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by xfax 605 days ago
Hamas is a symptom of desperation. It certainly is not acting in the best interest of Gazans and they are suffering due to that.

But on the other hand, diplomacy has not been an effective tool for Gazans and, as all signs indicate, it never will. Not at least until US withdraws its unconditional support for Israel.

With status quo, Gazans have the choice to lie down and die or continue living under deplorable conditions under a military occupation, as Israel slowly annexes the land that, under international law, doesn’t belong to them.
1 comments
tptacek 605 days ago
I agree. Gazan civilians had no good options (though, as we've discovered, it was possible for things to get far worse for them than they had been, and I don't think it serves any purpose to sugarcoat that).

Having said that: I don't want to get into 2024 Israeli policy with regards to Gaza, because with this ruling coalition who knows anything, but in the status quo ante of this attack Israel was not in fact slowly annexing the Gaza. (They are slowly annexing the West Bank, to be sure, but these are distinct populations with distinct governance).

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aguaviva 605 days ago
In the status quo ante of this attack Israel was not in fact slowly annexing the Gaza.

Not yet, as majority policy. But a sizable contingent is clamoring for exactly that (only they'd prefer it happen much more quickly):

  ‘It is doable’: 10 Likud MKs to attend conference calling for ‘resettling Gaza’
https://archive.ph/BPP5C
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tptacek 605 days ago
Yes, but that is a response to the October 7 attacks, and this thread is about the antecedents of that attack.

(I question the seriousness of that movement; Likud under Ariel Sharon disengaged from Gaza and dismantled the settlements there, for practical reasons. It is not necessarily in the long-term interests of the Israeli state to settle in the Gaza Strip. But it doesn't matter for this thread either way. If it needs saying: all of Israeli's illegal settlement programs are bad.)

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xfax 605 days ago
You’re right. I was referring to the Palestinian Territories in the context of annexation.
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