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REVIEW: Ratt – Invasion of Your Privacy (Part Two of The Atlantic Years series)

Part Two of Five

Going triple platinum on their debut album , Ratt had a lot of expectations going into a followup.  They resumed working with producer Beau Hill and didn’t change up much in their formula.  The result was a double platinum second record, another sales success.  But what about the tunes?

Lead track “You’re In Love” was chosen as a speedy, sleek, metallic and melodic single.  A step up in songwriting, “You’re In Love” packs power and horny Stephen Pearcy passion.  Wicked solo by Warren DeMartini.  The simple riff/melody combo was all the rodents needed to score a hit and a career highlight.  As an album opener, it revs the engine but it is also the fastest track you’ll get on Invasion of Your Privacy .

A tasty heavy riff opens up “Never Use Love”, a nice chugging album track.  Nothing here in terms of a memorable chorus, so strictly album filler.  Not road tape worthy without a decent chorus.  Great Robbin Crosby solo though.  Fortunately the slick first single, “Lay It Down” comes in for the save.  Take “You’re In Love” and slow it down to a sexy locked groove, and you get “Lay It Down”.  Pearcy was not one for subtlety.  “I know you really want to lay it down,” he beckons, and no points for guessing what “it” is.

Track four, “Give It All”, is a decent album cut, with the hooks and chugging Ratt N’ Roll style riffs that people expected.  A track with single potential, had they released another.  Another pretty good album track, “Closer To My Heart”, slows it down but not quite into ballad territory.  More like a slow dirge to close side one.

The second side opens on “Between the Eyes”, a disjointed tune that needs some tightening up.  Some cool hooks but nothing to tie them together into a song.  “What You Give Is What You Get” boasts a cool, tough little chorus and some quality guitar.  Great tune other than a misfitting pre-chorus.  It has a dark, foreboding vibe that Ratt rarely nail this well.   “Got Me on the Line” is a pretty solid deep cut, typical uptempo Ratt N’ Roll.  The solo in particular smokes.  “You Should Know by Now” is a bit clunky, but you can hear what they were going for.  They were trying for a big pop rock chorus, but they welded it to the wrong song.

Closing on “Dangerous But Worth the Risk”, the album comes to a strong ending.  It chugs along with that Ratt N’ Roll groove that embodies the sound of Motley Crue assimilating all of Hollywood California in a single night.  Though Ratt’s sound is not something as unique as they used to sell it as, it does have a niche.  It rarely squirms out of that niche.  Invasion of Your Privacy does not stray far from the debut , and doesn’t add any new wrinkles.  It’s the next batch of songs and all but equal in strength to the first batch.

Each CD in this box set comes with bonus material from singles, and this time it’s a single edit for “What You Give Is What You Get”.  The guitar solo is sadly trimmed by 20 seconds for the radio, but no problem hearing this cool song twice.

3.5/5 stars

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22 comments

I was listening ro rhis recently, I am part way through Pearcy’s autobiography at the moment

My fav of the RATT bunch. Little too low of a score there my friend. lol but fair enough your blog your rules..

Like Liked by 1 person

Man scoring these was hard. You’ll see what I mean when we get further. Part of it is that all of these albums are new to me except Cellar.

Some new music discoveries this year like Coney and RATT WHAT COMES AROUND GOES AROUND!

About a quarter star lower than the debut for me (though I would have given that one 4 stars). Solid follow up. Lay It Down is a top 3 Ratt song for me.

I found all of these really hard to rate, star-wise. Either that or Ratt are relatively consistent.

This is not my favorite of theirs. I thought the songs were okay, but nothing as great as the first. I forget my score but may be close to this one. It was too safe and they didn’t push themselves forward at all with this one.

There’s a lot of good cuts on this album. I still reckon that Closer To The Heart is an underrated gem.

I just have a Hits set from these guys, but I do endorse the cover art.

My favorite Ratt album. Have this on vinyl. Have a memory of just keeping on turning the side. Loved this one.

The first side was definitely better than the second in my view. I think they tried too hard to copy their debut album and fell short. The album was good but there was no progression. I say so here: https://80smetalman.wordpress.com/2019/06/06/great-metal-albums-of-1985-ratt-invasion-of-your-privacy/

Read your review. See what u mean. I like What u give and U should know by now.

