Hanaguma

If the cowards of Hamas did not hide behind civilians, this would not be necessary. The IAF does not gleefully bomb civilians fot no reason.

If Hamas surrenders, peace would happen in an instant.

The only vacuum is in Guterres' logic. Israel's actions so far do not rise to the level of war crimes. If they do, talk to me. Hamas by contrast was rather proud of their actions in raping and murdering the innocent.

Yes, restraint. Relative to what they could do if they chose. So, if the bombing campaign is not the path to victory for Israel, what is YOUR winning strategy for eliminating Hamas? It is easy to sit on the sidelines and criticize, but time to get in the game with your path to victory.

Don't make promises you are unwilling to keep. Otherwise what did I say that was factually incorrect?

Perhaps that is because Israel is not slaughtering civilians wholesale. Even using Hamas' inflated figures, about 8,000 Gazans have been killed in 3 weeks of bombing. "Wholesale slaughter" in a crowded urban area, should Israel choose to do so, would result in 8,000 deaths in an hour. It is actually a remarkably low number, considering the difficult conditions the IAF has to work with, and a testament to their professionalism and restraint.

Yeah, it's not like leftist ideas killed anyone in the last 100 years. Just a hundred million people or so. Chump change really...

Haven't seen any yet. Maybe Singapore? My wife was shocked when we were in Toronto that drivers actually STOPPED at pedestrian crossings.

Hardly "isolated incidents". A co-ordinated attack by something like 2,000 men. An attack that did not happen in a vacuum. An attack that needed support, training, materiel, and planning. Kind of like thousands of rockets flying into Israel. Not "isolated incidents". They require co-ordination on a larger scale. An "isolated incident" would be a random knife attack on a bus. Not a slaughter of 1,500 people. Gaza has supported Hamas for years. Put up with their nonsense. Let them build tunnels and bunkers under their schools and hospitals and mosques. Let them brainwash their children. It is a bit late in the game now to suddenly cry "we are shocked, SHOCKED by what is happening".

Interesting story. You forgot one rather significant part though- Israel found the criminals who did it, put them on trial, and they were convicted of murder. Hamas treats their murderers rather differently...

You decide. What kind of society creates such monsters? People who are confident that their atrocities will be lauded and celebrated and even paid for- Hamas was paying $10,000 for each hostage brought back to Gaza.

Eli Beer, a volunteer paramedic, testified to it. He saw babies with no heads, and heads with no babies, and no way to match up the proper remains.

It takes an even more "special" person to record themselves on GoPro and livestream themselves as they commit atrocities. Also to stip their victims naked, parade them around the streets, then behead them. Also to call their families (on the cell phone of their victim) and BOAST about what they did. Also to hear your son boast about mass murder of innocent people and say 'bless you, my son'.

That is like saying the only people who could wipe out the Nazis were Germans. Or the only people who could wipe out the Japanese imperialists were Japanese. Both patently untrue- the Allies did a pretty good number on both as I recall. Wipe out Hamas and their supporters, destroy their terror network, roll up the outside funders and make them all room temperature, then work on a reasonable political solution for Gaza. One that involves a modicum of democracy, backed up by aid so that they can become self sufficient. Prevent the young from being taught hate and anti-semitism at school. Allow human rights and freedom. Gaza could bloom if given the right incentive and without Hamas holding it back.

You're right, I forgot. In 2005. 8,000 Israelis moved out of Gaza. They foolishly left behind greenhouses and materials for the Gazans to use. Millions of dollars in outside aid also came in. But the Gazans wisely refused to copy the dirty Jews and try to make money by growing flowers and other valuable crops. No, they wisely decided to loot and burn anything left behind by the departing Jews. Turned the piping onto rockets to get revenge on them. So yes, the Jews in way sowed the seeds of their own discomfort.

If you want to know why Gaza is so poor, in spite if massive infusions of aid money, look no further than Hamas. They have built a tunnel system that some say is 500km in length under and around Gaza. It honeycombs the area beneath the city. One of the recently released hostages described it as like a spider's web. This is the key to wiping out Hamas. Smoke them out of their tunnels and destroy the facilities.

