quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
All the media sources state that Iran claims to have “shot down some drones” and that the explosions were possibly caused by unknown “infiltrators”, and that a retaliatory response isn’t necessary.

Translation- Israel fired a couple of accurate missile shots that essentially said “we can knock your attacks out of the sky and you are powerless to defend against obliteration if we so choose”. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this exact sentiment wasn’t conveyed to Tehran.

There may have been small drones launched by agents from within the country and shot down as Iran claims, but if so they were probably for target reconnaissance/damage assessment. Clearly that was not the only thing that happened, as per their version; there are suggestions that the actual attack was by air-launched ballistic missiles fired from F-15Is in Syrian airspace. Boosters found in Iraq imply a new variant of ROCKS, possibly based upon the two-stage "Blue" rather than the "Black" variant of the Sparrow family of BMD target missiles. Just like Iran, which seems to have targeted sites connected to the original Israeli strike on their Damascus embassy compound - an intelligence center in the Golan Heights (unsuccessfully), and two airbases which incurred minor damage from a reported total of nine ballistic missiles getting through - Israel apparently aimed for an airbase and/or drone factory at Isfahan linked to the Iranian barrage.

Looks to me like Israel did what they could manage with national means and without endangering the coalition which helped defend them against the Iranian strike. Particularly Jordania, which stuck its neck out shooting down drones and permitting use of its airspace for American, British and French aircraft to do the same. While their government has been one to have normalized relations with Israel the longest, their heavily Palestinian-descended population is actually one of the most anti-Israeli among Arabs, so they have to tread carefully; after the Iranian attack, they promptly declared they would shoot down anything crossing the other way, too. Overall, none of Israel's allies was going to stand for doing the same for them over and over again in an escalating spiral of strike and counter-strike. Iran downplaying the effects of Israel's response is a likely sign that the two of them will now zip their flies back up and return to the more indirect means of their decades-long shadow warfare against each other.

From what I'm hearing today the attack on Iran was limited in scope. A base that had nuclear elements to it were hit, but the nuclear elements were not the target. The Israelis basically went after bases that launched missiles or drones against them. Here's the kicker. They flashed a capability that Iran didn't know that they had. Guided glide bombs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glide_bomb

The planes that launched these munitions did so outside Iranian airspace. The bombs didn't show up on any radar. The Iranians knew nothing of them until they exploded. We'll see if the Iranians insist on being stupid. The Israelis have proven we can shoot your stupid shit down, and you can't even see ours coming.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/...y-during-iran-attack

According to Israeli army estimates, Iran fired some 30 cruise missiles, 120 ballistic missiles and 170 suicide drones that carried about 60 tons of warheads and explosives combined. While most of the projectiles were shot down before reaching Israel’s borders, two air force bases were lightly hit and a 7-year-old Israeli girl was seriously injured. Forces from the U.S., British and French militaries, as well as from several countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia and Jordan, participated in the operation.

"To coordinate such an attack is not an easy task because all three weapon systems have [different] velocities and performances," said Tal Inbar, a senior research fellow at Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance.

He said that the UAVs, mostly Iranian-produced Shahed 136s, would have been fired first because they move at the slowest pace; followed by the cruise missiles and finally the ballistic missiles, which have a relatively short flight time from Iran to Israel, depending on the launch site.

Inbar noted that Iran’s decision to use drones gave Israel several hours to "prepare itself to the maximum."

In addition to deploying advanced missile defense systems and scrambling fighter planes, he said Israel also put in place some levels of cyberprotection, including disrupting satellite navigation, which is effective in stopping some of the projectiles from reaching their targets.

"Ballistic missiles cannot be jammed because they use an internal navigation system, but this is not the case with drones," Inbar said, noting that Israelis have become used to GPS disturbances over the past six months.

Recent media reports also suggest that Israel deployed its new $1 billion spy plane, the Oron, which provided vital information that was used to track and destroy the drones and missiles in flight. The high-tech jet, which Israel unveiled at last year’s Paris Air Show, is equipped with thousands of advanced sensors. The Oron has the ability to scan vast terrain and gather an unprecedented amount of information at a considerable distance from the targets being tracked. When asked about the Oron spy plane, the IDF did not comment.

quote:

Originally posted by Voshterkoff:
And somehow we’re the suckers giving billions to every country involved.

