for shootersa!

I wanted to say that, but I was afraid to.

 

Hamas was smart to kick the ball back into Netanyahu's court. They have him trapped between them and his barely hanging in there far right extremist coalition and they know it. So now Israel looks like the assholes.




Cease-fire agreed by Hamas is 'far from Israel's requirements,' Netanyahu says.
Francesca Chambers, Kim Hjelmgaard and Joey Garrison, USA TODAY
Updated Mon, May 6, 2024 at 1:51 PM MDT·5 min read
329

• 
  

WASHINGTON — Israel said a cease-fire proposal agreed to by Hamas didn't meet Tel Aviv's requirements, as Israeli forces prepared for a long-dreaded assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Hamas' Monday announcement came after months of U.S. pressure on Israel for a cease-fire and as U.S. officials signaled their disapproval with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Rafah invasion plans.

Netanyahu's office said Monday afternoon the Rafah assault would go forward. "Israel's war cabinet has unanimously decided that Israel will continue the operation in Rafah to exert military pressure on Hamas to advance the release of our hostages, destroy Hamas's military and governing capabilities, and ensure that Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel in the future," a statement said.

"Meanwhile, even though the Hamas proposal is far from Israel's requirements, Israel will send a delegation to mediators to exhaust the possibility of reaching an agreement under conditions acceptable to Israel," the statement continued.

An Israeli official earlier told Reuters that Hamas had accepted a "softened" version of an earlier proposal, which included "far-reaching" conclusions that Israel could not accept.

“I can confirm that Hamas issued a response, and we are reviewing that response now,” State Department spokesman Matt Miller said. “We will be discussing this response with our partners over the coming hours.”

NBC reported that, under the new proposal, 33 of the more than 130 hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7 would be released in exchange for a 40-day truce. This is different than the six-week cease-fire proposal that had been on the table for the last few weeks, which would have led to the release of 40 hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

A cease-fire deal that is accompanied by the release of additional hostages has proven elusive. Israel did not send a delegation to Cairo where this proposal was discussed.

John Kirby, the White House's national security communications advisor, declined to discusses specifics of what Hamas has agreed to and how it might differ to an original truce proposed for Israel and Hamas.

"We want to get these hostages out. We want to get a cease-fire in place for six weeks. We want to increase humanitarian assistance. And the last thing that I want to do is say anything at this podium that's going to put that process at risk," Kirby said at a White House briefing.

President Joe Biden met with King Abdullah II of Jordan at the White House on Monday. CIA Director Williams Burns is currently in the Middle East working to help secure a cease-fire agreement.


This picture taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing following Israeli bombardment of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Feb. 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militant group.
Pressure for cease-fire has been building for months
Hamas' response follows pressure from Biden on Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza and to do more to protect civilians or risk a policy change from the White House, possibly regarding aid and weapons shipments.

Biden discussed the hostage negotiations that are taking place in Doha, Qatar, in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the White House said Monday before the potential cease-fire proposal was announced.

The president also underscored his opposition to a Rafah invasion without appropriate civilian protections in a call with Netanyahu.

"The President reiterated his clear position on Rafah," a White House statement said.

The White House statement said that Netanyahu agreed to ensure the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and Gaza is open for humanitarian assistance after a weekend rocket attack that Hamas says it was behind.

Israel has been under mounting international pressure to agree to a pause in fighting in Gaza, where the death toll has passed 30,000 and aid groups say more than 2 million people face extreme shortages of essential supplies, including food, water, medicines and fuel. A truce in November last year that facilitated the release of 100 Hamas-held hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

Chilling details of what hostages faced: 'We know they were raped in Hamas captivity'

Hamas is believed to be holding 134 hostages, including some who are either known or thought to be deceased. Their friends and relatives in Israel and around the world have been holding non-stop rallies and public awareness campaigns to help secure their freedom since they were seized by Hamas on Oct. 7.

Israel is holding about 9,000 Palestinian prisoners, according to HaMoked, an Israel-based human rights organization. About a third of these are what Israel classes as "administrative detainees." They are held without trial for offenses such as throwing stones or "damage to the security area." Some are teenagers.

A war with no walls: Inside the devastating impact of Israel-Hamas war around the globe

Israel prepares for Rafah operation in Gaza
The Israeli military ordered residents in eastern Rafah neighborhoods to "to temporarily evacuate" to a humanitarian area outside the city early Monday.

The IDF said in a statement the area is equipped with "field hospitals, tents and increased amounts of food, water, medication and additional supplies" and that advisory to relocate was being conveyed through flyers, text messages, phone calls and in media broadcasts.

