Israel-Hamas War (Israel Must Eradicate Hamas, Just As the USA Did with Al Qaeda After 9/11)

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Israel-Hamas War

(Israel Must Eradicate Hamas, Just As the USA Did with Al Qaeda After 9/11)

This article is a follow-up to the article Tiny Israel: Amidst a Massive Sea of Muslim Lands. That article gives perspective and background to the Israel-Hamas War that began on October 7, 2023. This article provides more background then covers the first week of the war.

Hamas Take Control of Gaza

Despite the information in the Tiny Israel article about so-called Palestine, in 2004, the Israel government left the Gaza Strip, where the so-call Palestinians dwell, and let them govern themselves. The “Palestinians” then elected Hamas to be their governing body.

That despite the fact Hamas is designated as a terror group by the USA and European Union (EU). After scrummages with Israel in 2014, Israel sealed the border between Gaza and the rest of Israel. Then when Biden took office in 2021, he released the $221 million payment to the Palestinians mentioned in the Tiny Israel article. That money was targeted as humanitarian relief. But that allowed Hamas to divert funds from that purpose to fund the war they started on October 7, 2023 at 6:30 am Israel time (10/6/23, 11:30 pm EDT).

Sneak Attack

That war began with a sneak attack on Israeli towns along the Gaza / Israeli border. Reports are Hamas had been planning the attack for 1-2 years. Hamas militants breached the security barrier between Gaza and Israel and fired rockets into Israel.

Reports as of October 14th were that almost 1,300 Israelis were killed and 150 taken hostage in the initial assault. Among those numbers were 29 Americans killed and 15 missing, possibly taken hostage. Some of the dead were killed by the over 4,000 missiles Hamas fired into Israel that made it through Israel’s Iron Dome. But most were murdered by Hamas going house to house through those towns.

They did not just kill the Israeli adult males. They massacred babies, children, women, senior citizens, and the handicapped. And they did so in the most atrocious manners possible. Children were tied up and burned to death. Others were beheaded. These murders of children were often done in front of their parents, then the parents murdered in like manner. Women were gang-raped, to the point of having blood pouring down their legs. The stomachs of pregnant women were ripped open.

260 teenagers were shot in the back while attending a music festival, after Hamas terrorists paraglided behind the festival goers. Hamas recorded themselves murdering senior citizens with the seniors’ own phones and posted the recordings onto the seniors’ own social media pages. That is how some of their children and grandchildren found out about their murders. In other cases, it was the parents who were sent videos of their children’s murders. Houses were burned down with entire families trapped inside, including children. Their charred bodies were found in the rubble later.

In one case, an elderly female holocaust survivor was taken captive, being pushed in her wheelchair into a Hamas van. She was later freed, but only God knows the horrors those still being held hostage are now enduring at the hands of the dreadful Hamas.

Iran’s Involvement

Reports by the Wall Street Journal are that Iran was involved in the planning of the sneak attack for at least over the past few weeks. It is well-known that Iran has been the primary funder of Hamas for years. Also possibly funding this Hamas onslaught war effort is $6 billion Biden recently unfroze to Iran. The Biden administration claims that money could not be used for this attack, as it was targeted money that could only be used for humanitarian purposes. Moreover, none of those funds had been spent yet when the attack began.

However, I heard a good illustration as to the silliness of the first argument. Let’s say you’re a parent who is struggling to find money to buy your children Christmas gifts. But then someone gives you a $500 gift certificate for your local grocery store. Would that help you to purchase toys for your kids for Christmas?

If you answered, “Yes,” how can that be? You can only spend that $500 on food. But of course, the reason it would help is you could reallocate money you had budgeted for food for toys instead. And that is the case here.

As for the money not yet being spent, if it were close to Christmas, and you knew that $500 was coming, as a parent, you would go ahead and spend money on toys, knowing that money was coming in soon. And so it was with Iran. Although eventually the Biden administration gave into the pressure and refroze the funds.

