Israel-Hamas War 2023

[Josquius]

Louis Theroux made a BBC documentary about Israeli settlers for the BBC. Once I replied to this thread my phone knew and started giving me israel themed YouTube content ( ) and clips have popped up a few times. any Brits watch it? I've found it ( : ) but don't know if it's worth watching.

Like most of what he does it's very very good.
Even with this done to death topic he still shows some interesting stories.

[Oexmelin]

From the Journalists' Committee of AFP

Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die
July 21, 2025

AFP has been working with 1 writer, 3 photographers and 6 videographers, all freelance, in the Gaza Strip since its staff journalists left in 2024.

Along with a few others, they are now the only ones left to report what is happening in the Gaza Strip. The international press has been banned from entering the territory for nearly two years.
We refuse to watch them die.

One of them, Bashar, has been working with AFP since 2010, first as a fixer, then freelance
photographer, and since 2024, as lead photographer. On July 19th he managed to post a message on Facebook: "I no longer have the strength to work for the media. My body is thin and I can't work anymore."

Bashar, 30, works & lives in the same conditions as all Gazans, moving from one refugee camp to another under Israeli bombings. For > a year he's lived in utter destitution, working at extreme risk to his life. Hygiene is a major issue for him, with recurring bouts of severe intestinal illness.

Since Feb, Bashar's been living in the ruins of his home in Gaza City with his mother, 4 brothers & sisters and the family of one of his brothers. Their house is devoid of any furnishings, except a few cushions. On Sunday morning, he reported that one of his brothers had "fallen, due to hunger."

Even though these journalists receive a monthly salary from AFP, it's no longer enough to buy food, or they have to pay completely exorbitant prices. The banking system has collapsed, and those who exchange money via online bank accounts charge a commission of up to 40%.

AFP no longer has the ability to provide them with a vehicle and there is not enough fuel to allow these journalists to travel for their reporting. Driving a car means becoming a target for Israeli airstrikes. AFP reporters therefore travel on foot or by donkey cart.

Ahlam, located in the south of the enclave, is holding on "to testify" as long as she can. "Every time I leave the tent to cover an event, do an interview or document a story, I don't know if I'll come back alive." Her biggest issue, she confirms, is the lack of food and water.

We are watching their situation get worse. They're young but their strength is leaving them. Most are no longer physically able to get around the enclave to do their work. Their heartbreaking cries for help are now daily.

For the past few days, we have only received very brief messages from them, when they have the strength to send any.

Their courage, considered heroic by the rest of the world, is now their only hope of survival.
We may hear about their deaths at any moment, and this is unbearable.

This Sunday, Bashar wrote: "For the first time, I feel defeated." Later that day, he said he would thank us "for explaining that we live day to day between death and hunger." "I wish President Macron would help me get out of this hell."

Ahlam is still holding on. "I try to keep exercising my profession, to speak for the voiceless, to document the truth despite all the attempts to silence it. Here, resistance isn't a choice: it's a necessity."

Since AFP was founded in 1944, we have lost journalists in conflicts, some have been injured, others taken prisoner. But none of us remember witnessing colleagues die of hunger".

— The outgoing Editorial Committee (Société de Journalistes, SDJ) of the AFP

[Josquius]

The Daily Express today came out with a graphic front page picture of a starving kid and the message enough is enough.
When even they think maybe it's time to chill out with killing Muslims... You know Israel has jumped every species of shark going.

[The Minsky Moment]

It's like an Amritsar every week now.

But that almost understates it.  Amritsar was crowd control gone horribly bad.  These killings are targeted to terrorize people from getting essential aid. So they can either starve or get shot trying to feed themselves.

A few months ago, it looked like Israel was moving towards ethnic cleansing through forced removal. Now that looks like it may have been overly optimistic.

[DGuller]

It's like an Amritsar every week now.

But that almost understates it.  Amritsar was crowd control gone horribly bad.  These killings are targeted to terrorize people from getting essential aid. So they can either starve or get shot trying to feed themselves.

A few months ago, it looked like Israel was moving towards ethnic cleansing through forced removal. Now that looks like it may have been overly optimistic.

