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 its settlers and soldiers from inside Gaza in 2005 — that part is true. Then it sealed Gaza from the outside. It kept control of the airspace, the sea, the population registry, and most crossings, and with Egypt it controlled who and what could enter or leave. That's why the UN, the ICRC, and Israel's own High Court treated Gaza as under blockade, and why the ICJ still holds Israel to occupying-power obligations there. 'Left' is doing enormous work in that sentence: a territory whose calories, fuel, and travel permits are controlled from outside was never actually let go. The blockade began in earnest in 2007 — sixteen years before October 7 — and an Israeli official described its logic as putting Palestinians 'on a diet.'

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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