Hamas fires 7000 rockets at Israel, starting major war

[ZoWie]

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-687 ... n=BBCS_BBC

The White House has just published an official record of the call between the president and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

It says the two leaders discussed the situation in Gaza, with Biden "emphasising that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable".

Biden is also said to have made clear the need for Israel to "announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers".

The readout adds that Biden told his Israeli counterpart, the US's policy "with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps" - and stressed that an immediate ceasefire "is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians".

[bradman]

A rumor's been floating around on some questionable sites the last few days. While not one of my favorite sites, BI has finally picked some of it up....

https://www.yahoo.com/news/early-war-id ... 00680.html
Business Insider
Early on in the war, IDF gave clearance to allow 20 civilian deaths for every low-ranking Hamas suspect, intelligence sources said: report
.More than 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed, according to the city's health ministry.

.A new report reveals some of the IDF's methodology for targeting militants — including an AI system.

.The IDF set a ratio for how many civilians could be killed for every Hamas member, the report said.

During the early weeks of the Israel-Hamas war, the Israel Defense Forces established a ratio for the number of civilian deaths in Gaza that would be permissible for every Hamas militant killed, according to a new report.

A joint report from +972 Magazine, a Tel Aviv-based outlet, and Local Call unveiled some of the methodology behind the IDF's targeting of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants in Gaza based on interviews with six Israeli intelligence officers. The Guardian was also provided exclusive access to the testimonies from the six officers.

First time i've heard of this +972 Magazine. The article posted has links to it. Not sure what to make of it quite yet....
https://www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-israeli-army-gaza/

[Toonces]

The "Where's Daddy?" thing has been floating around several sites, and I'm led to believe it's a thing.

It doesn't seem to matter to the AI if the intended target is home or not, so it will kill the target family instead, women, or children, and innocent males (they generally get left out of the conversations)

[bradman]

The whole article from the 927 link is very disturbing.

[bradman]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/israel-gaza- ... 00526.html
IDF says there were 3 strikes on WCK convoy, misidentified worker as Hamas gunman: 'Misjudgment'

"After the vehicles left the warehouse where the aid had been unloaded, one of the commanders mistakenly assumed that the gunmen were located inside the accompanying vehicles and that these were Hamas terrorists. The forces did not identify the vehicles in question as being associated with WCK," the IDF said in a statement Friday.

"Following a misidentification by the forces, the forces targeted the three WCK vehicles based on the misclassification of the event and misidentification of the vehicles as having Hamas operatives inside them, with the resulting strike leading to the deaths of seven innocent humanitarian aid workers," the statement continued.

The report said there were three strikes on the convoy. It also said WCK workers hit in the first vehicle were hit again while moving to another vehicle in the convoy.

[bold] Given the information from the 927 link .....I kinda sounds like AI may have fingerprints all over this.

[ZoWie]

Vietnam all over again. Kill em all let God sort em out.

[Motor City]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RmNJH4UN3s

Lavender & Where's Daddy: How Israel Used AI to Form Kill Lists & Bomb Palestinians in Their Homes

The Israeli publications +972 and Local Call have exposed how the Israeli military used an artificial intelligence program known as Lavender to develop a "kill list" in Gaza that includes as many as 37,000 Palestinians who were targeted for assassination with little human oversight.

A second AI system known as "Where's Daddy?" tracked Palestinians on the kill list and was purposely designed to help Israel target individuals when they were at home at night with their families. The targeting systems, combined with an "extremely permissive" bombing policy in the Israeli military, led to "entire Palestinian families being wiped out inside their houses," says Yuval Abraham, an Israeli journalist who broke the story after speaking with members of the Israeli military who were "shocked by committing atrocities."

Abraham previously exposed Israel for using an AI system called "The Gospel" to intentionally destroy civilian infrastructure in Gaza, including apartment complexes, universities and banks, in an effort to exert "civil pressure" on Hamas. These artificial intelligence military systems are "a danger to humanity," says Abraham. "AI-based warfare allows people to escape accountability."

It reminds me of the system used in Michigan to criminalize innocent unemployed people applying for benefits. Concentrated information and information processing, its much like concentrated wealth and its effect on democracies or concentrated firepower for sale to the public and its effects on schools, grocery stores, movie theatres and public places.

