"Israeli Army Special Forces enter in the Gaza,,," Topic

,,, Strip to destroy missile launch sites.

"Israeli Special Forces entered northern Gaza tonight to take out a number of missile launch sites, according to the Israeli military. Brig.-Gen. Moti Almoz told Israel Radio on Saturday, July 13, 2014, that there were still "many" targets in the Gaza Strip remaining. While air force sorties will continue, the army high command is simultaneously preparing for a ground incursion.

A senior Israeli army official says 2,000 rockets and mortar shells have been destroyed in Gaza since the beginning of Operation "Protective Edge" on Tuesday. According to army intelligence, Hamas possessed 6,000 rockets and mortars before the operation began.

The IDF said that it had struck 60 terror targets in the Hamas-ruled enclave. Since the operation began, Israeli aircraft have hit over 1,160 Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip, the military said…"

Full article here
link

Amicalement
Armand

Gaza Truce Ends As Israel And Militants Resume Attacks

"A proposed ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has broken down within hours, with both sides launching rockets into the other's territory

An Egyptian truce proposal for the conflict in Gaza quickly unravelled on Tuesday – after Hamas rejected the plan, Gaza militants fired scores of rockets at Israel, and Israel responded with more than a dozen air strikes.

John Kerry, the American secretary of state, has condemned Hamas militants for firing rockets from the Gaza Strip, after Israel had accepted a truce proposed by Egypt…"
Full article here
link

Also…
YouTube link

Amicalement
Armand

The report Human Rights Watch did on the subject says civilian casualties during NATO's air campaign in Libya were 72 people (names, dates and locations are included):
PDF link

Regarding the higher numbers claimed by the Libyan government, the report says (on page 21):
"When Human Rights Watch visited western Libya in early August 2011, just before the
Gaddafi government fell, officials claimed that NATO strikes had killed 1,108 civilians and
wounded 6,362. Of the wounded, they said, 717 were critically wounded and 4,537 had
light wounds.10 Despite repeated requests, these officials failed to provide details, such as
the place and date of the attacks or the names of the victims.
International journalists in Libya at the time noted the government's exaggerations and
fabrications, including the same mourners at multiple sites, empty coffins at funerals and
even the use of fake blood.11 In the village of Majer, former government spokesman Musa
Ibrahim said that 85 people had died, which was 51 more than the final confirmed tally.12
In September 2011, Human Rights Watch interviewed a former senior Gaddafi official who
wished to remain anonymous while he was in detention after the fall of the Gaddafi
government. He readily admitted that the government had exaggerated the numbers of NATO
bombing victims for propaganda purposes, saying "I am sure they faked the numbers."13"

You mean the organisation that is criticised by it's former founder of having poor research and selection bias.

Mr. Bernstein doesn't strike me as being particularly objective. However, YMMV.

Here is a NY Times article by him:
link

And HRW's response:
link

Ask the crew of the USS Liberty if Israel is our ally.

What a STOOPID thread. Is that the future on TMP? Leave the thread up but delete all of the "inappropriate" posts?…

Sung to the tune of The Ramones. "I want to be DELETED."

The editooor is a Cybur warrior in deezgize, Dhoktor!

Scandalous !

This is getting downright ridiculous.

What the hell is going on here?

It's like the Fawlty Towers episode where the German tourists visit: "Don't mention the war! I did once, but I think I got away with it!"

the new age of TMP has started!!!!!!!!!

The age where stuff that doesn't belong on TMP gets deleted? Super!

I fail to see the error in implementing a "Leave the thread up but delete all of the "inappropriate" posts policy, since there's NO REASON to post politics and other inappropriate tripe on TMP.

I'm not surprised at all.

Dan

Hamas Militant Video Shows Ghoul Sniper With '2km Range'

"A video released by Hamas, which cannot be independently verified, shows a huge sniper which militants claim was made in Gaza

Hamas' armed wing has released footage of a home grown sniper rifle, nicknamed Ghoul, which it is using to target Israeli soldiers.

The footage, which cannot be independently verified, shows what Hamas claims is a 14.5mm caliber sniper rifle, with 2 km (1.2 mile) range. The average range of a typical sniper rifle is just under 900 yards (800 metres)…"
Full article here
link

YouTube link

Amicalement
Armand

I doubt any of those purported kills were by that particular rifle (if it really exists) a 14.5mm round would have cause massive tissue disruption and traumatic amputation.

All you need is a .338 to get out to 2km anyhow. The longest confirmed sniper kill used such a rifle and is 2.475km.

Damn site more portable than a 14mm beast as well I'd have thought.

Doubt a Hamas sniper could get hits at 1.5km let alone 2+km unless he was using a 50 cal sniper rifle (the Steyrs that were allowed an export licence, to Iran, because they were to combat drug-runners, but mysteriously turned up in Iraq!). You need years of training and a good observer as well.

Like most Hamas communiques it's mostly smoke and mirrors, I got to hold a Siminov semi-auto 14.4 AT rifle, it was like being back at the gym doing weights!

