> What's happening in Gaza is by all means not a genocide.
You are correct, which is why (I assume as you were replying) I was editing my post. It is absolutely an attempt at ethnic cleansing, where they are herding Gazans towards the south in hopes that they just fuck off to Egypt.
> There's no other way to fight urban warfare in reality, that's the point.
That's an unfortunate situation for a member of the liberal order to be in, and I sympathize. I also don't think that changes the calculus. Civilians don't stop mattering because you want to (justifiably!) neutralize the authoritarians hiding amongst them.
It’s not a genocide yet I suppose, if you define such a thing purely by percentage dead, but it certainly seems like Israel would like to do a nice big genocide, and like what they’re doing shares many characteristics with the actions of a country engaging in a genocide.
In agreement with the other commenter, the loss of life implicit in depriving so many people of homes, food, clean water, and medical care can’t be justified even if it results in the elimination of hamas after a long process of starving them out. I’m no expert, but I’d advocate a response that ensures Israel cannot be hurt by further attacks, cuts hamas off from arms or reinforcements, then negotiates the release of hostages. What they’re doing instead is needlessly murdering tens of thousands of innocents, and I can’t imagine that number remains in the double digits by the end of this.
>> There's no other way to fight urban warfare in reality, that's the point.
In that case the IDF should not fight an urban war. There is no strategic
objective that can reasonably be achieved that justifies the carnage. What the
IDF is waging in Gaza is clearly not any kind of defensive war: it is a
retaliatory operation motivated by the humiliation suffered by the IDF and the
Israeli government who failed, miserably, in their responsibility to defend
their people. Hamas could never have perpetrated the 7 October atrocity, if
the IDF was not asleep at the wheel, or rather off to defend the fascist
settlers, and leaving the "socialist" kibbutzim to defend themselves. If the
IDF really wanted to avoid a repeat of 7 October, the way to do that is very
easy and does not require any Palestinians to be bombed at all: just don't
fuck up again. The IDF had one job. They failed, and now the Gazans are paying
for their failure. "Urban warfare" my ass, this is just shooting fish in a
barrel.
And as everyone and their little sister has pointed out, including plenty in
Israel, even if, when, Hamas is destroyed, the only way to avoid a new
resistance organisation emerging is to exterminate the Palestinians (not just
in Gaza, everywhere, and that includes Syria and Lebanon) and so perpetrate
the genocide you claim Israel does not want to. Failing that, you think
"Hamas-ISIS" are Nazis? Wait 'till you see the monsters that will rise from
their ashes, the maggots bursting from the corpse of Gaza.
As to the hostages, there's no doubt that if Israel wants to get them back,
then it should keep bombing and razing Gaza; but if it wants to get them back
alive, then it should stop now.
