Palestinians claim victory as Gaza truce faces early test

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By FARES AKRAM and JOSEPH KRAUSS

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinians rallied by the thousands early Friday after a cease-fire took effect in the latest Gaza war, with many viewing it as costly but clear victory for the Islamic militant group Hamas over a far more powerful Israel.

The 11-day war left more than 200 dead — the vast majority Palestinians — and brought widespread devastation to the already impoverished Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. But the rocket barrages that brought life to a standstill in much of Israel were seen by many Palestinians as a bold response to perceived Israeli abuses in Jerusalem, the emotional heart of the conflict.

The truce faces an early test on Friday, when tens of thousands of Palestinians attend weekly prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, a flashpoint holy site revered by Jews and Muslims. Celebratory protests could spark confrontations with Israeli police, setting in motion another cycle of escalation like the one that led to the war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned against any further attacks, saying “if Hamas thinks we will tolerate a drizzle of rockets, it is wrong.” He vowed to respond with “a new level of force” against any aggression anywhere in Israel.



Palestinians on a horse carte loaded with belongings, pass by destroyed homes, to which they returned following a cease-fire reached after an 11-day war between Gaza's Hamas rulers and Israel, in town of Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip, Friday, May 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/africa-middle-east-israel-palestinian-conflict-health-coronavirus-pandemic-41d515a273b54187d429887a3ae9d9e8

[Rustyeye77]

1. That's SOME victory.

The leadership is decimated
Their standard of living has bottomed out.
They begged Egypt for ceasefire
The rest of the Arab world didn’t give a damn.

Is this a joke ?

[twodogsbarking]

2. No joke

just war.
You are correct.

[JI7]

4. That's why they are looking for any positive they can

[Jay25]

16. There would be no purpose in existing without it.

[karynnj]

21. Both sides are spinning "Their" actions as a success

In Israel, leaders of the various parties sought to both claim Hamas lost in this AND their Israeli opponents (esp Netanyahu) did not succeed to the extent Israel should have.

In reality, no one won, both sides had more negative than positive changes.

For Hamas, it is pretty obvious that their - already third world - infrastructure was destroyed. Over 200 people are dead. It does not sound - from Haaretz reporting - that their leadership is decimated. As to begging Egypt for a ceasefire, only Israel could decide to a ceasefire. The international community, including the US, demanded the fighting stop and Egypt was used as the broker, as it has for all the ceasefires in the last decade. A broker is needed because Israel and the US do not talk directly to Hamas. As to the Arab countries, there were Arab League complaints that started with the use of skunk water and flashbangs IN the Al Aqsa compound. These continued with what they called the disproportionate bombing of Gaza.

For Israel, it is a given that militarily they can and will inflict far more damage to Gaza than Gaza can to them. Israel has a world class military and it has the Iron Dome which can divert about 90% of the rockets sent into Israel. As to whether Israel "won", it is clear they lost international support - especially after leveling the building housing the international media. Of more importance, there was fighting within Green Line Israel between Israeli Arab citizens and their Jewish neighbors. (Israeli Arabs are about 20% of the people within the Green Line.) Before the fighting started, there was unrest in Jerusalem. None of the causes for that unrest have been diminished. Before the attacks that Hamas spoke of as retaliation to what was happening in Jerusalem, there had been a period of relative quiet on the Gaza border with Israel. It is very possible that the internal anger in Israel is at least as big a negative as any quiet from Gaza bought by this outbreak.

Now, there may very well be a gain for Netanyahu. Before the outbreak, it was possible that Lapid and Bennett would go to President Rivlin saying they had formed a government. It was anticipated within a week. This would have removed Netanyahu as Prime Minister and with the various legal problems, it could have been the end of his political career. Now, it is even possible that he could form a government - regaining MKs on the right who refused to be in a Netanyahu government. If this happens, it is likely to be the rightmost Israeli government ever including the Kahanist party.

[bearsfootball516]

3. There are no winners in this.

[JohnSJ]

14. +++ Thank-You

[Rustyeye77]

20. So true.... but there are losers.

[ripcord]

5. Their ability at self delusion is up there with the old Soviet Union

Or even Trump.

[Calista241]

6. They literally accomplished almost nothing.

They legitimized Netanyahu, they fired all their missiles. They got a shit-ton of their own civilians killed, and devastated their people's homes. Several members of their leadership was killed, and they caused no real damage to Israel.

They did get the world to pay attention for a few days, and brought attention to their plight as the COVID pandemic is passing.

None of Israel's allies seriously condemned their response, including the recent agreements with Morocco, Sudan, Bahrain and the UAE. Just yesterday, while violence was still ongoing, the UAE and Israel signed a billion dollar oil exploration deal with Israel.

[Rustyeye77]

18. UAE was tired of throwing money down the drain to hamas.

They now understand whats going on.

[DavidDvorkin]

7. I think they see a PR victory in the US.

[Calista241]

8. So victorious that we are selling them a billion dollars in bombs to replace

what they just dropped on Gaza. And we're doing it without much real opposition from anyone. I mean, a few people put out statements, but that's basically it.

[DavidDvorkin]

9. It's the Palestinians who see a PR victory in the US, not Israel.

[Calista241]

11. If I were Hamas, I wouldn't see a PR victory.

Biden had to have his arm twisted to even say he talked to Netanyahu about a cease fire.

Blinken waited 9 days to say our support for bombing Gaza won't last forever. That's hardly a ringing endorsement of Hamas or the Palestinian position. We even vetoed a resolution in the Security Council.

The media hyped statements by AOC, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Bernie Sanders, but they haven't swayed a whole bunch of people from my perspective. Even Chuck Schumer, an Israeli stalwart, called for a cease fire before Biden and the administration did.

I feel like Hamas was trying to stress Israel's new Arab partners more than anything else. At the end of the day, Egypt is still in charge of the border for Gaza, and none of Israel's allies split from them (Jordan, Egypt, the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco).

Turkey has had a split with Israel, mostly at the behest of Russia, who is trying to get closer to the Arab world since we're clearly in Israel's camp. But Turkey is seen by almost everyone as becoming more of a client state of Russia. What is going to happen there when Erdoğan passes or moves on.

I suspect it'll be Hezbollah's turn to provoke a conflict next, and they'll start shooting rockets at Israel from Lebanon later this year. That'll probably result in an invasion of southern Lebanon, like in 2006, and another round of fighting.

[oldsoftie]

10. They do this EVERY time there's a conflict. EVERY time.

"Hey they didnt kill ALL of us! We win!"

[Rustyeye77]

15. LOL

NOW thats funny.

[Jose Garcia]

12. A few more victories like this and they can turn the place into a paleolithic theme park

[Rustyeye77]

19. At least they can claim VICTORY for that.

[Devil Child]

13. Considering the end results, if Hamas considers this a victory I wish them many more to come.

A few more "victories" and maybe they will cease to exist much to the benefit to the rest of the world.

[EX500rider]

17. Hey, they're not saying they didn't get their hair mussed...

but I do say no more than 10 to 20 million killed, tops! Uh, depending on the breaks.

(to paraphrase Dr Strangelove)

[Rustyeye77]

22. "Victory"

If that’s victory, time for a new govt.