Hamas attacks Israel

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
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To mark the 500th day that Israeli hostages have spent in Hamas captivity, thousands of demonstrators descended upon Jerusalem on Monday.

An amalgamation of protest groups mingled on Kaplan Street, the Knesset building looming above in its rectangular glory. There were the hunger strikers – who have been demonstrating in shifts for about 140 days, since six hostages were murdered by Hamas; family members of hostages and victims of October 7; social workers in high-visibility vests; doctors with stethoscopes poking out of their medics' kits; a grade schooler, shy but resolute, in a Kibbutz Nir Oz sweatshirt.

Also among them were anti-Netanyahu protesters like the Yom Kippur War veterans' group. Most of them were older, with many dedicating their retirement to the cause of bringing the hostages home. All had the same call: keep the cease-fire deal alive. The hostages have no time to wait.

Udi, a retired doctor, chatted with me in a tent there. He was friendly and talkative, and – in true Israeli fashion – forwent pleasantries. When he heard I was from America, he asked how we could have elected someone like that. When I said my studies had been on the Middle East, he asked if I believe in Palestinian statehood.

I generally balk at sharing my political views while on the job, but he was very comfortable telling me his. "On October 7, Hamas said that they consider every town in Israel to be a settlement, and that every Israeli man, woman and child is a settler and hence – a target," he said. "And then you have people here turning around and saying the same thing about Palestinians. If you deny that the Palestinians have the right to peoplehood," he pondered, "you could say the very same thing about us."

Another group had gathered just a few meters away. They also carried posters of hostages and wore their portraits on their T-shirts. But they had a very different idea of how their return should come about.

They were with the Tikva Forum, an alternative group to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. While the latter has long championed a cease-fire and diplomatic solution to the hostage crisis – including a deal with Hamas and world powers – the former believes that military pressure is the way forward.

Talik Gvili, mother of the slain hostage Ran Gvili, came with them. "I have a lot of hope now that Donald Trump is in office," she said. "The speech he delivered, about how all the hostages need to come back together – we believe that that's the solution."

Hamas, she said, cannot be trusted, and a dialogue with them can only yield hostage releases "in dribs and drabs" rather than in one fell swoop. They must be defeated, she said, and only then can we have the deal we need.

But in the meantime, "We want them to continue the first stage [of the deal] and bring back as many hostages as possible to their homes and parents. I hope my son will come back, too, and they won't erect a building over him."

Despite their differences – and their opposing poles on the Israeli political spectrum – both groups of protesters outside the Knesset had come to the same conclusion: Returning the hostages must be priority number one for the country, and that the fragile agreement Israel has with Hamas, volatile as it is, should continue.

According to the Israel Democracy Institute, this is one thing that the vast majority of Israelis agree on. Its polling found that about 70 percent of Israelis support proceeding to the next stage of the deal, which will see even more of our brothers and sisters, living and dead, returning home.

Israeli society is fractured, divided and polarized, and sometimes it feels hopelessly so. But for once, we all agree on something – and it's high time that our leadership internalize this and act on the public's will
 

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
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Thirty-three Israeli hostages were due for release under the first phase of the fragile Gaza truce that took effect last month, with 19 freed so far in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinian prisoners. Of the remaining 14, Israel says eight are dead.

Hamas "decided to release on Saturday, February 22, the remaining living (Israeli) prisoners whose release was agreed in the first phase, numbering six", the group's top negotiator Khalil al-Hayya said in a televised address.

The group had also "decided to hand over four bodies on Thursday, among them (those of) the Bibas family", Hayya added.
 

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
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Netanyahu removes Mossad, Shin Bet chiefs from hostage release negotiating team

David Barnea and Ronen Bar, in May.
David Barnea and Ronen Bar, in May.Credit: Olivier Fitoussi

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu removed Mossad chief David Barnea and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar from Israel's hostage negotiation team on Tuesday, appointing Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer to lead the talks.

Other officials from the agencies will replace them, including a former deputy Shin Bet chief who has already participated in negotiations. Sources say Dermer's appointment follows the U.S. administration's increased involvement in the talks. Dermer, who manages Netanyahu's outreach to Trump and his circle, will now handle communication with Middle East envoy Steven Witkoff instead of Barnea.

A diplomatic source called the move a "politicization of negotiations," saying it shifts control away from professionals and "could disrupt the release of hostages."

Bibi"s days are numbered.
 

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
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Well, maybe Trumps three state solution is the answer, ‘cuz being the ultimate diplomat that he is, he (or America, or some combination of the two?) gets Gaza, Israel gets Israel (or parts there of), Palestinians get the formerly annexed by Jordan West Bank of the Jordan River (or parts there of), Egypt builds a bigger wall between itself and Gaza (& the Mexicans pay for it).

