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“I do not condemn Hamas because the resistance of the Palestinian people is a reflex response to their slow genocide…. The people I do condemn are the political class internationally who [support] “Israel’s right to self-defence”. A right they grant to the oppressor but deny to the oppressed. Those are the people who need to be condemned.” —Former UK ambassador Craig Murray “Now that I have your attention.”

“There’s no way Israel did not know of what’s coming… How come border crossings were wide open?” —Efrat Fenigson, former IDF intelligence Oct. 7, 2023

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Israel has been a scofflaw state since its founding, and there are virtually no United Nations resolutions or articles of international law that it does not continually breach. The state was founded on the ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Palestinians, and its knee has never been lifted from Palestinian necks. Israel has maintained a military occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip since 1967 and a humanitarian siege of Gaza, compared by many to the 2-year Warsaw Ghetto, since 2006. Israel has never stopped its ethnic cleansing or theft of Palestinian resources; its apartheid is enabled by viciously racist textbooks and the total erasure of Palestinians from its history.

It is no secret that many in Israel’s ultra right-wing government have been salivating for an opportunity to ethnically cleanse or otherwise eliminate Palestinians who refuse to be driven from their homeland, particularly those in occupied Gaza. There is evidence that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pretended to be blindsided by what was, in effect, a Hamas prison breakout of October 7th to turn it into an opportunity for genocide.

Hamas announced that the purpose of its incursion into Israel was to obtain hostages in order to exchange them for an estimated 1000 Palestinian prisoners[1]: political prisoners who are routinely tortured and leaders who have never been charged with any crime. The Hamas plan to kidnap Israeli civilians for a prisoner exchange was, in its intent, within its rights. Killing civilians would have been counterproductive, a war crime, and against its interests. But it could have been in Israel’s.

The world community, which annually ignores its contractual legal obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention to protect Palestinian human rights, has responded now with outrage at Israel’s claim of victimhood. While the world community has quietly allowed Israel total impunity for its ongoing crimes against Palestinians, it now responds to Israel’s self-serving outrage by condemning the Palestinian’s only legitimate leadership.

Hamas, elected by all Palestinians under occupation in 2006, has been regarded as incorruptible and dedicated to Palestinian rights. It has called for international law as the basis for peace, which Israel, hoping to illegally annex Palestinian territory, rejects.

Israel’s Efforts to Incite Hatred Against Hamas

Israel’s reaction to the incursion was to immediately attempt to incite hatred against Hamas by falsely claiming that it had “beheaded 40 infants and toddlers”: a lie that was traced to the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu told this to U.S. President  Biden, who announced it publicly; the lie was then “confirmed” twice by CNN’s Sarah Sidner. It has been confirmed to be a fabrication.

It is acknowledged that Israel was explicitly informed about the incursion at least three days before it occurred. With the world’s most sophisticated surveillance system, many believe that Israel had to have known about it far earlier, since the planning had reportedly been in the works for a couple of years. According to Max Blumenthal, Hamas had even created the model of a kibbutz for resistance fighters to practice in. [2]

Israel’s outrageous lie about Hamas “beheading babies” demonstrated its intent to incite hatred of Hamas; its foreknowledge of the incursion gave it an opportunity to ensure there would be enough “innocent civilian deaths” to “justify” a Palestinian genocide.

Israel’s Hannibal Directive allows the IDF to use heavy force when its soldiers are at risk of being taken as hostages, even at the risk of killing the soldiers. It is not difficult to imagine Israel extending this principle when the point of the Hamas incursion was to get hostages for prisoner exchanges.

Possible Evidence that Israel Ensured the Success of the Hamas Incursion

According to former IDF intelligence officer Efrat Fenigson, “The border crossings were wide open.” [3]

Israel had reduced the number of battalions guarding the Gaza border from three to one before the incursion. [4]

The site of the Supernova music festival was chosen two days before the incursion to be at Re’im, about 3 miles from the Gaza border. [5]

Questions About the Music Festival Deaths: Did Israeli Facilitate the Toll? 

Israel claims that Hamas fighters killed hundreds of innocent civilians: claims that have largely not been explained. Assuming that the accusations are legitimate, who were these people and how closely were they connected to the IDF bases and associated kibbuzim that ring Gaza’s border to facilitate their imprisonment? Israeli and Hamas definitions of “innocent civilian” might differ.

