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Hospitals have special protection under the rules of war. Why are they in the crosshairs in Gaza? (apnews.com)

submitted 1 year ago by Nobody@lemmy.world to c/worldnews@lemmy.ml

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JERUSALEM (AP) — The head of surgery at Gaza’s largest and most advanced hospital held up his phone Saturday to the hammering of gunfire and artillery shelling. “Listen,” said Dr. Marwan Abu Sada as fighting raged around Shifa Hospital.

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[-] nautilus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 year ago

Why are hospitals in Gaza under Israel’s crosshairs? Why? Is it truly that difficult to step back and think for a moment about why Israel would want to erase the current populace entirely?

Amazing, what a mystery

[+] ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works -41 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

erase the current populace entirely

Do you realize that the population of Gaza grows by over 50,000 people every year? Even if we accept the casualty figures provided by Hamas (and I don't) then unless this war goes on at its current intensity for another four months (which it won't) the population of Gaza will actually increase rather than decrease in the one-year period that includes the war.

The idea that the war in Gaza is "[erasing] the current populace entirely" is disconnected from reality.

[-] nammi@lemmy.world 35 points 1 year ago

Wow.

Are you literally saying it’s not a genocide because the population is growing faster than the IDF is killing?

I don’t know what happened to your brain, nor your heart, but I am sad whatever happened to you, happened.

[+] thatsage@lemmy.world -18 points 1 year ago

Do you believe the IDF is incompetent at doing a genocide then?

[-] be_excellent_to_each_other@kbin.social 12 points 1 year ago

That's a false dichotomy. They are killing them as fast as they think the international community will tolerate. They won't kill them fast enough to provoke any major entity into opposing them, they will just stay firmly in the "everyone will wag their fingers at us and argue about whether it's right" zone, which is where they sit currently.

[+] thatsage@lemmy.world -10 points 1 year ago

And what will make you believe genocide isn't the end goal? The refugees leaving through Egypt don't?

[-] be_excellent_to_each_other@kbin.social 9 points 1 year ago

The refugees leaving through Egypt don’t?

How could they? Reiterating my prior point:

They are killing them as fast as they think the international community will tolerate. They won't kill them fast enough to provoke any major entity into opposing them, they will just stay firmly in the "everyone will wag their fingers at us and argue about whether it's right" zone, which is where they sit currently.

So the fact that this leaves open the possibility that some people get to flee their homes in terror, knowing that their friends and loved ones who refuse to be chased out of their homes by Israel are likely to be killed by the IDF, is one of the things that you feel might convince me that Israel doesn't have genocidal intent?

And what will make you believe genocide isn’t the end goal?

Clearly nothing that you're going to accept.

[+] thatsage@lemmy.world -10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

But that's impossible to argue. You can claim for any ratio that it's a silent genocide as long as even a single citizen is killed. And we know a war without civilian casualties - even forgetting the situation of Hamas putting civilians forward as shields and even killing some themselves. Where do you draw the line?

Instead of examining the facts, you're opting for an easy cop-out that requires no proof and cannot be disproved.

[-] be_excellent_to_each_other@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago

I didn't say no conditions anyone would accept, I said no conditions you are going to accept. You wouldn't be carrying water to this level if you would.