Fire..

 

Rules of War..

 

Nearly a week into the war, hundreds of children have been reportedly killed, and thousands more reportedly injured.

UNICEF is calling for an immediate ceasefire as 1.1 million people—nearly half of them children—have been warned to move out, ahead of what is expected to be a wide scale military assault into one of the most densely populated places on earth.   
Children and families in Gaza have practically run out of food, water, electricity, medicine and safe access to hospitals, following days of hostilities and cuts to all supply routes. 
“The situation is catastrophic, with unrelenting bombing and a massive increase in the displacement of children and families. There are no safe places,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. 

“An immediate ceasefire and humanitarian access are the top priorities to allow much needed aid to children and families in Gaza. We need an immediate humanitarian pause to ensure unhindered and safe access to children in need, no matter who they are or where they are. There are rules of war. Children in Gaza need lifesaving support and every minute counts.”

Trickle Up..

 

Winning..

 

Hamas is a third-rate militia compared with Syrian and Egyptian forces, compared to Israel’s sophisticated Army and arsenal. Yet the conflict that erupted this weekend feels more ominous. “Powerful, centrifugal forces have been unleashed that have rewritten the rules for the entire region,” Bruce Hoffman, the senior fellow for counterterrorism at the Council on Foreign Relations."

Unlike confrontations in previous decades which followed a pattern of death, destruction, and negotiated ceasefires, this war is “completely unpredictable,” Hoffman said.

Even a decisive Israeli military victory is unlikely to end the country’s increasingly perilous security challenges. It’s not even clear what “winning” means. 

“There’s no question Israel can inflict tremendous damage on Gaza, on its infrastructure and on its people, and can also target Hamas leaders,” Dan Kurtzer, a former U.S. Ambassador to Israel. 

But movements regenerate, and “sometimes the next leadership turns out to be more radical, more extreme, than the one that was before,” Kurtzer said. Al Qaeda of Iraq, for example, evolved into the Islamic State of Iraq and then, after a U.S. air strike killed its founder in 2006, into isis in 2013.

Now..

 

Dubious..

 

As the world’s eyes remain fixated on the escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas, viewers are being overwhelmed with dubious claims saturating the global discourse.

 Adding to the challenge of swimming through the heavily polluted information ocean is the reality that some questionable claims circulating have also been given credence by authoritative sources. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office and President Joe Biden made the shocking assertion that Hamas terrorists had beheaded babies, a grisly claim that the White House has since walked back.  

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported that Iran had played a direct role in orchestrating the terror attack on Israel, a claim that has been called into serious question, citing US intelligence sources. 

All the while, an untold number of doctored and misleading images have gone viral online, leaving audiences with a warped perception of what is actually happening in the Middle East.  Just a thought.

Border..

Collateral..

 When President Joe Biden gathered with his top advisers Tuesday morning to go over the draft of his speech on Israel, he made a clear request: 

The prepared remarks needed to include more details on the appalling nature of the attacks that began four days earlier.

The American people must understand just how shocking and gruesome Hamas’ actions were, Biden told his aides.  

Whatever there is a war somewhere, Biden wants to be right in the midst of it to protect Democracy, fight terrorists, oppose aggression,etc.

News..

 

By the end of this Middle East Crisis, we will find out that the Media, as always, informed us of what they would like the crisis to look like. Just a thought.

UP..