10 Basic Misunderstandings About the Israel-Gaza War
Israel doesn’t oppose peace. It opposes suicide. Every nation has the right (and the obligation) to neutralize a threat that has already murdered its civilians and promises to do it again.
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The Israel-Gaza war has become one of the most hotly debated and deeply misunderstood conflicts of our time.
It fills headlines, fuels protests, and floods social media feeds, yet much of the world thinks it knows what’s going on — and couldn’t be further from the truth.
This isn’t just about competing narratives, or a matter of interpretation, or too many moving parts. It’s about willful distortion, emotional manipulation, and centuries of historical amnesia.
So, let’s clear the smoke. Here are 10 of the most basic — and dangerous — misunderstandings about the Israel-Gaza war:
1) It’s not a war over land or even resources.
It’s a war, which was started by the Palestinian side on October 7, 2023, over Israel’s existence.
This is not about 1967 borders, settlements, or checkpoints. Hamas, which governs Gaza, has been clear since its inception in 1988: The terror group’s goal is the complete destruction of Israel.
That’s not speculation; it’s in Hamas’ self-published charter. They don’t want compromise. They want erasure. “From the River to the Sea” is not a territorial demand; it’s a genocidal call.
Peace can’t begin until that truth is acknowledged.
2) Israel was not and is not in control of Gaza.
The common refrain that Israel has “occupied Gaza since 1948” is not just misleading; it’s historically false.
After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War — the war started by Arab nations rejecting the United Nations Partition Plan that would have resulted in a Jewish state and a Palestinian state side-by-side — Egypt took control of Gaza. Not as a benevolent steward for a future Palestinian state, but as a military occupier.
From 1948 to 1967, Egypt ruled Gaza with an iron fist, kept Palestinians stateless, and refused to integrate them or grant them citizenship. There was no call for a Palestinian state in Gaza during that time. No protests. No UN outcry. No BDS movement.
Why? Because Israel wasn’t involved yet — and somehow, when Arabs controlled Palestinians, the world didn’t seem to care.
In 1967, during the Six-Day War — launched preemptively by Israel in response to the mobilization of Arab armies — Israel captured Gaza from Egypt. That’s when the “Israeli occupation” began. But again, it was the result of a defensive war, not a colonial plan.
Fast forward to 2005: Israel unilaterally withdrew every soldier, every settler, every synagogue from Gaza. It handed over full governance to the local Palestinian population. Gaza could have become a Palestinian state. Instead, Hamas took over, murdered its rivals, and turned Gaza into a jihadist fortress.
So, when people chant “Free Gaza,” it’s worth asking: Free it from what, or whom? From Israel, which withdrew? Or from Hamas, which hijacked it?
If you want to understand Gaza, you have to start before 2005. You have to start with the decades the Arab world used it as a pawn, and the decades the West pretended not to notice.
This is one of the most ignored facts in modern diplomacy.
3) Civilian casualties are tragic, but context matters.
Every innocent death is unfortunate; no one in Israel celebrates dead civilians.
But blaming Israel without mentioning Hamas’ strategy is dishonest. Hamas embeds itself in civilian infrastructure — schools, hospitals, mosques — not by accident, but by design. It’s a deliberate tactic: provoke a response, show the aftermath, weaponize the grief.
The IDF gives warnings before strikes to minimize civilian casualties, even as Hamas and other Palestinian facts hide behind Palestinian civilians. Hamas deliberately targets Israeli civilians. One is called self-defense, the other is called use of human shields and terrorism.
And, while we’re at it, let’s stop it with the myth of Hamas’ “fireworks” or “homemade rockets.” Hamas’ arsenal includes Iranian-designed missiles with increasing range and lethality. They aim at civilians. The only reason more Israelis haven’t died is because Israel builds defense systems to protect its people.
4) Proportionality doesn’t mean matching death counts.
