Here is the deal Hamas has said yes to, as reported in several Arab networks:
It will have three phases:
Phase one (42 days long): Israel will withdraw from all central areas in Gaza to locations close to the security fence. The IDF will stop overflights of Gaza for ten hours a day. 600 trucks of aid, including 50 of fuel, will enter Gaza daily.
Hamas will release 33 humanitarian hostages. However, Hamas is NOT willing to guarantee they will all be alive. In return, Israel will release the heaviest prisoners as selected by Hamas. Israel is also expected to release all Shalit deal prisoners it has taken back into custody.
Then, they will release the female IDF soldiers in exchange for 50 Palestinian prisoners each. Then Israel will release all women and male prisoners taken since October 7th, including the worst offenders.
On the 22nd day of the deal, the IDF will withdraw from the central Gaza zone, separating the north from the south. There will be no limitation on the return of evacuees from the South to their homes.
Phase 2 (42 days long): Hamas wants an agreement to stop the war permanently in this phase. This is the main sticking point. All men left alive will be released in this phase.
Phase 3 (42 days long): All bodies will be exchanged. A plan to rebuild Gaza over 3-5 years will be shaped. Compensation will be paid to Palestinians harmed in the war. Egypt, the US, and Qatar will guarantee that the agreement is upheld.
Labour should stick to their main targets and not waste resources and the risk of splitting votes by going after seats that will be much harder to win .
Barring a few areas the south is primarily Tory/Lib Dem territory .
Labour are second in a surprising number of shire seats. They are often nowhere in local government terms in the same areas, but it could save the Tories a few potentially vulnerable seats - in by-elections in such situations voters have gone LD in a big way on several occasions even where they were a distant third, but in a GE with the big story being Lab vs Con? I could see it being more confused.
The south has a good few Labour MPs and councils (particularly along the south coast) - you can't generalise about an entire area. There are also numerous seats where the second place has flipped back and forth between Labour and LibDems without either party coming close to the Tories. It's further complicated by boundary changes. If we look at the old Wantage seat, Labour came 2nd in 2015 and 2017, the LibDems 2nd in 2019, and the Electoral Calculus predicted chance of winning on those boundaries is Lab 38 LD 33 Con 25. The seat no longer exists, and the new Didcot and Wantage seat has predicted chance Lab 54 LD 27 Con 24
As you'd expect, the LibDems are pointing to the 2019 result in the old constituency, while Labour is pointing to the prediction in the new constituency. I don't think you can reasonably expect Labour to give up on those figures.
Here is the deal Hamas has said yes to, as reported in several Arab networks:
It will have three phases:
Phase one (42 days long): Israel will withdraw from all central areas in Gaza to locations close to the security fence. The IDF will stop overflights of Gaza for ten hours a day. 600 trucks of aid, including 50 of fuel, will enter Gaza daily.
Hamas will release 33 humanitarian hostages. However, Hamas is NOT willing to guarantee they will all be alive. In return, Israel will release the heaviest prisoners as selected by Hamas. Israel is also expected to release all Shalit deal prisoners it has taken back into custody.
Then, they will release the female IDF soldiers in exchange for 50 Palestinian prisoners each. Then Israel will release all women and male prisoners taken since October 7th, including the worst offenders.
On the 22nd day of the deal, the IDF will withdraw from the central Gaza zone, separating the north from the south. There will be no limitation on the return of evacuees from the South to their homes.
Phase 2 (42 days long): Hamas wants an agreement to stop the war permanently in this phase. This is the main sticking point. All men left alive will be released in this phase.
Phase 3 (42 days long): All bodies will be exchanged. A plan to rebuild Gaza over 3-5 years will be shaped. Compensation will be paid to Palestinians harmed in the war. Egypt, the US, and Qatar will guarantee that the agreement is upheld.
The problem with American hikes is that the noom quotient per square mile is so low. You can go hours - days - entire weeks - without encountering anything interesting let alone noomy (Australia is even worse)
It’s just dull. That’s why America is best seen by car. You can speed through the boring bits and get to the majestic landscapes (in which America abounds, especially in the west) and then it’s not boring. And the cities are compelling - but so far apart
Europe, by contrast, is better seen on foot or on a bike in many places. In countries that are intensely noomy- like Italy or Britain - almost every 500 yards you will find something culturally or historically or poetically resonant
America is gloriously vast. But that’s not good for walkers
Epic landscapes can make up for a lack of old building noom
Even world famous landscapes can totally lack noom. The Grand Canyon is one.
Rock up at the rim, peer over, yeah, that's what I thought it would look like, shrug.
To be fair, I spent a week walking down to the bottom and back with a tent, and that was different. Rafting it is probably also worthwhile.
But just to look at - meh.
Yes I agree. The Grand Canyon is weirdly noomless. And it’s not just the hordes of tourists. It’s oddly inert. A big gash in the land - but that’s it. I dunno why it is unmoving - but it is
Whereas the “nearby” Black Canyon of the Gunnison - ooooof. Loadsanoom. It helps that you will almost certainly be alone as you contemplate it - nonetheless it is intrinsically better and noomier
The problem with American hikes is that the noom quotient per square mile is so low. You can go hours - days - entire weeks - without encountering anything interesting let alone noomy (Australia is even worse)
It’s just dull. That’s why America is best seen by car. You can speed through the boring bits and get to the majestic landscapes (in which America abounds, especially in the west) and then it’s not boring. And the cities are compelling - but so far apart
Europe, by contrast, is better seen on foot or on a bike in many places. In countries that are intensely noomy- like Italy or Britain - almost every 500 yards you will find something culturally or historically or poetically resonant
America is gloriously vast. But that’s not good for walkers
Epic landscapes can make up for a lack of old building noom
Even world famous landscapes can totally lack noom. The Grand Canyon is one.
Rock up at the rim, peer over, yeah, that's what I thought it would look like, shrug.
To be fair, I spent a week walking down to the bottom and back with a tent, and that was different. Rafting it is probably also worthwhile.
But just to look at - meh.
On the other hand, the Teesside skyline has a certain noom quality. The Transporter Bridge, the chemical works, the turbines.
Yes, agree. Tyneside, too, dare one say it.
I think what would annoy me most about the US long distance trails is the trail part.
I appreciate that sometimes the terrain is too hard unless a built trail exists but the lack of jeopardy in route choice makes it a bit dull. Follow the signs for 2000km...
Google Geraldine Largay, or more generally Appalachian trail deaths and disappearances. American wildernesses are a lot scarier than other sorts, even with marked trails to follow.
I've just read the story of Geraldine Largay and sad though that was it was a tale of incompetence rather than 'scary American wilderness'.
The thing that would scare me most on a long distance trail in the US is who you might meet, rather than what. I'd be much more worried about dueling banjos than bears or cougars.
Off path through the Yukon, though, that would be different.
Labour should stick to their main targets and not waste resources and the risk of splitting votes by going after seats that will be much harder to win .
Barring a few areas the south is primarily Tory/Lib Dem territory .
Labour are second in a surprising number of shire seats. They are often nowhere in local government terms in the same areas, but it could save the Tories a few potentially vulnerable seats - in by-elections in such situations voters have gone LD in a big way on several occasions even where they were a distant third, but in a GE with the big story being Lab vs Con? I could see it being more confused.
The south has a good few Labour MPs and councils (particularly along the south coast) - you can't generalise about an entire area. There are also numerous seats where the second place has flipped back and forth between Labour and LibDems without either party coming close to the Tories. It's further complicated by boundary changes. If we look at the old Wantage seat, Labour came 2nd in 2015 and 2017, the LibDems 2nd in 2019, and the Electoral Calculus predicted chance of winning on those boundaries is Lab 38 LD 33 Con 25. The seat no longer exists, and the new Didcot and Wantage seat has predicted chance Lab 54 LD 27 Con 24
As you'd expect, the LibDems are pointing to the 2019 result in the old constituency, while Labour is pointing to the prediction in the new constituency. I don't think you can reasonably expect Labour to give up on those figures.
Of course we can generalise about an area, people do it all the time because it is not possible to be decriptively detailed about everything, it's true of all politics - heck, what are political policies but best generalisations of ideas to address complex issues?
Saying the LDs generally do better in the South doesn't contradict that Labour have seats ther and some areas of strength, anymore than saying Labour are much stronger in the cities means that there are not some cities (or parts of cities at least) where the LDs have gotten a look in.
Generalising about an area is perfectly reasonable and useful, so long as it is indeed generalisation and does not reject that some parts of it do not reflect the generality.
I don’t think Israel V Hamas is going to end, this time, until one or other side is entirely annihilated. Israel cannot stop now - it is so steep’d in blood there’s no going back. It might as well finish the job - and that means destroying Gaza as a place to live
Meanwhile Hamas has made its intentions clear. It wants every Israeli dead. Every Jew is a target, anywhere on earth, but especially in the Levant
How can you possibly strike a compromise out of that? You can’t
I don’t think Israel V Hamas is going to end, this time, until one or other side is entirely annihilated. Israel cannot stop now - it is so steep’d in blood there’s no going back. It might as well finish the job - and that means destroying Gaza as a place to live
Meanwhile Hamas has made its intentions clear. It wants every Israeli dead. Every Jew is a target, anywhere on earth, but especially in the Levant
How can you possibly strike a compromise out of that? You can’t
Congrats to John Swinney, though historically political "coronations" usually end in disaster... So I wish him the best of luck... he's going to need it lol...
The problem with American hikes is that the noom quotient per square mile is so low. You can go hours - days - entire weeks - without encountering anything interesting let alone noomy (Australia is even worse)
It’s just dull. That’s why America is best seen by car. You can speed through the boring bits and get to the majestic landscapes (in which America abounds, especially in the west) and then it’s not boring. And the cities are compelling - but so far apart
Europe, by contrast, is better seen on foot or on a bike in many places. In countries that are intensely noomy- like Italy or Britain - almost every 500 yards you will find something culturally or historically or poetically resonant
America is gloriously vast. But that’s not good for walkers
Epic landscapes can make up for a lack of old building noom
Even world famous landscapes can totally lack noom. The Grand Canyon is one.
