Hamas attacks Israel

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
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Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says Canada is pledging $1 million to support victims of sexual violence by Hamas in Israel during last October's attacks.

The funding comes with an offer of RCMP support for investigations three months after a group of women who hold political office in Canada called on Ottawa to provide this type of support.

Last week, a UN envoy said there are "reasonable grounds" to believe Hamas committed rape and "sexualized torture" during the attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7.

Israeli women's organizations have criticized their global peers for being slow to acknowledge sexual violence by Hamas, and Canada's envoy for combating antisemitism chalked that delay up to anti-Jewish attitudes.
 
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petros

The Central Scrutinizer
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Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says Canada is pledging $1 million to support victims of sexual violence by Hamas in Israel during last October's attacks.

The funding comes with an offer of RCMP support for investigations three months after a group of women who hold political office in Canada called on Ottawa to provide this type of support.

Last week, a UN envoy said there are "reasonable grounds" to believe Hamas committed rape and "sexualized torture" during the attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7.

Israeli women's organizations have criticized their global peers for being slow to acknowledge sexual violence by Hamas, and Canada's envoy for combating antisemitism chalked that delay up to anti-Jewish attitudes.
Me too. I want money.
 
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Ron in Regina

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"A ceasefire is on the table today, for six weeks to be built on into something more enduring if Hamas would simply release women, wounded and elderly," White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters
Israel has accepted the terms of a six-week ceasefire in exchange for the release of some of the hostages held by Hamas since its Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed.

Hamas says it will only accept a deal based on a permanent ceasefire that ends the war and includes an Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza, rather than another temporary truce.
Under the most recent proposal, Israel would release Palestinian prisoners at a 10-to-one ratio to the number of Hamas hostages held. Heartless Israel
The demands for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza are everywhere. At the Oscars, celebrities such as Billie Eilish and Ramy Youssef wore red “Artists4Ceasefire” pins, which Youssef said meant an “immediate permanent cease-fire.”
During Biden’s State of the Union address, progressive Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.) held up signs calling for a “Lasting Ceasefire.” Resolutions in the United Nations, countries around the world, and international refugee nongovernmental organizations all demand a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.
But when it comes to a proposal to give immediate relief to Gazans, these voices have been conspicuously silent. The proposal is a six-week humanitarian cease-fire, mediated by Qatar, the U.S. and Egypt, which Israel has accepted. The relief it would bring desperate Gazans — a respite from the war and a surge of food, water and medical supplies unhampered by intense fighting — has been rejected by Hamas in favor of continuing the war and even expanding it.
Somehow, nobody is wearing Artists4SixWeekPause pins to protest this callous decision that will surely cause many civilian deaths in coming months.

A principal obstacle is Yehya Sinwar, the Hamas military leader in Gaza, who demands that Israel agree to a permanent cease-fire and commit to withdrawing from Gaza. He is reportedly pleased with how the war is going, but his strategy, if not his personal survival, depends on leveraging Gazan civilian casualties to generate international pressure on Israel to withdraw permanently.

His bet is that the Ramadan holiday will ignite an uprising on the West Bank, leading to more Palestinian deaths, and more international pressure on Israel, including more “permanent cease-fire” pins and signs. Good times…

Whatever Israelis think of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — indeed, despite what some polls show to be a record low public opinion of him — they are united around the goal of eliminating Hamas, which has promised “a second, a third, and a fourth” attack on Israel. Sinwar and his colleagues wanted an existential, “it’s us or you” war with Israel, and they have gotten one.

A six-week humanitarian cease-fire would involve the release of perhaps 40 or 50 Israeli hostages, and several times that number of Palestinians in Israeli jails. It could create a new diplomatic dynamic, conceivably with an endgame that includes the exile of the Hamas leaders in Gaza and an end to the war.

Pressuring Hamas, which is sensitive to international opinion, to accept the six week cease-fire, would not require the permanent cease-fire camp to refrain from seeking an end to the war if it resumes.

The permanent cease-fire camp has left the impression that Israel is the only actor in Gaza with agency, and that Hamas is a faceless, besieged, underground bystander. It has been a convenient way to blame Israel exclusively for Gazan suffering, but now that game is up.

By not pressuring Hamas to accept the six week cease-fire, the permanent cease-fire camp, intentionally or not, has aligned itself with the goals of Hamas and against the immediate needs of the Gazan people.
 

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
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Did Hamas stop firing rockets for Ramadan?
Doesn’t appear that Hamas in Gaza, & Hezbollah in Lebanon both haven’t stopped firing rockets during Ramadan. These are probably celebratory peace rockets though due to the holiday.

You’d think that after the first 3000 that Hamas fired on Shemini Atzeret (Oct 7th) that they’d eventually run out of rockets or rocket fuel, ect…but apparently not.
 
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petros

The Central Scrutinizer
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Doesn’t appear that Hamas in Gaza, & Hezbollah in Lebanon both haven’t stopped firing rockets during Ramadan. These are probably celebratory peace rockets though due to the holiday.

You’d think that after the first 3000 that Hamas fired on Shemini Atzeret (Oct 7th) that they’d eventually run out of rockets or rocket fuel, ect…but apparently not.
Tunnels to Lebanon. Sadly the only way to get rid of those is seismically.
 
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Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
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Recent reports from the U.S National Security Agency state that a 6-week ceasefire deal has been on the table with one basic minimum requirement — that Hamas releases women, wounded and elderly hostages. But Hamas is refusing to do so, which is what is causing the impasse in ceasefire negotiations.

A ceasefire was in place prior to Oct. 7 and that it was Hamas that broke it by slaughtering hundreds of innocent Israelis. Hamas had a choice, made their choice, and now must deal with the consequences of that choice. If a ceasefire is ever going to be possible, both sides need to agree on terms, one of which is the release of hostages. If Hamas truly desires a ceasefire, then all it needs to do is release women, wounded and elderly hostages.

If it desires an end to all fighting entirely, then it simply needs to lay down its arms. But again, that is not happening, which speaks to Hamas’ motives — they are not interested in a cessation of violence. Why? Because it would not serve their mission — the annihilation of the Jewish state.
Nor do they appear interested in humanely distributing food and medicine to the population they govern and claim to represent. Shooting at citizens from the roofs of aid trucks is not an act of good governance. It is what has necessitated the humanitarian airdrops by the U.S. and other aid organizations to try to get food and water to Gazans.

A ceasefire would make the distribution of aid to Gazans easier but according to individuals closer to the conflict, the notion of a widespread famine is being grossly overstated for propaganda purposes. More food, water and medicine are coming into Gaza than before Oct. 7, but Hamas has been hijacking truckloads and redirecting goods to local markets to raise funds for its war efforts.

International aid and assistance are meaningless if the governing entity of the region does not wish for it to be received by its people. Many Gazans are indeed in need of food — but it’s not been for the lack of effort by the international community to supply it.
 
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