Against the brave - by Sam Kriss - Numb at the Lodge

Nothing about this war makes sense until you realise that what’s at stake here is something other than victory. The length it’s been going, for one thing. During the Suez War, it took Israel five days to capture the Gaza Strip from a well-armed and dug-in Egyptian army. In 1967, Israel had seized the entirety of Gaza by the end of the Six-Day War’s second day. The IDF of 2024 is not the IDF of half a century ago, and unlike the Egyptians, Hamas has nowhere to retreat. But I’m not sure that can explain why this conquest of Gaza has already taken seventy times longer than the last one. Or the other unusual events that keep happening. Not long ago, Israeli jets bombed the al-Shifa hospital complex in Gaza City. You might remember that last November, the IDF besieged the hospital: they cut off fuel and bombed solar panels while snipers shot doctors through the windows. Dozens died. In the end, the IDF captured the complex, which they claimed was a Hamas command centre; their evidence consi

Nothing about this war makes sense until you realise that what’s at stake here is something other than victory. The length it’s been going, for one thing. During the Suez War, it took Israel five days to capture the Gaza Strip from a well-armed and dug-in Egyptian army. In 1967, Israel had seized the entirety of Gaza by the end of the Six-Day War’s second day. The IDF of 2024 is not the IDF of half a century ago, and unlike the Egyptians, Hamas has nowhere to retreat. But I’m not sure that can explain why this conquest of Gaza has already taken seventy times longer than the last one. Or the ot