It is so nice to see many members of what Salman Rushdie calls the "but brigade" posting here. "of course the Hamas attacks were wrong but....", "sure Israel can defend itself but..." There is no place for that here. There is no moral equivalence between a professional military defending its people and a group of barbaric thugs trying to KILL their own people. We can endlessly debate the politics. We cannot debate debauchery and acts that would make Genghis Khan blush. October 7 was not a political statement, it was an attempt to kick-start a genocide.

Show me the cheering crowds of Israelis as dead Palestinians are paraded through the streets of Tel Aviv and I will begin to listen to you.

What kind of depravity does it take to strip a dead young woman and parade her lifeless body around in a truck? Or to join the cheering crowd and spit on her as they drive by? Or to offer her body the final desecration before discarding it? Makes me wonder how many truly "innocent" civilians there actually are in Gaza.

Thankfully she had already passed away before the Hamas demons BEHEADED her and desecrated her body. I would call them animals, but that is an insult to the animals of the world. They are worse. Think about it for a minute. What kind of person would take the dead body of a murder victim, parade it around in their car, let their 'friends' abuse it, and then finally behead it? There can be no reasoning with people like this.

Well, there are 55 Muslim countries with more than a billion people, so what is wrong with one small Jewish country with one percent of that number? "Not about land" means that there is no solution that would involve Israel giving some land to the Palestinians. The only solution as far as Hamas is concerned is that all Jews are killed. The ever popular "two state solution" is not possible.

You could not be more wrong. The root cause is deep and vile hatred. Hatred of Jews who dare to form their country in the center of Muslim lands. The depraved attack and atrocities of October 7 were not a political act. They were simple savagery. If Hamas wanted to target the IDF, they could have easily done so. But instead, the cowards chose to rape and murder and desecrate civilians. I guess the Jews could all just leave, and go to another Jewish country...... oh wait. Nevermind.

Why doesn't Hamas, the defacto government of Gaza, do anything to help these people I wonder. Perhaps release some of the stolen relief supplies they are storing in their underground bunkers, give some fuel that they use for terror rockets, release their kidnapped hostages in return for increased deliveries of relief aid? Nah. That isn't the Hamas way. They thrive on chaos, evil, and death. Whether it is their own people or their enemy who suffer.

Yeah, stupid foolish Jews, defending their country from repeated invasions. Why didn't they just let themselves be slaughtered like the Koran says? I think the Palestinians/Hamas would have a greater case to be made for "fighting back" if they actually fought back against the IDF. Instead, they very carefully avoid the Israeli military and instead deliberately slaughter the innocent. OTOH, IF the IDF wanted to slaughter Palestinians, they would have done so by now. The fact that casualties are so light is a testament to their professionalism and humanity. In one sense you are right though- the Palestinians ARE trapped. None of their fellow 22 Arabic countries want even a single Palestinian as a refugee, to welcome them as brothers, give them a chance at a better life. Arab countries make up 98% of the land area of the Middle East, yet cannot spare even an acre for the Palestinians. They (the Palestinians) are far more useful as they are.

Sounds like you were on a pretty sweet expat package to get the Roppongi special. Staying at one of the serviced apartments like Asahi Homes perhaps? My only forays to that area are to hit Tony Roma's for some ribs when I was in town for a conference. Never lived in Tokyo myself, it is a bit far from the better half's hometown. Out in the countryside the rest of the time... Flying over Japan must have been a dream. The variety of scenery in such a small area would have been non-stop breathtaking. Yeah, the fancy fruit in a box is still a big deal here, especially around New Year's. Even better/worse is the auction for the first bluefin tuna of the year at Tsukiji fish market. This year went for 36 million yen (what, about 9 million baht) for a 212 kilo fish. When I first came here, back in the days before the internet, I was seriously paranoid about the prices from what I read in the papers back home. Twenty five dollar coffee etc. Happily things were a bit different in reality.