naraburns nihil supernum
7mo ago
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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.
No electricity, water, or fuel for Gaza until hostages freed - Israel
Israel's Energy Minister Israel Katz says the siege of Gaza will not end until Israeli hostages are released.
In a social media post, Israel Katz said no "electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened and no fuel truck will enter" until the "abductees" are free.
I think this is a smart move. Even if the hostages being released remains very unlikely, it puts more of the moral burden for the siege on the Gazans, who do (broadly) support Hamas.
A mass scale war crime to block food and water to 2.3 million people. Using war crimes to punish a population is an excellent way to get the world to hate you and the victims to never forget.
Except that Gaza is under a naval blockade and have been for a long time. Israel is illegally imposing a blockade on Gaza that is destroying Gaza's economy.
People casually throw out accusations that Israel is acting "illegally". Like their "illegal" use of cluster bombs. But they (and the US) refused to sign and ratify that cluster bomb treaty. A bunch of countries that already didn't have cluster bombs signed an agreement to continue not using weapons they don't have. And then Israel and the US "illegally" go against a treaty they are not parties to.
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Notes -
No electricity, water, or fuel for Gaza until hostages freed - Israel
[From the BBC news live tracker]
I think this is a smart move. Even if the hostages being released remains very unlikely, it puts more of the moral burden for the siege on the Gazans, who do (broadly) support Hamas.
A mass scale war crime to block food and water to 2.3 million people. Using war crimes to punish a population is an excellent way to get the world to hate you and the victims to never forget.
No one is blocking food and water - everyone is free to ship them trough the mediterranean.
Except that Gaza is under a naval blockade and have been for a long time. Israel is illegally imposing a blockade on Gaza that is destroying Gaza's economy.
Which government made this law and enforces it?
People casually throw out accusations that Israel is acting "illegally". Like their "illegal" use of cluster bombs. But they (and the US) refused to sign and ratify that cluster bomb treaty. A bunch of countries that already didn't have cluster bombs signed an agreement to continue not using weapons they don't have. And then Israel and the US "illegally" go against a treaty they are not parties to.
It's been a pet peeve of mine since college when people declare the US and Israel to be acting "illegally". We are not subject to private agreements between European counties.
Of course we stockpile cluster bombs and there's no such thing as a law to tell us otherwise.
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