Palestinians flee as Israeli artillery pounds northern Gaza

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By FARES AKRAM and JOSEPH KRAUSS

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinians grabbed their children and belongings and fled neighborhoods on the outskirts of Gaza City on Friday as Israel unleashed a heavy barrage of artillery fire and airstrikes, killing a family of 6 in their home. Israel said it was clearing a network of militant tunnels ahead of a possible ground invasion.

Israel has massed troops along the border and called up 9,000 reservists as fighting intensifies with the Islamic militant group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. Palestinian militants have fired some 1,800 rockets, and the Israeli military has launched more than 600 airstrikes, toppling at least three high-rise apartment buildings, and has shelled some areas with tanks stationed near the frontier.

As Israel and Hamas plunged closer to all-out war despite international efforts at a cease-fire, communal violence in Israel erupted for a fourth night. Jewish and Arab mobs clashed in the flashpoint town of Lod, even after Israel dispatched additional security forces.

The Gaza Health Ministry says the toll from the fighting has risen to 119 killed, including 31 children and 19 women, with 830 wounded. The Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant groups have confirmed 20 deaths in their ranks, though Israel says that number is much higher. Seven people have been killed in Israel, including a 6-year-old boy and a soldier.



A Palestinian relative mourns over the bodies of four young brothers from the Al-tanani family who were found under the rubble of a destroyed house following Israeli airstrikes in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Friday, May 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/gaza-middle-east-israel-religion-a76702fdfcad4692922d6a11533e0f08

[Alpeduez21]

1. Israel is doing to Palestinians

what Nazis did to them. Kicking people out of their homes so more 'approved' people can move in.

Stop all aid to Israel.

[jimfields33]

2. I don't understand why Palestinians put up with hamas.

Can’t they get rid of them? Israel and Palestinians would be better off and get some progress going if hamas was gone. Get rid of them!

[IronLionZion]

11. Both sides would be better off with more moderate sensible leadership

Leadership by extreme hardliners is clearly not working out

[Israeli]

18. Absolutely correct

our religious right wing are as bad as Hamas .

[former9thward]

12. Hamas has a long history of murdering political opponents.

They are effectivey a terrorist dictatorship and Gaza would need a revolution to get rid of them.

[Israeli]

19. Who murdered

Rabin ????

[former9thward]

29. A terrorist.

Not the government. Are you suggesting the Israeli government murdered him? That is a new one. Hamas is the government in Gaza.

[Israeli]

43. So Yigal Amir was a terrorist ?

and he acted alone ? .......double

Bibi had nothing to do with it .......treble

We can go back and forth on this as much as you like .
Only answer me this .....why did Rabin's widow refuse to shake Bibis
hand at the funeral or acknowledge him in any way ???

[McKim]

3. Actually it Was a Legal Election

Actually Hamas won a legal election, much to Israel's dismay.

[ripcord]

4. So how is Israel supposed to act?

By choosing Hamas the Palestinians chose terrorism as a path forward.

[Mosby]

6. It was a legislative election, the takeover of Gaza was illegal.

And those elections were almost 15 years ago, the the Palestinians haven't had legitimate leadership in a long time. Abbas's term in long over.

[manicdem]

26. Attacks and the elections

Palestinians were prepared to have their elections this month, the first time in 15 years. It's theorized that the attacks in Israel were timed to postpone the elections, and for the different factions to show their might to win the elections.

https://www.npr.org/2021/04/29/992065009/palestinian-authority-postpones-parliamentary-elections

[joetheman]

5. How are they supposed to Act? Maybe stop taking Palestinian land and begin to treat them as humans

That would be a good start. And I have relative there and in other parts of the ME. They just don't understand how the US can be on the side of the oppressor. But then...our own history...

[Mosby]

7. Maybe because Israel isn't oppressing anyone.

The Palestinians should stop provoking Israel.

[Politicub]

10. What are you talking about? Israeli authorities are literally kicking people

out of their homes so they can be razed for homes for Israelis. If you don’t see a problem with that, then it is a useless exercise to debate you. If you don’t see a problem with Palestinians in Gaza being subject to Israeli military commands and edicts while Jews are protected by the force of law, then you need to look up the definition of “provoke.”

This is a complicated conflict. And it’s frustrating when people reduce the complexity by ignoring Israel’s forced annexation of Gaza. This is a provocative act, too.

[Mosby]

13. No homes are being razed, and nothing annexed.

The situation in sheihk jarrah (area of E. J'lem) is about non payment of rent.

The conflict isn't really that complicated, the Palestinians refuse to compromise and share the land, they want Israel replaced with another Arab state. This has been their position for more than 70 years.

The Jewish people are indigenous to Israel, and deserve to have their rights respected.

[Politicub]

15. You are completely misinformed. Because I don't believe you

are trying to mislead, I am giving you the benefit of the doubt about not understanding the conflict.

Start here: https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-44124396

If someone wanted to kick me from my home, I would refuse to compromise, too.

And there is no "sharing" proposed.

The more I think about it, the more I am offended by the idea that this is a matter of "compromise." It reduces the decades of suffering by the Palestinians.

[Israeli]

23. I saw your tweet about the rent ....

Thats one side , the religious right side , who will say anything to justify their actions .

For anyone interested here is the other side :

https://www.972mag.com/sheikh-jarrah/

[Israeli]

28. No need to get personal Mosby

.......or to use foul language .