Rock up at the rim, peer over, yeah, that's what I thought it would look like, shrug.
To be fair, I spent a week walking down to the bottom and back with a tent, and that was different. Rafting it is probably also worthwhile.
But just to look at - meh.
Yes I agree. The Grand Canyon is weirdly noomless. And it’s not just the hordes of tourists. It’s oddly inert. A big gash in the land - but that’s it. I dunno why it is unmoving - but it is
Whereas the “nearby” Black Canyon of the Gunnison - ooooof. Loadsanoom. It helps that you will almost certainly be alone as you contemplate it - nonetheless it is intrinsically better and noomier
I thought that about the Grand Canyon when I got there, but for a small amount of time each the dying sunlight lights up the rock and they burst into colour. I was still somewhat underwhelmed.
Here is the deal Hamas has said yes to, as reported in several Arab networks:
It will have three phases:
Phase one (42 days long): Israel will withdraw from all central areas in Gaza to locations close to the security fence. The IDF will stop overflights of Gaza for ten hours a day. 600 trucks of aid, including 50 of fuel, will enter Gaza daily.
Hamas will release 33 humanitarian hostages. However, Hamas is NOT willing to guarantee they will all be alive. In return, Israel will release the heaviest prisoners as selected by Hamas. Israel is also expected to release all Shalit deal prisoners it has taken back into custody.
Then, they will release the female IDF soldiers in exchange for 50 Palestinian prisoners each. Then Israel will release all women and male prisoners taken since October 7th, including the worst offenders.
On the 22nd day of the deal, the IDF will withdraw from the central Gaza zone, separating the north from the south. There will be no limitation on the return of evacuees from the South to their homes.
Phase 2 (42 days long): Hamas wants an agreement to stop the war permanently in this phase. This is the main sticking point. All men left alive will be released in this phase.
Phase 3 (42 days long): All bodies will be exchanged. A plan to rebuild Gaza over 3-5 years will be shaped. Compensation will be paid to Palestinians harmed in the war. Egypt, the US, and Qatar will guarantee that the agreement is upheld.
I don’t think Israel V Hamas is going to end, this time, until one or other side is entirely annihilated. Israel cannot stop now - it is so steep’d in blood there’s no going back. It might as well finish the job - and that means destroying Gaza as a place to live
Meanwhile Hamas has made its intentions clear. It wants every Israeli dead. Every Jew is a target, anywhere on earth, but especially in the Levant
How can you possibly strike a compromise out of that? You can’t
I said this very early on when people were saying the Americans would give them a month or two, then tell them to get back in the box. For all the focus on Bibi and some of the crazed right wingers (who are as bad as Hamas in Israel to take over not just Gaza, but West Bank), you have to remember they have a war cabinet and the opposition / lefty members they are still signing of on all of this.
I don’t think Israel V Hamas is going to end, this time, until one or other side is entirely annihilated. Israel cannot stop now - it is so steep’d in blood there’s no going back. It might as well finish the job - and that means destroying Gaza as a place to live
Meanwhile Hamas has made its intentions clear. It wants every Israeli dead. Every Jew is a target, anywhere on earth, but especially in the Levant
How can you possibly strike a compromise out of that? You can’t
One set of penis-mutilators versus another.
It is a grand and desolate tragedy nearing its denouement
JG Ballard: All the time. I watch a lot of TV when my eyes are tired and weaving -- also I enjoy it. I think it's terribly important to watch TV. I think there's a sort of minimum number of hours of TV you ought to watch every day, and unless you're watching 3 or 4 hours of TV a day you're just closing your eyes to some of the most -- synthesis of reality, & the creation of reality that TV achieves. It's the most important sort of stream-of-consciousness that's going on! I mean, not watching TV is even worse than say, never reading a book. I think the biggest developments over the next 20, 30 years are going to be through the introduction of VHS systems -- and I don't just mean the cassette thing -- playback gadgets -- that in itself would be quite revolutionary -- but when, say, every room in everybody's house or flat's got a camera recording what's going on -- the transformation of the home into the TV Studio is the creation of a new kind of reality. I mean reality is electronic.
Jon Savage: But what's it going to do -- it's going to make people so introverted, self-conscious, is it not?
JG Ballard: I think only in the short term -- in exactly the same way as, when you first get a camera, you spend your time photographing children playing in a paddling pool. But after awhile, you get more ambitious, and you start taking an interest in the world at large. I think the same thing will happen -- beginning with endlessly photographing themselves, shaving, having dinner together, having domestic rows -- of course the bedroom applications are obvious. But I think they'll go beyond that to the point where each of us will be at the center of a sort of non-stop serial, with all kinds of possibilities let in. You may be able to splice in bits of Key Largo and Casablanca into the daily record of your life, to the point where you literally do become a character in a Bogey movie, or what have you."
I read there's no chance of Ebola ever being mutated with Corona Virus (Common Cold) or Influenza Virus to become air born... But still, after Covid, one can't help but have pause for thought hearing that Chinese labs are messing around with the deadliest virus known to man...
I don’t think Israel V Hamas is going to end, this time, until one or other side is entirely annihilated. Israel cannot stop now - it is so steep’d in blood there’s no going back. It might as well finish the job - and that means destroying Gaza as a place to live
Meanwhile Hamas has made its intentions clear. It wants every Israeli dead. Every Jew is a target, anywhere on earth, but especially in the Levant
How can you possibly strike a compromise out of that? You can’t
I said this very early on when people were saying the Americans would give them a month or two, then tell them to get back in the box. For all the focus on Bibi and some of the crazed right wingers (who are as bad as Hamas in Israel to take over not just Gaza, but West Bank), you have to remember they have a war cabinet and the opposition / lefty members they are still signing of on all of this.
Yes, quite so - and in a way I don’t blame the Israelis. On October 7 Hamas made it clear they will rape mutilate and kill every Jew they can find, unarmed, anywhere between the river and the sea (and elsewhere too, given the chance). And that is their historic intent, it’s not going to change
What is Israel meant to do? How can you make peace with someone who wants you dead and will always want you dead and even if you strike a truce they will start planning to kill you in a new way tomorrow?
The only choice is to wipe them out before they wipe you out. Which is catastrophic for both sides, of course. I’m not sure I can see any benefit for Iran, either, whatever happens - and Iran is behind Hamas
Here is the deal Hamas has said yes to, as reported in several Arab networks:
It will have three phases:
Phase one (42 days long): Israel will withdraw from all central areas in Gaza to locations close to the security fence. The IDF will stop overflights of Gaza for ten hours a day. 600 trucks of aid, including 50 of fuel, will enter Gaza daily.
Hamas will release 33 humanitarian hostages. However, Hamas is NOT willing to guarantee they will all be alive. In return, Israel will release the heaviest prisoners as selected by Hamas. Israel is also expected to release all Shalit deal prisoners it has taken back into custody.
Then, they will release the female IDF soldiers in exchange for 50 Palestinian prisoners each. Then Israel will release all women and male prisoners taken since October 7th, including the worst offenders.
On the 22nd day of the deal, the IDF will withdraw from the central Gaza zone, separating the north from the south. There will be no limitation on the return of evacuees from the South to their homes.
Phase 2 (42 days long): Hamas wants an agreement to stop the war permanently in this phase. This is the main sticking point. All men left alive will be released in this phase.
Phase 3 (42 days long): All bodies will be exchanged. A plan to rebuild Gaza over 3-5 years will be shaped. Compensation will be paid to Palestinians harmed in the war. Egypt, the US, and Qatar will guarantee that the agreement is upheld.
I don’t think Israel V Hamas is going to end, this time, until one or other side is entirely annihilated. Israel cannot stop now - it is so steep’d in blood there’s no going back. It might as well finish the job - and that means destroying Gaza as a place to live
Meanwhile Hamas has made its intentions clear. It wants every Israeli dead. Every Jew is a target, anywhere on earth, but especially in the Levant
How can you possibly strike a compromise out of that? You can’t
I said this very early on when people were saying the Americans would give them a month or two, then tell them to get back in the box. For all the focus on Bibi and some of the crazed right wingers (who are as bad as Hamas in Israel to take over not just Gaza, but West Bank), you have to remember they have a war cabinet and the opposition / lefty members they are still signing of on all of this.
Yes, quite so - and in a way I don’t blame the Israelis. On October 7 Hamas made it clear they will rape mutilate and kill every Jew they can find, unarmed, anywhere between the river and the sea (and elsewhere too, given the chance). And that is their historic intent, it’s not going to change
What is Israel meant to do? How can you make peace with someone who wants you dead and will always want you dead and even if you strike a truce they will start planning to kill you in a new way tomorrow?
The only choice is to wipe them out before they wipe you out. Which is catastrophic for both sides, of course. I’m not sure I can see any benefit for Iran, either, whatever happens - and Iran is behind Hamas
It’s a script written by Satan. Its utterly bleak
BBC (and twitter) reporting the details of the deal that Hamas appears to have negotiated with itself, it is no wonder the Israelis have said no chance. It was basically we will give you what hostages we have (dead or alive), you release every single person you have detained since 7th October, plus 50 extra prisoners for each hostage, then total withdrawal from Gaza and Israel pays for the rebuild....while Hamas is still in charge.
I don't see when or how this ends. A terrible cycle of violence to continue.
I don’t think Israel V Hamas is going to end, this time, until one or other side is entirely annihilated. Israel cannot stop now - it is so steep’d in blood there’s no going back. It might as well finish the job - and that means destroying Gaza as a place to live
Meanwhile Hamas has made its intentions clear. It wants every Israeli dead. Every Jew is a target, anywhere on earth, but especially in the Levant
How can you possibly strike a compromise out of that? You can’t
I said this very early on when people were saying the Americans would give them a month or two, then tell them to get back in the box. For all the focus on Bibi and some of the crazed right wingers (who are as bad as Hamas in Israel to take over not just Gaza, but West Bank), you have to remember they have a war cabinet and the opposition / lefty members they are still signing of on all of this.