Stu, I think the 800m range quoted is for a Soviet era SVD, not any of the dedicated Western designs.

HAMAS has a predilection to "over state" a bit …

That should have been a 14.5mm AT rifle, doh! I'd hazard a guess that the Ghul (a very appropriate name, if you know your Arabian folklore, for a Hamas weapon) is probably a morale booster, as Hamas probably suffered badly from the IDF's snipers and their Barratt 50cals.

Well, I'd be hard pressed to get a hit beyond 800m with either my SVT (if I can find a scope to work on it) or my PSL, even with match-grade ammo. All the various tolerances just aren't tight enough to give consistent groups. Even the scope on the PSL is limited, 4x is marginal for my eyes ( *old man*), so I have an aftermarket 6.5-20x for bench shooting past 400 yards.

A 14.5mm PTRD or whatever is probably not going to be much better in terms of tolerances.

And this doesn't get into all the serious long-range shooting voodoo like wind estimation and Coriolis effects, most of which requires lots and lots and lots and lots of practice, for both you and the spotter.

True, I doubt standard 14.5mm API is really match grade ammo!

We always gave heavier weapons, radios, etc. to the bigger stronger guys in the unit … Giving a heavy weapon to the smaller less muscled troop would only interfer with it's proper use in the long run. The worse I had it was carrying a PRC-77 Radio and an M60 MG … at the same time …

A prick and a pig at the same time, how far could you move, in 10 seconds, I wonder!

Talking of heavy kit, this article suggests the Ghouls real identity is the 50cal Steyr.

link

Is Hezbollah Building Terror Tunnels Into Israel?

"Even before it finished defusing the tunnel threat from the Gaza Strip Monday with the detonation of the last of 31 Hamas attack tunnels, the Israeli army began shifting its attention to the possibility of a similar threat from Hezbollah along the border with Lebanon.

Residents of communities on the northern border have periodically reported hearing the sound of underground digging over the years but despite probes by army engineers, no signs of tunneling into Israeli territory have ever been found.

However, the extent and sophistication of the Hamas tunnels from Gaza, 10 of which extended under the border fence to within a few hundred yards of Israeli kibbuzim and villages, has renewed concern about the Lebanese border. Last week, the mayor of Kiryat Shmona, the largest town on the border, sent an urgent appeal to Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon to investigate the matter thoroughly…"
Full article here
link

Amicalement
Armand

Ant-tunnelling operations always make fascinating material for skirmish games. I'd have thought though the predominantly limestone geology of that border with Lebanon, would make the prospect of tunnelling far more of an expensive and time consuming operation. Hamas tunnels cost 3 million a piece, used on average 350 truckloads of building materials and cost approximately 160 children their lives.

Hezbollah do have a far more substantial and well financed operation, but sophisticated seismic sensors, the type which Israel has provably seeded Gaza with, linked to a computer database of mining activity, to trigger alerts of activity (impossible to disguise the activity as natural) would make it a highly risky operation. A deep penetrator bomb could quite easily collapse the structure, entombing any occupants.

Still, would make an intriguing campaign and the terrain would be quite easy to produce, just dig up GW's dungeon floor plans, box number 4.

Hezbollah do have a far more substantial and well financed operation, but sophisticated seismic sensors, the type which Israel has provably seeded Gaza with, linked to a computer database of mining activity, to trigger alerts of activity (impossible to disguise the activity as natural) would make it a highly risky operation. A deep penetrator bomb could quite easily collapse the structure, entombing any occupants.

If that's the case, I wonder why the tunnels were such a surprise to them. Do you suppose that maybe it's all just clever propaganda and the Israelis are not quite as competent as they'd like us all to think? I think it's a relevant point for gaming because most games seem to rate them quite highly, and maybe they should be rated lower in terms of skill.

I think extent of the tunnelling operation was a surprise but the seismic sensors now being deployed and developed will make another attempt at tunnelling far more 'expensive'. The IDF is a highly competent army, only now defeated, on a regular basis, by the Western Media, but:

1 If asked to achieve the unrealistic military/political goals they fall short.
2. They are a conscript army who rely heavily on reservists, thus impacting on their proficiency
3. They deliberately overestimate their armies performance, seeing it as a legitimate and highly cost effective force multiplier
4. Their traditional opposition have been shockingly incompetent and given up any form of traditional warfare against the Jewish state.
6. This stellar performance, versus mainly Soviet equipped and trained Arab armies, was then extrapolated to justify the inflation of the proficiency ratings of most NATO forces during the wargames heyday of the 70's-80's.
7. Ratings, both regarding proficiency and morale should depend on the circumstances of the conflict fought. An Israeli reservist fighting in a 21 Century conflict that is dividing public opinion back home, should not have the morale ratings or proficiency as a veteran tank unit fighting for Israel's survival.

A prick and a pig at the same time, how far could you move, in 10 seconds, I wonder!

Not that far I assure you …