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Re:Hezbollah pager explosions kill several people in Lebanon by dagaci on Tuesday September 17, 2024 @01:56PM (#41570626)
TBH Israel does not concern itself about killing bystanders generally and our western press will also laser focus on hezbullah.
Re:Hezbollah pager explosions kill several people in Lebanon by dredmorbius on Tuesday September 17, 2024 @06:40PM (#41573643)
It's not clear whether you're asserting Israel does or doesn't care whether it kills civilians, though I think you're saying it doesn't in general try to accomplish this.

Israel's history is decidedly chequered in this regard, and there have been killings, including quite recently of demonstrators / protestors, and within recent years of journalists, by Israeli forces.

But there are also practices such as "roof knocking" in which an initial nonlethal warning is exploded above a building several minutes prior to a much more destructive strike:

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roof_knocking>

Video of a roof-knock strike: <https://xcancel.com/AJEnglish/status/1710690655091990644#m>

The explosion seen doesn't significantly damage the building, that occurs in a later strike, shown as the first set of explosions here:

<https://yewtu.be/watch?v=ZFTK9V_mEjI>

(That clip follows with the initial roof-knock.)

And to be clear, much of Israel's subsequent air and artillery assault on the Gaza strip has been far less surgical, with vast numbers of structures destroyed.

By contrast, both Hamas and Hezbollah make extensive use of highly inaccurate missiles (totally unguided in the case of Hamas, guided though low-ish precision generally for Hezbollah) which are effectively aerial mines, striking randomly largely within civilian areas. This reflects both tactics and available means, so again the picture is complex. As I've written in an earlier comment on this thread, most hats are at best grey in these conflicts, rather than clearly white.

Re:Hezbollah pager explosions kill several people in Lebanon by dagaci on Wednesday September 18, 2024 @02:00AM (#41576274)
Not to get into it here, but i believe the fancy non-lethal warnings is done for the TV audience. There are so many incidents of bombings civilian areas stretching back for decades. And the statistics for the IDF killings of children alone are off the scale.
Re:Hezbollah pager explosions kill several people in Lebanon by dredmorbius on Wednesday September 18, 2024 @02:29AM (#41576448)
I'm not going to argue against any of that. Or for it.

The practice is decidedly impressive, and the video clips show a controlled building demo which compares favourably with teams placing explosives on site, with individual strikes to specific portions of the structure to bring it down. Simply as an exhibition of targeting precision that has its own messaging value.

At the same time, as you say, there are numerous examples of far more capricious use of force as well, and critics of Israeli military practices are legion, least of all within Israel itself and the broader Jewish community outside the country.

Re:Hezbollah pager explosions kill several people in Lebanon by Sawamara on Wednesday September 18, 2024 @04:28AM (#41577243)
You have misread the room if you think you can boast "impressive partial destruction" of buildings when the ENTIRETY of Gaza has just been made unlivable in front of your eyes.
Re:Hezbollah pager explosions kill several people in Lebanon by dredmorbius on Wednesday September 18, 2024 @02:20PM (#41583580)
That was the point of the second paragraph of my comment, and of "Israel's history is decidedly chequered in this regard" in my first post to this subthread.

Israel have the technical capability to minimise casualties. In practice they've acted at best capriciously, and arguably to maximise them.

Though this differs from many of their counterparties who either kill indiscriminately or target civillians specifically (e.g., 7 Oct 2023; Qassam rockets, which are dumb steel pipes fueled with sugar and fertiliser and tipped with explosives, bus and cafe bombings, etc.).

And yes, Israel has its own history of capricious bombings as well:

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_David_Hotel_Bombing> (1946)

Many people strongly condemn Israel's post-7-October-2023 actions within Gaza, and I am among them. Hamas are a legitimate target, the civilian Palestinian population and infrastructure are not.

I'm trying to convey that the situation here is complicated and that all parties behave, at least at times, quite badly. I am not partisan to either Israel or the Palestinians, though I often sympathise generally with their people's relative plights, both of them.

Re:Hezbollah pager explosions kill several people in Lebanon by Sawamara on Wednesday September 18, 2024 @04:27AM (#41577236)
They are not only not caring about minimizing harm, they are getting away with 11 months of wanton destruction on a daily basis. Just this month, they have dropped mk84 bombs on civilian tents. What are you babbling about?
Re:Hezbollah pager explosions kill several people in Lebanon by dredmorbius on Wednesday September 18, 2024 @02:20PM (#41583585)