Hamas militants fired thousands of rockets and sent dozens of fighters into Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip in an unprecedented surprise early morning attack during a major Jewish holiday. Israel says it’s now at war with Hamas and launched airstrikes in Gaza, The strength, sophistication and timing of the attack shocked Israelis.
MarkHertling
@MarkHertling
Operation “Al Aqsa Storm” isn’t the typical Hamas attack.
Israel is facing attacks on multiple domains & fronts, from an opponent with allies & supporters (Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, Iran, even Russia), during a symbolic time (50th anniversary of Yom Kippur).
Much more complex.
Marc Polymeropoulos
@Mpolymer
Israeli intel has sophisticated technology, plus HUMINT and SIGINT coverage, that blankets the West Bank/Gaza. It's their raison d'etre. How this happened-the colossal intel failure-is incomprehensible. Having worked with Israelis, plus time in West Bank and Gaza, I'm stunned.
I'd add, what about the US IC? ....and Egyptian intelligence? Other Arab services? Jordanians, Saudis and Qataris? Did absolutely ever intel service in region miss this? So many questions.
Starts in 1948.A surprise, coordinated assault on Israel by Palestinian militants on Saturday — one of the deadliest and most brazen in years — brought renewed attention to an old problem: a conflict that has vexed the Middle East for decades.
The roots of the conflict and mistrust are deep and complex, predating the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. The past seven decades have witnessed war, uprisings and, at times, glimmers of hope for compromise. Here is a timeline, including the latest developments from the Gaza Strip:
Yeah, it did. There's much arguing in the comments about how fair or unfair it is to the Palestinians or the Israelis.
Porter Anderson
@Porter_Anderson
Media: @MarkHertling to @wolfblitzer points out that in addition to the emergence of 'a new style of warfare that #Hamas is learning from their partners in #Iran, who are taking it from their partners in #Russia,' the #UnitedStates "does not have an ambassador in #Israel right now. There has been one nominated, but he hasn't been approved. We have the chargé in the embassy in Israel, connecting ourselves with this operation. The @DeptofDefense has a lot of people there and they will get the information, but given the current situation not only in Israel but in our own government, we are going to be challenged to react to this, given the chaos that's going on in #Congress right now. We don't have a leader in Congress to bring things to the floor about what we might do as a nation to support Israel. There are certain things in effect that will continue on, but this is going to be very challenging, not only for the various militaries of the world but also for the governments, to deal with this while we're dealing with several other crises. I'd suggest the timing of this by Hamas is not surprising. They know when to take advantage of these kinds of things."
No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen @NoLieWithBTC wrote: Republicans are spreading a coordinated lie right now.
No US taxpayer money went to Iran or Hamas. This is a blatant disinformation campaign being waged by Republicans today.
EU foreign policy chief calls for immediate release of Israeli hostages from Gaza
Today, 1:39 pm 1
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell calls for the immediate release of Israeli hostages who were kidnapped and taken to Gaza amid a massive assault by the Hamas terror group.
“News of civilians taken as hostages in their homes or to Gaza are appalling,” Borrell writes on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.
“This is against international law,” he writes. “Hostages must be released immediately.”
The Hamas terror group has published footage showing its members capturing a number of Israeli soldiers during an attack on a military base on the border with the Gaza Strip this morning.
Other clips circulated online have purported to show Israeli civilians taken hostage by the terror group.
The IDF has yet to comment on the allegations.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_ ... from-gaza/
Person A
No leaders in the Arab world give a shit about [The Palestinians]
But they have to keep up appearances to appease the populations
B
They're a convenient source for second/etc. wives, which would stop if Palestine stopped being a festering shithole.
C
I'm pretty sure the Saudis and the Israelis have a back-back channel where they've been working together for a while, esp. re: Iran and I doubt that's going away; all that's going away is overt normalization.
Hamas are being their usual "we dare you to kill everybody in Gaza" selves, only this time they might get the dare fully taken up--the Israeli military tends to settle for a 10-to-1 ratio in retaliatory deaths but I doubt they'll stop there this time; but I suspect the deeper plan here on Hamas' part is to bait the Israeli government into widening the war just to show how tough they are, and getting in deep shit as a result. That is likely the one thing the US absolutely doesn't want to see happen, so here comes a test of what the US can do to restrain Israel if it really really needs to.
One thing's for sure: the Israeli military wasn't kidding that the far right's grab for power has weakened the capacity of the security services, because one of the best intelligence services in the world basically completely missed signs of a huge attack.
D
Yeah, agreed on all that.
Israeli reporting that most settlements have been retaken
So what they decide to do tomorrow is going to be the lock on if this escalates very badly or not (it will)
I mean, in fairness, there are very few ways to violate both the established borders of a sovereign people and long-standing norms of international law.
Israeli forces fight to drive out Hamas militants as death toll passes 600
Published 24 minutes ago
By Yolande Knell, Rushi Abu Alouf & David Gritten
BBC News, in Jerusalem, Gaza City and London
Israeli security forces are carrying out operations to rescue hostages taken by Palestinian militants from Gaza and clear areas they seized on Saturday.