That $6 billion was unfrozen as part of a ransom the Biden administration paid to Iran for the release of six USA hostages. Biden denies that it was a ransom. However, Hamas saw it as such and has said it was the impetus for them to take hostages in their sneak attack rather than killing every Israeli and American they came across.

But now, Israel is demanding those hostages be freed without any such ransom being paid. To force Hamas’ hand to do so, they cut off food and fuel to Gaza until they are released. That has the media and United Nations (UN) crying foul and focusing on the suffering in Gaza, rather than the atrocities committed by Hamas.

However, such extreme measures are needed, as it would be difficult to free those hostages via commando action. That is because Hamas has constructed an intricate network of booby-trapped tunnels underneath much of Gaza. The hostages are probably scattered throughout those tunnels, being used as human shields to keep Israel from bombing those tunnels.

Making things even more difficult for a rescue mission is there are reports Hamas is armed with some of the military gear the USA left behind in Afghanistan after Biden’s bungled withdrawal and surrender in that war. Foremost among that gear are night-vision goggles. If Hamas does in fact have those, that will make any rescue missions that much more difficult.

Pro-Palestinian Protests

Despite the atrocities of the Hamas onslaught, it was very disheartening to hear about protests here in the USA and around the world in support of Hamas and the so-called Palestinians and against Israel, with many blaming Israel for the attacks and atrocities committed against them.

The outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas has led to intense and emotional rallies across the world as the conflict stretches into its fifth day, with gruesome details continuing to emerge from southern Israel and the Gaza Strip coming under intense aerial assault.

Both pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian protests have broken out, with heated rhetoric in some cases devolving into ugly displays of antisemitism, including chants of “gas the Jews” in Sydney (Yahoo! News. Hamas).

Antisemitic and anti-Israel incidents on college campuses — already at a concerning level before the weekend terror attack in Israel — have surged in the days since Hamas launched its deadly assault, with students and student groups at numerous institutions pushing pro-Palestinian terror and anti-Jewish rhetoric (Newsmax. Anti-Israel).

At some college, “Stop the occupancy” was painted on a guardrail by the pro-Palestinians. That attitude is seen throughout the protests. However, as mentioned, Israel has not “occupied” Gaza since 2004. Gaza has been self-ruled since then.

Hamas must have missed that lesson when it decided to disrupt the status quo around Gaza with an all-out attack on Israel last weekend. This is in spite of the fact that over the past few years, Israel and Hamas developed a form of coexistence around Gaza that allowed thousands of Gazans to enter Israel daily for work, filled Hamas coffers with cash aid from Qatar and gave Gazans the ability to do business with Israel, with Gazan goods being exported through Israeli seaports and airports (NYT. Why).

Especially despicable has been groups like BLM using images of Hamas on paragliders in their posted support of Palestinians. That is a reference back to Hamas paragliding into the music festival and murdering all of those teenagers. That shows such despicable groups are in fact supporting Hamas and their atrocities, not just “innocent” Palestinian citizens.

Another commonly heard chant is, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” The “river” is the Jordan River, which is the eastern border of Israel. The “sea” is the Mediterranean Sea, the western border of Israel. In other words, what this chant is seeking is the elimination of Israel and its replacement with Palestine in its entirety. That takes us back to the Tiny Israel article and the mention of Muslims wanting the complete elimination of the nation of Israel. That desire is in fact at the heart of this war.

There is also an attempt by the media and such groups to make a moral equivalency between those Israelis citizens killed by Hamas and “Palestinian” citizens killed by the Israel Defense Force (IDF). However, as described, Israeli citizens were targeted by Hamas via person-to-person murders, with those murders being conducted in the most hideous manners possible. On the other hand, Israel is taking steps to try to minimize the deaths of “Palestinians.” They are announcing before they bomb an area, warning citizens to evacuate.

Yes, Palestinian citizens will be killed. But they after all voted in Hamas. If they regret that now, then those Palestinian could join the IDF when they begin their land invasion of Gaza, just as Afghan citizens joined USA forces when we invaded Afghanistan after 9/11 to eradicate the Taliban. But I have not heard reports of any Palestinians even considering doing so.

