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Re: by YeGoblynQueenne on Wednesday March 06, 2024 @08:20PM (#39624000)
>> But the thing is, it seems obvious that what Israel is doing won't even achieve their stated aims about Hamas in the first place; Ismail Haniyeh is not going to get creased by a bomb dropped on Gaza, you know?

People keep saying this but I don't know why. For me it's obvious that if the IDF keep besieging Gaza, Hamas will eventually have to come out of their holes, and die.

I suspect this already happens a lot except we don't get to find out because there's no reporting from the locations where IDF and Hamas fighters exchange fire. But, reports from the few hostages that have been released, or freed, make it clear that Hamas is subject to the same deprivation of food and water as the rest of Gaza (the hostages tell stories about the poor quality and amount of meals they shared with their guards) and they're stuck in their bunkers to boot, which can't be great for their overall physical and mental stamina.

This is not a war that Hamas can win, not even survive. Not in the long run. Their best chance is to keep their heads down and wait it out. But if I understand that, IDF commanders certainly understand that and they're not going to go away until Hamas all come out of their holes exhausted and starved waving little white flags.

I think the mistake people make is to think of Hamas a bit like the partisans who took to the maquis in WWII, or maybe the Taliban against the US. It's not the same situation. Hamas has nowhere to go. They are trapped, like rats in a maze. They're not getting out of that alive, unless the IDF is forced to withdraw by political pressure, which so far is not happening.

Besides which, if the IDF keeps at it like it is, it won't really matter because there won't be any Gaza, or Gazans, left for Hamas to control.

Hamas (and I mean the Al Qassam brigades) are toast. The only question is how much Gaza will bleed until they pop out of the toaster.

Re: by eropple on Wednesday March 06, 2024 @08:56PM (#39624237)
> People keep saying this but I don't know why.

Because Ismail Haniyeh is in Qatar.

Re: by YeGoblynQueenne on Wednesday March 06, 2024 @09:11PM (#39624334)
I'm not sure if the continued existence of Haniyeh and his band at Qatar is of any consequence. IDF are clearly keeping the Al Qassam brigades and Yahya Sinwar in their sites, for now. Maybe when they're done with them they'll turn to Haniyeh, but he'll probably won't matter at all by then.
Re: by hef19898 on Thursday March 07, 2024 @04:16AM (#39626895)
Yeah, sure. Wheather or not the leadership is alive or not is irrelevant. That's why the US ignored Bin Laden and Saddam. Oh, wait...
Re: by YeGoblynQueenne on Thursday March 07, 2024 @05:54AM (#39627484)
Haniyeh and the others in Qatar are not the leadership. Sinwar and the commanders of Al Qassam in Gaza are the leadership. They're the ones who organised "operation Al Aqsa flood", notably without informing Haniyeh, they're the ones holding the line in Gaza, instead of being entertained by the Qataris while their people die by the hundreds daily. That's why Israel is after them and tolerating Haniyeh, who is more useful to them as an intermediary to Sinwar, than anything else.

Once the war is over and Sinwar is dead or captured then they will probably turn to Haniyeh, but until then his role is reduced to that of a senior negotiator and nothing more.

Re: by hef19898 on Thursday March 07, 2024 @06:01AM (#39627529)
All fine, even if I don't buy it. Also, Israel actively, and openly, supported Hamas as a counter to Hizbollah (just a side note).

Still doesn't justify the conduct of war in Gaza we see, because so far nil on taking out the Hamas leadership you mentioned. And going by public statement of senior Israeli government officials (which by no means is representative of all Israelis nor all jews), the goal is more a depopulation of Gaza, with a asecond priority on Hamas leadership. One could even say, Hamas needs to be kept alive and active in order to serve as an excuse for continued war, one could say ethnic cleansing, in Gaza.

Re: by YeGoblynQueenne on Thursday March 07, 2024 @06:10AM (#39627589)
It's possible, there was an article in the NYT and reports elsewhere in the press a couple months ago on how Netanyahu directly funded Hamas because he though they were the best foil to a two-state solution. That guy is such an idiot.
Re: by hef19898 on Thursday March 07, 2024 @06:52AM (#39627948)
Yeah, on Netanyahu we agree. He is also dangerous, as his attempt (?) of dismantling the judiciary branch of government showed. He absolutely is part of the group of wannabe authocrats in Western-style democracies: Trump, Le Pen, the AfD, Meloni, Erdogan, Modi... The list is quite long, unfortunately.