During the surprise assault on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas Saturday, gunmen opened fire on hundreds of young people during a dance music festival in the southern Israeli kibbutz of Re’im near the Gaza Strip, according to the Associated Press and multiple Israeli media outlets.
Witnesses told the Times of Israel that rocket fire was followed by gunshots fired into the crowd, as hundreds tried to flee.
“The music stopped and there was a rocket siren,” a young woman called Ortal told Israel’s Channel 12, according to Reuters. “Suddenly out of nowhere, they started shooting.”
Haaretz, one of Israel’s largest newspapers, described the scene as a “massacre” and a “battlefield,” and reported that terrorists on motorcycles drove into the crowd “opening fire.”
Oh I’m not defending this particular incident. Yeah shooting up random civilians is indefensible and also generally dumb. I’m talking about the conflict in general and this attack specifically. Like if they have an actual objective then I hope they achieve it, but I’m absolutely condemning their wanton murder of civilians.
Their objective is the wanton murder of civilians. Hamas wants to “destroy” Israel and its population. They’re very open and honest about that.
I mean yes but from the perspective of, y’know, actually wanting to exist I don’t see why they’d do this without an idea of what they want to happen later on. There has to be something worth the risk of an actual war with Israel, is what I’m saying. If it was another terror attack there’s no reason they wouldn’t use rockets as usual.