Morch

Hamas can release the hostages, this would go toward ending the fighting. Israel retreating now, with hostages in Hamas hands, and Hamas leadership in place would be awarding terrorists for actions.

Safer places, for sure - if there weren't any there would be far more casualties.

@Neeranam CNN references the source. You accept it wholesale. That difference.

@thaibeachlovers You do your fair share of talking - don't know that you do anything other than that either.

@Neeranam There aren't that many children inside the hospital. The casualty figures you quote are from Hamas. Treating them as fact is a choice. Most respectable media outlets mentions the source. You do not. At least you don't claim they are all babies now, that's something.

@thaibeachlovers If and if and if.....then on other comment you claim not to make predictions. Nobody suggested that the Hezbollah-Israel conflict is going to end - regardless of how things in the Gaza Strip are decided. Other than you wishing Hezbollah to fully join the fighting - how would this be in their interest? What will be gained? What would be the consequences for Lebanon?

What, exactly, would you have him do, @thaibeachlovers?

I think it's your post that says all about you.

And here's one highlighting some issues with misinformation - The Horrifying Images Are Real. But They’re Not From the Israel-Gaza War https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/02/us/politics/israel-gaza-war-misinformation-videos.html https://archive.ph/HcEsA#selection-350.0-350.1

Not so. The Hamas 'new' charter is essentially the same, politically speaking. It still does not recognize Israel's right to exist, and still retains the goal of replacing it with a Palestinian state. Also, as often happens in Palestinian politics, the old charter was not actually discarded. The PA did the same with elements of the Palestinian Covenant it was supposed to amend. This allows for different messages broadcast abroad and domestically. The Hamas new charter became a political necessity, as the Muslim Brotherhood (of which the Hamas was considered an offshoot) became pariah with several sponsor countries. The Likud usage of the slogan did become obsolete, more or less. Ideologically, they did not so much move away (there are still hardcore elements, and obviously the rhetoric), as became more of a one man show. So while there's sometimes a lot of talk, in effect the party does what Netanyahu's political survival requires. In this sense, more pragmatic (for better or worse) than earlier days.

I posted before reading his comment, and didn't feel the need to edit. If that's what makes your day, enjoy. Bad choices are bad choices - not accepting the partition plan was one of them, but not the only one. The same goes for adopting the rejectionist position and focusing on armed struggle instead. Other ways in which this can be applied is the failure to come up with the economic, military, political and social structures leading to the formation of a state. One can also consider diplomatic choice of allies, sponsors and general interaction with them and the global community. I don't think you can seriously pin all these on Israel. I think you are using a wide-brush when you comment about Zionists. Israeli leaders who were for peace were all Zionists as well. If you refer to the right wing religious elements, yes - they are not much for compromise, but they also do not represent all Zionists, Israelis or Jews. I don't know what exactly you meant by 'accede to their every demand' meant or referred to. So far, it's generation after generation of Palestinians which gets struck down. Again, and again. Maybe a different approach would work out better for them.

The Hamas Charter clearly calls for it. The 'river-to-the-sea' chant implies the same thing.

Righting an injustice as in eradicating the other side?

It's gonna be fun having a mass protest with a crowd wearing Winnie the Pooh shirts in front of them Chinese policemen.

That's a nice rant. Unfortunately, it leaves out all them parts having to do with Palestinian actions, wrong choices taken, bad decisions made, and continued failure to do much that is constructive to improve their lot. It also absolves the Palestinian side, wholesale - of any accountability or responsibility for anything. That is not a serious take on history, but the reciting of a contrived narrative.

Spin it whichever way you like - the bottom line is that the slogan is nowadays used almost exclusively by one side, and it does not really carry a message of peace. It's about one side winning over the other. Your last line have little to do with previous posts or what I wrote.

IDF says division has completed capture of al-Shati camp in Gaza https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-says-division-has-completed-capture-of-al-shati-camp-in-gaza/ That's the area North of the Al-Shifa Hospital. Hamas has command node under Al-Shifa hospital, US official says https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/hamas-has-command-node-under-al-shifa-hospital-us-official-says/ar-AA1jRKBs US intelligence on Hamas operations under Al-Shifa Hospital supports Israeli claims: Sources https://abcnews.go.com/International/live-updates/israel-gaza-hamas-war/us-intelligence-on-hamas-operations-under-alshifa-hospital-supports-israeli-claims-sources-104859318?id=104837945

Again, don't know about others - my experience is that the place if more of troll fest than it ever was, fine for the lounge/pub/whatever, annoying on most other parts (news/visas/info). Not complaining about the moderator team, but seems that the new policy requires a more hands on attention, and that there's a certain lack of hands. I've been a member of this forum for years. Every now and then I take a 'break'. Sometimes it's due to stuff unrelated to the forum, sometimes it is. What I do notice is that each 'break' gets longer (last one was about two years). Given it's possible to lurk offline, read the news, benefit from all them fountain of knowledge (no sarcasm, some great advice and information on here), the motivation to deal with the stuff mentioned earlier is limited. In some ways the change is an improvement, on others - underwhelming.

Yes, and? The phrase itself is pretty much out of use in Israeli politics, even it's 'successor' 'the whole land of Israel' is outdated. And indeed, the phrase was used in the old Likud anthem (even worse, it actually referenced both sides of the Jordan - a relic of pre-independence right-wing fantasies) - I don't know if they still have a go at it at party conventions, doubt most delegates know the words, nowadays. As for current politics - Netanyahu (and by extension, the Likud party, which is nothing but a collection of sycophants) are interested in one thing, and one thing only - Netanyhu's political survival (and/or if that fails, securing loyalists political futures). There's very little real ideology there. What you refer to comes mostly from right-wing religious coalition partners - so not the same party. While they do have a lot of influence with Netanyahu, it's not a 100% control thing - he will no qualms selling them down the river too if that what it takes to remain in power.

IDF offers incubators for Gaza newborns, aid to Al-Shifa Hospital https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-773115 Sounds a bit daft if they are trying to genocide the Pales....oh.

That you say something doesn't make it a fact.

For me, this goes back to the issue of many useless topics being opened by a certain group of posters, and others(?) imitating them.So nowadays, I see a headline, and almost always check who opened it, date of joining, post count. Way too many times I don't bother to open the topic itself, as it seems like a clone of the aforementioned trend. So even if it was legit, I wouldn't know and wouldn't answer. This related to another thing - you say 'new' posters, but seems like many are actually old faces returned, or accounts that were dormant or whatever. I can't speak for others, but I don't exactly feel the same about them - they're not 'newbies'.

Because you say so?

Nyet.

It was mentioned, and you dismissed it. If you don't know anything about it, how can you dismiss it?