The IDF Arabic spokesperson posted images of the civilians evacuating and announced an additional humanitarian corridor, supplementing the one recently established, which will be open for Gazans wishing to relocate southward until 2pm local time.
“Use this opportunity to go south to the other side of Wadi Gaza,” he said, referring to the body of water that delineates the southern and northern parts of the Palestinian territory. “Many are doing so at this time. If you care for yourselves and your loved ones, move south according to our instructions. You can be sure Hamas leaders have already taken care of their own needs.”
Hopefully they will be safer there. As I understand, the majority of combat is taking place in northern Gaza.
“Combat”
Yes, troops on the ground combat against terrorists with guns, RPGs, IEDs, and hostages.
“Combat” is not the main reason for the 10,000+ deaths in Gaza. It stretches credulity to call bombing a refugee camp full of children “combat”.
Roughly 40% of the Gazan population is 0-14 some of whom, unfortunately, are active combatants. The whole situation is awful and tragic.
Are you justifying killing children because “some of them” might be combatants? Absolutely fuck that. The IDF said that they bombed the refugee camp to target a single Hamas commander. That’s not inevitable collateral damage, that’s sending a message that no where is safe. And I take it you wouldn’t be that sympathetic to the argument that no Israeli is a civilian because they all serve in the military.
Look, I understand that war is going to have gray areas. But that doesn’t mean anything goes. At a certain point we need the moral courage to recognize when things cross a line. Hamas absolutely crossed a line and they should be condemned. But so has Israel.
The refugee camp you’re referring to is Jabiliya Camp, established in 1948. It is high density multi-unit residential.
According to the IDF, the ground forces who were hunting down that single commander came under small arms and RPG fire from the building and called in air support. The bomb that was dropped on the building killed everyone inside, but apparently either dropped directly into the tunnels underneath, or caused secondary explosions from munitions being stored in those tunnels. The result was that seven other buildings not adjacent to the building that was bombed collapsed as well. The ground forces operating there confirmed their target was dead and left the camp. This is why Israel asked all civilians to evacuate Gaza City a month ago - they can’t control which buildings collapse when the tunnels blow up.
Mind you, the US has been conducting drone flights over Gaza, watching all of these incidents. The fact the US didn’t immediately condemn Israel for bombing the building should give you a hint that they saw what happened and think it was justified.
I am glad you are diverging from the disgusting argument that random Palestinian children are valid military targets.
But the US is literally one of the countries least critical of Israel. It’s like saying “Well the fact that Fox News hasn’t condemned Trump is pretty telling.” No it’s not. That attack has drawn international condemnation. Even the US agrees that the way that the war is being waged leads to a needlessly dire humanitarian crisis. People are drinking salt water and subsisting on a starvation diet.
I am not one of those people who thinks this is some easy choice for Israel. But I read comments like yours and wonder if there is literally anything the IDF and Likud can do, no matter how extreme, that you won’t defend?
Any civilian is not a valid military target, whether they are men, women, children, or the elderly. But if they pick up arms, they become a valid military target, even if they’re 13 years old. It’s tragic, but it’s also the reality - a 16 year old was killed yesterday because he stabbed two police officers with a knife before he was shot.
Turning off the water at the start was horrible - it was purely motivated by vengeance and spite rather than any legitimate military or political objective. The Likud are a party that have been subverted by a huckster who converted it into a cult of personality - but Israel is not a two-party system, there are legislators who were elected from a wide range of political parties. But my personal thoughts on the flaws of internal Israeli politics are not relevant at the moment. The IDF for sure is releasing propaganda, and you’d be stupid to take their statements on face. But when it’s been corroborated or is extremely clear - like the drone footage of armed men climbing out of a tunnel under the Indonesian Hospital then I’m inclined to believe exactly the parts that have been confirmed.
On the whole, the war is being conducted in a manner to maximize the chances of mission success - the complete destruction of Hamas and rescuing the hostages - while minimizing Israeli casualties. Minimizing civilian casualties is a distant third and only prioritized over the other two if it were to jeopardize the mission. Most militaries will follow the same decision calculus.
PS. Refugee camp you are talking about is a city and also, why don’t israel just send their Rainbow six siege COD players to infiltrate and kill only the terrorists? Duh, it’s ggez