2023 Israel-Palestine Armed Conflict

RDT_20231104_1820011452657940646000888.jpg
28 years ago today, Yitzhak Rabin - the Israeli Prime Minister who signed the Oslo Accords, that would have ceded most of the West Bank to Palestinian control, was assassinated.

Leader of the opposition, Benjamin Netanyahu, condemned Rabin for signing the Oslo Accords, claiming he was removed from Jewish tradition and Jewish values. Members of Bibi's party proclaimed removing settlements from the West Bank was heretical and protesters depicted him as a member of the SS. Right wing rabbis declared him rodef, which is like a Jewish fatwa - basically he was harming Jews and had been warned to stop, and therefore it would be self defence to kill him under Hakakhic law. So a member of the IDF's Yeshivat Hesder program shot him dead.

This bloodstained copy of Shir LaShalom ("Song of peace") was found in Rabin's pocket after the assassination.
Assassination_of_Prime_Minister_Yitzhak_Rabin,_1995_XI_Dan_Hadani_Archive_(1).jpg
Although this was about the West Bank rather than Gaza, it's argued this was the most successful assassination of all time with regards to how it achieved the assassin's goals.
 
  • Informative
  • Feels
  • Like
Reactions: echus, TheGuntinator, CT 05 and 37 others
Dark Horse said:
There seems to be a huge split in the UK Labour party over Gaza. There are many Muslims in support of Palestine/Hamas and they have taken over local councils. The muslim Aspire Party in Tower Hamlets does not have a single female member.
Click to expand...
This is the perfect time for Jeremy Corbyn to make a comeback. Didn't he get blamed for causing the unprecedented levels of anti-Semitism in Labour? Nowadays he can spin that as a qualification!
 
  • Like
  • Agree
  • Horrifying
Reactions: TheGuntinator, GloJojo, PhoBingas and 9 others
Puff said:
Some of that looks pretty suspect. Cutting away before you see what kind of damage actually happened to the vehicle almost every time. I'm partial to one near the end where they clearly hit the track, which probably disabled the vehicle, but not much more, the one where they fire and RPG through a fence in that it really looks like it shouldn't have went through (probably just and angle thing, but it still looks impossible). and the final one where he lights some fuel on top of a clearly abandoned piece of equipment and puts a green flag on it, almost certainly causing no real damage and it's probably destroyed already or it wouldn't be left unattended like that.
Click to expand...
I was thinking about the same thing. There's obviously the propaganda reason for unclear hits against vehicles in which Hamas wants to show themselves as being more effective than than they may actually be, especially when the IDF trophy system looks like an explosive hit on the mounted vehicle when fired.

However, I'd also like to point out the realities of the situations. In most circumstances, the Hamas militants are probably running off or taking heavy cover as soon as they fire their RPGs as an ambush. There's simply no time to get a clear camera view of the damage they inflicted, if any. Engagements are most likely to end with Hamas retreating rather than gaining ground, so any thorough assessment of the attack site would only happen some time later if the IDF target was a convoy that moved on, like in the earlier Hamas video with the RPG IED attack that at least resulted in a metal chunk falling off the target tank.

Not that IDF videos are any better at visualizing enemy combatants, though. It seems that the best we get of real combat from those are Merkava-mounted cameras showing the tank firing at seemingly nothing. I'd be surprised if the IDF ever publicly releases on-the-ground combat footage of an enemy combatant clearly being shot.
 
  • Like
  • Informative
  • Agree
Reactions: TheGuntinator, Exterminatus, pikachudidnothingwrong and 4 others
Mysterious Girlfriend X said:
Bernie Sanders is a castrated lap dog for the Democratic party. His sole purpose is to trick stupid leftist children that the Democratic party cares about them. Tlaib and the rest of the Idiot Squad fell into that role a while back, so she's already independent like Sanders.
Click to expand...
I'm aware that Sanders is effectively still a Deomcrat in all but name, which is why I think going independent is something that Tlaib ought to be able to do to give her public threat a little more punch without change to her effective standing in government. For her to make that video at all gives me the impression that she's confident enough in her base constituency to not need the DNC for reelection. Maybe she's afraid of her few committee assignments being pulled, but even Sanders still has many committee assignments. Democrats may not be any more willing to censure Tlaib if she independent either.
 
