Israel - Palestinian militants launch massive attack, 7 Oct 2023 #2

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  • #901
  • #902
In addition to people from other countries being evacuated on flights, some are being evacuated by ship. (Read an article posted earlier here.) Some said people would be taken to Cyprus, then could make their way home from there.

Was just checking some of the maritime trackers. I wonder if these are some of the evacuation ships?



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  • #903

Human Rights Watch accuses Israel of using controversial munition​


1697160782887.jpeg

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Pictures taken by wire agencies in Gaza showed white streaks in the sky


Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Israel of using white phosphorus, a controversial munition, in its bombings of the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

The highly combustible chemical is sometimes used by militaries to mark areas. But it can also severely burn people and it is highly dangerous when used as a weapon, especially if launched into crowded areas.

Israel's military told the Reuters news agency that it was "currently not aware of the use of weapons containing white phosphorous in Gaza". It did not comment on Lebanon.

HRW said it had obtained and analysed videos filmed in Gaza and Lebanon that appeared to show white phosphorus artillery shells exploding. It also highlighted pictures taken by the AFP news agency in Gaza showing white streaks in the sky.
White phosphorus ignites when it comes into contact with oxygen, producing dense white smoke.

"The use of white phosphorus in Gaza, one of the most densely populated areas in the world, magnifies the risk to civilians and violates the international humanitarian law prohibition on putting civilians at unnecessary risk," the rights group said in a statement.

White phosphorus is not banned under international law because it has legal uses, but because of the harmful effects it can have on humans, their use is tightly regulated.

Israel's armed forces used white phosphorus as smokescreen during its 2008-2009 offensive in Gaza. Several rights groups alleged war crimes at that time. The military had said in 2013 that it would phase out using the chemical as camouflage.

 
  • #904
Former Hamas chief Khaled Mashal called for Friday to be a global day of rage and jihad in support of the massacre carried out by Hamas this past week. Jewish institutions and cities with a large Jewish presence have increased security. It's 2023. But it feels a lot like 1938.

 
  • #905
  • #906
  • #907

'A marketing strategy around the world'​

The Washington Institute's Margolin said she believes that Hamas-led attacks were designed by the group to elicit a response from Israel seemingly so "disproportionate" that it would draw international condemnation and overshadow memories of Hamas's own violence.

But the deaths of many Palestinians could also lead to new supporters for its cause.

"[It] could intensify grievances against Israel, strengthening a revenge impact among the Palestinian population," said Max Abrahms, an associate political science professor at Northeastern University in Boston, and an expert in international security, especially in the areas of terrorism and counterterrorism.

"It could serve as essentially a marketing strategy around the world to potential supporters that Hamas is a leading organization within the broader Islamist movement, which could lead to more supporters, more money being spent," he said.

"I honestly think that Hamas wants Israel to kill as many Palestinian civilians as possible in order to validate their narrative that Israel is evil."

Hassner, of the University of California, agreed, saying that terrorists often rely on the notion that the enemy is going to respond disproportionately and that this will come at a great cost to the enemy.

"So perhaps the idea was to create such acts of outrage that the Israelis simply would not be able to fight in a restrained way," he said.

Many other theories by other analysts at link.
I agree. Hamas knows exactly what they're doing...
 
  • #908

Human Rights Watch accuses Israel of using controversial munition​


View attachment 453035
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Pictures taken by wire agencies in Gaza showed white streaks in the sky


Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Israel of using white phosphorus, a controversial munition, in its bombings of the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

The highly combustible chemical is sometimes used by militaries to mark areas. But it can also severely burn people and it is highly dangerous when used as a weapon, especially if launched into crowded areas.

Israel's military told the Reuters news agency that it was "currently not aware of the use of weapons containing white phosphorous in Gaza". It did not comment on Lebanon.

HRW said it had obtained and analysed videos filmed in Gaza and Lebanon that appeared to show white phosphorus artillery shells exploding. It also highlighted pictures taken by the AFP news agency in Gaza showing white streaks in the sky.
White phosphorus ignites when it comes into contact with oxygen, producing dense white smoke.

"The use of white phosphorus in Gaza, one of the most densely populated areas in the world, magnifies the risk to civilians and violates the international humanitarian law prohibition on putting civilians at unnecessary risk," the rights group said in a statement.

White phosphorus is not banned under international law because it has legal uses, but because of the harmful effects it can have on humans, their use is tightly regulated.

Israel's armed forces used white phosphorus as smokescreen during its 2008-2009 offensive in Gaza. Several rights groups alleged war crimes at that time. The military had said in 2013 that it would phase out using the chemical as camouflage.

The same white phosphorus the terrorists used on Israeli civilians?
 
  • #909
28s ago

Netanyahu: 'Difficult days await'​

As Israel’s unity government was sworn in, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a speech in which he promised, referring to hostages taken by Hamas, “We will not slacken in the effort to bring them back home.”

