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A Gaza War Full of Traps and Trickery

14 points by echair 18y ago

vaksel 18y ago
Israel has also managed to block cellphone bandwidth, so very few amateur cellphone photographs are getting out of Gaza. Is this Israel just pulling the plug on their own hardware...or is this a technology that attacks another country's hardware?
- Rod 18y ago
  That is a good question. I suppose that the IDF is jamming the narrow band of the EM spectrum used by cellphones to transmit information. If such is the case, they would also prevent the enemy from using cellphones as detonators. The jammers need not be omni-directional. After all, Gaza is an enclave facing the sea, so a few well-positioned directional jammers might be able to block cellphone bandwidth in the entire Gaza region without affecting much the cellphones outside of Gaza. Just speculating. I am, by no means, an expert in RF and jamming technologies.
  - dhughes 18y ago
    The Israelis are experts they make cellphone jamming equipment, I think even the US Secret Service owns some of the briefcase models which can jam a 1 mile radius.
- astrec 18y ago
  I wonder if they've done something similar to GPS.
  - Rod 18y ago
    Smart bombs require GPS info to be precise. It would make no sense for the IDF to jam GPS signals, though it would make a lot of sense for Hamas.
    - astrec 18y ago
      Some "smart" bombs require GPS, but not all. It's my understanding that certainly the US military (and thus one imagines the IDF) possesses the ability to interfere with the C/A code but not the P(Y)-code. This being the case it would be next to useless for Hamas to attempt to jam GPS (unless Israeli troops were carrying civilian GPS units for personal use), but advantageous for the IDF.
      - Rod 18y ago
        You're right, not all "smart" bombs require GPS. I assumed that the IAF is using JDAM smart bombs, which use IMU & GPS integration. I don't see why one should use infrared or laser-guided bombs when one can use JDAMs. The IDF could interfere with the C/A code indeed. Since Hamas seems to use obsolete equipment, I honestly don't see what tactical advantages would the IDF gain from jamming the civilian GPS signal.
        siculars 18y ago
        because the idf doesnt use commercial grade gps. so everyone else who might possibly, re hamas, should get blocked ;) why would the idf want anyone else having positioning information in an active war zone?
        Rod 18y ago
        Blocking commercial GPS would make a lot of sense if there are palestinian forward observers watching the maneuvers of the IDF on the ground and communicating the coordinates of the IDF units so they could be shelled by (precise) mortar fire.
        siculars 18y ago
        how about blocking coordination between groups of hamas fighters in their movements on the ground in gaza opposite the idf?
        astrec 18y ago
homme 18y ago
What else are they supposed to do? The other side has better weapons. Sad that humanity is still entralled to degenerate tribalism at the dawn of the 21st century. I wonder if those delusional Bronze and Iron age cult leaders had any idea of the damage they would be inflicting centuries hence. Laughing in their graves: "Oh, come on, you didn't get it? We thought you could see we were bullshitting!"
- yters 18y ago
  Your comment looks like an observation, but it includes an implicit interpretation of the events. It is a clever technique, but harmful to the pursuit of transparent discussion.
- kajecounterhack 18y ago
  What else are they supposed to do? The other side has better weapons. So they use civilians to defend themselves and to attack with their tricky weapons. But there are only weapons because there is a war. And there is only a war because people hate each other. They could start by not hating each other...and trying to talk it out. But with both sides demanding preconditions, it won't work out. Ever. Alas, peace in the middle east is not to be had.
- ars 18y ago
  What else are they supposed to do? The other side has better weapons. What they should do is give up - they lost. And then they should work to get the best situation possible for their people. Instead they are trying to keep their cause alive, and who cares about the casualties. They lost and everyone knows it - but they refuse to allow themself to admit it, and so they kill their own people. Sad that humanity is still entralled to degenerate tribalism at the dawn of the 21st century What makes you think the 21st century is anything special? Humans haven't changed in the slightest since those "delusional Bronze and Iron age cult leaders". (That comment doesn't even make any sense since the bronze age was before, or at the very edge of, recorded history, but whatever.) I checked some of your other comments, and they seemed normal - this one isn't. Are you just a troll trying to provoke responses?
  - 18y ago

14 points by echair 18y ago

Israel has also managed to block cellphone bandwidth, so very few amateur cellphone photographs are getting out of Gaza. Is this Israel just pulling the plug on their own hardware...or is this a technology that attacks another country's hardware?

