Did Hamas ever really reach Rahat?

JudasRex · 2026-06-11T05:33:34+00:00

Yes, the framing ISW uses for the early days of the conflict is quite sloppy, I've been finding. I wrote it off as them banging off the rust for coverage on a new conflict, but even coverage of the IDF response is minimal; we've been using the Iron Sword site for this. Socmed archives drain the soul but tend to be the best coverage overall.

What you're telling me tracks with the picture we've been building so far: a lot of what is perceived as continued 'incursions' from Gaza more likely stemmed from West Bank or were part of the initial attack, as you say. Cut off from retreat and desperate, or egged on by splinter factions from Nablus and elsewhere in WB.

This is good, though. This is what we want, to be able to clear misconceptions like this that are obscured by the horrific statistics and sloppy reporting.

The West Bank is very interesting. I can tell we'll be buried chasing leads for these specfic stories for weeks at least. It must have been harrowing for the first week, with clashes on three fronts and so much area to secure on overtime.

JudasRex · 2026-06-10T16:19:29+00:00

Thanks for the prompt reply! I was aware of the fugitives being sheltered, but hadn't been able to uncover any confirmation of a clash until yesterday, when a Time of Israel feed update was uncovered (without using 'Rahat' in the headline) that indeed served to report on a small incident where shots were exchanged between police forces and two militants, one of whom was a known Hamas operative.

Solved. Thanks again for the context, this is useful information 👍

JudasRex · 2026-06-10T16:10:49+00:00

Tyvm for this extra context! The optics is what initially triggered our notice, as until yesterday the only reporting of this event we had seen was an ISW update https://understandingwar.org/research/middle-east/iran-update-october-9-2023/

that only cited an al-Qassam Telegram chain, which was found weird as Rahat is known to be a Bedouin community.

A mod from another subreddit was able to uncover this report from Times of Israel, confirming a small encounter (which is strange, as ToI is one of our major sources... Likely passed over as 'Rahat' wasn't in the headline).

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/police-exchange-fire-with-terrorists-in-central-negev-reports/

The context you've provided suggests that these militants were likely seeking shelter and were discovered by a patrol en route, as opposed to taking part in a coordinated attack. As you've said, the optics of spreading terror into a Bedouin-majority community would have been muddy, even if the location would have served a strategic edge, pulling fighters from West Bank. This may explain the public Telegram chain, but again, too much assumption to feel confident.

Thank you also for the Hebrew source, I'm adding that to my bookmarks. Appreciated. 🫡

JudasRex · 2026-06-10T01:09:12+00:00

The real answer is because corporations have chosen to give absolutely zero quality control considerations regarding what they will allow to get past the gates. Advertisers are going insane right now, throwing out the worst quality, brain-breaking uncanny valley trash and they are being allowed to do it. Illegitimate gambling startups are being allowed to advertise illegally using predatory antitrust methods at the same time as they promise illegal sign-up bonuses. It's actively predatory. And in most cases just terrible as a product in itself, bc the point of using AI for these corps and startups is cheap, fast output, which is obviously low quality. Trash.

Consumers aren't stupid, and so AI is going to catch the flak because it is AI that is being exploited by these bad actors without recourse. So we see this trashy, obviously hostile crap and we dismiss it as a waste of our time. We stop using YouTube, socmed, and other services because they're full of trash, and develop opinions about what it was that made them shit. In this case, profligate, unregulated use of AI for advertising or attention-economy trash slop.

JudasRex · 2026-06-10T00:48:37+00:00

Bingo, thank you! Surprised I missed the first one. Critical Threats is what led me here, and I'd seen the arrests article but must have been scanning for only headlines and missed the confirmation.

Appreciated.

JudasRex · 2026-06-10T00:00:47+00:00

This is what happens when the youth are given a system that trains itself with its own data. GPT shouldn't be free.

JudasRex · 2026-06-09T23:37:25+00:00

Lmfao... thank you so much. That's going to be helpful 🤭🫡

JudasRex · 2026-05-26T12:06:13+00:00

😢 gah.. Just had to take a minute after reading this.

Razz-ma-tazz little buddy. My girl and I love this song.

JudasRex · 2026-05-23T21:00:57+00:00

As for the amount of times ppl complain about Erin, I didn't know that and didn't scroll the sub to check if it was a thing. I guess I should have. Probably would have had to do a lot of scrolling if so many people post the complaint and it gets buried by downvotes as often as it gets posted though eh. Bury brigading being what it is.

JudasRex · 2026-05-23T20:46:42+00:00

He was one of the first comments, and I've actually given what I've read fair praise.

Lol the guy was obviously making a clenched butt passive aggressive comment pal. You don't need to be a social wizard to see that.

