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Israeli military officials said their bombardment of Gaza may “intensify” in the final hours before a four-day cease-fire begins early Friday — as reports say Hamas morale has plummeted, causing many terrorists to retreat south. “[It’s] business as usual,” said Lt. Col Richard Hecht, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), told reporters Thursday. Artillery airstrikes “may even intensify” in the coming hours, Recht added, according to NBC News. Israeli shells have been reported falling north of Gaza and in the southern city of Khan Younis Thursday, according to the BBC, while heavy fighting is still raging in northern...

In a video circulating on social media on Thursday, a Russian soldier appeared to claim he and other soldiers deployed in Ukraine were being ordered by their superiors to sign papers retroactively firing them in what may be a move to deny their involvement in the invasion. The Moscow-based Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT), which has conducted open-source reporting on Russian involvement in conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, tweeted, “This rare video was filmed by a (non-captured) Russian soldier complaining about losses and harsh conditions. What caught our attention is a claim that they are forced to ‘sign papers’ to be...

An Obama administration official has floated the idea that Bowe Bergdahl was justified in deserting his platoon in Afghanistan and joining the Taliban over disagreements with the platoon's leadership. Brandon Friedman, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs for the Department of Housing and Urban Development posted a series of tweets Wednesday evening in which he speculated that Bergdahl deserted over bad leadership of his platoon and that is why his fellow soldiers were smearing him."Here's the thing about Bergdahl and the Jump-to-Conclusions mats: What if his platoon was long on psychopaths and short on leadership? (1/5)"" What if he grew...

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) Announcing a drawdown of American troops, President Barack Obama tonight maintained that the United States was not deserting Afghanistan, promising the Afghan people, “We will continue to follow you on Twitter

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