U saw Ratt with BJ? I saw Ratt with Poison opening. Got both t-shirts. Poison shirt seemed to get a lot more notice. It had that Talk dirty to me line on the back. Got send back home from school while wearing that one.

No wait, it was BJ shirt that got me sent home. This one: https://poshmark.com/listing/Vintage-80s-BON-JOVI-Concert-Tour-T-Shirt-5af880636f8f592ec42655c6

Ah I see, because it says “ass” on the back?

Considering my love of his Arcade releases was weird RATT never did much for these ears but reading through these inspired a revisit and gotta say finding quite a lot to like certainly need delve in some more \m/

Still reading and enjoying Mike thanks ;)

WARDY! Am I ever glad you’re back. I was worried about ya!

HA nah I’m around, well busy and online much less of late but still reading and enjoying whenever I can mate

Awesome! Do you ever manage to catch the live show? 7 am in your neck of the woods….

What live show? I have no idea what you’re talking about sorry LOL!?

Oh man you’ve been missing out! Ever since the start of the pandemic I’ve been taking the talk live every week. Last week was Sean Kelly from Helix, Lee Aaron and Coney Hatch. Amazing show! I do this every week now.

You’re In Love is genius, I struggle after that tbh.

The struggle is real.

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Album of the Day

Invasion of your privacy.

L.A. glam metal greats Ratt returned to record stores a year after their smash debut with 1985's INVASION OF YOUR PRIVACY. Producer Beau Hill is back behind the boards, adding radio/MTV-friendly polish to 10 originals including opener “You're in Love,” “Between the Eyes” and Top 40 hit “Lay It Down.” Driving and catchy with an appealing touch of sleaze, this music is an ideal showcase for Stephen Pearcy's commanding vocals and the twin-axe attack of Robbin Crosby and Warren DeMartini (whose solos here qualify him for guitar god status). INVASION OF YOUR PRIVACY was a double-platinum success, and the Atlantic collection is truly a ball for headbangers.

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Grieving spouses, partners in need of a LIFT find a lifeline in one another’s company

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Throughout nearly 50 years of marriage, Iris and Robert McCray were like two peas in a pod — doing practically everything together, from camping to traveling the world together to building a robust social network with other “couple friends.”

Though he was more than a decade her senior, Iris recalls first meeting Robert as a youth while visiting Malibu. He was an officer in the Navy and had just come back from deer hunting with a friend. Several years later, they would marry, settle down and raise a family in Westminster.

“We had a wonderful relationship,” McCray, now 78, recalls. “We were never apart, unless he went deer hunting.”

The couple’s closeness and camaraderie served them well, all the way until Robert’s passing in August 2018 at the age of 93. His last provision was that the couple’s adult son, Erick, move into the family house so Iris wouldn’t be alone.

Despite having a family companion in residence, the septuagenarian found it difficult to maintain the same social life she’d previously enjoyed as one half of a dynamic duo.

“Once you’re single again, it’s very hard to stay in with the couples. And, being my age, everyone I know is passing,” says McCray, who still keeps a photo of her husband in his military uniform as her cellphone background.

“Your first year is rough, but your second year is even rougher. People drop you. You’re on your own.”

When the time was right, however, McCray discovered a life line available to her through an unexpected source — Westminster Memorial Park and Mortuary, which had handled the details of her husband’s service.

The organization is one of six local sponsors of a campaign, created nationally by Dignity Memorial and organized in Orange County through Santa Ana’s Fairhaven Memorial Park & Mortuary, designed to create a supportive community for those who’ve lost their spouse or partner.

Living Information for Today (LIFT) offers monthly meetups, outings and classes designed to help seniors who may be still grieving their loss, experiencing isolation or learning to navigate the world on their own, according to Fairhaven campaign coordinator Cynthia Adair.

“It’s a social support group to provide opportunities for social involvement for those who understand the journey surviving spouses are going through,” she says of the free program.

“It’s not a fun fact, but when somebody from a long-term relationship loses their spouse, they also lose a lot of their social circle. They no longer feel comfortable being a third wheel or the extra person,” Adair adds. “Providing this community helps make it more comfortable for them.”

While grief support groups may be offered to individuals immediately following a death, LIFT O.C. is for people who may be ready to begin getting back into the swing of things socially but may still be experiencing sadness, isolation or living on their own for the first time in decades and navigating the responsibilities that accompany that newfound independence.

