Meanwhile on the International front....

As ever, please spare a thought for our colleagues.

Journalist casualties in the Israel-Gaza war - Committee to Protect Journalists

As of November 20, CPJ’s preliminary investigations showed at least 48 journalists and media workers [killed]

 

One of the things that bugs me - like the loss of lives and humanitarian crisis isn't enough - is how well this has played out for Russia. Ukraine off of the front page, Israel looking like the bad guys all of the sudden, weakening Biden's poll numbers, - its been worth every penny that Putin spent on the Hamas attack (funneled through Iran of course).

 

Don't forget that it stymied efforts to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

 

Unless it comes full circle that captured Hamas leaders say that Putin funded the whole thing as part of his evil plan to reclaim Ukraine.

 

I think that was a major factor in the timing. That sort of attack could have happened at any time, but it blew up any chance of that accord.

 

I think that has been discussed on this thread before. I am certain that was the reason for the timing.

 

Try to follow this six degrees of terrorism separation: Houthi rebels from Yemen, backed by Iran, seized a cargo ship in the Red Sea that was Bahamian-flagged, British-owned, Japanese-operated and had a Bulgarian crew. The Houthis claim the ship is actually owned by an Israeli.
Noteworthy is that the Houthis used a helicopter assault to land on the ship and quickly take the bridge.
The ship is a car carrier that had no cargo on it. The Houthis claim they will continue to do this to Israeli-owned ships for the obvious reasons.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/houthi-helicopter-raid-on-ship-in-red-sea-seen-in-new-video



And here's an interesting tactical breakdown of the whole thing. Summarized: They are not professionals.

 

That video is like the best of the best first person gamers coming to life.

 

I am curious how many prisoners Israel agreed to release. Every report I've seen had them releasing many more, which makes no sense to me.

 

It's the law of diminishing returns. At some point, even if you were the 1927 Yankees (bringing it to sports) and the world was your oyster, you hit a ceiling of how much to pay Babe Ruth for how much his WAR was. There's just not enough money in the world. That's the best comp I am prepared to present. Maybe some one can do better.

The Gilad Shalit exchange was one for 1,027 in 2011. The same ratio works out to 240 for 246,000 today, and the best estimate I could find for imprisoned Palestinians from presumably both Gaza and the West Bank is 4,764 right before the Hamas attack. https://www.btselem.org/statistics/detainees_and_prisoners