During the press conference [on 10/12/23], the Israeli president [Isaac Herzog] specified that his country was at war with Hamas and was not intentionally targeting civilians, but said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would fire at civilian targets if terrorists use the sites to target Israel first.

He also expressed frustration with the people in Gaza who allowed Hamas to come into power and remain in power as it continued its hate campaign against Israel.

“This rhetoric about civilians not aware and not involved is absolutely not true. They could have risen up, they could have fought against that evil regime that took over Gaza in a coup d'État,” Herzog said (Red State. ‘No Mercy).

Though admittedly, Palestinians might be hesitant to join with the IDF against Hamas after the bungled USA withdrawal from Afghanistan. Biden abandoned thousands of such US-Afghan allies when he surrendered Afghanistan to the Taliban, leaving them at the mercies of that equally despicable group.

Eradicate Hamas

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Herzog are not incompetent old fools like Biden, and they are not likely to stop the assault until Hamas is eradicated, not leaving them still in charge as Biden did with the Taliban.

Moreover, Israel’s war is not with the Palestinians. It is with Hamas. And Israel has the right to try to eradicate Hamas, just as much as the USA had the right to eradicate Al Qaeda after 9/11 and Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany after Pearl Harbor.

In fact, this 10/7 attack on Israel was worse proportionally than either 9/11 or Pearl Harbor. Adjusting for the population difference, the 1,300 dead Israelis would be equivalent to about 30,000 dead Americans. Moreover, the Americans who died on 9/11 and Pearl Harbor were not tortured to death, as many of those dead Israelis were.

All of this is important to recognize, as we have already heard calls for “peace” and restraint and for Israel’s response to be “proportional” to the initial attack. However, when the USA was attacked on 9/11 and on December 7, 1941, there were no such calls. We immediately declared war and did not stop until the enemy was extinguished.

That is and should be Israel’s attitude. Israel has put up with periodic missile and other attacks from Hamas for far too long. It is time for Israel to eradicate this threat and barbaric group once and for all.

That means, me and my fellow Christians should not be praying for peace, any more than we did so after 9/11 or Pearl Harbor. We should be praying for the victory of Israel over Hamas, just as we prayed for victory over Al Qaeda and Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany.

Escalation and the End Times

Hamas called for a “Global Day of Jihad” by all Palestinian supporters on Friday the Thirteenth. However, the media misrepresent that call as being a call to a “Day of Protest” or of rage, or of action. But in fact, what the Hamas monsters wanted was violence against Jews worldwide.

Fortunately, that did not happen. There were a couple of knife attacks on Jews in Europe, but that was about it. Otherwise, there were more pro-Palestinian rallies at college campuses across the USA and the world. But that rallies are really pro-barbarism and antisemitic rallies.

Sadly, that was the case here in Pittsburgh, PA. Hundreds turned out for a pro-Palestinian rally. That Pittsburghers would support barbarism does not surprise me, as Pittsburgh has previously designated itself as a “Sanctuary City” for the killing of unborn babies and the sexual mutilation of children. Supporting such barbarism makes it easy for people to support even more of it.

Meanwhile, from Lebanon to the north of Israel, Hezbollah began to launch a few missiles into Israel. Hezbollah is another group designated a terror group by the USA and EU. Israel is also concerned about Syria to the east getting involved and made a preemptive strike to prevent such involvement.

As the Israel Defense Forces continue to respond to the barbaric attacks launched by Iran-backed terrorist organizations including Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon, IDF also launched a series of strikes inside of Syria in order to limit opportunity for an attack to come from its neighbor bordering Israel's Golan Heights…

The preemptive strike in Syria comes as Israel hopes to head off Iranian prodding for Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon to fully join Hamas' attacks against Israel (Townhall. IDF Strikes).

Meanwhile, the USA is moving a Naval Strike Force into the Mediterranean, as Biden warned against other nations getting involved in the conflict. But sadly, after the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, most other nations little fear Biden and his rhetoric. That was seen in Putin amassing his forces weeks after than debacle. And if the 1-2 year planning timeline is correct, that means this assault began to be planned shortly after it as well.

