This is a religious war not a land war.

[NotABottie]

Why were Palestinians chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’ when committing the atrocities of Oct 7th and celebrating it afterwards, when the dead bodies of victims were paraded in the streets, if this is not a religious war?

Why is this being ignored and pro-Palestinians insist it’s only about land?

Hamas are Palestinians and they sure could have stopped this latest war from happening by (a) not deliberately and knowingly starting this war and ( b) stopping it by laying down arms and handing back the hostages.

You are right OP. Hamas are Islamists and to them this is a religious war. Its why they don't give one shiny shit about all the Gazans being killed as a result of the war they started, (in fact they have publicly said they need the deaths of their own civilians), and its why they brutalise their own people.

Hamas are a religious dictatorship. Westerners who think they are freedom fighters are utterly ignorant, and quite colonialist in their own Western ideas they are imposing onto Hamas.

What about the Palestinian Christians? Whole blood lines have been removed by the Israelis, churches bombed. This isn’t just about the Israeli’s protecting themselves from muslims. This is about Israel wanting as much land as they can grab regardless of who it belongs to.

Your suggestion (a) involves time travel. And (b) ignores everything Israeli government has been saying for the past 18+ months

Hamas are awful. They do despicable cruel things and bear a huge amount of responsibility for this war yes. But they are the product of suffering and what happens when you suppress a population. You back people into a corner - or in this case a small strip of land - they will come out swinging. And they have. It’s not right but it is what happens.
There is a huge amount of fault on BOTH sides. You can argue who is right and wrong till the end of time. All that will happen is more death and suffering and pain.
OR
You choose to move forward. Choose better choices than the previous generation. Choose tolerance and peace. Learn to live alongside one another. Recognise both populations as valid and with rights. Recognise and embrace both religions.
The past cannot be changed but the futures of both Palestinian and Israeli children are at stake

This is worth a listen to

It is a religious war but, sadly, that applies to both sides now.

You only need to hear what Smotrich and Ben G’vir say to know that they believe a greater Israel was promised to the Jews by G_D. The references to Judea and Samaria are another hint that, from their perspective, this is their religious destiny.

Which isn’t to excuse the Hamas barbarians anything; they deserve to be slaughtered after 07/10.

But what is sadly lost in this is the moderate Israelis and Palestinians who could happily live and work together.

I don’t think some posters here know that about 20% of the Israeli population are Muslims, and serve in the IDF. About 5% are Christian. If they wanted to carry out “ethnic cleansing”, probably easier to start with those people. But that’s not what’s happening.

I think you should read The Other Side Of Israel by Susan Nathan. Amazing story of a British Jewish lady who emigrated to Israel and then refused to be taught hate - she went and met and lived with Palestinians and talks about their life experiences.

I think you should stick to facts.

The fact is we are witnessing genocides, war crimes, crimes against humanity etc.
The composition of IDF executing it is neither here nor there.

This aggression was being done before I was born and will still be happening when I'm gone.
Not one of the governments that are at war care enough about the innocent people that are caught up in the fighting. They don't care about the children and babies from both sides dying or being maimed.
Such a sad event that I can never see ending.

The book contains facts and most importantly the lived experience of a British Jewish lady, long before this particular genocide started.

It's an interesting point and I think religion has to be some sort existential platform to inform Palestinian meaning in life after losing comprehensively in this war.

it must be incredibly difficult to reconcile everything happening because of God's will when being at the receiving end of aerial bombardment that has destroyed virtually all property in your land and has led to widescale discomfort. The only reconciliation of these two opposing points is to believe in some fantastical God inspired victory for the Palestnian people at some unknown future point which made all the sacrifice worthwhile.

the Palestinians are therefore maybe in a position where as a society they are willing to take a great deal of damage as the alternative is that they believe God has abandoned them.

https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=baf9129c546c704f&q=Everything+happens+by+the+will+of+Allah+in+Arabic&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjBqOiw38yNAxWnW0EAHbrFJsEQ1QJ6BAgMEAE&biw=800&bih=1280&dpr=1.5

Every thing happens by the will of Allah so the only way Palestinians can reconcile the death toll and their cities' destruction is to fervently believe the destructible Gaza is a precursor to some sort of glorious future victory over Israel as if they don't then their faith has to be surely tested (or abandoned).

