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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Why Israel Defeated -- But Didn't Crush --Hamas |
| 2014-08-31 |
| [PJMedia] Soon after an open-ended Israel-Hamas ceasefire came into effect at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, some still-living Hamas leaders rose out of the bunkers where they had been hiding out for weeks and led some Gazans in "victory celebrations." ...Some of the figures from the seven weeks of war--so far, if the ceasefire holds--include: On the side of Hamas and Gaza: about 2000 dead (about half of them fighters including members of the top Hamas command), a few hundred thousand people displaced or homeless, about 11,000 homes, schools, and mosques destroyed, 32 attack tunnels costing millions of dollars and years of labor destroyed, and about 2500 mostly shorter-range rockets remaining out of what had been 10,000. On Israel's side: 70 dead (64 of them soldiers), some mild, passing economic damage, vastly smaller totals of property damage, and vastly smaller numbers of Gaza-area Israelis leaving their homes temporarily or, in some cases, moving to other parts of the country. Added to all that is the fact that the ceasefire deal reached on Tuesday is the same one Hamas could have had in early July before most of the destruction was wreaked, and that it grants none of Hamas's major demands: an airport, a seaport, and prisoner releases. Instead Israel agreed to reopen Gaza border crossings--something it would have done in any case, since it does not want to deny Gazans basic goods and cause severe crises--and to a slight expansion of the fishing zone off Gaza's coast. A hands-down win for Israel, then? Not if you ask a lot of Israelis--particularly right-wing cabinet ministers and other right-wing critics of the government, and embittered residents of the Gaza-bordering towns and villages. Why, then, did Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon not order the IDF to simply eliminate Hamas, which no one doubts it is capable of doing? |
| Posted by:g(r)omgoru |
| #13 Christians don't support our Jewish brethren because we all want to see the End of Days. It's because we are Christians, Christ was a Jew, and we hold shared values |
| Posted by: Frank G 2014-08-31 19:07 |
| #12 Dear Chris Hitchens had a blind spot when it came to religion overall, rabid atheist that he was (I seem to recall that he came of Jewish parentage, but I'm not certain enough to make the claim). Certainly his understand of the Christian Zionist reasoning sounds completely off based on what I've learnt here at Rantburg, though it is a common assumption. I think TopRev is right about the threat to resupply being a huge concern. Even yet, according to the Times of Israel this morning, while Hellfire missile shipments have been approved, there is no indication when they will actually be shipped. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2014-08-31 18:32 |
| #11 I suspect Israeli resupply (read USA) issues had something to do with not bringing Hamas to unconditional surrender. That and Hamas' inability conceptually to accept such a condition of affairs, making systematic annihilation of Hamas leadership the alternative to Hamas' unconditional surrender. Still, the resupply issue must have weighed heavily. The threat to deny was made publicly by the Crack Head occupying the White House. |
| Posted by: TopRev 2014-08-31 18:07 |
| #10 RJ, lying is deeply embedded in the culture, religion, and psyche. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2014-08-31 18:03 |
| #9 So, The Gazans lied, what's new about that? |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2014-08-31 17:43 |
| #8 Hitchens was blind when it camd to Palestine. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2014-08-31 15:57 |
| #7 It's not Hamas, it's all of them. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2014-08-31 14:19 |
| #6 that is true, John QC if only we could ask christopher hitchens now again for some clarification he truly was the greatest |
| Posted by: anon1 2014-08-31 10:40 |
| #5 anon1. Partitioning would not do any good as the Paleos and the Muslims are dedicated to destroying the Jews (and it looks like the rest of us too according to their interpretation of the Koran). We are all Kafirs/infidels in the eyes of Mo. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2014-08-31 10:17 |
| #4 thanks for that it's a question i've been wondering, why they didn't just crush hamas christopher hitchens once said, it could be solved if they just partitioned Gazoo. half for the jews half for the muslims (correct me if i'm wrong he might have added the west bank to that). he said the problem was on one side, militant religious jews who believe that land is divinely gifted to them. on the other side are militant muslims who also believe it was divinely gifted but to them instead. and then from the US some apocalyptic christians to the rescue who hope that if the jews and muslims keep fighting then sooner or later we'll have armageddon and bring on the end of days so really if we could just sensibly partition, build a wall and separate the god botherers it could be solved? |
| Posted by: anon1 2014-08-31 10:08 |
| #3 Israel did a pretty good job of crimping Hamas terrorist style at a minimum cost. In another article, it was estimated it would take 20 years to rebuild Gaza. (It was not said whether this meant the tunnels or something other.) Reads like a success on the part of Israel. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2014-08-31 10:06 |
| #2 Why, then, did Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon not order the IDF to simply eliminate Hamas, which no one doubts it is capable of doing? because 1. What would replace hamas? 2. Eliminating Hamas would require reoccupying Gaza which would cost hundreds of IDF lives and create a manor financial burden. |
| Posted by: lord garth 2014-08-31 08:40 |
| #1 Hamas Negotiator Gets Legs Broken by Hamas |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2014-08-31 04:48 |