Inexpensive fiber-optic drones are challenging Israel’s high-tech defenses, shifting the military balance in the Middle East.

A recent video showing an explosive-laden drone striking an Israeli Iron Dome battery couldn’t have been more symbolic: Israel’s famous air-defense system, which cost billions of euros, looked powerless against a small aircraft that cost a few hundred euros.

While the video’s authenticity has not yet been verified, experts believe it is genuine.

The footage was published about a week ago by Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based pro-Iranian militia, which Germany, the US and several Sunni Arab states have classified as a terrorist organization.

The drone strike, if genuine, would mark propaganda victory for Hezbollah and reveal a significant vulnerability in Israel’s military capabilities.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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    15 hours ago

    The difference is Hezbollah isn’t a country…

    If the conflict was a couple rational countries, then making your distinction makes sense. But Iran and America’s governments are just as bad as Israel’s.

    If you give a parenthetical for Israel you have to do it for America and Iran.

    Hezbollah is the odd one out, because they don’t have soverign soil to be attacked, a pretty important difference

    • schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works
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      14 hours ago

      If your goal is informing your readers, the fact that Israel is invading Lebannon is easily as important as a comically detailed explanation of how terroristy Hezbollah is.

      If your goal is sanctioning violence done by state actors–a common feature of corporate media–you´d do what they did here.

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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        14 hours ago

        the fact that Israel is invading Lebannon

        Is because Hezbollah is based there…

        I’m defending Israel, this is a (not even rare) situation where every government (and non state militant organization) is a piece of shit their citizens would be better off without.

        That shouldn’t be hard to understand, but there’s a weird amount of pro-Iran accounts the last couple months, and they just won’t understand it

        • Keeponstalin@lemmy.world
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          12 hours ago

          Equating a settler colonialist fascist state with a resistance group born out of resisting that ethnic cleansing is actually insane

        • schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works
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          14 hours ago

          I´m talking about the difference between journalism and propaganda; you don´t think it’s a little weird to come away from an article like this knowing Hezabollah is a terrorist organization according to Germany, the US, and several Sunni Arab states, but not that their country is currently being invaded with tanks?

          • backalleycoyote@lemmy.today
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            12 hours ago

            No, because the article doesn’t acknowledge the state based designation placed upon their organization by those countries. You personally know it exists, but the writer doesn’t give the nations that imposed it that benefit of adding a reference to their decree.

            Existence of an organization within a nation does not mean it is aligned with the state or subject to it unless that organization decides to align it’s objectives with the state, which currently Hezbollah is in it’s primary territory while also providing resources and support to likeminded allies beyond.

            Most of those countries that throw around “terrorist” designations have groups on their own soil that they drop that title on. Depending on how the writer wanted to spin it they would either push the state narrative and call them “terrorists”, or acknowledge what groups often call themselves, “activists” or “militia” and reference what territory they are operating out of.

            • schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works
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              2 hours ago

              I’m honestly not sure what you’re saying. The article is doing exactly what you say it isn’t doing–given the state-based definition of “terrorist,” and I’m not assuming the reader personally knows anything.

              I also don’t see that you are defending the omission of Israel’s invasion.

              Beware of choosing arbitrary distinctions that support what you already believe. Here, I see people who support Israel make a distinction between state and non-state actors because it cloaks state violence and decontextualizes (and implicitly condemns as unjustified) non-state violence, while at the same time giving the reader LESS information and a skewed view–the opposite of the goal of true journalism.

              For instance, I saw a great video on music theory and how some white supremacists in the West decided that contrapuntal harmony (or some shit) was the PINNACLE of intelligence. Why? Is it just a coincidence that Western Classical music does very well relative to other music in the world? Rhythmically, Indian music mops the floor with Bach. Obviously, a chauvinist Indian would pick whatever Indian music does uniquely well as the pinnacle of musical evolution.

          • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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            13 hours ago

            but not that their country

            Non state organizations do not have their own country’s…

            Hezbollah is based in Lebanon and Lebanon is being invaded, that is not the same as Hezbollah is being invaded.

            Like, you’re mad at an explanation in the article but you obviously need the explanation…

          • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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            12 hours ago

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Lebanese_general_election

            Tldr:

            They have 15 seats when 65 is needed for a majority.

            Is it weird that a political party is openly aligned with a militant non state organization?

            Yep.

            But it still doesn’t mean Hezbollah is being invaded, or that they’re Lebanon’s government.

            Lebanon is being invaded, and a large amount of them never signed up for this shit.

            • Akh@lemmy.world
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              11 hours ago

              Right, none of them did, that is why Israel is engaging in war crimes.

              • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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                2 hours ago

                none of them did,

                I legitimately don’t know what you’re referring to…

                that is why Israel is engaging in war crimes

                They were doing war crimes before they attacked Lebanon

                It feels like you understand “Israel bad” but none of the actual facts or details. That’s very dangerous because billionaires are gonna point you

                You need to understand more than “Israel bad” that’s not enough.