Hamas attacks Israel
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Today, senior Hamas official Ali Baraka, in an interview on an Arabic-language TV station, boasted that the terrorist organization had been planning the attack for two years.
“The zero hour was kept completely secret. . . . Hamas leaders knew it. The number of people who knew about the attack and its timing could be counted on one hand.”
The fact that Hamas kept this secret is arguably Israel’s most serious failure. Israeli intelligence agencies—the Mossad, the Shin Bet, and the Military Intelligence Directorate (Aman)—are seen as world-beating institutions. Only a few years ago, they located and stole Iran’s nuclear archives right from under the noses of the ayatollahs. Israel invests billions in tracking every movement of every presumed terrorist in Gaza. But somehow they missed this.
One reason why is that Israel hasn’t had a physical presence or human agents in Gaza since its unilateral withdrawal from the region in 2005. Most of its tracking today is done by signals intelligence. So Hamas likely avoided using any electronic devices to communicate plans of their attack. And, as Baraka said, they kept the plan highly compartmentalized within Hamas ranks, with gunmen told only a small piece of the puzzle, to prevent a leak.
This shows impressive operational discipline on Hamas’s part, and it will require Israel to restructure its intelligence apparatus once this war is over. The fact that—as of Wednesday night in Israel—the IDF has still not entered Gaza shows they’re remaining cautious, because what else might they be missing?
The breakdown in Israel’s physical defenses was its second big failure. Over the years, Israel has invested billions of dollars in barriers—above and below ground—in addition to sophisticated sensors, cameras, radars, and remote-control guns that were supposed to stop anyone from entering Israel through the fence or via cross-border tunnels.
And yet, Hamas proved these defensive measures were not just penetrable, but nothing more than a nuisance. The terrorist organization released videos showing their gunmen breaking through with ease, cutting holes in the barrier so big that pickup trucks could drive right across. They sent in drones, paragliders, and navy forces under the cover of rocket barrages, while bombing Israel’s remote-control guns from above.
There are more analyses at the link.
Most telling: “The Israelis are known to love life,” he continued. “We, on the other hand, sacrifice ourselves. We consider our dead to be martyrs. The thing any Palestinian desires the most is to be martyred for the sake of Allah, defending his land.”
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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Imagine living like this. The link should work although you'll have to click a button saying you're at least 18 years old.
Anyway, a couple is driving on the highway and starts to see various cars with dead bodies in or around them. Then they drive by the Hamas terrorists and luckily keep driving. They pass at least a dozen dead bodies on the ground.
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@89th said in Hamas attacks Israel:
Imagine living like this. The link should work although you'll have to click a button saying you're at least 18 years old.
Anyway, a couple is driving on the highway and starts to see various cars with dead bodies in or around them. Then they drive by the Hamas terrorists and luckily keep driving. They pass at least a dozen dead bodies on the ground.
It’s kind of weird that Hamas allowed them to go on their way. It’s like the mother who, along with her infant daughter and 4 year old son, were captured, taken door to door to see all their dead neighbors, then marched by foot across the border to Gaza then miles across the desert to a Gaza town only to have the captors shake their heads and tell them they were free to return when they got there. Then they saw other Hamas bands while walking across the desert and were not detained or even approached.
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@LuFins-Dad said in Hamas attacks Israel:
Egypt could always supply them, you know… Gaza is not bordered on all sides by Israel…
Egypt has discussed plans with the United States and others to provide humanitarian aid through its border with Gaza Strip but rejects any move to set up safe corridors for refugees fleeing the enclave, Egyptian security sources said on Wednesday.
Gaza, a tiny coastal strip of land wedged between Israel in the north and east and Egypt to the southwest, is home to some 2.3 million people who have been living under a blockade since Palestinian Islamist group Hamas took control there in 2007.
Egypt has long restricted the flow of Gazans on to its territory, even during the fiercest conflicts.
Cairo, a frequent mediator between Israel and the Palestinians, always insists the two sides resolve conflicts within their borders, saying this the only way Palestinians can secure their right to statehood.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@George-K said in Hamas attacks Israel:
@LuFins-Dad said in Hamas attacks Israel:
Egypt could always supply them, you know… Gaza is not bordered on all sides by Israel…
Egypt has discussed plans with the United States and others to provide humanitarian aid through its border with Gaza Strip but rejects any move to set up safe corridors for refugees fleeing the enclave, Egyptian security sources said on Wednesday.
Gaza, a tiny coastal strip of land wedged between Israel in the north and east and Egypt to the southwest, is home to some 2.3 million people who have been living under a blockade since Palestinian Islamist group Hamas took control there in 2007.
Egypt has long restricted the flow of Gazans on to its territory, even during the fiercest conflicts.
Cairo, a frequent mediator between Israel and the Palestinians, always insists the two sides resolve conflicts within their borders, saying this the only way Palestinians can secure their right to statehood.
The Palestinians are the trash and troublemakers of the neighborhood. No Arab country wants them. They'll use them, but they don't want them.
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@Jolly said in Hamas attacks Israel:
- It is $6B.
- Qatar is/has released it to Iran, if I understand correctly.
- It is supposedly for humanitarian aid. ...
About that $6B ...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/10/12/iran-oil-fund-us-israel/
U.S. officials and the Qatari government have agreed to stop Iran from accessing a $6 billion account for humanitarian assistance in light of Hamas’s attack on Israel, ...
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Always remember, Operation Valkyrie was an act of sedition.
Warning: I post things that interest me. Read and comment at your own discretion. -
@Horace said in Hamas attacks Israel:
A lame duck government leading a war. Hm. That could lead to some strange incentives and a lack of accountability.
Israel is a parliamentary democracy, not a republic. As such there is no such thing as a lame duck government as in a US/republican governance but rather, in the case of Israel, a coalition of cooperating parties. More accountability not less. If Bibi’s Likud had an absolute majority then you would be correct, there would be a door open for a lack of accountability. At least until the next election.
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Former PM Bennett deals with a reporter:
Link to videoWatch the reporter get progressively more uncomfortable and start shifting around in his seat.
If nothing else go to 4:00.
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
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@George-K said in Hamas attacks Israel:
...Hamas likely avoided using any electronic devices to communicate plans of their attack.
Something came across me that said that when they did use electronic communication, they assumed they were all monitored by Israel an put out false information on them.
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The IDF has notified Gaza that citizens have 24 hours (ending about 21:00 CDT) to evacuate the northern part of the area.
And then things will get serious-er.
Granted the distances aren't huge, but we're still talking about a million people.
Meanwhile Hamas is saying "Stay in your homes."
