Moon Over Alabama
Israel is a colonial settler state in permanent conflict with the suppressed natives.
It thought it could survive in that state, or even extend its settlements, by deterring opposing forces with its superior military.
Hamas has breached that deterrence myth by inflicting, in one day, more casualties in Israel than it had experienced in any previous wars.
Natanyahoo is under pressure to restore the deterrence, to again provide the Zionists with a feeling of superiority.
He can not do that.
Any land attack in Gaza means urban warfare in an already destroyed city with large underground facilities. During the taking of Bakhmut the Wagener forces had in total some 40,000 casualties (dead and wounded). The other side had more than 70,000. What price would the IDF have to pay to ‘destroy Hamas’?
The other factor is of course Hizbullah and other resistance groups, which may well attack Israel from the north and various other directions. Hizbullah has loudly said it would do so should the IDF enter Gaza. It has some 100,000 missiles – more than enough to exhaust Israel’s air defenses. Its longest reach missiles can attack any major city within Israel. There have already been daily fire exchanges at the norther border.
The 2006 war in Lebanon has shown that Hizbullah is dug in and very able to defend itself. It has since gained more experience by fighting ISIS in Syria. Neither U.S. air force attacks nor a land force invasion can hinder Hizbullah from firing its missiles.
(Syria, as well as Iran, will not intervene in the war unless they are directly attacked.)
Netanyahoo must attack Gaza to restore deterrence. He can not attack Gaza because the urban warfare would cause large Israeli casualties. He can not attack Gaza because Hizbullah would then destroy the myth of the superior settler state even more than Hamas has done so far.
Israel, with the help of the U.S., has tried to push the population of Gaza into Egypt. From Egypt’s standpoint that would be a humanitarian solution, at least as long as others pay for it. But it would cause a serious strategic problem. Resistance by Hamas and others against Israel would continue indefinitely, but Egypt would be held responsible for it. It can not and will not take on that burden.
Netanyahoo’s next idea was to starve Gaza. But the world will not let him do that. At least not beyond a certain point. Even the UN Secretary General has visited the Rafah crossing. Other global organizations, like the WHO and ASEAN, have spoken up. Pictures of starving people will make it impossible for the west to support that ‘solution’.
Meanwhile Hamas fighters will continue to sit in their tunnels, ready to defend their land, and likely with enough provisions to hold out for months.
Israeli settlers, with the support of the IDF, are rampaging through the West Bank. They are killing more Palestinians and further enrage the global public against their deeds. This will escalate.
Israel’s decision making is paralyzed. It will for now continue to talk of a ground invasion but will not launch one. It will also continue to starve Gaza.
But something will soon break. At any minute there might be a new large atrocity in Gaza or a pogrom in the West Bank. Any miscalculation in the north could launch that front into a hot war. Hizbullah could start to ‘preemptively’ invade Israeli proper.
[…]
Via https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/10/netanyahoos-strategic-dilema.html
The Most Revolutionary Act 
just following….
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It seems to me he doesn’t have a whole lot of choices.
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Netanyahu is a thug, and, he has always been one!
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Where are the Jews who want a peaceful solution?
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A few years back, a poll was taken and 71% of the Israelis polled agreed that their countrymen had the right to expel Palestinians and take their homes. Somehow, I don’t get the impression that their are very many in Israel who want peace.
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There must be some!
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There are always some, but, will their voices be heard?
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Ignorant statements… They all want peace. The question is how to get there.
When the other side is not interested except for one solution, your complete eradication, and continue to respond in extreme hostility and aggression, sadly but realistically sometimes the only way to peace is war. And so here we are.
Remember, Israel is not the aggressor.
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Israel is not the aggressor??? Living in an open aired concentration camp where the Israelis can cut off your water, electricity and food supply and often do is a war crime. Murdering Palestinian children, women and men daily, often maiming instead of killing for sport is bestial behaviour. Pumping your sewage into the Gaza enclave causing a myriad of diseases isn’t the act of sane people. To say that the Hamas attack wasn’t provoked is ludicrous. What world are you living in?
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WOW! SO blinded by your hate and lack of understanding.
NOTHING that may or may not have been done warrants the actions of Hamas. Go read their charter.
BILLIONS of $ have been poured into Gaza to help with the region’s development. Instead of using $ for that purpose, much has been redirected to build up military might, build tunnels, etc. And using humans as shields is a war crime, let alone the aggressions on Israel.
Which side indoctrinates its kids to hate the other, and trains them on how to destroy the other?
I wonder how you would feel if it was your husband, wife, children, parents, grandparents, were dragged out onto the streets, brutally pummelled, raped, and murdered, then gleefully rejoicing before the world?
This is pure evil…plain and simple. You cannot characterize it any other way.
And where do you get your nonsensical claims of daily murdering the Palestinians? This is a response to Hamas actions. Period! War is NEVER pretty.
Surely, there are errors being made. But I wonder what actions you would take being in their position (this is a rhetorical statement).
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I don’t hate you, I just can’t understand your naivety!
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Oh I understand that there is a lot of manipulation in the media and so on, and that there are a lot of goings-on that are not explained. BUT you cannot ignore the atrocities committed. No matter how you slice it.
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I agree. There are 15,000 innocent Palestinians dead and maybe a few hundred Hamas. The proportionality is so lopsided!
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Yes, there are victims on both sides. But I ask again, how would you respond “if it was your husband, wife, children, parents, grandparents, were dragged out onto the streets, brutally pummelled, raped, and murdered, then gleefully rejoicing before the world?”
Do you not stop long enough to recognize the evil this is?
So Israel has chosen to try to eradicate the source of the problem once and for all because living in this constant terror has exceeded a threshold, especially since they other side rejects the people to even exist.
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The only confirmation of rape is the rape of an 11 year old Palestinian girl by a squad of IDF soldiers and the Palestinians have been living in constant terror for 75 years. You can only treat people brutally for so long before they strike back. I’m afraid your crocodile tears don’t impress me!
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Former Padre Steven Dundas is a blogger on the internet concerning all things military, including the Battle of Gettysburg and Midway as well as some excellent awareness about the history of the Holocaust. He is also a man of conscience and an American war veteran. He still suffers from PTSD and is now teaching military history. This is his latest post and provides some very helpful insight into the history which has been so misrepresented in our media.
https://dundas.substack.com/p/the-duty-of-muslims-to-drive-all
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All I can say is that the ruling elite has been extremely effective in polarizing the West on this issue. They are never more happy than when we’re fighting each other instead of them. I personally believe that the rhetoric concocted for the Western media paints a very different picture than what’s happening on the ground.
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Agreed
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