How should the world respond to the rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza?

At this point I’m not sure there is enough time to get a humanitarian response formed up. Israel is stirred up like a nest of hornets. They gave the citizens 24 hours to leave before they came in. I’m pretty sure that if they came across a crippled person they wouldn’t just blow them away. But let’s be honest: Hamas started this. Hamas claims the Gaza Strip. It is impossible to tell the civilians from the fighters so everyone has to be treated as a hostile. And Hamas did not even offer any quarter to the civilians in Israel and, in fact, targeted them.

How are the civilians supposed to leave? Grab all the stuff you want and leave. Leave in a truck, a car, a bicycle or on foot. As with the crippled person, if someone was packed up and heading out of town when Israel comes in, I doubt they would shoot first and ask questions later.

Which world? Christian world? Muslim world? Agnostic world? Aetheist?

Any human who cares about what’s happening in that part of the world and has some resources to help those innocents who are suffering over there should send help.

Yes there are innocents there who are suffering, caught in an endless cycle of hate between forces that just wouldn’t stop until one of them is completely annihilated.

I figure the best that can happen is Israel coordinating with the UN and organizations that provide food and shelter and maybe transportation to help people evacuate targeted areas. Maybe Egypt can take in some people, I don’t know what the border area is like. Can they set up tent refugee camps temporarily? It would need to be heavily policed in my opinion.

There needs to be more than an immediate solution, there needs to be a long term solution to stop the brainwashing and programming of hate, and some way to give Palestinians in Gaza better lives.

Offer them money to start lives in another country, so no one can say, “they don’t have the means to move.” They can’t be kept in a ghetto, they need to be spread out among many countries and many cities. Since it’s hard to know who is Hamas sympathetic they would have to be monitored to some extent. Sorry, but many of these people are full of hate and practically born with a mission to kill Jews and destroy Israel. The families that choose to take the offer most likely just want a new life that is safe like most all immigrants in the world.

I see people on TV complaining it’s not enough time to evacuate. Since I live in a place that has evacuations regularly I’m not too empathetic.

I heard over 1500 people killed in Gaza so far. Very sad, but look at the destruction. If Israel hadn’t sent out warnings there would probably be 100,000 dead.

^^It seems you have decided that a two-state solution is impossible at this point. That all Palestinians should leave Gaza for good.

I don’t think you can tell 1 million-plus people to just leave. It’s asking for more problems that I think we’ll eventually see. Israel cannot let what Hamas has done stand. They have to cripple them one way or another. The only way this really gets resolved is if the decent people in Palestine turn on Hamas and refuse to allow them to continue their activities. They have not done this and are likely under duress by Hamas, so we are where we are. I wonder what the long game is that Hamas is after with these actions. It’s deeply concerning. Israel is in a place where you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. If I’m advising American leaders, I’d tell them to stay the hell out of it, there will be no good outcomes here. It’s all bad. The spillover potential for more widespread conflict is huge. If we are talking about a world response: The rest of the world needs to tell Israel to stand down, and make them do so forcefully if required. We need to have time to plan for and process the million+ people that will be displaced before Israel continues its campaign which they will do. I doubt they’ll listen but that’s what needs to be said IMO but I’m certainly no expert on this.

^^The long game for Hamas it seems…along with other entities whose ultimate aim is the destruction of Israel…is to make sure in the meantime…that Israelis live in constant fear and paranoia, their existence forever under threat. In short, keep ruining Israelis’ dreams of a peaceful life.

I follow Nas Daily and a few days ago Nas said this last Hamas attack has caused him to feel he is Israeli first and Palestinian second. Israel is his country. He grew up inside of Israel. He denounced Hamas and also legitimized Israel in my opinion. He has millions of followers and I am glad he made a statement.

@mazingerz88 I want a two-state solution, but so far the Palestinian leaders over time won’t agree. I linked on another Q the offer when Clinton was president, that was probably the best deal possible. Maybe younger Palestinians will be willing to compromise more, but I doubt it. It’s worth trying again. Actually, Nas, mentioned above, previously has always promoted a two-state solution, I’m not sure what he would say right now about that.

I think the Q is about saving lives now. The world needs to make sure these people have basics. Maybe they can helicopter in water or food. I don’t know how long they will have to be displaced because of the war. I think Israel is going to attack very soon on land. Hopefully, they find the hostages quickly and kill or capture Hamas leaders.

@mazingerz88 You said “send help: How?

I don’t know what “the world” should do but personally I am sending donations to relief organizations like Doctors without Borders, The International Rescue Committee (help.rescue.org) and Mercy Corps. These are people who can help the Gazans somewhat if anyone can.

@Blackwater_Park Stand down? Are you assuming all of the hostages taken are dead?

@Caravanfan Donate if there’s any trustworthy charity organization that would go out there to provide aid directly to innocent and suffering Gazans.

@mazingerz88 The ones I just cited all are. I’ve been supporting them for years.

^^Thanks!

Is Israel preventing help from going in? I heard passage through Egypt might be blocked. I don’t know if that is actually the case.

@mazingerz88 I also donated to the American Friends Service Committee which is run by the Quakers.

@JLeslie Yes, but I would not think this extends to rescue missions to try to get the hostages back, if that’s even possible. Odds are many are already dead and were videotaped while being murdered. I suspect all that will eventually come out. If Israel is moving in now, and they probably should, the refugees that will be created need to have some permanent solution. That takes time and careful preparation. I don’t know how you separate regular civilians from hamas members, but that needs to happen somehow.