To that end, some LIFT offerings have an educational component, such as a cooking-for-one class designed to get people back to making healthy meals at home, albeit on a smaller scale, or a talk from a police officer about how to avoid common scams.

Other events are purely social, whether attendees are enjoying a historical walking tour, taking a moment for self care during a meditation class or experiencing the adventure of goat yoga.

“During that immediate grief, you’re in survival mode. But at the six-month to one-year point, people may begin to realize they need to start getting out of the house,” Adair says. “This feels like a very safe way to do it because they’re surrounded by people who understand what they’re going through.”

A group of about 20 LIFT members on Tuesday visited Tustin’s Marconi Automotive Museum, where a collection of more than 100 muscle cars, racing cars, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, motorcycles and memorabilia has been curated in a third-generation family-owned business.

Some, like McCray, came with a few friends, but many flew solo. Among them was Garden Grove resident Carolyn Nelson, who 2½ years ago lost her husband Warren to cancer and who learned about the group through her dealings with Fairhaven Memorial.

“Somehow, I ended up on their list. So I went to the grief group and then the LIFT things,” she says. “Now I do mostly social things.”

Nelson met Warren in 1997, several years after the sudden loss of her first husband, Ed. The two were both widowed and met in a church small group, then quickly formed a friendship.

In the wake of her most recent loss, Nelson says she’s taken comfort from Warren’s children and grandchildren, who still count her as part of the family. But it’s good to go to LIFT activities and be around others who’ve endured the same difficult journey.

“It gives you a purpose for an outing you know will be nice,” she reckons. “And if you think you need to go off somewhere and cry in a corner, nobody’s going to judge you.”

McCray said for her, the activities connect her to a social network that keeps her calendar full.

“There’s just so many things that we do,” she says. “That’s what gets you going.”

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Sara Cardine covers the city of Costa Mesa for the Daily Pilot. She comes from the La Cañada Valley Sun, where she spent six years as the news reporter covering La Cañada Flintridge and recently received a first-place Public Service Journalism award from the California News Publishers Assn. She’s also worked at the Pasadena Weekly, Stockton Record and Lodi-News Sentinel, which instilled in her a love for community news. (714) 966-4627

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A lesson in politics in 'Florida!!!' (Taylor's version) | Column

A column about taylor's lyrics and how 'florida' they really are..

Taylor Swift might now know how topical her song "Florida!!!" is when it comes to the state's political scene.

As the State Watchdog Reporter for USA TODAY Network-Florida, I cover the state government in Tallahassee. Any given day, you can find me watching a press conference with Gov. Ron DeSantis, looking through medical examiner data or interviewing state legislators about the bills they've sponsored.

But today, I'll be writing about Taylor's lyrics and how "Florida!!!" they really are.

Florida: Taylor's Version compared to DeSantis' Version

If you didn't stay up until 4 a.m. to listen to Taylor Swift's new highly anticipated album "The Tortured Poets Department"  then you're one of the few who don't have an opinion on the song "Florida!!!"

The song, featuring Florence Welch with Florence + The Machine, depicts the state like an old frontier town – disorderly and dark, with murder, binge drinking and drugs – the opposite of Gov. Ron DeSantis' tough "law and order" stance on crime.

"We're proud of being a law and order state," DeSantis said last week as he signed five public safety bills in St. Petersburg.

The governor has repeated the mantra at almost every press conference this spring. Whether it was signing a bill that would allow homeowners to remove squatters from their property or warning spring breakers in Miami, DeSantis has criticized blue states like California and has compared them to Florida.

"What passes muster in New York and California is not passing muster here," he said when he signed   "Property Rights" bill ( HB 621)  in Orlando in March.

Florida (Taylor's version) is different. Her lyrics echo the Sunshine State stereotypes that DeSantis is actively trying to change.

Regardless, the verses of "Florida!!!" hit news peg after news peg in every stanza, and it's easy for me to write about the latest in Florida politics using Taylor's talents. Maybe Generation Alpha will subscribe to the paper after this.

Bringing the heat in 'Florida!!!'

'You can beat the heat if you beat the charges too'

Is Taylor talking about the heat preemption law DeSantis signed last week?

The measure was in response to a Miami-Dade County proposal, which suggested mandated breaks in the shade on the hottest days – but Florida said no and passed HB 433. It bars local governments from establishing policies regarding heat exposure requirements not otherwise required under state or federal law.

