[THEPOSTMILLENNIAL] A 21-year-old undocumented Democrat from Honduras with a history of drug distribution has been sentenced to over six years in federal prison for distributing fentanyl in Portland, Oregon.
Bexon Javier Calix-Rivera, who was unlawfully residing in the city, received a 78-month prison sentence followed by four years of supervised release on Thursday, per the Department of Justice.
Calix-Rivera pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl on March 12 of this year. According to court records, Calix-Rivera was first arrested in January 2023 after officers arrived at the scene of a drug deal in Portland. There, officers searched his vehicle and found thousands of fentanyl pills along with significant quantities of powdered fentanyl and heroin intended for redistribution. He was booked on state charges but released the next day.
In May 2023, Calix-Rivera was again detained after reports of a man threatening someone with a firearm in downtown Portland. Despite being arrested, he was released on his own recognizance.
Days later, officers observed him wielding a hatchet and conducting drug deals. He was apprehended by officers who recognized him from past encounters, but was once again released the same day.
''Officers attempted to detain Calix-Rivera, but he fled on foot,'' the Department of Justice said in a blurb. ''When officers apprehended Calix-Rivera, they seized fentanyl powder, a firearm, and $755 in cash. PPB officers booked Calix-Rivera in the Multnomah County Jail, and he was released the same day.''
In June of last year, a federal grand jury returned a six-count indictment charging him with possession of fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine with intent to distribute, as well as possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred ||
06/09/2025 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: Narcos
[ShabelleMedia] Three senior ringleaders of the al-Shabaab Khawarij group were killed in a joint operation carried out by Somali security forces and international partners, officials said Sunday.
The operation, which was jointly planned and executed by the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA), the Somali National Army (SNA), and allied international forces, took place on June 6 in the Ceelhareeri area of the central Hiiraan region.
Authorities did not immediately disclose the identities of the slain militants but described them as high-ranking figures within the al-Qaeda-linked group’s command structure.
“The operation marks another significant blow to the Khawarij terrorists as we continue to dismantle their leadership and operational capabilities,” a security official told AFP on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the mission.
Al-Shabaab, which has waged an insurgency in Somalia for over a decade, continues to stage deadly attacks across the country despite sustained military pressure.
The Somali government has intensified counterterrorism operations in recent months, vowing to eradicate the group’s presence in rural strongholds.
[ShabelleMedia] Fierce fighting broke out early Saturday in Somalia’s central Hiiraan region after Somali national army forces and allied local militia, known as “Macawiisley,” launched a coordinated assault on Al-Shabaab positions near the village of Ceel Hareeri, officials said.
The clashes erupted in rural villages under Ceel Hareeri, an area recently seized by Al-Shabaab militants. Government forces, backed by local fighters, attacked the insurgents from multiple directions in an effort to dislodge them from the area, which falls under the Moqokori district.
In a statement, the Somali federal government said the assault was part of a pre-planned operation targeting militants who had fled earlier battles in the region.
“National army forces and the brave local fighters launched a large-scale offensive this morning on Al-Shabaab hideouts near Garas-Magan and Ceel Hareeri, successfully dislodging them from key locations,” the statement said.
Commanders leading the offensive told local media that Al-Shabaab suffered heavy losses in the operation and that several defensive structures, including caves and dugouts, had been destroyed.
The joint forces have recently ramped up operations in Hiiraan, aiming to push the jihadist group from rural areas where it has regrouped after recent setbacks.
The Somali government, which has stepped up its military campaign against Al-Shabaab since 2022, said offensives would continue in the coming days to reclaim full control of the region.
[ShabelleMedia] Local militias known as Macawiisley, supported by Somali National Army forces, have stepped up operations against Al-Shabaab militants in parts of the Hiiraan region recently retaken by the extremist group, sources said on Sunday.
The joint forces are heavily deployed in and around the village of Ceel Hareeri, an area that had previously been cleared of Al-Shabaab after intense fighting but was recently overrun again by the militants.
Since recapturing parts of Hiiraan and central Shabelle, Al-Shabaab has reestablished a foothold, prompting ongoing clashes with local militias and army units trying to dislodge them.
The federal government has intensified airstrikes targeting senior Al-Shabaab commanders in Ceel Hareeri and surrounding areas in recent weeks.
The security situation remains volatile, with frequent skirmishes reported between Macawiisley forces and Al-Shabaab fighters.
Local officials say the military campaign aims to expand control over the region and prevent further militant advances.
