No, Israel did not commit Genocide

Hamas’ sacrifice of tens of thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza War was a premeditated and inhumane strategy born out of demented and apocalyptic Jihadist minds. Hamas perpetuated the October 7 horrific atrocities on Israeli civilians with the expectation and intent of triggering a massive Israeli retaliation, that would ignite a full-scale regional war and preempt the emergence of a USA-Saudi-Israeli anti-Iranian coalition.

The loss of life, Israeli and Palestinian, that resulted from Hamas’ ill-advised, horrific and ultimately futile October 7^th attack is tragic and disappointing to all humanitarian peace seekers. The horrific death toll and suffering of the innocent is heart breaking.

The scope, premeditation and callousness of Hamas’ sacrifice of Palestinian civilians is without precedent in human history. By denying shelter to Palestinian non-combatants in its vast network of tunnels and by impeding and obstructing the evacuation of civilians from areas of combat – Hamas is guilty of the self-induced and deliberate death of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians. The vast majority of the civilian casualties in Gaza could have been avoided if Hamas would have freed the Israeli hostages or granted shelter to the Gazan population in its vast network of tunnels. Urban warfare is the deadliest and most challenging type of military campaign. It is exacerbated when one party – having ample capacity to shelter its civilian population – refuses them refuge and sacrifices them in an unparalleled and intentional  act of deranged, asymmetrical and suicidal, warfare.

Casualty figures, released by a terrorist organization, are paraded daily by the media as facts – and have been internalized by millions worldwide. However, less than half of the death toll may be considered civilian casualties. The rest are Hamas operatives, many of which are underage and included in the “children” category. A combatant to civilian casualty ratio of 1/1 to 1/2 is tragic, but remarkably low for modern urban warfare exacerbated by a terrorist group intent on the sacrifice of its civilian population in pursuit of Jihadist fantasies.

On the other hand, it is noteworthy that all reputable urban warfare experts acknowledge Israel´s unparalleled efforts to reduce civilian casualties.[i] Most agree that Israel has implemented more measures to prevent civilian casualties than any other modern army. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have taken unprecedented measures to minimize harm to civilians and are monitoring very closely the conduct of the troops – including the investigation of dozens of events as possible acts of use of excessive force and violation of guidelines. No army has developed and integrated such measures and capabilities throughout its combat units. No army has conducted large scale urban warfare with the restrictions that such a system imposes.

Israel has not committed Genocide. Israel reacted to the attacks by Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran as any nation would have responded in similar circumstances. The campaigns against Hezbollah and Iran were extraordinarily successful and brilliantly planned and orchestrated. The Gaza campaign, however, has been flawed in many ways and should be investigated, scrutinized and debated.

Given this sobering reality, forging a plan for post-war Gaza that guarantees Israel’s security and ushers-in a solution to the Palestinian plight is a high priority. A non-political commission of inquiry that would investigate the Gaza War, including any accusations of human rights violations is demanded by this tragic and complex situation.

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Hamas’ atrocities – October7.org 

Background

Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by 28 Western states (including the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Israel, Australia, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand – and by the Organization of American States (35 countries). Hamas is also a pariah organization among fellow Suni Muslims and has become a minion and proxy of Iran – the archenemy of The West and of Suni Muslims (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Gulf States, Jordan and Turkey). This designation is based on Hamas’s history of carrying out deliberate attacks on civilians and on its stated genocidal objectives – as specified in its Charter and in countless declarations and documents.

Despite its disturbing success in casting itself as the Palestinian “resistance” and as fighters for Palestinian self-determination, Hamas evolved into an extreme Jihadist suicide cult guilty of the self-inflicted and futile genocide of its civilian population.

Since 2007, Hamas (an offshoot of the Suni Muslim Brotherhood) has governed the Gaza Strip, home to over 2 million people. The 2005 unilateral Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, intended to facilitate and test the ability of Palestinians to self-govern and coexist peacefully. Since, Hamas has inflicted on the Palestinian population and on the adjacent Israeli territory. a reign of recurring terror and death. During these 17 years Israel attempted and tested a variety of strategies to reach some degree of security for the Israeli towns and villages that populate the area around the Gaza strip – unsuccessfully. During these 17 years, these traumatized communities have lived under constant terrorism of infiltrations, and rocket and mortar attacks. Recurring cycles of warfare became an unacceptable norm.

