The war between Israel and Hamas and its unfathomable human toll

GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

GZERO Media

International Relations, Government, Foreign Policy, Gzero World, News Commentary, Trump, News, Global Economy, Geopolitics, Politics, Ian Bremmer

4.6 • 684 Ratings

🗓️ 14 October 2023

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Israel is at war, caught in the worst surprise attack in half a century. Hamas’ shock terrorist attacks cut deep into Israeli territory. That psychological trauma compounds the shock for millions of Israelis that their world-class intelligence and security forces completely missed this. That’s why comparisons with the 9/11 attacks on the US are the right analogy – Israel’s weakness was, in part, a failure of imagination. Hamas has launched a suicidal war, and Palestinians will pay dearly for it. But why did Hamas move now? In part because of their deteriorating position: blockaded by Israel and Egypt, the economy in Gaza was terrible and getting worse. Meanwhile, the geopolitics were leaving the Palestinians behind. Israel is in its strongest geopolitical position in decades and was on the verge of signing a historic peace deal with Saudi Arabia. The severity of Israel’s expected response – a ground invasion that will result in thousands of Palestinian deaths – makes that politically untenable for the Saudis now. Avi Mayer, editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post, joins Ian Bremmer on the GZERO World podcast from Israel to talk about how his life, not to mention those of his fellow Israelis, has been forever changed in the past few days. He also provides a pained but unflinching take on how Israel should respond and what that response might mean for the Palestinians caught in the crosshairs. Ian also speaks with Middle East scholar Shibley Telhami, based in the Washington DC area, about the broader geopolitical context of this latest conflict. Why did Hamas choose this moment to launch its attack and how did a burgeoning diplomatic deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia play into that decision? Also, what will happen to the 2.3 million Gazans with nowhere to go?

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	What we saw on display on Saturday was ISIS-like behavior. This is not an organization that can
0:06.5	be reasoned with. It's an organization that is dead set on murdering as many Jews as they possibly
0:11.8	can. Hello and welcome to the GZero World podcast. This is where you'll find extended
0:19.1	versions of my interviews on public television.
0:21.8	I'm Ian Bremmer. And today, Israel is once again at war as fighting rages to a level
0:26.0	Israel has not seen in half a century. As of this taping, Israel's death toll from October 7th
0:31.0	Hamas terrorist attacks has risen to 1,300, with an estimated 150 people believed to be held hostage in Gaza.
0:38.3	And so far, according to health officials there, at least 1,400 Palestinians have been killed,
0:43.3	and at least 5,000 more injured.
0:46.3	Among the Israeli and international dead from Saturday's attack are women, children, and the elderly,
0:51.3	many butchered by rampaging Hamas fighters. Israeli airstrikes
0:55.2	have targeted normally safe structures like schools, hospitals, and mosques, killing women,
0:59.4	children, and the elderly as well. As the world holds its breath for an all-out Israeli
1:04.1	ground assault of Gaza, one thing is clear. The worst is yet to come. Today on the show,
1:09.8	I'm talking with Jerusalem Post editor-in-chief Avi Meyer for an on-the-ground account of his country at war.
1:15.8	And later, I'll be joined by the University of Maryland's Shibli Telhame, who has been advisor to the State Department and the U.S. mission to the United Nations to get a sense of where things go from here.
1:26.4	Let's get to it.
1:33.0	Thank you. to get a sense of where things go from here. Let's get to it. The GZero World Podcast is brought to you by our lead sponsor, Prologis.
1:38.6	Prologis helps businesses across the globe scale their supply chains with an expansive
1:43.4	portfolio of logistics real estate
1:45.5	and the only end-to-end solutions platform addressing the critical initiatives of global logistics
1:50.8	today. Learn more at prologist.com.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from GZERO Media, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of GZERO Media and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.