#i'm israeli. this is my country doing these horrific things to palestinians. taking innocent lives and terrorizing generations of people.

[furcoveredinblood]

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[jewreallythinkthat]

Not every war is genocide but bombing civilians to reach a relative handful of terrorists and making their homes unsafe and unlivable to the point you push them into a space to small to hold them all while denying resources to them is. Taking away vital spaces like hospitals, especially attacking people and making them more in need of them, is. Wars should be fought between armies. Any war that targets civilians because maybe there's a terrorist in their midst is unacceptable. You don't use bombs and missiles to fight terrorists.

Hi Nonnie. I really appreciate the fact that you've asked this in a respectful day and sorry it's taken a while to reply.

I'm not going to address the points immidiately because I want to ask a couple of questions to find out your view on a couple of things first so I can tailor my answer as best as possible.

This is from the ICRC "In international armed conflicts, combatants have an obligation to distinguish themselves from the civilian population and this can be achieved by wearing a uniform." Hamas don't wear uniforms, and are known to embed themselves in civilian infrastructure and surround themselves with innocent civilians. Should they not be condemned for putting innocents at risk rather than choosing to fight properly, and minimise civilian casualties?

Additionally, do you not believe Hamas has an army? Multiple thousands of fighters have been killed (it's difficult to get an actual number but using things that have come from Hamas, they admitted at one point over 6000 fighters), and they act as an army within Gaza.

Hamas released a video recently firon rockets from a humanitarian tent in a "safe zone". They literally admitted they use civilian areas as launch points for attacks. Do you genuinely believe any country would sit there and let someone repeatedly fire at them without any sort of retaliation?

There are also videos of Hamas stealing aid from people. The Israeli government cannot do anything about that. Additionally, Egypt could have let in refugees but instead refused to because they were afraid Hamas members would escape Gaza with the civilians.

I hate what's happening, I make a point to watch the news and keep up to date because I will not look away, however there must be a general acceptance the Hamas are deliberately putting civilians in harms way. They knew Black Saturday would lead to horrific deaths in Gaza from the Israeli response. They have openly said innocents dying is a good thing as it helps their (Hamas') cause. They are actively trying to make sure more civilians die by centering themselves in hospitals and schools and making demands for a ceasefire they KNOW are intolerable.

The extremists in the Israeli government are terrible, but their actions simply do not live up to their words when they say horrific things about Palestinians otherwise the death toll would simply be higher. I don't like to say it but it's true.

I want this over. I want the hostages home. I want Gaza flooded with aid and health workers. I want it rebuild and the establishment of Palestine, beside Israel, where both peoples can live in dignity, safety, and secure boarders. It is however very clear that Hamas don't want this.

[coffeeman777]

hi pastor kreg! i have two questions.

can you explain the Isreali-Hamas war a bit? because the news and the media are so conflicting about everything. I know its not a black and white issue, and on the one hand, I agree with Isreal in the fact that they were the ones who gave up their land for the Palestinian people in the first place, and Hamas attacked first. I understand that the Isreali government feels like it has to push back harder than it ever has before, because it is such a small, young nation, and they KNOW that their persecution will not stop because the Bible (both old and new Testments) say so (not to mention that there are a slew of countries whose agenda is to destroy Isreal). but on the other hand, there is so much news about Isreal doing horrific things, like rumors of death camps and hurting civilians. and that Hamas, the terrorist organization, is not the same as Palestine, but Palestine has also *allowed* them to take over their country politically, economically, and socially. I just don't know what or who to believe, and what other gray areas I need to consider in my choices.

i keep getting asks to support Gazan refugees. like on the one hand, OF COURSE I support all of the civilians who have nothing to do with this! but by giving them support, whether financially or just by posting about it, I support ALL of their agenda to free Palestine, which I am pretty sure in don't agree with, but I'm not positive yet. so far ive just been not answering these asks but they're getting harder to ignore, especially when a lot of my mutuals do support Palestine. not in a ultra crazy way like most do, but they're just reposting some of the expose stuff.

im just having a hard time with answers (cause a lot of these people don't know what they are talking about) and wanted some sort of advice. thanks.

Heya!

So, I'm very much on Israel's side in this whole thing. To state it simply, Hamas has been attacking and killing innocent Israelis for decades. Their goal is the complete eradication of Israel. Hamas isn't interested in peace or a two state solution; they want Israel gone, wiped off the map.

Hamas terrorists are cowards. When they attack Israel, they run and hide behind women and children to prevent Israel from retaliating. They whine and cry to the leftist media about how horrible Israel is and generate ridiculous anti-Israel propaganda. So many times, desiring not to kill innocent civilians and being under the weight of intense pressure from the international community, Israel has backed off and let Hamas go. Hamas then regroups, stockpiles weapons, makes new plans, and attacks Israel again. This cycle has been going on for as long as I can remember.

On October 7th, Hamas invaded Israel and butchered a huge number of innocent Israelis, raped many Israeli women, took a bunch of hostages, and even shot and beheaded Israeli babies. This was by far the worst Hamas attack in recent history. Israel said enough is enough, we're taking Hamas out and rescuing our people who were kidnapped. Hamas has done the same thing they always do, but this time Israel isn't backing down. And they shouldn't. Israel has a right to exist in their own land and defend themselves.

Israel is doing everything they possibly can to save civilians in Gaza. All the stuff you hear about death camps and the like is completely false. If Israel wanted to kill everyone in Gaza, including civilians, they could easily do it. They could glass the whole Gaza strip if they wanted, kill every living thing there. But they haven't done that, and they won't. Israel has continually put their own people at risk to provide help to the Palestinian civilians. But they're committed to bringing Hamas down. They have to be.

It is heartbreaking that innocents have died in this conflict, but their blood is on Hamas, not Israel. Even after everything, Israel has offered numerous ceasefire agreements to Hamas, but Hamas has rejected them all. If Hamas would release the Israeli captives and surrender, the fight would be over tomorrow. But Hamas won't play ball. Israel has no choice.

I don't believe anything I hear in the news from leftist outlets. I don't believe the horrible things they're saying about Israel, because in my experience, it's always half truths spun to make Israel look bad, or else just outright lies about what's happening. The same sort of tactics the leftist media uses to discredit and attack conservatives here in America.

As for supporting refugees, if it can't be done without also supporting the anti-Israel propaganda, then I wouldn't do it. Seek the Lord about other ways you can help.

I hope this post is useful to you. My personal conviction is to stay on Israel's side and be a blessing to the Jewish people as much as possible. I think this is the correct position for all Christians to take.

Take care, be blessed!

EDIT:

I apologize, I forgot to make a correction. I'm not actually a pastor, just an ordained minister. The difference is that, while I have credentials to preach and teach, I'm not serving as the head of any congregation of Christians.