  • Like
  • Thunk-Provoking
Reactions: pikachudidnothingwrong and Falcos_Commisar
The police released footage from the successful hostage rescue in Ofakim:
No footage of the elimination of the terrorists, but there is a still shot of one of them next to a hostage, holding a grenade, while the second aims a gun at the officers from a staircase:
IMG_20231104_213753.jpg
Barrage at central Israel and Iron Dome interceptions:
IMG_20231104_220949_221.jpg

 
Last edited:
  • Informative
  • Like
Reactions: PhoBingas, World Famous Quasi Payer, Exterminatus and 10 others
AssignedEva said:
I respect that viewpoint in the same way I respect the viewpoint of traumatised Palestinians wanting the destruction of Israel. At least you're honest, I guess.
Click to expand...
I respect the viewpoint of Palestinians who have a direct connection to the situation and it's natural for them to feel that way. I don't respect idiot westerners who are pro Hamas.
 
  • Like
  • Agree
  • Winner
Reactions: AmateurComedicTaxidermist, Michael Wade, Exterminatus and 18 others
Leakage Current said:
I respect the viewpoint of Palestinians who have a direct connection to the situation and it's natural for them to feel that way. I don't respect idiot westerners who are pro Hamas.
Click to expand...
I think at least we can all agree that those people are, at best, complete idiots.
 
  • Agree
  • Like
  • Feels
Reactions: AmateurComedicTaxidermist, Exterminatus, pikachudidnothingwrong and 6 others
not directly related to the conflict, but more than likely indirectly.
1699131062267.png
Confusion, consternation and all manner of speculation are running amok this week over what the Marine Corps decided to do -- or, more accurately, decided not to do.


According to an ominous Tuesday report from the Marine Corps Times, the Marine Corps arm of U.S. Central Command has decided to cancel its annual birthday ball.

There are two important things to keep in mind regarding this decision.


First and foremost, and this can't be understated, Marines love their celebratory balls. It's "an evening to honor the history and legacy of the Marine Corps and the accomplishments of the Marines," according to the Corps' website.


Anyone who has served or has relatives who've served, or is currently serving, can attest to this soft spot that virtually every Marine appears to have.


Second, and perhaps far more disconcertingly, U.S. Central Command, headquartered in Tampa, Florida, is a unified combatant command that specifically oversees central Asia -- and the Middle East.


And as long as you haven't been living under a rock in the last month or so, you are also painfully aware that things are not well in the Middle East. Israel is at war with Hamas terrorists following their bloody and barbaric invasion of the Jewish state on Oct. 7.

Given that logical extension, many prognosticators took this birthday ball cancellation as a sign that something big and something bad was imminent.


Not helping matters, Maj. Gen. Chris McPhillips seemingly confirmed that something was going on, even if he wouldn't offer any more specifics when he announced this decision on Wednesday.


"Regretfully and with a strong sense of duty, I write to inform you of a decision that I had to make regarding the Marine Corps 248th Ball, scheduled for 16 November 2023," McPhillips announced Wednesday, per Military.com, in a since-scrubbed message on the X social media platform.


"Due to unforeseen operation commitments and the nature of our current mission, it is with great regret that we must cancel this year's event," the general said.


In an email to the Times on Wednesday, Marine Corps spokesman Capt. Joe Wright said, “Because of the uncertain situation, the MARCENT [Marine Corps Forces Central Command] Commander wants to avoid a last-minute cancellation that would burden Marines, families, veterans, and members of the community with trying to recoup money from ticket sales, reservations, etc."



Wright said the message was removed from X and posted to Facebook "because the audience it’s trying to reach -- of current and former members of the unit, family members and the larger Tampa community -- is located on Facebook."


The post on the MARCENT page on Facebook had different wording but the same message:


A cursory X search of "CENTCOM Ball" yielded a number of very concerned responses to the news:


I can't understate what a big deal this is. pic.twitter.com/od36WfSCfU


— Tactical Wisdom (@DolioJ) November 1, 2023


Reports that Maj. General McPhillips, CENTCOM Command has cancelled the 248th Marine Corps Ball because of operational commitments?


When is the last time the Marines had to do this? pic.twitter.com/4wxp1NUwBb


— Sebastian Gorka DrG (@SebGorka) November 1, 2023


As to what this could portend, this writer dares not speculate given the gravity of the situation. But it's safe to say it could be bloody, it won't be good, it'll likely be very costly and it'll probably be taking place in the Middle East -- directly.