[Garowe] Puntland security forces, supported by helicopters, have launched a major operation in the Sadow Cave area near Sadow Well in the Baalade Valley to root out remnants of fleeing ISIS militants, officials said on Thursday.
The operation is part of ongoing efforts by Puntland authorities to combat the Islamic State affiliate, which has maintained strongholds in the Cal Miskaad mountains since 2015. Security sources confirmed that Puntland troops have regained control of large swaths of territory previously held by ISIS fighters during a successful six-month counter-terrorism campaign.
“The current operation specifically targets pockets where surviving militants are believed to be regrouping,” a senior Puntland security official, who requested anonymity, told Reuters. “We will not allow them to re-establish bases in Puntland.”
The offensive has included the destruction of caves and facilities used by the militants. Several ISIS fighters have been killed, with others captured, according to officials.
In recent months, Puntland forces have significantly weakened ISIS’s influence and activity in the Bari region. Authorities say operations will continue in the coming days.
Since December 2024, Puntland has made substantial gains against ISIS, clearing many strongholds and eliminating senior commanders, with assistance from U.S. and UAE partners, a statement from Puntland’s Ministry of Security said.
Antifa rioters have gathered at the @ICEgov facility in Portland, Ore. They’re stacking up debris on the property, likely to start a fire as they did multiple times in 2020. https://t.co/Zeshp5HI9U
Antifa International has announced a June 8 direct action to attack the @ICEgov facility in San Francisco. The planned riot is organized in support of the insurrection in Los Angeles. pic.twitter.com/j3IJ88Aqmh
[DirectorBlueSubstack] Brought to you by the SEIU Purple Orc Brigade
Here are 20 of the most interesting images I've seen from the recent riots and violence, which - of course - always traces back to the SEIU purple-clad rent-a-mob.
Democrats certainly spend a lot of time protecting violent thugs, human-traffickers, murderers, rapists and pedophiles. Which seems to be their base.
Below is what Democrat Senator Cory Booker calls “Peaceful protests”.
🚨#WATCH: As a protester on stilts was forcibly taken down by Los Angeles police who is in riot gear after officers struck their wooden legs, causing them to collapse to the ground. The individual was then dragged along the roadway though the crowd and taken into custody pic.twitter.com/l02wXSD3Fy
JUST IN: LA Mayor Karen Bass says LA doesn't need "troops" because the LAPD can handle the chaos as CNN simultaneously plays a clip of rioters storming the 101 Freeway.
"I absolutely agree with the governor in asking that the troops be withdrawn."
Some police patrolled the streets on horseback while others with riot gear lined up behind Guard troops deployed to protect federal facilities, including a detention center where some immigrants were taken in recent days.
I wonder about the necessity for keeping those arrested in LA area detention centers. The badlands outside of Quartzite AZ are very nice this time of year, and the snowbirds have moved to nicer climes until next winter. It would be interesting to see who would show up to riot in that desert at 110 deg F.
"Could handle" if the political leadership wanted the LAPD to handle the 'chaos.'
But the point of anarchotyranny is that police protection is withdrawn from ordinary people and extended to rioters to protect them from ordinary people.
#4
I got this link at Instapundit.
It is mainly about Karen Bass. She is MUCH worse than I had thought. The article is from 'Datarepublican. Preview is NOT showing the link I had copied. In case that link fails, the article at Insta is "IT’S CORRUPTION ALL THE WAY DOWN! SHOCKER!" Mods, you might need to fix this.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
06/09/2025 3:11 Comments ||
Top||
#5
The link didn't show. Here it is done differently.
🚨#BREAKING: the Los Angeles police has just issued a citywide tactical alert for the entire city of Los Angeles with train service being shut down to the city
[IsraelTimes] Eyewitnesses say crowds came under fire en route to distribution center that was about to open; military reports troops fired when suspects approached them and ignored warnings
Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... -controlled health officials and witnesses said Sunday at least four people were killed and others were maimed by Israeli fire around a kilometer (half-mile) from an aid distribution point in the Gazoo Strip run by an Israeli- and US-backed group.
The Israel Defense Forces said soldiers fired warning shots at people who approached its forces.
The deaths could not be confirmed, and Hamas figures do not distinguish between fighters and noncombatants.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s operations in the coastal enclave amid the ongoing war have been plagued by alleged deadly shootings for multiple days in a row.
It had earlier said it would open just one aid distribution site in central Gaza Sunday, after keeping its three sites closed the day before over what it said were threats from Hamas against its staff.
