Meanwhile in Israel

[Blondi]

Crikey, only really expected a few bangers being chucked over from Lebanon by Hezbollah, I'm hiding under my duvet for now.

Edited April 13 by Blondi

[Spider]

Well this is ruining the Masters

[London Wanderer]

Extremists on both sides here. 
 

Could turn nasty. Hoping it won’t go further.

 Puts an end to the military support debate for a bit. 

[Tonge moor green jacket]

8 hours ago, London Wanderer said:

Extremists on both sides here. 
 

Could turn nasty. Hoping it won’t go further.

 Puts an end to the military support debate for a bit. 

Do fuck off.

 

[London Wanderer]

48 minutes ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

Do fuck off.

 

You okay mate? Your window of tolerance seems pretty small these days.

You think Netanhayu and his land grabbing coalition are a rational headed alliance?

They’re one the most extremist governments Israel has ever had. Not ideal timing really.

 They got the people responsible in Syria, drones have been dealt with. Let’s leave it & move on now please. 

Edited April 14 by London Wanderer

[Marc505]

Iran claims success, limited military retaliation and saves face. Now if Israel could be the big man here and not retaliate or escalate, that would be grand.

I assume there's some heavy duty diplomacy going on behind the scenes currently to try and make sure we climb down from seeing hundreds of Israeli aircraft transiting across Iraq.

[Blondi]

IF Israel don't react to last night's attack by Iran, things shouldn't escalate, but I don't think Israel will be particularly happy with having over 300 drones and missiles fired at them.

[Lt. Aldo Raine]

5 minutes ago, Marc505 said:

Iran claims success, limited military retaliation and saves face. Now if Israel could be the big man here and not retaliate or escalate, that would be grand.

I assume there's some heavy duty diplomacy going on behind the scenes currently to try and make sure we climb down from seeing hundreds of Israeli aircraft transiting across Iraq.

Aye

[London Wanderer]

7 minutes ago, Marc505 said:

Now if Israel could be the big man here and not retaliate or escalate, that would be grand.

 

Aye

 My concern with who’s currently running the shop in Israel. Though I really do think the US will have a big say. They’ve caught those linked to October 7th attacks initially. Defended against the drones too. Mission complete I hope. 
 

Hopefully they don’t take it out on kids in Raffa either. 

[royal white]

1 hour ago, London Wanderer said:

Aye

 My concern with who’s currently running the shop in Israel. Though I really do think the US will have a big say. They’ve caught those linked to October 7th attacks initially. Defended against the drones too. Mission complete I hope. 
 

Hopefully they don’t take it out on kids in Raffa either. 

Yes fuck the hostages. 

[Spider]

Israel will do as America tell them to.

Theyre used to having shit fired at them from all angles though, so doubt they’ll be too arsed about this in the grand scheme.

Iran are all fart and no shit.

[Lt. Aldo Raine]

Just now, royal white said:

Yes fuck the hostages. 

It's incredible just how many people have forgotten about them

[Zico]

1 hour ago, Marc505 said:

Iran claims success, limited military retaliation and saves face. Now if Israel could be the big man here and not retaliate or escalate, that would be grand.

I assume there's some heavy duty diplomacy going on behind the scenes currently to try and make sure we climb down from seeing hundreds of Israeli aircraft transiting across Iraq.

Israel must be allowed to defend themselves

It's what they do

[Zico]

6 minutes ago, Lt. Aldo Raine said:

It's incredible just how many people have forgotten about them

Not everyone though

https://www.timesofisrael.com/tens-of-thousands-at-weekly-anti-government-hostage-release-rallies/

• 24

Tens of thousands of Israelis protested in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other cities around the country Saturday with demands for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip and new elections, as the anti-government movement maintained its momentum despite the threat of an imminent Iranian attack on the country.

Thousands congregated on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv for a weekly protest that has spearheaded activity against the government.

The rally called for early elections, the removal of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from office and a deal for the release of hostages held by Hamas.

[Zico]

17 minutes ago, royal white said:

Yes fuck the hostages. 

