news

Israel is preparing for a "multilateral operation" from the sea, ground and air, defense minister says

Israel is preparing for a "multilateral operation" on Hamas from the "air, ground, and sea," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a video statement released Monday.

Gallant has completed a tour of the Ashdod Navy base, where he said he "conducted a situation assessment of naval operations" and "toured the shores on Israel’s southern border together with Navy Commander VADM David Saar Salama," according to the Ministry of Defense on Monday.

He commended the work of soldiers and commanders in "thwarting many attacks that would have taken place" against Israel, Gallant said in a video statement filmed during the visit.

“My message to the soldiers – well done, you did an excellent job! Keep preparing for our operation, it will come soon. We are preparing thoroughly for the next step – a multilateral operation in the air, ground, and sea," Gallant added. "Do your work, get ready. We will need you.”

https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-10-23-23/h_419603129343e9e4f686bb5b6268359e

Anyone think releasing the hostages is a stalling tactic? Obviously Israel doesn’t give a shit but I could see the strategy being to slowly and gradually release them over the next month in the hopes that Israel will delay the ground invasion until they’re all out.

A new "The media did nothing wrong" think piece, including the totally mindblowing conclusion that the hospital was bombed by Israel (duh).

https://sethabramson.substack.com/p/from-start-to-finish-major-media

At the rate things are going those Oct 7th POWs are gonna cause a civil war in Israel

I wonder what the fuck the IDF is up to.

‘Humanitarian efforts to expand in southern Gaza’: Israeli army

The Israeli army’s top spokesperson has urged once again residents of Gaza City and northern Gaza to move south of the Wadi Gaza river to “safer areas” where they would receive humanitarian aid, including water, food and medicine. “Tomorrow, the humanitarian efforts to Gaza, led by Egypt and the United States, will be expanding,” Daniel Hagari also said in a video message recorded on Saturday.

An other military spokesperson confirmed to Al Jazeera that the widening of humanitarian efforts would take place on Sunday. He wouldn’t elaborate on the nature of such efforts. Since the start of the war, 87 trucks have been allowed into the besieged enclave through the Egypt-controlled Rafah border crossing.

They carried water, food and medicine with UN agencies warning that it was a fraction of what was needed. By comparison, in pre-war time an average of 100 aid trucks used to enter in Gaza everyday, according to UNRWA. No agreement has been reached yet on letting fuel into Gaza causing great difficulties for life-saving humanitarian operations there.

- Al Jazeera

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has told Israel’s Eli Cohen that Beijing is “deeply saddened” by the large number of civilian deaths in the escalating Israel-Hamas war.

Yi, acknowledged that every country had a right to self-defence, but “they should abide by international humanitarian law and protect the safety of civilians,” China’s state media reported on Tuesday.

Yi is due to visit the United States later this week.

"So if you think about it, Gaza is the Free Folk, Ned Stark and the Starks are Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah...."

Huge UAW victory against Ford.

Thank you President Biden for standing with the workers!

WHATABOUTISM!

BREAKING: Thousands of Israeli soldiers have entered Gaza - Spectator Index

Not sure how true tbh

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on residents of the country to protest because of the start of the Israeli operation. - Twitter

Military spokesman in Egypt: Our air forces are intensifying the work of securing our entire airspace

The Jordanian Foreign Ministry has warned that Israel's ground operation in the Gaza Strip will result in a "humanitarian disaster of epic proportions for years to come."

Wall Street Journal: American officials said that the threats facing American forces constitute a source of grave concern

The Wall Street Journal reported on American officials: American forces in the region will be targeted as soon as the ground incursion into Gaza begins.

Israeli tanks were briefly in Gaza.

Here’s the latest on the war.

The Israeli military said on Thursday that it had briefly sent tanks into the northern Gaza Strip overnight as part of preparations for the next stage of fighting, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated that a ground invasion of the enclave was likely.

It was at least the second time in the conflict that Israel had conducted a limited ground raid in Gaza, after it said some troops had briefly entered the territory two weeks ago. The military said in a Telegram post that it had hit multiple targets and “operated to prepare the battlefield,” without offering details.

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https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/10/26/world/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news/heres-the-latest-on-the-war?smid=url-share

🟢 Hamas:

—

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:

We welcome the General Assembly’s resolution calling for an “immediate and permanent humanitarian ceasefire” and demand the immediate implementation of the resolution to bring fuel and relief materials to civilians.

We in the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) welcome the decision of the United Nations General Assembly calling for an “immediate, permanent, and continuous humanitarian ceasefire” that leads to an end to the aggression against our people in the Gaza Strip. We call on the General Assembly and the relevant international bodies to take measures to implement the decision immediately, in a way that enables the opening of crossings and bringing fuel and emergency relief aid into the Gaza Strip.