The bodies from the latest incident were brought to Nasser Hospital in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis, which confirmed the toll. Paleostinian witnesses said Israeli forces had fired on them at a roundabout in the nearby city of Rafah as they went to get food from a site run by the GHF.
The military said it fired warning shots at people it said were suspects who had advanced toward its forces and ignored warnings to turn away. It said the shooting occurred in an area in southern Gaza that is considered an active combat zone at night.
The GHF did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It says there has been no violence at the sites themselves. But it also closed them temporarily last week to discuss safety measures with the Israeli military and has warned people to stay on designated access routes.
Witnesses said Sunday’s shooting occurred at around 6 a.m., when they were told the site would open. Many had headed toward it early to try and get food before the crowds.
Adham Dahman, 30, who was at Nasser Hospital with a bandage on his chin, said a tank had fired toward them. "We didn’t know how to escape," he said. "This is trap for us, not aid."
Zahed Ben Hassan, another witness, said someone next to him was shot in the head. He said that he and others pulled the body from the scene and managed to flee to the hospital.
"They said it was a safe area from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. ... So why did they start shooting at us?" he said. "There was light out, and they have their cameras and can clearly see us."
Though the UN has continued to distribute aid in the Strip while GHF finds its footing, it has complained that it has been unable to deliver much of its humanitarian supplies due to IDF restrictions on movements and because roads that the military designates for its trucks to use are unsafe and vulnerable to looters.
Israel and the United States accuse the Hamas terror group of stealing aid, while the UN denies there is any systematic diversion away from civilians. The UN says the new system is unable to meet mounting needs and allows Israel to use aid as a weapon by determining who can receive it and by forcing people to relocate to where the aid sites are positioned.
[IsraelTimes] The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation reports that it distributed another 17,000 boxes of food at three sites in Rafah and central Gaza today, a day after it said it was forced to shutter operations due to threats against its staff by Hamas operatives.
GHF says it also delivered 11 trucks’ worth of aid to community leaders for distribution in northern Rafah, as part of a pilot program that will see supplies delivered directly to Gazans, rather than forcing them to walk long distances and cross IDF lines in order to receive aid.
“We will be reviewing the operations and determining if this is a viable option moving forward,” it says.
Amid escalating tensions, the GHF reports it successfully delivered thousands of food boxes across Gaza “without incident” today, despite claims of IDF shooting near aid sites and explicit threats from Hamas against its staff.
“GHF is actively testing and adapting its distribution model to safely deliver the maximum amount of aid to the greatest number of people. We remain flexible and will continue to adapt distributions based on conditions on the ground, including road access, crowd pressure, and safety considerations,” continues the update, adding that the foundation is planning to open additional sites in northern Gaza.
John Acree, GHF’s interim executive director, adds, “Recently, we have started a women’s and children only lane to ensure they receive aid and today we piloted a direct-to-community delivery.”
Asked about the logistics behind the new delivery method, a GHF spokesman tells reporters that trucks delivered food “in population hubs outside of [the three aid centers], in order to reduce pressure on the main centers.” The spokesman specifies that “boxes are being distributed directly to people” as opposed to warehouses, to bypass Hamas operatives.
GHF said earlier today that it would open just one aid distribution site in central Gaza, after keeping the three sites closed yesterday over what it said were threats from the Hamas terror group against its staff members. The spokesman shares an Arabic-language threat from Hamas he says was received by GHF staff members: “This is your final warning: We are fully aware of everything you are doing, and all your movements are being monitored with extreme precision. You will not be forgiven for getting involved in projects that harm the dignity of our people and serve suspicious agendas under the guise of humanitarian work. Continuing down this path will have serious consequences, and you will bear full responsibility for the results of your actions. Stop now, or else.”
Addressing safety and security at the sites, GHF says, “Aid distribution at all three sites proceeded without incident.”
For multiple days in a row last week, and again this morning, there have been unverified reports of deadly shootings by IDF troops at and near the aid sites run by the Israel- and US-backed organization.
[IsraelTimes] .Arafat Dhiab infiltrated Kibbutz Re’im, attacked Nova partygoers, says IDF; COGAT posts video of public Hamas execution in Gaza City, doesn’t offer information on circumstances
A Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... terrorist who stormed the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, was killed in a recent Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... on the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip, the IDF said Sunday, as Israel continued to target Hamas operatives across the Paleostinian enclave amid its widened offensive.
