Discussion thread for the Hamas Attacks Israel thread, October 2023

There of course isn’t going to be a single 2-day period where the mass starvation happens. Different places will have different amounts of food stored and different people have different nutrition levels prior to the siege.

Of course Israel’s decision to cut off aid for the past 2 months is a bigger deal but it doesn’t help the cause of gazans at risk of famine to be that irresponsible for a high-ranking un official. And the media were the responsible ones in this case - asking the official to clarify what appeared to be a misspeak to someone with any idea of how famines work, but the UN official just doubled down.

Sure. And for the record, i don’t doubt that there is widespread famine in Gaza. And that lots of people are dying and will die of famine-related causes. But that particular statement was weirdly stupid.

Yeah, stupidity in high places seems to be a thing these days.

The shooting in DC is horrific and helps no one but extremists.

In other news, children’s entertainer Ms. Rachel has been attacked for the controversial position that it’s bad when children are bombed or don’t have reliable access to food and education:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/arts/television/ms-rachel-gaza-israel.html

It’s also entirely predictable when people have been calling for violence for months now. This is what a “Globalized Intifada” looks like.

The murderer has a 900 page manifesto that’s been posted online.

This is a very insightful article:

Some choice quotes:

He is a crook, a fascist wanna be and an asshole.

The leader of the Opposition has some power-

https://www.timesofisrael.com/outrage-as-opposition-party-leader-golan-says-israel-killing-babies-as-a-hobby-in-gaza/

The UN General assembly is pretty much controlled by anti-israel factions. There are something like 50 nations where Muslims are the majority.

How many due to Netanyahu and how many due to Hamas is the question. (Hamas steals aid food to sell)- I suspect Bibi is the main villain here, however.

Well, that explains a lot: the shooter was PSL (Party for Socialism and Liberation).

You may remember the PSL from the viral video featuring one of their founding members from October 8th, where he led a rally in Times Square and praised Hamas for their use of paragliders and for their murder of the civilians at the Nova festival:

As a member of an organization that blatantly celebrated the Nova massacre in particular, is it any wonder that he ended up murdering civilians?

None at all.

More on starvation in Gaza:

Yeah, malnutrition in kids can reach dangerous levels frighteningly quickly.

Not that there’s any truly safe level of malnutrition, but you know what I mean.

He’s not the official leader of the Opposition (i.e. the leader of the largest party not in government), his party only has 4 of 120 seats right now.

Interesting development in Syria:

The new Syrian government is aiding (?) Israel in the fight against Jihadists. This is, presumably, to curry favor with the US.

It might also be to curry favor with Israel, a local power of some importance.

Likewise, the PA and Lebanon agreed on a joint proposal to disarm Palestinian groups in Lebanon.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/23/world/middleeast/lebanon-hezbollah-palestinian-refugee-camps.html

And hopefully, (what remains of) Hezbollah is next.

Very positive developments if your goal is a two state solution.

To clarify why I quoted this bit:

Syria needs Israel’s “favor”, if you want to call it that, for a very simple reason.

At this time, Israel occupies parts of Syria, which it took over after Hezbollah attacked in support of Hamas.

Israel continues to occupy this land because, until it did, no one stopped Hezbollah from attacking into Israel with impunity.

If Syria wants Israel to respect Syria’s sovereignty and territorial rights over this land, Syria must prevent people within its borders from violating the sovereignty of Israel, by attacking it.

It’s a two way street.

If Syria wants de facto control over those lands, it needs to be able to control them, and impose the state’s monopoly of violence in the area. Otherwise, it can’t really complain about fighting that happens there.

Have there been attacks on Israel from Syria since Jolani took over?

Also plausible.

Former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert:

“Speaking to BBC News, Olmert said what Israel “is doing now in Gaza is very close to a war crime.””

"Olmert, who served as prime minister from 2006 to 2009, described the ongoing conflict as “a war without a purpose — a war without a chance of achieving anything that can save the lives of the hostages.”’

https://www.timesofisrael.com/former-pm-olmert-tells-bbc-israeli-actions-in-gaza-close-to-a-war-crime/

Another demonstration of what “Globalize the Intifada” looks like: a Boulder pro-Palestine protestor throws a Molotov cocktail at a group marching in solidarity with the hostages, injuring at least five people - two severely enough that they had to be airlifted to a hospital.