General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I am going to take my leave from DU for a time: [View all]Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)I don't mean that in a "they're wrong/Israel's right, so they should stop" sense. At this point it doesn't matter "who started it", although it is pretty clear that the rocket attacks have been going on fairly continuously since Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005.
What I mean is, if Hamas wants a military fight, the simple fact of the matter is, they're massively outmatched by the IDF. Again, that's not a moral judgment or "who's better". It's a simple statement of fact. And often people will justify the rocket fire, or otherwise minimize it, by pointing out how ineffective it is.
So what's the point of it? Honestly? Really? What good does it do, unless the entire purpose is to provoke an Israeli response?
So they should stop firing the rockets. Firing the rockets is not achieving anything positive for anyone. Then they should work on repairing their relationship with the people who run Egypt, because the closed border and tensions there are a big unspoken part of what is making life in Gaza more difficult than it needs to be.
I suspect if Hamas started acting rationally in those ways there would be INCREDIBLE pressure on Israel to back all the way off, and also help-along with the international community-start to rebuild the damage down there.