Arafat Dhiab was killed on May 31, the military said, adding that he was a member of Hamas’s Sheikh Radwan Battalion who infiltrated Kibbutz Re’im and attacked the nearby Nova festival during the October 7, 2023, onslaught.
In total, 364 revelers were murdered when Hamas Lions of Islam stormed the overnight music festival, including many more who fled the dancefloor to other areas near the Gaza border. Another 40 partygoers were kidnapped to the Strip.
Dhiab was also the chief of a Hamas-run cop shoppe in the Strip, the IDF said.
Separately, the military said dozens of Hamas operatives were targeted in airstrikes directed by the 98th Division on Saturday during operations in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.
In northern Gaza’s Jabalia, the IDF said several operatives had been "eliminated" in an airstrike on a command center carried out by the 282nd Artillery Regiment. It published a video of the strike on X.
Prior to IDF confirmation of the strike, Paleostinian media had reported large blasts in the Jabalia area.
Dozens more targets, including weapon depots, tunnels and Hamas operatives, were struck throughout the day, the military said.
The IDF has warned several times in recent weeks that the Jabalia area is a combat zone, instructing civilians to evacuate.
Amid the heavy Israeli aerial offensive, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said that at least 104 people had been killed over the past 24 hours, including several near aid hubs in central and southern Gaza. It did not specify how all 104 had been killed or exactly where.
Figures provided by the Hamas-run health authorities in Gaza cannot be verified and do not differentiate between combatants and civilians.
Among those reportedly killed were 10 people that the Hamas-linked civil defense agency said were killed in an Israeli strike in southern Gaza on Sunday morning.
The Hamas-run civil defense agency in the enclave said 10 people were killed by Israeli forces Sunday morning.
Another five were said killed and dozens more maimed around 6 a.m. as they headed to an aid distribution center run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation near Rafah, said agency front man Mahmud Bassal to AFP.
"Around 4:30 a.m., people started gathering in the al-Alam area of Rafah. After about an hour and a half, hundreds moved toward the site and the army opened fire," eyewitness Abdallah Nour al-Din told AFP.
Asked to comment on the incident, the IDF said it fired on people who "continued advancing in a way that endangered the soldiers" despite warnings. It added that the area around the distribution point had been declared an "active combat zone" at night.
Bassal said another five people, including two maiden of tender yearss, were killed at around 1 a.m. in a strike that hit a tent in the al-Mawasi displaced persons camp in southern Gaza.
HAMAS CARRIES OUT PUBLIC EXECUTION
Earlier on Sunday, the Defense Ministry body in charge of Israeli-Paleostinian contacts published a video of what appeared to be a Hamas execution of a Paleostinian in Gaza City over the weekend.
The Coordinator of Government Activity in the Territories shared the video on its Arabic-language Facebook page along with a direct appeal to Gazooks.
"Residents of Gaza — the Hamas Lions of Islam and criminals are killing you and do not care about your lives," COGAT said. "There is no difference between a dictator who kills in silence and a terrorist who slaughters openly — both are your enemies and enemies of life."
"The shocking documentation before you is yet another desperate, failed attempt ...Curses! Foiled again!... to sow fear among the public in order to preserve Hamas’s rule, power, and governance, while trampling on and cynically exploiting the residents of Gaza for the sake of the survival of Hamas’s terrorist regime and its continued rule," the post continued.
It did not offer any information on the circumstances of the video.
The video can be watched here, with the victim blurred out (Warning: Graphic content).
Continued on Page 47
[IsraelTimes] Police arrest at least one person at a left-wing protest outside the French embassy on the Tel Aviv beachfront.
Why the French embassy?
Nobody from a spontaneous and at times violent counterprotest was detained.
The 50-odd left-wing demonstration was called in support of the Freedom Flotilla’s high-profile mission to Gaza, the Madleen, half of whose 12-member crew are French citizens, including Palestinian-French MEP Rima Hassan, who enjoys diplomatic immunity.
Hassan posted about the protest earlier today. A member of the protest group in Tel Aviv confirms to The Times of Israel that the group is in contact with the Madleen.
Defense Minister Israel Katz earlier today called on the “antisemitic” activists to make a U-turn.
Police at the protest declare the left-wing demonstration illegal within about 40 minutes, in which time a crowd of beachgoers — roughly double the number of left-wing protesters — gather across the street, hurling obscenities and some physical objects, including a full water bottle, at the protesters.