The most publicized Israeli claim is that Hamas killed 260 attendees at a music festival held near Gaza’s border. There is quite a bit of footage accessible on the Internet that was apparently taken at that event. The footage that I saw, however, shows no one being shot: it shows people running, cars burned out, drones overhead, and one guy shooting a gun in the air. It is apparent that there is a problem, but no proof of who was causing all “six hours” of it. The Mossad is known to have operatives who appear to be Palestinian, so someone who looks Palestinian may not be part of Palestinian resistance.

It is evident that Hamas did take hostages at the event, and that there was shooting. But given Israel’s eagerness to accuse Hamas of a crime it did not commit, its inflammatory accusation that Hamas killed hundreds of civilians needs to be verified:

Videos of attackers should have included voices; why were they muted?

Canadian/Israeli Shir Georgy died after messaging her father on Saturday morning that she was safe “in a room with a police officer”[6]; how did she die?

The attack on the music site lasted for 6 hours; [7] why were IDF not driven or flown in?

It took Israel 10 hours to get help to the music site; [8] what was Israel waiting for?

There were many burned out cars visible in videos; did Hamas fighters have the ability to destroy cars? Wouldn’t Hamas have wanted to make use of them?

Israeli police and security told escaping music attendees that the major roads were blocked so they had to drive eastward over open, cleared fields [9]; why were major roads out blocked to Israelis at that time? 

Attackers threw grenades into the four underground bunkers where many were hiding; the Hamas men might have discovered the bunkers by following people, but it was not in their interest to kill those who were inaccessible or hiding. 

A Hamas leader apologized for the civilian deaths that Israel claimed their operation had caused, noting that these were not supposed to have happened. [10] But could he have known whether they were responsible for the so-callled “innocent civilians” that Israel claimed? An Israeli witness reported that IDF killed both hostages as well as their captors. [11] Given Israel’s attempts to malign Hamas, there should be independent proof that Hamas fighters were responsible for the “innocent civilian” deaths they were accused of.

Implications for the Future

Israel has made use of the anger it whipped up to wipe out entire neighborhoods of Gaza with massive bombing, and 400,000 Israeli soldiers are reportedly massed at Gaza’s border. It warned Gazans to flee, but there are no exits, and it bombed the “safe” route that it told Palestinans to take. [12]

According to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Israel’s two objectives in going into Gaza are to kill or capture Hamas government leaders, and to identify any Iranian weaponry, which, he claims, could cause Israel to attack Iran. [13] But Israel’s carpet bombing is genocidal rather than targeted. And would Israel allow any identification of Iranian arms to be independently verified? And would such a confirmation constitute legal grounds for an Israeli attack? 

Will the world community continue to tolerate US-backed global chaos?

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Karin Brothers is a freelance writer. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Notes

1. Blumenthal, Max. Interview with Stephen Gardner. Oct. 13, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX3Sqs3gSMs

2: Blumenthal, Max, Mate, Aaron. “Zero hour in Gaza “. The Grayzone live. October 13, 2023.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-p2bjA2b4U

3 Giraldi, Philip and Chossudovsky, Michel. Is the Gaza-Israel Fighting “A False Flag”? They Let it Happen? Their Objective Is “to Wipe Gaza Off the Map”? Global Research. October 15, 2023. https://www.globalresearch.ca/is-the-gaza-israel-fighting-a-false-flag-they-let-it-happen-their-objective-is-to-wipe-gaza-off-the-map/5835310

4 : Blumenthal, Max, Mate, Aaron. “Zero hour in Gaza “. The Grayzone live. October 13, 2023.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-p2bjA2b4U

5, Ibid.

6. Chown, Marco. Israel-Hamas war: Canadian-Israeli Shir Georgy confirmed dead, family says. The Toronto Star. October 14, 2023.  https://www.thestar.com/news/world/israel-hamas-war-canadian-israeli-shir-georgy-confirmed-dead-family-says/article_03c1999d-2349-53bc-9deb-4498f74a2429.html

7. Polglase, Katie. How Hamas trapped civilians at music festival. CNN. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sScDHHNaHjI

8. Ibid.

9, Ibid.

10. Mercouris, Alexander. The Duran. October 14, 2023. Theduran.locals.com

11. Abunimah, Ali and Sheen, David. “Israeli Forces Shot Their Own Civilians, Kibbutz Survivor Says”. Global Research. October 17, 2023. Https://www.globalresearch.ca/israeli-forces-shot-their-own-civilians-kibbutz-survivor-says/5836630

12. Blumenthal, Max, Mate, Aaron. “Zero hour in Gaza “. The Grayzone live. October 13, 2023.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-p2bjA2b4U

13. Polglase, Katie. How Hamas trapped civilians at music festival. CNN. Undated. Accessed Oct. 11.2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sScDHHNaHjI

Featured image is from UNRWA