During this year's legislative session, Sen. Jay Trumbull, R-Panama City said he sponsored the bill to gain support for a statewide mandate to follow federal Occupational Safety Health Administration (OSHA) regulations.  

But the law has frustrated and angered some experts and advocates for construction workers and farmworkers, who say workers need more protections, not fewer.

Florida and the smell of weed - legal or not

'And my friends all smell like weed or little babies, and this city reeks of driving myself crazy'

Smelling like weed is something DeSantis has warned Floridians time and time again may happen if a constitutional amendment on the ballot this November passes.

The proposal, known as  Amendment 3 , will legalize the "non-medical personal use of marijuana products and marijuana accessories by an adult" 21 or older if approved by 60% or more of statewide voters. It would take effect six months after the election.

DeSantis said he thought medical marijuana was enough for Florida.

"This state will start to smell like marijuana ... it will reduce the quality of life," he said. "Do we want to have more marijuana in our communities? I don't think it'll work out well. But it is a very, very broad amendment."

Destin gets name dropped. What about vacation rentals?

'So you work your life away just to pay For a time-share down in Destin'

This session, local governments lost authority to the state on vacation rentals. The new law also created overnight occupancy limits, and fines for rental violations would be capped at $500.

There were just under 27,000 vacation rentals licensed with the state in 2022, a number seen as capturing only a fraction of the rentals likely in operation. 

Lawmakers have been scrapping over vacation rentals for more than a decade, advancing policies that toggle between more state control and more hands-off. This year, the state comes out on top, unless DeSantis vetoes the bill. 

DeSantis hasn’t commented on the latest legislation and his office declined to offer insight into his thinking. 

Florida may be a drug, but the penalties are getting steeper

'Florida is one hell of a drug'

If Taylor is talking about literal drugs, that's an issue Florida's lawmakers have continued to crack down on. This year, Florida added tianeptine, 'gas station heroin,' to the Schedule I.

In early April, DeSantis signed "Exposures of First Responders to Fentanyl" (SB 718 ) and said it would "make sure that the people that wear the uniform are protected," although medical experts say the new law could potentially cause harm and discourage bystanders and family members from calling 911 during an overdose.

DeSantis also announced an expansion of the  Coordinated Opioid Recovery (CORE) Network , an effort between the state's Department of Health, Department of Children and Families and the Agency for Health Care Administration. Its aim is to curb the number of deaths caused by the polluted drug supply and will be expanded to 29 counties.

The program, which started in 12 counties in 2022, connects people with medication treatment, recovery programs and peer support.

Hurricane Florence and the Machine?

'The hurricane with my name when it came, I got drunk and I dared it to wash me away'

This is Florence's line. It's pretty obvious – Hurricane Florence hit in 2018. This year, an "extremely active" hurricane season is likely, according to weather forecasters.

Last year was the fourth most active season on record. Hurricane Idalia was the only U.S. landfalling hurricane in 2023 . It made landfall as a category-3 hurricane on Aug. 30 near Keaton Beach, Florida, causing storm surge inundation of 7 to 12 feet and widespread rainfall flooding in Florida and throughout the Southeast, NOAA said.

Taylor meets Tiger King in 'Florida!!!'

'And your cheating husband disappeared, well, no one asks any questions here'

One of Florida's most famous disappearing husbands was the spouse of “Tiger King” star Carole Baskin, who is asking the Florida Supreme Court to protect her against a defamation lawsuit filed by the longtime assistant of her missing former husband.

Leading up to the airing of “Tiger King,” a Netflix documentary series  that became a cult phenomenon  in 2020, Baskin endeavored “to address a false storyline (that) suggested she killed her former husband,” according  to legal filings  from the star. 

Baskin read aloud old diary entries on her YouTube channel and posted on her website accusations that McQueen, who had appeared on the show to discuss Baskin's former husband’s mysterious disappearance, embezzled and committed other misdeeds.

McQueen sued Baskin for defamation in Hillsborough County Circuit Court, but a judge there said the assistant had no grounds to sue. A state appeals court disagreed with the lower court.

Now Baskin is asking the state's Supreme Court to weigh in, raising the stakes on a series of legal arguments encompassing the First Amendment and defamation law.

'Florida!!!' meets Texas as DeSantis sends in the state guard

'So you pack your life away just to wait out, the sh*tstorm back in Texas'

DeSantis talks about Texas a lot at his press conferences.