The counter-protesters yell “terrorists” and “go to Gaza” at the left-wing activists, often drowning out the activists’ chants, which include “Stop the genocidal war” and “killing children is not a public diplomacy problem.”
Several counter-protesters rush across the street to scuffle with the left-wing activists and tear down signs, including large banners reading “Gaza ghetto” and “Zionism is genocide.” One counter-protester mistakenly identifies a Times of Israel reporter as a protester and attempts to shove him into the road.
Police push away violent counter-protesters, preventing a larger brawl.
When more police arrive, officers tell the left-wing activists to wrap it up and begin pushing them up a staircase away from the beach, warning that anyone who resists arrest will be detained, at which point they detain one of the activists.
Continued on Page 47
The “selfie yacht” of the “celebrities” is safely making its way to the shores of Israel. The passengers are expected to return to their home countries.
While Greta and others attempted to stage a media provocation whose sole purpose was to gain publicity — and which included… pic.twitter.com/eEZSJJHVfd
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) June 9, 2025
… gain publicity — and which included less than a single truckload of aid — more than 1,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza from Israel within the past two weeks, and in addition, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has distributed close to 11 million meals directly to civilians in Gaza.
There are ways to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip — they do not involve Instagram selfies.
The tiny amount of aid that was on the yacht and not consumed by the “celebrities” will be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels.
[IsraelTimes] The activist boat headed for Gaza, Madleen, is being towed by the Israeli Navy to Israel after troops boarded the vessel a short while ago, Israel confirms.
There are no reports of injuries after soldiers boarded the boat carrying 12 pro-Palestinian activists, who said they were sailing for Gaza to raise awareness and deliver aid. It is unclear where they are being held.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which organized the boat, says contact has been lost. On Telegram, it publishes a series of pre-recorded videos of those aboard asking for help from their home countries.
The Israeli military has not commented on the incident, instead referring reporters to the ministry’s announcement.
All the passengers of the ‘selfie yacht’ are safe and unharmed. They were provided with sandwiches and water. The show is over. pic.twitter.com/tLZZYcspJO
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) June 9, 2025
Katz says detained activists to be forced to watch video of Hamas atrocities
[IsraelTimes] Defense Minister Israel Katz has ordered the military to screen a video showing atrocities committed on October 7, 2023, to detained activists who had attempted to challenge Israel’s blockade on Gaza, his office says in a statement.
The harrowing 43-minute video produced by the Israel Defense Forces spokesperson’s office shows shows uncensored, difficult-to-watch footage of people being massacred and bodies mutilated during the onslaught, much of it taken from terrorists’ bodycams.
“It’s appropriate that Greta the antisemite and her Hamas-supporting friends should see exactly who is the terror group Hamas that they support and act on behalf of, what atrocious acts they carried out on women, the elderly and kids, and who Israel is fighting for its defense against,” Katz says in the statement, referring to Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, the most famous of the 12 activists aboard the boat.
He orders that the video be screened for the group once they arrive at Ashdod, where there boat is being towed to after soldiers took control of the ship as it neared the Gaza coast overnight.
Katz praises the soldiers for their swift takeover of the ship. Footage from before soldiers boarded shows that the activists planned to make a show of not putting up resistance.
Israel has shown the atrocities video, titled Bearing Witness, to journalists and public figures in limited screenings around the world as part of its efforts to rally support for its war on Hamas, though its use of the footage has occasionally garnered controversy.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry posts a picture of Thunberg, in a signature frog hat, smiling as she is offered a sandwich from a soldier.
Not that they'll listen or obey...
[Regnum] Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the country's army to take any measures to prevent the Madeline ship from reaching the shores of the Gaza Strip.
There are 12 activists on board the ship, including Swedish environmentalist Greta Thunberg.
"I have instructed the IDF to prevent the Madeline hate flotilla from reaching the shores of Gaza and to take all necessary measures to do so. To the anti-Semite Greta and her Hamas propagandist friends, I say clearly: 'You should turn back because you will not reach Gaza,' " Katz wrote on his X social media page on June 8.
Israeli authorities will prevent any attempts to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip or to provide assistance to Palestinian organizations from the sea, air or land, Katz added.
The Madeline, part of a group of ships called the Freedom Flotilla, set sail from Sicily on June 1. The ship is carrying humanitarian aid for the people of the Gaza Strip, including baby formula, diapers, food, hygiene products and medical equipment.
#1
Well, it worked. It got posted on this site. Good job, y'all.
Should have driven them off the same way as the USS Liberty. But with more casualties.
