Hamas attacks southern Israel

[chriscase]

Please remember that discussion of how/whether Israel's actions in Gaza constitute genocide has been moved here.

[PointOfViewGun]

Meanwhile starvation campaign in Gaza continues:

[PointOfViewGun]

While people try to assure us that Israel has no expansion aspirations:

Israel plans to expand Golan settlements after fall of Assad

Israel's government has approved a plan to encourage the expansion of settlements in the occupied Golan Heights.

Netanyahu said he wanted to double the population of the Golan Heights, which Israel seized during the 1967 Six-Day War and is considered illegally occupied under international law.

There are more than 30 Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights, which are home to an estimated 20,000 people. They are considered illegal under international law, which Israel disputes.

[Ludicus]

Exactly. First Thing: Israel strikes Syria as Netanyahu approves settlement expansion.

The Israeli PM approved plan to double Israeli population in Golan Heights

Israel, in the last hours, has occupied three more villages (Jamalah, in the Daraa province, Beit Jinn, and Maghar al-Mir, in the rural area of Damascus).
On Saturday, the foreign ministers of eight Arab countries, meeting in Aqaba, condemned Israel's "blatant occupation" of Syria and called on the United Nations Security Council to take "necessary measures to put an end to these territorial violations."

Al-Jolani, now known as al-Charaa, came on Saturday to criticize Israel in written statements to Syrian television, saying that Israel's recent violations of Syrian territory are unjustifiable: “The Israelis have clearly crossed the line in their involvement in Syria, threatening an unjustified escalation in the region,” and called on the international community to "immediately halt this escalation."
In the European Union, the concern is not Israel's bombing spree and its territorial expansion in Syria: since the fall of Assad, Israel has carried out over eight hundred airstrikes in this country. Just on one Saturday night, there were 61, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The EU imposes several conditions on the new Syrian government to lift the sanctions on this country. The Dutch Foreign Minister, Caspar Veldkamp, was very direct and said: "Regarding the Russian military bases in Syria, we want the Russians out."

The approach of Spain's Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Albares, genuinely perplexes me, leaving me unsure of what to think, as he stated that "Syria’s new leaders must understand that the EU has some 'red lines' which should be respected before support comes. We must guarantee the territorial integrity of Syria, and we must make sure that there is no foreign interference."
Who is Albares referring to? Israel? Turkey? the US? Russia? All of them?

Respect for minorities is one of the conditions the EU expects to be met—but which, realistically, seems almost impossible to achieve. Christian churches, once full during Assad’s dictatorship, are now empty, and there are fears about the future of the Alawites and other minorities.

When it comes to the duty to respect minorities, I have yet to see the EU sanction Israel for failing to do so. How about, for example, sanctioning Saudi Arabia for its chronic lack of respect for human rights? There are crimes against humanity sanctioned by the Hague courts, but that doesn't stop the West from ignoring and excusing them.

As Mike Huckabee, Trump's new ambassador to Israel, who witnessed the religious big bang, says, “I afirm the reality of Genesis 12:3”