The Gazan’s get bigger-better-faster-stronger housing in Egypt and Jordan to destabilize the governments and society’s there of, or else they get Trumpian tariffs, etc…& if you thought it was a shitshow beforehand, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
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Gaza becomes, beaches & peaches, casinos & golf courses, a Riviera on the Mediterranean in the Middle East. Maybe palm trees and gold trimmed lettering on the English signs between communities or resorts.
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"The newest addition to The Trump Organization's portfolio of five-star resorts around the world, is the new future Trump Gaza Casino Hotel and Resort, for America! For Freedom!”
 
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spaminator

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Oct 26, 2009
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Florida man charged after shooting two men he thought were ’Palestinians’
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Kate Payne
Published Feb 18, 2025 • Last updated 8 hours ago • 1 minute read

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Florida man has been charged with two counts of attempted murder after opening fire on two men in Miami Beach who he thought were Palestinians.


According to an arrest report, Mordechai Brafman shot at the men 17 times in the “unprovoked” attack, telling officers that while driving his truck, he “saw two Palestinians” and opened fire on their car, thinking he had killed the pair. But the men survived, one suffering a shot to the shoulder and the other grazed by a bullet.

Brafman, 27, is being held without bond on second-degree attempted murder charges at a county jail in Miami, records show. He has also been ordered to stay away from the victims, an Israeli father and son who were vacationing in South Florida, according to the Miami Herald.

Brafman’s attorney Dustin Tischler has said his client was experiencing a “severe mental health crisis” at the time of the shooting, which caused him to “fear for his life.”

“It is believed that his ability to make sound judgments was significantly compromised,” Tischler said in a statement to The Associated Press, adding that Brafman is seeking “necessary treatment” while cooperating with law enforcement.

The Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, has called for federal hate crime charges against Brafman, saying his alleged bias against Palestinians should warrant the charges regardless of the victims’ ethnicity.
 

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
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According to an arrest report, Mordechai Brafman shot at the men 17 times in the “unprovoked” attack, telling officers that while driving his truck, he “saw two Palestinians” and opened fire on their car, thinking he had killed the pair. But the men survived, one suffering a shot to the shoulder and the other grazed by a bullet.
Brafman.....a case Jewish domestic terrorism.
 

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
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In what is likely to be one of the defining images of the war in Gaza, the four caskets sat on a raised platform in front of smiling illustrations of three members of the Bibas family, who became a symbol of the cruelty of the Palestinian militant group’s Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel, and 84-year-old Oded Lifshitz.

Israel says the bodies, the first to be returned under the current ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, will need to undergo forensic testing before authorities can confirm their identities.
The handover took place in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, where large crowds gathered and armed Hamas militants in black and camouflage uniforms patrolled the area. The caskets were displayed in front of a large banner that showed a caricature replicating antisemitic tropes that showed Israeli Prime Minister with vampiric teeth and blood running down his face.
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The Hamas leader in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, announced on Tuesday that the bodies of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas would be among those returned this week.

He also announced that six of the remaining living captives would be released this Saturday, including two who have been held in the Gaza Strip for about a decade.

Saturday’s handover, if successful, will mean that four hostages, all presumed dead, are still left in Gaza from the group of 33 scheduled for release under the first phase of the ceasefire deal.

The deal was overshadowed by President Donald Trump’s call to move Palestinians out of Gaza so it can be developed into a waterfront estate, in what critics say would amount to ethnic cleansing, etc…
 

petros

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Nov 21, 2008
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Every Israeli feels stinging guilt for the Bibas family's tragedy. Except one

Meet the one and only Israeli who appears immune to any blame or responsibility for the failures of October 7 and the endless suffering of the hostages in Gaza

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a conference in Jerusalem on Sunday.

When four dead bodies of hostages who were taken alive to Gaza on October 7 are returned to Israel on Thursday, Israel will feel a collective sense of stinging failure, especially when – as the Prime Minister's Office confirmed on Wednesday night – among them will be Shiri Bibas and her two young boys, Ariel and Kfir.

The fate of the Bibas boys, the youngest hostages kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on that terrible day, has drawn national and international attention for 16 straight months. Their story exemplified the evil modus operandi of Hamas, a terror organization wicked enough to take captive a baby from his bed; but it also became a symbol for the massive failure of Israel's political and military leadership that had allowed such an unthinkable disaster to happen.

