Israeli soldiers on the northern border have been seen using a medieval catapult-like weapon to shoot flaming projectiles into Lebanon, igniting plantations to prevent Hezbollah fighters from infiltrating into the south.
Footage widely shared on social media shows the soldiers loading a trebuchet and flinging fireballs into Lebanese territory. "This is a local initiative and not a tool that is widely used," the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement, denying that this is a widely adopted tactic by the forces.
30 Comments
moon@lemmy.ml · 82 pts · 2y
His ultimate dream fantasy consisted of being content and sleeping eight hours in a row.
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world · 71 pts · 2y
Yeah, that's not the real reason. Might be a secondary reason, but just like in Gaza, destruction of food sources and civilian property is NOT incidental. It's very much a deliberate tactic, which is a war crime.
masquenox@lemmy.world · -24 pts · 2y
Sooo... just bog-standard "counter-insurgency," then?
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world · 29 pts · 2y
No. Just because the US military does it with impunity doesn't mean it's standard and not a war crime.
masquenox@lemmy.world · -6 pts · 2y
Strange... I could swear it was the exact same strategy used by colonialist forces since colonialism began, including every European power in Africa, right up to modern-day conflicts such as the Anglo-Malayan War, the Vietnam War, and pretty much everything Israel has done right up to this very day.
Are you saying it was all war crimes?
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world · 25 pts · 2y
Yeah, international humanitarian laws weren't codified because nobody was doing things that they should never do..
All the instances of targeting civilians and food sources as a weapon of war? You bet your ass I am.
masquenox@lemmy.world · -13 pts · 2y
Well... fine, then.
FiskFisk33@startrek.website · 6 pts · 2y
No, it was added to the Geneva convention in 1977
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starvation_(crime)
masquenox@lemmy.world · -12 pts · 2y
So something is only evil once a pack of institutionalized racketeers writes a bunch of legalese about it?
FiskFisk33@startrek.website · 11 pts · 2y
Well, the question was on the practice's legality, not its morality.
So yes.
masquenox@lemmy.world · -6 pts · 2y
I'd say that there's a whole lot more to it than merely it's legality and/or morality.
aisteru@lemmy.aisteru.ch · 6 pts · 2y
Depends on whether you define a crime as a "legal" bad action or a "moral" bad action. While the latter may be problematic, because anyone can have different values, it is still widely considered a bad thing to kill people who did not do anything.
masquenox@lemmy.world · -1 pts · 2y
Is that all there is to it, though? The backlash against Israel since Oct 7 isn't adequately explained by either... neither is the generalized silence on Israel's behavior before Oct 7.
I'm reminded here of Sun Tzu's concept of "moral law" - which neither concerns itself with morality nor law, but rather the credibility of the actors in question.
ebc@lemmy.ca · 29 pts · 2y
Well, it is the superior siege engine.
cheese_greater@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 2y
preferred superior siege engine
pastermil@sh.itjust.works · 16 pts · 2y
Just like the Old Testament!
aeronmelon@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 2y
That's the only testament they know.
Bluefalcon@discuss.tchncs.de · 8 pts · 2y
The new testament was just as boring. I gave it a 3/10. Plot point was all over the place, inconsistencies , unbelievable characters ,and the motivation seemed force. Would not recommend.
Knuschberkeks@feddit.de · 12 pts · 2y
I might be wrong, but didn't Einstein say something about WW3 being fought with a club? Maybe this is the beginning of that developement back to the roots.
Two9A@lemmy.world · 19 pts · 2y
Snopes says this sentiment was actually expressed by Einstein, though perhaps not in this exact phrasing.
Inductor@feddit.de · 8 pts · 2y
relevant xkcd
Kecessa@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 2y
WW4
LordWiggle@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 2y
Shooting balls of fire might be medieval, but the IDF doesn't care about rules of war and Geneva convention anyway. "eh war crime shmore crime, am I right?"
Linkerbaan@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 2y
Slightly more HD version here on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgJmAK-MxhQ
Lmaydev@programming.dev · 7 pts · 2y
"catapult like" they fucking wish
Thcdenton@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 2y
DolphinMath@slrpnk.net · 4 pts · 2y
For what it’s worth, this is the only article I can find that says it was for burning “plantations.”
From NBC News
Or, if you prefer an outlet with a different perspective…
From Middle East Eye
Linkerbaan@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 2y
What israel is allowed to do it create a buffer zone within their own territories. Move back their Nazi colony.
What israel is not allowed to do is create a buffer zone in Lebanon by burning farmland and acres to the ground. Which they subsequently use as excuse to expand their Lebensraum on.