And the sad part is the speaker of the house not even insisting to get something for border security of the US.

https://www.jpost.com/middle-e...-assassinated-798031

Entire IRGC command wing in Syria was eliminated in strike, Bloomberg reveals

The Bloomberg television network revealed overnight into Saturday that in the attack attributed to Israel at the Iranian consulate in Syria, the entire command hierarchy responsible for the activities of the Revolutionary Guards in Syria and Lebanon was killed. According to the report, "the senior officers were pivotal for Hezbollah's activities in the region."

According to the reports, General Mohammad Reza Zahedi and his deputy, Mohammad Hadi Rahimi, along with other officers who were killed, were certain that the consulate building next to the embassy was "the safest" in Damascus and that Israel would not dare to attack the site.

Before the airstrike on the consulate building in Damascus, the residences of the ambassador and the consul were supposed to be transferred to a new apartment complex further down the same street, where the two brothers of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad also live. Shortly before the attack, the senior ranking officials of the IRGC in Syria met on the second floor of the consulate building and decided to stay there.

The strike at the Iranian consulate in Syria led Iran, for the first time, to respond directly and attack Israel. Immediately after the assassination, Iran began suspecting that groups in Syria were involved in several assassination cases of IRGC personnel in the country over the past few years.

Iran’s suspicion focuses on 18 commanders who were assassinated over a short time in attacks that were attributed to Israel. This is according to a Syrian defector who opposed the Assad regime, who claims to have spoken with an Iranian official.

According to the Syrian defector, after the assassination of Raza Musawi in Syria in December 2023, a joint investigation between the two countries began, attempting to trace a possible security breach. However, at a certain point, Iran chose to conduct an independent investigation with Hezbollah, following concerns that the Syrian intelligence was interfering with the investigation.

The independent investigation concluded that the security breaches that led to the assassination were under high-level political and security cover, and it was unlikely that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was unaware of them.

The defector further added that what heightened suspicions in Tehran was that the Hezbollah operatives who were assassinated in the country were linked to Syrian security services. Their assassination was possible through espionage, using advanced technology.

https://historycollection.com/...he-conquest-of-hazor

'According to the Book of Joshua, Hazor was the site which was occupied by a powerful Canaanite king who assembled a confederation of Canaanite tribes to oppose the Israelites under Joshua following the fall of Jericho. The confederation included chariots of iron according to the biblical story. The army confronted Joshua after the Israelites had captured several cities in the southern regions of Canaan, as described in the first ten chapters of the Book of Joshua. When Joshua turned to the north as directed by God it was to complete the conquest of Canaan and the destruction of its people.

The Israelites defeated the Canaanite confederation in battle, after which the towns of Hazor, Madon, Anab, Debir, Achshaph, and Shimron were razed, their leaders hanged, and their population put to the sword in accordance with herem. Joshua lists the kings of the Canaan tribes which were defeated by the Israelites and describes their fate. There is no timetable for the conquest of Canaan, the only reference which can be made is that by the end of the campaigns Joshua is described as old and weak from the ravages of time, an observation attributed in the book to God himself. Canaan was divided by the conquerors into lands of the twelve tribes of Israel.'

https://hotair.com/ed-morrisse...e-very-soon-n3787111

The IDF is preparing to begin the ground operation in Rafah "very soon," beginning with a massive evacuation of over a million Palestinians, Kan 11 reported Tuesday evening, citing two American officials. ...

The IDF approved the latest plan for the Rafah operation at the beginning of this week after three previous plans were suggested. The US government has expressed firm opposition to an operation in Rafah without a credible plan to protect civilians.

"We are preparing to establish a joint operation with the United States. We understand the concern, but we will not be able to complete the mission without entering Rafah, which could also help relieve pressure on the hostage issue," the official stated.

.
Israeli Strikes More than 40 Hezbollah Sites, Defense Minister Claims South Lebanon Command is Decimated After Half of Hezbollah’s Commanders Killed

On Wednesday, Israel Defense Forces carried out a large wave of strikes against 40+ sites belonging to the terror group.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant claimed that the military has killed half of Hezbollah’s commanders in southern Lebanon.

“The other half are hiding or abandoning southern Lebanon,” said Yoav Gallant.

He said there would be further action in the months to come: “The coming period will be decisive” as Israel is facing “a number of alternatives” to bring security to the north.

