[kellyhound]

Originally Posted by Rikbikboo ↗

https://news.sky.com/video/the-param...banon-13547776

It's so hard to support the Israeli action when they keep doing stuff like this. And it seems in the UK we are starting to hear less and less about Gaza but continue to hear how they keep doing these strikes. To say it was an attack on 2 bikes when its blatantly obvious they are lying and its caught on film is just outrageous.

This is an army with some of the best weapons systems on the planet and they seem to be blowing up innocent people at will. It is very clear that its an ambulance and that they were there to help the wounded. There can be no justification for keep doing this sort of thing.

It would seem Hezbullah consider themselves to be the "resistance" to occupation and ultimately none of it will stop until they are gone. but judging by the interviews coming out

https://news.sky.com/video/would-you...srael-13547235 How do you stop when these people consider themselves the resistance. you cant kill every one of them and so we will continue to see innocent people losing their lives.

It's the eternal one explanation "justifying" these kind of actions: The IDF deny intentionally targeting medical personnel. They state that Hezbollah uses civilian emergency services, medical infrastructure, and ambulances to transport fighters and weapons. Hezbollah and local rescue services deny these claims.

and the other tell it's done deliberately.

They probably did transport Hezbollah fighters in ambulances or guns etc. at a certain point in time but that doesn't mean every ambulance is doing that and then you get this. It's a "to be sure" measure none of the fighters can move or get away and medics and civilians are at risk then.
https://news.sky.com/video/the-param...banon-13547776

[kellyhound]

On May 12, 2026, a comprehensive 300-page independent Israeli investigation titled "Silenced No More" was published, detailing the widespread and tactical nature of Hamas's actions on October 7.

An independent, Israeli investigation has published harrowing details of "systematic, widespread" sexual violence by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups during the attacks on 7 October 2023, and against hostages.

Hamas has repeatedly denied that sexual and gender-based violence took place during the attacks or against those held captive. An investigation by the UN's Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict concluded there were "reasonable grounds to believe" sexual violence, including gang rape, had been committed.

Accounts of sexual violence emerged soon after the Hamas-led attacks, prompting an Israeli legal expert to set up the commission.

There are recurring accounts from the festival site, kibbutzim and military bases which were over-run of dead women found without their underwear, and corpses with genital mutilation.

The 300-page report concludes that rapes, sexual assault and sexual torture were intended "to maximize pain and suffering".

While the UN and others have published reports on sexual violence during the attacks – in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage – this is the most comprehensive.

It draws on 430 filmed interviews with survivors and witnesses, more than 10,000 photographs and videos filmed by attackers, and official records and material from attack sites.

Witnesses quoted in the Civil Commission report describe hearing and seeing violent gang rapes at the Nova dance festival, where more than 370 people were killed in one of the deadliest attacks.

A male survivor also gives an account of being used like a "sex doll" by assailants. Many of those raped or apparently assaulted were shot in the head.

The report says that "extreme forms" of sexual and gender-based violence "continued against hostages in captivity for prolonged periods, inflicted on both women and men". It describes the attacks as "the weaponization of sexual violence".

Some former hostages including Amit Soussana, Arbel Yehud, Romi Gonen, Rom Braslavski and Guy Gilbol Dalal have given public accounts of being sexually assaulted. However other victims have only spoken confidentially to medical staff, therapists and investigators.

The report includes many shocking new claims including that two young relatives were forced by their captors to perform sex acts on each other.

That case is part of what the report says was "a distinct pattern of violence targeting family members and exploiting familial relationships as instruments of terror".

The Civil Commission found that the crimes carried out "constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocidal acts under international law." Its evidence, which is being kept in a secure archive, may aid future prosecutions.

In the immediate aftermath of the assault, some initial accounts of terrible violence shared by Israeli officials turned out to be false. Some important forensic evidence was also destroyed by first responders rushing to the crime scenes.

In interviews the report authors say this led them to be extra careful when it came to cross-referencing and fact-checking evidence they included.

