Thread

Updated Google Maps shows destruction of the city of Rafah

943 points · 947 comments · slowin

bognition · 1790616426 · focus · HN ↗
Its really telling to see the destruction limited to where the structures used to be rather than to all of the surrounding green spaces. If the destruction of civilian dwellings was purely an accident you'd expect to see the destruction spread evenly over the area. Instead it looks much more like a prolonged set of surgical strikes to destroy the buildings while preserving as much of the surrounding areas as possible.
For a great example of this, look at this pin <a href="https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZcMbdFcx87PrqoYNA" rel="nofollow">https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZcMbdFcx87PrqoYNA
And here's a pin of where the farms were spared <a href="https://maps.app.goo.gl/iZbbTH4iH27FCz4s9" rel="nofollow">https://maps.app.goo.gl/iZbbTH4iH27FCz4s9
1. ImPostingOnHN · 1790616680 · focus · HN ↗
  They just use bulldozers to flatten whatever the bombs don't. They can drive a bulldozer pretty precisely, especially when they don't care who's in front of it or under it.
  Caterpillar even supplies the IDF with bulldozers just for this purpose, which then get up-armored and sent into Palestinian civilian areas to do this (including unmanned versions).
  <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IDF_Caterpillar_D9" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IDF_Caterpillar_D9
  1. AuthAuth · 1790617747 · focus · HN ↗
    By the time the bulldozers are there civilians have long moved out of the area.
    johnnyApplePRNG · 1790635638 · focus · HN ↗
    Rachel Corrie would like a word. [0]
    I suggest that you learn more about the Nakba, friend. [1]
    [0] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Corrie" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Corrie
    [1] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakba" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakba
    yyyk · 1790641667 · focus · HN ↗
    [dead]
    laimewhisps · 1790642173 · focus · HN ↗
    Of course it's relevant. Regardless, there are many instances of Israel killing civilians with bulldozers in Gaza.
    antonvs · 1790652470 · focus · HN ↗
    Only a child thinks 2003 was a long time ago.
    yreg · 1790668516 · focus · HN ↗
    Worth noting that Corrie was killed 23 years ago during a different phase of the conflict and under a previous government. (In which Netanyahu served as minister of finance.)
    johnnyApplePRNG · 1790726388 · focus · HN ↗
    That's not really a response to the point being made.
    The claim I was responding to was: "By the time the bulldozers are there civilians have long moved out of the area."
    Rachel Corrie's case is a counterexample to that general claim: she was a civilian physically present in the area of an Israeli military bulldozer operation.
    Saying that it happened 23 years ago, under a different government, doesn't make the counterexample cease to exist.
    It only tells us that the example isn't evidence about every Israeli bulldozer operation today.
    If you're arguing that civilians currently leave before demolition operations in Gaza, then make that case.
    "That happened under a previous government" doesn't establish that.
    yreg · 1790852735 · focus · HN ↗
    I'm not arguing for anything. I'm just adding context, because your comment read as if it happened during the 'current phase' of the conflict. That's a crucial detail to omit, imho.
    ImPostingOnHN · 1790887749 · focus · HN ↗
    > your comment read as if it happened during the 'current phase' of the conflict
    I don't think anyone else "read" it like that.
    > That's a crucial detail to omit
    It really isn't. No international body decided on "phases" to delinate combat, and given that there is not yet apology or atonement or peace since, that "phase" never ended.
    yreg · 1790929230 · focus · HN ↗
    Everyone who has not heard of her before thought that you are referring to something that happened now and not decades ago.
    I was surprised and felt mislead.
    I'm not sure what are you even arguing with me about. If it doesn't weaken your argument than it shouldn't matter to you that I've added factual context.
    someonebaggy · 1790697559 · focus · HN ↗
    Interesting: the word "nakba" translates to Hebrew as "shoah" which is what many Jews call the (German) Holocaust - they're not even trying to hide what they're doing.
    johnnyApplePRNG · 1790725501 · focus · HN ↗
    Wow. I had no idea.
    ImPostingOnHN · 1790739007 · focus · HN ↗
    "nakba" translates to "catastrophe".
    if you translate "catastrophe" to hebrew, you might get "shoah".
    guess it just goes to show how different cultures independently come up with similar names for similar things
    someonebaggy · 1790756604 · focus · HN ↗
    First sentence. "The Holocaust, known in Hebrew as the Shoah, was ..."
    <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust
    ImPostingOnHN · 1790823267 · focus · HN ↗
    Interesting how both peoples independently used the same word, but I guess when something truly is a catastrophe, other words can fail you.
    manyaoman · 1790761357 · focus · HN ↗
    Thanks for sharing. At this point I'm so numb to the destruction that this piece of trivia got to me more than the new satellite photos.
    AuthAuth · 1790790796 · focus · HN ↗
    Different war I am referring to the 2023 Gaza war but my point still stands the incident you linked is not a civilan being run over. "the IDF was engaged in an operation involving the demolition of Palestinian houses in Rafah. Corrie was part of a group of three British and four American ISM activists attempting to disrupt the IDF operation." If you are embedding yourself in Gaza 2003 during the 2nd intifada and doing this you arent a civilan.

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