The Times of Israel reports:

“Half of the Hezbollah commanders in south Lebanon have been eliminated… and the other half hide and abandon south Lebanon to IDF operations,” Gallant said, after holding an assessment at the Northern Command headquarters in Safed with the chief of the command, Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, and other top officers.

He said Israel’s main goal in the north was to return tens of thousands of Israelis displaced by Hezbollah’s daily attacks to their homes.

“We are dealing with a number of alternatives in order to establish this matter, and the coming period will be decisive in this regard,” Gallant said.

As the defense minister toured the Northern Command, the IDF said some 40 Hezbollah targets in the town of Ayta ash-Shab were hit within just several minutes by fighter jets and artillery shelling.

The strikes followed the terror group firing anti-tank missiles at northern Israel.

Lebanese journalist Ibrahim Rihan told the Al-Haddad channel, “The situation in southern Lebanon is embarrassing Hezbollah, given the depth of the IDF’s attacks”

“We see that in every attack, the Israeli army eliminates senior members of Hezbollah or operatives in the organization. And Hezbollah’s response is to shoot at Kiryat Shmona or outposts in the Golan at a limited depth of up to ten kilometers.”

On the face of this, it seems impressive that IDF knows exactly where to attack, pinpoint manner rather than shotgun.

I think if you are Hezbollah / Hamas and answer your cell phone, you find its an IDF smart bomb calling.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
I think if you are Hezbollah / Hamas and answer your cell phone, you find its an IDF smart bomb calling.

If it's from Bibi, it's not just a strongly worded tweet.

What a surprise. Not.

“Multiple leaders of the anti-Israel protests at college campuses across the nation have been revealed to be paid fellows of George Soros-connected groups.

Three of the major figures in the pro-Palestine encampments in US universities are fellows at the Soros-funded US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR), as reported by The New York Post.

USCPR 'community-based' fellows are paid up to $7,800 for their labor, while 'campus-based' fellows are given between $2,880 and $3,660 for spending eight hours a week organizing 'campaigns led by Palestinian organizations.'

The organization instructs its fellows to 'rise up' and spark 'revolution,' while specifically telling them to reject 'reform.'

It has received at least $300,000 from Soros’ Open Society Foundations since 2017. …”

DailyMail article:
https://mol.im/a/13353941

Hamas could stop this immediately. Return the hostages and surrender. The so called Palestinians could stop this as well. Turn in all Hamas members and cooperate with the IDF to return the hostages. Peace is in their hands.

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:
Hamas could stop this immediately. Return the hostages and surrender. The so called Palestinians could stop this as well. Turn in all Hamas members and cooperate with the IDF to return the hostages. Peace is in their hands.

That sums it up pretty well.

quote:

Originally posted by armored:

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:
Hamas could stop this immediately. Return the hostages and surrender. The so called Palestinians could stop this as well. Turn in all Hamas members and cooperate with the IDF to return the hostages. Peace is in their hands.

That sums it up pretty well.

They could also have recognized Israel and made peace, and ACCEPTED the two-state deal what was offered 20 years ago. They refused. Because they will not accept Israel's right to exist. Ever.

Yep, they could have all of the so-called "Rights" that they want. All they have to do in return is behave...and not kill people. You know, like any other civilized peoples.

The palestinians are lucky- They live in / next to the most vibrant, successful economy in the middle east. There's real jobs and opportunity in Israel.

https://twitter.com/RealSaaved...ier-in-gaza-n2638353

Palestinian terrorists fired mortar shells at a pier that is being constructed by U.S. forces to bring aid into Gaza

The mortar attack occurred as United Nations officials were touring the site with Israeli troops on the coast of central Gaza, the IDF says in response to a query on the incident.

The IDF says the UN officials were rushed to a shelter by troops amid the attack.

A Hamas official told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the militant group will resist any foreign military presence involved with the port project.

This is my shocked face.

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
https://twitter.com/RealSaaved...ier-in-gaza-n2638353

Palestinian terrorists fired mortar shells at a pier that is being constructed by U.S. forces to bring aid into Gaza

The mortar attack occurred as United Nations officials were touring the site with Israeli troops on the coast of central Gaza, the IDF says in response to a query on the incident.

The IDF says the UN officials were rushed to a shelter by troops amid the attack.

A Hamas official told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the militant group will resist any foreign military presence involved with the port project.

I'm reminded of the cartoon of the lumberjack cutting off the branch he is sat on...