Israel-Gaza War (and Iranian Distractions)

[Yazata]

The Israelis have confirmed that Israeli soldiers have killed the leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar.

https://x.com/netanyahu/status/1847026551629795532

https://x.com/IDF/status/1846957737487278263

What got him was reportedly fire from an Israeli tank in Rafah, Gaza. I don't know if they were gunning for him specifically, or whether Israeli troops had come under fire from unknown Hamas militants and were simply returning fire.

At this point I don't think that there is much left of Hamas leadership, command and control in Gaza. About all that's left of Hamas is an unknown number of small cells, using whatever weapons and ammunition they had hidden away, operating independently on their own initiative without commands from above. Probably most Hamas fighters have blended back into the general population, claiming to be poor suffering civilians, living off UN aid and dreaming of claiming asylum in the United States. But the die-hard bitter-enders are still dangerous to Israeli troops.

There's concern in Israel that these fragmented Hamas cells will now kill whatever hostages they are still holding, if they haven't already.

The photos below show Sinwar's body (IDF photos)

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This guy seems to have only had one expression, both in life and in death.

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nsNS

[Zinjanthropos]

Probably most Hamas fighters have blended back into the general population, claiming to be poor suffering civilians, living off UN aid and dreaming of claiming asylum in the United States.

Mossad has work for the next 40 yrs just hunting these guys down. People know who they are, people will talk one way or the other. It's a look over your shoulder life for the bad guys. Mossad gets their man/woman and they won't give up.

From as Newsweek article:

The agency's ability to conduct complex operations on foreign soil has made it one of the most feared and respected intelligence organizations in the world since its founding in 1949.

[Yazata]

Items that he had on him when he was killed: An AK, several clips of ammunition, what looks like a body armor vest, several grenades, money, several passports and IDs, one of them a UNRWA teacher's ID. Plus a roll of mentos breath mints, for when he meets his 72 virgins.

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[Yazata]

There were apparently some documents as well, that Israeli intelligence is busy evaluating.

It sounds like the Israeli soldiers killing Sinwar was by chance and wasn't targeted. They were on patrol in Rafah and had a small quadcopter style camera drone up scouting what was ahead of them. It spotted some armed men ducking into and hiding in a building. So the tank accompanying the soldiers fired an explosive shell into the building. It was only after the soldiers investigated the results that they started to realize that one of the Hamas fighters killed by the tank shell looked like Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas and one of Israel's highest priority targets. The forensics people subsequently confirmed that it was indeed him and excitement spread up the Israeli chain of command.

[Zinjanthropos]

Perhaps Israel has authored in a new way to fight wars, go for the head. Taking down leaders seems like a good way to expedite a quick end. Wasn’t there an unwritten rule where killing top military brass or even heads of state was considered poor sportsmanship. Heads willing to let young people fight their wars as long as they were exempt from harm. Good intelligence being the key.

[Yazata]

It looks like Sinwar's knee was totalled. In addition he has what might be bullet holes in his head. I wonder if the Israeli soldiers who found him did that. The lack of bleeding suggests to me that he was already dead from the explosive blast when the visible damage was done.

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[confused2]

Perhaps Israel has authored in a new way to fight wars, go for the head. Taking down leaders seems like a good way to expedite a quick end. Wasn’t there an unwritten rule where killing top military brass or even heads of state was considered poor sportsmanship. Heads willing to let young people fight their wars as long as they were exempt from harm. Good intelligence being the key.

The BBC reports

A drone was launched towards Benjamin Netanyahu's home in Caesarea, northern Israel, a spokesman for the Israeli PM says, adding that he was not there at the time and there were no casualties

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cx2k377zkqyt

[Yazata]

Over the last few days the Israelis have been conducting highly targeted strikes on Hezbollah's financial system. It seems that Hez is a huge money launderer that probably serves as a way for Iran to avoid international sanctions by funneling large sums of money through more legitimate Lebanese banks.

Unfortunately, the Israelis say that the Hezbollah finance center is in an underground bunker complex directly below one of Lebanon's largest hospitals in Beirut. The hospital administrators say that isn't true, there are no Hezbollah tunnels under their hospital. They invited reporters and the Lebanese army to check for themselves. (And that denial is being repeated by media worldwide, as if it was a fact-check of Israeli disinformation.)

Israel doesn't want to destroy the hospital. So they did something very sly. They announced that Hezbollah has approximately $500 million USD worth in cash and gold down there and gave directions to an obscure doorway into the tunnels located in the basement of the hospital. (Basically inviting the Lebanese to go steal it.)

So the LBCI (Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International) sent reporters down to see for themselves. What they found was a locked door guarded by several armed men. The LBCI asked Hezbollah through their press representative for permission to see what lies beyond the door, but were refused.

(Israeli graphic)

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[Secular Sanity]

Holy shit! That's one way to do it. 

Keep us posted. 

Thanks, Yazata!

[Zinjanthropos]

Holy shit! That's one way to do it. 

Keep us posted. 

Thanks, Yazata!

I think they need a Kelly’s Heroes moment with the guards.

https://youtu.be/Csv1wXOr5tY?si=9q88C_wXm67sEeTV