Hamas had to stop Gazan civilians from killing the returning Jewish hostages

Another round of Israeli hostages were released by Hamas in the Gaza Strip Tuesday, making it the fifth round of an extended six day cease-fire. Not one American was released today out of the twelve who were released.

As they were taken for release to the Red Cross, with Israel as their final destination, the hostages traveled through Gaza and were confronted by violent Palestinian civilians who shouted "Allahu Akbar" and blocked the vehicles from getting to their destination. Egyptians had to rescue the hostages as they were threatened with death and otherwise harassed. 

This should not be surprising to anyone who knows the score. Almost 75% of Palestinian civilians believe the October 7 murderous attack and kidnapping of Israelis was justified, including the murders, rapes, mutilations and torturing of 1,400 Jews of all ages.

Meanwhile, recent polling from the Arab World for Research & Development shows the vast majority of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank approve of the October 7 massacre of more than 1400 Israeli civilians in their homes, at a music festival, in bomb shelters and elsewhere.

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Laws of War and how Hamas breaks them

The results of Hamas' destruction of a kibbutz [dead children and parents not shown]

The basic laws of war are internationally agreed upon. In a nutshell, these laws dictate that:

1.Attacks are to be limited to combatants and military targets. Attacks on civilians or civilians' objects (including homes, schools, historic memorials and places of worship), the use of civilians as shields, objects necessary for the survival of a civilian population is prohibited.[My emphasis.]

2. Civilians, as well as those who are wounded and taken prisoner, must be treated humanely, protected and spared from death.

3. Any military and civilian medical personnel must be granted any and all available help in order to allow them to perform their duties, which may include assisting injured combatants, civilians and prisoners.

Hamas uses civilians as shields, fires rockets indiscriminately at Israel, often striking innocent civilian targets--and innocently is the key word--and destroys synagogues, Jewish houses of worship.

It is prohibited to take civilians as "prisoners" [aka hostages] as they are non-combatants, and although Hamas released a video depicting a few hostages being treated medically, it's obvious they needed medical treatment due to the mistreatment Hamas gave them when they were captured. They captured hostages mainly as bargaining chips for the release of their terrorists, and those who captured an Israeli got an apartment and a $10,000 reward, partially funded by the Biden administration.

The Squad's squad

So let's dig a little deeper into the international laws of war.

1. Anything marked as a hospital, ambulance, a doctor or first aid worker are not to be attacked. Those people and their vehicles must not have weapons aboard. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) goes to great lengths to not target them, but international law allows the targeting of hospitals if they are being used as military sites for any reason. Still, Israel generally does not go ahead and destroy them.

2. A member of a neutral nation is not to be targeted unless that person is committing or intending to commit a hostile act. But Hamas took young people hostage or killed them, who are from dozens of various nations, when they attended a rave, or desert music festival.

3. Those fighting in the war must wear a uniform of their side and must carry their weapons out in the open where they can be seen. [This puts a crimp on suicide vests and jihadis with knives or concealed handguns.]

4. Anyone carrying or waving a plain white flag or cloth must not be attacked and that person should not attack anyone. The IDF has always abided by this law; with Hamas, it remains to be seen.

5. A captured enemy soldier must be treated fairly as a prisoner of war. Hamas tortures Israeli captives, including civilians.

6. Religious structures are to be protected at all costs and not destroyed or have a mosque built over them as is often seen in Islamic history.

7. Occupied territory should be governed fairly and not be looted or devastated--tell that to the Hamas looters and Palestine civilians who looted bicycles, jewelry, electronic devices, from the dead civilians Hamas slaughtered.

These are the laws of war in a nutshell. 

Make no mistake, the issue with Hamas and the rest of the enemies of Israel, it isn't about the land, that's only the pretext. It really about the mindless hatred of the Jewish people. 

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Assad regime kills at least 40 with poison gas, including women and children

Douma, Syria -- A poison gas attack late Saturday by the dictator and chinless scumcrumpet Bashar Assad has killed at least 40 civilians, including women and children, medics and rescuers said.

The attack was in the town of Douma, about 16 kilometers (10 miles) east of Damascus. It happened after the Syrian government resumed the offensive after the truce collapsed.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that at least 80 people overall were killed in Douma, the 40 previously mentioned died from suffocation. 

There were instances where entire families were found dead in their homes and shelters, according to opposition-linked first responders known as the White Helmets.

The Russian-backed Syrian dictatorship denied they had launched any chemical attack, Reuters reported. The government said rebels were in a state of collapse and were spreading false news.

None of the reports have been immediately confirmed.

Activists released a video showing what appeared to be dead people, some with foam at the mouth, Reuters said.

It was only several days ago that President Trump announced he was hoping to bring our troops out of Syria, but many on the right speculated that it was still too soon to consider such a move.

Something needs to be done to help the Syrians who are being killed wholesale. Obama drew the red line as Assad and Putin laughed, but now Trump must act to end these atrocities.

This is a developing situation and more will follow.


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Iraqi forces say they're "tens of meters" from retaking Mosul

Baghdad -- Iraqi military commanders say their troops are "tens of meters" away from defeating ISIS in Mosul. This comes one day after a major counterattack was mounted by the militants. 

For those of you who can't do the conversion, 10 meters equals 32.8084 feet. Exactly what was meant by 'tens of meters' isn't at all clear, but it's probably not more than about half a football field.

Joint Operations Command said on Saturday "our units are still continuing to advance.  . . . Not much is left before our forces reach the river."

Similar statements by Iraqi officials were made over the past week since security forces have forced the scum-crumpets into a sliver of the Old City along the Tigris River. However, due to the fact that ISIS is shooting back, progress has been slow.

As it now stands, ISIS hold less than a square mile of territory and are using civilians as human shields, making it almost impossible for U.S.-led warplanes to blow them up without making for bad press coverage. 

It crazy--they fight unfairly by their 'rules,' which says there are no rules in war, while we take the moral high ground and do everything we can to minimize killing civilians. (I hate the term 'collateral damage.') Sadly, however, many, and more likely most of these civilians are going to be killed by the Islamic State jihadis. 

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