Recurring claim

"Israel left Gaza in 2005 and got rockets in return."

Their strongest version

Israel withdrew settlers and soldiers from inside Gaza in 2005; rocket fire continued and intensified afterward.

The response

Israel withdrew from inside Gaza and then sealed it from outside: control of airspace, sea, the population registry, most crossings, and (with Egypt at Rafah) who and what enters or exits — which is why the UN, ICRC, and Israel's own High Court–reviewed policies treated Gaza as under blockade, and why the ICJ still treats Israel as bearing occupying-power obligations. 'Left' is doing a lot of work in that sentence: a territory whose calories, fuel, and travel permits are controlled from without was never let go. The blockade began in earnest in 2007 — sixteen years before October 7 — and Israeli officials described its logic as 'putting Palestinians on a diet' (Dov Weisglass's phrase, as reported).

Don’t

Don't deny the rocket fire or its illegality — indiscriminate rockets at civilians are war crimes, full stop. The argument is about what 'left' means, not about excusing rockets.
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