Obsessive Observers: Weekly

Volume 2

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Week of October 16th, 2023

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Greetings, fellow observers.

I hope you’ve had a productive week. Mine was derailed early on. I ended up out of work Tuesday, which hurts more than usual since my wife is on maternity leave (unpaid) at the moment. I managed to procrastinate nearly all of my writing this week, and have just finished the entire pot of coffee I made for myself to make sure I could finish this for y’all.

So, I want to address one specific story upfront before we get into the weekly news recap.

In the fog of war, it’s difficult to ascertain and discern the truth. It’s much more difficult when conflicting reports from the corporate press muddies the waters. Official government accounts on X making claims, retracting them, and then providing evidence contrary to the claims of the opposing entities is par for the course when dealing with coverage of conflicts, and adds to the confusion. I strongly advise consuming war-related reporting with caution — maybe wait a couple of days to see how the story develops — as propaganda from both sides is intent on convincing you that one side has committed egregious war crimes to gain your support, seeking to justify the continuation and escalation of violence.

As it stands, it seems initial reports covering the explosion at a hospital in Gaza were incorrect. A headline by the New York Times read ‘BLAST KILLS HUNDREDS AT GAZA HOSPITAL’ and they claimed to have verified photos and videos showing “blooding and battered bodies, flames, grieving witnesses and the blankets, backpacks and mattresses of the dead and wounded littering the area around them.”

According to Timcast News, the Times also reported, “A spokeswoman for the Gazan health ministry put the toll at 500 or more dead, which the ministry later changed to ‘hundreds.’ No figure could be confirmed independently, but images from the hospital, which is run by the Anglican Church, and witness accounts made clear that it was high.”

There was widespread condemnation of Israel immediately following the report. However, given a day or two of time — just enough time for additional evidence to come to light — it seems the hospital was never hit by any explosives. The hospital is still intact, and it now seems more likely that the explosive had impacted the parking lot of the hospital (as seen in the images below) and was actually a missile deployed by Hamas that had somehow misfired. You can watch this footage that was released by multiple sources for yourself in this X post by yousuf_tw.

IDF also released audio from intercepted communications between purported Hamas operatives as they realized it was their own organization’s rocket that caused the blast.

There was also a comprehensive report released by INSIDER that I would recommend for additional insights into the inconsistencies in the initial reports.

It really is impossible to know exactly what happened until further investigation is conducted. There were confirmed casualties from this explosion, and no matter the exact details, civilians being killed is horrific. It is a tragic reality of war.

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Alright, let’s recap the news from this week!