The military said troops had secured 22 locations by Sunday morning but were still sweeping through another eight.
The surprise attack by hundreds of gunmen from Hamas, under the cover of intense rocket fire, has reportedly killed at least 600 people in Israel.
More than 370 people in Gaza have been killed in retaliatory Israeli strikes.
And 400 Palestinian gunmen have been killed and dozens arrested during the fighting in Israel, according to the Israeli military.
Saturday saw Israel's deadliest day of violence since the Yom Kippur war 50 years ago.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday night that Israel was going into a "long and difficult war". He also warned Hamas, which governs Gaza, that its hideouts would be reduced to "rubble".
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said it was on the "verge of a great victory".
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67045138
'The Guest’: the Palestinian mastermind behind deadly Israel incursion
Mohammed Deif is commander of the military wing of the militant group Hamas, which carried out Saturday’s attack
Mohammed Deif: people described him as single-minded about changing the nature of the Israeli-Arab conflict, and using violence as a means to achieve it
Mehul Srivastava
2 HOURS AGO
The voice on the recording was calm and precise as it delivered a message of horror.
“In light of the continuing crimes against our people, in light of the orgy of occupation and its denial of international laws and resolutions, and in light of American and western support, we’ve decided to put an end to all this,” said the speaker, filmed shrouded in shadows, “so that the enemy understands that he can no longer revel without being held to account.”
The voice heard on the video, released within hours of Saturday’s attack on Israel unfolding, purported to belong to Mohammed Deif, commander of the military wing of the Palestinian militant group Hamas and mastermind of the incursion into Israel. The mass raid in the early hours of Saturday has so far killed at least 600 people in Israel, left more than 2,000 Israelis injured and taken his decades-long campaign against the Jewish state to a brutal and unpredictable new level.
Even as Deif’s message was being broadcast, hundreds of Hamas fighters were breaching the border fence between the blockaded Gaza Strip and Israeli territory, fanning out across southern Israel under the cover of thousands of rockets.
Within hours, Hamas had scored an unprecedented first strike against Israel while also taking dozens of hostages — estimated on Sunday to number about 100 — back to its teeming coastal enclave. Hamas’s social media channels simultaneously released slickly produced videos showing its militants paragliding over the border and gruesome images of dead soldiers and terrified Israeli civilians.
For Deif, whose nom de guerre meaning “Guest” is taken as a reference to the practice of Palestinian fighters spending each night at the home of a different sympathiser in order to evade Israeli intelligence, the assault was his most audacious, and deadly, yet.
Hunted by Israel for decades, and almost killed in an air strike 20 years ago that reportedly left him in a wheelchair after losing an arm and a leg, Deif’s ability to outwit Israel’s military while killing soldiers and civilians alike has earned him the reverence of Palestinian militants.
https://www.ft.com/content/d52e8653-8ee ... fb5e1794c9
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and hi staff safely departed Israel on Sunday, a day after being forced to shelter in place as Hamas launched a barrage of thousands of rockets in a deadly surprise attack on Israel, a spokesperson for the senator said.
"Senator Booker and accompanying staff were in Jerusalem when Hamas launched their attacks against Israel on Saturday, and sheltered in place for their safety," Maya Krishna-Rogers, a spokesperson for Booker, said in a statement. "We are grateful that Senator Booker and our colleagues were able to safely depart Israel earlier today."
WASHINGTON — The office of Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., said he isn’t backing down on his monthslong blockade on hundreds of military promotions, even amid Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel, a close U.S ally.
“The Pentagon clearly thinks forcing taxpayers to facilitate abortion is more important than confirming their top nominees without a vote. They could end this situation TODAY by dropping their illegal and immoral policy and get everyone confirmed rapidly, but they refuse,” Tuberville spokesperson Steve Stafford said in a statement to NBC News. “If the Biden administration wants their nominees confirmed then Senate Democrats can do what Coach just did in September and file a cloture petition to force a vote.”
The news was first reported by Politico. “Coach" refers to Tuberville’s past as a college football coach.
Hundreds have died in the ongoing battle Hamas launched against Israel over the weekend, with Hamas fighters having also taken a number of civilians and soldiers hostage. The State Department is working to verify reports that Americans were killed and taken hostage, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday on NBC News' "Meet the Press."
Note: video clip I did see shows scores of burnt out cars along the road to/from the festival.Israeli rescue service: 260 bodies removed from music festival
Israeli rescue service Zaka said that its parademics have removed approximately 260 bodies from a music festival that was attacked by Hamas.
Videos posted online appeared to show festival goers running frantically and getting into cars following the attacks.
“We didn’t even have any place to hide because we were at [an] open space,” festival goer Tal Gibly told CNN.
“Everyone got so panicked and started to take their stuff,” she added.
in https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/ ... atest-news
