Israel-Palestine escalation updates: Gaza under bombardment
These are the updates for the escalation between Palestinian fighters and Israel military on Saturday, October 7, 2023.
Both articles come from reliable news sources and are essentially live blogs that are being run and updated by actual reporters.
Currently, Egypt is contacting Saudi and Jordanian counterparts in an attempt to defuse the ongoing situation.
Official Staff Communication
The current situation in Israel and Palestine is obviously concerning to everyone. Hamas has launched what can only really be described as an all-out attack on Israel. This includes hundreds of rockets flying into major cities and groups of men with guns running, driving, and at times hang gliding in and shooting/kidnapping Israeli citizens. These actions are clearly bad and the loss of life tragic.
This mirrors the actions that the Israeli government has allowed for years; settlers driving into Palestinian territory and forcing people from their homes to take them for themselves or police forces attacking Palestinians attempting to worship on holy days. This has gone on for decades and is also, obviously, horrific.
While there is a temptation to simplify the situation, to try and flatten almost 100 years of history, doing so benefits no one and leads to no actual results or ideas. It just leads to people making accusations toward each other and making everyone dig in.
This is going to be a complicated ask, we recognize this, but there is a difference between explaining the dynamic and justifying actions. A gap between denouncing the violence and attempting to silence. To try and keep discussion going, here are a few points we ask members to follow:
This mirrors the actions that the Israeli government has allowed for years; settlers driving into Palestinian territory and forcing people from their homes to take them for themselves or police forces attacking Palestinians attempting to worship on holy days. This has gone on for decades and is also, obviously, horrific.
While there is a temptation to simplify the situation, to try and flatten almost 100 years of history, doing so benefits no one and leads to no actual results or ideas. It just leads to people making accusations toward each other and making everyone dig in.
This is going to be a complicated ask, we recognize this, but there is a difference between explaining the dynamic and justifying actions. A gap between denouncing the violence and attempting to silence. To try and keep discussion going, here are a few points we ask members to follow:
- Stay on topic. It might be tempting to try and use another situation in the world as a gotcha against posters you're arguing with, but all that will accomplish is pissing people off and taking the spotlight off the current situation.
- DO NOT use the platform formerly known as Twitter and its random users as a primary source. There are actual news organizations on the ground, from CNN to Al Jazeera, covering what is going on. It is far too easy for social media users to take footage from one event and claim it's from this one, misrepresenting what is going on. This happens constantly in other situations as well. Use actual sources please.
- We should try and avoid justifying any of the violence that has or will take place. If you think this is going to be the end of it, there's a bridge in Brooklyn that is currently for sale. This is only the start of mass violence in the region, the Israeli government is definitely going to escalate and Hamas will likely respond. This isn't the end of it.
- Instead of insulting each other or making insinuations, send in a report. Derailing the thread with personal insults when you think someone is breaking the rules is a fast way to feel good about yourself, but it also takes the spotlight off the situation. If someone is doing something horrific, send in a report and we'll handle it. Don't engage.