Yes, quite so - and in a way I don’t blame the Israelis. On October 7 Hamas made it clear they will rape mutilate and kill every Jew they can find, unarmed, anywhere between the river and the sea (and elsewhere too, given the chance). And that is their historic intent, it’s not going to change
What is Israel meant to do? How can you make peace with someone who wants you dead and will always want you dead and even if you strike a truce they will start planning to kill you in a new way tomorrow?
The only choice is to wipe them out before they wipe you out. Which is catastrophic for both sides, of course. I’m not sure I can see any benefit for Iran, either, whatever happens - and Iran is behind Hamas
It’s a script written by Satan. Its utterly bleak
BBC (and twitter) reporting the details of the deal that Hamas appears to have negotiated with itself, it is no wonder the Israelis have said no chance. It was basically we will give you what hostages we have (dead or alive), you release every single person you have detained since 7th October, plus 50 extra prisoners for each hostage, then total withdrawal from Gaza and Israel pays for the rebuild....while Hamas is still in charge.
I don't see when or how this ends. A terrible cycle of violence to continue.
I don’t think Israel V Hamas is going to end, this time, until one or other side is entirely annihilated. Israel cannot stop now - it is so steep’d in blood there’s no going back. It might as well finish the job - and that means destroying Gaza as a place to live
Meanwhile Hamas has made its intentions clear. It wants every Israeli dead. Every Jew is a target, anywhere on earth, but especially in the Levant
How can you possibly strike a compromise out of that? You can’t
I said this very early on when people were saying the Americans would give them a month or two, then tell them to get back in the box. For all the focus on Bibi and some of the crazed right wingers (who are as bad as Hamas in Israel to take over not just Gaza, but West Bank), you have to remember they have a war cabinet and the opposition / lefty members they are still signing of on all of this.
Yes, quite so - and in a way I don’t blame the Israelis. On October 7 Hamas made it clear they will rape mutilate and kill every Jew they can find, unarmed, anywhere between the river and the sea (and elsewhere too, given the chance). And that is their historic intent, it’s not going to change
What is Israel meant to do? How can you make peace with someone who wants you dead and will always want you dead and even if you strike a truce they will start planning to kill you in a new way tomorrow?
The only choice is to wipe them out before they wipe you out. Which is catastrophic for both sides, of course. I’m not sure I can see any benefit for Iran, either, whatever happens - and Iran is behind Hamas
It’s a script written by Satan. Its utterly bleak
BBC (and twitter) reporting the details of the deal that Hamas appears to have negotiated with itself, it is no wonder the Israelis have said no chance. It was basically we will give you what hostages we have (dead or alive), you release every single person you have detained since 7th October, plus 50 extra prisoners for each hostage, then total withdrawal from Gaza and Israel pays for the rebuild....while Hamas is still in charge.
I don't see when or how this ends. A terrible cycle of violence to continue.
Except no one has said that. Why make stuff up?
Its on the BBC website. I know they have terrible form during this war on accuracy, but other reputable journalist sources are reporting it on twitter.
I don’t think Israel V Hamas is going to end, this time, until one or other side is entirely annihilated. Israel cannot stop now - it is so steep’d in blood there’s no going back. It might as well finish the job - and that means destroying Gaza as a place to live
Meanwhile Hamas has made its intentions clear. It wants every Israeli dead. Every Jew is a target, anywhere on earth, but especially in the Levant
How can you possibly strike a compromise out of that? You can’t
I said this very early on when people were saying the Americans would give them a month or two, then tell them to get back in the box. For all the focus on Bibi and some of the crazed right wingers (who are as bad as Hamas in Israel to take over not just Gaza, but West Bank), you have to remember they have a war cabinet and the opposition / lefty members they are still signing of on all of this.
Yes, quite so - and in a way I don’t blame the Israelis. On October 7 Hamas made it clear they will rape mutilate and kill every Jew they can find, unarmed, anywhere between the river and the sea (and elsewhere too, given the chance). And that is their historic intent, it’s not going to change
What is Israel meant to do? How can you make peace with someone who wants you dead and will always want you dead and even if you strike a truce they will start planning to kill you in a new way tomorrow?
The only choice is to wipe them out before they wipe you out. Which is catastrophic for both sides, of course. I’m not sure I can see any benefit for Iran, either, whatever happens - and Iran is behind Hamas
It’s a script written by Satan. Its utterly bleak
BBC (and twitter) reporting the details of the deal that Hamas appears to have negotiated with itself, it is no wonder the Israelis have said no chance. It was basically we will give you what hostages we have (dead or alive), you release every single person you have detained since 7th October, plus loads of prisoners, total withdrawal from Gaza and Israel pays for the rebuild....while Hamas is still in charge.
I’ve thought from the start that the only logic to this is if Israel makes Gaza completely uninhabitable and kills 100,000 or many more and drives the Palestinians into Egypt - Sinai - from where Israel might feel it can defend itself. Israel will also purge Palestinians from the West Bank - into Jordan, I guess
That’s the only logical result of October 7 if you are an Israeli Jew. It’s absolutely bestial and cruel but at least it has a strategic logic. That then achieves defensible frontiers for Israel - and ends the corrosive occupation - and then Israel can sit there with its nukes and say Come on then, try it. And of course no one will
I reckon that’s where we’re headed. And it’s tremendously scary and sad because it means so much death - mainly for Palestinians. But if you are an Israeli Jew with a living memory of the Holocaust that is where you end up: logically. Doing a modest Holocaust on Palestine to save the Jews
Here is the deal Hamas has said yes to, as reported in several Arab networks:
It will have three phases:
Phase one (42 days long): Israel will withdraw from all central areas in Gaza to locations close to the security fence. The IDF will stop overflights of Gaza for ten hours a day. 600 trucks of aid, including 50 of fuel, will enter Gaza daily.
Hamas will release 33 humanitarian hostages. However, Hamas is NOT willing to guarantee they will all be alive. In return, Israel will release the heaviest prisoners as selected by Hamas. Israel is also expected to release all Shalit deal prisoners it has taken back into custody.
Then, they will release the female IDF soldiers in exchange for 50 Palestinian prisoners each. Then Israel will release all women and male prisoners taken since October 7th, including the worst offenders.
On the 22nd day of the deal, the IDF will withdraw from the central Gaza zone, separating the north from the south. There will be no limitation on the return of evacuees from the South to their homes.
Phase 2 (42 days long): Hamas wants an agreement to stop the war permanently in this phase. This is the main sticking point. All men left alive will be released in this phase.
Phase 3 (42 days long): All bodies will be exchanged. A plan to rebuild Gaza over 3-5 years will be shaped. Compensation will be paid to Palestinians harmed in the war. Egypt, the US, and Qatar will guarantee that the agreement is upheld.
Before I click the link, can you assure me it won't be a complete waste of my time? I only ask because us PB oldtimers all remember you supporting (in) famous antisemite Jeremy Corbyn on here for years and years...
We know where you're coming from, so any information you post needs to be "fact checked" lol!
Microsoft is training its own large language model, internally labaled MAI-1, with Mustafa Suleyman leading the effort. The model is around 500B parameters and could compete directly with LLMs from Google, OpenAI, etc.
I don’t think Israel V Hamas is going to end, this time, until one or other side is entirely annihilated. Israel cannot stop now - it is so steep’d in blood there’s no going back. It might as well finish the job - and that means destroying Gaza as a place to live
Meanwhile Hamas has made its intentions clear. It wants every Israeli dead. Every Jew is a target, anywhere on earth, but especially in the Levant
How can you possibly strike a compromise out of that? You can’t
I said this very early on when people were saying the Americans would give them a month or two, then tell them to get back in the box. For all the focus on Bibi and some of the crazed right wingers (who are as bad as Hamas in Israel to take over not just Gaza, but West Bank), you have to remember they have a war cabinet and the opposition / lefty members they are still signing of on all of this.
Yes, quite so - and in a way I don’t blame the Israelis. On October 7 Hamas made it clear they will rape mutilate and kill every Jew they can find, unarmed, anywhere between the river and the sea (and elsewhere too, given the chance). And that is their historic intent, it’s not going to change
What is Israel meant to do? How can you make peace with someone who wants you dead and will always want you dead and even if you strike a truce they will start planning to kill you in a new way tomorrow?
The only choice is to wipe them out before they wipe you out. Which is catastrophic for both sides, of course. I’m not sure I can see any benefit for Iran, either, whatever happens - and Iran is behind Hamas
It’s a script written by Satan. Its utterly bleak
BBC (and twitter) reporting the details of the deal that Hamas appears to have negotiated with itself, it is no wonder the Israelis have said no chance. It was basically we will give you what hostages we have (dead or alive), you release every single person you have detained since 7th October, plus loads of prisoners, total withdrawal from Gaza and Israel pays for the rebuild....while Hamas is still in charge.
I’ve thought from the start that the only logic to this is if Israel makes Gaza completely uninhabitable and kills 100,000 or many more and drives the Palestinians into Egypt - Sinai - from where Israel might feel it can defend itself. Israel will also purge Palestinians from the West Bank - into Jordan, I guess
That’s the only logical result of October 7 if you are an Israeli Jew. It’s absolutely bestial and cruel but at least it has a strategic logic. That then achieves defensible frontiers for Israel - and ends the corrosive occupation - and then Israel can sit there with its nukes and say Come on then, try it. And of course no one will
I reckon that’s where we’re headed. And it’s tremendously scary and sad because it means so much death - mainly for Palestinians. But if you are an Israeli Jew with a living memory of the Holocaust that is where you end up: logically. Doing a modest Holocaust on Palestine to save the Jews
The only solution is permanent ethnic cleansing to other countries? Imagine if the UK had done that with the Irish once we had 20th century technology to do it.