"The IDF will continue pursuing Hamas everywhere in Gaza until all the hostages that they’re holding in captivity are back home," the statement said.

More than 1 million Palestinian civilians have sought refuge in Rafah, and the White House said Friday that it had not seen a comprehensive plan to evacuate them.

"We believe that they are going to take − Israel government is going to take our concerns into account," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a briefing. "But we have not seen a plan − a comprehensive plan."

Biden's call to Netanyahu coincided with Holocaust Remembrance Day, and the White House said the leaders discussed "the shared commitment of Israel and the United States to remember the six million Jews who were systematically targeted and murdered in the Holocaust, one of the darkest chapters in human history, and to forcefully act against antisemitism and all forms of hate-fueled violence."

The president also plans to deliver remarks at a Holocaust remembrance ceremony on Tuesday.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/hamas-accepts-proposed-cease-fire-182836871.html

 

There really should be a 'Fuck you, asshole' Rating.

Yeah, we get it - hating Jews is this season's leftist stance. Ignorance (especially of history) is not a basis for a coherent argument.

This war will be - rightly so - when there are no Hamas terrorists left alive to burn Israeli babies alive, gut and rape pregnant woman and indiscriminantly murder Israelis while a Cease Fire was in effect.

Take your Jew hatred and shove it up your ass where it belongs.

 

Whether or not you hate Jews what Israel is doing is criminal.
As for hating Jews. Is itt he rest of the world that hates Jews or Jews that hate everyone else.
When I was growing up one of my best friends in school was Jewish. She was very nice. We became great friends but her parents hated anyone that wasn't Jewish. They treated us as if we were beneath them.

 

The 'non-combatant' Palestinian casualties pale in comparison (by ratio of population) to the Japanese and German cilvilian deaths incurred during WWII. Isreal has met and surpassed the International Letter of the Law in trying to avoid civilian casualties, but that just doesn't fit the Jew hating, pro terrorist agenda.

Based on polls before October 7, over 80% of Palestinians support Hamas.

 

Sorry but you are lying about Israel. I do know that Germany and Japan suffered more causal ties than Palestine but this has happened in only a few months.
Don't you dare defend what they are doing.
Why did you not mention the civilian casualties in the Soviet Union. Do they not matter? They lost more civilians than anyone.

 

Defend what Israel is doing?
What, exactly are you talking about?
Civilian casualties? You are aware that HAMAS doesn't distinguish between terrorists killed and wounded and civilians killed and wounded, right?
And you're aware that HAMAS intentionally imbeds itself in schools and hospitals and that's OK with most Palestinians, right? You think those tunnels under hospitals and schools got there without Palestinians knowing about them?
And you do know that HAMAS has attacked border points opened by Israel to allow humanitarian aid to go through, right?

So what is it, exactly, that you object to latecomer defending about Israel?

 

Leon Uris' novel Exodus, the movie based on the novel, and the theme song of the movie did much to build American support for Israel.

This land is mine
God gave this land to me
This brave and ancient land to me
And when the morning sun
Reveals her hills and plains
Then I see a land
Where children can run free
So take my hand
And walk this land with me
And walk this lovely land with me
Though I am just a man
When you are by my side
With the help of God
I know I can be strong
Though I am just a man
When you are by my side
With the help of God
I know I can be strong
To make this land our home
If I must fight, I'll fight
To make this land our own
Until I die, this land is mine
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Ernest Gold / Pat Boone
The Exodus Song lyrics © Emi U Catalog Inc., Carlyle-alpina Edition, Chappell Music Ltd, Spoone Music Corporation

 

In case anyone has not figured it out yet, my support for Israel is unconditional; I also admire Jews and respect their religion.

 

The USA supports Israel because the first choice Iran under the shar was toppled by the present despot .They only provided the latest equipment because they need a new ally in the area.And to stop the Russian / USSR inference by Egypt and Syria from controlling the Suez Canal.

 

They have just found tunnels beneath the border crossing in and around Rafah will the IDF find nothing as the leadership and some of the best terrorist have already escaped?.

 

The tunneling HAMAS rats will be hunted down and dealt with if the world leaves Israel to doing what needs to be done.
The worst thing that could happen now is to force Israel to back off, giving HAMAS the opportunity to rebuild.
All those deaths and destruction would be for nothing then since Israel would just have to do it all over again the next time HAMAS goes on one of their brutal killing sprees.

 

Israeli troops gain operational control of Gazan side of Rafah Crossing, IDF says
The IDF said it began a 'precise counterterrorism operation' in the eastern Rafah area.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed Tuesday that it has gained operational control of the Gazan side of the Rafah Crossing.

