Imagine having the entire western world backing you with billions of dollars and the most advanced murder machines in human history and you get owned by a fuckin rock.

Wasn't there some story in some old book about a big powerful imposing dude at the head of an invading army losing to a guy hitting him with a rock or something? I wonder if something like that is relevant here.

Pyrrhus, king of Epirus : "While he was fighting an Argive soldier, the soldier's old mother, who was watching from a rooftop, threw a tile which knocked him from his horse and broke part of his spine, paralyzing him. Whether he was alive or not after the blow is unknown, but his death was assured when a Macedonian soldier named Zopyrus, though frightened by the look on the face of the unconscious king, hesitantly and ineptly beheaded his motionless body."

Source : Wikipedia
- hesitantly and ineptly beheaded his motionless body
  
  I love when Wikipedia and others add these weasel words in to colour the situation
  
  Oh no, this peasant was able to kill a noble? He must have been shidding and farting and crying, ineptly beheading the king
  
  Like fuck off, the king got owned. Did his head come off? Then it wasn't a fucking inept beheading was it
David and Goliath
- Nah, that doesn't sound quite right. I think that was the claymotion show with the dog.

Heh, some kid threw a rock at me when I was like 7 and hit me in the head. I didn't die though. Skill issue by the sounds of things.

It’s all fun and games for the colonists until shit gets biblical.

hamas-red-triangle

DID THEY SAVE HIS CUM?!

"Dudes rock"

ALso... holy fuck a 21 year old SFC? When did he enlist 15?

nah their rank system is just real fast for reasons nobody bothers to explain
- The IDF run with triple XP bonuses on at all times.
If you look at the list of IOF casualties they're mostly like Lt. Generals and then it will list their age as maybe 25-26.
The IOF promotion system rewards time served, so SFC is literally the lowest rank you can have if you sign on after your conscription period.
- hehe... the lowest rank is Sergeant... the IOF just did away with the "enlisted" ranks altogether. (eyah, yeah.. i can see the wiki page you linked. I'm still going to like my own joke even if its bad)

i wonder if that's actually how he died or if they're just trying to excuse the next time idf-cool murders children

This was my very first thought. My second was the ancient story of David and Goliath, which bears many uncanny resemblances

I'd wager it was more than just a thrown rock, there was an iconic picture of a sling-wielding Palestinian in the Great March of Return.

something something five smooth stones

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/r9Q64HDwGNs
- I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
  
  yewtu.be
  
  inv.nadeko.net
  
  yt.artemislena.eu
  
  piped.video

- Hell yeah
- Why isn't this an emoji

army says… was wearing helmet

:doubt:

Palestinians have developed armor piercing sling technology.
- David and Goliath
- I don't think you need to pierce anything to fuck someone up with a rock. People get concussions while wearing helmets, this is just more extreme.
  
  Medieval fighters used maces against armour. I'm not sure how well a combat helmet works as a hard hat against thrown debris (since they're designed for bullets/shrapnel rather than blunt force trauma), but I think getting concussed enough to die is possible. Or maybe his neck got broken, idk.
Big rock, broken neck?

Dāwūd and Goliath

I remember an interesting video by an ex-IDF, pro-Palestinian resistance Israeli who said they have murals of David taking on Goliath, and when he served in Gaza, he saw a very powerful mural of a child throwing a rock at a tank, a similar image to an important story he grew up with.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkxJd88xkBU
- I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
  
  yewtu.be
  
  inv.nadeko.net
  
  yt.artemislena.eu
  
  piped.video

If this guy was wearing a helmet, the rock would've had to collide with his face to kill him, and that's a very funny consideration.

All the western military analysts talking about their wunderwaffen harderware seem to forget that no matter what we do, we're still humans, we can die to a rock hitting our head, let alone an "outdated soviet rocket"

"The flying bullet down the pass, [it] whistles clear: 'All flesh is grass'."
- "And so his ass was grass"...
North Sentinelese archery stays winning

HEADSHOT

also lol nice fucking helmet loser

Dude went all in on the idea that surely this time the Palestinians were going to choose paper. He built himself to counter paper in every way possible. If the Palestinians had attacked him with paper he would have been so prepared. And then they chose rock. Again.

Vaxxed ?

Bury him upside down in the piss ditch

I want to ask, do the IOF actually get "the most advanced murder machines in human history"? I saw that combat footage where the Israeli soldier was rocking an M16A1, (introduced in 1970?) their tanks seem to get owned pretty routinely by fairly simple methods, and I've seen tons about how their IRON DOME missile defense system isn't all it's cracked up to be. Smells like someone's stealing the funding maybe?

Not to diminish the achievement of comrade rock of course, only curious.

I'm not exactly an expert here. But, everyone's tanks get destroyed by simple methods. Relative to WW2 where a tank could get reliably knocked out by a cheap panzerfaust at 75m tanks are actually pretty resilient. Tanks need infantry support to make sure that enemy infantry can't get close enough to plant explosives or take potshots with anti tank weapons. When assaulting German cities the Soviets coordinated their tanks and infantry to make certain that there were no Nazis within a 75m radius of a tank. The tanks wouldn't move forward ahead of the infantry, or move past them horizontally.

No matter what one might think modern warfare is all about combined arms. Tanks need infantry to protect them at close range and to defend and assault key positions. Infantry needs tanks to take out fortifications, gun emplacements, and to provide quick reinforcement. Tanks aren't built to be invincible, because thats impossible, they're built to be mobile heavy guns that can also lay down heavy suppressive fire.

Its also important to note that tanks aren't very useful in urban environments. Urban environments are meat grinders decided by mostly by infantry. The IDF keeps sending tanks without support into urban environments for some strange reason. Most likely its because the IDF cannot sustain major casualties without losing public support. They send in tanks because its safer than sending in a squad of infantry. However, its also less likely to achieve any actual objectives.

As far as the iron dome i've seen videos of israelis hosting tailgate parties to watch the missiles explode in the air. But I'm sure that it has some weaknesses. No system is impervious.

Also small arms (pistols, assault rifles, ect) haven't really changed all that much since the 60s. AKs and other older rifles still do the job. As ever commanders chose reliable options over shiny options.

The main takeaway is that regardless of technology you still need a committed soldiery and public to sustain a war. If your citizens can't stomach loses then you'll never have the infantry available to take advantage of the openings your fancy weapons create. The only way for israel to have a total victory is to assault the hamas tunnels. But, there aren't any high tech solutions to that. Thousands, maybe tens of thousands will have to die for that operation to be successful. I don't think the Israeli public has the stomach for that. They love to watch Palestinians die, but don't want to pay the price for that to mean anything tactically.
They definitely get some of our best and newest hardware, but that doesn't mean they are good at actual warfare.