I don’t think Israel V Hamas is going to end, this time, until one or other side is entirely annihilated. Israel cannot stop now - it is so steep’d in blood there’s no going back. It might as well finish the job - and that means destroying Gaza as a place to live
Meanwhile Hamas has made its intentions clear. It wants every Israeli dead. Every Jew is a target, anywhere on earth, but especially in the Levant
How can you possibly strike a compromise out of that? You can’t
I said this very early on when people were saying the Americans would give them a month or two, then tell them to get back in the box. For all the focus on Bibi and some of the crazed right wingers (who are as bad as Hamas in Israel to take over not just Gaza, but West Bank), you have to remember they have a war cabinet and the opposition / lefty members they are still signing of on all of this.
Yes, quite so - and in a way I don’t blame the Israelis. On October 7 Hamas made it clear they will rape mutilate and kill every Jew they can find, unarmed, anywhere between the river and the sea (and elsewhere too, given the chance). And that is their historic intent, it’s not going to change
What is Israel meant to do? How can you make peace with someone who wants you dead and will always want you dead and even if you strike a truce they will start planning to kill you in a new way tomorrow?
The only choice is to wipe them out before they wipe you out. Which is catastrophic for both sides, of course. I’m not sure I can see any benefit for Iran, either, whatever happens - and Iran is behind Hamas
It’s a script written by Satan. Its utterly bleak
BBC (and twitter) reporting the details of the deal that Hamas appears to have negotiated with itself, it is no wonder the Israelis have said no chance. It was basically we will give you what hostages we have (dead or alive), you release every single person you have detained since 7th October, plus loads of prisoners, total withdrawal from Gaza and Israel pays for the rebuild....while Hamas is still in charge.
I’ve thought from the start that the only logic to this is if Israel makes Gaza completely uninhabitable and kills 100,000 or many more and drives the Palestinians into Egypt - Sinai - from where Israel might feel it can defend itself. Israel will also purge Palestinians from the West Bank - into Jordan, I guess
That’s the only logical result of October 7 if you are an Israeli Jew. It’s absolutely bestial and cruel but at least it has a strategic logic. That then achieves defensible frontiers for Israel - and ends the corrosive occupation - and then Israel can sit there with its nukes and say Come on then, try it. And of course no one will
I reckon that’s where we’re headed. And it’s tremendously scary and sad because it means so much death - mainly for Palestinians. But if you are an Israeli Jew with a living memory of the Holocaust that is where you end up: logically. Doing a modest Holocaust on Palestine to save the Jews
The only solution is permanent ethnic cleansing to other countries? Imagine if the UK had done that with the Irish once we had 20th century technology to do it.
I’m open to other solutions. My god. It’s awful
But if the Irish were vocally intent on killing every Briton alive and they’d just invaded Lancashire and raped and murdered 10,000 people in Manchester AND they had the tacit or overt support of Germany and everyone in Latin America what would we do? We’d wipe out the Irish while we still had the chance. Especially if we had a folk memory - a living memory - of Brazilians trying to kill every Briton in existence and feeding us into ovens
RUMOUR: Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammad Bin Salman escaped an assassination attempt.
Some Saudi gaurds died and injured.
Fake News,
After speaking with several Residents of Riyadh and an Individual who is associated with the Saudi Royal Guard Regiment; they have Confirmed that the “Unconfirmed Reports” made earlier tonight regarding an Assassination Attempt against Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman are Totally False and that there has been No Attack tonight within or near the City. They further state that the Initial Posts made regarding the Attack appear to have been Targeted at Middle Eastern Media Sources right as the Israeli Ground Operation in Southern Gaza was beginning.
I don’t think Israel V Hamas is going to end, this time, until one or other side is entirely annihilated. Israel cannot stop now - it is so steep’d in blood there’s no going back. It might as well finish the job - and that means destroying Gaza as a place to live
Meanwhile Hamas has made its intentions clear. It wants every Israeli dead. Every Jew is a target, anywhere on earth, but especially in the Levant
How can you possibly strike a compromise out of that? You can’t
I said this very early on when people were saying the Americans would give them a month or two, then tell them to get back in the box. For all the focus on Bibi and some of the crazed right wingers (who are as bad as Hamas in Israel to take over not just Gaza, but West Bank), you have to remember they have a war cabinet and the opposition / lefty members they are still signing of on all of this.
Yes, quite so - and in a way I don’t blame the Israelis. On October 7 Hamas made it clear they will rape mutilate and kill every Jew they can find, unarmed, anywhere between the river and the sea (and elsewhere too, given the chance). And that is their historic intent, it’s not going to change
What is Israel meant to do? How can you make peace with someone who wants you dead and will always want you dead and even if you strike a truce they will start planning to kill you in a new way tomorrow?
The only choice is to wipe them out before they wipe you out. Which is catastrophic for both sides, of course. I’m not sure I can see any benefit for Iran, either, whatever happens - and Iran is behind Hamas
It’s a script written by Satan. Its utterly bleak
BBC (and twitter) reporting the details of the deal that Hamas appears to have negotiated with itself, it is no wonder the Israelis have said no chance. It was basically we will give you what hostages we have (dead or alive), you release every single person you have detained since 7th October, plus loads of prisoners, total withdrawal from Gaza and Israel pays for the rebuild....while Hamas is still in charge.
I’ve thought from the start that the only logic to this is if Israel makes Gaza completely uninhabitable and kills 100,000 or many more and drives the Palestinians into Egypt - Sinai - from where Israel might feel it can defend itself. Israel will also purge Palestinians from the West Bank - into Jordan, I guess
That’s the only logical result of October 7 if you are an Israeli Jew. It’s absolutely bestial and cruel but at least it has a strategic logic. That then achieves defensible frontiers for Israel - and ends the corrosive occupation - and then Israel can sit there with its nukes and say Come on then, try it. And of course no one will
I reckon that’s where we’re headed. And it’s tremendously scary and sad because it means so much death - mainly for Palestinians. But if you are an Israeli Jew with a living memory of the Holocaust that is where you end up: logically. Doing a modest Holocaust on Palestine to save the Jews
If that is where we are heading then the West should give up on Israel completely. Stop supporting them and treat them just like any of the other warring factions in the Middle East. If they survive then so be it. But we should not continue to provide unconditional support if they turn out to be no more civilised than most of their neighbours.
The problem with American hikes is that the noom quotient per square mile is so low. You can go hours - days - entire weeks - without encountering anything interesting let alone noomy (Australia is even worse)
It’s just dull. That’s why America is best seen by car. You can speed through the boring bits and get to the majestic landscapes (in which America abounds, especially in the west) and then it’s not boring. And the cities are compelling - but so far apart
Europe, by contrast, is better seen on foot or on a bike in many places. In countries that are intensely noomy- like Italy or Britain - almost every 500 yards you will find something culturally or historically or poetically resonant
America is gloriously vast. But that’s not good for walkers
Unless you’re after the kind of living-in-the-wild experience that Europe doesn’t really offer any more.
So the Tories plan to waste effort on trying to defend seats they are certain to lose, while ignoring those where they have a chance of holding. Excellent.
Mind, I always maintain that the 'ground game' is a total waste of time and energy when it comes to general elections. So it matters not.
With regard to the 2nd paragraph it is the only way the LDs win seats. The ground game is essential. If you want proof of that look at the Surrey Police Commissioner vote in Surrey broken down borough by borough. In Guildford, one of the very top LD targets for the GE there were no locals so no campaigning for locals. The Tories won the vote by 1000 in Guildford Borough, however in Woking and Mole Valley which had locals so where the LDs were campaigning hard they beat the Tory in the Police Commissioner election by a significant margin, yet these are lower targets than Guildford in the GE. Pretty conclusive evidence of the ground game working.
Yes plus in my experience the LDs have the best ground game in their target seats, the Tories the second best and Labour are normally worst (Reform have virtually no ground game at all). I remember in Chingford in 2019 there were lots of Labour activists but half of them had no idea where they were going!
Five years on and after a string of by-election successes including the likes of Mid Beds, Selby and Tamworth, you might want to reevaluate that opinion. Labour have also been pretty good at targeting recently, the decision to abandon Tees Valley and pile everything into the West Midlands mayoral contest having probably made the difference between winning and losing.
They won those by elections because of their big opinion poll leads after over a decade in opposition NOT because of their ground game getting their voters out. Choosing which seats and regions to target also is a tactical decision, it is not the same as having accurate canvass data which is up to date and then getting your voters out to the polls on election day with final leaflets and pledge letters focused on your supporters and knocking up your pledged voters, which is what ground game is
Yes I am of course fully aware of what ground game is and that accurate targeting is not part of it, but if you target the wrong constituencies as Jo Swinson for example found out to her personal cost then the ground game counts for nothing. I just couldn't help myself throwing the West Midlands mayorality into the mix though given how Saturday evening played out for the Conservatives after Labour targeted that contest.
Had you any real knowledge of how Labour operate on the ground nowadays you might revise your opinion of its ground game. Things have moved on a lot in recent years using technology to model potential supporters from those uncanvassed. The approach to canvassing has also changed a lot in the direction of identifying not just supporters but also swing voters and their issues of particular concern, all for follow up messaging, and all transferred onto databases in real time. Very different to what happened a few years ago. Now the Conservatives may be doing all that too for all that I know, but what is clear is that Labour also have many more membership resources on the ground to exploit the information gained to deliver follow up, such that there's not an overreliance on paid-for leaflet delivery alone.
You can choose if you wish to claim that swings in by-elections that consistently match post war records reflect solely the public's rejection of the extreme awfulness of the present government as opposed to a combination of slightly less extreme awfulness combined with the improved Labour by-election ground game that I've witnessed personally. I don't see how a definitive view on that can be reached.
