Israel versus Palestine, Lebanon, Iran, Syria, aid workers, journalists, and UN peacekeepers. 2023-24

And lots of people will die from an epidemic, because in case you’ve missed it, most of the hospitals are fucked now and the people who live there CAN’T FUCKING LEAVE… :woman_shrugging: They are STILL advocating for an epidemic that will likely kill thousands of people. How is that anywhere remotely “better”? It’s not. It’s fucking vile language. We condemn this kind of shit whoever is saying it. Because it’s fucking vile language.

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… it’s not like nobody ever thought of a rationale for harming civilians before

It’s still a war crime even if somebody thinks they have a “good reason” to do it :roll_eyes:

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There “good reason” is ethnic cleansing, though - because the result would STILL be the death of thousands (more). There are elements in Israeli society that are very much looking to drive Gazans out. They are putting pressure on Egypt to take in Gazans, they are bombing relatively indiscriminately, and now they are talking about what amounts to biological warfare. It’s not acceptable when Hamas uses this language and it’s not acceptable when the Israeli government does it.

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Whoopsie daisy, we’ve made Gaza uninhabitable and now expelling the entire population (sorry, only the ones who “want” to leave) is the least bad option.

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joanna lumley rage GIF

So, yeah… this is basically a second Nakba… But of course, Egypt will not play ball here, so I have no idea where all those people are meant to go.

There were so many things that they COULD have done after oct. 7… so many things. But they decided on this instead. And our government is just backing it, and trying to change shit behind the scenes…

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Netanyahu, whose ruling coalition includes parties from Israel’s far right, has been managing the war with a small group of ministers from his hawkish Likud party and a centrist opposition group that joined an emergency government shortly after Hamas’ deadly rampage through southern Israel on Oct. 7.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and other hardline members of the broader cabinet have been excluded from much of the decision making, and were particularly critical of a decision last week to accede to a U.S. request to allow some fuel into Gaza for humanitarian reasons.

Smotrich, in a statement, said the war cabinet should include “opinions that until today have not been heard”, including from those with a record of calling for Hamas to be eliminated.

Like inflicting a plague on civilians apparently.

(archive version)

This showed up on Hamas’ telegram earlier as well.

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:person_facepalming:

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Relevant extract from the Netanyahu profile I posted earlier:

Within Israel, the incompetent response to 7 October has exposed the toll Netanyahu’s long rule has taken on the state. For days, and in some cases weeks, after the attacks, some families reported that they had heard nothing from government officials about the whereabouts of their missing relatives; daytime TV anchors stepped in to create hotlines for those desperate for information. On the day of the attacks, when dozens of police were killed, Ben-Gvir, whose office oversees the police, was nowhere to be found; only later did he emerge, not to take responsibility for what had happened, but to stage photo-ops of himself distributing assault rifles to civilian defence units in Israeli cities. State efforts to relocate, feed and clothe the tens of thousands of Israelis evacuated from the northern and southern borders were so ineffectual that protest groups, which had formed during the demonstrations against the government’s judicial overhaul plan, stepped in to fill the void. Budget cuts to the ministry of health have created a shortage of state-funded social workers and psychologists to handle the thousands of people in need of treatment for trauma.

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Far-right parties Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit oppose the hostage release deal in its current form

The far-right political coalition Religious Zionism, led by Bezalel Smotrich, has said that the proposed deal “is bad and must not be agreed to.” They added that the party will stand like a wall for the continuation of the war until the complete destruction of Hamas, the return of all hostages, and the removal of the threats posed by the strip.

According to the party, Hamas and its leader Yahya Sinwar are proposing the deal because they are desperate “for days of truce in order to organize for continued fighting.”

The party said the deal would abandon the remaining hostages for an unknown period of time, will “raise the price” of their release and give Hamas the opportunity to hide them for longer. They also said that a cease-fire would expose the IDF to attacks and the threat of further kidnapping and murder.

Itamar Ben-Gvir’s party Otzma Yehudit wrote that “it is impossible to preference women over women, and in our understanding, children over children,” and that the deal must include the release of all hostages. They party said that the existing deal “will result in a significant reduction in the chance of returning the rest of the hostages held by Hams, including our soldiers.”

So, that’s 50 journalists killed now. On Politics Monday last night the number given for journalists killed was 48 (in this Israeli-Hamas conflict).

From the Guardian liveblog:

4m ago01.08 GMT

Israeli government approves ceasefire deal - Israeli media

In breaking news: Israeli news organisations Haaretz and Kan, the national broadcaster, report that Israel’s cabinet has voted to approve the hostage deal, which would, Haaretz reports, “involve the exchange of hostages being held by the organization for Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails.”

Citing a senior Israeli official, Haaretz reports that “the plan will see Hamas release 30 kidnapped children, eight mothers and 12 more women during a five-day cease-fire.”

4m ago20.09 EST

The official Haaretz cites says that “all the branches of the Israeli security services – the IDF, the Shin Bet and the Mossad – support the planned deal. The official added that the agreement is only for Israelis who are still alive, adding that Hamas may release foreign nationals at the same time, in accordance with deals reached with those countries.”

3m ago12.10 AEDT

Hospitals in Israel preparing to receive hostages

Six hospitals in Israel are preparing to receive hostages, Haaretz reports. “They have established designated compounds to receive them, separate from other patients and the media.”

1h ago23.49 GMT

First release of hostages expected on Thursday if deal approved

Israeli media, including Channel 12 news, report that if the deal is approved, the first release of hostages is expected on Thursday.

This delay is because if the deal is agreed to, there must be a 24-hour waiting period before it is implemented, to give Israeli citizens the chance to ask the Supreme Court to block the release of Palestinian prisoners, according to reports in Israeli media.

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