Hamas’ attack on October 7th 2023 included horrific acts of murder, violence, rape and the kidnapping of babies, women and elderly civilians – as evidenced in videos shot by Hamas’ terrorists, its leaders and supporters ( see https://cutt.ly/AeZ2LnKL).  Hamas’ horrific and futile sacrifice of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians failed to achieve its goals:

It failed to ignite an all-out involvement of Iran in a war against Israel.                                      It led to the weakening of Iran’s proxy strategy and capabilities against Israel.                           It led to a vulnerable and weakened Iran.

 Israel´s  successes and failures

 Hamas – The failure to interpret the indications and signals of a looming Hamas operation are the subject of intense debate in Israeli military, political and social forums. The defense minister, the Head of Internal Security  and the top military leaders have assumed responsibility and have resigned. Hamas has been decimated but survives by using the Israeli hostages and the Gazan population as human shields.

Hezbollah was created by Iran as “the” doomsday weapon against Israel. It is considered a strategic threat by most Israeli military experts.  It was feared for the massive loss of life and infrastructure it was capable of inflicting due to its massive arsenal of rockets and missiles. The decimation of Hezbollah’s capabilities by the IDF, the Israeli Mossad and Airforce is one the great military successes of this conflict. Hezbollah is now a shadow of its former self.

Iran  is without doubt the great loser of the “Gaza War.” The decimation of Iran’s proxy strategy and capabilities against Israel (Hezbollah and Hamas), the loss of its air defenses, the fall of the Assad regime in Syria and the retreat of Russia in the area – have greatly weakened the strategic threat from  Iran.

 Conclusions

The Israeli military success, made possible by the unprecedented support and participation of the Biden administration in the war against Iran and its proxies (Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis), has enabled and facilitated a new future for the region.  The future configuration of the Middle East is yet evolving, but has the following emerging characteristics, potentialities and threats:

I- The weakening of Iran due to the collapse of its decades-long investment in the proxy strategy, the collapse of the Syrian Assad regime and the Russian retreat in the area.                II- The weakening of Iran’s nuclear threat due to Israel’s destruction of its air defense capabilities. Negotiations or destruction of its nuclear capabilities are the only options open to a weakened Iran.                                                                                                                  III- Aided by these developments, the expected USA-Suni emerging alliance can now move forward.                                                                                                                                        IV- The main Arab nations, that fought four large scale wars on behalf of the Palestinian cause, are opposed to Hamas’ and have been discretely supportive of Israel. They pay lip service to the Palestinian cause but favor a once utopian Suni-American-Israeli alliance in the Middle east.                                                                                                                               V- Facing multiple corruption trials, dependent on extreme nationalist parties that “excel” in irresponsible statements that pander to their extremist base, and opposed to any solution to the Palestinian problem – Netanyahu has no vision or plan. He is paralyzed, in wait for external triggers: The outcome of his trials, the collapse of his coalition, Saudi demands or Trump’s dictates. Netanyahu’s paralysis is squandering the success of the IDF. the benefits of a Suni-American-Israeli alliance and the Israeli losses in life, wounded and treasure. 

[i]1.John Spencer, Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point and is the Co-Director of the Urban Warfare Project. www.johnspenceronline.com. 2. Jim Petrila The Foreign Policy Research Institute3. 3. Philip Wasielewski, director of FPRI’s Center for the Study of Intelligence and Nontraditional Warfare.4. Dr. Frederick M. Burkle, Jr. – Dr. Burkle is a physician, public health expert, and a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.  5.General David Petraeus – General Petraeus is a retired U.S. Army General who has served in various command positions, including commanding the surge in Iraq. 6. General Stanley McChrystal – Joint Special Operations Command and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

[ii] https://www.october7.org/