[Motor City]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB68gAOWCu0

Her nephew was held by Hamas for 54 days. She wants Israel to do more

Yael Lichi, whose nephew was held hostage by Hamas for 54 days, says it's time for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step down because he is standing in the way of a hostage deal. 'We just want them home,' Lichi says.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPEUz55A3G4

Father of man held by Hamas wants more focus on freeing hostages

Jonathan Dekel-Chen, whose 35-year-old son Sagui is being held hostage in Gaza, says it's been 'six months of horror' for the families of Hamas hostages — and for the people of Gaza.

Hostage families remain in suffering and separation with no relief in sight. There are lives that can be saved but all the focus from those in power is on death and darkness.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Obe2cqa6gE
Israeli MPs shout down families of hostages in angry Knesset clash

Hardline Israeli MPs shouted at relatives of hostages captured by Hamas as they clashed over a bill to impose the death penalty on convicted terrorists.

Right-wing members of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, told families they were being exploited by Hamas during the ugly confrontation.

It came as relatives of hostages told MPs to “stop talking about killing Arabs and start speaking about saving Jews” during the row, which highlighted how divisions over the conflict are deepening in Israel.

The families were attending the Knesset on Monday to oppose the death penalty bill, which could be applied to Hamas attackers.

[Toonces]

Netanyahu doesn't want the hostages released. It's used as a reason for his continued actions in Palestine. So he can remove them from the land, and absorb Gaza into Israel. The war also keeps him in power.

This is what happens when you have authoritarians in power, countless people suffer.

The best way to stop them is never to let them get power. Yet, segments of the population are OK with it, convinced they won't be the ones to suffer. They are mistaken. Eventually, everyone is a target, because everyone is a potential threat to the power.

[ZoWie]

Netanyahu never wins the popular vote, but he's the best at gaming the arcane constitutional process, so he always manages to form the winning coalition. One has to wonder how he does it so consistently.

[bird]

Netanyahu never wins the popular vote, but he's the best at gaming the arcane constitutional process, so he always manages to form the winning coalition. One has to wonder how he does it so consistently.

Cui bono.

[Motor City]

30,000-plus lives lost: Visualizing the death and destruction of Israel's war in Gaza

Situation reports from the World Health Organization show how casualties have climbed. In the below visualization, the WHO data is separated into two colors - blue for those reported as people killed in Israel and green for those reported killed in Gaza – Israeli military data was added showing soldiers killed.

[Motor City]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7S3aXA1Rwo

Sen. Bernie Sanders: U.S. Must Threaten to Cut Off Funding for Israel

After October 7th, when Hamas murdered 1,200 Israelis, Senator Bernie Sanders spoke out in favor of Israel’s right to defend itself. Now he says Israel is violating international law, arguing that “the United States cannot continue to be complicit in the horror that is taking place now." Senator Sanders joins the program from Capitol Hill to discuss America’s politics at home and abroad.

[Toonces]

Reports say that Iran has launched drones against Israel. It is also reported that they will take hours to get to Israel. This is according to the IDF. I've not seen any corroboration.

Given my limited war knowledge, I'm not entirely sure how effective it will be, if your weapons take hours to reach the target.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_ ... to-arrive/

https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-new ... %3A26%3A02

[ap215]

Liar.

Trump blames Biden for Iran strike on Israel: ‘It would not have happened if we were in office’

Former President Trump on Saturday ripped into President Biden over Iran’s recent attack against Israel, arguing it would not be occurring if were still in the Oval Office.

“I want to say God bless the people of Israel — they’re under attack right now,” Trump said Saturday during a rally in Schnecksville, Penn. “That’s because we show great weakness. This would not happen.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4 ... ke-israel/

[JoeMemphis]

Liar.

Trump blames Biden for Iran strike on Israel: ‘It would not have happened if we were in office’

Former President Trump on Saturday ripped into President Biden over Iran’s recent attack against Israel, arguing it would not be occurring if were still in the Oval Office.

“I want to say God bless the people of Israel — they’re under attack right now,” Trump said Saturday during a rally in Schnecksville, Penn. “That’s because we show great weakness. This would not happen.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4 ... ke-israel/

Who is to say what the Iranians would have done. It easy to make the claim. No way to prove it. I do think this administration and the Obama administration were much more accommodating to the Iranians. I don’t see it as a strategy that has worked.

[gounion]

Who is to say what the Iranians would have done. It easy to make the claim. No way to prove it. I do think this administration and the Obama administration were much more accommodating to the Iranians. I don’t see it as a strategy that has worked.

