Let's face it Iran is indiscriminatly hitting Israeli civilians targets including schools using cluster bombs.....

[mids2019]

Iran is firing missiles into heavily populated Israeli towns and have abandoned the pretence of targeting anything military.....this is just pure terrorism and does make you think what would happen if Iran did manage to develop a nuclear weapon.

Just hoping more of the missile launch sites can be taken out and this terrorist regime falls.

Only 70,000 if you count pretty much every death in gaza as a civilian.

I think it's worth a reminder that about a week and a half ago Trump sold Israel 12k 1000lb bombs under emergency powers. He bypassed congressional oversight.

These are dumb bombs. Not precision, as they lack the GPS guidance kit that converts them into precision JDAM munitions. These GPS kits are made by the US and are strictly licensed. So Israel are not making their own and fitting them.

If these are being used, and it would seem likely they are ,as "emergency", then it would appear it is not only Iran who lack accuracy.

here’s the report of the BMJ: https://www.bmj.com/content/392/bmj.s239

israel accepts the number 70000 but it’s broadly recognised the real number is a fair bit higher.

i do think that your referring to tens of thousands of dead children as ‘collateral damage’ is grossly offensive. And IRL I’m almost impossible to offend. Have some humanity, please.

That is literally the meaning of the term "collateral damage" so I can't really help you with that, other than not referencing the concept at all.

You have also not provided a source for your claim that the majority of deaths have been children.

If you haven’t got the decency to apologise for referring to tens of thousands of dead kids as ‘collateral damage’ then there won’t be a further conversation

Note it's coauthored by Barak Ravid (ex IDF unit 8200 soldier). The 2 unelected clowns Witkoff and Kushner must be smoking some very psychedelic ish.....

These are the six demands:
1. No missile program for five years.
2. Zero uranium enrichment.
3. Decommissioning of the reactors at the Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow nuclear facilities that the U.S. and Israel bombed last year.
4. Strict outside observation protocols around the creation and use of centrifuges and related machinery that could advance a nuclear weapons program.
5. Arms control treaties with regional countries that include a missile cap no higher than 1,000.
6. No financing for proxies such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen or Hamas in Gaza.

An absolute non starter, that the Iranians already said crossed theie red lines. The price today is not the same as the last negotiations. For a start as you'll likel know the Iranians have destroyed most of the Air Defence batteries in the region. These will take years to replace, if ever as China controls the Gallium needed to build them.

'civilian casualties'
'civilian deaths'
'non-combatant casualties'
'innocent lives lost'
'protected persons harmed' (this is the legal expression though obviously wordy)
etc
etc
etc

Trump could hardly have done more for the CPC if he had been a member of the Standing Committee.

Not only has he strengthened their bargaining position on rare earths as you say, but he has also used up the bulk of the US and allies stocks of Patriot and THAAD interceptors. He took the THAADs from South Korea, weakening their defence from the North, and he has put the PRC into the strongest position it has ever been in to invade the ROC.

And lest we forget about world fertilizer and helium supplies.

If he envisioned a new world order with him at the top of the table with Putin and Xi at his side, he has seriously messed up.

About 50% of deaths in wars are protected persons harmed. Gaza isn't much different.

Except it’s completely different, because it’s not a war, it’s a systematic carpet bombing of a densely-packed civilian area

Please look up what carpet bombing actually is.
The IDF are not carpet bombing anything.

Would you accept ‘systematic and indiscriminate wholesale destruction’ as an alternative phrasing? I accept that may be technically more acccurate

@AStonedRose
Maybe Hamas should have hidden in a remote forest somewhere then?

Trump is an absolute impulsive, insecure megalomaniac gambler. A bit harsh, I don't know whether intelligence is being withheld from him or not, but he lacks the curiosity to double check anything or believes the wrong people.

A lot of American Farmers have not been able to obtain fertiliser https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/20/iran-war-us-farming-impact

Someone I know said China plans for centuries ahead, not decades and I think that that is XI, the epitome of "do nothing and win". XI won't ease the rare earth metals as anyone with sense knows the Americans will use it to build weapons to attack China, why help your "enemy".

Putin is interesting, since the war began in 2022 this is perhaps the first time that his leadership is being "questioned" inside Russia. They're asking about his friendship with Trump and the humiliation of the negotiations with America (again Witkoff playing games). They're questioning when he's going to respond to Russian red lines being crossed.

So that top table is looking rather different!

And Gaza is almost completely reduced to rubble. Even taking your 100k civilian casualty number as given, and remembering that neither Egypt or Israel allowed civilians to escape Gaza, that number proves that Israel did indeed take measures to avoid civilian death where it could- while still achieving it's military goals. The population of Gaza was approx 2,000,000. Approx 100,000 killed- thats actually a remarkably low number given the density of the population and the fact that they were not allowed to evacuate. It's obvious that if civilians were the actual targets many, many more would have been killed.
A decent government- if starting a war- would have plans in place for their own civilians. Who has these plans in place? Hamas? Iran? Israel?

Your post makes the opposite argument from that which you intended.

Also, which strikes in Gaza were carried out by the US?

I don’t agree to indiscriminate, they seem to be quite deliberate with their tactics, accidents aside.

Over 75,000 dead Palestinians so far…

There is a level of cognitive dissonance here that is hard to fathom.

Start an illegal war...and then you're surprised that the other side fight back.

Treat international legal institutions with contempt...and then express shock when your enemies ignore international law.

Show utter disregard for civilian casualties in Gaza...and then expect the rest of the world to weep when a handful of your citizens are injured.

It's that peculiar blend of arrogance and victim mentality which seems to characterise Israel as a state.

Targeting civilians is an abomination. No matter who does it.

The question is do we think using weapons that cause maximum destruction in populated areas full of civilians is right or do we think it is wrong?

Because I think it is always wrong. No matter who does it, no matter who funds the weapons, no matter which civilians die. It’s just wrong.

Your assertion that Israeli weapons that killed a mere 75,000 or so and further injured another 170,000, was some kind of “sad” mistake while being outraged that Israeli citizens were injured by Iran is just extremely tone deaf.

Because they were attacked by Israel and the US! It's Bibi/Trump who started the war, not Iran.

You seem confused about what has happened.

Israel has been committing a genocide in Gaza for some time. Conservative figures suggest they have killed at least 70,000 people. They have flattened Gaza.

Israel and the US have recently started an illegal war on Iran (28th Feb) on a whole range of pretexts (all illegal).

Iran warned that it would respond if they were attacked again (the US attacked them in June 2025 and then told the world that they had eliminated Iran's nuc weapons capability, etc)

Israel and Iran chose to ignore the warning.

Israel and Iran have attacked heavily populated, civilian areas in Iran, Lebanon and other countries. They have also attacked several hospitals, a desalination plant and a school, killing 160+ children. There have been thousands of Iranian casualties.

Iran have defended themsevles and attacked military assets in various countries. There have been some Israeli casualities (far less than the Iranian casualties). Btw, they warned that they would hit Dimona, if this is what you are referring to.

War is a terrible thing all round. The Israelis started this awful war.
The implications of this war and going to be felt worldwide and have already been felt in lots of countries.

Excellent post.

Pro pallys have always been against the targeting of civilians. Welcome to the right side