It is this ferevent religous belief I believe underpins Palestinians views that Israel has to be defeated as surely that has to be God's will and possibly have the Hamas fighters on October 7th a fantastical notion that they could win a battle against the IDF.

Both religion and land are important factors. I’m trying to see how this argument helps. If we agree with you that it’s religious then what follows? The Palestinians don’t need their land and can just go live in any Muslim country? Is that the argument?

Of course it’s about Religion, then land by default, because both religions believe it’s their land and that’s what they are fighting over.

Reported for pointing out what is correct? The whole war is based on religion and the fact that both religions see the land as their own and both sides want it for their people.

I agree that they’re all as bad as each other at this point. Always men, same as every war on going in the world now. The innocent women and children and other men that just want to live in peace but they are collateral damage. It’s abhorrent all of it and needs to stop.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/smotrich-calls-expansion-israels-borders-during-jerusalem-day-celebrations

With respect to the Israelis some of the more hard line cabinet ministers are the most devoutly religous.

I think the inflammatory problem here is that Judaism in general in all its multiple facets will be conflated with views of sun sections of Judaism in Israeli society and this will have the sir c.f. Result of increasing anti semitism world wide as people are Jews not in Israel as a soft legitimate target in those who view the Gazan conflict as partly inspired by religion.

This religion based hatred is not taken seriously enough by some in this country where I fear Jew hate may be ignored at some levels. I think this is the reason what I fear anti Semitic views will sadly increase in the UK.

Rather creative use of the word "understanding" there.

People love to forget the Palestinian Christians because it ruins their convenient narrative of "Palestinians = bloody thirsty Muslims" - and therefore deserving of being wiped out.

Ah yes, Palestinian Christians who are treated so well by Palestinian Muslims

'The Christian population in areas governed by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas has plummeted drastically by up to 90% in some communities, a new study suggests, attributing the decline to violence, discrimination and economic hardships that threaten the survival of Christianity in its historical heartland.
The Christian demographic in Palestinian territories has experienced a dramatic reduction over the past century. In 1922, Christians made up 11% of the population in geographical Palestine. By 2024, this number had dwindled to 1%, marking a nearly 90% decrease, according to a study conducted by the Israeli think tank Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.

...The report attributes the decline in Bethlehem to systemic socio-economic hardships, instability and harassment by both Muslim Palestinians and the Islam-dominated Palestinian Authority.
"The mass exodus of the Christians risks undermining the survival of Christianity in its birthplace," the researchers conclude.
One Protestant clergy member living under the control of the PA said, "Christians feel unprotected due to the failure of the PA police to intervene on their behalf in confrontations with Muslims."'

That was from the Christian Post

20% of Muslims living in Israel absolutely do not serve in the IDF. In 2021 that number was around 600 and included Muslim Arabs (Palestinian citizens of Israel) and Bedouin who made up the majority of the number.

It's actually disgusting how many people are denying that ethnic cleaning of Palestinians is happening at the very least - and probably actually genocide (according to warnings from the international courts and the UN, as well as organisations that focus on genocide research and education). Honestly, what would you call the forced displacement, destruction of homes, wiping out of entire bloodlines of families, mass killings and buying in mass graves? What do you think of the Israeli politicians who openly make genodical statements on TV? I'm genuinely curious why you're so confident that it isn't ethnic cleansing, when literally every international aid organisation, NGOs, the UN, international courts say that it is. (And anyone with access to a free media and a modicum of critical thinking).

You need to comprehend a post before lambasting it.
The poster said that the IDF is 20% Muslim.
This does not mean that 20% of the Muslim Israeli population is in the IDF.