The governor and members of his administration routinely blast President Joe Biden and Republican members of Congress for their response to the increase of immigrants coming through the country's southern border.

DeSantis reestablished the State Guard in 2022, and in February of this year, he sent more than 1,000 Florida National Guard members and State Guard Soldiers to Texas to help stop what he called "the invasion at the southern border." They joined Highway Patrol, Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Florida Department of Law Enforcement members already there, a  press release  said.

Also in February, Taylor got wrapped up in a conspiracy theory about the president. Nearly 1 in 5 Americans, mostly conservatives, believed the singer is part of a covert effort to help Biden win the 2024 election, according to a Monmouth University poll.

Two-thirds of Americans, however, are supportive of Taylor's efforts to increase voter turnout.

Taylor Swift's Florida is aligned with latest Census data

'So take me to Florida '

The song ends with a shout out to this refrain I'm attributing to the state's population boom. According to the U.S. Census, Florida experienced a net migration of more than 200,000 adults in 2022.

Come to Florida, Taylor. This is an official invitation. I'll grab the Nebuchadnezzars.

USA Today, John Kennedy and Douglas Soule contributed background information to this story. Ana Goñi-Lessan is the State Watchdog Reporter for USA TODAY - Florida and can be reached at  [email protected] . Follow her on Twitter/X: @goni_lessan.

Russia is finding gaps around the air defenses of Ukraine's best-protected city

• Russian attacks have knocked out a major power plant near Kyiv. 
• The Ukrainian capital was once shielded from Russian attacks. 
• But it's running desperately short of air defense missiles. 

Russia has taken out a major power plant near the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, in a sign that even the country's best-protected cities are increasingly vulnerable to Russian attacks.

The Trypillya power plant, which is around 30 miles south of Kyiv and is the region's major power plant, was destroyed Thursday by Russian drone and missile attacks.

"The scale of destruction is terrifying," Centrenergo chairman Andriy Hota told the BBC. He said that the attacks destroyed "the transformer, the turbines, the generators. They destroyed 100%."

Ukraine's air force said it was part of a wave of 80 missile attacks on Thursday on Ukraine's cities and infrastructure — and it only managed to shoot down around 30% of them.

Notably, it said that all of Russia's Kinzhal missiles, which air defenses had previously managed to down, evaded interception in the attack.

It's a much lower success rate than Ukraine had in stopping Russian airborne attacks last May when it was shooting down around 90% of Russian missiles and drones.

Related stories

The new wave of attacks comes as Ukrainian officials issue increasingly desperate appeals for more air defense weapons from their Western allies, which are running seriously low as Republicans in Congress continue to block a $60 billion aid bill.

The Ukrainian air defense is working "at the edge of its capacity," Oleksiy Melnyk, co-director of international security programs at the Kyiv-based Razumkov Center think tank,  told CNN after the Kyiv attack.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on a tour of Baltic states Wednesday, said his country is "sorely lacking" modern air defense systems amid intensifying Russian attacks.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is also striking an increasingly exasperated tone. "Give us the damn Patriots," he told Politico in late March

Russia has long targeted Ukraine's civilian and energy infrastructure, stockpiling missiles and other long-range weapons in the summer to strike during winter.

The sophisticated air defense systems provided by Ukraine's Western allies, notably US Patriot air defense systems, were previously used to shield major cities like Kyiv from Russian attacks, meaning life could be lived relatively normally despite the war.

But more Russian missiles are now getting through, and Ukraine's second biggest city, Kharkiv, is facing increasingly intense Russian attacks, with its power supplies disabled for long stretches.

The attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure come as Ukrainian officials warn of a major Russian military drive in the summer to break through Ukraine's defensive lines in the east and south of the country.

Watch: Ukraine says it shot down 6 hypersonic missiles over Kyiv during 'exceptional' night of attacks

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Taiwan says it will discuss with US how to use new funding

Taiwan's defence ministry said on Sunday it will discuss with the United States how to use funding for the island included in a $95 billion legislative package mostly providing security assistance to Ukraine and Israel.

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Ukrainian human rights lawyer urges Congress to approve military aid for her country

As Congress debates more aid for Ukraine, Nobel Peace Prize winner Oleksandra Matviichuk explains why she believes Russia's war in Ukraine should be a priority for the U.S.

