You have commented 338 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Israel-Palestine-Jordan
IDF deception leads to massive aerial assault on Hamas's ‘Metro'
2021-05-14
[JPost] - At about 9 pm on Thursday night, the IDF began assembling ground forces along the border with the Gaza Strip. Some armored and infantry battalions joined the artillery batteries that had been deployed days earlier to pound Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets.

Earlier in the day, the IDF said that a ground offensive was on the table as a viable option for the continuation of Operation Guardians of the Wall. The IDF was hitting hard at Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets from the air but on the ground they would be expected to cause even more damage albeit with greater risk to the Israeli forces.

...At midnight, the IDF Spokesperson’s English department tweeted that "IDF air and ground troops are currently attacking in the Gaza Strip." The foreign media jumped at the tweet, interpreting it to mean that Israel was sending ground forces into Gaza, a major escalation in the current operation and a sign that it was far from over.

Websites of media outlets around the world, including the Washington Post and ABC, reported the incursion. "Israeli troops have entered the Gaza Strip as conflict with Palestinians escalates, Israeli military says," was the tweet put out by the Washington Post.

The problem was that there was no ground invasion. Yes, the IDF had deployed troops along the border but they did not cross into Gaza. What did happen was in the air where 160 aircraft had assembled for a massive bombing run over the Gaza Strip. Their target was what the IDF called Hamas’s "Metro", an underground network of tunnels where Hamas stored its weapons and used to move throughout Gaza hidden from Israeli aircraft.

The "Metro" had been built in the years after the 2014 war in the Gaza Strip, also known in Israel as Operation Protective Edge. It was a network of dozens of kilometers of tunnels that crisscrossed Gaza and provided safety from Israeli aerial incursions.

According to reports, due to the deployment along the border and the news coming out in the foreign media of a ground incursion, Hamas and Islamic Jihad sent their first-line of defense into the tunnels to start taking up positions. These were the anti-tank missile teams and mortar squads meant to strike at incoming Israeli ground forces.

What they did not know was that there was no ground offensive. Instead, once they were out of the tunnels, they were exposed to Israeli aircraft. Within minutes, the "Metro" attack went ahead.

How many Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists were killed in the operation? That remains to be seen. IDF Spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Hidai Zilberman said on Friday morning that the military was still evaluating the consequences of the operation.
Making MSM serve Humanity.
Posted by:g(r)omgoru

#26  I could watch this all day and not bother me 1 bit. Fuck the paleoshitians.
Posted by: Chris   2021-05-14 21:23  

#25  it's not those who can inflict the most, but those who can endure the most,

Words early Mike Tyson opponents used to say, before they entered the ring.
Posted by: Slappy   2021-05-14 21:22  

#24  I assume when the Iron Dome stockpile is sufficiently reduced, Iran will join the fray.
Posted by: Skidmark   2021-05-14 18:50  

#23  ^I could live with Hamas-symps attacking NYT offices - could you?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2021-05-14 18:22  

#22  Headlines you won't see...
"Media Cooperates With Israelis To Kill Palestinians"
Posted by: tu3031   2021-05-14 18:12  

#21  Concerning dead children: 1/3 of Gazan rockets fall in Gaza.

Listening to National People's Radio on the drive home, they were bewailing the dead civilians, deader children, and destroyed residential buildings from the Israeli attacks. I may have missed it, but no mention of *why* the IDF might be wreaking havoc. Hint: it's the missiles
Posted by: SteveS   2021-05-14 17:18  

#20  to the dead from Hamas rockets that land in Gaza, there are probably some more that died from secondary explosions when IDF rockets set of Hamas bombs stored nearby
Posted by: Lord Garth   2021-05-14 15:34  

#19  She singing? I think she's singing.

Posted by: swksvolFF   2021-05-14 15:26  

#18  ^Concerning dead children: 1/3 of Gazan rockets fall in Gaza.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2021-05-14 15:23  

#17  Ham-Ass: "Paging Green Helmet guy! Green Helmet guy to the courtesy phone! We need some photos of some dead children! You can fondle as many as you want - but the media needs those photos! CNN is on a deadline so hurry!"
Posted by: CrazyFool   2021-05-14 14:53  

#16  From Hamas to Humus, in one generation.
Posted by: SteveS   2021-05-14 14:47  

#15  

Hamas being pulverized into a "Black form of dirt" should be the title of this video...
Posted by: Ebbomoger Speaking for Boskone4589   2021-05-14 14:42  

#14  I'd go so far as to say, that at the Metro, black is a form of dirt.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2021-05-14 14:35  

#13  Sounds like they need some more dirt eaters bubba.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2021-05-14 14:28  

#12  Well now I just have to laugh.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2021-05-14 14:24  

#11  Brilliant ambush.
Posted by: Ebbomoger Speaking for Boskone4589   2021-05-14 14:08  

#10  The success of the operation depended upon decieving the media. War Crime!

/sarc - of course.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2021-05-14 13:08  

#9  Miyamoto Musashi would be proud.
Posted by: 746   2021-05-14 12:49  

#8  That is some next level fuckery right there.
Posted by: DarthVader   2021-05-14 12:27  

#7  "General, we've come up with a plan that depends on fooling the New York Times."

"What's the catch?"
Posted by: Matt   2021-05-14 12:08  

#6  I Bought it!
Remember
Berg’s Eighteenth Law of Media Latency: Nothing the media writes/says about any emotionally charged event – a mass shooting, a police shooting, anything – should be taken seriously for 48 hours after the original incident. It will largely be rubbish, as media outlets vie to “scoop” each other even on incorrect facts.
Posted by: Sonny Black   2021-05-14 11:18  

#5  And very Sun Tzu. At least sufficiently so for the Arab mind.
Posted by: Dron66046   2021-05-14 10:24  

#4  When I said 'confounding spirits' I had no idea it would involve the media, but nice. And sweet.




Posted by: Dron66046   2021-05-14 10:21  

#3  Heh!
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia   2021-05-14 10:02  

#2  Let's hope there are as many lib strokes as paleo rockets
Posted by: Cesare   2021-05-14 09:17  

#1  Am I greedy for hoping some liberals will get a stroke when they hear about this?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2021-05-14 09:01  

00:00