Image text from twitter:
A very dangerous new nightmare we are living in Gaza City, and no one in the world is paying attention to it.
Days ago, the Israeli army installed huge military cranes, each about 30 meters tall, on the eastern areas it controls. These cranes are equipped with machine guns and cameras, and they fire randomly and almost continuously at tents, streets, and exposed neighborhoods.
Gaza City is extremely narrow, only 10 kilometers wide. A single crane at that height is enough to expose the entire city from east to west. Every street, every square, every tent, every house has become completely exposed. There is no place to hide, and not a single moment of safety.
In just the past two days, three people were killed by fire from these cranes. One of them was sitting quietly with his father in a small café, trying to breathe for a few minutes. Hours later, a 5year old girl was killed while playing near her home.
These cranes have turned the entire city into an open field. The latest military technologies are directed at civilians. We have become an open testing ground for their new weapons. The horror is not just in the sound… it is the constant feeling of being an exposed target at all times, where even children cannot run in the street without fear.
I am 💯 willing to believe and propagate this, but if you have some interview or source I could refer to, I'd be most appreciative
From the half life fandom wiki:
This doesn't claim that they are literally based on the IDF, but being the occupiers would make the combine the IOF in any analogy between the two. I've been meaning to replay half life since it's been ages for me so I'll be paying attention to whether this holds up when I do.
From what I remember though, it seems believable. It's obviously not a perfect 1:1 fictional recreation, but thinking about the world of half life the similarities are striking. Humanity was facing total annihilation by an unbelievably cruel and powerful force that they couldn't resist under total war. Their total surrender saved them, but resulted in an oppressive occupation where the humans who were willing to accept this surrender and collaborate with the combine were the only ones allowed to have political power, and that power could only be wielded over other humans, not the combine. Thus the indigenous population of earth was subjected to apartheid. The combine came from a vast empire, and their rule and power is precarious because it depends on connection and support from the greater empire. Then there's the gameplay, where the resistance need to stay hidden and use urban guerilla tactics in a concrete jungle of a city that they are confined to. It does sound like how I'd imagine Gaza before october 7th.
Don't they also have some sort of birth suppression method in place too?
yeah I had forgotten that part
I remember this being somewhat implied in Raising the Bar