Quotes
We’re in this very uncomfortable position again, of waiting for men who don’t have a track record of necessarily making decisions that support peace, to try and calibrate their response in a way that they think will shore up their military position without letting things or forcing things to escalate further,
the Guardian’s senior international affairs correspondent, Emma Graham-Harrison, tells Michael Safi Israel is highly prepared for any scenario, both defensively and offensively,
Netanyahu said in a video released by his office during a visit to a Home Front Command base We will exact a very heavy price for any act of aggression against us from any arena,
If Ismail Haniyeh was 'moderate and pragmatic' as every media outlet claims, that means his open Jew-hate and repeated calls for the violent destruction of Israel are a 'moderate and pragmatic' position to hold. And what does that tell us about the status of Jews today."
Dave Rich, an author who writes books about antisemitism, said Within Hamas Haniyeh had a certain position, but within this organization which is not a moderate one."
Yahya Sinwar is the commander... and he is a dead man."
He is the main figure that Israel holds responsible for October 7, with Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari saying at the time He's a hard-liner, no doubt, but he's a politician so he's a good negotiator and he's more pragmatic,
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was a moderate because he gave Israel the option of peacefully dissolving itself, opening its borders to millions of hostile immigrants, changing its name to Palestine, incorporating Hamas's military into the state's army, and accepting Islamic law."
Israeli journalist Daniel Rubenstein wrote He was also considered a very moderate leader for Hamas."
Indeed, when Sky News broke the story on TV, Special Correspondent Alex Crawford said What is a 'very moderate leader' of an Islamist jihadist death cult that perpetrated the deadliest terror attack since 9/11 on October 7? Alex Crawford, what on earth are you talking about?"
Sharing a clip of Sky News' coverage on X, he wrote It certainly and completely depends on the perceptions of who you talk to. Obviously, the Israelis and the U.S. consider all of Hamas, including its leadership as extremist, they consider the organization a terrorist organization. And many of them are not willing to enter into a conversation about 'is this person more moderate than the other?'
But I also discovered a long history of profound — and often rancorous — internal debates over how the state should be preserved. Can a nation use the methods of terrorism? Can it harm innocent civilians in the process? What are the costs? Where is the line?"
The government of Israel employs a policy of preventative strikes which cause the death of terrorists,
an Israeli judge ruled in December 2006. It is decided that it cannot be determined in advance that every targeted killing is prohibited according to customary international law,
These strikes at times also harm innocent civilians. Does the state thus act illegally
asked head judge Aharon Barak From what we gather, it is the political leadership based in Doha, headed by Haniyeh, that... has been pressing Sinwar... to accept a ceasefire,
Hamas broadly speaking will not be affected, as it has plenty of leadership material”.
Joost Hiltermann, Middle East programme director at the International Crisis Group, said Haniyeh has been a moderating force... His removal could embolden hardliners within the movement,
Relatively speaking, inside the group ... he said Khaled Meshaal is a founding member of Hamas and is expected to replace Haniyeh as the chief political leader of Hamas."
Similarly, Burcu Ozcelik, a senior research fellow for Middle East Security at the London-based Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank, told Newsweek I think Meshaal is most likely because he has also served in that post and, for a time, he was kind of top dog,