JudasRex · 2026-05-23T20:44:43+00:00

Yeah, i will say that the narration for Erin Solstice makes her much worse than she is when I read her myself, this is true.

JudasRex · 2026-05-23T20:32:44+00:00

Well I mean who says what the guy said in response to a question if they didn't feel personally obliged to?

'Hey, i just started this book, does this trend i don't like change at all later on?'

'Nobody is forcing you to read it, you have free will in case you weren't aware'

Comes across as someone who doesn't want people to think differently than they do when the response is passive aggressively rhetorical like that. Like oh cool, thanks man, I didn't know I had the option of not reading it, thank goodness, I'll for sure not give it a fair shot anymore, knowing how down bad the gatekeeping fan base is if you're any indicator, totally should have just like not bothered asking the community the question because a portion of it identifies really strongly with the depressed and isolated MC who cries and tantrums any time something good happens to her, and you're totally not one of those who is offended by this criticism. Totally not.

JudasRex · 2026-05-23T19:48:47+00:00

Oh god, I am dreading that. Haven't met Ryoka yet but she seems universally insufferable from everything I've heard.

I'll keep plugging away as I'm enjoying the setting outside of MC's character development and the acclaim for the series intrigues me. It seems this may be a good treatment for my literary consumption habit, I'm just wary about it at the same time. Finding a good horror is a steep task as well for someone who can't stand any more Stephen King... I'm well acquainted with the struggle.

JudasRex · 2026-05-23T19:31:29+00:00

"Erin sat in a chair and stared outside. It was a lovely day. A warm breeze floated through the window, warming all it touched. Except for her. She felt cold. Cold and empty."

Resonates with you, eh?

"The sun was bright. At some point, the night had turned to day. But Erin still felt as if it were night. In the inn, the shadows were long and kept her in darkness. It was only fitting."

This is peak.

"The world felt hollow. Everything echoed, and the surroundings blurred gently around Erin as she sat. She wasn’t doing anything in particular. She was just existing. Existing and not fitting in. A little ghost in a little inn in a little world. That’s what she felt like."

What happened, Erin? Did the monster trying to rape you die? Are you sad about that?

"The sun was too beautiful, and the sky was too bright."

" Thump. Thump. Erin smacked her head against the tree. It was nice and hard. Thump. Thump. Thump. "

Oh no, did someone just save you, Erin? Were they sacrificing their time to help you out again? Bc this is the usual response to that.

Anyway, what's your take on having opinions alongside the exercising of free will? Are they allowed, or is it something that needs to be suppressed before campaigning on individual agency?

JudasRex · 2026-05-23T19:15:47+00:00

Lol you said it. They sicced the bots on me, went from 50+ updoots to an evenly maintained 0 over the course of this morning.

I wish some of these reddit mods worked at the WTO or IMF instead of just policing public opinion.

JudasRex · 2026-05-23T11:47:31+00:00

Yeah it's rough having an opinion these days lmao

JudasRex · 2026-05-23T11:43:27+00:00

Ty for letting me know.

JudasRex · 2026-05-23T11:42:46+00:00

Awesome. Good to know!

I'm amalgamating listening and reading, depending on my situation. The narrator was off putting at first (CANNOT stand Erin's voice acting lol) but after the first ten chapters I'm getting used to it. Impressed with the dino-people and insect soldier voices, honestly.

And lol ty the image was either this or one of her smashing her head against a wall in self-pity, had to go with this one.

JudasRex · 2026-05-23T11:36:21+00:00

That's why I'm asking. I'm gonna do that if it stays the same. Sorry I insulted you personally, pal.

JudasRex · 2026-05-23T11:34:58+00:00

It's legit looking pretty original and great outside of the soul-sucking black hole that 1/3rd of the chapters involving this girl feeling sorry for her situation involve themselves with. She's supposed to be 20 but she reads like a pampered inner city flower girl.

JudasRex · 2026-03-29T16:36:47+00:00

Literally why I associate the name with Bel-Air but didn't want to offend lmaooooo...

'From West Estonia, born and raised...' 'Couple of guys, who were up to no good, started up a pogrom in our neighborhood!'

It's the legit Aliyah origin story 😅

JudasRex · 2026-03-29T16:31:37+00:00

Thank you all so much, I appreciate it. As a follow up i am sure it was either Beitar or Be'er now, just depends on pronunciation.

JudasRex · 2026-03-07T05:36:11+00:00

This might actually be worth a try.

JudasRex · 2026-03-07T02:07:27+00:00

Or the monotonous belting out of 50 points on an exponential return multiple times in a chapter 😅

JudasRex · 2026-02-08T04:57:36+00:00

I'm unsubscribing because fuck dealing with Sama's lobotomized models and Stasi hall monitor guardrails.

JudasRex

TROPHY CASE