“At the same time, we are united in the same great determination against the abhorrent and murderous enemy,” he said.

Referring to Hamas, he called for countries that “maintain their presence” to face sanctions.

As he ended the speech, he said, “Difficult days await us”.

Here is some of the speech:

Strength of will and endurance are synonyms for the Jewish people. We will also meet this current test, even though it is almost too difficult to bear. The Shabbat of the 7th of October will be etched as a cursed and dark day in the annals of nations. For us, the Jewish people, it is the most harrowing day since the Holocaust.

We will find these accursed murders […] with full force and we will defeat them. We will wipe them off the face of the earth. The time will come when we will rebuild the destroyed communities. We will rebuild the area around the Gaza Strip and we will restore it as a flourishing and prosperous area.

My friends, difficult days await us but we will not be deterred and we will not give in.

 
  • #910
  • #911
Live updates: Israel-Hamas war news (cnn.com)
28 min ago

Hamas trained for its deadly attack in plain sight and less than a mile from Israel’s border​

The footage is from the last two years, but it is chillingly prescient.

In a December 2022 video, Hamas fighters can be seen flooding a training area, shooting rockets and capturing pretend prisoners as they surround mock Israeli buildings.

The camp, CNN analysis shows, had just been constructed, and was very close to Erez Crossing, the pedestrian passageway between Gaza and Israel that Hamas fighters ultimately breached last weekend in a bloody attack — which killed over 1,200 people in Israel.

Another video taken more than a year ago, shows Hamas fighters practicing take-offs, landings and assaults with paragliders — the same unusual mode that Hamas deployed with lethal effect in the same October 7 attack.

A CNN investigation analyzed almost two years of training and propaganda video released by Hamas and its affiliates to reveal the months of preparations that went into last week’s attack, finding that militants trained for the onslaught in at least six sites across Gaza.

Two of those sites, including the arid training site shown in the December video, were a little more than a mile from the most fortified and patrolled section of the Gaza-Israel border. Of the remaining sites: one is located in central Gaza, and the other three in far south Gaza.

Two years of satellite imagery, also reviewed by CNN, show no indication of an offensive Israeli military action against any of the six identified sites.

Not only was there activity in the last several months at the camps, but some camps also absorbed surrounding farmland, converting it from agriculture to barren area for training in the last two years, according to satellite imagery.

[...]

Read more about Hamas' training that led up to the October 7 attack.
 
  • #912
  • #913
I agree. Hamas knows exactly what they're doing...
Also agree this was the game plan, to provoke Israel to attack and then say "look how awful Israel is." Hamas was the catalyst to "justify" other terrorists to join in.

jmo
 
  • #914
Also agree this was the game plan, to provoke Israel to attack and then say "look how awful Israel is." Hamas was the catalyst to "justify" other terrorists to join in.

jmo
Placing their munitions where civilians live. Hiding missiles in schools and hospitals. Knowing very well Israel will go after that.
 
  • #915
  • #916
  • #917
2m ago
US law enforcement agencies have escalated security measures to safeguard Jewish and Muslim communities ahead of global pro-Palestinian protests expected on Friday, Reuters reports, but have urged members of the public to go about their daily routines.

Police in the two most populous US cities - New York and Los Angeles - said they would step up patrols, especially around synagogues and Jewish community centers, though authorities insisted they were unaware of any specific, or credible threats.

“There’s no reason to feel afraid. No one should feel they have to alter their normal lives,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said at a news briefing on Thursday.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said his office had directed city police to “surge additional resources to schools and houses of worship to ensure they are safe and that our city remains a place of peace.”

Adams said extra police patrols were being deployed in Jewish and Muslim communities alike.

 
  • #918
  • #919
I believe that Hamas only believes in their quest to destroy all Jews.
You would be correct it’s in their charter. Without minimizing the Palestinian concerns, Hamas and this current situation is about hate not land.
 
  • #920
4:59 am

If Israel doesn’t stop bombing Gaza, war may open on ‘other fronts,’ Iran foreign minister warns

Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hossein Amirabdollahian says that if Israel’s bombardment of Gaza continues, the war may open on “other fronts,” an apparent reference to the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah.

Amirabdollahian has arrived in Beirut where he was greeted by representatives of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad along with Lebanese officials.

“In light of the continued aggression, war crimes, and siege on Gaza, opening other fronts is a real possibility,” Amirabdollahian says, speaking to journalists on his arrival.

Early Thursday, Amirabdollahian had visited Iraq, where he made similar statements after a meeting with Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.

Questions have swirled around the extent of Iran’s role in the unprecedented surprise attack launched by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel on Saturday.

Hamas officials have denied that Iran was directly involved in planning the attack or green-lighted it, and to date no government worldwide has offered direct evidence that Iran orchestrated the attack. However, many have pointed to Iran’s long sponsorship of Hamas that has included training, funding and providing it with weapons.
 
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