Do you think Israel is occupier?
It;s not about what any of us THINK, Hon..it's about FACTS. And Israel is currently the only nation in the world that is being allowed to occupy another peoples' land. Look on any current map or globe: the West Bank is depicted as a shaded area indicating that it's "occupied". Colonization is strictly prohibited by United Nations mandates, but Israel is constructing new settlements in the West Bank as we speak. Israel may not be "occupying" Gaza, per se, but it has complete control over Gaza's imports, exports, utilities and shore. Israel is EVIL personified, and the sooner that people realize it, the sooner the world can and will be at peace. Ignore "Mistyblue"...she's an imposter and a fake, NOT to be confused with the REAL "Misty Blue".
What is stopping Israel from occupying the Gaza Strip and trying to weed out the HAMAS operatives that have been terrorizing them?
What is stopping Israel from occupying the Gaza Strip and trying to weed out the HAMAS operatives that have been terrorizing them?They would if they could. It would be really costly to do so, and that’s why the prefer to fight the fight through a proxy. I am stating by measuring the outcomes of recent mini-wars, like the one in late 2014. This is perhaps the last time in Israeli memory that tens, if not hundreds of Jews/Israelis, are killed in a contact with the Palestinians. Israel as a country is sensitive to that fact: not only because life sacred (everyone’s by the way) but because such humiliating performance would take away from the “image” of the IDF, and the superiority of the Israel armed forces, which has been the bread and butter of Israel since its existence. That’s why, in my view, Israel exercise an excess of power every now and then. When it’s in trouble. It’s anyway sad.I think Israel, as a country, has a rich political spectrum (at least historically), and some of the founders of Israel (Sharon, Rabin, Begin, to name a few) had the courage to be (at some point) reasonable (despite the high cost; Rabin lost his life, and I’d suspect that Sharon, if he survived his stroke, would have been killed). Those men had the courage to acknowledge that the coexistence is a necessity. It’s not about Hamas being a terrorist organization but about diminishing the Palestinian demands, in general. And so to state the idea that way doesn’t do justice to the complex situation.
Why Israel withdrawed from Gaza but not the West Bank ?
Israel needed somewhere to imprison 1.5 million Palestinians and Gaza was an ideal place with a natural barrier on one side , the sea and occupied land on the other. The West Bank would have been far to big and Israel needed that space to accommodate its illegal settlers. Now Israel is faced with the problem on how to drive these prisoners into exile just as they did in the 40's and 50's where 4.5 million were expelled. Israel has tried starving them out with the blockade. That failed so then they tried to bomb and shell them into leaving. That failed also. Now they are faced with a problem of their own making. How to lose 1.5 million Palestinians without losing face and the condemnation of the world
Do you think the IDF will ever be capable of occupying Gaza Strip again with the presence of armed Palestinian forces there?
Capable, yesBut it won’t be easy in any way.Right-wing Israelis have often this idea that if you “just let the IDF win” all problems will be solved, our super-uber force will trump all enemies at once.The thing is the retaking of Gaza would be similar to the liberation of Mosul, i.e. a months-long, extenuating, bloody campaign that will inevitably produce many fallen soldiers.During Operation Protective Edge, the 2014 war, the IDF infantry never penetrated deep into Gaza and had more then 70 fallen soldiers. People think that if you have air superiority (which Israel undeniably has) then it is easy to capture cities but this is not true, except if you resort to last-century all-out-war techniques like carpet bombing or unconventional weapons.So the IDF is capable of occupying Gaza again but the price would be very high, especially in a time of increasing tensions with the Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Russians in Syria, etc..So what should Israel do? Invest in a major campaign retaking Gaza and prepare for many victims and damages, potentially achieving nothing, or make deals with Hamas and wait while they become stronger and stronger? I’m glad I’m not Bibi Netanyahu and I don’t have to make this decision.
Will Israel ever reoccupy Gaza?
There have been many very good answers given here, and a few answers based more on being politically correct and wishful thinking. I would like to add that implicit in every response is that despite being militarily superior, the decision is not for Israel to make. The real question is whether Hamas attacks Israel in such a way that it is too costly (In Israeli and Palestinian lives) to continue to attack, forcing Israel to decide that reestablishing an Israeli presence in Gaza is unavoidable. If Hamas would choose to use humanitarian aid for humanitarian purposes, rather than for building up a terror infrastructure, than it would absolutely not be in Israel’s political interests to even look in Gaza’s direction.11 years later, it is admitted by even the far left in Israel that pulling its civilians out of Gush Katif was a costly mistake, though the far left reasons it was a mistake that had to be made (I personally don’t understand what that means). After two wars and more intifada, that is clearly true. It has also made any other peace deal seem unlikely, since most reasonable people see that once Israel leaves an area it becomes a base for more terror and violence. Nonetheless, even among the far right, there are few who call for a return to Gush Katif.The justification for the Jewish settlement in Gush Katif was that it prevented the building up of a Palestinian base of terror, and the last 11 years show that was true.The first Jewish settlements in Gaza were established more than 100 years ago and according to the UN Partition, Gaza was intended for Jewish settlement. It is entirely inaccurate to call it an occupation.
How can Israel claim Gaza is not being occupied when Israel controls the airspace and seaports in Gaza?
Because controlling airspace and seaports isn’t occupation.That would be like saying that Britain occupied China after the Opium Wars. They held and controlled ports, they had much greater power and legal privileges than the Chinese - but it wasn’t an actual occupation of the whole country.Just because you don’t like certain political policies or think they are unjust doesn’t mean you can use any terminology you want to, even if it’s inaccurate or irrelevant. This goes for talking about the “occupation” of Gaza, the “apartheid” in the West Bank - or any other words that are inaccurate in describing these situations. They are just used by people who want to express how terrible these policies are but are too lazy to define what the issues actually are.When you have a neighboring country, especially if you are very small and weak and it is very big and powerful, of course it will easily have control over your airspace and sea access if it wants to. The problem is that the Hamas government in Gaza and Israel are in a state of war. If they weren’t in a state of war, Israel would probably give Gaza more freedom in the use of its airspace and sea. Currently, it restricts as much as it can because it fears (or actually knows) that Hamas will use any extra freedom it has against Israel.I’m sure pro-Palestinians would rather define it that any actions Hamas does are defensive acts against Israeli aggression - and result of the “siege” imposed by Israel (another not completely accurate label, though better than “occupation”). Either way, the Israeli rationale for its actions are self-defense - so if Hamas continues to make it clear that any Israeli compromises will only be be met with more aggression, being the stronger side, they have no reason to make any compromises.
Why do the Israelis want to control the Gaza Strip?
Why the questions that start with a factually incorrect, too often harassing, premises, usually are asked by an Anonymous OP?Israel does not want to control the Gaza strip.It pulled out — both civilians and IDF.The result, unfortunately, was a creation of a terrorist entity that attacks Israel.So, it looks like it does not matter of what Israel wants, but about what it has to do, but does not do yet: locking the borders for anything, in both directions. Water, electricity, humanitarian help included.Deeds have consequences.Israel should learn to live with the consequences of leaving Gaza.Hamas and the people who elected it, should learn to live with the consequences of the attacks on Israel.