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Israel-Gaza Megathread #3

This is a refreshed 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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What's going on in the West Bank right now? I haven't seen much coverage of it.

What's going on in the West Bank right now? I haven't seen much coverage of it.

Settlers going on rampage - destroying crops, burning houses, evicting whole Palestinian villages at gunpoint (yes, unlike Israelis in Israel proper, these hilltop guys are heavily armed and unlike Gaza, Palestinians in West Bank are thoroughly disarmed).

Lots of coverage, but you have to dig up into Arabic sources to find it.

Are their guns legal? Are they formed into officially sanctioned militias or does the government just tacitly encourage it while looking the other way?

The latter. "It's not technically Israeli land, it's some no-man's land, so we won't police what our citizens do there, but we will protect them from harm".

If true, that really sucks for the people in the West Bank.

It sounds like true anarcho-tyranny. "People can harm you with impunity, but if you fight back, the government will punish you".

The limited examples of anarcho-tyranny which happen in progressive U.S. cities make my blood boil. I can't imagine how bad it would be in Palestine, where the Palestinians have no leafy suburbs to retreat to.

Again, if true.