I thought I argued conclusively and very well that the past is relevant because the past determines for example whether a killing should be seen as just or not, whether an attack is a just response or not... if it doesn't matter, than Israel is bombing Gaza right now for no reason, the past of October7 is irrelevant, bygones, water under the bridge, and therefore according to your metric Israel is horribly guilty of crimes against humanity right now. But I suppose you don't see it like that because you DO care about the past (October 7 was in the past). But ONLY when that past matters for a favorable outcome for Israel. You refuse to accept this well made general point that I have made probably three times now. Which leads me to the only conclusion I am left with: that you are arguing in bad faith. And I hate to see that, but I have to call it out. I'd appreciate an explanation.
> Has Israel lied more than Hamas? Doubtful since Israel is an open democracy with many factions and a relatively free press and is under intense international scrutiny;
You imply "if they were lying we would know because they are an open democracy." Well we do know. The U.N. and most countries of the world except for Israel and the United States condemn Israel over and over for repeated and ongoing violations of international law and indiscriminate killing of Palestinians. The UN condemned Israel 17 times in 2020 alone. The balance of opinion about the facts is against Israel. That doesn't mean the UN are always right, but your point is demolished by these facts.
Why does the US side with Israel? Because Zionists sought power in the US, have a very strong AIPAC lobby, far more meddling than Russia's claimed meddling in the election, their people own most media companies, and they use these positions to advance the interests of Israel. They push to pass anti-BDS laws. They push to make protesting in favor of Palestine illegal. They get things cancelled from YouTube, Twitter, etc. The opinions of Americans matter most to Israel because the US is the strongest ally they could have, but they don't have enough manpower to do this to other nations, and hence most other nations see things more plainly and vote against Israel at the UN. That is why I believe most other nations are far more neutral and have a far clearer viewpoint, because they aren't heavily manipulated like the US is.
I reject the premise that Hamas broke the ceasefire. Israel broke the ceasefire. Al-Aqsa flood was in response to Israel's violations of the ceasefire at the Al-Aqsa mosque in April 2021, May 2021, and on 15 April 2022 and 5 April 2023. That is why the operation was named after the mosque.
But I'm sure you'll reject that. You reject everything you don't want to believe. Which isn't a good debating strategy, but you are welcome to continue rejecting everything. It seems to me you have a religious certainty about your beliefs. And so our discussion has become rather pointless in many ways.