Every Israeli with a conscience will feel acute pain when Shiri and her beautiful redheaded babies return in coffins. Many Israelis, justifiably or not, will also feel a sense of guilt.

It's obvious that Hamas is to blame, above all, for the monstrous crime of kidnapping this family, and separating Shiri and the boys from their father Yarden, who was himself held by terrorists for almost 500 days, enduring torture and starvation before being released last week as part of the cease-fire deal.

But many Israelis will still ask themselves painful questions, based on the fact that the entire Bibas family was taken alive into Gaza. Could something have been done differently, to secure their release earlier? Were there other options on the table except those chosen by Israel's leadership since October 8? Did we citizens do enough to demand the release of the hostages, and lobby, pressure, protest enough to make it the top national priority? Those are all valid questions.

Only one man in Israel, however, seems to be immune from these heart-wrenching pangs of conscience: the prime minister.

The Bibas family was kidnapped from Nir Oz, a small kibbutz on the border with Gaza that has become the ultimate symbol of the failures of October 7. One quarter of its residents were either murdered or taken hostage. More than 500 days later, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to visit this community. Almost a year ago, his office said that "preparations were underway" for such a visit, but Netanyahu, who has since then travelled three times to the United States, including unnecessary but luxurious weekend stays, hasn't yet found the time to visit Israel's Ground Zero.

On Wednesday, his media team released a statement viciously attacking the heads of Israel's Mossad and Shin Bet security agencies, trying to blame them for appeasing Hamas during the cease-fire/hostage deal negotiations, in which they have taken a leading role. Netanyahu had already recently removed them from the negotiations team, placing the sensitive issue in the hands of his ultimate loyalist, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer. But instead of thanking them for negotiating two agreements that had brought us back almost 150 living hostages out of the 240 taken by Hamas, Netanyahu chose to humiliate them publicly.

Why? Because his own right-wing base hates the hostage deal. His base hates Hamas' performative "victory" parades in Gaza since the start of the cease-fire. Netanyahu – who personally approved every paragraph, sentence and punctuation mark in the agreement with Hamas – doesn't have the backbone to admit to them that this is his deal, the deal he signed off on, so he chose instead to deflect the responsibility, which his base characterizes as blame, on to others.

This is a serial form of behavior for Netanyahu, which raises questions that psychologists are perhaps better suited to answer than newspaper columnists. Since October 7, Netanyahu and his lackeys have blamed a long list of people and institutions for the failures of that day, as well as for the prolonged suffering of the hostages.

They blamed the families of the hostages for holding protests in favor of their release; they blamed the media in Israel and abroad for focusing on the fate of the hostages; they blamed then-U.S. President Joe Biden, and later U.S. President Donald Trump and his special envoy, Steve Witkoff; and now their latest targets are the Mossad and Shin Bet chiefs.

Only one man, it seems, has nothing at all to do with October 7, and bears no responsibility for anything at all – the man who has been the prime minister of Israel more than 90 percent of the time since the year 2009.
 

petros

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Former Biden Administration Advisor Slams Netanyahu for Obstructing U.S. Efforts at Gaza Hostage Deal

'Netanyahu's behavior was deeply problematic': Ilan Goldenberg's article represents the first real accounting from a senior Biden administration official on what the previous administration could have done differently to secure a cease-fire

Ben Samuels
Washington
Feb 19, 2025 10:08 pm IST

WASHINGTON – Ilan Goldenberg, a top advisor to former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, provided the most in-depth accounting of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's efforts at obstructing U.S. diplomacy over the course of the Gaza war.

Goldenberg, who would later serve as the Harris presidential campaign's Jewish community envoy, wrote the account in a Substack post meant to "honestly wrestle with the hard policy decisions" made by the Biden administration on Wednesday.

Goldenberg's testimony stands in stark contrast to that of Biden's top Middle East advisor, Brett McGurk. In a recent Washington Post opinion piece, McGurk placed the vast majority of the blame for the repeated collapse of a cease-fire deal on Hamas, despite well-established claims from diplomats, hostage families and media reports over the past 18 months.

Goldenberg's piece further represents the first real accounting from a senior Biden administration official on what the previous administration could have done differently in hopes of securing a cease-fire. Other officials, meanwhile, have insisted they responded as appropriately as possible given the hand they were dealt.
 

Ron in Regina

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Whoopsies…
"During the identification process, it was determined that the additional body received is not that of Shiri Bibas, and no match was found for any other hostage. This is an anonymous, unidentified body," the IDF posted on X.

Maybe it’s the body of some hostage from some other conflict Hamas is involved in?