As one final reiteration to drive this home: Marines love their celebratory balls. It's a point of pride and something other branches simply don't replicate at this scale or grandeur. Given that the only other times that these balls have been canceled were during the height of the COVID-19 hysteria, this seemingly trivial decision to cancel a celebration is anything but that.


The CENTCOM Marine Corps birthday ball was slated for Nov. 16.


The Marines' actual "birthday" is Nov. 10.
Click to expand...
some context here, CENTCOM is in charge of command for central asia, which isreal and palestine are currently in. and the ball is on november 16th.

1699131434011.png

Without warning, hundreds of noncommissioned officers were ordered via email to report to the recruiting school at Fort Knox, Kentucky, in less than a week, with hundreds more set to start at the school in December -- a sudden unexpected move by the Army as the service scrambles to boost its recruiting force by 800 by the end of the year.


The orders came after a breakdown in how the Army tracks how many recruiters it has coming through the pipeline along with retention of existing ones, according to Lt. Gen. Douglas Stitt, the Army's top personnel officer. The sudden depletion of recruiters caught Army planners flat-footed, with officials unable to provide a clear explanation as to what went wrong. Now, NCOs will likely have to move during the holiday season and in the middle of the school year, sowing chaos for families.


"Given the six-day heads up, we have zero time to plan child care," one noncommissioned officer told Military.com on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. "We can barely find and afford child care during the week as it is, so now my wife may end up having to quit her job entirely because it is impossible to find on the weekend."


Read Next: Months Before Maine Mass Shooting, Gunman Was Prohibited from Handling Military Weapons by Army Reserve


The Army has roughly 10,000 recruiters, but that force has been bleeding troops over the past year. The 800 emergency recruiting students will allow the service to maintain its numbers. Recruiters have reported to Military.com in recent months of working longer hours and, in some cases, getting fired for missing quotas.


"I want to apologize to the soldiers and families for receiving this last-minute notification; that mistake is mine," Stitt told reporters Wednesday. "It's not lost on me, particularly at this point in time on the cusp of the holidays, the [impact] this has on our soldiers and NCOs."


The mad dash to fill its recruiter ranks has the Army dismissing minimum standards to send soldiers to the school, including getting rid of requirements that they have passing fitness scores and be in compliance with body weight standards, according to an internal email reviewed by Military.com. Some soldiers who were set to be drill sergeants will be reassigned as recruiters.


To incentivize recruiting roles, the Army is offering promotions and sometimes money. The service will promote sergeants going to recruiting school to staff sergeant -- assuming they are not flagged for reasons such as failing the fitness test -- "no questions asked," Sgt. Maj. Chris Stevens, the top enlisted leader for personnel policy, told reporters.


The opportunity will extend to soldiers recently promoted to sergeant, with time in service and grade requirements being waived, possibly serving as a fast track on the enlisted promotion ladder. The soldier is still expected to complete the Advanced Leader Course, but it's unclear if that needs to be done within a year as is required with temporary promotions.


Those who attend recruiting school and attend by February will earn a $5,000 bonus. Current recruiters who extend their recruiting contracts can earn $1,500 per month for one year. Staff sergeants who volunteer for recruiting school, and recruit 24 applicants in their first year on the job, will be promoted to sergeant first class. That incentive is not for the group of soldiers who were forced to go to the school.


The services have been struggling with recruiting since the COVID-19 pandemic. The Army has attributed many of its problems to a shallow pool of qualified applicants and a relatively healthy job market. Recruiters have fought to find applicants who are fit enough to serve, amid a nationwide obesity epidemic, while flagging performance on the academic entrance exam, blamed on underfunding at America's public schools, adds another challenge.


The Space Force and Marine Corps hit their recruiting goals last year, but those services are much smaller than the rest and, therefore, have a lower bar for recruiting quotas.


The active-duty part of the Army came up 10,000 new recruits short of its goal of 65,000 for the past fiscal year. The Army Reserve is in an even more dire situation, getting only 9,319 new soldiers. Its goal was to recruit 14,000. The Army National Guard fared much better, bringing in 29,457 new soldiers, just shy of its 30,880 goal.
Click to expand...
400 soldiers were given a 2 WEEKS NOTICE, telling them they needed to go to recruiting school and be there by then. and these aren't people expecting it, they're just random people across the US, being told they need to get their ass in missouri ASAP.

i don't know about you guys, but this definitely spells "war in the middle east" for me
 
  • Informative
  • Thunk-Provoking
  • Like
Reactions: Pizza Munch, PhoBingas, AmateurComedicTaxidermist and 30 others
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back