zlacker

Israel's tactic has always been deterrence: I will inflict you so much pain that you will think twice before doing this again. Despite being proven wrong, a "realist politician' will automatically think of adding more (and then some) deterrence as the only solution.

I remember 20 years ago, during the first bombing of Gaza, they hit just ONE building and felt pressured enough to apologize for the handful of civilian deaths. Unfortunately, faced with larger threats (real or imaginary) and weak international pressure, Israel has been able to escalate the level of deterrence through the years to what we are witnessing now.

That is why any ruling to curb that "automatic" escalation (like today) is wholeheartedly welcomed.

IMO there are also subtler layers of racism coloring these policies. It's not as blatant as the far-right rhetoric, but a persistent undertone within elements of Israeli society justifies severe deterrence tactics and totally overide any empathy learnt from historical lessons.

>>throwa+(OP)
No essentially it is as simple as how any abuser bully behaves. They will continue their behavior as long as they are allowed to. Look at US for enabling them.

>>throwa+(OP)
Note that the least you can say is that escalation is happening on both sides. Oct 7 level of atrocities has never been seen before in israel.

>>objekt+RB
Doesn't really matter what you choose to call it, they will make sure there's no Hamas to do it again.

>>exe34+YD
Hamas should not exist that is not the point. It is the civilians. They will also not exist if it goes on like this.

>>bsaul+iC
Yes. That is why I said: faced with larger threats

What I can add is that this is indeed not just a "larger" threat for them. It "activated" a millennium-deep Jewish trauma (through pogroms up to the Holocaust). Deep, very deep.

>>objekt+RB
There is no way there would be 25k deaths in Gaza this year had the astrocities of Oct 7th not happened.

The Israel-Hamas War is entirely a response to this event.

>>throwa+QH
I think any country faced with the same situation would act the same, or even less restrained. It's not some kind of esoteric jewish trauma.

>>LegitS+Th1
Maybe. However, the situation itself is so special, I'm not sure how you would "generalize it" to others. And there is really nothing esoteric about the deep trauma. It is widely documented.