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

If your country's existence was on the line, what would you say to convince the world's most powerful nation to help you out? Ukrainian human rights lawyer Oleksandra Matviichuk has been turning that question over and over in her head for weeks now. She's been on a speaking tour across the U.S., talking about her group, the Center for Civil Liberties, and the work they've done documenting human rights abuses amid Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, all while Congress fiercely debates additional funding for Kyiv.

Matviichuk's trip now has brought her to Washington, D.C., where a vote on more aid is expected to take place this weekend, aid Ukraine says it simply cannot win without. I asked Matviichuk, after more than two years of war, how will she keep her message fresh when meeting with leaders on Capitol Hill?

OLEKSANDRA MATVIICHUK: Look, I'm not politician. I'm not diplomat. I'm human rights lawyer. I work with the human pain, with the people affected by this war. So I will tell stories of these people. And I do believe that there are a lot of things which have no limitation national borders. Freedom is one of them, as well as solidarity.

MARTÍNEZ: Say you do come up against or with someone who doesn't feel that it's a priority to send aid to Ukraine. What would you tell them?

MATVIICHUK: I will tell them that this is priority for United States because if they do not be able to stop Putin in Ukraine, he will go further. He will attack NATO countries. And this means that United States will have to send their people to our part of the world.

MARTÍNEZ: And that he you're talking about is Russian President Vladimir Putin.

MATVIICHUK: We will stop Putin only with force because he want to restore Russian empire. That's why he will not stop in Ukraine. Empire has a center but has no borders.

MARTÍNEZ: What's the one thing you would want people to know? What would you want them to understand about what you do and why it's important?

MATVIICHUK: I want people to know that this is a genocidical (ph) war and Putin openly said to his recent interview to Tucker Carlson that Ukraine is not exist. There is no Ukrainian nation. There is no Ukrainian language. There is no Ukrainian culture. And for 10 years, we have been documenting how these horrible words transferred in the horrible practice. They put in this principle that Ukrainians have to be either reeducated as Russians or killed. So we have no other choice. If stop fighting, there will be no more us.

MARTÍNEZ: Aid to Ukraine has become a political issue in the United States. How do you feel knowing that that is what's happening in Congress right now, that aid to Ukraine that desperately needs it is something that has become political between the two parties that are going to have to decide this?

MATVIICHUK: I think that we need bravery and dedication to principle of freedom and human dignity because, look, human lives can't be a tool in political battles. We have a huge respect to internal electoral struggle in the United States. But there are things which has to unite all politicians, regardless of their political views. And human life matters.

MARTÍNEZ: Now, this war has become one of attrition. Analysts say that 2024, this year, is going to be a very important deciding year for Ukraine. Are you preparing for a reality where Ukraine might have to negotiate to end the fighting?

MATVIICHUK: But Putin don't want negotiation. Putin want to occupy Ukraine and go further. When we speak with people who were released from hostage, they told that Russian told them, first we will occupy you, and then you with us will go to next country. So this is a plan. We have to accept this reality. We can't afford ourselves to live in wishful thinking because we will be die.

MARTÍNEZ: How will your work press on if indeed that happens? I know you mentioned that there is no negotiation with Vladimir Putin, but I mean, if that is eventually what happens, how will your work press on if that does happen?

MATVIICHUK: I don't know how my personal story will end because this is a war, and war is a lottery. We can die any moment. When we go to bed in my house, I have no idea whether or not I will get up next morning because you have no idea which next residential building will be hit by Russian rocket. But I know for sure that freedom will prevail regardless of my personal story.

MARTÍNEZ: That is Oleksandra Matviichuk. She's a 2022 Nobel Peace Prize winner and the head of Ukraine's Center for Civil Liberties. Oleksandra, thank you very much.

MATVIICHUK: Thank you very much.

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Here’s Where Israel’s Military Offensive in Gaza Stands

More than six months after the Hamas-led attacks of Oct. 7, Israel’s campaign to eliminate the armed group in Gaza is pressing ahead.

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By Matthew Mpoke Bigg

• April 17, 2024

Iran’s attack on Israel has shifted focus from the war in Gaza, but Israeli military operations press on there with the aim of eliminating Hamas, the armed group that controlled the territory before the fighting began.