Your facts are not my facts .
If you choose to believe our religious right wing thats your choice .

This is what I believe :

Israel chooses violence

From the repression in Sheikh Jarrah to the bombing of Gaza, the Israeli government has opted to escalate its brutality toward Palestinians.

By
Haggai Matar
May 10, 2021

https://www.972mag.com/israel-chooses-violence/

[Israeli]

20. Really Mosby

" Israel isn't oppressing anyone." ......

[Violet_Crumble]

33. I haven't been at DU for a while either, so maybe I'm missing some context...

..but wtf does your question mean and why did you ask it? I know Israeli is an Israeli Jew living in Israel, and I'm guessing yr having some sort of weird dig because of that, but I think the answer anyone would give to that weird question regardless of where they live is that Palestinians living in Gaza would far prefer to live in their own homes in their own Palestinian state than somewhere else. Do you disagree?

[Violet_Crumble]

32. Hello again! It's been a long time!

How's life treating you? I hope you're safe right now. I know the risk to Israelis from rockets is so minimal compared to that of Palestinians, but the extremists going crazy in Israel right now is pretty scary...

[Violet_Crumble]

31. BS. They're not treating Palestinians as humans...

They've stolen their lands, their terrorists have had a blind eye turned to them as they murder innocent Palestinians, yet for some sick reason there's Americans who do the Trump thing of denying reality and turn to the Big Lie that innocent Palestinian civilians deserve what they get because somehow they 'provoke' Israel with its discrimination and theft of their land.

And let's not even get started on the immorality of an occupying power refusing to supply vaccines to those it occupies during a pandemic. It's sickening and I'd be ashamed to be an Israeli...

[ripcord]

8. Israel owns that land

They took it when the Palestinians and a number of Arab nations attacked Israel with the goal being to wipe Israel off the map and commit genocide. It doesn't matter what the international community thinks since most did nothing but watch the Arabs try and emulate the Nazis.

[Violet_Crumble]

34. Seeing you're playing the Nazi card. Israel no more owns that land than Germany did Poland...

And while the extreme right-wingers bleat away about not caring what the international community thinks, those of us who believe in the rule of law and human rights for all believe otherwise. Just a suggestion, but maybe you could study up on the history of the Middle East sometime soon?

[Calista241]

9. To be fair

Only killing 6 people in a heavily populated area is not a "heavy barrage of artillery."

All intentional loss of life is a tragedy, but let's be real with our propaganda here. A heavy barrage of artillery into a highly populated area would've result in hundreds or thousands of lives lost.

[maxsolomon]

14. A "targeted barrage" of artillery into a heavily populated area, then?

"Light barrage"? "Paltry barrage"?

If Israel decides to bring troops and tanks and armored bulldozers into Gaza, will that be an "invasion", or just a "surgical incursion"?

[ripcord]

16. The first launches came from Palestine

Does anyone really believe Israel would allow those rocket launches to go unopposed? Maybe if the brave Hamas fighters weren't hiding behind women and children.....

[maxsolomon]

17. Given their actions for all the years I've been alive, no.

I did not expect they would not retaliate. Most everyone expects they will, with massive, asymmetrical force.

Do you really expect Hamas insurgents to openly fight a highly trained modern army like the IDF because it's "brave"? That's not how guerilla warfare has ever worked, and I don't think you're naive.

[hack89]

21. So if Hamas has no choice but to use human shields

They must feel that civilian casualties are ok. Or why else would they decide to launch 1000 rockets at Israeli towns and cities knowing full well there would be massive retaliation?

[ripcord]

24. We aren't supposed to discuss that

[Humanist_Activist]

37. Uhm, this is a calculation made in every asymmetrical war ever fought...

its a cost/benefit analysis that was made by Eastern Partisans in WWII, the Viet Cong, etc. Guerrilla warfare isn't pretty.

If Hamas and the population that elected them feel that the current situation is untenable, then why not? Also, as far as I'm aware of, its due to the expulsion of many Palestinians from East Jerusalem that triggered this latest round of fighting.

[EX500rider]

38. Which guerrilla warfare campaign consisted of trying to kill as many civilians as you can?

Generally guerrilla warfare is directed at military forces, not civilians.

[Humanist_Activist]

39. Actually, Hamas, particularly in its first years, primarily focused on military targets...

The turning point was the Hebron Massacre, and they more or less asked that Israel distinguish against Military and Civilian targets and they would reciprocate, with no response or assurances from the Israeli government.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamas

[EX500rider]

40. However they now concentrate on killing as many Jews as they can.

To the point of offering survivor benefits to "martyrs" who blow up or stab as many civilians as they can.

FYI, the Hebron massacre was in 1929 and was Arabs killing Jews.
Hamas was founded in 1987.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1929_Hebron_massacre

[Humanist_Activist]

41. Different massacre, from 1994 nt

[EX500rider]

42. So in other words, no guerrilla campaign in the past has intentionally and almost solely..

...targeted civilians. Which is really just plain terrorism, not guerilla warfare.

[Ron Green]

27. Lebensraum.

Shame on Israel.

[mahina]

30. This is breaking my heart

And breaking us

[Maxheader]

35. what a freaking mess..

Best advice I've read concerning negotiations is for

this country to stand down..observe, ..

[ck4829]

44. ...