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. biimugan · 1790619643 · focus · HN ↗
  I don't quite understand your argument here. In your first pin I'm struggling to find a single building that isn't leveled, or at least severely damaged. Even buildings far away from the city center in the boonies are leveled.
  1. cogman10 · 1790637175 · focus · HN ↗
    They are saying that this is genocidal destruction. In a war sometimes civilian infrastructure is hit as collateral. But here, all infrastructure is destroyed and it's clear this wasn't done by 1 or 2 errant bombs but rather because of direct targeting. It can't be argued to be an accident because in farmland you see no bombs which hit the farmland by mistake. In other-words, this is entirely purposeful.
    tgsovlerkhgsel · 1790657626 · focus · HN ↗
    Looks the same in Ukraine, and at least there it's most likely not primarily because Russians wanted flatten the city (I'm sure they'd have preferred taking it in one piece) but rather because fighting happens from buildings resulting in the buildings getting targeted.
    Doesn't mean that here the targeting couldn't have been done with the primary goal of displacing the population, but the buildings being destroyed doesn't prove the motive.
    newspaper1 · 1790657998 · focus · HN ↗
    Does it look the same in the Ukraine? I haven’t seen any footage of entire cities leveled like this.
    virgilp · 1790667257 · focus · HN ↗
    Seriouslly?
    You can find lots of videos of Russia firing thermobaric weapons into populated areas - you will find none fired by Israel into Gaza. And I don't think that's because IL doesn't have them.
    westpfelia · 1790676206 · focus · HN ↗
    To busy using white phosphorous on kids.
    virgilp · 1790678993 · focus · HN ↗
    [dead]
    cassepipe · 1790680399 · focus · HN ↗
    I think your distinction is a valid one, Israel has some war crimes going on whereas russian invasion of Ukraine was a war crime festival but you are fighting an uphill battle because trying to make distinctions in levels of evil is generally frowned upon because to many people it looks like justification. The reason is because most people can't imagine any other value to making distinctions in evil. I personally can but each time you are going to do it, you should be prepared to defend why, in fact, making those distinctions is useful while being clear that the purpose is not justification of evil acts. It's a thin line to walk on.
    virgilp · 1790683953 · focus · HN ↗
    There are a bunch of people here who _genuinely_ do not comprehend that Russia is on a completely different league of evilness compared to Israel (and may even consider Israel worse!). This, while Russia is literally the source/engine of a significant part of all the evil in this world - and I wish I was hyperbolic when saying that. FWIW, that's exactly their doctrine, that "everybody is bad, so why bother to make the distinction, it's not like the others are good". And that's exactly how you end up in other countries too with genuinely evil rulers like some of those we see today.
    Anyway. Rant over, otherwise I'll veer too much into politics :)
    westpfelia · 1790687019 · focus · HN ↗
    744 ukranian children killed.
    <a href="https://gwaramedia.com/en/russia-has-killed-744-injured-almost-3000-ukrainian-children-since-full-scale-invasion-began/" rel="nofollow">https://gwaramedia.com/en/russia-has-killed-744-injured-almo...
    20000 palestianian children killed
    <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-un-report-details-the-overwhelming-scale-of-children-killed-in-gaza-it-raises-grave-legal-questions-286327" rel="nofollow">https://theconversation.com/a-un-report-details-the-overwhel...
    more then 20 times the children killed in half time time.
    virgilp · 1790691723 · focus · HN ↗
    Only children matter? But, fine. How many were kidnapped? At least IDF can claim that they didn't intentionally target children - with kidnapping, that's harder. And the discrepancy in numbers can also be caused by how much Ukraine vs Hamas care about said children / how much they are put in harm's way.
    someonebaggy · 1790697371 · focus · HN ↗
    What do you call aiming a sniper rifle at a child, centering her in the scope, accounting for drop, and then pulling the trigger? Seems pretty intentional to me, but maybe the sniper's finger slipped and did all that by accident?
    virgilp · 1790700304 · focus · HN ↗
    you believe those were sniper kills? :o Where did you get that from, the Hamas "x-rays" where bullets conveniently lodged inside a child cranium instead of shattering the surrounding bones?
    janc_ · 1790736337 · focus · HN ↗
    There are enough Israeli videos, texts, interviews & testimonies about IDF soldiers intentionally targetting children & bragging about it. No need to depend on Hamas communications.

Open on Hacker News to reply ↗

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.