Islamic Resistance Movement - Hamas

Friday: 12 Rabi’ al-Thani 1445 AH

Corresponding to: October 27, 2023 AD

An actually accurate headline...

Live updates: Israel escalates its bombardment of Palestinians in Gaza | AP News

Simplicius' recent piece on Ukraine and a little on Israel.

My summary:

I never really know how much stock to put in the reports by certain Ukrainian soldiers and such (the plural of anecdote is not data after all) so I'll leave most of it out, though there is a report by a soldier in the 47th brigade - which was rotated away from the Zaporozhye front after taking such high losses that there were fears that the soldiers would mutiny, and sent to try and stop Russia around Avdeevka - that the casualties that they're experiencing are the most horrific in the entire conflict. Considering the absolute killing ground that Zaporozhye was and is, one shudders to think.

Anyway, over in Avdeevka, Russia has continued their very slow and steady advance, taking a slag heap and planting their flag on it, which the Ukrainians got pissy about and fired drones at the flag. Russia wants to gain control of the coal coke plant as it's a good position to watch over a large chunk of the battlefield here, so that'll be next on the agenda probably. Comparisons are being made by both sides to Bakhmut, and again to the appalling strategy of hold-territory-at-any-cost-to-prevent-embarrassment. A representative of a DPR brigade said that the town will fall "soon", which in Russian speak is "hopefully within this decade".

Ukraine is trying to make their Kherson D-day happen, but it's not going to happen. The logistics simply are not there. They aren't being sneaky ninjas, undercutting Russian defences by daringly finding a weak spot to cross the river and then continue onwards - they are being pounded on marshy river islands.

Rumors continue, as they have for the last month or two, of a new front soon opening up from Belgorod. Apparently Russia has withdrew most of their troops from Belarus and so an assault on Kiev isn't in the cards, but something around Kharkov might well be. Reports that Ukrainians are using 14-15 year olds now on that front to try and have some presence there but I don't really know how much stock to put in it. Russia may be trying to form some kind of south-bound offensive on the west side of the Oskil river, which doesn't mean that Kharkov itself has to be threatened, but we shall just have to wait and see.

Simplicius talks about Russia's Orlan reconnaissance drone, and how Ukraine is having a massive amount of trouble dealing with the extensive information that they give to Russia, so much so that Simplicius calls it “the single most successful combat drone in the history of warfare," far surpassing the Reapers and Predators that the US uses to bombard Afghani weddings. Tens of thousands of objects have been destroyed thanks to the Orlan. It is cheap, flexible, durable, and versatile - all things that the US can no longer make, and that Russia has generally excelled at. The anti-drone Volnorez jammers that Russia is putting on more and more armored vehicles are also briefly mentioned. Russia continues to repel fairly large (by Ukraine's standards) drone and missile attacks on Crimea without breaking much of a sweat. And Russian air defence is reportedly well on its way to figuring how to counter ATACMS.

In more international news, Russia has conducted their final tests on the Burevestnik missile, which is nuclear-powered and thus can essentially travel forever. This is causing some in the United States to freak the fuck out, because the problem is that their radar and missile detection is located along the logical places that they would expect Russia to strike from, and not, say, around the Mexican border, but now this missile gives Russia the ability to fire a missile, send it on its merry way skirting around known missile detection sites, do a loop-de-loop a dozen times over the Pacific ocean for funsies, and then land it through the US's southern border and hit their military factories - of which they already have pretty few. So US arms companies are scouting out places to put new radar sites.

Simplicius describes Israel as in a lose-lose situation. Israeli commanders have said that the operation will take 3 months, though it could be much more drawn out than that. If Israel stops, then the damage done to Gaza will only give Hamas more and more angry recruits and strengthen them, far from weakening them. If Israel goes in, then they might face horrific losses that the demoralized state might not be able to withstand. A former CIA chief has warned Israel about this. And this is just Gaza - Hezbollah could also cause extremely major problems. Regardless, it seems that Ukraine will be going through a bullet and artillery famine as deliveries to Israel are prioritized.

It seems like the US has been trying to pull Israel back from the brink and stop - or at least stall - the ground operation to try and get things set up. The US has a total of 4 THAAD batteries and 50 Patriot batteries, and they're sending a quarter of those to the Middle East. The US is even drawing up a plan to evacuate all American citizens from the region if worst comes to worst. Meanwhile, the Resistance has been busy too, with the Hezbollah-Israel border clashes amping up, the strikes on US bases in Iraq, and Yemen firing those missiles towards Israel that were shot down. There is a rumor that Russia is allowing Iran to use one of their military airbases in Syria to land their planes to facilitate arms transfers given that Israel keeps knocking Aleppo and Damascus airports out. Meanwhile, Lavrov went off to Iran, and Russia's deputy defence minister met with Iraq's ambassador and talked about the conflict.

