Israel formally declared war on Hamas on Sunday, setting the stage for a major military operation in Gaza as fighting rages on Israeli soil. The declaration comes after Hamas, an Islamist militant group, launched a surprise assault this weekend that has so far killed over 600 Israelis.
Saturday was the deadliest day in decades for Israel and came after months of surging violence between Palestinians and Israelis, with the long-running conflict now heading into uncharted and dangerous new territory. Questions remain over how the Israeli military and intelligence apparatus appeared to be caught off guard in one of the country’s worst security failures.
Over 400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza as Israel responds with airstrikes in the densely-inhabited enclave. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed retaliation, warning his country would take “mighty vengeance” and was readying for “a long and difficult war.”
He urged Palestinians living in Gaza to “leave now.”
I despise the government of Israel, and everyone who supports it, but killing civilians is not acceptable. I don’t care about dead military personnel, soldiers are a legitimate target, but civilians? Th fuck, Hamas, THE FUCK.
In a country with mandatory military service, I disagree that soldiers are a legitimate target as a blanket statement. As the rich and powerful wage wars, it’s the poor and those with limited options who die.
In the same vein, would that not make all Israeli citizens (except those under 18) semi legitmate targets since they’re trained military personal and potential combatants?
That’s what I’m talking about. They don’t get a choice. They are required to train. I think that’s disingenuous to say they are guilty by what is simply existing there.
I’d say the same if true for the other side about mandatory military service.
Shouldn’t we put the onus of responsibility on Israeli’s leadership and all that support this kind of ruling which blurs the lines between civilian and combatant?
It doesn’t help that Israel uses its military to protect and bolster settlers in plain clothes as they commit terrorism against the indigenous populations. In a sense, Israel is using its noncombatant civilian population as a “human shield” as sorts because they know that Palestinian resistance groups lack the luxury to sift through potential targets because time and technology is limited, and the risks are sky high. Perhaps, this was done by design to force everybody to have a stake in the conflict, whether they wanted to or not.
No, I think target identification and official uniforms are key to any state military.
With the acknowledgement that the current attacks are mostly along the Gaza border, where do the West Bank settlers fall in that dichotomy? Because they’re not just passive citizens of an oppressive nation, they’re very much a participant in the oppression. And on the other side, military service in Israel is compulsory. There are soldiers who didn’t want to be soldiers and think occupying the West Bank is wrong that are in that set of legitimate targets. Maybe it just sucks to be them and they should have tried harder to pursue a non-military service option, but it’s not an easy sort where uniform = agent of oppression and civilian = neutral third party.
Settlers moving into occupied territories blur the line. They are neither fully civilian, nor clearly military. Something in between. They fulfill a strategic role, following and protected by armed forces. They also fulfill a strategic role for the negotiation table. And I guess they all know they run a greater risk, if alone for being closer to the frontlines.
The military is the main tool of oppression and as such is a valid target. The individual soldier might not be the issue but the military in its entirety. Of which said soldier is a part of. The individual soldier simply doesn’t matter. And that has been the case in every war that was ever fought. The individual does not matter.