Hamas launches war on Israel

[Dargo]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

Wasn't that long ago he spat his dummy out after losing the Brexit referendum.

Same goes for Bibi his politics resulted in a weaker defence, and he was warned for this by his own security service.

[Jimbuna]

Striking Iran's nuclear facilities 'on the table', says ex-Mossad intelligence chief

The former director of intelligence at the Israeli spy agency, Mossad, says targeting nuclear facilities in Iran is among the options on the table as Israel decides how to respond to Saturday's attack.

Zohar Palti spoke to The World with Yalda Hakim in Jerusalem about possible responses after Iran launched more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel.

Asked if everything was on the table, including targeting nuclear facilities, Mr Palti said: "No doubt. Everything is on the table right now."

Pressed on whether this included nuclear facilities, he said: "Including everything."

Iran temporarily closed its nuclear facilities on Sunday over "security considerations" and the International Atomic Energy Agency kept its inspectors away for two days.

[Skybird]

Striking nuclear program components of critical nature for the bomb program could not be done with distance weapons alone, would need fighterbombers inside Iranian airspace, most likely, also would need warheads of a size that make them practically equivalents to small nukes. The two key facilities of Iran are practically buried under mountains that would be needed to be practically blown up. One can safely assume the Iranians know this and did not leave it as open as Tora Bora. I am not certain it can be done without troops on the ground in these locations, and no matter the chosen tactical method it woud, be a very extremely high risk operation. As long as one does not want just to push a symbolic action. In which case one must ask the question - why then taking any risk at all? Iran turned itself into a joke with its 320 missile/drone attack, militarily it was a desaster for them - this time.

Very difficult choices. No matter the plan, if it goes wrong, it costs Israel the nimbus of being militarily very capable. And that, albeit being an immaterial one, would be a loss hard to overestimate. If you lose the nimbus of being a fearsome enemy, then your enemy will not fear you anymore. Not good.

This is like a chess position where all moves available cannot improve or even just support the current situation, but can only compromise it - but making a move you nevertheless must, skipping a move is not allowed.

[em2nought]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

Wasn't that long ago he spat his dummy out after losing the Brexit referendum.

I was thinking "The West" in general as I don't pay too much attention to the UK other than to look at pretty pictures of old buildings built with stone, or videos of pipe bands marching thru a town playing "Scotland the Brave".

[Jimbuna]

Ah, okay, my mistook

[mapuc]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Striking nuclear program components of critical nature for the bomb program could not be done with distance weapons alone, would need fighterbombers inside Iranian airspace, most likely, also would need warheads of a size that make them practically equivalents to small nukes. The two key facilities of Iran are practically buried under mountains that would be needed to be practically blown up. One can safely assume the Iranians know this and did not leave it as open as Tora Bora. I am not certain it can be done without troops on the ground in these locations, and no matter the chosen tactical method it woud, be a very extremely high risk operation. As long as one does not want just to push a symbolic action. In which case one must ask the question - why then taking any risk at all? Iran turned itself into a joke with its 320 missile/drone attack, militarily it was a desaster for them - this time.

Very difficult choices. No matter the plan, if it goes wrong, it costs Israel the nimbus of being militarily very capable. And that, albeit being an immaterial one, would be a loss hard to overestimate. If you lose the nimbus of being a fearsome enemy, then your enemy will not fear you anymore. Not good.

This is like a chess position where all moves available cannot improve or even just support the current situation, but can only compromise it - but making a move you nevertheless must, skipping a move is not allowed.

If there's any military in the world who can this, then it has to be the Israeli

Markus

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by mapuc

If there's any military in the world who can this, then it has to be the Israeli

Markus

The situation they face is at it is. There biggest bombs in their arsenal are US-made. Their pilots and soldiers are humans. Theys stand with their back against the two walls of a corner.
They cant yet walk over water.
I think since long time that if you want to blow up said two key installations, you have to do it from inside. Means: special commandos on the ground seizing the objectives and mining them. I give the success chances of that as almost zero.

If they could have destroyed these sites with cyberattacks, they would have done so by now.

[Skybird]

Why the probability that Israel will strike hard is bigger than the probability that it won't.


https://www-focus-de.translate.goog/...en&_x_tr_hl=de

[em2nought]

Originally Posted by Skybird

I think since long time that if you want to blow up said two key installations, you have to do it from inside. Means: special commandos on the ground seizing the objectives and mining them. I give the success chances of that as almost zero.

Too bad somebody can't just ram a container ship into them.

[mapuc]

Originally Posted by Skybird

The situation they face is at it is. There biggest bombs in their arsenal are US-made. Their pilots and soldiers are humans. Theys stand with their back against the two walls of a corner.
They cant yet walk over water.
I think since long time that if you want to blow up said two key installations, you have to do it from inside. Means: special commandos on the ground seizing the objectives and mining them. I give the success chances of that as almost zero.

If they could have destroyed these sites with cyberattacks, they would have done so by now.

Maybe you're right I'm not a military expert I only recalled all the Special operations the Israeli army is known to have done.

If I had the knowledge I would say-They are not going to bomb Iran, no, they are going to bomb Iranian interest in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.