No evidence has been taken from Israeli interrogations of detained suspects to ensure the independence of the work.

The Civil Commission says its aim is also to create a historical record.

As many victims of sexual assault during the 7 October attacks were killed and others remain deeply traumatised, its report set out "to ensure that the suffering endured by the victims will not be denied, erased or forgotten".

The 7 October 2023 was the deadliest ever day in Israel. It triggered the deadliest ever war in Gaza, which has killed 72,742 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN.


On Jan. 25, 2006 Hamas won 44.45% of the total vote across the West Bank and Gaza. Out of approximately 1.3 million registered voters, nearly 78% cast a ballot (amounting to roughly 1 million total votes nationwide).

In the Gaza Strip specifically, Hamas outperformed its nationwide average slightly, capturing between 44% and 47% of the regional vote depending on the specific district.


That latest report plus many civilians support(ed) Hamas will trigger IDF soldiers, where some of them lost family members, to use extreme violence on Hamas or any other terrorist organisations targetting Jews, as some sort of retalliation and make sure this will never happen again.

[Caduceus]

Originally Posted by kellyhound ↗

It's the eternal one explanation "justifying" these kind of actions: The IDF deny intentionally targeting medical personnel. They state that Hezbollah uses civilian emergency services, medical infrastructure, and ambulances to transport fighters and weapons. Hezbollah and local rescue services deny these claims.

and the other tell it's done deliberately.
I have seen plenty of videos of Hamas/Hez. using ambulances to gain entry into civilian/non-com. areas. They are the worst of the worst. They use their people as cannon fodder.
They probably did transport Hezbollah fighters in ambulances or guns etc. at a certain point in time but that doesn't mean every ambulance is doing that and then you get this. It's a "to be sure" measure none of the fighters can move or get away and medics and civilians are at risk then.
https://news.sky.com/video/the-param...banon-13547776

[Rikbikboo]

Originally Posted by kellyhound ↗

It's the eternal one explanation "justifying" these kind of actions: The IDF deny intentionally targeting medical personnel. They state that Hezbollah uses civilian emergency services, medical infrastructure, and ambulances to transport fighters and weapons. Hezbollah and local rescue services deny these claims.

and the other tell it's done deliberately.

They probably did transport Hezbollah fighters in ambulances or guns etc. at a certain point in time but that doesn't mean every ambulance is doing that and then you get this. It's a "to be sure" measure none of the fighters can move or get away and medics and civilians are at risk then.
https://news.sky.com/video/the-param...banon-13547776

Actually I watched the video.. The reporter who was filming is very well known, they used the double tap method and the reporters were following the ambulances on their way to the first incident. they were empty. You can clearly see the second strike on the ambulance which was just arriving,. IDF states the targets were motorbikes.

I would argue a ambulance does not look like a motorbike. I am all for the erasing of Hamas but this is clearly not a bike nor Hamas. so I fail to believe it was accidental.

[kellyhound]

Journalists from CNN and satellite imagery experts analyzed recent imagery of 18 targeted Iranian underground missile sites including locations near Kermanshah and Tabriz.

They discovered that Iranian engineering units used heavy machinery to clear away the debris from 50 out of 69 collapsed tunnel entrances.

Classified military intelligence assessments leaked to The New York Times concluded that Iran has already restored operational access to roughly 90% of its nationwide underground missile storage and launch facilities.

Military analysts note that while the U.S. airstrikes were a tactical success in sealing the bunkers with debris, the U.S. government overrepresented the strategic damage by failing to account for how quickly Iran could dig the entrances back out.

President Trump publicly pushed back against these findings, declaring on official White House channels that Iran's strategic sites were completely "obliterated" and that suggestions to the contrary are "fake news".

The Pentagon and the White House maintain that the bombing campaign successfully achieved its objectives and heavily crippled Iran's long-term military capabilities.

In testimony to Congress, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated the war had cost $25 billion. Acting Pentagon Comptroller Jules Hurst later bumped this estimate closer to $29 billion.