Israel’s military launched its assault in Gaza after Oct. 7, when Hamas led an attack that Israeli authorities say killed around 1,200 people. Israel said its aims were to defeat Hamas and free the hostages taken that day, around 100 of whom remain in Gaza. Local health authorities say the war has killed more than 33,000 people, and the United Nations says the population is on the brink of famine .

Here is a look at where the military conflict stands:

Southern Gaza

Israel withdrew its forces from southern Gaza this month, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the military still plans to invade Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, to “complete the elimination of Hamas’s battalions” and to destroy its tunnel networks.

The timing of any operation in Rafah, on the border with Egypt, is unclear. President Biden is among many world leaders who have urged Israel not to invade the city because of the harm it could cause civilians. Rafah’s population has swelled to over a million, as people have flocked there for shelter from fighting elsewhere, and border crossings in southern Gaza are a main conduit for humanitarian aid.

Northern Gaza

Israel began its ground invasion in northern Gaza in late October, urging civilians to leave. Much of the north, including Gaza City, has been destroyed by airstrikes and ground combat. Israel began to pull its forces from northern Gaza in January, saying it had dismantled Hamas’s military structure there.

In March, however, Israeli troops mounted an operation at Al-Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City, where it said Hamas fighters had returned. Israeli troops said they had killed about 200 fighters and captured 500 more. The hospital, once Gaza’s largest, was left in ruins .

Some analysts said the raid showed that by leaving northern Gaza without a plan in place for governing the area, Israel had made it possible for Hamas to return. At the same time, some civilians who had fled south and attempted to return via a coastal road said this week that Israeli forces had fired on them. Their testimony could not be independently confirmed.

Central Gaza

The Israeli troops that remain in Gaza are mainly guarding a road that the military has built across the center of the strip to facilitate its operations. The Institute for the Study of War, a research group, said that was consistent with Israel’s plans to shift to a strategy of more targeted raids rather than wider assaults.

Israel retains the capacity to launch airstrikes anywhere in Gaza and it has conducted several around the central city of Deir al Balah. This month, Israeli planes attacked a convoy of the World Central Kitchen charity near the city, killing seven aid workers . Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has said that Israel regrets the strikes.

Across the territory

Experts say the Israeli military has had considerable success in dismantling Hamas’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades . It has broken the strength of most of its battalions with tens of thousands of airstrikes and ground combat, said Robert Blecher, an expert at the International Crisis Group think tank.

Israel has also killed at least one of Hamas’s top commanders and has destroyed some of the tunnels in which the group operates. But Hamas retains significant organizational and military capacity, particularly in southern Gaza where its tunnel network acts as a shield, and its leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar , is still at large.

“Israel has done a good job of disabling those stronger battalions,” Mr. Blecher said, but he added: “Hamas is going to remain as an insurgent force.”

Matthew Mpoke Bigg is a correspondent covering international news. He previously worked as a reporter, editor and bureau chief for Reuters and did postings in Nairobi, Abidjan, Atlanta, Jakarta and Accra. More about Matthew Mpoke Bigg

Our Coverage of the Israel-Hamas War

News and Analysis

The United States blocked the U.N. Security Council from moving forward on a Palestinian bid to be recognized as a full member state at the United Nations, quashing an effort by Palestinian allies  to get the world body to back the effort.

Gazans released from Israeli detention described graphic scenes of physical abuse  in testimonies gathered by U.N. workers, according to a new report.

Britain, the United States, France and other allies of Israel have voiced their anger over the death toll in Gaza, but when Iran launched a missile barrage at Israel, they set it aside . At least for the moment.

The Israel pavilion at the Venice Biennale is closed this year, since its creative team decided not to exhibit work  until there was a cease-fire and hostage deal in Gaza, but it was nonetheless the site of a large demonstration .

A Surprising Rift: The Israel-Hamas war, which has roiled cultural and political institutions far beyond the Middle East, is causing divisions in a prominent Japanese American group .

Mobilizing the American Left: As the death toll in Gaza climbed, the pro-Palestinian movement grew into a powerful, if disjointed, political force in the United States . Democrats are feeling the pressure.

Riding Rage Over Israel: Jackson Hinkle’s incendiary commentary  has generated over two million new followers on X since October — a surge that some researchers say is aided by inauthentic accounts by the online celebrity.

Psychedelics and Trauma: Thousands of festival-goers were using mind-altering substances when Hamas-led fighters attacked on Oct 7. Now, scientists are studying the effects of such drugs at a moment of trauma .