With the possibility of escalation, many are seeing in this war a harbinger of the end-times. That again takes us back to the Tiny Israel article and the Bible’s predictions about such events. If we are in fact living in the end times only God knows. But this situation is terrifying, made worse by so many young folks supporting such terrorism. With that antisemitic mindset across the world, things could indeed greatly and quickly escalate. Let’s pray that it does not, and that Israel is able to eradicate the Hamas threat without such an escalation.

Conclusion

As I finish this article it is early Saturday morning (EDT) or about noon Israeli time, October 14, 2023, one week since the barbaric sneak attack by Hamas. IDF is poised for a ground invasion of northern Gaza, after calling up 360,000 reservists. They have warned the “Palestinians” in the area to evacuate via leaflets dropped onto the area. “Amid signs that Israel was preparing for a ground invasion, Palestinians were told they could move on main highways until 4 p.m. local time ‘without any harm’” (NYT. Fears).

However, Hamas is telling the civilians to remain put and even preventing them from evacuating. That is because Hamas, the despicable monsters that they are, want to use the civilians as human shields. Either that, or they want the optics of dead Palestinians, in foster to foster more of those pro-Palestinian protests, which are really pro-barbarism and antisemitic rallies.

Sadly, the American media will aid the Hamas monsters in their desire and air footage of dead Palestinians, especially children, while ignoring that Israel told them to get out and Hams told them to stay put. And most of all, forgetting the atrocities that started the war. But this article will stand as a reminder of those atrocities.

May the LORD be with Israel as they rightly defend their right to exist.

Finally, if you did not already, read the prequel article to this one for perspective and background to this war: Tiny Israel: Amidst a Massive Sea of Muslim Lands. And for more on the religion that undergirds the thought of Hamas, see Islam.

Numbers Update:

As of October 20, 2023, the numbers were updated to over 1,400 Israelis killed in the initial Hamas sneak attack, with “203 kidnapped, 100 unaccounted“ (ABC News: Live Updates), while “32 Americans dead, 11 unaccounted for“ (ABC New. Live Updates)).

The population of Israel is about 10 million, while that of the USA is about 330 million. Proportionally, that 1,4000 Israelis killed would be equivalent to over 45,000 Americans being killed. Basically, everyone in Israel knows someone who was killed, injured, or taken hostage on 10/7. That could not be said about Americans in the days after 9/11.

For a follow-up this article, see Hamas Fantasy, IDF Reality (Gaza Hospital Attack).

Five Book Series on Biden’s Failing Presidency

This series of five books provides the definitive record of Biden’s failures in his first two years as President. These failures should not be forgotten, as they laid the foundation for his continual failures in his subsequent years as President. He has been failing miserably on both domestic issues and in foreign policy. Those failures are all chronicled in these five books. For details on these books, see Joe Biden’s Failing Presidency.

References:

Various TV and radio news reports, plus:

ABC News. Israeli-American teen recalls seeing parents die during Hamas attack (via Yahoo! News).

ABC News. Music festival survivor recounts harrowing escape from Hamas terrorists: ‘They hunted us for hours’ (via Yahoo! News).

AP. Israeli strikes demolish entire Gaza neighborhoods as sealed-off territory faces imminent blackout (via Trib Live).

Breitbart. Blockade: No Power or Water for Gaza Until All Hostages Released Says Israel.

Breitbart. Graphic Video Shows Moment Israeli Mother and Two Sons Abducted by Hamas Terrorists.

Breitbart. Israel: Hamas Terrorists Steal Victims’ Phones to Torment Families, Post Dead Bodies Online.

Breitbart. Alex Marlow: Joe Biden Bears Responsibility for Hamas’s Terror Attack on Israelis.

Breitbart. Tally Rises of Foreigners Murdered, Abducted or Reported Missing in Hamas Terrorist Attack.

Breitbart. U.N. Warns Israel: Retaliatory Siege of Gaza ‘Prohibited’ Under International Law.

Business Insider. A truck drove around Harvard displaying names and photos of students reported to be involved with the letter that blamed Israel for Hamas' attacks (via Yahoo! News).