So as always you’re for war first and questions later, right?

Tell me, we’re not supposed to say anything bad about Israel, or we’re all anti-semites and pro-Hamas. Are YOU proud of what the Israeli settlers did the other day? Or will you just run from the post like always? https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/12/middleea ... tlers-intl

Hundreds of armed Israeli settlers stormed a village in the occupied West Bank on Friday, setting fire to several homes and cars in one of the largest attacks by settlers this year, according to Palestinian officials.

At least one Palestinian man was killed by gunfire in the village of Al-Mughayyir, east of Ramallah, according to the head of the village council Amin Abu-Alia, who is related to the deceased.

About 25 others were also injured in the rampage, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah, the scale of which has not been seen since hundreds of settlers stormed through the villages of Turmusayya and Huwara in two separate incidents last year.

According to Abu-Alia, Israeli security forces had informed Palestinian officials that the settlers were looking for an Israeli teenager who had gone missing earlier in the day.

He estimated that between 1,000 and 1,200 settlers surrounded the village, and around 500 stormed it just after midday local time on Friday, blocking all the roads in the area.

The settlers attacked the village, raided homes, and fired guns at residents, he said. Videos obtained by CNN show parts of the village burning, with smoke billowing over several buildings and settlers lobbing rocks. Houses and cars are seen completely burned up, with sounds of gunfire and clashes heard in the background.

[ZoWie]

Many of the settlers are paramilitaries organized into de facto militias. Not all, but many. Some of the "settlements" are essentially forward bases. Not all, but some. Some of these disputed areas are mazes of checkpoints and roadblocks, making a routine commute to work take hours if you're Palestinian. This causes extreme resentment.

Your papers, please. How very WWII.

Iran doesn't have The Bomb, for now anyway. They may be dickering with N. Korea to purchase such a weapon, and they're certainly making plenty of weapons-grade uranium and maybe plutonium themselves, but nothing's known for sure.

Iran has been a problem ever since the US propped up the Shah, causing the Islamic Revolution which put the fanatics into power. That's been the cause of several historic disasters for the US economy, and at least one war.

Drumpf talks out both sides of his mouth on the subject. He's not a statesman, but he plays one on TV.

[Toonces]

Iran attacked US bases while Donald was in charge, any notion that they wouldn't have done what they did if he was president, is laughable.

[Motor City]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U1gfV45zJw

Rebel against the wars they sell

[JoeMemphis]

Iran attacked US bases while Donald was in charge, any notion that they wouldn't have done what they did if he was president, is laughable.

Iran has been an enemy of the US for decades. If they see an opportunity they will take it regardless of the party or individual who sits in the oval. Be it Trump or Biden.

[Glennfs]

Liar.

Trump blames Biden for Iran strike on Israel: ‘It would not have happened if we were in office’

Former President Trump on Saturday ripped into President Biden over Iran’s recent attack against Israel, arguing it would not be occurring if were still in the Oval Office.

“I want to say God bless the people of Israel — they’re under attack right now,” Trump said Saturday during a rally in Schnecksville, Penn. “That’s because we show great weakness. This would not happen.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4 ... ke-israel/

It is nice to speculate but, speculation does not change the fact all this is happening while a democrat is in office.

[ZoWie]

There's a causal texture to all this going back to WWII, at a minimum, and the dawn of civilization at the earliest roots. Gross oversimplifications do nothing except cause false hopes that make the problem worse. At a minimum, we need better leadership in Israel and a general rejection of extremism everywhere else in the region. That's going to take a lot of work and it's going to be a glacially slow process, so it's best that we start now.

As with all political problems, a lot of the work will have to be economic.

[JoeMemphis]

There's a causal texture to all this going back to WWII, at a minimum, and the dawn of civilization at the earliest roots. Gross oversimplifications do nothing except cause false hopes that make the problem worse. At a minimum, we need better leadership in Israel and a general rejection of extremism everywhere else in the region. That's going to take a lot of work and it's going to be a glacially slow process, so it's best that we start now.

As with all political problems, a lot of the work will have to be economic.

Glacially slow is an understatement isn’t it? I mean these folks have been fighting for centuries. As for better leadership in Israel, that is up to the Israelis. We could use some of that better leadership around here.

[gounion]

It is nice to speculate but, speculation does not change the fact all this is happening while a democrat is in office.

Just like you blame Democrats for Bush destroying the economy, even though he'd been President for seven years.