This isn’t a sporting event. Proportionality in war refers to whether military force used is appropriate to the objective, not whether the same number of people die on both sides.
If one side builds shelters and the other uses its people as shields, the death toll reflects choices, not morality. A higher death count in Gaza doesn’t mean Israel is in the wrong. It means Hamas started a war they couldn’t possibly win and then chose to hide behind civilians when Israel rightfully retaliated.
5) The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is real — and Hamas is responsible.
Billions of dollars have been poured into Gaza for decades. But instead of schools and hospitals, Hamas built tunnels, bought rockets, and created a military-industrial complex underground.
Civilian casualties are not just an unfortunate consequence; they are Hamas’ well-calculated strategy. Hamas wants images of dead children in your social media feeds. That’s why they launch attacks from apartment buildings and hide behind ambulances. It’s not just cynical. It’s genocidal theater.
To add insult to injury, Hamas steals the aid, hoards it for its fighters, and then sells the leftovers to civilians — turning humanitarian relief into a source of revenue to fund more terrorism. It’s a mafia with a flag. Instead of building a future for its people, Hamas exploits their misery and monetizes their hunger.
It’s not that Gaza is poor; it’s that its rulers prioritize killing Jews over caring for Palestinians. If you want Palestinian liberation, start by demanding Hamas’ downfall. Don’t confuse the arsonist for the firefighter.
At the same time, sympathy for suffering should never blind us to cruelty. You can criticize Israeli policies without defending barbarism. On October 7th, Hamas didn’t just attack military bases. They butchered children. They raped women. They beheaded families. They live-streamed it. That is not resistance. That is evil. If you can’t condemn that without adding an asterisk, your brain is broken.
6) Israelis don’t want war. They want to live in peace and quiet.
War is not the Israeli preference; it’s the last resort. No country would tolerate rockets on its cities or terrorists tunneling into kindergartens. Israelis dream of peace, but that dream has limits: not at the expense of their survival. Every war Israel has fought has been defensive. That’s not opinion. That’s history. Don’t hate the player; hate the game.
As far as the goal of this war for Israel, it isn’t revenge; it’s security. Israel’s war aims are clear: Dismantle Hamas’ military capability, remove its leadership, and ensure it can’t repeat October 7th. That’s not vengeance. That’s survival. No country can endure while terrorists openly pledge to repeat mass murder.
7) ‘Resistance’ and ‘revolution’ doesn’t mean slaughtering civilians.
Some try to sanitize terrorism by calling it “resistance.” But real resistance targets tyranny, not toddlers.
When you massacre peace activists, burn whole families alive, and kidnap young children and Holocaust survivors, that’s not revolution. That’s a pogrom. And anyone who justifies it — or celebrates it — is morally bankrupt.
8) Pop culture isn’t just talking about this war. It’s nefariously shaping it.
News outlets routinely cite Hamas-run health ministries, run clickbait headlines that invert cause and effect, and fail to show the atrocities of October 7th in full. That’s not journalism. That’s narrative manipulation. The world sees what the media chooses to show — and Hamas knows exactly how to exploit it.
Meanwhile, Israel is condemned at the UN more than all other countries combined. Infrastructure of the UN agency for so-called “Palestinian refugees” (like schools) are routinely used to store Hamas weapons. UN “experts” parrot Hamas casualty figures without verification. Israeli victims are barely mentioned. When an institution loses moral clarity, it loses credibility. The UN, sadly, has done both.
9) Don’t be fooled by Far-Left Israeli media and politicians. They don’t represent the country.
One of the most common tricks in anti-Israel discourse is citing a handful of Israeli voices — often from fringe media, academia, or Far-Left political circles — as if they speak for the nation. “Even Israelis are saying it,” the argument goes, as if that settles the matter.
But here’s the truth: These voices represent a tiny, unrepresentative sliver of Israeli society. Their views are often amplified by international media not because they’re accurate, but because they serve a preferred narrative.