The IDF released a statement saying its forces began a "precise counterterrorism operation" in eastern Rafah.

Acting upon intelligence showing the area was being used for "terrorist purposes," IDF troops obtained operational control of the Gazan side of the Rafah Crossing, the statement said.

 

We've seen despicables and snowflakes and jew haters twirling at the casualty numbers being pushed out by HAMAS.
Even brandon has quoted them.
They're wrong.
Brandon ought to check his numbers.
And his sources.
And so should american hater.​

Biden admin should check Hamas' Ministry of Health death stats, expert warns (msn.com)
Biden admin should check Hamas' Ministry of Health death stats, expert warns
Story by Beth Bailey
• 7h

The Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health released an infographic on April 24 through social media site Telegram indicating that it lacked identifying data for more than 10,000 of the 34,183 so-called martyrs who had been killed in the 200 days following Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Despite growing concerns over the Ministry of Health’s figures, the Biden administration continues to cite the ministry's data with no reference to its origin. In October, President Biden claimed that he had "no confidence" in Ministry of Health figures. In his March, State of the Union address, Biden shared the ministry’s data with a global audience without referencing its origin, noting that "more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, most of whom are not Hamas."

David Adesnik, senior fellow and director of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that the incompleteness of data entries for 10,152 victims in an earlier April 21 data set should be "a flashing red light" for onlookers who have previously trusted ministry calculations of the death toll in Gaza.

Adesnik has called on the Biden administration to "ask the intelligence community to evaluate the data’s sources and accuracy" prior to citing Ministry of Health figures in the future.

Adesnik explained that until the end of March, the Ministry of Health grouped victims of alleged "Israeli aggression" into two categories. In one category were the victims whose deaths have been reported by the Gazan hospital system. This category also includes thousands of deaths registered by family members who believe their loved ones’ bodies remain buried under rubble, or are otherwise inaccessible. For victims in this category, the ministry says it can provide names, identification numbers, ages and genders of the deceased.

The second category were victims whose deaths were reported through what the ministry referred to as "reliable media sources." Adesnik says the Ministry of Health has "never specified what the sources are, or how they determine if the information in these sources is credible. And of course, Gaza doesn’t have independent media," he added. These entries lack at least one of five categories of identifying information: an identification number, full name, gender, birthdate, or date of death. Adesnik says there is no clarification of what information is lacking that renders entries incomplete.

He noted that the proportion of deaths reported through media sources has increased from about 30% in December to nearly 80% in the first quarter of 2024. There are irregularities in the death toll reported through media sources, like the gender breakdown of victims, which he says is "so skewed that it is almost hard to believe."

If one combines both categories of victims, he says, it appears that around 70% of victims are women and children, as Hamas has claimed. Utilizing only the first category of individuals, whose records the health ministry labels as "complete," about 60% of victims are women and children.

Adesnik referenced the work of economist Michael Spagat, a longtime proponent of the accuracy of the Ministry of Health’s data. Spagat recently found 3,407 records within the data set of supposedly complete records that have been duplicated, have missing or invalid identification numbers, or lack an age for the deceased. When these records are removed from the first category’s count, Spagat found that 53.3% of victims were women and children.

BIDEN USE OF HAMAS DEATH COUNT CHALLENGED BY PROMINENT STATISTICIAN, SAYS NUMBERS ‘AREN’T ACCURATE’

In its April 21 update, the Hamas-run Ministry of Health shifted its moniker for the second category of deaths, no longer referring to them as having been collated through media sources, but rather as sources that lack complete data. "It’s just a relabeling," Adesnik said.

Adesnik has sounded the alarm about multiple other irregularities in the the numbers. He previously reported for FDD that the ministry’s death toll vacillates on occasion. He told Fox News Digital that additional aspects of the ministry’s reporting have yet to be verified, including whether it truly differentiates between naturally-occurring deaths among Palestinians, and deaths that occur due to violence.

Adesnik also questions whether the ministry counts deaths from misfired Palestinian rockets, such as the rocket that hit Al-Ahli Arab hospital on Oct. 16, in its toll. The Times of Israel reported in November that the Israel Defense Forces estimated 12% of Palestinian rockets landed in Gaza.

Adesnik also encouraged closer scrutiny of children in Hamas’ death figures, explaining that many Hamas fighters are under the age of 18. "If you look at the gender breakdown of people who died under the age of 18, you can see the teenagers have a surplus of men," he explained.

