What would you have done?

[Jimmy]

Personally i would rather it took longer than kill 10s of thousands of innocents, and after all the question was "what would you have done"

Causing so many deaths and causing so much damage will have precisely the opposite effect. All those innocent Palestinians who have been injured, lost husband's and wife's and children and parents, who have been made homeless and lost everything are going to be a little pissed off.

I think Israel sees it differently. Like u said pissed off. That’s what Israel is. They might be thinking long term. If it took too long Israel may have suffered another big terror attack. Idk, but I think Israel is thinking this way. After what happened on oct 7

 

[Harel13]

Sorry you don't like the alternative i offered as practical.

As i stated in one of my posts, i am pretty sure the IDF has intelligence so no need to knock on every door, just the ones that matter.

My apologies, I don't read every single one of your posts. In this thread, other than your first post, I only read the ones directed at me.
Okay, thanks for answering my question.

And I don't believe Israel has done all it can to minimise civilian casualties, in fact i am pretty sure they are using civilian casualties as a terror technique.

Against whom? Hamas doesn't care about civilian casualties. Average Gazans aren't the target (otherwise, why would they tell them to evacuate?). So who are they trying to scare?

 

[Jimmy]

Personally i would rather it took longer than kill 10s of thousands of innocents, and after all the question was "what would you have done"

Causing so many deaths and causing so much damage will have precisely the opposite effect. All those innocent Palestinians who have been injured, lost husband's and wife's and children and parents, who have been made homeless and lost everything are going to be a little pissed off.

Maybe Israel’s intention is to “****” off many Palestinians so they themselves will get rid of Hamas, idk

 

[Jimmy]

It’s a pathetic petty holy war is what it is

 

[ChristineM]

My apologies, I don't read every single one of your posts. In this thread, other than your first post, I only read the ones directed at me.
Okay, thanks for answering my question.

Against whom? Hamas doesn't care about civilian casualties. Average Gazans aren't the target (otherwise, why would they tell them to evacuate?). So who are they trying to scare?

Seems to me the average gazans seem to be targets. Terrorise those who cannot escape into pointing out hamas

 

[Stonetree]

First of all, the question posed in the OP was what would you do whether you were Israel's PM. That means that all you have right now is the IDF and possibly some US forces, though I don't exactly know whether they may be commanded in the same way. So the question is, what practical strategy do you have in mind given the capabilities and limitations of the IDF?

Let me put it another way: how do you "weed out" some 30-40k Hamas agents (with thousands more inactive supporters) from a densely populated urban area, while simultaneously defending your country from airstrikes from two borders? Do you have soldiers knocking on every door in Gaza and politely asking whether there are Hamas agents there?

Here is what the IDF has been doing so far: Pushing Gaza civilians to move to the southern part of the strip. Hamas has blocked these efforts but several hundreds of thousands still managed to evacuate. Then the IDF started bombing northern Gaza, attempting as much as possible to concentrate their strikes on particularly locations they knew, per military intelligence, to be housing Hamas cells, weapons and supplies. As in every war ever, some of the casualties included civilians, people who did not or could not evacuate. We've now reached the second phase, which is the ground assault.

Given all of this, what would have been your practical strategy to "weed out" Hamas, which you have hinted to being superior to the IDF's strategy? In case you might be wondering, I am honestly curious and not being sarcastic. Though I served in the army, I'm not a military strategist.

You must understand Israel will not be successful in stamping out anti-Israeli feelings even if an all-out invasion was successful,( I'm not saying there will be an all-out invasion). I saw a news video of Russian civilians trying to rush a helicopter with Jewish passengers in Russia seeking medical attention. All around the world, Israel has lost sympathy that the assassins created by the attack on Jewish innocents.
If many assassins were prevented from escaping Israel and were held up in Israel, the IDF would not be bombing or shelling Israeli cities to fight those Hamas assassins. I don't think those foreign to Israel trust Netanyahu to lead with justice as his goal. Israel is seen to be moving to militarily annex Palestine.

 

[Harel13]

You must understand Israel will not be successful in stamping out anti-Israeli feelings even if an all-out invasion was successful,( I'm not saying there will be an all-out invasion). I saw a news video of Russian civilians trying to rush a helicopter with Jewish passengers in Russia seeking medical attention. All around the world, Israel has lost sympathy that the assassins created by the attack on Jewish innocents.
If many assassins were prevented from escaping Israel and were held up in Israel, the IDF would not be bombing or shelling Israeli cities to fight those Hamas assassins. I don't think those foreign to Israel trust Netanyahu to lead with justice as his goal. Israel is seen to be moving to militarily annex Palestine.