I wonder if it’s taboo to take political stances on things in other countries like it is in America (my experience anyway)

In high school, I can remember no one taking a stance on anything and defaulting to the “middle” instead, even if they were the furthest thing from a centrist. Very much radiates not discussing your salary energy

Godamnit people need to talk about all the elephants in the room I swear to god because how else do you build coalition? Friends, sure, but why aren’t these things normalized

Meatball is campaigning via the Gaza war.

Emphasis mine.

Florida cargo flights arranged by DeSantis carried drones and body armor for Israel

The Israeli government procured the equipment and asked the state of Florida for help transporting it overseas, a source with knowledge of the arrangement told CNN. The supplies were included on two cargo planes that left Florida for Israel on October 17.

DeSantis’ office previously said the cargo flights carried “medical supplies, clothing items, hygiene products and children’s toys” that had been donated to help Israel in the aftermath of the attack by Hamas earlier this month, but it did not mention that the state was also carrying equipment for Israel that could be used in response to the war effort.

The governor’s office confirmed to CNN on Thursday the inclusion of the additional equipment.

“At the request of the Israeli Consul General in Miami, cargo planes contracted by Florida were used to transport healthcare and hospital supplies, drones, body armor, and helmets that first responders can use,” Jeremy Redfern, a spokesman for the governor’s office, said in a statement.

Redfern said that the governor’s office also worked with the Israeli consul general to “help get weapons and ammunition to Israel through private parties.” However, the source said Florida did not transport those supplies, and it’s unclear how the state aided Israel in the movement of munitions.

[Continues]

https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-10-26-23/h_234c329652009146b0a95177fb2fcdfb

Emphasis mine. I love how the NYT doesn't even bother to explain. But in so doing for libs who are actually thinking the settlers seem like a direct extension of the Israeli state.

Four more Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the Israeli-occupied West Bank overnight into Friday as violence continues to rise, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. Since Oct. 7 at least 110 Palestinians have been killed and another 1,900 wounded in clashes with Israeli forces or attacks by settlers, the ministry said.

The U.N. Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said it had recorded a significant increase in Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians and their property in the occupied territory since Oct. 7, with at least 146 such attacks. The agency added that amid the increase in violence at least 82 Palestinian households, comprising 607 people, have been displaced from their homes.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/10/27/world/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news/939bf05a-51a2-5fab-8741-6982f76d295e?smid=url-share

anybody have a theory on how escalation could go?

let's say like Hezbollah launches an assault while the IOF is bogged down trying to slog through Gazan streets. they push pretty hard against a token and demoralized IOF. the U.S. responds by targeting Hezbollah armored columns and support. Hezbollah succesfully strikes a U.S. carrier or escort with an Iranian anti-ship missile.

what could happen next? would this just wind up into a crazy mostly aerial, drone and missile conventional regional conflict? would the U.S. prepare for an invasion of Iran or Lebanon? would Russia decide to enter the skirmish if Syria is caught up?

what stage would tactical nuclear weapons possibly be considered?

and finally what would israel take to do a samson option and just decide to hurl 400 thermonuclear warheads in every direction, against friend and foe alike? and would the U.S. coup netanyahu or decapitate the Israeli strategic missile command (which i'm sure the U.S. knows EXACTLY where it is located) before they decide to just smash the table and end the world?

Chris Hayes "interviewed" a Norwegian doctor about the dire situation involving hospitals in Gaza. I didn't time the segment and I was listening to it the background. I have no idea how long it was. 5 minutes? Hayes hardly asked any questions. At the end of the "interview" - he didn't miss a step he thanked the doctor for his time and quickly moved on to the next segment.

TV news often goes hours speaking elliptically about the fucking "humanitarian crisis" in Gaza in passive constructions. When they they finally sort of cover the horror - Hayes's segment is typical. I think I'm beyond angry to something like nausea. In private I hope he at least acknowledges that he's a soulless corporate husk that's addicted to his sweet, sweet MSNBC compensation package so he doesn't rock the boat. But I wonder if he even does that.

The next segment was about the hostages and I changed the channel before the flood of questions started.

The UN General Assembly called for a humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Palestine

120 countries voted in favor, 45 abstained and 14 countries voted against

Israel and America voted against.

The representative of Israel in the United Nations after the approval of the resolution: The resolutions of the General Assembly have no legitimacy and importance.