Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

[Pale Rider]

United States implored Canada behind the scenes to keep supporting UNRWA: Hussen

OTTAWA — The United States ambassador to the United Nations implored Canada last month to keep funding the UN relief agency for Palestinians, International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen says. In January, Canada was one of 16 countries to put a freeze on funding for the organization following...

ca.news.yahoo.com

 

[Paladin]

saying it out loud now.

Michigan Republican congressman suggests nuking Gaza, ending humanitarian aid

“It should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Get it over quick," U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg said of how the U.S. should treat Gaza.

www.detroitnews.com

 

[Ungnome]

Ah, the old 'kill em all and let god sort it out' response. I'm so glad I moved beyond that sort of thinking back in my 20's. Shame Mr Walberg is STILL entertaining those sort of thoughts in his 70's.

 

[wonko the sane?]

It's hard to move past that thought when you're terrified of what your god will do to you when it's your turn to get sorted.

 

[Dekafox]

Kevin Beaumont (@[email protected])

The Guardian quotes Israeli intelligence saying they use AI to identify Hamas operatives for bombing, and have permission to kill civilians. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/03/israel-gaza-ai-database-hamas-airstrikes

cyberplace.social

The article:

‘The machine did it coldly’: Israel used AI to identify 37,000 Hamas targets

Israeli intelligence sources reveal use of ‘Lavender’ system in Gaza war and claim permission given to kill civilians in pursuit of low-ranking militants

www.theguardian.com

Given how unreliable even face ID still is now, using AI for this just seems to be asking for trouble,and may explain just what went down with the World Kitchen mess. Namely Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

 

[Thylacine 2000]

Israel's Supreme Court ended military exemptions for Haredim. If not for the current crisis, this would have been the biggest political development in Israel in decades. Bigger than the judicial overhaul last year.

Israel's High Court endorses IDF haredi draft, calls to freeze yeshiva funding

Arye Deri on High Court's interim ruling: I can understand those who don't want to serve in IDF.

www.jpost.com

This is something Netanyahu absolutely cannot deal with right now and it's hard to see how he can keep his government together now. The ultra-Orthodox parties lose credibility if this law goes forward and they still stick around to cast votes. Speaking of which, this was very interesting...

Holding elections before August 9 could potentially freeze the entire process....

National Unity chairman MK Benny Gantz refuted anonymous claims that he had made a deal with the haredi parties in which he agreed to extend the haredi exemption from service in exchange for bringing down the government.

 

[Pale Rider]

Given how unreliable even face ID still is now, using AI for this just seems to be asking for trouble,and may explain just what went down with the World Kitchen mess. Namely Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

Willful stupidity can be its own form of malice.

 

[Ungnome]

It's not even willful stupidity. They know the false positive statistics and decided it was a good idea anyway. At best it is a callous disregard for the value of human life. Kill 10 innocent's to take out a single a person who some algorithm thinks is a member of Hamas is monstrous. Hopefully the people of Israel wake up to this and replace a good chunk of their government with more compassionate people.

 

[Teufel]

Joe Biden makes demands on a call with Netanyahu.

“President Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable,” the White House said in a statement shortly after the call wrapped. “He made clear that US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps.”

Biden also said Israel needed to “announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers.”

Speaking in Brussels after the call, Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the stakes clear: “If we don’t see the changes that we need to see, there’ll be changes in our own policy,” he said. However, neither Blinken nor National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, speaking later at the White House press briefing, detailed what those potential policy changes could be.

A week or two ago the Biden administration was saying Hamas was the the obstacle to a ceasefire agreement and the ball was in their court. Hamas has not budged from its demands and rejected several offers from Israel, but now Biden is telling Israel to conclude a ceasefire "without delay."

The president has called for a temporary ceasefire that includes the release of hostages held by Hamas, and has repeatedly said he does not want Israel to undertake a ground invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza, where scores of displaced Gazans have sought shelter. He again called for a temporary ceasefire in the call with Netanyahu on Thursday.

“He underscored that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians, and he urged the prime minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home,” the White House said in its statement following the call.

But, Biden has so far stopped short of calling for a permanent ceasefire. His hesitance to do so is increasingly out of step with the actions and public statements of other world leaders, including US allies.

