Israeli strikes on Gaza kill 13 people, mostly women and children

[Beastly Boy]

43. There is a lot more to Hamas atrocities than starting the killings.

And yet, mentions of their guilt are exceptionally few and far between, and are made predominantly in the context of criticizing Israel. Something like "Hamas is a monster, but..." That's the extent of it.

And there is absolutely no mention of their role in purposely and deliberately exposing Gazan civilians to the dangers of the war they are waging against Israel - the principal cause for civilian casualties in Gaza. Were the Hamas militant to conduct warfare away from schools, hospitals and refugee camps, as they are mandated to do by international law, they could have spared tens of thousands of civilians in their care. But that would have been the exact opposite of their intent to "martyr" as many Gazans as possible, which they were never shy to express openly.

So let me give you an example of how talk of Hamas' guilt is being avoided: your post above.

Let's begin with "Everyone knows Hamas started it". Not only does this avoid the description of the "it" that Hamas started, this statement stops at what Hamas started and addresses none of the extent of what they are doing now and will be doing in the future to prevent the ending of the killings.

That's where your criticism of Hamas ends. From there, the post immediately does a 180 turn and deflects from Hamas to "abandonment of two-state negotiations, breaking of the ceasefire and... renewed strikes and killing though, which you acknowledge", a transparent swipe at Israel. Moreover, you took it for granted that this is what I acknowledge, whereas I acknowledged something entirely different, something way beyond this one-sided interpretation.

More than that, you are proposing that what I presumably acknowledge "sure seems to be the intent of the Netanyahu government to do ethnic cleansing." And from there, you venture from what is not about to happen the absurd speculations into what happens after the make-believe non-event happens. I know the definition of ethnic cleansing, and since I do, I would never suggest to you that ethnic cleansing is Netanyahu's intention. If you were to look into this definition beyond the shallow appropriation of the term as an insult, I am confident that this will no longer seem to you, notwithstanding your current presumptions of anyone's intent to rid Gaza of all Palestinians, let alone being capable of achieving anything of the sort.

"Israel deserves better leadership." Did it occur to you that Gaza deserves a better leadership too? Why not a word about that?

Israel deserves more than a better leadership. Israel deserves secure borders. Israel deserves more than being belittled by slanderous echo chamber of baseless accusations indiscriminately thrown at it. Israel deserves international support to elect a better leadership. Indiscriminately calling Israel a "pariah nation", throwing at every opportunity will not get you there. This will only get resentment from the Israelis who will only become disgusted by being made a scapegoat for everything wrong happening in the Middle East and by the entities that embody their disgust .