Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and other Related Conflicts in the Middle East (read the rules in the first post)

Boltzmann said:

This is a weird example to bring up because I think most people here would completely agree with it. Can you honestly tell me that if the PLARF and PLAAF made indiscriminate strikes on Japanese civilian infrastructure during a first strike, that you would think there would be an extensive moral outcry here? Would you even be personally upset? I want to be clear that I would not, since it would be disingenuous to imply that I would, but that is because of military realities not nationalist hatred.

Israel's land is arid and absent of fossil fuels. There is nothing economically meaningful to be "extracted", and this is corroborated in the data where you can see that the main sources of VA in Israel's economy are things like medicines, software, and agrotech for low-water environments. In other words, things not dependent on the local natural environment and that could in principle be done anywhere.

Israeli jews believe themselves to be in their homeland. They will not leave. It does not matter whether you agree with their sentiment, the fact is they will fight to the end to stay there with everything they have. Both of the claims you make here are essentially along the lines of "kick down the door and the whole structure will collapse", something that the states and groups opposing Israel have been propagating for since literally before 1947. What empirical evidence will it take to stop thinking like this?

You would be hard pressed to find a Jew who still genuinely believes in the "God's Chosen People" thing. It's basically become an in-joke at this point. Any remaining belief that Jews had in some divine being granting providence to them was permanently ended by the Germans. You should take to people of a culture before making claims about what they believe.

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Boltzmann said:

Well if and when a first-strike comes, I will hold you to that.

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H2O said:

Just missed the time limit for editing. In my previous post, I realized MSN is reposting the article from the Daily Express US which I've never heard of. I'm reminded of the BBC news of that naval standoff between NATO and Russia in the Mediterranean Sea several years ago where they reported China was sending it's aircraft carrier, Liaoning, which was really in dry dock at the time. We'll find out soon enough if the Daily Express US report is true.

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emblem21 said:

Just like we hold the Jews accountable right now for all the horrible things they have done to the Palestinians right now with many decades of evidence that the Jews are nothing but utterly horrible genociders. Ok I got you, assuming that China would attack first which they have shown for many decades not to have done. Please for goodness sake, there is a reason my so many around the world hold the Jews in massive contempt right now while the USA attempt to turn the world to a non existent genocide in Xinjiang only manages to annoy its target audience not to mention that not many people give a shit about this Xinjiang issue because really everyone has better thing to do when to wonder of the none existent. I bet you that once the USA is out of the way permanently, people from all over the world will flock there for holidays while most people will prefer not to go to a country that well seems to get off on insulting mothers whose children got blown up in an air strike. Really some of things they say not only makes my blood boil but honestly with for Israel to get their asses kicked so hard that maybe they might learn some humility and perhaps understand that in the entire region, they have a legitimate reason to being among the most hated of all of them not to mention how if they weren’t they, the Palestinians wouldn’t be suffering right now

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siegecrossbow said:

I don't think you get my point. The Holocaust is pretty much used as a "get out of jail free card" whenever some form of atrocity is done by the Israelis government. It is true that the Jewish people suffered greatly during WWII, but so did the Chinese, the Romanis, the Soviets, etc. I am not saying that the Chinese/Chinese government is without fault, far from it. But if we apply the same standard enjoyed by the Israelis government then the CCP is beyond criticism because Chinese people suffered millions of deaths under Imperial Japan, and saying anything bad or opposing the CCP makes you racist and anti-Sinoist and you should lose your job/get cancelled because of it. See what I am saying?

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azn_cyniq said:

We shouldn't blame all Jewish people for the atrocities of the Israeli government. That would actually be antisemitic, and I'm against that. The vast majority of non-Israeli Jews have little to no say in the actions of the IDF, so they shouldn't be held responsible for them.

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Israeli Official Threatens to Wipe Iran, Lebanon Off the Face of the Earth​

Israel's Minister of Economy Nir Barkat issued an ominous threat to Iran and Lebanon in an interview published on Saturday, saying his country would "wipe" them "off the face of the Earth" if Hezbollah opens up a northern front in the Hamas war.

On October 7, Hamas, which the United States designates as a terrorist organization, led the deadliest Palestinian militant attack on Israel in history. Israel subsequently launched its heaviest-ever airstrikes on Gaza. As of Sunday, more than 1,400 people had been killed in Israel, the Associated Press reported. The death toll in Gaza has surpassed 4,000, according to AP.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his country is "at war" and has cut off supplies of food, fuel, electricity and medicine into Gaza. As of Saturday, Israel has allowed some aid into Gaza through Egypt. Israel has called up 360,000 army reservists as it prepares for an expected ground offensive into the densely populated territory, which is estimated to be home to about 2.3 million people.

Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group that the U.S. also designates as a terrorist organization, has exchanged near daily artillery fire across the border with Israel since the initial Hamas attack. The barrage of artillery continued on Sunday, with both sides firing across the border. While Lebanese leaders say they do not want to be drawn into war, Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, holds significant political power and support in the country.