See link above 

Seems many Israelis and families of the hostages think that's Netenyahus opinion 

 

[Lt. Aldo Raine]

5 minutes ago, Zico said:

Not everyone though

https://www.timesofisrael.com/tens-of-thousands-at-weekly-anti-government-hostage-release-rallies/

• 24

Tens of thousands of Israelis protested in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other cities around the country Saturday with demands for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip and new elections, as the anti-government movement maintained its momentum despite the threat of an imminent Iranian attack on the country.

Thousands congregated on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv for a weekly protest that has spearheaded activity against the government.

The rally called for early elections, the removal of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from office and a deal for the release of hostages held by Hamas.

Not everyone, no

But plenty

[Zico]

3 minutes ago, Lt. Aldo Raine said:

Not everyone, no

But plenty

Including Netenyahu it seems

Well, I'm sure he's not forgotten, but seems he doesn't care much

[Lt. Aldo Raine]

2 minutes ago, Zico said:

Including Netenyahu it seems

Well, I'm sure he's not forgotten, but seems he doesn't care much

Like many others, sadly

[only1swanny]

All very odd with Iran firing them, knowing they will all get shot down easily, and informing people they are being fired. 

Seems to be a "look we can retaliate, but we don't want to, but we feel we need to". 

As above, just hoping Israel just take it as a "flex of muscles", and don't escalate. 

[mickbrown]

4 hours ago, Blondi said:

IF Israel don't react to last night's attack by Iran, things shouldn't escalate, but I don't think Israel will be particularly happy with having over 300 drones and missiles fired at them.

Israel have never been in the business of not retaliating 

[fatolive]

19 minutes ago, mickbrown said:

Israel have never been in the business of not retaliating 

I seem to remember in the 1st Gulf war , Sadam fired a scud into Isreal that caused a bit of damage and Isreal got world wide praise for their restraint, as retaliating would have escalated that war. 
I’m sure that happened, though it was early 90s so I was probably pissed while the news was on so could be wrong 

[London Wanderer]

4 hours ago, royal white said:

Yes fuck the hostages. 

Not at all

 I was only referring to Iran & Israel in my post 👍

[Winchester White]

25 minutes ago, fatolive said:

I seem to remember in the 1st Gulf war , Sadam fired a scud into Isreal that caused a bit of damage and Isreal got world wide praise for their restraint, as retaliating would have escalated that war. 
I’m sure that happened, though it was early 90s so I was probably pissed while the news was on so could be wrong 

They did and America gave them patriots to help shoot the scuds down.

[London Wanderer]

3 hours ago, Zico said:

See link above 

Seems many Israelis and families of the hostages think that's Netenyahus opinion 

 

Aye

There are many protesting in Israel who believe his tactics have been counterproductive in bringing back the hostages. 
 

Another forgotten group of hostages in this conflict are the Palestinian prisoners. Israel uses ‘administrative detention’ to hold thousands of prisoners for indefinite periods with no charge or trial. Another violation of international law. 

Numbers were at a 20 year high pre Oct 7th. Many of these are innocent people. Some have been tortured & abused since the war escalated. 

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/11/israel-opt-horrifying-cases-of-torture-and-degrading-treatment-of-palestinian-detainees-amid-spike-in-arbitrary-arrests/

 

The hostage release deal works both ways.

[paulhanley]

Generations of world leaders have had a go at resolving the multiple layers of issues and enmities in this part of the world. The word "intractable" was invented for the gordian knot that it is. 

At the moment I don't think the world has the statesmen to skillfully de-escalate this. For instance I can think of many US President/Secretary of State combinations I'd rather have had to tackle it all.

When you look at Russia/Ukraine, the shrewd/subtle/incremental growing of China's threat to the west and this, I think we're living in a world that is less stable than for many years. 

We can reflect on how the west has handled all of these issues since the end of the Cold War and pick fault - there'll have been undergraduate essays written about that by the bucket load. Whatever the problem, there ain't no obvious solution other than raising our awareness and preparedness. 

I hate to say Donald Trump is right that the nations of NATO need to up their defence spending. I hate to say Keir Starmer is right that we need to spend 2.5% on defence. God alone knows where the money comes from given the levels of debt in the western world. But the only way ultimately that you can even big to put a lid on all these conflagrations and flashpoints is by making it known that you are prepared. It's a dreadful situation to be in.