Many of these commentators are permanent fixtures in elite bubbles, disconnected from the daily reality of Israelis who have been personally affected by decades-long Palestinian terrorism. Their politics are often self-serving, designed to appease foreign donors, international institutions, or maintain social status within “progressive” circles.
They thrive on being “the dissenters” — the ones who “speak truth to power.” But too often, they end up speaking comfort to terrorists and fueling anti-Israel campaigns abroad that result in Diaspora Jews being attacked and harassed, synagogues being vandalized, and Israeli civilians being demonized.
Just because someone holds an Israeli passport doesn’t make them a reliable or moral authority on this war. Every society has its extremists. Every free country has its self-loathing intellectual class. Israel is no different.
So, the next time someone tries to end a debate with, “Even Israelis admit it,” remember: Some Americans still support communism, some Brits defended the Nazis, some French romanticized the Khmer Rouge, some Germans denied the Holocaust, and some Canadians joined ISIS.
Fringe voices don’t prove the truth. They prove the importance of knowing what’s mainstream — and what isn’t.
10) Ceasefires in this conflict don’t bring peace.
Calls for “ceasefire now” sound compassionate — until you realize what they actually enable. That’s because ceasefires in this conflict don’t end violence. They pause it — just long enough for Palestinian terrorist organizations to regroup, reload, and rearm.
Over the past 15 years, nearly every ceasefire has followed the same script:
Palestinian terror groups escalate with rocket attacks and/or terrorism.
Israel responds militarily to defend its citizens.
International pressure mounts on Israel to “de-escalate.”
A ceasefire is brokered.
Palestinian terror groups use the “quiet” to rebuild their terror infrastructure (while the world looks away).
A new wave of violence begins, stronger and deadlier than the one before.
This isn’t a bug in the system; it’s the game plan. Palestinian terror groups view ceasefires not as steps toward peace, but as breathing room. They restock weapons, dig deeper tunnels, and produce propaganda to rewrite the narrative. They hold onto hostages. They indoctrinate more children.
Meanwhile, the world pats itself on the back for “stopping the bloodshed,” ignoring that it has merely postponed it — and enabled the next round.
And let’s be clear: Israel doesn’t oppose peace. It opposes suicide. Every nation has the right (and the obligation) to neutralize a threat that has already murdered its civilians and promises to do it again.
You don’t defeat terrorism by calling timeouts. You defeat it by removing its ability to strike. A ceasefire that leaves Hamas, for example, in power isn’t a peace plan. It’s a countdown.
If Hamas were disarmed, there would be a much greater chance of peace. If Israel were disarmed, there would be genocide. This is the clearest test of moral clarity, and all you need to know.
This article is correct in all it says, but it does not mention the elephant in the room: From the point of view of the Palestinians and many other Arabs and Muslims around the world, this is a religious war. Hamas is fighting for Islam. Islamic Jihad (Islamic holy war) says it clearly. They all take seriously that it is the duty of Muslims to spread Islam around the world to all people, whether they want Islam or not. Also, Israel rests on land claimed at the eternal part of the Dar al-Islam, because Muslims once conquered and controlled it. Furthermore, Jews are only allowed to live, according to Islamic law, if they defer to Muslim supremacy, pay the jizya tax to keep their lives, and accept subordinate third-class dhimma status. To add insult to injury, the Israelis have repeatedly defeated the Arabs, who see themselves as great warriors. This stain on Arab honor can only be cleansed by an Arab defeat of the Israelis.
I take issue with one thing. This is not a war against Hamas. And it did not start on October 7 2023. This is a war that was declared by the Arab world and then when it came into existence in the 60's the Palestinian National Movement. Hamas is the most popular and effective representative of that movement. It is long past time for Israelis and all Zionists to recognize that the enemy is the people that calls itself Palestinian. Their entire national movement is built on the negation of Israel and the elimination of its people by whatever means is necessary.