I'm not sure what this has to do with my post.

 

[Stonetree]

I'm not sure what this has to do with my post.

Yes, I'm off topic and not directly responding to your post....I'm trying to point out what I feel is most important in respect to the current problem Israel is facing.

 

[Alien826]

Silly answer based on comparison to rats.

See where the Hamas fighters are by looking for their "scats" (first find a way to differentiate those from other Palestinians).
Put down poison that is particularly attractive to Hamas and harmless to others.
Wait.

Sensible answer.

The OP said "if I were Israel's prime Minister" so I'll work from that position. First a list of things I would have to contend with.

- A very right wing Parliament that would resist any of my more peaceful ideas.
- Huge pressure from the Jewish population to "do something right now".
- A very difficult situation militarily. It's almost impossible to kill Hamas fighters and not hurt innocent civilians. A network of tunnels that Hamas has been building for years. Who knows what else they have prepared to make an invasion difficult.
- International pressure, in different directions.
- The continuing need to defend against further attacks.
- Hezbollah and others waiting in the wings.
- The need to consider how to proceed after the fighting is over. Do I want to take over Gaza? Who will rule there if not Israel? How to make sure that in 10 years there will not be a new Hamas to contend with?

OK, what to do? As it is supposed to be me, I'll give my own objectives.

- Supply the Gaza population with humanitarian aid at once, even if that compromises security to some extent.
- End the fighting as soon as possible with as few civilian casualties as possible.
- Neutralize Hamas as much as possible, consistent with the previous objective.
- When the fighting is over, immediately develop a plan for peace in the region and start selling it to to everyone. Be prepared to take some "hits" to national pride and religious motivation if necessary. Try to isolate the terrorists. Do this in conjunction with neighboring Arab countries.

How to achieve all this?

I have no idea. I would almost certainly fail, as I'm a very bad leader. It would take some kind of super-person with charisma enough to sweep everyone along behind them. There are examples in history. I don't see any now.

 

[Jimmy]

Silly answer based on comparison to rats.

See where the Hamas fighters are by looking for their "scats" (first find a way to differentiate those from other Palestinians).
Put down poison that is particularly attractive to Hamas and harmless to others.
Wait.

Sensible answer.

The OP said "if I were Israel's prime Minister" so I'll work from that position. First a list of things I would have to contend with.

- A very right wing Parliament that would resist any of my more peaceful ideas.
- Huge pressure from the Jewish population to "do something right now".
- A very difficult situation militarily. It's almost impossible to kill Hamas fighters and not hurt innocent civilians. A network of tunnels that Hamas has been building for years. Who knows what else they have prepared to make an invasion difficult.
- International pressure, in different directions.
- The continuing need to defend against further attacks.
- Hezbollah and others waiting in the wings.
- The need to consider how to proceed after the fighting is over. Do I want to take over Gaza? Who will rule there if not Israel? How to make sure that in 10 years there will not be a new Hamas to contend with?

OK, what to do? As it is supposed to be me, I'll give my own objectives.

- Supply the Gaza population with humanitarian aid at once, even if that compromises security to some extent.
- End the fighting as soon as possible with as few civilian casualties as possible.
- Neutralize Hamas as much as possible, consistent with the previous objective.
- When the fighting is over, immediately develop a plan for peace in the region and start selling it to to everyone. Be prepared to take some "hits" to national pride and religious motivation if necessary. Try to isolate the terrorists. Do this in conjunction with neighboring Arab countries.

How to achieve all this?

I have no idea. I would almost certainly fail, as I'm a very bad leader. It would take some kind of super-person with charisma enough to sweep everyone along behind them. There are examples in history. I don't see any now.

You’ve avoided my question

 

[Bthoth]

What you said is a long-term solution.

Long term must start somewhere.

What I was looking for was an alternative immediate response for the Oct 7th attack.

Nothing will undo what has happened. Anyone can write an alternative but when loss of life occurs there are too many emotions to try the undo part.

The starting point is try to get both sides to trust that there is a better way. Force does not work no matter the side. The evidence has been recorded and existing, stop trying any type of force. Both sides must police their own.

 

[Alien826]

You’ve avoided my question

I've set out what I would try to achieve and admitted that I don't have any sure fire solution.

That's all I have, sorry.

 

[sun rise]

First of all, the question posed in the OP was what would you do whether you were Israel's PM. That means that all you have right now is the IDF and possibly some US forces, though I don't exactly know whether they may be commanded in the same way. So the question is, what practical strategy do you have in mind given the capabilities and limitations of the IDF?

