Need to be so deadly and destructive?

I had a long discussion with my friend and debate partner over lunch today. I had asked him about his views on the Israel – Gaza war. Hamas committed war crimes, perhaps also crimes against humanity. Is Israel also committing war crimes in its efforts to eliminate Hamas? In a moment I’ll get to why I asked. My friend reminded me of several things: There is a consistent persecution of Jews that has been going on about two and a half millennia. The persecution is because they are Jews. Hamas is in control in Gaza and has quite thoroughly corrupted every institution in Gaza toward its stated goal of destroying Israel. That means any news coming out of Gaza should be suspect. That includes the health ministry that reports on the count of the dead. Hamas is very good at mingling with civilians and suddenly attacking Israeli soldiers. Hamas started this war, even though they had a good idea what would happen to their fellow citizens when Israel struck back. They also knew how their attack would help far right leader Netanyahu. I’m sure there were other major points he made. I talked a bit about why people believe Israel is committing war crimes. The number of trucks that are allowed into Gaza are a tiny fraction of what is needed and what was coming into Gaza before the war. Because so few trucks are getting in there are reports of starvation and famine. The US military and other organizations are working on building piers so that aid can come by sea, though that still won’t be enough. My friend and I agree that Israel needs to inspect those trucks to make sure they don’t contain material that Hamas could use against Israel. I asked if Israel was serious about preventing harm to civilians, wouldn’t they increase their inspection manpower so more trucks could get through? Isn’t the lack of inspection manpower an indication that Israel wants those civilian deaths? If my friend gave an answer I don’t remember it. Another aspect we discussed: Did Hamas provoke a violent response from Israel so that Hamas could portray Israel as the one committing war crimes? We didn’t have an answer. I asked him to discuss this because of an incident Wednesday evening. I went to a community gathering to hear my member of Congress Rashida Tlaib. She is of Palestinian descent and is very much on the left side of politics. There were about 80 people in attendance. The purpose of the gathering was to give her a chance to tell what she has done for her constituents – this community got a fire truck, that one got money for this project, and so on. Then Tlaib opened the floor for questions. A representative of an agency said we offer these services. A man said his fiance had been deported to Mexico and it might take a decade to go through proper channels. There was a question about all the seemingly unrelated things insurance companies ask. And questions on many other issues. One of the questions was from a woman who stood up and objected to Tlaib’s use of the word genocide in describing what Israel is doing in Gaza. The woman wanted Tlaib to retract the word and not use it again. Tlaib refused. The woman got a little heated and demanding. The crowd turned against her – you’ve said your piece, now sit down. Many in the crowd sounded like the sided with Tlaib. One of Tlaib’s aids intervened. The woman eventually sat and the questions turned to other topics. My friend asked if the woman was Jewish. I don’t know. She did not say so. She did not give her name, so I couldn't tell if it was a Jewish name. I sat towards the back of the room so did not see her face. After the program ended (by the clock – there were still plenty of questions) I talked to one of Tlaib’s aides about some of the ideas I wanted to share with her. Is she willing to declare a climate emergency? That would open up a lot of government and national resources. I suggested that solar panels could be put on the roofs of big box stores, warehouses, and along the medians and in the open interchanges of highways. The aide took notes. The Israel – Gaza war will be six months old in two days. Much of the news coming from the region sounds like (friend, keep those two words in mind) Israel is committing genocide through severely slowing down food and medical supplies. Many citizens are facing starvation. Many die because medication is not available. Many die because citizens are caught in the crossfire or shelled buildings collapse. We get news nearly every day about this tragedy and that. How much is true? Who is issuing that news? Is it coming from Hamas, which is very much biased? Is it from a Gazan institution, which Hamas has corrupted? Is it from Israel, which would have its own spin? Or is it from independent reporters from other countries? How much access do reporters have? I’ve heard not much. When Israel says they must attack (and come close to destroying) a hospital because Hamas is using it as a base for launching attacks does the American military have a way of telling whether Israel is telling the truth and can they offer another way to achieve the same goal without being so destructive to the hospital and so deadly to civilians? The evidence is Americans can’t tell or their advice is being ignored. If the second is true that implies Israel is looking for more deaths than just Hamas. Two days ago a convoy with members of the World Central Kitchen on board was targeted by Israel and seven members were killed. Since then there has been news that while WCK had told Israel of their plans that info didn’t get to the nearby troops who mistook something benign for something dangerous. There will be dismissals and reprimands. But that incident had brought about another thing. Biden has gotten a lot of pushback on supplying the arms that allow Israel to do what appears to be genocide. The heavily Arab Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit organized a protest during Michigan’s Democratic primary, prompting a large number of people to vote “uncommitted” instead of for Biden. The organizers said this was personal. They have relatives in Gaza. But it isn’t just Arabs who are protesting. A lot of people, including me, feel that Israel is being more brutal than necessary. That feeling was tempered somewhat through my discussion with my friend today. Now that other thing. Yesterday, Biden called Netanyahu. The bit that was reported heavily was Biden saying Israel must take concrete steps to prevent harm to civilians and humanitarian workers in Gaza. Future US support for Israel’s military efforts in Gaza will depend on the implementation of those steps. This is the first time the aid is conditional. Munchausen of the Daily Kos community discussed that phone call. Biden has put himself in a delicate position for a couple reasons. Israel’s enemies could say: See, even the US has dropped support of Israel. They would delight in the propaganda mileage they could get from that and the trouble they could stir into the situation. Biden must be quite careful of every word he says. Biden must also make clear that the lives of Palestinian civilians will be much worse if the nasty guy wins in November. The nasty guy has claimed Palestinians aren’t even human. So while Biden may withhold aid he still needs Jewish votes. Otherwise the pandemic prince might build condos on the graves of Gazan children using Russian cash. Munchausen linked to a report saying this week the nasty guy secretly visited with the Saudi Prince, potentially to undermine efforts at a peace deal. Munchausen also discussed Netanyahu struck a consulate (which country isn’t given, Iran?) in Syria. That would prompt Iran to retaliate. Is that a move by Netanyahu to force Biden to continue supporting Israel? So it is amazing that even with that threat from Iran Biden still said aid is conditional. Is Biden reversing Netanyau’s threat by saying protect Gazan civilians or we’ll cut aid just when you need it most to defend against Iran? That’s a gutsy move by Biden. Pakalolo of the Kos community reported that what looks like a response to Biden’s call a crossing from Israel into Gaza has been reopened. This will allow more aid trucks to reach the starving civilians in the northern part of Gaza. But still not enough trucks.