Gabriel Epstein, a research assistant at The Washington Institute’s Koret Project on Arab-Israel Relations, reported in January the "many reasons to treat Gaza Ministry of Health and [Government Media Office] fatality numbers with skepticism," including their underreporting of male deaths. By March 26, Epstein noted that "discrepancies in official Palestinian counts and their growing reliance on questionable data" have ensured the ministry’s "numbers themselves have lost any claim to validity."

In response to questions about whether the State Department is looking into the sources of Ministry of Health death data for the more than 10,000 victims for whom the ministry lacks essential identifying information, a spokesperson said the department is not able to independently assess actions in Gaza. The spokesperson noted that thousands of civilians, and a significant number of children, have been killed in Gaza. "Every one of those losses is a tragedy, whether it’s the number that has been released from Gaza or whether it’s some other number, every one of them is a tragedy, and we mourn the loss of every one of those civilians."

The stakes in getting the numbers correct are high. As Epstein explained in his January report, "although thousands of Palestinian noncombatants, including military-age males, have undoubtedly been killed in the Hamas-initiated conflict, the world must also recognize that the group has manipulated and exploited civilian fatality claims for its strategic benefit, in an attempt to truncate Israel’s air and ground operations and stir international outrage. The international media and NGOs have repeated such claims without proper scrutiny and in turn validated and reinforced Hamas propaganda efforts."

Another gap in Ministry of Health death counts is the lack of differentiation between military and civilian casualties. Terrorist casualty rates are disputed. In February, a Hamas official told Reuters that the group had lost around 6,000 of its estimated fighters. The IDF estimated they had killed double that amount, or 12,000. By late March, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that 13,000 Hamas terrorists had been killed.

Fox News Digital reached out to the IDF and to Hamas leadership for comment about the Ministry of Health’s incomplete records, and for an updated count of the losses that Hamas has incurred on the battlefield. Neither responded.

Even utilizing Ministry of Health data, the ratio of civilian to militant deaths demonstrates significant Israeli efforts to minimize casualties, according to information that John Spencer, chair of Urban Warfare Studies at West Point’s Modern War Institute, recently shared on the social media platform X.

Based on the ministry’s estimate that 34,000 have died in the war and the IDF’s claim it has killed 13,000 Hamas fighters, Spencer calculated a 1 to 1.5 or 1.6 ratio of combatant to civilian deaths in Gaza. He compared this to the 1 to 2.5 combatant to civilian death rate "when U.S.-led Iraqi Security Force killed 10,000 civilians to destroy 4,000 ISIS" between 2016 and 2017 during the Battle of Mosul, and the 1 to 6 combatant to civilian death rate when "the American military killed 100,000 civilians to destroy 17,000 Japanese defenders" at the 1945 Battle of Manila.

Spencer also described the numerous methods that Israel has employed to protect the civilian population of Gaza, including but not limited to evacuating civilians before beginning ground invasions, providing safe routes and humanitarian zones for evacuations, notifying civilians of combat areas with flyers, direct phone calls and text messages, imposing use of force restrictions, and using legal advisers in their targeting process.

In sum, Spencer explained that "all available evidence shows that Israel has followed the laws of war, legal obligations, best practices in civilian harm mitigation and still found a way to reduce civilian casualties to historically low levels."

 

What is it big suzy, that has triggered you?
That you might have been fooled by HAMAS propaganda?
That there are no reliable casualty figures?
That Israel is likely not the de.on in this saga?

 

The US has just pause a delivery of 2000lbs bombs , that Netanyahu and the IDF requested,the ones they need to destroy the HAMAS underground tunnels .Netanyahu says he what's the hostages returned but there's a good chance the they are being held in the tunnels.So are the hostages expendables for the extremely right-wing government....

 

Israel committed war crimes and Hamas are peace loving angles ? Are you not forgetting that Hamas committed PURPOSELY war crimes from rape to burning of bodies to attacking civilian villages to raping to indiscriminate shooting of civilians to mention just a few. I could also mention the tens of thousands of rockets fired over the years on civilian targets, the usage of ambulances, hospitals, mosques and schools to hide weapons and organise their attacks, to kill their own population as well as the PA officials back in 2006, to kill people by binding them behind motorbikes and drive through the streets of Gaza, etc etc.

 

It started in 1946 to 1948 when the Jews decided that they what ALL of Palestinian. Shot at and killed British troops who were one of the army's that freed them, fed them ,and gave them medical treatment after the liberation of the NAZI death camps. So the Arabs have learnt well from Israeli's way of doing thing's.

 

The political pathologies of the Arab world cannot be blamed on Israel. Those pathologies existed before Israel did. They would continue to exist if the Arabs ever succeed in destroying Israel and killing all the Jews there.