The answers, whether the ardent Israel supporters in this thread agree with or not, like it or not, can be found, in the statements of Israeli politicians.
1. Who is Hamas? - According to Israeli politicians - ALL of them. Every. Single. Gazan. They are all Hamas. Per the Mossad guy's statement on Anderson Cooper - "There are no non-combatants in Gaza". Including the women, children and the elderly who make up almost 70% of the 2.2M in Gaza and according to Israel, they are ALL Hamas and therefore fair game.
It is not the policy of the Israeli government.
2. What is the goal? - They say to wipe out Hamas and to bring back hostages. However several hostages have been killed by Israel and the real goal is to create pressure cooker situations, and use them as a reason to squeeze the Palestinians into as small a land area as possible, while slowly taking over the rest. This is the actual goal and everything else is hogwash.
The goal has been the same since day 1. Eliminate Hamas and get back the hostages. That is the stated objective of the Israeli government. Your interpretation is not valid.
3. How much of Hamas have they killed so far (barring the few leaders killed in Lebanon)? - They don't know.
They do. A couple of days ago they said it was over 8,000
4. How will they know they have killed enough Hamas, enough to substantially weaken them? - They won't. There is no way to know. Infact, I suspect, they don't care or even want to know.
When the rockets stop would be a pretty good parameter for one. When Hamas surrenders is another good one.
5. Can they guarantee zero extremism after this war? - Obviously, not.
Stupid question. Can you guarantee that you won't die in your sleep tonight?
6. Where do the actual leaders of Hamas live? - Not in Gaza.
Israel has found and killed terrorists around the world. They hunted down Nazis from WWII in S. America. Do you think that they forgot how to track them down? Do you think that they've lost their resolve in eliminating their enemies?
7. What happens after the war? - They don't know. Bibi refuses to discuss it and in the last week alone, has cancelled 3 meetings with his cabinet, with the Mossad and with Shin Bet, on this very same question, because a plan is not in place, yet. However, going by past actions, what I suspect will happen, is Israeli occupation of Northern Gaza, checkpoints, and walls. Followed by settlers in strategic locations, protected by the IDF. Southern Gaza will be a hotbed of terrorism, as more and more people are squeezed in, and subsequent conflicts will be even more bloody.
First things first. Eliminate Hamas and then there is no war. No urgency. They can discuss it with other democratic nations. Your guesses are nothing more than guesses from a person who has no experience working on these things.
Whatever happens, the Palestinians in Gaza will be better off.
8. When will the war end? - When Bibi decides it is politically convenient for him to end it. He previously needed Hamas for his "No Palestinian State at any cost" platform. Now, he needs the war, to ensure his political survival.
Either when there are no more Hamas willing to fight, either because they've surrendered or been killed. Pretty simple, eh?
OK, I've extended you the courtesy of trying to answer all of your 8 questions.
Can you provide me the same courtesy and answer only 1 question from me. And it's an "either or" type of question. There are only 2 choices. And again, I would appreciate the courtesy of a straight answer, i.e. pick one of the 2 and please do not deflect.
At this point do you think that Hamas should continue fighting, thereby ensuring that more Palestinians will die or do you think that they should surrender and release the hostages.
You try to project yourself as a man of integrity, so please put that integrity on display and give a clear answer as to whether you think Hamas should surrender or keep fighting.
