TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s decision to take over Gaza City was met with resignation and defiance by Palestinians who have survived two years of war and repeated raids. Many Israelis responded with fear and anger, worried it could be a death sentence for hostages held in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Friday that Israel would intensify its 22-month war with Hamas by taking over Gaza City, large parts of which have been destroyed by past bombardment and ground incursions.

A major ground operation is almost sure to cause more mass displacement and worsen an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis.

“What does (Israel) want from us? … There is nothing here to occupy,” said a woman in Gaza City who identified herself as Umm Youssef. “There is no life here. I have to walk every day for more than 15 minutes to get drinking water.”

Ruby Chen, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen whose son, Itay, is a hostage held in Gaza, told The Associated Press that the decision puts the remaining hostages in danger.

“What is the plan now that is different from the last 22 months?” he said.

  • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    20
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    2 months ago

    Hamas Member of Parliament Khalil al-Hayya, also deputy chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau, told the Associated Press in April 2024 that Hamas is willing to agree to a truce of five years or more with Israel and that it would lay down its weapons and convert into a political party if an independent Palestinian state is established along pre-1967 borders.

    - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamas#7_Oct_2023–present

    Hamas’s goal has been a Palestinian state for years now. Also, Hamas had already agreed to give back the hostages and not rebuild its military capabilities in Trump’s January ceasefire; it was Israel who reneged on that like it has reneged on every other ceasefire agreement it has ever signed.

    • gedaliyah@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      11
      ·
      2 months ago

      Pre-1967 borders include most of Jerusalem and the 4 holiest Jewish sites. Imagine if Israel said they would offer peace in exchange for Mecca and Medina.

      • mrdown@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        10
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        2 months ago

        Internstional law say that all lands stolen by israel in 67 is palestinians. They csn visit thosr sites as forrigner or accept a one state solution

      • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        8
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        2 months ago

        Your attempt to derail the conversation because the facts aren’t on your side has been noticed, but I’ll bite.

        There are about a hundred and one different ways one could solve this problem. For example, Israel could have custodianship over the relevant holy sites like Jordan does over the Temple Mount. For another, any kind of agreement could be worked out to let Israeli citizens visit these sites (as long as Palestinians are allowed to visit the Temple Mount). Alternatively, we could decide that this all makes no sense for a hundred different reasons and go for a one-state solution with no borders in historical Palestine. Point being: This is not and has never been a serious hurdle towards peace, only an excuse. In serious peace negotiations in the near future, Israel’s position would be so strong as to make getting such concessions from the Palestinian side trivial. I should point out, though, that it’s far from guaranteed that this will be the case in fifteen or twenty years; at that point Israel would be forced to make concessions that actually hurt.

        • gedaliyah@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          2 months ago

          You are still defending Hamas. They have never offered or agreed to any plausible peace deal. They have only made demands in order to keep the fighting going.

          Israel has released 100s of prisoners, including violent terrorists who murdered peace activists. That’s dozens of times more individuals than Hamas has released or ever agreed to release.

          Israel has offered safe passage to friendly countries for Hamas leadership to step down and release remaining hostages.

          In the end I believe you are right that Israel will have to make even more painful concessions if they continue down this path. Hamas has demonstrated that they will fight to the last man no matter how many Palestinians have to suffer or die while they hide in their tunnels and continue to torture their hostages.

          • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            2 months ago

            I see you’re desperate to derail the conversation again now that your first attempt has failed. It’s painfully obvious and does your monstrosity of a cause no good, so you should consider stopping. I won’t dignify this with a response since you and everyone else reading this knows exactly what I was going to say, but I’ll just note that in the comment you’re responding to, the word “Hamas” appears exactly zero times.

            • gedaliyah@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              2 months ago

              Maybe too many people have blocked you or something, so I’m not sure if you just can’t see that Hamas is the entire discussion of this thread from the first comments.

