Well the relative peace was nice while it lasted.

Is dougrr outsourcing his poasts?

Let’s see… who profits from this? Hmmm…

Star Wars

This dude has Raytheon stocks.

This may be due to how much Israel focuses on Gaza and how they are in conflict more often than they are with Hezbollah, but I suspect the targeted killings are on a different level vs. Hezbollah.

How much of targeted killings of Hamas officials is due to SIGINT and how much is paid narcs? Does Hamas not have its own landlines like Hezbollah?

These look like secondary (not technically explosions) but cook offs of fuel or whatnot

*Specifically for Self*

Does Israel still maintain a fleet of 175mm and 203mm artillery?

Some commentors refered to "heavy artillery" strikes. Pretty much everyone has standardized on 152 or 155mm artillery. You've got a variety of mortars to add to this, but the gun-howitzers are pretty much all the same as far as thrown weight.

Well, what I meant was that this was a pretty quick escalation from "the country's supreme court has evicted a dozen families" to "nearly full-scale war"... even by Israeli/Hamas standards. Which suggests misdirection from something else. So, what is it?

I’m sure Netanyahu has incentive to escalate, given his tenuous political circumstances and authoritarian cravings, but sometimes a situation is also just completely untenable and waiting to explode.

This was my first thought as well, but it's suspiciously timed to both the updated iran negotiations and the UN's china concentration camps review.


Do you happen to know what happened between the evictions and the storming of the mosque? It seems too far even for Netanyahu to make that jump.

I don't know how much Netanyahu is affecting this, but McP is right that this is (and has been for a very, very long time) an untenable situation waiting to explode. Not that this is even the first explosion, but it's only going to get worse.

Sure, and for all the progress they have made with Arab neighbors in the region, Israel seems to still be tightening the screws in Palestine. But soldiers raiding the mosque during Ramadan is pretty extreme. What preceded that event to give cover for something so egregious? Were they looking for someone? They had to have known the blow-back from that action would be global condemnation so the perceived reward must have been great. What was it?

Why do you think there is a concrete answer here? We've witnessed the slow annexation of Palestinian territory over time. Many would probably argue we're past the point of no return. Gaza is often referred to as an "open air prison" and the West Bank has been carved up already. How long do people expect this to go on without real conflict?

I think Bi just feels like there should be some reason why Israel escalated things. And I'd have to agree that it seems foolish to inspire this unless you're trying to keep people from looking at something else. It may be that it was just a foolish decision, but my own first thought is that Israel has a bigger reason than just taking territory and isolating themselves from other partners in the region.

I get that there MAY be a reason for what is happening now. I’m just not sure it matters. Whatever it is, it’s a drop in the ocean of the last few generations.

They’re walking around pulling Palestinians out of cars and beating them to death. Smashing up all the shopping areas and now moving into housing areas.
Like to see anyone ‘both sides’ this. And they pretty much have a police escort.