A resort hotel overlooking the Mediterranean. A multistory courthouse built in 2018. Dozens of homes, obliterated in seconds, with the pull of a trigger.
The damage caused by Israel’s aerial offensive in Gaza has been well documented. But Israeli ground forces have also carried out a wave of controlled explosions that has drastically changed the landscape in recent months.
At least 33 controlled demolitions have destroyed hundreds of buildings — including mosques, schools and entire sections of residential neighborhoods — since November, a New York Times analysis of Israeli military footage, social media videos and satellite imagery shows.
In response to questions about the demolitions, a spokesperson for the Israeli military said that soldiers are “locating and destroying terror infrastructures embedded, among other things, inside buildings” in civilian areas — adding that sometimes entire neighborhoods act as “combat complexes” for Hamas fighters.
More Israeli misinformation about all these buildings containing terrorist infrastructure. They should show some proof of terrorist infrastructure in these building.
I have nothing to do with Israel but I have been straightforward. Hamas has never and will never negotiate for a full peace with Israel. Temporary is no longer good enough. The simple conclusion after the first weeks of this war Israel is forcing the Gazans out. Palestinian estimates for getting electric power to new homes are about five years.
Hamas is doing something that was widely supported declaring war on Israel since 2007. The attack on Oct 7 was a full-out war effort. There is fighting block by block as of now.
Combat is combat. There is massive destruction.
Hamas could all along in good faith stop this. In good faith meaning an end to all their statements of war. Also to grow up a bit and admit Israel does exist. It would save thousands of lives today going forward. It would save the territory for the Gazans. Later some of the southern desert could be given over as an expansion. Because the Israelis can be very good people in peacetime.
No warring nation really gets a choice neither the winner or the loser. Hamas actually has the most power to make a choice. Israel has the least. The population in the area has sworn to no matter what destroy Israel. It won’t be coming out of the Gaza Strip.
There have been comments on this board before, about demolition of buildings in Gaza. Seems consistent with plans to make Gaza uninhabitable.
Meanwhile “Bibi” is calling for UNWRA to be entirely shut down. UNWRA, with it’s thousands of personnel, is the only means to distribute what little humanitarian aide does arrive in Gaza.
So, what will Egypt do, if a couple million Pals, desperate, pushed up against the border by the IDF, start streaming across the border? Gunning them all down would look bad in the papers.
If they wanted a solid agreement they probably shouldn’t have taken hostages in the first place. If they didn’t have a plan for how this would end when they started it, well then Israel will probably be the ones who decides when it ends.
@steve203 The dispute here about how many militants are dead is crazy. Because plenty of them are dead. Either way hostages or no hostages. There has been talk of a ceasefire but it is slow coming.
Hamas does not care if they die. They caused Israel to make their response a big bloody massacare. That is what Hamas wanted. Hamas now considers themselves as martyrs.
How will Israel ever live down their big bloody massacre of women and children? The world opinion is not with Israel as we can see.
Net favorability—the percentage of people viewing Israel positively after subtracting the percentage viewing it negatively—dropped globally by an average of 18.5 percentage points between September and December, decreasing in 42 out of the 43 countries polled.
China, South Africa, Brazil, and several other countries in Latin America all went from viewing Israel positively to negatively. And many rich countries that already had net negative views of Israel—including Japan, South Korea, and the U.K.—saw steep declines. Net favorability in Japan went from -39.9 to -62.0; in South Korea from-5.5 to -47.8; and in the U.K. from -17.1 to -29.8.
The U.S. remains the only rich country that still had net positive views of Israel. Net favorability dropped just 2.2 percentage points, from a net favorability of 18.2 to a net favorability of 16 from September to December.
There has been goodwill long term out of the Palestinians on the West Bank and in Jordan. Simply put peace. Pure? Perfect? No, but the Israeli settlers who harass the Palestinians were rightfully sanctioned yesterday.
We have had no goodwill from Hamas. Nothing to work with longer-term well before Oct 7.
The majority of Arab Muslims reject such groups. The Muslim Brotherhood is very unwanted in the Arab Muslim world. It is not just an Israeli problem.
Yes there are better ways to get rid of Hamas than the massacre of civilians undertaken by Israel. As many wise people have already said, Israel is creating more Hamas recruits with every mother, wife, child and baby that is blownup or crushed to death or has their body parts blown off, burned or crushed.
Getting rid of Hamas is not so easy as Israel is finding out without exterminating many more innocent Gazans.
Military actions never results in settlements - negotiations result in settlements.
Is anybody really innocent? If I allow a gang of thugs into my neighborhood, treat them as friends, feed them, hide them. Then allow them to go into the other neighborhoods without reporting them. Am I innocent or am I part of the problem?