naraburns nihil supernum
1yr ago
(text post)
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Israel-Gaza Megathread #1
This is a megathread for any posts on the conflict between (so far, and so far as I know) Hamas and the Israeli government, as well as related geopolitics. Culture War thread rules apply.
Pour liquid propane inside could help I think. It displaces all the oxygen . . . they will run out of oxygen.
I'm not an expert, but I assume this would reasonably qualify as a chemical weapon (an asphyxiating gas). Separate from the legal questions, I would consider it an escalation in the conflict.
It is not a chemical weapon. Chemical weapon is defined as
Toxic chemicals are defined as ‘any chemical which through its chemical action on life processes can cause death, temporary incapacitation or permanent harm to humans or animals’.
There is no chemical reaction there. It just displaces the oxygen. Not sure this even classifies as wmd.
It is not escalation because Israel has already declared that they want Hamas eradicated.
Israel signed the Chemical Weapons Convention but refused to ratify it and as best I know is not bound by it. They are free to gas their enemies, despite the obvious optics issue.
While tunnels are probably a best case scenario for using poison gas, Israel probably doesn’t have chemical weapons stockpiled in the necessary quantities or the ability to rapidly fabricate it in the amounts necessary. Remember clearing a tunnel system that way entails dumping tons and tons(a gas grenade or three won’t cut it) of sarin or vx or mustard gas down ventilation shafts, which has to be deployable in a war zone in a way that’s safe for the operator. They might be able to use it to clear a limited branch of the tunnels, but Hamas has probably stockpiled gas masks even if they don’t have enough for everyone, so you’re not taking them out in one fell swoop and they can still defend localized areas.
Why would they bother violating treaties on chemical weapons when incendiaries will work as well and can't be defeated with gas masks or even self-contained oxygen?
Well yeah, that’s my point- chemical weapons aren’t enough of a war-winning weapon compared to the alternatives for Israel to bother violating treaties over.
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Notes -
I'm not an expert, but I assume this would reasonably qualify as a chemical weapon (an asphyxiating gas). Separate from the legal questions, I would consider it an escalation in the conflict.
It is not a chemical weapon. Chemical weapon is defined as
There is no chemical reaction there. It just displaces the oxygen. Not sure this even classifies as wmd.
It is not escalation because Israel has already declared that they want Hamas eradicated.
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Israel signed the Chemical Weapons Convention but refused to ratify it and as best I know is not bound by it. They are free to gas their enemies, despite the obvious optics issue.
I'm sure the irony is apparent to all.
While tunnels are probably a best case scenario for using poison gas, Israel probably doesn’t have chemical weapons stockpiled in the necessary quantities or the ability to rapidly fabricate it in the amounts necessary. Remember clearing a tunnel system that way entails dumping tons and tons(a gas grenade or three won’t cut it) of sarin or vx or mustard gas down ventilation shafts, which has to be deployable in a war zone in a way that’s safe for the operator. They might be able to use it to clear a limited branch of the tunnels, but Hamas has probably stockpiled gas masks even if they don’t have enough for everyone, so you’re not taking them out in one fell swoop and they can still defend localized areas.
Why would they bother violating treaties on chemical weapons when incendiaries will work as well and can't be defeated with gas masks or even self-contained oxygen?
Well yeah, that’s my point- chemical weapons aren’t enough of a war-winning weapon compared to the alternatives for Israel to bother violating treaties over.
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Given how over gassed the Tavors and Galils are, they're not above gassing themselves either. /s
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