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Oct 28, 2023Liked by Mick Ryan

This is an excellent analysis of factual information, disseminated into meaningful topics being experienced by the region. Cheers Mick, good reading even for a novice like me

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There is significant GNSS jamming in the theater right now. This is likely aimed at degrading Hamas drone navigation. No doubt the IDF is also developing an OB to attack their drone C2 as well. This doesn't eliminate the threat, but soft kill systems have the most aggregate effect. I expect we will see Israelis with "drone mitigation" weapons soon, though I haven't seen it yet.

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The myth of the always-professional IDF is going to be put to the test in the next few days like never before. With hundreds of thousands of reservists having only a few weeks of up-to-date training, I expect a lot more incidents like the already-viral BBC shot of a Merkava tank blowing up a car that was turning around to get away.

Do individual tank commanders understand that every choice they make goes global instantly and that the IDF's official statements about how everything they ever do is perfectly legal will set up a brutal contrast in the minds of most observers? Could this ethic be properly instilled in a matter of weeks - and necessary restraint maintained - given the virulent hatred of Palestinians in the mainstream Israeli press?

To all the people who want to ban cluster munitions - how about you shift focus to banning military operations in urban areas entirely? It's likely as achievable.

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Great summary, Mick. There are many overriding themes I see from your discussions on Ukraine coming to the fore again. The most important theater of operations will be the information space, where civilian casualties will be a feature of Hamas’ strategy to turn global opinion against even further. And if the IDF and Israeli government takes this seriously, it cannot help but affect operational and tactical kinetic activity. In some ways, IDF is in a no win situation no matter what they do on the ground in Gaza

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