran-backed militia in central Baghdad Thursday killed a high-ranking militia commander, militia officials said, as tension continued to rise across the region. The prime minister’s office in Iraq said that the US-led international coalition bore responsibility for an “unjustified” attack on an Iraqi security force. Reuters reports the office said: “The attack is a dangerous escalation and a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty.”

(The Gaurdian UK)

looks like the americans are still chipping away at the iranians in response to their terrorist actions in yemen, red sea, syria, lebanon etc.

Yes, Israel may have made some serious strategic errors in the 1990s and early 2000s in that regard. And Israel's people have the right to ask their government some serious questions.

But for the last 15-odd years it's been Iran that's been pulling the strings with regard to both Hamas and Hezbollah.

Umm, they were sheltering in the theatre, which was believed to be robust enough to be suitable. And was a purely civilian building, unlike Azovstal which was known to be deemed a military target by the Russians.

The fact that Russians then committed a direct hit on civilian infrastructure is very different from Hamas' refusal over 20 years to build any sort of refuge buildings, above or below ground, for their citizens, while constructing a massive tunnel complex for military purposes, at least partly funded using UN aid money.

I think that you know this, but are so far down the antisemitic rabbit hole of your support for Hamas that you can't allow yourself to see that.

Israelis who were not killed since the 7th October of course - and probably the remaining hostages if they are still alive.

Interesting use of the word "may"...

Hmm.

Children in Gaza obliterated in their houses by a missile - well that's not Israel's fault. It's Hamas fault because Hamas have tunnels and they wouldn't let the civilians into them.

Children in Mariupol obliterated in a theatre by a missile - well that's not Russia fault. It's Azovs fault because the Azovs had tunnels and they wouldn't let the civilians into them.

Seems perfectly analagous. Apart from the fact that the Gazans are in residential houses whereas the Russians could try to claim some (implausible) deniability that the building was being used as a military building.

Brown people are people too volchitsa.

No it’s Hamas’ fault for attacking civilians including babies on Oct 7th and threatening to carry out more such attacks until Israel no longer exists.

Yoir attempt to make my position out to be a racist one is ironic. Hamas commit pogroms against Jews.

It was only 5 years ago Israel was bringing Hamas suitcases of money from Qatar.

The Palestinian people may have voted for Hamas back in 2006, but there's no arguing that Israel helped support Hamas and help keep them in power up to at least 2018.

I'm consistent SeanW. You've convinced me that Israel bears no responsibility at all for making the unilateral decisions to target civilian areas with missile strikes. The reason being that some other lads had some tunnels. The same as Russia bears no responsibility at all for making the unilateral decision to target a theatre full of kids with missile strikes. With the same reason being that some other lads had some tunnels.

Trying to do mental gymnastics to achieve the cognitive dissonance to say that one is grand whereas the other is terrible is beyond my ability at this stage. I need some more teaching first.

Welcome to the twilight zone.

So? Even assuming Israel was actually funding Hamas (which they weren’t - they were simply letting money from Qatar through), would this somehow justify Hamas murdering Israeli women and children?

This is just about the most irrelevant and pointless response I’ve seen on here. Positively tragic. And to think you’re so proud of it that you’re now spamming it around the place - well, scraping the bottom of the barrel is putting it kindly.

No. I made no comment on anything reflecting badly on Israel. They are your words.

I was more than happy to have a bomb protected bedroom in case things kicked off.

The Palestinians in Gaza have nothing.

The comment was made (not by you) that Israelis were in danger in localities close the Gaza. I asked (not sure if there was a reply) how many Israelis in this areas has died since Oct 7. Compare that with how many Palestinians have died.

I then finished up with the piece about Palestinians killed in an area designated as safe by IDF.

Its sort of fascinating, in a rather odd way, that you chose not to engage in that part of my post.

Israel did more or less the same thing for former Irgun members

Presumably without such funds Hamas would not be able to mount any kind of attack. So it seems the cash was important. But not a justification.

Regardless of where the money came from, Israel knew it was coming in and chose not to stop it in order to hobble the PA. And now it has "blown up in their faces" (as reported by the Times of Israel).

Israel had the opportunity to prevent this. They chose not to. They gave Hamas the means to butcher Israelis.

Hamas is a terrorist organisation that wishes Israel to be wiped off the map.

What did Israel expect them to do with a shed load of cash?

The US have supported and funded many corrupt or worse regimes. From Cuba before Castro to Iran and other multiple middle eastern coups. They probably have done a lot more that we don't know. Sometimes it was right to support someone in the past - or a necessary evil at the time - as the alternative was worse.

It's really simple: your equations are fundamentally flawed because they're predicted on the assumption that Israel and Russia are exactly the same. The exact opposite is true in every conceivable respect.

Russia is the largest country on Earth. Israel is one of the smallest. Russia wants to kill all its neighbours, Israel's is trying to avoid being killed by its neighbours. Russia is an authoritarian kleptocracy, Israel is the closest thing the Middle East has to a secular democracy. Most importantly, the government of Gaza is a terrorist government whose stated and repeatedly manifest objective is to kill the Jews. Ukraine's stated and manifest objective is just to continue existing - at no time was Ukraine bent on the annihilation of Russia and all its people, nor has that been the objective of anyone since 1945. As to your ridiculous comparison with the Azov fighters, civilians were allowed to take refuge in the Azov steel works towards the end of the siege of Mariupol.

So I have literally no idea what you're getting at with your patently absurd comparisons, except to try to hoodwink people in thinking Israel is acting in a vacuum or to mislead people into think that Israel's situation is any way comparable to Russia's.