naraburns nihil supernum
1yr ago
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Israel-Gaza Megathread #2
This is a refreshed 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.
"Israeli military officials, for their part, say the reality of the strikes is substantially more complicated and claim Hamas’s maintenance of military operations inside civilian institutions precipitate such attacks.
“Hamas chooses to use these protected areas for military purposes in order to shield itself from IDF strikes,” the Israel Defense Forces said this week. “And to draw international condemnation of Israel if the IDF is forced to respond."
Not evidence one way or another, but hiding weapons caches and personel in schools, mosques and hospitals seems to be Hamas' method of operation as is the Israeli response to not incentivise civilian shields in this way.
It seems that Hamas wins either way by doing this. Either they successfully use civilian shields or Israel gets bad press by striking these sorts of targets.
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Notes -
In this WaPo article from 2014, this sort of strike and international condemnation seems par for the course.:
Not evidence one way or another, but hiding weapons caches and personel in schools, mosques and hospitals seems to be Hamas' method of operation as is the Israeli response to not incentivise civilian shields in this way.
It seems that Hamas wins either way by doing this. Either they successfully use civilian shields or Israel gets bad press by striking these sorts of targets.
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