The artillery phase begins in Gaza

Reuters:

Israeli artillery shelled the Gaza Strip on Saturday, stepping up the offensive against Hamas militants in the Palestinian enclave as tanks and troops waited on the border for a possible ground offensive.

Earlier in the day Israel bombed Gaza from the air and sea, killing a senior Hamas commander. Hamas meanwhile kept up its rocket attacks on southern Israeli towns in defiance of international calls for it to cease such actions.

As the offensive entered a second week, desperate Gaza residents sheltered in their homes and humanitarian agencies warned that food, water and medical supplies were running short.

Just before nightfall Israel launched artillery fire on Gaza for the first time in the offensive, witnesses on both sides of the border said.

The barrage caused a large explosion in Gaza City as well as a series of blasts along the frontier, creating a fog of dust and smoke that obscured visibility. There was no immediate word of casualties.

Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai played down speculation the artillery fire heralded a ground offensive.

...

A Hamas leader warned that the Israeli army would be defeated if it invaded Gaza, which the Islamist group runs.

...

The Hamas leader's concern for the Israeli army seems disingenuous. Isn't it in his interest to defeat the Israeli army? It would make much more sense if he would just say "We are ready for the invasion."

The result of the artillery attack shows how effective it can be in preparing a battle space for a ground invasion. "The barrage caused a large explosion in Gaza City as well as a series of blasts along the frontier, creating a fog of dust and smoke that obscured visibility." The noise and the fog of dust would cover the movement of the tanks and infantry.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Should Republicans go ahead and add Supreme Court Justices to head off Democrats

Washington Post: Some Democrats eye adding more justices to the Supreme Court to change its ideological bent The once-remote idea has gained the attention of liberals angered by the GOP push to remake the federal courts. Probably the easy way to defeat this court-packing scheme is for Trump to propose doing the same thing now.  It would lead to Democrat denunciations and claims that it would be wrong, thereby blowing up any attempt by them in the unfortunate event of Democrats winning a presidential election.
Read more

Is the F-35 obsolete?

Headline USA: Pentagon Fires Back after Musk Calls Its Most Expensive Project ‘Obsolete’ 'Yeah, as I'm sure you can appreciate, Mr. Musk is, currently, a private citizen, I'm not going to make any comments about what a private citizen may have to say about the F-35....'   ... ... Drones appear to be replacing jets for many operations.  The Russia-Ukraine war is an example of that.  Drones are often hard to detect and can be used for intelligence operations as well as for attacking enemy targets.  It would not surprise me to see drones engaging other drones in combat.  They also cost much less than manned fighters.  
Read more

Apple's huge investment in US including Texas facility

Blaze: Apple announced a $500 billion commitment to infrastructure in the United States over four years, its largest commitment to domestic spending to date. Apple said it will expand teams and facilities in Arizona, California, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, and Washington as part of its new spending. With a new facility in Houston, Texas, Apple will reportedly double its investment in advanced manufacturing along with increasing investments in AI and silicon engineering. The company said in a press release that the Houston facility will produce servers to support Apple Intelligence, the "personal intelligence system that helps users write, express themselves, and get things done." ... The Texas facility will be for advanced technologies.   Texas has become a place that is very supportive of the tech industries.  Austin and Houston have seen much of the tech growth in the state.  Texas universities have been active in the AI field.
Read more