              It’s no surprise to me that someone would fling accusations rather than responding with anything substantive, although that’s not me. I’ve made the point, and provided widely available and globally relied upon sources. You have replied with name calling and rhetoric, so I am okay with your decision not to respond. Probably better for both of us.

      • noMoreTwat@sh.itjust.worksBanned
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        8
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        2 months ago

        Mecca and Medina aren’t in Palestine. It might include “most of Jerusalem” but it’s the border recognized by international laws. Fact don’t care about your feelings

      • fif-t@fedia.io
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        2 months ago

        Imagine a bunch of foreigners coming in, and deciding that the majority of your farmable land should belong to them.

        Oh wait, I don’t have to. That’s how Israel was created.

        I’d prefer pre-1947 borders but pre-1967 is better than nothing.

      • AstaKask@lemmy.cafe
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        2 months ago

        It’s the same fucking cult anyway, only different sects. They can share. Oh wait, religious people are immature children so they literally can’t.

        • fif-t@fedia.io
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          2 months ago

          If only it were about religion (hint: it’s never been about religion)

          • AstaKask@lemmy.cafe
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            2 months ago

            Religion is crucial to making people not question authority, to make them ignore what they hear and what they see, to make them feel not responsible for their actions. Submission is incredibly dangerous, and it’s what the whole cult of Yahweh is founded on.

            • fif-t@fedia.io
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              3
              ·
              2 months ago

              Except Zionism was started by secular Jews and Zionists today are mostly Evangelical Christians. Israel and its creation has always been colonial and not religious. Religion is mostly a fig leaf/cover for it.

              To paraphrase from Ilan Pappe, “Most Zionists don’t believe in God, but they believe God promised them Israel”

      • mrdown@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        10
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        2 months ago

        The worst thing for Israel is dead Palestinian children

        They want all palestinians gone

          • fif-t@fedia.io
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            9
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            2 months ago

            Genocide isn’t about the number of deaths. It’s about the intent.

            If you listen to what Israelis and Israeli leaders are saying, and the pattern of actions, it fits the definition of genocide.

            In previous cases of genocide, explicit statements of intent wasn’t required to call it as such (and we have them this time), as the actions and patterns of behaviour were enough to ascribe intent.

            In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

            1 Killing members of the group;

            2 Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

            3 Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

            4 Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

            5 Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

            Only one of the list needs to be fulfilled in order to be considered genocide. 1, 2, and 3 have been demonstrated. With intent.

            Even if we put genocide aside, you cannot deny the ethnic cleansing aspect.

              • fif-t@fedia.io
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                5
                arrow-down
                1
                ·
                2 months ago

                You’re clearly blind, not because you can’t see the atrocities being committed but because you either don’t want to or don’t care to.

                I’m done trying to convince you of anything.

                  • fif-t@fedia.io
                    link
                    fedilink
                    arrow-up
                    3
                    arrow-down
                    2
                    ·
                    2 months ago

                    Hamas is an idea. Even if every single Hamas fighter were magically killed instantly, Hamas 2 would pop up because of what Israel has done and continues to do. Hamas itself doesn’t really matter.

                    Also lumping together Iraqi jihadis (as you call them) with Palestinians and their liberation resistance movement is kinda racist. They’re not the same.

                    For the record I do not advocate for Hamas, nor do I support their actions but their existence is inevitable.

                    The real question you should be asking is why is there a fascist ethnostate in the first place? And why is it propped up by Western countries?

              • mrdown@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                6
                arrow-down
                2
                ·
                2 months ago

                You don’t care about the legal definition because you are a savage who don’t believe in international laws and civilized societies

                You claim to be against extremism while defending jewish extremism

          • mrdown@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            5
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            2 months ago

            Learn the definition of genocide first instead of embarassing your self. Why netenyahu call the west bank as judea when judea was destroyed thousands of year ago? Why they build settlements in palestinians lands, why they stsrve gazans, why did he compare all gazans to amalek? Why israel destroy all palestinians historical sites? Why does honest israelis ask palestinians to live in egypt?