There is no doubt that Bobby is correct. There is no shortage of Palestinians who believe it is possible to destroy Israel and they will attempt to gain control in Gaza. However, for the short term, after the war is over, the Palestinians will be busy building housing for their people and rebuilding an infrastructure ie; basic electrical , water mains, health care, and providing food. It is difficult to cause trouble if you are going about the chore of basic survival. I suspect the Israelis will be much more careful this time in keeping a closer eye on any attempts to rebuild the tunnel system and the importation of weapons. Israel will have an advantage in that they can blockade sea traffic and inspect all cargo entering Gaza. Moreover they can inspect all truck traffic coming in from Egypt. That would leave only the possibility of tunnels into Egypt. In that respect, the IDF COULD permanently maintain a narrow strip of Gazan land where it borders Egypt and drill listening devices deep into that land.
If Hamas had been planning on starting a regional war, they have failed. The number one proxy of Iran, Hezbollah, has done very little and it looks like they aren't willing to launch an all out war. Terrorists in Yemen have done almost nothing, except to launch a few rockets, which have all been intercepted. Other terrorists in Syria, another Iranian proxy, have launched a few score drones against U.S. air bases in Syria , but have caused little damage. It's clear that Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon want no part of this conflict. They, at least, have already learned that they can't beat Israel. Iran COULD launch ballistic missiles at Israel , BUT likely they fear what the U.S. might do. If Hamas intended on drawing attention to Palestinian demands, then they have succeeded. Across the world, pro-Palestinians, anti-Semitic demonstrations are HUGE. Except for a few international broadcasters , most are reporting MAINLY the deaths of Palestinian civilians to the exclusion of what Hamas did on Oct 7th. Israel is losing the propaganda war. The U.N. is much more concerned with saving Palestinians than it is with protecting Israel. Though the U.N. can do very little, if anything, to stop the IDF. It's mighty curious that the world press is NOT reporting on the 16 centuries old hated of the Jews.
But the terrorists are releasing innocent hostages in exchange for terrorist prisoners for purely humanitarian reasons.
It’s the same old thing. Obama traded some Guitmo terrorists for a single U.S. military deserter. Biden traded some arms dealers for B. Griner, a female basketball player who got caught with dope. At least this trade was for innocents even though the trade off was pretty left handed.
As everyone knows by now, a 4 yr old Israeli-American girl was released by Hamas today. Both of her parents were killed on Oct 7th. In a video i watched they said that she would have to be told that both her parents were killed. I can't begin to imagine how she would be told such horrible news. How do the professionals tell a 4 yr old that she will never see her parents again ?
"Under the U.S.-Qatari-Egyptian-brokered cease-fire, every day, Hamas hands Israel a list of around a dozen names of civilians it kidnapped during its terror attack, and in return, Israel gives them a list of some 30 Palestinian prisoners, mostly women and minors convicted of terror offenses it will release."
The 4th batch of hostages has been released. There is a possibility that the temporary crease fire will be extended to 5 more days so more hostages can be exchanged for more Palestinian prisoners. So far, only one American has been released.... a 4 yr old girl. Hamas appear to be holding on to them to put pressure on America.
One of the hostages reports that she personally met Yahya Sinwar, the ultimate top leader of Hamas. Obviously Sinwar is Israel's number one target. A dead man walking. In other reports, the hostages say that they were drastically underfed, given no clean clothes, slept on hard wooden benches, and not given any water to bathe with. The hostages say they did not bathe for nearly 2 months and wore the same clothes during their captivity.
The temporary cease fire has been extended for another 4 days to exchange hostages for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. However, the Palestinians being released are NOT those who have committed "serious terrorist attacks". They are those who have committed "lessor" crimes such as throwing Molotov cocktails and using slingshots to zap stone at civilians... mostly women and young men, so called "children" ages 16-18. When the cease fire ends, the IDF will continue the business of destroying Hamas. In many ways, Hamas resembles the Nazis of WW2, particularly the SS. Significantly they BOTH vowed to kill every last Jew. They both used anti-Semitic propaganda to warp the minds of the young. And they both look to destroy democracy ... the world over. Though many may not truly understand the danger to not only Israel, but to Europe and America as well. Israel is fighting OUR fight as well as their own. In the past wars of the Holy Land, Israel has, of course, won them all. Israel's victories have convinced Egypt and Jordan that they can not defeat Israel. The same lesson needs to be taught to a myriad of terrorist organisations. When Hamas is finally wiped out, Israel will need to locate and destroy all weapons stockpiled by Hamas. To that end, the IDF will need to search every single building in Gaza, including private homes.
Well….it’s kind of a stretch to say that Israel won all of its wars. I mean, throughout history, there are at least 15 times I can think of when the City of David / Jerusalem was captured and 3 times when the Temple was ransacked. Babylon and Rome both enslaved the Jews when they took Jerusalem so it’s not quite so cut and dry as we would like to think. Basically though, they always returned to what was their home and is now their home and have been fighting for it ever since.
Ah, yes. I should have said that Israel won all of its wars since the State of Israel was formed in 1948. I wan't thinking of thousands of years ago.
Don’t get me wrong, Israel was highly feared even back then but as the Book of Judges indicates, life got good and the men forgot how to fight, work and no longer lived in the God fearing ways of their fathers. Sounds kinda familiar doesn’t it?
Israel would have ceased to exist in 1973 if Nixon hadn't recued it at the last moment. If you believe the Bible, Israel was the initial aggressor in the area as they were so PO'd after being held in Egypt that they marched north, invaded the area and slaughtered every man, woman, child, and item of livestock they encountered. Since then, as Tom Lehrer says"...everybody hates the Jews..."