//The Wire//2330Z May 28, 2024//

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//BLUF: CONFLICT AND TENSION CONTINUES IN GAZA. F-35 CRASHES NEAR ALBUQUERQUE//

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-International Events-

Middle East: International tensions remain high following the Egyptian border skirmish yesterday, as well as a high-profile strike resulting in many civilian casualties (CIVCAS) over the weekend. Israeli forces conducted a large airstrike on a tent-city encampment in Rafah, which resulted in approximately 40 casualties.

In the north Hamas and Hezbollah attacks continue along a wide front along the Lebanese border, as well as dotted throughout the countryside in the vicinity of West Bank, Gaza City, etc. Attacks from Hezbollah have steadily increased over the past few weeks in response to developing events in Gaza as well as the changing battlespace throughout the region.

-HomeFront-

New Mexico: An F-35 crashed in the vicinity of Albuquerque International Airport this afternoon. The aircraft crashed upon takeoff, with the debris field being located adjacent University Blvd SE, IVO grid: 13SCU5063375969. The pilot reportedly ejected safely before impact.

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Analyst Comments: Originally the IDF claimed that the strike in Gaza didn’t happen, or happened in a different location, however Israeli PM Netanyahu directly contradicted these statements by stating the strike was a mistake. Allegedly, the large amount of CIVCAS was due to munitions causing a fuel tank to explode, owing to the large number of burn victims witnessed following the strike. As with the other high-profile, high-CIVCAS strikes observed so far in this conflict, it is not clear how Collateral Damage Estimation (CDE) methodology failed to identify and/or mitigate this potential CIVCAS, why Joint Desired Points of Impact (JDPIs) were placed danger-close to facilities that would have been visually identified with proper plume analysis, or why low-CDE munitions were apparently not used to conduct this strike.

Analyst: S2A1

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