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naraburns  nihil supernum  7mo ago (text post)   28919 thread views

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.

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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.

[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.

Why is it a war crime to demand the hostages before opening the border? Hamas isn’t a random terrorist group, they are the government of the Gaza Strip. They are in possession of the hostages.

Because it is instrumentalizing the suffering of the population to pressure the government. Terrorism at its most basic definition.

TBH I kinda wonder if the real point isn't the pressure, but to degrade fighting capacity for when they go in. Urban warfare sucks at the best of times, I doubt you could do it very well if you haven't had a drink of water in a week.

Unlikely as the fighters will get absolute priority and they likely have enough in the tunnels for the soldiers stockpiled for a siege.

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