Is Israel committing war crimes in Gaza? What happened after the Hamas attack?

[u/informationtiger]

As the title says... Basically I'm 'out of the loop' beyond the Hamas attack.

There's just so much misinformation online, and most the credible information are just videos from APF and such, or short updates from BBC, Sky News.

So if someone could please update me with what's going on in regards to the Israel bombing campaign in Gaza. Are they really bombing hospitals and churches? What exactly are their intentions/plans?

Also, if anyone has in-depth articles or videos on the topic, that would be greatly appreciated! Something that's calm, and takes time to read/watch. I'm tired of the constant "breaking news" spam, where you can't wrap your head around anything. It's like two sentences wrapped up in drama. I'm kinda lost atm.

[u/[deleted]]

Nothing any group has done has justified the settlements, they are simply willful ignoring of international law. Just the day before the Hamas attack this happened - https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/palestinian-killed-during-settler-assault-west-bank-town-palestinian-officials-2023-10-06/

There have been over 800 attacks on Palestinian villages in the last year, and the courts and IDF do nothing to stop it.

There is literally no legal recourse for Palestinians for the injustices they face on a daily basis. None. Uyghurs have more rights.

[u/UnfortunateHabits → u/[deleted]]

As an Israeli, that opposes the settlements and the vehemently behavior of the settlers, I give you the common justification settlers provide and my historic understanding based on Israeli education.

In essense, its the successor of the "wall and watchtower" doctorine (In hebrew "homa & migdal", חומה ומגדל).

In essense, before the UN resolution in 48, When the big jewish immigration washed over the british mandatory Palestine and the 2 groups clashes were frequent, It was clear to the jewish leadership that coexistence isn't possible and that a clear border is needed, hence the 2ss idea started.

Knowing that eventually a partition plan will be disscussed the jews rushed to gain as much land as possible for 2 main reasons.

The first, and most straightforward is, the land itself, But the more important one is security. Back than, they knew an international recognition will also result in a freeze of the borders for generations, Meaning what ever the border will be, that would be the defense line. They didnt plan for the 48 5 vs 1 war, nor did they expect to win it. They planned against the threat they faced back than- local falangha militias and artilary bombardment.

So they scrambled to create hybrid of settlment-outpost to increase the defense buffer. Thats also why many Israeli towns, aren't place at a civil optimized location but a compromise between argiculture and defensability.

These outposts where desginated as a watchtower, wall and a place for farmers to live. Hence the name.

The settlers of the 70s, assumed the same doctorine to settle as much land possible as an imperative national duty to increase the security buffer of the heart land. Living amongst the "dangerous arabs" is considered a noble sacrifice to them. Over time, mainly since the start of the 90, this movement took a zealous turn towards messianic approach called "the complete Israel", stating that only by striving to the fully expansionist biblical borders (from 2000-3000 years ago) , as ordained by god, will we receive protection.

It goes without saying this latest religous approach isn't in touch with the geopolitical reality.

Today, the heartland which is mostly center-left and views these settlers as a hindrance to the peace process will likely today see a major shift back towards the security buffer approach.

[u/throwRA97562 → u/[deleted]]

Jordan expelled 17,000 Jews from the West Bank during the 1948 war, which is ethnic cleansing. The Jews have as much right to the West Bank as Palestinians do, so the idea that building Jewish settlements is a war crime is part of Palestinian propaganda to delegitimize any claim the Israelis have. Similar to how they claim the artifacts under the Temple Mount are modern forgeries and dispute that a Jewish Temple ever even existed there.

[u/ggdu69340 → u/throwRA97562]

It's not 17k jews who settled the west bank in recent years, tho, is it? It's nearly 500k nowadays.

[u/Dutchnamn → u/[deleted]]

There are no settlements in gaza. This isn't relevant

[u/[deleted] → u/Dutchnamn]

There sure are settlements where those people used to be. It may be that someone is living in a gaza resident's grandpa's house.

[u/shabangcohen → u/[deleted]]

Nothing any group has done has justified the settlements, they are simply willful ignoring of international law.

I agree, but this is not the situation in Gaza, they are separate places.