U.S. officials familiar with classified internal Pentagon assessments told CBS News that the true cost is closer to $50 billion because the official public numbers omitted critical variables.

The Pentagon's baseline figures do not account for the massive cost of repairing or replacing U.S. equipment damaged in Iranian retaliatory strikes, such as a $1.1 billion early warning radar system destroyed at Al-Udeid Air Base, nor do they factor in long-term veteran healthcare or the indefinite naval blockade.

The direct military bill is far from finished. The Pentagon has already requested a massive $200 billion supplemental funding package from Congress to replenish depleted weapon stockpiles and sustain the ongoing naval blockade around Iran.

Independent economists and congressional leaders warn that when factoring in broader macroeconomic damage, global energy disruptions, and long-term regional deployment, the overall cost to the U.S. economy could ultimately sit anywhere between $630 billion and $1 trillion.

To pay for the immediate costs of fuel, munitions, and troop deployments, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issues public debt.

They sell Treasury bonds, bills, and notes to domestic investors, foreign governments, and institutions.

In short, the government borrows the money to pay for the bombs today, adding the cost directly to the national debt, which future generations of taxpayers will have to pay back with interest.

The U.S. government currently operates at a massive budget deficit, meaning it spends more money than it collects in taxes.

Military campaigns are rarely paid for using the standard, pre-approved annual Pentagon budget meaning when a conflict breaks out, the White House requests an Emergency Supplemental Funding Bill from Congress.

This allows Congress to quickly approve tens of billions of dollars for emergency military actions without having to cut funding from other domestic programs or defense projects. It is essentially an approved credit line extension.

A portion of the money comes from the standard pool of cash collected by the IRS. Individual income taxes is the largest source of federal revenue, making up roughly half of all money collected by the government.

Corporate and Excise taxes is the remaining portion of standard revenue comes from taxes levied on business profits and specific goods.

The Pentagon has the legal authority to temporarily reprogram or shift money within its existing budget.

If money was originally set aside for peacetime training, base maintenance, or research and development, defense officials can legally redirect those existing funds to active combat zones until Congress passes an official emergency funding package.

Lawmakers cite reports on Iran's rebuilt tunnels to argue that expensive bombing campaigns yield poor strategic returns.

When using standard inflation metrics to convert the historical war spending figures into modern value, the true financial commitment of the past conflicts expands as follows.

The War in Afghanistan. The raw total of $2.3 Trillion pushes closer to $3.1 Trillion to $3.4 Trillion when factoring in the timeline of when those dollars were actually printed, borrowed and spent between 2001 and 2021.

The Iraq War. The raw $2 Trillion cost scales up to roughly $2.8 Trillion in today's money. This is because a dollar spent during the peak of the invasion in 2003 had roughly 65% more purchasing power than a dollar does today.

Daily Peak Spending adjusted vs. today. Even when converting the past daily peak spending into modern value, Operation Epic Fury’s high-tech intensity outpaces the old wars.

Iraq War Peak in 2008. In unadjusted dollars, the Iraq war peaked at roughly $380 million per day.

When adjusted for inflation to today's value, that peak is equivalent to roughly $570 million per day.

Afghanistan War Peak in 2011. At its absolute height with 100,000 U.S. troops deployed, it cost roughly $300 million per day.

Adjusted for inflation, that equals roughly $430 million per day.

Operation Epic Fury. At its peak opening phase, it averaged $1.88 Billion per day.

Even with full inflation adjustments, the active daily burn rate of Epic Fury was still 3 to 4 times more expensive than the peaks of Iraq and Afghanistan combined.

American taxpayers have already paid an estimated $1.1 trillion to $1.3 trillion in pure interest on the money borrowed to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. If the national debt is not aggressively paid down, the cumulative interest costs alone will spiral to over $6.5 trillion by the year 2050.

Eventually, the cost of the interest will be two to three times more expensive than the actual physical wars themselves.

Because the U.S. runs a massive annual deficit, the government doesn't actually pay off the principal balance.

When a bond matures, they issue new debt to pay off the old debt. Worse, they actively borrow money just to pay the interest on the existing war debt. This creates a compounding interest on interest loop.

