Thread by @althecat

This is the "innocent" flag march that led to young Gazans attaching candle wicks to balloons and setting them free to fly into Israel. Israel responded with bombs.
#GazaUnderAttack

https://twitter.com/LailaAlarian/status/1405333841292804097

Tonight Israel's new Government repeated the bombs for balloons operation, on the eve of a trip by the head of the IDF to America to meet his counterparts in the U.S. Military.

The timing seems intent on provoking Hamas to break their side of a @POTUS brokered ceasefire.

Israel's new 5-day old Government is literally playing with fire. Deadly fire.

During the Israeli attacks tonight - which Hamas did not respond to with rocket fire - rocket sirens went off in Israel and the @IDF issued this cryptic tweet, which as you see doesn't actually mention rockets.

https://twitter.com/IDF/status/1405636261885448193?s=20

And there were no rockets, but cell-phone "red-alert warning" systems went off, some media published breaking news stories and the "war is back" narrative spread like wildfire in social media.

https://twitter.com/BamaBromo_/status/1405636526755749889?s=20

News Agency @TPS_News_co_il (Tazpit Press Service) checked with the @IDF and sent out this alert.

https://twitter.com/TPS_News_co_il/status/1405647723710267392?s=20

, and the @IDF also confirmed this to @BBC (

https://twitter.com/Rushdibbc/status/1405641582917861377?s=20

) but they did not correct their misleading tweet.

It took a further 42 minutes before the @IDF issued another cryptic tweet, as a reply to their initial one. But by then the story about the Gaza war being back on had gone viral.

A video showing the actual cause of the sirens going off, was published 16 minutes after the @IDF tweet, but the @IDF waited another 25 minutes to issue their clarification.

Someone else posted a picture of the rockets being fired. Tweet since deleted.

https://twitter.com/althecat/status/1405646180684603396?s=20

The initial @IDF tweet looked iffy from the start. After seeing siren reports I checked @IDF account as historically they have provided a timely feed of rocket attack reports. And they had a tweet, but rockets weren't mentioned. Why?

https://twitter.com/althecat/status/1405639893641052161?s=20

The obvious answer to this is that this was intentional. The tweet. The delay. Maybe even the sirens. A way to get some of the public sympathy benefits of Hamas rocket fire without the actual rockets.

Though it does seem to be an approach which has a high cost, bringing into doubt the reliability of their own twitter feed. Not to mention adding insult to injury to their already shaky relationship with the international media. nytimes.com/2021/05/14/wor…

The previous @IDF media chief left following the invasion that wasn't debacle in the dying days of the 11-Day Gaza War in May.

And somehow I don't think these not-very-cute tricks will play very well with @JoeBiden who went to a massive amount of effort to get this ceasefire.

T'would be a shame if this cynical take proves correct.

If the media sits by and ignores the absurdity of @IsraeliPM @naftalibennett using the opening days of his Govt. to break a ceasefire brokered by a U.S. President.

https://twitter.com/TomMarAlem1987/status/1405676756246450180?s=20

But maybe that's what this is all about. Standing up to the U.S. and exacting a political price from Biden for his work to resurrect the JCPOA.

Either way it seems likely IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi's meetings in the U.S. tomorrow will be frosty.
timesofisrael.com/after-delay-id…