Barkat, in an interview with the Daily Mail, warned that Israel would view an escalation in Hezbollah's actions as an attack by Iran.

"The plan of Iran is to attack Israel on all fronts. If we find they intend to target Israel, we will not just retaliate to those fronts, but we will go to the head of the snake, which is Iran," he said.

Barkat threatened "we are going to make sure they pay a heavy price if, God forbid, they open the northern front."

"Lebanon and Hezbollah are going to pay a heavy price, similar to what Hamas is going to pay. But that's not enough," he said. "The very clear message is that we are going to be going after the heads of Iran as well. When will we do that? When we decide."

Barkat continued: "Israel has a very clear message to our enemies. We are saying to them, look what's happening in Gaza—you are going to get the same treatment if you attack us. We are going to wipe you off the face of the Earth."

Newsweek reached out to Iran's permanent mission at the United Nations in New York, the Lebanese embassy in Washington, D.C. and the U.S. State Department for comment.

The U.S. State Department previously told Newsweek that Hezbollah and other groups should not get involved in the conflict. "Any decision by Hezbollah or other actors to drag Lebanon into this conflict would have terrible consequences for the Lebanese people. They deserve better," a spokesperson said.

"No one wants a second or third front, including when it comes to Lebanon," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday in an interview with NBC Meet the Press. "We've sent a very strong message to try to deter Hezbollah, deter Iran more directly."

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib on Friday warned Israel that it would also suffer if the war were to escalate. He said that the situation could become "uncontrollable," suggesting that the Lebanese government would not be able to prevent Hezbollah and other groups from attacking if there is not a swift end to hostilities in Gaza.

"The damage would be worse for them [Israel] as much as for us," he said in an interview with CNN, urging Israel to declare a ceasefire in Gaza. Bou Habib warned that, "their country is not going to be safe. All of these resistance forces have a lot of weapons and they're going to use them."

On Saturday, Hezbollah's deputy chief, Naim Qassem, said that his group was ready to confront Israel directly on the battlefield.

"If necessary, we will be present at the battlefield and part of the confrontation in a bid to prevent Israel's victory," he said, Hezbollah's television station Al-Manar reported. "Let it be clear that whenever developments require our interference we will do so...Let the enemy know that we are fully ready."

Jonathan Conricus, a spokesperson for Israel's military, said Sunday that Hezbollah is "dragging Lebanon into a war that it will gain nothing from, but stands to lose a lot," according to Lebanese news site Naharnet.

He said that the Lebanese militant group is "playing a very, very dangerous game. They're escalating the situation. We see more and more attacks every day. Is the Lebanese state really willing to jeopardize what is left of Lebanese prosperity and Lebanese sovereignty for the sake of terrorists in Gaza?"

Lebanon officially views Israel as an enemy state. In 2006, Hezbollah and Israel fought a 34-day war that is estimated to have left some 165 Israelis and more than 1,100 Lebanese dead. Already, more than 20 people, including several civilians and journalists, have died in Lebanon due to cross-border clashes with Israel since October 7.

While many Lebanese are sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and view Hezbollah favorably, few would be eager to see their country enter a full-scale war with Israel. The country continues to suffer from a crippling economic crisis, with more than half of the country living below the poverty line, according to the World Bank. Although popular with some, Hezbollah faces substantial opposition from many Lebanese as well.

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Sunday described the Middle East's current situation as a "powder keg," warning that any Israeli "miscalculation" will have "heavy and bitter consequences" for the region, Iran's Tasnim News Agency reported.

"If the U.S. and the Israeli regime do not stop their crimes against humanity immediately, there will be a possibility of anything at any moment and the region may spin out of control," he said.

Firas Maksad, a senior fellow and director of strategic outreach at the Middle East Institute, told Newsweek on Friday that currently the tensions between Hezbollah and Israel have remained relatively contained.

"The challenge for the U.S. administration is that Iran prefers amorphous grey-zone warfare, using various militias across the region to strike at the U.S. and Israel rather than doing so directly. Iran's direct involvement remains very unlikely, unless its mainland comes under attack," he said.

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"No one wants a second or third front, including when it comes to Lebanon," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday in an interview with NBC Meet the Press. "We've sent a very strong message to try to deter Hezbollah, deter Iran more directly."

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H2O said:

Apologies if this already have been posted which I don't recall seeing. While the article's title is a bit over-the-top, I doubt WW3 would kick off to be honest. I've wondered if China's 44th anti-piracy task force would get redeployed to the Mediterranean Sea as the Gaza War started right when the 45th task force took over. I'm curious to know what the remaining three warships are being sent with the former 44th anti-piracy task force as such task force is comprised of only three ships.

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H2O said:

Just missed the time limit for editing. In my previous post, I realized MSN is reposting the article from the Daily Express US which I've never heard of. I'm reminded of the BBC news of that naval standoff between NATO and Russia in the Mediterranean Sea several years ago where they reported China was sending it's aircraft carrier, Liaoning, which was really in dry dock at the time. We'll find out soon enough if the Daily Express US report is true.

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