I think that’s fair; what lets Labour down is the flip side of having such a large activist pool; they’re a mixed bunch and often untrained and/or inexperienced. But the use of technology and more sophisticated canvassing techniques within Labour has come on considerably. The LibDems probably have the most experienced activists, as every election has to be fought with by-election techniques to win it, but it’s a small pool and has to be deployed carefully. The Tories seem to have a model of ground game that hasn’t really changed for decades, and while their national campaign is always well funded and very sophisticated, out in the sticks they often seem to have a few very old guys running the same campaign they ran in 1970. This is particularly true in safe areas that have never really had much electoral challenge, and an under-commented aspect of the likely scenario for the next election is that the real battleground will mostly be in seats that the Tories have previously not had to fight hard.
I don’t think Israel V Hamas is going to end, this time, until one or other side is entirely annihilated. Israel cannot stop now - it is so steep’d in blood there’s no going back. It might as well finish the job - and that means destroying Gaza as a place to live
Meanwhile Hamas has made its intentions clear. It wants every Israeli dead. Every Jew is a target, anywhere on earth, but especially in the Levant
How can you possibly strike a compromise out of that? You can’t
I said this very early on when people were saying the Americans would give them a month or two, then tell them to get back in the box. For all the focus on Bibi and some of the crazed right wingers (who are as bad as Hamas in Israel to take over not just Gaza, but West Bank), you have to remember they have a war cabinet and the opposition / lefty members they are still signing of on all of this.
Yes, quite so - and in a way I don’t blame the Israelis. On October 7 Hamas made it clear they will rape mutilate and kill every Jew they can find, unarmed, anywhere between the river and the sea (and elsewhere too, given the chance). And that is their historic intent, it’s not going to change
What is Israel meant to do? How can you make peace with someone who wants you dead and will always want you dead and even if you strike a truce they will start planning to kill you in a new way tomorrow?
The only choice is to wipe them out before they wipe you out. Which is catastrophic for both sides, of course. I’m not sure I can see any benefit for Iran, either, whatever happens - and Iran is behind Hamas
It’s a script written by Satan. Its utterly bleak
BBC (and twitter) reporting the details of the deal that Hamas appears to have negotiated with itself, it is no wonder the Israelis have said no chance. It was basically we will give you what hostages we have (dead or alive), you release every single person you have detained since 7th October, plus 50 extra prisoners for each hostage, then total withdrawal from Gaza and Israel pays for the rebuild....while Hamas is still in charge.
I don't see when or how this ends. A terrible cycle of violence to continue.
Do yourself a favour and don't rely on the BBC or Shitter as your sources if you want to keep up to date on what's going on with who is saying what about what ceasefire proposal containing what points. Or on what's going on militarily for that matter.
Use Al Jazeera.
"Hamas appears to have negotiated with itself" just means you have yet to master where to get some half-decent English-language news from on the internet regarding the Middle East.
I don’t think Israel V Hamas is going to end, this time, until one or other side is entirely annihilated. Israel cannot stop now - it is so steep’d in blood there’s no going back. It might as well finish the job - and that means destroying Gaza as a place to live
Meanwhile Hamas has made its intentions clear. It wants every Israeli dead. Every Jew is a target, anywhere on earth, but especially in the Levant
How can you possibly strike a compromise out of that? You can’t
I said this very early on when people were saying the Americans would give them a month or two, then tell them to get back in the box. For all the focus on Bibi and some of the crazed right wingers (who are as bad as Hamas in Israel to take over not just Gaza, but West Bank), you have to remember they have a war cabinet and the opposition / lefty members they are still signing of on all of this.
Yes, quite so - and in a way I don’t blame the Israelis. On October 7 Hamas made it clear they will rape mutilate and kill every Jew they can find, unarmed, anywhere between the river and the sea (and elsewhere too, given the chance). And that is their historic intent, it’s not going to change
What is Israel meant to do? How can you make peace with someone who wants you dead and will always want you dead and even if you strike a truce they will start planning to kill you in a new way tomorrow?
The only choice is to wipe them out before they wipe you out. Which is catastrophic for both sides, of course. I’m not sure I can see any benefit for Iran, either, whatever happens - and Iran is behind Hamas
It’s a script written by Satan. Its utterly bleak
BBC (and twitter) reporting the details of the deal that Hamas appears to have negotiated with itself, it is no wonder the Israelis have said no chance. It was basically we will give you what hostages we have (dead or alive), you release every single person you have detained since 7th October, plus 50 extra prisoners for each hostage, then total withdrawal from Gaza and Israel pays for the rebuild....while Hamas is still in charge.
I don't see when or how this ends. A terrible cycle of violence to continue.
Do yourself a favour and don't rely on the BBC or Shitter as your sources if you want to keep up to date on what's going on with who is saying what about what ceasefire proposal containing what points. Or on what's going on militarily for that matter.
Use Al Jazeera.
"Hamas appears to have negotiated with itself" just means you have yet to master where to get some half-decent English-language news from on the internet regarding the Middle East.
The reports they are referring to were reporting the same as what you’ve linked from Al Jazeera….
I don’t think Israel V Hamas is going to end, this time, until one or other side is entirely annihilated. Israel cannot stop now - it is so steep’d in blood there’s no going back. It might as well finish the job - and that means destroying Gaza as a place to live
Meanwhile Hamas has made its intentions clear. It wants every Israeli dead. Every Jew is a target, anywhere on earth, but especially in the Levant
How can you possibly strike a compromise out of that? You can’t
I said this very early on when people were saying the Americans would give them a month or two, then tell them to get back in the box. For all the focus on Bibi and some of the crazed right wingers (who are as bad as Hamas in Israel to take over not just Gaza, but West Bank), you have to remember they have a war cabinet and the opposition / lefty members they are still signing of on all of this.
Yes, quite so - and in a way I don’t blame the Israelis. On October 7 Hamas made it clear they will rape mutilate and kill every Jew they can find, unarmed, anywhere between the river and the sea (and elsewhere too, given the chance). And that is their historic intent, it’s not going to change
What is Israel meant to do? How can you make peace with someone who wants you dead and will always want you dead and even if you strike a truce they will start planning to kill you in a new way tomorrow?
The only choice is to wipe them out before they wipe you out. Which is catastrophic for both sides, of course. I’m not sure I can see any benefit for Iran, either, whatever happens - and Iran is behind Hamas
It’s a script written by Satan. Its utterly bleak
BBC (and twitter) reporting the details of the deal that Hamas appears to have negotiated with itself, it is no wonder the Israelis have said no chance. It was basically we will give you what hostages we have (dead or alive), you release every single person you have detained since 7th October, plus loads of prisoners, total withdrawal from Gaza and Israel pays for the rebuild....while Hamas is still in charge.
I’ve thought from the start that the only logic to this is if Israel makes Gaza completely uninhabitable and kills 100,000 or many more and drives the Palestinians into Egypt - Sinai - from where Israel might feel it can defend itself. Israel will also purge Palestinians from the West Bank - into Jordan, I guess
That’s the only logical result of October 7 if you are an Israeli Jew. It’s absolutely bestial and cruel but at least it has a strategic logic. That then achieves defensible frontiers for Israel - and ends the corrosive occupation - and then Israel can sit there with its nukes and say Come on then, try it. And of course no one will
I reckon that’s where we’re headed. And it’s tremendously scary and sad because it means so much death - mainly for Palestinians. But if you are an Israeli Jew with a living memory of the Holocaust that is where you end up: logically. Doing a modest Holocaust on Palestine to save the Jews
If the Israelis cleanse Gaza of surviving Palestinians it's more likely they will chase them to Cyprus than across the Philadelphi corridor to Sinai - in a MFingly mahoosive shock and awe displacement operation: get in the queue for a ship or starve. And it would get a bit starvy anyway even for those who felt they had no other option than to wait completely peacefully for evacuation.
So far they've purchased 40000 12-person tents which would house ~0.5 million people, but like prison cells I'm sure if they had to the tents could accommodate more.
In this scenario they could step up their encouragement of Jewish immigration from other countries too.
They have no shame.
And nor do those in leading western countries who have always high-fived the Israelis and shouted in unison "Israel has the right to defend itself" during previous massacres in Gaza - including for example in the USA the very large majority of the members of Congress.
I don’t think Israel V Hamas is going to end, this time, until one or other side is entirely annihilated. Israel cannot stop now - it is so steep’d in blood there’s no going back. It might as well finish the job - and that means destroying Gaza as a place to live
Meanwhile Hamas has made its intentions clear. It wants every Israeli dead. Every Jew is a target, anywhere on earth, but especially in the Levant
How can you possibly strike a compromise out of that? You can’t
I said this very early on when people were saying the Americans would give them a month or two, then tell them to get back in the box. For all the focus on Bibi and some of the crazed right wingers (who are as bad as Hamas in Israel to take over not just Gaza, but West Bank), you have to remember they have a war cabinet and the opposition / lefty members they are still signing of on all of this.
Yes, quite so - and in a way I don’t blame the Israelis. On October 7 Hamas made it clear they will rape mutilate and kill every Jew they can find, unarmed, anywhere between the river and the sea (and elsewhere too, given the chance). And that is their historic intent, it’s not going to change
What is Israel meant to do? How can you make peace with someone who wants you dead and will always want you dead and even if you strike a truce they will start planning to kill you in a new way tomorrow?
The only choice is to wipe them out before they wipe you out. Which is catastrophic for both sides, of course. I’m not sure I can see any benefit for Iran, either, whatever happens - and Iran is behind Hamas
It’s a script written by Satan. Its utterly bleak
BBC (and twitter) reporting the details of the deal that Hamas appears to have negotiated with itself, it is no wonder the Israelis have said no chance. It was basically we will give you what hostages we have (dead or alive), you release every single person you have detained since 7th October, plus 50 extra prisoners for each hostage, then total withdrawal from Gaza and Israel pays for the rebuild....while Hamas is still in charge.
I don't see when or how this ends. A terrible cycle of violence to continue.
Do yourself a favour and don't rely on the BBC or Shitter as your sources if you want to keep up to date on what's going on with who is saying what about what ceasefire proposal containing what points. Or on what's going on militarily for that matter.
