Blood and ink are being spilled on this as I write - others know deeper and closer things about this conflict but I want to add some context for people from my neck of the woods to make things a little more clear.
Israel and Palestine are SMALL.
Israel has a population of around 9.3 Million People. For a Midwest Perspective that is like Missouri (6.1 million) and Iowa (3.2 Million) put together. This is not an tremendous population to field a Military, have an world class economy, embassies around the globe, etc...
In terms of size Israel is smaller still. The entire nation of Israel is 8,630 Square Miles (with some wiggle room about borders). Missouri by comparison is 69,715 Square miles (with some wiggle room for river movement). Israel would be just a sliver of the state of Missouri.
Gaza - in and around where all of the Hamas/IDF fighting is happening is smaller still. About 2 Million People (for perspective that is the population of the Kansas City Metro Area) all squeezed into an area of 141 square miles. (for perspective, that is close to the size of Kansas City, KS 128 Square Miles - No suburbs, no KCMO, just Kansas City, Kansas)
I am not a geographer - but this may give you an idea. If not for checkpoints the whole of Israel is a half-day road trip. There is no "Far Away from the Conflict" over there.
300,000+ Israeli Military Reservists have been called up for service in the Israeli Military. For comparison, that is more uniformed military than the U.S. ever had deployed at one time in all of Iraq (169,000 Square Miles and >40 Million people)
The dead are still being counted and the dying rescued but Hamas inflicted over a thousand casualties in Israel at one time which is the most in any attack on that nation in my lifetime (over 40 years ago). This is not the kind of violence we have seen in conflicts like this... not a suicide crash or a planted bomb or poison gas, but small arms attacks vehicle to vehicle, house to house, up close and in person. Each casualty was a deliberate choice, violence was livestreamed, recorded, shared and celebrated as it was being done. Thousands of hours of the worst gore in HD for the world to see all made in a matter of days.
Whatever progress has been made towards peace since the last intifada is a distant memory. The sense of peace living with a security barrier and Iron Dome is gone forever. I know enough Israelis to know what is coming will be overwhelming, transformational, brutal and swift.
The Israelis right now don't care about any statements from governors, state senators or university kids in Crapsville State U. Those are static in the background to them. Even statements from the President and EU allies don't really matter. Israel is not in the "build a coalition" and "ask permission" phases of anything.
The only statement that mattered was then President Joe Biden ordered the U.S.S. Gerald Ford Aircraft Carrier Group to the Mediterranean Coast to support their efforts and ordered C-17s of supplies to support the efforts to be flown in. We have an ally in that region and it is not Hamas.
Israel - despite a reputation for an advanced, intrusive, and complete surveillance state utterly failed to see a very large and coordinated operation happen literally in it's territory. NO ONE KNOWS ANYTHING RIGHT NOW or the attack would not have happened.
The Israelis and any other forces are in "Defeat the enemy before they can do more damage" mode or "Rescue the people we can" mode and CERTAINLY not "Let's learn lessons" mode for right now. Do not believe anyone who has claims they know who/how/exactly why this day/etc... about this attack. A handful of Hamas fighters know for sure and everyone else is in the wind.
It has been a long time since I have been in the region, but I know that fingers will be pointed and the most opportunistic among us will be using this tragedy to forward their agendas. To hell with them. None of us who lived through 9/11 should ever again get dragged into unrelated international agendas because some people are ghoulishly exploiting a tragedy. Don't trust "Former Hamas Leaders" or "Middle East Policy Experts" or anyone to be truthful and informed about anything yet.
Support our ally as they bury the dead, mourn the losses, and engage those who carried out these attacks. There are something like an estimated 600,000 children under age 10 in the Gaza strip and I hope innocent lives unconnected to the Hamas attacks will be spared. Hamas has absolutely in the past taken their own civilians to be used as human shields and will absolutely do so in this fight as well. I hope I am never again in the position to have to think about balancing protecting civilian lives while I try to protect my own.
Any international outcry to the Israelis before Hamas is COMPLETELY removed from Gaza will fall on deaf ears. Bodies are still being identified, hostages are still in Hamas hands.
The proportions of Israeli responses to rockets and attacks in the past years are known:
*source Forbes Magazine.
Israel lost over a THOUSAND Israelis and visitors from the United States, Thailand, Nepal, Russia, Argentina, Ukraine, Canada, Germany, France.,... The chart above indicates the scale of losses they are willing to see on the other side of their operations.
Times of Israel Foreigners Lost
The world is not jumping to stop the Israelis from rescuing who they can and retaliating against the attackers. I don't think it would give the Israelis a moment's pause if they did.
I do not think the Hamas we have known since their 2006 election victory will be around in any meaningful capacity in the Gaza Strip much longer and maybe nowhere.
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