WAR DECLARED in Israel

As the Hamas are supposedly hiding out in an extensive network of tunnels under Gaza, it occurred to me that the Israelis might pump it full of Cyanide gas rather than becoming tunnel rats. Wouldn't that be ironic? But it does pose a serious question. As it seems that the Israelis are planning a "take no prisoners" campaign, how do you kill all those Hamas hiding out in many miles of tunnels? Seems like a huge bloodbath is in the making. Sort of like in Stalingrad or Iwo Jima.

One at a time and keep repeating!
 
Here is what Hamas hopes to accomplish, step by step:

1) Hamas creates a carnage that requires a stiff Israeli response.
2) Hamas hides behind the Palestinians that it claims to represent.
3) In order to kill Hamas, Israel kills lots of those Palestinians.
4) Hamas incites the world against Israel's treatment of Palestinians.
5) The world is stupid enough to believe Hamas, and blames Israel.

Win/win for Hamas. Win/win for Iran. Lose/lose for everyone else.
 
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There's been a fair amount of analysis and informed speculation about just what Hamas hoped to gain from this attack.

Apparently, Israel and Saudi Arabia were on the verge of normalizing relations, and that would have disadvantaged the Iranians and other entities whose real goal is not a Palestinian state, but the destruction of Israel.

This attack has set the clock back on peace in that region for at least a generation...which was most likely the real goal all along. The leaders of Hamas couldn't care less about the welfare of their people, and if a massive Israeli invasion of Gaza kills a lot of civilians, so much the better, from their perspective.

It's beyond the ability of most of us to understand it because we would never use innocent and unarmed non-combatants to achieve the goal of prolonging a conflict rather than resolving it.

We did it in WW2 with mass bombing (to include fire bombing) of German and Japanese cities. We killed more civilians with a fire bombing of Tokyo that we did with either of the nuking of two Japanese cities.
 
Whatever they hoped to gain from this attack, I just don't understand how they think they'll get anywhere when they start by killing kids and grandparents and posting it on the internet. Especially Israeli grandparents and children.

The aim is to get the Israelis to come in and pummel Gaza so that:

1) Gaza and the Palestinians are top of the news cycle;

2) The imminent normalization of relations between Israeli and Saudi Arabia goes away because the Saudis cannot be seen to go ahead with it while the Israelis are gutting Gaza;

3) The kidnapping and probable murder of Westerners will effect Israel's tourist industry. Anything bad for Israel is OK by Hamas.
 
The aim is to get the Israelis to come in and pummel Gaza so that:

1) Gaza and the Palestinians are top of the news cycle;

2) The imminent normalization of relations between Israeli and Saudi Arabia goes away because the Saudis cannot be seen to go ahead with it while the Israelis are gutting Gaza;

3) The kidnapping and probable murder of Westerners will effect Israel's tourist industry. Anything bad for Israel is OK by Hamas.

4) Congress can open up a 2nd front on the money laundering operation that allows folks who make 180k a year to achieve a net worth in the 10s to 100s of millions.

Sorry for the appropriation of your fine post!
 
One at a time and keep repeating!
Aside from any other considerations, only from a military tactics problem exercise standpoint, and ignoring the fact that there are many other hostile "Freedom Fighters", such as Hezbollah, scattered all around the Middle East outside of Gaza who could quickly join in the fun, how can the IDF neutralize the Hamas forces inside Gaza without taking heavy casualties itself and killing huge numbers of Palestinian civilians not involved with Hamas in the process?
 
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Aside from any other considerations, only from a military tactics problem exercise standpoint, and ignoring the fact that there are many other hostile "Freedom Fighters", such as Hezbolla, scattered all around the Middle East outside of Gaza who could quickly join in the fun, how can the IDF neutralize the Hamas forces inside Gaza without taking heavy casualties itself and killing huge numbers of Palestinian civilians not involved with Hamas in the process?

Set it in Afghanistan. Switch Al Queada for Hezbollah, American Military for IDF, Taliban for Hamas and Afghan for Palestinian.
It's a question as old as war itself. Thank God I don't have to come up with the answer.
 
Just heard the IDF spokesperson talking on TV about the increasing possibility of iDF facing a second and possibly a third front.
 
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In a previous life of nearly 40 years ago, I spent awhile traveling throughout Egypt and the Persian Gulf area, mainly Kuwait, S.A., and the UAE, but never set foot inside Israel. During that period I interacted with a small number of Palestinians. It was never a pleasant experience. I did not feel that way about the other Mideast nationalities.
 
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I left Doha Sunday. The Palestinians and Palestinian mix folks I encountered there were not distinguishable from anyone else.

Don't make the too-easy mistake of assuming Palestinians are all Hamas or Hezbollah - it's as ridiculous as assuming all Americans are Boogaloo Bois or Klansmen. Most Palestinians are like civilians anywhere else; caught between warring parties. The slaughtered Israelis were not IDF members; they were civilian victims of a militarized hate group.

Simple assumptions about complex problems always lead to more complex problems. Civilians of every kind pay in fear, maiming, and death.
 
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...Simple assumptions about complex problems always lead to more complex problems...

Simple assumptions about complex problems -- especially when viewed through a partisan prism -- are what fuel discussions about this story (and many others).

Just perusing this thread, I've seen unsubstantiated rumors regurgitated as fact, such as the notion that the Israelis were warned in advance about this attack, or that the United States gave Iran the money to fund it.

The best knee-slapper I've seen is the assertion that "the media" won't report the "the truth" about this story...which begs the question, of course, of just how will we know "the truth" is actually "the truth" when it comes out? And who will report "the truth"? And how will we know that source to be any more trustworthy than "the media"? It's enough to make one's tinfoil hat melt! :)

You would think that people who've spent years pushing back against the propaganda of gun control supporters would refrain from using that side's tactics when discussing other issues...but that would be yet another incorrect assumption.
 
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