Rod 18y ago
That is a good question. I suppose that the IDF is jamming the narrow band of the EM spectrum used by cellphones to transmit information. If such is the case, they would also prevent the enemy from using cellphones as detonators. The jammers need not be omni-directional. After all, Gaza is an enclave facing the sea, so a few well-positioned directional jammers might be able to block cellphone bandwidth in the entire Gaza region without affecting much the cellphones outside of Gaza. Just speculating. I am, by no means, an expert in RF and jamming technologies.
- dhughes 18y ago
  The Israelis are experts they make cellphone jamming equipment, I think even the US Secret Service owns some of the briefcase models which can jam a 1 mile radius.
astrec 18y ago
I wonder if they've done something similar to GPS.
- Rod 18y ago
  Smart bombs require GPS info to be precise. It would make no sense for the IDF to jam GPS signals, though it would make a lot of sense for Hamas.
  - astrec 18y ago
    Some "smart" bombs require GPS, but not all. It's my understanding that certainly the US military (and thus one imagines the IDF) possesses the ability to interfere with the C/A code but not the P(Y)-code. This being the case it would be next to useless for Hamas to attempt to jam GPS (unless Israeli troops were carrying civilian GPS units for personal use), but advantageous for the IDF.
    - Rod 18y ago
      You're right, not all "smart" bombs require GPS. I assumed that the IAF is using JDAM smart bombs, which use IMU & GPS integration. I don't see why one should use infrared or laser-guided bombs when one can use JDAMs. The IDF could interfere with the C/A code indeed. Since Hamas seems to use obsolete equipment, I honestly don't see what tactical advantages would the IDF gain from jamming the civilian GPS signal.
      - siculars 18y ago
        because the idf doesnt use commercial grade gps. so everyone else who might possibly, re hamas, should get blocked ;) why would the idf want anyone else having positioning information in an active war zone?
        Rod 18y ago
        Blocking commercial GPS would make a lot of sense if there are palestinian forward observers watching the maneuvers of the IDF on the ground and communicating the coordinates of the IDF units so they could be shelled by (precise) mortar fire.
        siculars 18y ago
        how about blocking coordination between groups of hamas fighters in their movements on the ground in gaza opposite the idf?
      - astrec 18y ago

homme 18y ago

What else are they supposed to do? The other side has better weapons. Sad that humanity is still entralled to degenerate tribalism at the dawn of the 21st century. I wonder if those delusional Bronze and Iron age cult leaders had any idea of the damage they would be inflicting centuries hence. Laughing in their graves: "Oh, come on, you didn't get it? We thought you could see we were bullshitting!"

yters 18y ago
Your comment looks like an observation, but it includes an implicit interpretation of the events. It is a clever technique, but harmful to the pursuit of transparent discussion.
kajecounterhack 18y ago
What else are they supposed to do? The other side has better weapons. So they use civilians to defend themselves and to attack with their tricky weapons. But there are only weapons because there is a war. And there is only a war because people hate each other. They could start by not hating each other...and trying to talk it out. But with both sides demanding preconditions, it won't work out. Ever. Alas, peace in the middle east is not to be had.
ars 18y ago
What else are they supposed to do? The other side has better weapons. What they should do is give up - they lost. And then they should work to get the best situation possible for their people. Instead they are trying to keep their cause alive, and who cares about the casualties. They lost and everyone knows it - but they refuse to allow themself to admit it, and so they kill their own people. Sad that humanity is still entralled to degenerate tribalism at the dawn of the 21st century What makes you think the 21st century is anything special? Humans haven't changed in the slightest since those "delusional Bronze and Iron age cult leaders". (That comment doesn't even make any sense since the bronze age was before, or at the very edge of, recorded history, but whatever.) I checked some of your other comments, and they seemed normal - this one isn't. Are you just a troll trying to provoke responses?
- 18y ago