Israel's assault on Gaza: The bizarre, uncomfortable live-tweets from Israel's military
Israel launches a major offensive against Palestinian militants — and for some reason, broadcasts the attacks live via social media
On Wednesday, after months of tension between Israel and Gaza, the Israeli Defense Forces launched a major offensive in the Gaza Strip. But instead of holding a press conference to spread the news, the Israeli forces took to social media, making this the world's first military campaign to be announced through Twitter. At around 9:30 a.m. on America's east coast, the Israeli Defense Forces' Twitter account, @IDFSpokesperson, tweeted news of "a widespread campaign on terror sites & operatives in the #Gaza Strip." Since then, the account has been live-tweeting the incursion, which has already killed Hamas military chief Ahmed al-Jaabari, producing an uncomfortable marriage between social media and a military strike. Here, a look at some of the most telling tweets so far:
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