Use Al Jazeera.
"Hamas appears to have negotiated with itself" just means you have yet to master where to get some half-decent English-language news from on the internet regarding the Middle East.
No.
Don't use a single source - Al Jazeera will be good and bad in different areas. Use different sources, not one source, and preferably ones that have different perspectives.
If the ceasefire proposal is as described below (I've skimmed the text in the link provided below), then I can see why Israel rejected it out-of-hand. It's a Hamas victory document, not a ceasefire proposal.
In particular, it is *very* heavy on what Israel needs to do at first, and rather light on what Hamas has to do. For the third stage, the 'compensation' is entirely one-way (this whole thing seems to ignore Hamas' culpability in mass-murder), and just queers the negotiation. How can Israel agree to that at this stage?
What needs to happen is quite simple, and needs to reflect that both side have done bad things. Hamas needs to immediately state the condition of all hostages at this time, including proof-of-life for those alive. They then need to release all women and children. In return, or before, Israel will allow increased aid in.
Once the hostages are released, then Israel withdraws from Gaza.
It's that simple; which is why it will not happen.
If the ceasefire proposal is as described below (I've skimmed the text in the link provided below), then I can see why Israel rejected it out-of-hand. It's a Hamas victory document, not a ceasefire proposal.
In particular, it is *very* heavy on what Israel needs to do at first, and rather light on what Hamas has to do. For the third stage, the 'compensation' is entirely one-way (this whole thing seems to ignore Hamas' culpability in mass-murder), and just queers the negotiation. How can Israel agree to that at this stage?
What needs to happen is quite simple, and needs to reflect that both side have done bad things. Hamas needs to immediately state the condition of all hostages at this time, including proof-of-life for those alive. They then need to release all women and children. In return, or before, Israel will allow increased aid in.
Once the hostages are released, then Israel withdraws from Gaza.
It's that simple; which is why it will not happen.
Israel hasn't rejected it out of hand, they have sent a delegation to discuss it?
If the ceasefire proposal is as described below (I've skimmed the text in the link provided below), then I can see why Israel rejected it out-of-hand. It's a Hamas victory document, not a ceasefire proposal.
In particular, it is *very* heavy on what Israel needs to do at first, and rather light on what Hamas has to do. For the third stage, the 'compensation' is entirely one-way (this whole thing seems to ignore Hamas' culpability in mass-murder), and just queers the negotiation. How can Israel agree to that at this stage?
What needs to happen is quite simple, and needs to reflect that both side have done bad things. Hamas needs to immediately state the condition of all hostages at this time, including proof-of-life for those alive. They then need to release all women and children. In return, or before, Israel will allow increased aid in.
Once the hostages are released, then Israel withdraws from Gaza.
It's that simple; which is why it will not happen.
Israel hasn't rejected it out of hand, they have sent a delegation to discuss it?
Yes, and the changes required to make it acceptable to Israel will (at my guess...) be significant.
The headlines appear to be basically announcing that Hamas have 'accepted' a deal that has largely been drawn up according to their wishes, and appears to be opposed by their opposition. I wonder if the BBC's headline would be the same if Israel came up with a peace deal alongside friendlyish countries, and announced they 'accepted' it?
Here is the deal Hamas has said yes to, as reported in several Arab networks:
It will have three phases:
Phase one (42 days long): Israel will withdraw from all central areas in Gaza to locations close to the security fence. The IDF will stop overflights of Gaza for ten hours a day. 600 trucks of aid, including 50 of fuel, will enter Gaza daily.
Hamas will release 33 humanitarian hostages. However, Hamas is NOT willing to guarantee they will all be alive. In return, Israel will release the heaviest prisoners as selected by Hamas. Israel is also expected to release all Shalit deal prisoners it has taken back into custody.
Then, they will release the female IDF soldiers in exchange for 50 Palestinian prisoners each. Then Israel will release all women and male prisoners taken since October 7th, including the worst offenders.
On the 22nd day of the deal, the IDF will withdraw from the central Gaza zone, separating the north from the south. There will be no limitation on the return of evacuees from the South to their homes.
Phase 2 (42 days long): Hamas wants an agreement to stop the war permanently in this phase. This is the main sticking point. All men left alive will be released in this phase.
Phase 3 (42 days long): All bodies will be exchanged. A plan to rebuild Gaza over 3-5 years will be shaped. Compensation will be paid to Palestinians harmed in the war. Egypt, the US, and Qatar will guarantee that the agreement is upheld.
I read there's no chance of Ebola ever being mutated with Corona Virus (Common Cold) or Influenza Virus to become air born... But still, after Covid, one can't help but have pause for thought hearing that Chinese labs are messing around with the deadliest virus known to man...
It'll be amusing if Thrasher's projection turns out to be fairly accurate, and the entire commentariat is wrong.
I doubt it, for this election, because the imperative is to kick the Tories out and no-one wants to risk that.
But, I think the election the one after is a real risk for them - the signs of instability in their voting coalition are already there: especially, as I suspect, they're keeping their heads down about the hobby horses they will pursue once safely in office.
If the ceasefire proposal is as described below (I've skimmed the text in the link provided below), then I can see why Israel rejected it out-of-hand. It's a Hamas victory document, not a ceasefire proposal.
In particular, it is *very* heavy on what Israel needs to do at first, and rather light on what Hamas has to do. For the third stage, the 'compensation' is entirely one-way (this whole thing seems to ignore Hamas' culpability in mass-murder), and just queers the negotiation. How can Israel agree to that at this stage?
What needs to happen is quite simple, and needs to reflect that both side have done bad things. Hamas needs to immediately state the condition of all hostages at this time, including proof-of-life for those alive. They then need to release all women and children. In return, or before, Israel will allow increased aid in.
Once the hostages are released, then Israel withdraws from Gaza.
It's that simple; which is why it will not happen.
Israel hasn't rejected it out of hand, they have sent a delegation to discuss it?
Yes, and the changes required to make it acceptable to Israel will (at my guess...) be significant.
The headlines appear to be basically announcing that Hamas have 'accepted' a deal that has largely been drawn up according to their wishes, and appears to be opposed by their opposition. I wonder if the BBC's headline would be the same if Israel came up with a peace deal alongside friendlyish countries, and announced they 'accepted' it?
Looks vaguely reminiscent of the various Russian-backed plans for a ‘ceasefire’ in Ukraine last year, lots of flowery language that basically amounts to letting the terrorists halt to regroup, to avoid any more casualties of their own.
Here is the deal Hamas has said yes to, as reported in several Arab networks:
It will have three phases:
Phase one (42 days long): Israel will withdraw from all central areas in Gaza to locations close to the security fence. The IDF will stop overflights of Gaza for ten hours a day. 600 trucks of aid, including 50 of fuel, will enter Gaza daily.
Hamas will release 33 humanitarian hostages. However, Hamas is NOT willing to guarantee they will all be alive. In return, Israel will release the heaviest prisoners as selected by Hamas. Israel is also expected to release all Shalit deal prisoners it has taken back into custody.
Then, they will release the female IDF soldiers in exchange for 50 Palestinian prisoners each. Then Israel will release all women and male prisoners taken since October 7th, including the worst offenders.
On the 22nd day of the deal, the IDF will withdraw from the central Gaza zone, separating the north from the south. There will be no limitation on the return of evacuees from the South to their homes.
Phase 2 (42 days long): Hamas wants an agreement to stop the war permanently in this phase. This is the main sticking point. All men left alive will be released in this phase.
Phase 3 (42 days long): All bodies will be exchanged. A plan to rebuild Gaza over 3-5 years will be shaped. Compensation will be paid to Palestinians harmed in the war. Egypt, the US, and Qatar will guarantee that the agreement is upheld.
Why do you think that would be remotely acceptable to Israel?
I mean: "Then Israel will release all women and male prisoners taken since October 7th, including the worst offenders." is quite a big ask for Israel. Does anyone really think that 'including the worst offenders". which probably includes people complicit in the October 7th atrocities, is acceptable?
Also note that the large majority of the document is about what Israel has to do; Hamas actually has to do very little - and most of that is stuff that they should morally do anyway - i.e. release the hostages. There is not even anything stating they have to stop rocket attacks (or indeed a repeat of October 7th) against Israel.
Labour should stick to their main targets and not waste resources and the risk of splitting votes by going after seats that will be much harder to win .
Barring a few areas the south is primarily Tory/Lib Dem territory .
Labour are second in a surprising number of shire seats. They are often nowhere in local government terms in the same areas, but it could save the Tories a few potentially vulnerable seats - in by-elections in such situations voters have gone LD in a big way on several occasions even where they were a distant third, but in a GE with the big story being Lab vs Con? I could see it being more confused.
The south has a good few Labour MPs and councils (particularly along the south coast) - you can't generalise about an entire area. There are also numerous seats where the second place has flipped back and forth between Labour and LibDems without either party coming close to the Tories. It's further complicated by boundary changes. If we look at the old Wantage seat, Labour came 2nd in 2015 and 2017, the LibDems 2nd in 2019, and the Electoral Calculus predicted chance of winning on those boundaries is Lab 38 LD 33 Con 25. The seat no longer exists, and the new Didcot and Wantage seat has predicted chance Lab 54 LD 27 Con 24
As you'd expect, the LibDems are pointing to the 2019 result in the old constituency, while Labour is pointing to the prediction in the new constituency. I don't think you can reasonably expect Labour to give up on those figures.
Yet in the recent PCC elections - which were as close to merely asking voters for their party preference, given the lack of campaigning and the anonymity of the candidates - the LibDems beat Labour in both of the council areas that cover Didcot & Wantage. Which being current data points strongly to Labour starting off in third place there.
The game with Newcastle could become a knockout between Conference League or no Europe of any kind for Man United. They've got Arsenal too. A negative goal difference really doesn't deserve European football.
Is there any real point in the Conference League for a team like Man Utd?