@Blackwater_Park Unfortunately, a lot of people in Gaza probably are Hamas sympathetic. I don’t think it’s the majority, but I think it’s a large minority. That’s my guess. Sympathetic in the sense that they hate Jewish people and want Israel to cease to exist. That is in Hamas’ charter; an end to Israel.

@JLeslie Without verification, I don’t think that’s true. There are many people in Gaza who are just trying to keep their families from harm and have been living in poverty for years. I am always loath to give opinions in these situations because I don’t think any of us knows the truth from this far away. That’s why I am supporting those organizations that are bringing humanitarian aid to Gazan families and children.

@JLeslie If you listen to Hamas leaders in their own words, it’s essentially kill all Jews when you summarize and fill in the blanks. I agree that there are likely many noncombatants that are sympathetic to this. I don’t think you can do much about it. If Israel wants to take back Gaza, they must do something humane with the refugees regardless of their disposition.

@janbb To be clear I am not talking about Palestinians as a whole, I am talking specific to Gaza. I also think the people in Gaza can’t speak freely even if they are completely against Hamas. At the same time the children in Gaza are educated to hate Israelis, at least some people in Gaza feel peer pressure to say they will do anything to destroy Israel, and so even if they don’t feel it in their hearts it promotes the idea and does influence others.

The situation in Gaza has been difficult for years, and so it isn’t surprising people there have some bad feelings against Israel. They want to live lives like everyone, be safe, happy children, of course I think this is absolutely true! I’m saying a lot of people in Gaza probably blame Israel for not having a good circumstance.

Maybe when Israel defeats Hamas there will be Palestinians dancing in the streets. That would be interesting to see.

There are at least 9 billion people on this planet and humanitarian crises will continue and multiply. All anyone can really do is sit back and watch, if they dare.

Everyone seems to think there can be a solution to all this. There has been unrest in this area of the world for a long, long time. Israel is a non-Muslim country surrounded by Muslim countries. There has been almost continuous efforts to drive the Jews into the Mediterranean since Israel declared their own statehood in 1948. The day after they declared the Arab nations marched on Israel, starting the Arab-Israeli war. Things have been on edge ever since. The solutions are very simple: Israel is determined to be a country unto itself and everyone has to accept that OR Israel is dissolved and all the Jews have to find somewhere else to call home. Those are the only two solutions possible and both sides are unwilling to accept either one of those solutions.

Yes, you can send aid. But really, what will that do? Most likely any aid sent to the Palestinians will be hijacked by Hamas. It would not get to anyone in the Gaza Strip that was a non-combatant. And the scary part is that all those that are suggesting aid needs to be sent are entirely ignoring the damage already done by Hamas.

Trump had brokered a nice peace treaty in this area. What happened there?

@seawulf575 The way I remember it, The Palestinians didn’t like the Trump peace plan. The Palestinians never agree to any of the peace plans offered.

World Central Kitchen is mobilizing to enter the area. They get some of my donations.
https://wck.org/news/israel-and-gaza

@JLeslie That may be. But 4 Arab nations did accept it and did sign on for it. And it wasn’t just “give Israel whatever they want.” And that is more than any POTUS before him, from Ike to Obama, had accomplished as far as taking steps to establish peace in the area.

The problem with the Palestinians is that there is still differing views as to whether the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are officially part of Palestine or of Israel. And the Gaza Strip has really become something of a no-man’s land, being a buffer between Egypt and Israel. It would be like Mexico suddenly attacking us because they claim the southern part of New Mexico really belongs to Old Mexico. And the Gaza Strip has really become something of a no-man’s land, being a buffer between Egypt and Israel.

But if you can get many/most of the Arab Nations to buy into a peace deal with Israel, much of the backing for Hamas would disappear.

@seawulf575 Doesn’t change that the Palestinians over the years won’t sign a treaty. They have had more than one reasonable offer. The other countries you named were already accepting of the existence of Israel, and their people don’t live in Israel assuming you are not counting Palestinians in The West Bank as Jordanians. I don’t think the Jordan government does.

Americans might kind of lump all Arab Muslims into one group, but most of the Middle East doesn’t want the Palestinians. Iran and the terrorist group in Hezbollah in Lebanon both are similar to Hamas in want Israel destroyed.

I think most of the Middle East knows Israel isn’t going to attack anyone unless attacked.

I’d say the hostages get returned, Hamas agrees to face trial in The Hague. Along with Netanyahu and others in the Israeli state responsible for war crimes.

Israel ends the occupation and returns to its original borders. Walls will be built. The UN will come in to secure peace and begin humanitarian aid and reconstruction. Israel will pay reparations. The US will supply enough Iron dome counter-batteries to ensure Israel is forever shielded from rocket attacks. If Israel doesn’t comply, I think they should be treated as a terrorist state for their ongoing war crimes and blockaded.

If they did this, in the long run, way fewer Israeli people and also Palestinian people will be killed.

@canidmajor I forgot World Central Kitchen. I also donate to them.

@gorillapaws I agree with some of that and am sympathetic to much of it. But that’s all long term goal stuff. What would you do now? What would you advise now?

@Caravanfan If I were emperor of the world, I’d try to do it now. The urgency of the situation would compel the players into actions they otherwise might not take. Maybe the Hamas fighters think they can argue and win their case in court on the world stage, same with Netanyahu and his buddies. There are hundreds of thousands of lives on the line, and hopefully many hostages still alive that can be saved.