Hamas blindsides Israel with most serious attack in a generation - Jeremy Bowen
www.bbc.com
Risk of flare-up between Palestinian militants and Israel has been deepening for months, writes Jeremy Bowen.

Israel was taken by surprise by the most ambitious operation Hamas has ever launched from Gaza.

The scale of what's been happening is unprecedented. Hamas breached the wire that separates Gaza from Israel in multiple places in the most serious cross-border attack Israel has faced in more than a generation.

It came a day after the 50th anniversary of the surprise attack by Egypt and Syria in 1973 that started a major Middle East war. The significance of the date will not have been lost on the Hamas leadership.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country is at war and will exact a heavy price from its enemies.

Videos and photos of dead Israelis, civilians as well as soldiers, are all over social media.

  • danhakimi@kbin.social
    122·
    1 year ago

    Well, they attacked on Simchat Torah (and Shabbat). Simchat Torah is one of our relatively few Happy holidays, and it's a day where Jews are not supposed to do any work, use fire, use electricity, etc. but are in fact supposed to be celebrating in synagogue.

    This is not the first time they've attacked on a Jewish holy day. It's entirely intentional.

    • Zagorath@aussie.zoneEnglish
      72·
      1 year ago

      It’s entirely intentional

      I mean of course it is. Anyone involved in a war would choose to time their attacks at the time they think it's going to be most effective; it would be silly to suggest otherwise.

      It's certainly sad that civilians keep dying in this, but when one side is arguably committing a genocide against the other, and not-even-arguably is an apartheid state subjugating the other side, it's very hard to side with the apartheiders.

      • danhakimi@kbin.social
        88·
        1 year ago

        lol what?

        "Genocide" is really hard to argue when their population keeps going up and most of the people being killed are active enemy combattants who target civilians.

        "Apartheid" is hard to argue for a totally egalitarian state on the basis that it has borders. Oh no! The US is engaged in Apartheid with Mexico! The Apartheid lie is very easy to argue against, because there's no basis for it.

    • bobman@unilem.orgEnglish
      95·
      1 year ago

      I mean, letting your guard down on a holy day isn't really an excuse.

      This is not the first time they’ve attacked on a Jewish holy day. It’s entirely intentional.

      Then… they should've been better prepared for this? I don't get your point.

      • danhakimi@kbin.social
        54·
        1 year ago

        Yeah, they should have, and to some extent they were. I don't think they "let their guard down," but I'm not in the IDF, I don't know how many people take the day off on shabbat or on simchat torah, I'm just saying that this was very intentional timing. It is, to the day, the 50 year anniversary of the Yom Kippur war.