I get that it gave West Ham a first trophy in many years, and a route into European football. But a former Champions League winner playing in the third tier competition with the second best Slovenia has to offer or whatever is all a bit demeaning. It's not going to be an attraction to new players or fans, and it'll all be extra games to play. I suspect they'd sooner not bother and write the season off.
Well. There are plenty of others who would consider it an honour. Don't want it? Then fuck off.
Man Utd are an interesting experiment. We get to find out how long the money keeps pouring in if you aren't winning things.
I don’t think Israel V Hamas is going to end, this time, until one or other side is entirely annihilated. Israel cannot stop now - it is so steep’d in blood there’s no going back. It might as well finish the job - and that means destroying Gaza as a place to live
Meanwhile Hamas has made its intentions clear. It wants every Israeli dead. Every Jew is a target, anywhere on earth, but especially in the Levant
How can you possibly strike a compromise out of that? You can’t
I said this very early on when people were saying the Americans would give them a month or two, then tell them to get back in the box. For all the focus on Bibi and some of the crazed right wingers (who are as bad as Hamas in Israel to take over not just Gaza, but West Bank), you have to remember they have a war cabinet and the opposition / lefty members they are still signing of on all of this.
Yes, quite so - and in a way I don’t blame the Israelis. On October 7 Hamas made it clear they will rape mutilate and kill every Jew they can find, unarmed, anywhere between the river and the sea (and elsewhere too, given the chance). And that is their historic intent, it’s not going to change
What is Israel meant to do? How can you make peace with someone who wants you dead and will always want you dead and even if you strike a truce they will start planning to kill you in a new way tomorrow?
The only choice is to wipe them out before they wipe you out. Which is catastrophic for both sides, of course. I’m not sure I can see any benefit for Iran, either, whatever happens - and Iran is behind Hamas
It’s a script written by Satan. Its utterly bleak
BBC (and twitter) reporting the details of the deal that Hamas appears to have negotiated with itself, it is no wonder the Israelis have said no chance. It was basically we will give you what hostages we have (dead or alive), you release every single person you have detained since 7th October, plus 50 extra prisoners for each hostage, then total withdrawal from Gaza and Israel pays for the rebuild....while Hamas is still in charge.
I don't see when or how this ends. A terrible cycle of violence to continue.
Do yourself a favour and don't rely on the BBC or Shitter as your sources if you want to keep up to date on what's going on with who is saying what about what ceasefire proposal containing what points. Or on what's going on militarily for that matter.
Use Al Jazeera.
"Hamas appears to have negotiated with itself" just means you have yet to master where to get some half-decent English-language news from on the internet regarding the Middle East.
No.
Don't use a single source - Al Jazeera will be good and bad in different areas. Use different sources, not one source, and preferably ones that have different perspectives.
Al Jazeera has the full text.
The BBC summary is perfectly fair. Or at least, is perfectly fair to anyone who isn't a mad antisemitic conspiracy theorist obsessed with sacrificing cows.
And no Israeli leader would have agreed to that. Not even Rabin or Barak. Even allowing for Netanyahu's extremism and his urgent political need to flatten all Gaza to prolong his career, it's not surprising that they don't consider this an acceptable offer.
Negotiations may continue because Hamas have now after all conceded they want a ceasefire. But it's difficult to imagine that can be parlayed into anything the Israelis will sign before Rafah has been invaded.
I don’t think Israel V Hamas is going to end, this time, until one or other side is entirely annihilated. Israel cannot stop now - it is so steep’d in blood there’s no going back. It might as well finish the job - and that means destroying Gaza as a place to live
Meanwhile Hamas has made its intentions clear. It wants every Israeli dead. Every Jew is a target, anywhere on earth, but especially in the Levant
How can you possibly strike a compromise out of that? You can’t
I said this very early on when people were saying the Americans would give them a month or two, then tell them to get back in the box. For all the focus on Bibi and some of the crazed right wingers (who are as bad as Hamas in Israel to take over not just Gaza, but West Bank), you have to remember they have a war cabinet and the opposition / lefty members they are still signing of on all of this.
Yes, quite so - and in a way I don’t blame the Israelis. On October 7 Hamas made it clear they will rape mutilate and kill every Jew they can find, unarmed, anywhere between the river and the sea (and elsewhere too, given the chance). And that is their historic intent, it’s not going to change
What is Israel meant to do? How can you make peace with someone who wants you dead and will always want you dead and even if you strike a truce they will start planning to kill you in a new way tomorrow?
The only choice is to wipe them out before they wipe you out. Which is catastrophic for both sides, of course. I’m not sure I can see any benefit for Iran, either, whatever happens - and Iran is behind Hamas
It’s a script written by Satan. Its utterly bleak
BBC (and twitter) reporting the details of the deal that Hamas appears to have negotiated with itself, it is no wonder the Israelis have said no chance. It was basically we will give you what hostages we have (dead or alive), you release every single person you have detained since 7th October, plus 50 extra prisoners for each hostage, then total withdrawal from Gaza and Israel pays for the rebuild....while Hamas is still in charge.
I don't see when or how this ends. A terrible cycle of violence to continue.
Do yourself a favour and don't rely on the BBC or Shitter as your sources if you want to keep up to date on what's going on with who is saying what about what ceasefire proposal containing what points. Or on what's going on militarily for that matter.
Use Al Jazeera.
"Hamas appears to have negotiated with itself" just means you have yet to master where to get some half-decent English-language news from on the internet regarding the Middle East.
No.
Don't use a single source - Al Jazeera will be good and bad in different areas. Use different sources, not one source, and preferably ones that have different perspectives.
Al Jazeera has the full text.
The BBC summary is perfectly fair. Or at least, is perfectly fair to anyone who isn't a mad antisemitic conspiracy theorist obsessed with sacrificing cows.
And no Israeli leader would have agreed to that. Not even Rabin or Barak. Even allowing for Netanyahu's extremism and his urgent political need to flatten all Gaza to prolong his career, it's not surprising that they don't consider this an acceptable offer.
Negotiations may continue because Hamas have now after all conceded they want a ceasefire. But it's difficult to imagine that can be parlayed into anything the Israelis will sign before Rafah has been invaded.
Maybe the ceasefire proposal was designed to indicate yes Hamas have conceded they want a ceasefire and that Israel couldn’t agree to this but could in future allow Israel to claim a win if there was a hardening of some of the text but still a softer position than last weeks proposal .
I don’t think Israel V Hamas is going to end, this time, until one or other side is entirely annihilated. Israel cannot stop now - it is so steep’d in blood there’s no going back. It might as well finish the job - and that means destroying Gaza as a place to live
Meanwhile Hamas has made its intentions clear. It wants every Israeli dead. Every Jew is a target, anywhere on earth, but especially in the Levant
How can you possibly strike a compromise out of that? You can’t
I said this very early on when people were saying the Americans would give them a month or two, then tell them to get back in the box. For all the focus on Bibi and some of the crazed right wingers (who are as bad as Hamas in Israel to take over not just Gaza, but West Bank), you have to remember they have a war cabinet and the opposition / lefty members they are still signing of on all of this.
Yes, quite so - and in a way I don’t blame the Israelis. On October 7 Hamas made it clear they will rape mutilate and kill every Jew they can find, unarmed, anywhere between the river and the sea (and elsewhere too, given the chance). And that is their historic intent, it’s not going to change
What is Israel meant to do? How can you make peace with someone who wants you dead and will always want you dead and even if you strike a truce they will start planning to kill you in a new way tomorrow?
The only choice is to wipe them out before they wipe you out. Which is catastrophic for both sides, of course. I’m not sure I can see any benefit for Iran, either, whatever happens - and Iran is behind Hamas
It’s a script written by Satan. Its utterly bleak
BBC (and twitter) reporting the details of the deal that Hamas appears to have negotiated with itself, it is no wonder the Israelis have said no chance. It was basically we will give you what hostages we have (dead or alive), you release every single person you have detained since 7th October, plus 50 extra prisoners for each hostage, then total withdrawal from Gaza and Israel pays for the rebuild....while Hamas is still in charge.
I don't see when or how this ends. A terrible cycle of violence to continue.
Do yourself a favour and don't rely on the BBC or Shitter as your sources if you want to keep up to date on what's going on with who is saying what about what ceasefire proposal containing what points. Or on what's going on militarily for that matter.
Use Al Jazeera.
"Hamas appears to have negotiated with itself" just means you have yet to master where to get some half-decent English-language news from on the internet regarding the Middle East.
No.
Don't use a single source - Al Jazeera will be good and bad in different areas. Use different sources, not one source, and preferably ones that have different perspectives.
Al Jazeera has the full text.
The BBC summary is perfectly fair. Or at least, is perfectly fair to anyone who isn't a mad antisemitic conspiracy theorist obsessed with sacrificing cows.
And no Israeli leader would have agreed to that. Not even Rabin or Barak. Even allowing for Netanyahu's extremism and his urgent political need to flatten all Gaza to prolong his career, it's not surprising that they don't consider this an acceptable offer.
Negotiations may continue because Hamas have now after all conceded they want a ceasefire. But it's difficult to imagine that can be parlayed into anything the Israelis will sign before Rafah has been invaded.
Maybe the ceasefire proposal was designed to indicate yes Hamas have conceded they want a ceasefire and that Israel couldn’t agree to this but could in future allow Israel to claim a win if there was a hardening of some of the text but still a softer position than last weeks proposal .
Unlikely. More likely it was to give America cover to intervene in the hope they'd prevent an immediate attack on Rafah.
I read there's no chance of Ebola ever being mutated with Corona Virus (Common Cold) or Influenza Virus to become air born... But still, after Covid, one can't help but have pause for thought hearing that Chinese labs are messing around with the deadliest virus known to man...
I read there's no chance of Ebola ever being mutated with Corona Virus (Common Cold) or Influenza Virus to become air born... But still, after Covid, one can't help but have pause for thought hearing that Chinese labs are messing around with the deadliest virus known to man...
