A United Nations humanitarian agency says nearly 340,000 people have been displaced in the Gaza Strip as Israel continues its reprisal strikes against the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
I think it's more than just revenge, I think the Ukraine war provides additional cover for finally entirely taking the Gaza strip. It is a convenient time to 'end' the conflict while Western and EU cash / human rights organisations are tied up on the Russian front.
Edited to add: my foggy covid memory has some recollection of five-eyes intelligence or other credibleish rumours this was being planned for earlier, but the risk from the new pandemic was too uncertain for it to proceed. Mid-2021 maybe? Israelis were getting the shits with Netanyahu (again), and he was getting internal political competition / resistance at the time and so he used the IDF to provoke religious tensions just a little harder than usual. That way he was able to justify a defence rationale for a 'new' military campaign and revive his image. I mostly just remember that the warnings were getting more frequent after the Ukraine invasion kicked off.
Edit 2: that's right, he lost power for a bit with several elections and there had been talks about international courts looking into apartheid at the same time too, and he made deals with the far-right to cement power. What a mess.
I think it's more than just revenge, I think the Ukraine war provides additional cover for finally entirely taking the Gaza strip. It is a convenient time to 'end' the conflict while Western and EU cash / human rights organisations are tied up on the Russian front.
Edited to add: my foggy covid memory has some recollection of five-eyes intelligence or other credibleish rumours this was being planned for earlier, but the risk from the new pandemic was too uncertain for it to proceed. Mid-2021 maybe? Israelis were getting the shits with Netanyahu (again), and he was getting internal political competition / resistance at the time and so he used the IDF to provoke religious tensions just a little harder than usual. That way he was able to justify a defence rationale for a 'new' military campaign and revive his image. I mostly just remember that the warnings were getting more frequent after the Ukraine invasion kicked off.
Edit 2: that's right, he lost power for a bit with several elections and there had been talks about international courts looking into apartheid at the same time too, and he made deals with the far-right to cement power. What a mess.