Only for news & views directly related to the war in Palestine.

The current open thread for other issues is here.

Please stick to the topic. Contribute facts. Do not attack other commentators.

In early 2022, at the start of the war in Ukraine, the government of President Zelenski monopolized all television news:

Since the early days of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, the people of Ukraine have had access to a single source of television news — an all-day broadcast packed with footage of Ukrainian tanks blasting Russian positions, medics operating near the frontline and political leaders rallying support abroad.

The show, Telemarathon United News, has been a major tool of Ukraine’s information war, praised by the government officials who regularly appear on it for its role in countering Russian disinformation and maintaining morale.

“It’s a weapon,” President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said last January of the program, which is jointly produced and broadcast 24/7 by the country’s biggest television channels.

The Telethon, as it is known in Ukraine, became the sole source of news on Ukrainian airwaves. It was partially financed by the Ukrainian regime.  It soon developed into the main outlet for the Ukrainian government to spread its propaganda. It continuously presented alleged Ukrainian successes and derided Russia's capabilities.

It had deluded many Ukrainians into believing that their country can win the war.

But since the much propagandized 2023 'counteroffensive' has failed people have turned away from it.

A few still hang on. In a recent debate with military officers in Ukraine one pimpled youngster, drunk on Telethon disinformation, asked one of the Ukrainian officers about the 'bad quality of Russian weapons'.

He received an unexpected response. (I have seen the video of the exchange on Twitter but fail to re-find it.)

Strana, the Ukrainian news service prohibited in Ukraine and Russia, reported the exchange (machine translation):

Cont. reading: Ukraine SitRep: Zelenski’s Propaganda Outlet Is Leading His Decline

The war on Gaza has not proceeded the way the Netanyahoo government had planned. Fierce resistance continues and Israeli Occupation Forces are taking relatively high losses.

Haaretz is reporting (archived) that the military leadership does not agree with the government plans:

A large, almost unbridgeable disparity exists between the understanding that the Israel Defense Forces are already in the midst of deployment for the third stage of the war in Gaza, and what the political decision makers are projecting outwardly.

Five brigades, mostly consisting of reservists, have been pulled from Gaza and will be demobilized. But the military expects the war to continue throughout the year if on a lower level.

The Israeli government plans to ethnically cleanse the Gaza strip. It has held talks with Congo and other African countries to take in the involuntary refugees. Bribes will flow and some governments will agree to take in whoever comes.

Pushing Palestinians out by making all living in Gaza unbearable is the underlying tactic to achieve that goal.

The U.S. government is publicly opposed to those plans but does nothing to prevent their realization.

Netanyahoo has recognized that a victory in Gaza, and the dismantling of all of Hamas, is not really possible. But he needs a victory to keep  a chance to survive in the government and to not go to jail for the various cases of taking bribes.

He attempts to achieve this by expanding the war into Lebanon. Several border provocations have so far not incited Hezbullah to respond with a larger war.

But yesterday an Israeli drone assassinated a leader of the Palestinian Hamas in Beirut:

Cont. reading: Palestine SitRep – Hizbullah’s Response To Assassinations By Israel In Lebanon

Only for news & views directly related to the war in Palestine.

The current open thread for other issues is here.

Please stick to the topic. Contribute facts. Do not attack other commentators.

On the 29th of December Russia fired swarms of drones and missiles against Ukrainian weapon factories and depots.

Ukraine responded on new year's eve with a missile attack against the Russian city of Belgorod. The attack led to a number of civilian casualties.

Russia responded with attacks on Kharkiv where a hotel frequently used by western personnel was destroyed.

On new year's eve Ukraine also fired missiles into the center of Donetzk city. Russia launched dozens of drones towards Odessa. In both cities several people were killed and wounded.

President Putin of Russia began the year with a visit to a military hospital (in Russian, machine translation):

Cont. reading: Ukraine SitRep: Tit For Tat, Tat, Tat – Russia Intensifies Missile Strikes