The two sides agreed to exchange 33 hostages for about 1,900 prisoners by the end of the first six weeks of the ceasefire, so does Hamas return 67 prisoners to Israel or something now? How does that work now anyway?

(“This is a violation of utmost severity by the Hamas terrorist organisation, which is obligated under the agreement to return four deceased hostages. We demand that Hamas return Shiri home along with all our hostages." Etc…)

Israel demanded the return of her body along with the other remaining hostages. Hamas has not yet commented on Israel's claim.
 

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
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Whoopsies…
"During the identification process, it was determined that the additional body received is not that of Shiri Bibas, and no match was found for any other hostage. This is an anonymous, unidentified body," the IDF posted on X.

Maybe it’s the body of some hostage from some other conflict Hamas is involved in?

The two sides agreed to exchange 33 hostages for about 1,900 prisoners by the end of the first six weeks of the ceasefire, so does Hamas return 67 prisoners to Israel or something now? How does that work now anyway?

(“This is a violation of utmost severity by the Hamas terrorist organisation, which is obligated under the agreement to return four deceased hostages. We demand that Hamas return Shiri home along with all our hostages." Etc…)

Israel demanded the return of her body along with the other remaining hostages. Hamas has not yet commented on Israel's claim.
Shit. Blown to bits by a 1500 pounder like all the other 6000+ mothers leaving how manh orphans?

Netanputin must be giggling.

Call me antisemitic or hater or whatever you've been gaslit to say through 80 year old sad stories backed with clarinet music but....

More women and children killed in Gaza by Israeli military than any other recent conflict in a single year – Oxfam

Published: 30th September 2024
Israeli explosive weapons hit civilian infrastructure in Gaza - including schools, hospitals and aid distribution points - once every three hours

PSYCHO PUTIN BEAT BY NETANYAHU

More women and children have been killed in Gaza by the Israeli military over the past year than the equivalent period of any other conflict over the past two decades, new Oxfam analysis has found.

Decades...


As hostilities and tragic loss of life spread in Lebanon and the West Bank - including East Jerusalem - the regional escalation underscores the urgent need for an immediate and permanent ceasefire.

Conservative figures show that more than 6,000 women and 11,000 children were killed in Gaza by the Israeli military over the last 12 months. Data from 2004-2021 on direct conflict deaths from the Small Arms Survey, estimates that the highest number of women killed in a single year was over 2,600 in Iraq in 2016.

“These staggering figures are both appalling and heartbreaking. Influential actors in the international community have not only failed to hold Israel to account, they are also complicit in the atrocities by continuing to unconditionally supply it with arms. It will take generations to recover from the devastating impacts of this war and there is still no ceasefire in sight.

Sally Abi Khalil, Oxfam’s Middle East and North Africa Director
Oxfam
A report by the organisation Every Casualty Counts examined information on over 11,000 children killed across the first 2.5 years of the Syria conflict, an average of over 4,700 deaths a year. UN reports on Children and Armed Conflict over the last 18 years show that no other conflicts killed a higher number of children in one year.


Israel’s military assault began last October, following the attacks by Palestinian armed groups. Almost 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed, including at least 282 women and 36 children - the deadliest day in Israel’s history. These targeted attacks committed serious violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). More than 250 people, including 38 children, were taken hostage, 96 of whom are reported to still be held in Gaza.

Separate data from Action on Armed Violence up to 23 September shows that Israel hit civilian infrastructure across Gaza with explosive weapons once every three hours on average since the war began. Other than the six-da

Records - which are not comprehensive - show that Israeli explosive weapons hit on average:

  • Homes every four hours
  • Tents and temporary shelters every 17 hours
  • Schools and hospitals every four days
  • Aid distribution points and warehouses every 15 days

Throughout the last year, Israel has committed serious violations of IHL at a level which may rise to the level of crimes against humanity. This includes a level of destruction observed which is indicative of Israel’s use of disproportionate force in relation to military objectives and a failure to discriminate between military targets and the civilian population. Israeli military has relentlessly targeted infrastructure indispensable to civilian survival. Civilians have been forcibly displaced dozens of times to so-called ‘safe zones’ that fail to meet humanitarian obligations and have also been regularly bombed or attacked.

The UN Children and Armed Conflict reports show the number of Palestinian children killed by conflict in Gaza and the West Bank. Over the last year, more than five times more children were killed in Gaza than between 2005 to 2022 in total.

The record number of women and children killed in Gaza does not include those among nearly 20,000 people who are either unidentified, missing or entombed beneath rubble. Earlier this year, a study published in The Lancet estimated the true number of deaths in Gaza could be over 186,000, taking indirect deaths – for example, due to starvation and lack of health care – into consideration.

