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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.

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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.

Taking civilian hostages is also a war crime. As is murdering civilians, and raping them. All of which Hamas, the legitimate government of Gaza, did to kick off this little war. Exactly what remedy would you propose for these war crimes?

Also note that the Geneva conventions explicitly do not apply unless both nations either have signed them or have agreed to abide by them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conventions#Common_Article_2_relating_to_international_armed_conflict_(IAC)

both nations

Does Israel even recognize Palestine, let alone Hamas-led Gaza strip, as a nation? I've thought their stance was more of "there's this piece of land that we might have a claim on, but it has a lot of squatters on it. We don't know where they came from, but we're kind-hearted enough to not kick them out and will let them stay as guests as long as they behave"