There was already a ceasefire on October 6th, there was a temporary in November that saw some hostages released but Hamas broke. One of Hamas' key demands this time they refuse to budge from is a permanent ceasefire which is a non-starter for Israel for obvious reasons. So if Biden doesn't support a permanent ceasefire and that's the price of a deal... is this just all theater from Biden?

 

[Dekafox]

Yeah, just saying that killing those 7 workers may have been because their AI told them there was militants in that convoy, rather than because they wanted to stop the Aid convoy from giving aid to the Gazans. Sounds like exactly the sort of thing I could see happening because way too many people trust Friend Computer unreservedly, and a LOT more incidents like that will keep happening as long as they continue to do so.

 

[wonko the sane?]

It's not even willful stupidity. They know the false positive statistics and decided it was a good idea anyway. At best it is a callous disregard for the value of human life. Kill 10 innocent's to take out a single a person who some algorithm thinks is a member of Hamas is monstrous. Hopefully the people of Israel wake up to this and replace a good chunk of their government with more compassionate people.

No, they did SPECIFICALLY because of the volume of false positives, because the point is for netanyahu to brutalize palestinians. The AI was simply so there was something to shift blame onto.

 

[Paladin]

Kevin Beaumont (@[email protected])

The Guardian quotes Israeli intelligence saying they use AI to identify Hamas operatives for bombing, and have permission to kill civilians. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/03/israel-gaza-ai-database-hamas-airstrikes

cyberplace.social

The article:

‘The machine did it coldly’: Israel used AI to identify 37,000 Hamas targets

Israeli intelligence sources reveal use of ‘Lavender’ system in Gaza war and claim permission given to kill civilians in pursuit of low-ranking militants

www.theguardian.com

Given how unreliable even face ID still is now, using AI for this just seems to be asking for trouble,and may explain just what went down with the World Kitchen mess. Namely Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

...this is literally the plot of "Captain America; Winter Soldier."

 

[Teufel]

Israel announces additional volume of aid and points of entry opening up in wake of Biden call

Link

In the wake of the deadly strike on the World Central Kitchen convoy and the tense conversation with US President Joe Biden, the security cabinet decides to take immediate steps to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.

Israel is temporarily opening up Ashdod Port for humanitarian deliveries, and will open Erez Crossing in the northern Gaza Strip for the first time since it was significantly damaged on October 7.

Israel will also increase the amount of aid from Jordan moving through the Kerem Shalom crossing.

“The increased aid will prevent a humanitarian crisis,” says the PMO, “and is critical for ensuring the continuation of the fighting and achieving the war aims.”

 

[Pale Rider]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1777668493447406025

 

[Teufel]

Details are still coming out but Iran has launched suicide drones and maybe missile attacks against Israel.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/13/iran-israel-attacks-00152116

Iran launched a major aerial drone attack against Israel on Saturday, the Israeli Defense Forces said.

IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in a statement that the drones may take several hours to reach their intended targets. Hagari said Israel had a plan in place to intercept the drones.

The strike included dozens of drones and may have also included missiles, according to a U.S. official and an Israeli official. Both were granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive ongoing operation.

The long-anticipated attack comes after Israel last week killed a senior officer in Iran’s embassy in Damascus. U.S. and Israeli officials have been bracing for a retaliatory strike by Tehran.

 

[Anonymous X]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-68737710

OK, this is not a great development.

 

[Thylacine 2000]

Israel has multiple layers of anti-missile shielding. Most of them are generally unknown because they haven't been needed before. The most famous, Iron Dome, is also the weakest, designed against short-range missiles. This is the first significant need for their stronger, long-range layers.

David's Sling - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Arrow 3 - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Let's hope they work.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1779268084634628428

So far Israel's defenses seem to be working nearly perfectly. If this attack is indeed bigger than expected but it's still getting almost completely intercepted, this is going to be a very short war.

 

[Paladin]

House passes resolution condemning ‘From the river to the sea’ as antisemitic

The measure passed the GOP-controlled chamber 377 to 44 on Tuesday — with 43 Democrats and just one Republican voting against it.

nypost.com

imagine if America put as much effort into stopping genocide as it did policing the language of genocide.

 

[wonko the sane?]

Israel has stated that they will decide their own path.

So I guess it's open war in the middle east again.