 
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Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
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Regina, Saskatchewan
Shit. Blown to bits by a 1500 pounder like all the other 6000+ mothers leaving how manh orphans?

Netanputin must be giggling.

Call me antisemitic or hater or whatever you've been gaslit to say through 80 year old sad stories backed with clarinet music but....

More women and children killed in Gaza by Israeli military than any other recent conflict in a single year – Oxfam

Published: 30th September 2024
Israeli explosive weapons hit civilian infrastructure in Gaza - including schools, hospitals and aid distribution points - once every three hours

PSYCHO PUTIN BEAT BY NETANYAHU

More women and children have been killed in Gaza by the Israeli military over the past year than the equivalent period of any other conflict over the past two decades, new Oxfam analysis has found.

Decades...


As hostilities and tragic loss of life spread in Lebanon and the West Bank - including East Jerusalem - the regional escalation underscores the urgent need for an immediate and permanent ceasefire.

Conservative figures show that more than 6,000 women and 11,000 children were killed in Gaza by the Israeli military over the last 12 months. Data from 2004-2021 on direct conflict deaths from the Small Arms Survey, estimates that the highest number of women killed in a single year was over 2,600 in Iraq in 2016.

“These staggering figures are both appalling and heartbreaking. Influential actors in the international community have not only failed to hold Israel to account, they are also complicit in the atrocities by continuing to unconditionally supply it with arms. It will take generations to recover from the devastating impacts of this war and there is still no ceasefire in sight.

Sally Abi Khalil, Oxfam’s Middle East and North Africa Director
Oxfam
A report by the organisation Every Casualty Counts examined information on over 11,000 children killed across the first 2.5 years of the Syria conflict, an average of over 4,700 deaths a year. UN reports on Children and Armed Conflict over the last 18 years show that no other conflicts killed a higher number of children in one year.


Israel’s military assault began last October, following the attacks by Palestinian armed groups. Almost 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed, including at least 282 women and 36 children - the deadliest day in Israel’s history. These targeted attacks committed serious violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). More than 250 people, including 38 children, were taken hostage, 96 of whom are reported to still be held in Gaza.

Separate data from Action on Armed Violence up to 23 September shows that Israel hit civilian infrastructure across Gaza with explosive weapons once every three hours on average since the war began. Other than the six-da

Records - which are not comprehensive - show that Israeli explosive weapons hit on average:

  • Homes every four hours
  • Tents and temporary shelters every 17 hours
  • Schools and hospitals every four days
  • Aid distribution points and warehouses every 15 days

Throughout the last year, Israel has committed serious violations of IHL at a level which may rise to the level of crimes against humanity. This includes a level of destruction observed which is indicative of Israel’s use of disproportionate force in relation to military objectives and a failure to discriminate between military targets and the civilian population. Israeli military has relentlessly targeted infrastructure indispensable to civilian survival. Civilians have been forcibly displaced dozens of times to so-called ‘safe zones’ that fail to meet humanitarian obligations and have also been regularly bombed or attacked.

The UN Children and Armed Conflict reports show the number of Palestinian children killed by conflict in Gaza and the West Bank. Over the last year, more than five times more children were killed in Gaza than between 2005 to 2022 in total.

The record number of women and children killed in Gaza does not include those among nearly 20,000 people who are either unidentified, missing or entombed beneath rubble. Earlier this year, a study published in The Lancet estimated the true number of deaths in Gaza could be over 186,000, taking indirect deaths – for example, due to starvation and lack of health care – into consideration.

How could Hamas have possibly predicted this in advance of Oct 7th 2023?😳How could they have prepared to defend (themselves in) Gaza like digging 500kms of tunnels (for themselves) under Gaza (to use the population as human propaganda shields) as something like bomb shelters…
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…that unfortunately the Gaza citizens where not allowed to shelter in.

How could Hamas & friends have foreseen that attacking and murdering 1200+ citizens of a neighbouring nation, and then kidnapping and taking 250+ more as hostages into & under Gaza could possibly provoke some kind of response? This was all just so unexpected. Baffling even. It’s almost like Hamas forced the IDF to come after them into Gaza for some reason.
(YouTube & “Military Expert Debunks Gaza "Genocide" - Nick Freitas”)
 

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
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How could Hamas have possibly predicted this in advance of Oct 7th 2023?😳
How did Benjamin Naziyahu's "best in the world" spooks who created Hamas and infiltrated Hamas not fucking know about Oct 7 or where holocaustages were/are? Are they a bunch of fucking losers?

There was no Hamas before Naziyahu and no Naziyahu before Hamas.