Hamas’s Qassam Brigades has threatened to execute Israeli captives if Israel continues to bombard and kill civilians in Gaza.
“Any targeting of innocent civilians without warning will be met regretfully by executing one of the captives in our custody, and we will be forced to broadcast this execution,” said Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas’ Qassam Brigades.
“We regret this decision but we hold the Zionist enemy and their leadership the responsibility for this,” he said.
This conflict benefits the most: Russia and China (by having US distracted) and Bibi (by having previously divided Israelis united behind him)
Iran too. I’m sure they weren’t too happy with the impending Israeli-Saudi rapprochement. This at a minimum will significantly complicate that.
Hamas has already said it was directly backed by Iran.
I think they overestimate how much this distracts the US. Plans for supporting Israel in all levels of military conflict have been nailed down for decades, and it would be very hard to put so much demand on the US with such a geographically small conflict.
China and Russia are desperate for relief because they both have terribly overplayed their hands. Russia, more so obviously. But if China opts for actual engagement, they’re going to lose. The US will suffer big losses as well but definitely can sustain and overcome the Chinese threat in the long run.
Yes, I think Israel can handle Hamas on their own, but Hezbollah is looking if there is an opportunity for them. I think that’s why US Navy is there to discourage them.
I think it’s much more about Iran and sending them a clear message. Not convinced that anybody sees Hezbollah as a serious threat relative to the danger Iran presents.
Either way, both of them should take note that one of the largest most deadly air forces in the region is floating nearby.
This is why I want a blank check for Ukraine.
So while the US is “distracted”, Russia and China do what? Steal the pie from the windowsill?
We stop backing Ukraine, we start backing Israel. Ukraine loses billions in funding, which helps Russia. The better off Russia is the larger ally China has.
Wouldn’t this whole thing just be a huge problem for him tho? After Israel is done, I would think that the government would start getting really uncomfortable questions from the people. Like wtf was the military and the intelligence doing.
A segment of the populace will definitely be feeling that, but remember what happened in the US after 9/11? There weren’t a lot of calls to figure out how intelligence failed so spectacularly because the sabre-rattling government came out in full force, and the country (almost) united against Islamic terrorism. Those who aren’t overtly political or who don’t follow politics too closely will only see that Bibi has reacted with as much force as possible, which plays into his strongman vibe and may even win his party an election in their own right, without having to coalesce with the other parties. After the clusterfuck of elections they’ve been through recently, this could be what seals another decade of Likud rule.