The common cold is rhinovirus not coronavirus.
The common cold is not one virus, but a range of different viruses. Indeed, often when you have a cold, you are infected with more than one type of virus. Rhinoviruses are the most common cause, but coronaviruses are also involved. Indeed, as I omitted from my earlier post, other sorts of virus can also be involved, including adenoviruses, parainfluenza viruses, and respiratory syncytial virus.
Comments
It will have three phases:
Phase one (42 days long): Israel will withdraw from all central areas in Gaza to locations close to the security fence. The IDF will stop overflights of Gaza for ten hours a day. 600 trucks of aid, including 50 of fuel, will enter Gaza daily.
Hamas will release 33 humanitarian hostages. However, Hamas is NOT willing to guarantee they will all be alive. In return, Israel will release the heaviest prisoners as selected by Hamas. Israel is also expected to release all Shalit deal prisoners it has taken back into custody.
Then, they will release the female IDF soldiers in exchange for 50 Palestinian prisoners each. Then Israel will release all women and male prisoners taken since October 7th, including the worst offenders.
On the 22nd day of the deal, the IDF will withdraw from the central Gaza zone, separating the north from the south. There will be no limitation on the return of evacuees from the South to their homes.
Phase 2 (42 days long): Hamas wants an agreement to stop the war permanently in this phase. This is the main sticking point. All men left alive will be released in this phase.
Phase 3 (42 days long): All bodies will be exchanged. A plan to rebuild Gaza over 3-5 years will be shaped. Compensation will be paid to Palestinians harmed in the war. Egypt, the US, and Qatar will guarantee that the agreement is upheld.
https://twitter.com/academic_la/status/1787600174321393890
https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/seatdetails.py?seat=Wantage
https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/calcwork23.py?seat=Didcot+and+Wantage
As you'd expect, the LibDems are pointing to the 2019 result in the old constituency, while Labour is pointing to the prediction in the new constituency. I don't think you can reasonably expect Labour to give up on those figures.
Whereas the “nearby” Black Canyon of the Gunnison - ooooof. Loadsanoom. It helps that you will almost certainly be alone as you contemplate it - nonetheless it is intrinsically better and noomier
The thing that would scare me most on a long distance trail in the US is who you might meet, rather than what. I'd be much more worried about dueling banjos than bears or cougars.
Off path through the Yukon, though, that would be different.
Saying the LDs generally do better in the South doesn't contradict that Labour have seats ther and some areas of strength, anymore than saying Labour are much stronger in the cities means that there are not some cities (or parts of cities at least) where the LDs have gotten a look in.
Generalising about an area is perfectly reasonable and useful, so long as it is indeed generalisation and does not reject that some parts of it do not reflect the generality.
Meanwhile Hamas has made its intentions clear. It wants every Israeli dead. Every Jew is a target, anywhere on earth, but especially in the Levant
How can you possibly strike a compromise out of that? You can’t
But of course, Israel is the villain...
https://www.jgballard.ca/media/1978_reprinted_1988_search&destroy_newspaper.html
"Jon Savage: Do you watch television?
JG Ballard: All the time. I watch a lot of TV when my eyes are tired and weaving -- also I enjoy it. I think it's terribly important to watch TV. I think there's a sort of minimum number of hours of TV you ought to watch every day, and unless you're watching 3 or 4 hours of TV a day you're just closing your eyes to some of the most -- synthesis of reality, & the creation of reality that TV achieves. It's the most important sort of stream-of-consciousness that's going on! I mean, not watching TV is even worse than say, never reading a book. I think the biggest developments over the next 20, 30 years are going to be through the introduction of VHS systems -- and I don't just mean the cassette thing -- playback gadgets -- that in itself would be quite revolutionary -- but when, say, every room in everybody's house or flat's got a camera recording what's going on -- the transformation of the home into the TV Studio is the creation of a new kind of reality. I mean reality is electronic.
Jon Savage: But what's it going to do -- it's going to make people so introverted, self-conscious, is it not?
JG Ballard: I think only in the short term -- in exactly the same way as, when you first get a camera, you spend your time photographing children playing in a paddling pool. But after awhile, you get more ambitious, and you start taking an interest in the world at large. I think the same thing will happen -- beginning with endlessly photographing themselves, shaving, having dinner together, having domestic rows -- of course the bedroom applications are obvious. But I think they'll go beyond that to the point where each of us will be at the center of a sort of non-stop serial, with all kinds of possibilities let in. You may be able to splice in bits of Key Largo and Casablanca into the daily record of your life, to the point where you literally do become a character in a Bogey movie, or what have you."
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-13377471/Hamsters-infected-virus-Ebola.html
I read there's no chance of Ebola ever being mutated with Corona Virus (Common Cold) or Influenza Virus to become air born... But still, after Covid, one can't help but have pause for thought hearing that Chinese labs are messing around with the deadliest virus known to man...
What is Israel meant to do? How can you make peace with someone who wants you dead and will always want you dead and even if you strike a truce they will start planning to kill you in a new way tomorrow?
The only choice is to wipe them out before they wipe you out. Which is catastrophic for both sides, of course. I’m not sure I can see any benefit for Iran, either, whatever happens - and Iran is behind Hamas
It’s a script written by Satan. Its utterly bleak
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDxe9JFsfzc
I don't see when or how this ends. A terrible cycle of violence to continue.
That’s the only logical result of October 7 if you are an Israeli Jew. It’s absolutely bestial and cruel but at least it has a strategic logic. That then achieves defensible frontiers for Israel - and ends the corrosive occupation - and then Israel can sit there with its nukes and say Come on then, try it. And of course no one will
I reckon that’s where we’re headed. And it’s tremendously scary and sad because it means so much death - mainly for Palestinians. But if you are an Israeli Jew with a living memory of the Holocaust that is where you end up: logically. Doing a modest Holocaust on Palestine to save the Jews
Before I click the link, can you assure me it won't be a complete waste of my time? I only ask because us PB oldtimers all remember you supporting (in) famous antisemite Jeremy Corbyn on here for years and years...
We know where you're coming from, so any information you post needs to be "fact checked" lol!
https://x.com/aaronpholmes/status/1787488205945663757
And they used to worry about all the GPU usage for Bitcoin mining.
But if the Irish were vocally intent on killing every Briton alive and they’d just invaded Lancashire and raped and murdered 10,000 people in Manchester AND they had the tacit or overt support of Germany and everyone in Latin America what would we do? We’d wipe out the Irish while we still had the chance. Especially if we had a folk memory - a living memory - of Brazilians trying to kill every Briton in existence and feeding us into ovens
RUMOUR: Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammad Bin Salman escaped an assassination attempt.
Some Saudi gaurds died and injured.
After speaking with several Residents of Riyadh and an Individual who is associated with the Saudi Royal Guard Regiment; they have Confirmed that the “Unconfirmed Reports” made earlier tonight regarding an Assassination Attempt against Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman are Totally False and that there has been No Attack tonight within or near the City. They further state that the Initial Posts made regarding the Attack appear to have been Targeted at Middle Eastern Media Sources right as the Israeli Ground Operation in Southern Gaza was beginning.
https://x.com/sentdefender/status/1787610648446173449
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/6/text-of-the-ceasefire-proposal-approved-by-hamas
Use Al Jazeera.
"Hamas appears to have negotiated with itself" just means you have yet to master where to get some half-decent English-language news from on the internet regarding the Middle East.
So far they've purchased 40000 12-person tents which would house ~0.5 million people, but like prison cells I'm sure if they had to the tents could accommodate more.
In this scenario they could step up their encouragement of Jewish immigration from other countries too.
They have no shame.
And nor do those in leading western countries who have always high-fived the Israelis and shouted in unison "Israel has the right to defend itself" during previous massacres in Gaza - including for example in the USA the very large majority of the members of Congress.
Don't use a single source - Al Jazeera will be good and bad in different areas. Use different sources, not one source, and preferably ones that have different perspectives.
In particular, it is *very* heavy on what Israel needs to do at first, and rather light on what Hamas has to do. For the third stage, the 'compensation' is entirely one-way (this whole thing seems to ignore Hamas' culpability in mass-murder), and just queers the negotiation. How can Israel agree to that at this stage?
What needs to happen is quite simple, and needs to reflect that both side have done bad things. Hamas needs to immediately state the condition of all hostages at this time, including proof-of-life for those alive. They then need to release all women and children. In return, or before, Israel will allow increased aid in.
Once the hostages are released, then Israel withdraws from Gaza.
It's that simple; which is why it will not happen.
The headlines appear to be basically announcing that Hamas have 'accepted' a deal that has largely been drawn up according to their wishes, and appears to be opposed by their opposition. I wonder if the BBC's headline would be the same if Israel came up with a peace deal alongside friendlyish countries, and announced they 'accepted' it?
But, I think the election the one after is a real risk for them - the signs of instability in their voting coalition are already there: especially, as I suspect, they're keeping their heads down about the hobby horses they will pursue once safely in office.
Also note that the large majority of the document is about what Israel has to do; Hamas actually has to do very little - and most of that is stuff that they should morally do anyway - i.e. release the hostages. There is not even anything stating they have to stop rocket attacks (or indeed a repeat of October 7th) against Israel.
This 'deal' offers Israel virtually nothing.
https://twitter.com/JamesLucasIT/status/1787536073947484377
The BBC summary is perfectly fair. Or at least, is perfectly fair to anyone who isn't a mad antisemitic conspiracy theorist obsessed with sacrificing cows.
And no Israeli leader would have agreed to that. Not even Rabin or Barak. Even allowing for Netanyahu's extremism and his urgent political need to flatten all Gaza to prolong his career, it's not surprising that they don't consider this an acceptable offer.
Negotiations may continue because Hamas have now after all conceded they want a ceasefire. But it's difficult to imagine that can be parlayed into anything the Israelis will sign before Rafah has been invaded.
NEW THREAD
By the way, most common colds are caused by rhinoviruses, with only about 30% being coronaviruses.