Let me put it another way: how do you "weed out" some 30-40k Hamas agents (with thousands more inactive supporters) from a densely populated urban area, while simultaneously defending your country from airstrikes from two borders? Do you have soldiers knocking on every door in Gaza and politely asking whether there are Hamas agents there?

Here is what the IDF has been doing so far: Pushing Gaza civilians to move to the southern part of the strip. Hamas has blocked these efforts but several hundreds of thousands still managed to evacuate. Then the IDF started bombing northern Gaza, attempting as much as possible to concentrate their strikes on particularly locations they knew, per military intelligence, to be housing Hamas cells, weapons and supplies. As in every war ever, some of the casualties included civilians, people who did not or could not evacuate. We've now reached the second phase, which is the ground assault.

Given all of this, what would have been your practical strategy to "weed out" Hamas, which you have hinted to being superior to the IDF's strategy? In case you might be wondering, I am honestly curious and not being sarcastic. Though I served in the army, I'm not a military strategist.

Without going into history, I would not have started by cutting off all the food and water to Gaza using siege tactics. I would not have floated dividing Gaza into an Israeli half in the north and Egyptian half in the south in effect inviting Hamas to move major assets to the south. Hamas is not stupid so I'm sure that they're happy to hide with their captives in that area. Netanyahu should have resigned taking full responsibility for the attack based on my understanding of what happened. I also don't see the value of leveling northern Gaza. Again, Hamas uses that effectively for propaganda purposes - targeted bombing is another matter. Israel should remember that this is not only a military issue but also a political and public relations war and acted accordingly.

 

[Jimmy]

Without going into history, I would not have started by cutting off all the food and water to Gaza using siege tactics. I would not have floated dividing Gaza into an Israeli half in the north and Egyptian half in the south in effect inviting Hamas to move major assets to the south. Hamas is not stupid so I'm sure that they're happy to hide with their captives in that area. Netanyahu should have resigned taking full responsibility for the attack based on my understanding of what happened. I also don't see the value of leveling northern Gaza. Again, Hamas uses that effectively for propaganda purposes - targeted bombing is another matter. Israel should remember that this is not only a military issue but also a political and public relations war and acted accordingly.

Yeah but what would you hhave done in retaliation to the October 7 attack?

 

[Jimmy]

It seems no one here has an alternate idea as to what Israel should’ve done. I’m not saying what they did is right. I’m just sayin’

 

[sun rise]

Yeah but what would you hhave done in retaliation to the October 7 attack?

I noted the political and public relations aspects of what I would have done. As far as the purely military aspects, rescuing hostages as Israel has done is what I would have done. I don't know enough about the tactical military situation to comment beyond endorsing targeted bombing and the current urban warfare. I wish there was a good way to get at the Hamas leaders who are living a life of luxury outside of Gaza but I don't see a good way to do that.

Israel also needs to do something to stop settlers murdering Palestinians and doing land grabs. And it needs to stop treating non-Jews as second class citizens. But that's beyond 10/7.

 

[Harel13]

Without going into history, I would not have started by cutting off all the food and water to Gaza using siege tactics. I would not have floated dividing Gaza into an Israeli half in the north and Egyptian half in the south in effect inviting Hamas to move major assets to the south. Hamas is not stupid so I'm sure that they're happy to hide with their captives in that area. Netanyahu should have resigned taking full responsibility for the attack based on my understanding of what happened

Would you have resigned? Given that in the hypothetical posed in this thread, you are the Israeli PM.

 

[Jimmy]

I noted the political and public relations aspects of what I would have done. As far as the purely military aspects, rescuing hostages as Israel has done is what I would have done. I don't know enough about the tactical military situation to comment beyond endorsing targeted bombing and the current urban warfare. I wish there was a good way to get at the Hamas leaders who are living a life of luxury outside of Gaza but I don't see a good way to do that.

Israel also needs to do something to stop settlers murdering Palestinians and doing land grabs. And it needs to stop treating non-Jews as second class citizens. But that's beyond 10/7.

Some people like to think Israel has intelligence as to where these leaders are. I guess not huh?

 

[Jimmy]

I think the only solution is for Palestinians to rise up and overthrow Hamas. There comes a time. They’re suffering today because of what Hamas did.

 

[Yerda]

If you were Israel’s Prime Minister how would you have handled things differently in response to the Hamas attack on October 7th?

Not participate in mass murder.