Hamas defiant with military parade, appearance of top leader

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hundreds of masked Hamas fighters brandishing assault rifles paraded in Gaza City and the group’s top leader made his first public appearance on Saturday, in a defiant show of strength after the militants’ 11-day war with Israel.

Saturday marked the first full day of a cease-fire, and Egyptian mediators held talks to firm up the truce which ended the fourth Israel-Hamas war in just over a decade.

In the fighting, Israel unleashed hundreds of airstrikes against militant targets in Gaza, while Hamas and other militants fired more than 4,000 rockets toward Israel. More than 250 people were killed, the vast majority of them Palestinians.

In Gaza City, residents began assessing damage.



Top Hamas leader in Gaza, Yehiyeh Sinwar, center, pays his respects at a house of mourning for a Hamas commander killed in the war, in Gaza City, Saturday, May 22, 2021. Sinwar, made his first public appearance since the militant group's war with Israel erupted earlier this month. (AP Photo/Mohammed Mohammed)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/hamas-israel-middle-east-health-coronavirus-pandemic-6ea82ef3966ccd0cee3dce815730d130

[msongs]

1. and what have palestinians gotten for their support of hamas nt

[Violet_Crumble]

4. Not much more than Palestinians in the West Bank have got...

Let's get real here. What Palestinians get for their support of Hamas or the Palestinian Authority is defiance and opposition to their relentless dispossession by Israel. The PA doesn't retaliate and in return Israeli settlers, aided and abetted by the Israeli govt, take their land. Hamas fights back, though it's an entirely uneven fight. If my country was treated like the Palestinians were, I'd throw my lot in with Hamas. It's a losing bet, but what's the alternative?

[Mosby]

6. So you would embrace terrorism?

Quite an admission, violet.

If my country was treated like the Palestinians were, I'd throw my lot in with Hamas. It's a losing bet, but what's the alternative?

The alternative is to engage in good faith negotiations with Israel, per international law.

[EX500rider]

7. "The alternative is to engage in good faith negotiations with Israel, per international law."

Or focus all attacks on military targets instead of civilian ones like Hamas does. Just about every military action they take is a war crime.

[Marrah_Goodman]

8. Native Americans were considered to be terrorists

None of this happened in a vacuum. I imagine if I were living somewhere that locked me in a reservation and took my land whenever it suited them, I would want to fight back also.

Hamas are no angels to be sure, but Israel is doing all it can to drive people into their arms.

[Roy Rolling]

2. Top Leader Mourns

He misses his top general, he doesn’t visit Palestinian civilians first. That says it all.

[Orrex]

3. What does it say, exactly?

[Rustyeye77]

5. It's a show of force to the people of Gaza.

Hamas rules with a iron hand.

I would hope the people would realize the death and destruction hamas has led them to.
I would hope the people would rise up and throw the murderous terrorist group out.
I would hope that a democracy would flourish in Gaza.

On rare occasions someone would object to this tyrannical rule but they would be killed immediately .

The people of Gaza deserve better.

Yes, it’s not going to happen.

[Marrah_Goodman]

9. Perhaps the people would not feel they needed Hamas if Israel behaved differently towards them

As it stands now, the things the Israeli government is doing and allowing only fuels recruitment for Hamas.

[Steelrolled]

10. I think Hamas is a reflection of the people of the Gaza Strip

and it will be generations for things to change much.