Every tax dollar swallowed by past war interest is cash that cannot be used for domestic infrastructure, education, healthcare, or current national security demands.

Because the Federal Reserve recently raised interest rates to combat inflation, the government is forcing taxpayers to refinance those old 2003-2011 war debts at drastically higher interest rates today, aggressively accelerating the daily cost of the national debt.

The U.S. began Operation Epic Fury with an existing national debt exceeding $34 trillion. This massive volume of outstanding debt means that when the Treasury issues new bonds to fund sudden military operations, it must offer higher interest rates to attract investors, making the conflict immediately more expensive to finance.

Net interest payments on the national debt already consume a larger portion of the federal budget than the entire traditional defense budget.

Adding a billion-dollar-a-day campaign forces the government to choose between exacerbating inflation or cutting funding for domestic programs like infrastructure and healthcare.

Because Congress cannot easily raise taxes or cut existing mandatory spending overnight, sudden operations are financed almost entirely through deficit spending.

This injection of newly borrowed billions into the economy drives up demand-pull inflation, which forces the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates elevated, further spiking the government's borrowing costs.

Epic fury: According to an analysis by Taxpayers for Common Sense, the baseline Pentagon price tag of $29 billion adds an immediate $986 million in pure interest over the next 12 months alone.

If factoring in broader, more comprehensive estimates of the conflict’s first two months, closer to $71.8 billion in full military and asset replacement costs, taxpayers are projected to pay an additional $2.4 billion in interest within the first year.

If the conflict concludes swiftly, the Congressional Budget Office interest models project that the deficit spending from Epic Fury will saddle taxpayers with $10.9 billion to $26.9 billion in additional interest payments over the next 10 years.

This figure assumes interest rates remain stable; however, economists from the Penn Wharton Budget Model warn that sudden, massive debt expansions for unscheduled wars place upward pressure on interest rates across the entire U.S. economy, further inflating the cost of mortgages and consumer loans.

By 2050, the cumulative interest paid on the loans taken out to fund the current strikes will eclipse the original price of the operation.

Taxpayers will have paid more money just to service the debt of the 2026 air campaign than the military spent on the initial Tomahawk missiles, aircraft fuel, and drone replacements.

To address the soaring national debt and the immediate fiscal strain caused by Operation Epic Fury, House Republicans and the Trump administration have introduced a strategy focused on slashing domestic spending and reprogramming federal funds rather than raising taxes.

Because the GOP policy platform strongly opposes tax increases, their approach relies heavily on an aggressive fiscal austerity model to offset the bill for the conflict.

Republicans are actively eyeing multi-billion dollar reductions in federal health spending, incl. reviving cuts tied to the Affordable Care Act to directly absorb the war's costs.

The operational plan targets deep cuts to state and local social programs.

The House GOP's Fiscal 2027 budget proposal slashes funding for the Department of Education by 10%. It eliminates billions in Title II formula funds meant for teacher professional training and nicks community school initiatives.

To curb federal agency reach, the GOP plan cuts $1.4 billion from IRS enforcement funding.

The budget plan enforces an absolute freeze on federal executive pay rates to save immediate cash.

The House budget proposal seeks to eliminate federal funding for subsidized college loans while reorganizing campus-based aid.

To combat the immediate "demand-pull" inflation and energy spikes driven by the conflict, President Trump announced an international agreement to flood the market with cheap energy.

The administration is actively releasing 172 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

The GOP aims to stabilize fuel prices to prevent the Federal Reserve from having to raise domestic interest rates even further.

While Republicans argue this military-first, domestic-cut approach shifts the financial burden away from future debt, opposition lawmakers and fiscal watchdogs point out the glaring mathematical contradiction.

Critics highlight that President Trump's baseline Fiscal 2027 proposal seeks a massive 40% increase in overall defense spending.

Economists argue that cutting local social safety nets and education programs will not save enough capital to offset a trillion-dollar structural interest spiral, leaving the core national debt loop largely unresolved.