Next step or secondary targets would be important Iranian infrastructure in Iran.

Markus

[em2nought]

I'd think that if somebody had just launched ballistic missiles at me, I might be thinking of eliminating anything really really really dangerous that those fellows could send towards me on top of a ballistic missile the next time. Especially if my so called friend is going to keep giving those fellows pallets and pallets of yankee greenbacks.

[Jimbuna]

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh loses another close relative days after three sons killed by IDF

The Head of the Political Bureau of the Hamas movement Ismail Haniyeh, 61, has reportedly lost his nephew to an Israeli attack.

Mohammed Abdul Karim Haniyeh was killed in an airstrike by Israeli warplanes at the Sheikh Radwan district in Gaza City on Wednesday, according to Palestinian media outlets. It comes just seven days after Haniyeh lost three sons and three grandchildren on the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr due to an Israeli air raid on their car in the Gaza Strip.

The Hamas leader maintains his six relatives were targeted by the Israel Defence Forces, claiming they were visiting family for Eid at the Shati refugee camp.

About 60 members of Haniyeh's family have been killed since the war began last October. The Islamic Republic News Agency, a Palestinian media outlet, reported that Israel's constant bombardments and ground assaults have "achieved nothing" but the deaths of tens of thousands of Gaza civilians.

The death toll in Gaza exceeds 30,000 and in January, US intelligence agencies estimated that Israel had successfully eliminated 20-30% of Hamas fighters, falling short of its goal to completely destroy the group, the Wall Street Journal.

Recent footage showed Haniyeh seemingly shrugging off the death of his relatives. After first hearing that his children were killed in an IDF airstrike, Haniyeh barely moves a muscle and shows little to no emotion as he originally planned to visit injured Palestinians at a hospital in Qatar, where he resides in exile. The bearer of bad news is heard saying "Hazem, Mohammed and Amir have been killed, along with their children."

He then leaves the room and says "God rest their souls," before he is asked by an aide: "Shall we end the visit,?" to which the political leader replies "No, why? Let's continue" as he heads to the doors flanked by allies and officials.

The Hamas leader reportedly has 13 sons and daughters. Israeli officials claimed Mohammed and Hazem were Hamas military operatives and Amir was a cell commander. Speaking to Al Jazeera, Haniyeh said "I am grateful to God for the honour he has given me in the deaths of three of my children and a few of my grandchildren."

He added "My sons were awarded this honour. They remained with our Palestinian people in Gaza, did not leave and did not run. The blood of my sons is not dearer than the blood of our people."
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...c7344a87&ei=33

[Jimbuna]

Over 55,000 Russian soldiers dead in Ukraine, reveals BBC analysis

Since February 2022, when Russia attacked Ukraine, the station, alongside volunteers and the independent media group Mediazona, has been conducting analyses. The team scours the internet, collecting data from various sources such as media reports, blogs, social media, and also monitors cemeteries.

Russia has not released official lists of the deceased and has refused to comment on the information collected by the BBC. The station's website mentioned that the data does not account for deaths among members of pro-Russian paramilitary groups in the occupied east of Ukraine.

The team monitors 70 cemeteries, noting an increase in military graves that occupy "significantly more space." In some instances, such as at the Bogorodskoje cemetery in Ryazan, management had to create entirely new sections to accommodate the influx of burials, primarily for fallen soldiers and officers.

Amateurs fall in "meat grinder attacks"
The BBC estimates that at least two in five of the deceased had no prior military connection before the invasion.

Samuel Cranny-Evens from the defence and security think tank Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) says that at the start of the 2022 invasion, Russia was able to use its professional troops to conduct complicated military operations. However, the analyst points out that now, as experienced soldiers have either died or been injured, their places are being taken by less well-trained volunteers, civilians, and prisoners who lack the skills of professional soldiers.

"This means they have to do things that are a lot simpler tactically - which generally seems to be a forward assault onto Ukrainian positions with artillery support," he notes.

Convict-Wagner fighters see longer combat
In June 2022, the recruitment of prisoners for combat began, initially by the mercenary group Wagner, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, and later by the regular army. The BBC team has identified that so far, at least 9,900 prisoners have died.

Journalists found that killed convicts in the Wagner group had an average of three months in the war, while those recruited later by the regular army only had around two. In the Wagner group, prisoners underwent at least two weeks of training. However, according to the BBC's conversations with families of prisoners recruited by the army, these individuals were sent to the front almost directly from their cells after minimal training. Wagner prisoners, upon surviving, could regain their freedom after a six-month contract, whereas those recruited by the army can only do so when the war ends.

The army forms so-called storm units from these prisoners, experiencing exceptionally high losses. One online forum member for recruited prisoners mentioned that his unit initially had one hundred soldiers five months ago; now, only 38 remain.

For comparison, during the 10-year war in Afghanistan, the fatalities on the USSR side amounted to about 15,000.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...daa2d4f1&ei=13

[em2nought]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

Over 55,000 Russian soldiers dead in Ukraine, reveals BBC analysis

I wonder if Russia might want some illegal aliens?

[ET2SN]

It sounds like they targeted the fighter base in Isfahan.
Not the Natanz "nuclear site", but close.