the front page is now like half articles on this currently, so it’s probably time for a megathread because none of us want to keep track of 12 threads on this subject and all the resulting comments. only major subsequent developments (for example, boots on the ground; pronunciations by governments; that sort of stuff) will get their own thread. otherwise please post stuff in here for the time being. any threads not meeting this criteria will be locked and removed. thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Video of a Hamas rocket launch and subsequent IDF strike
Many videos out of the Gaza strip have the constant hum of surveillance drones in the background, it’s interesting to see the drone’s perspective for a change.
kicking things off: Israel is creating a shit ton of collateral damage. MSF says they’re being given just hours to evacuate their patients in Gaza before bombing continues:
it’s also just come out that an Israeli strike in Lebanon killed a Reuters journalist:
this is also a kind of insane detail to how bad the Israeli government has been handling the situation so far: The president of the United States has spoken with the families of Israelis whose loved ones are being held captive in Gaza. The prime minister of Israel has yet to do so. Make of it what you will.
Gaza: Nowhere to go, as humanitarian crisis reaches ‘dangerous new low’ (direct)
The UN chief told reporters outside the Security Council the world had to unite around the principle of protecting civilians and “finding a lasting solution to this unending cycle of death and destruction.”
It’s terrible that Israeli civilians were murdered.
It’s wonderful that the world is stating such, and showing its support to prevent further murder of innocents.
It’s terrible that Palestinian civilians were murdered.
It’s terrible that the world is ignoring this, and turning a blind eye to further murder of innocents.
Exactly. If you look at the big picture, Israelis have killed WAY more Palestinians over the years, as well as apartheid and stealing Palestinian land.
I’m not taking sides, but the one sided coverage gross.
taking sides is fine and even right, but that needs to come with recognition and acceptance of that side’s problems
The problem with this conflict in particular is that taking the side of Palestine has become synonymous with taking the side of Hamas, or with simply being antisemitic. It’s essential if you want to express any support for Palestine that you also painstakingly lay out exactly what you support and what you don’t, otherwise… Well, the onion said it best.
It doesn’t matter who killed more. That’s why this never ends. “My tragedy is worse than your tragedy” is never productive. It just serves as an (incorrect) argument for why it’s permissible for one group to keep committing atrocities while the other group has to suffer it and be the first to bury the hatchet. Then the script flips and everyone does it again from their respective positions. It never ends.
It’s terrible that some civilians immigrated to Israel for the sole purpose of becoming settlers and pushing Palestinians out.
It’s terrible that some civilians immigrated to Gaza for the sole purpose of having as big a family as possible to use their own children and grandchildren as human shields against Israeli settlers.
It’s terrible that dual-citizenship people on both sides are asking “their” [other] countries to evacuate them, after having spent decades there on purpose.
It’s terrible that Israel is willing to watch millions of civilians starve… that Egypt doesn’t want to let refugees in… and Hamas doesn’t want to let them out.
So far, I see nothing wonderful in all of this.
Source: Spanish TV.
There has been some uproar this week because there are over 10,000 Spanish citizens in Israel and Gaza, but the government only decided to fleet 2 military planes to evacuate 500 of them. Turns out, they were only evacuating the “tourists and people on business trips”… meaning the rest are not; they’re people who decided to immigrate there. Following that, different reporters got hold of people “left behind”, both in Israel and Gaza.
One of those people, was a lady who immigrated to Gaza 40 years ago, “to settle right next to the Israeli border”, and now kept repeating how the Spanish consulate is ignoring her request for evacuating her 19-people family, with many children among them.
It’s estimated that 50% of the population of Gaza are underage, meaning they’re people born in the last 18 years, into a conflict that’s been going for 70 years, from way before this lady decided to immigrate there 40 years ago and contribute to the population growth.
Source: Internet (various)
Some statistics about this:
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Palestine demographics pyramid - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_State_of_Palestine
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Israel demographics pyramid - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Israel
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Population of Palestinian and Israeli territories - https://www.economist.com/special-report/2017/05/18/israel-still-rules-over-palestinians-50-years-after-its-six-day-war
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Percentage of Palestinians and Jews in Historical Palestine in Various Years - https://www.pcbs.gov.ps/site/512/default.aspx?lang=en&ItemID=3734
Both sides are engaged in a long term (100+ years) strategy of trying to out-number each other, with sympathizers of each side migrating there to increase the numbers for the conflict. Since immigration into Gaza and Palestine is more restricted than into Israel, the former have been trying to churn out as many “new residents” (aka kids) as quickly as possible… who are now being used by Hamas as a humanitarian crisis bargaining chip.
Notice how even with a steady emigration of about half the population of Palestine every year, the total population keeps growing, along with a steady immigration rate of around 200K/year:
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1990 - over 1.5M emigrants, population 2M - https://www.populationpyramid.net/migrants/en/state-of-palestine/1990/
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2000 - over 2M emigrants, population 3M - https://www.populationpyramid.net/migrants/en/state-of-palestine/2013/
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2010 - over 2.5M emigrants, population 4M - https://www.populationpyramid.net/migrants/en/state-of-palestine/2013/
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2013 - over 3M emigrants, population 4.2M - https://www.populationpyramid.net/migrants/en/state-of-palestine/2013/