Amritsar was crowd control gone bad?  Was there ever a time that crowds were controlled by putting firing rifleman regiments in the only exit?

[The Minsky Moment]

Point taken

I still think that giving people restricted locations to receive essential aid necessary to survival and then shooting up those locations is beyond comprehension.

[Tamas]

It really is beyond comprehension what's going on.

Only possible swmi-excuse I could imagine is Hamas targeting these aid stations to trigger this sort of atrocities but the fact that Israel isn't claiming and proving this shows it is not the case.

It feels like both the IDf and Hamas daring the other side to blink - a game of chicken over which one can stomach the extermination of the civilian population longer.

But, even if Hamas would contemplate surrender to remove the excuse of further killings in Gaza, they can't really trust the Israelis to actually stop it. And if the IDf stops short of Hamas surrendering they have created that hellscape for nothing.

This might be "it" - the total war phase of the decades-long Gaza conflict. Neither side feels like they can stop now before the other side is eliminated. Well, that's how Hamas always felt, but they seem to have been joined by Israel.

[crazy canuck]

This might be "it" - the total war phase of the decades-long Gaza conflict. Neither side feels like they can stop now before the other side is eliminated. Well, that's how Hamas always felt, but they seem to have been joined by Israel.

Yeah, that is a good way of characterizing what has happened.  The two state solution is a fantasy now, and maybe always was one but at least there was some hope for those who were more liberal minded that a solution might be found.  Total elimination is now the reality.

[Josquius]

Increasingly Israel does seem to be getting itself into the situation where wiping out the Palestinians is their only option - after all this shit it's hard to imagine the Palestinians ever forgiving the Israelis.

I wonder if this is the thinking in Israel. A sort of we are here now and it's not like our reputation can get even worse. We've a valuable window to change the facts on the ground with trump in the US.

Hard to see what hope there is. The government in Israel is pretty stable I believe and hard to see it replaced any time soon, the Arab states are happy to keep quiet and with a lunatic in the white house and other instability going on...

Itd be nice to imagine someone could start air dropping supplies. Dare Israel to shoot them down. But they wouldn't be able to meet gazas needs this way

[Crazy_Ivan80]

it's hard to imagine the Palestinians ever forgiving the Israelis.

given what the plo and hamas have been teaching palestinian children for decades on end this was probably never in the cards, same for the lesser but also valuable 'merely co-existing in peace'.

[Razgovory]

Yeah, I mentioned that when this started

Israel isn't going to destroy Hamas.  Hamas will live on in the hearts of every child that believe Jews are descended from pigs and apes.

[Josquius]

it's hard to imagine the Palestinians ever forgiving the Israelis.

given what the plo and hamas have been teaching palestinian children for decades on end this was probably never in the cards, same for the lesser but also valuable 'merely co-existing in peace'.

Like all those kids growing up in eastern Europe learning how terrible and evil the US and broader West were?

As things were before this there was absolutely decent hope.
Israel going full mask off and making it so brutally personal for every single Palestinian....
Never say never. I really hope we don't get a genocide and something can be worked out. But things are looking very grim.

[HVC]

Yeah, I mentioned that when this started

Israel isn't going to destroy Hamas.  Hamas will live on in the hearts of every child that believe Jews are descended from pigs and apes.

Indiscriminately killing their family and friends probably doesn't endear israel to the hearts of these kids either.

[Zoupa]

Yeah, I mentioned that when this started

Israel isn't going to destroy Hamas.  Hamas will live on in the hearts of every child that believe Jews are descended from pigs and apes.

A huge chunk of Israelis don't view Palestinians as human. Latest Haaretz poll has an 82 % support for ethnic cleansing of Gaza.

Your bffs are just as bad.

[Razgovory]

Yeah, I mentioned that when this started

Israel isn't going to destroy Hamas.  Hamas will live on in the hearts of every child that believe Jews are descended from pigs and apes.

A huge chunk of Israelis don't view Palestinians as human. Latest Haaretz poll has an 82 % support for ethnic cleansing of Gaza.

Your bffs are just as bad.

Not quite.  They aren't saying kill all of them, as the Palestinians do.  Really the have descended the level of Americans and Europeans.