[IsraelTimes] Military does not provide details on target of strike in Beit Jinn, amid campaign aimed at preventing armed Islamist presence near Israel’s northeastern border
An Israeli dronezap targeted a member of the Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... terror group in the southern Syrian village of Beit Jinn on Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Beit Jinn is some seven kilometers from the Israel-Syrian border, just outside a buffer zone currently controlled by the IDF.
No further details were given by the IDF on the target of the strike.
Hamas had a significant foothold in Syria until civil war broke out in the country in 2011, but has since reduced its presence. Its status in the country has become uncertain following the fall of Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... in December, as the regime of Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, seeks to consolidate power, take arms out of the hands of non-governmental groups, and avoid confrontation with Israel.
After the Assad regime fell, Israel launched an aerial campaign against Syrian military targets to prevent weapons from falling into the hands of Death Eater groups, and seized parts of Mount Hermon in Syrian territory that was a buffer zone between the countries following the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
Israeli military operations in Syria have since escalated, with Jerusalem saying it will not tolerate an armed Islamist presence in southern Syria.
Last week, Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s were carried out near the coastal city of Latakia and the IDF said its fighter jets targeted weapon depots used to store anti-ship missiles. One civilian was killed, according to Syrian state media.
The latest strikes have come even as Israel and Syria are reportedly in direct contact and have in recent weeks held face-to-face meetings aimed at calming tensions and preventing conflict in the border region between the two longtime foes.
The contacts mark a significant development in ties between states that have been in conflict in the Middle East for decades, as the US encourages the new Islamist rulers in Damascus to establish relations with Israel.
Last month, Sharaa confirmed indirect talks with Israel that he said were aimed at calming tensions.
Israel has also cautioned against swift recognition of the new government in Syria, expressing deep skepticism about Sharaa, who until recently had a $10 million bounty on his head from the US.
But the strikes and the criticism have substantially subsided in recent weeks.
Continued on Page 47
[Rudaw] A number of suspected Islamic State (ISIS) militants on Saturday ambushed a police station in Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor province with a grenade and subsequently opened fire, leading to no casualties, Kurdish-led forces said.
“Armed ISIS cells targeted the al-Sabha police station in eastern Deir ez-Zor with a hand grenade, then opened fire on the first protection point as they fled. Our forces returned fire, and no casualties were reported among our members,” the Kurdish-led internal security forces (Asayish) said in a statement.
Another ISIS attack targeted a patrol en route from the town of Busayrah to support the first convoy, which again resulted in no casualties.
The attack is the latest in an escalation of ISIS attacks in the area, particularly targeting Kurdish-led forces and civilians, with the militants seeking to exploit a security vacuum sparked by increased instability following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
ISIS and its so-called “caliphate” was territorially defeated in Syria in 2019, two years after its defeat in Iraq, but the group has recently sought to regain ground, especially after the fall of the Assad regime.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), backed by the United States, is the de facto army of northeast Syria (Rojava), and has fought to prevent the militants from reestablishing a foothold in the shifting security landscape.
In late May, three Asayish members were killed when an ISIS landmine struck their patrol vehicle on the Raqqa-Hasaka road, days after an operation by the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) in Busayrah led to the arrest of ten ISIS members.
[Rudaw] At least 35 people, including soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s on Syrian territory since the fall of Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... ’s regime on December 8, a war monitor reported on Sunday.
"The territory of Syria has been targeted 63 times, including 50 airstrikes and 10 ground attacks, resulting in the death and martyrdom of 35 people," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britannia-based war monitor.
The now-dissolved Islamist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... (HTS), headed by Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, spearheaded a coalition of opposition groups in early December that toppled Assad’s regime.
Since then, Israel has intensified efforts to destroy Damascus’s military stockpiles, and Israeli forces have entered a buffer zone east of the annexed Golan Heights, justifying their actions as a security precaution amid Syria’s ongoing political instability.
The corpse count included 15 civilians and nine soldiers of Syria’s new army, according to the Observatory.
"Israeli aircraft also launched approximately 500 airstrikes on military sites, destroying Syria’s entire weapons arsenal," it added.
Israel has refused to establish ties with the interim government in Damascus, with several Israeli officials calling the new Syrian authorities murderous Moslems.
But US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and whatever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th and 47th President of the United States... is trying to mend ties between the two countries. On May 14, he called on Sharaa to normalize ties with Israel during a meeting in Riyadh hosted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
...Crown Prince and modernizer of Saudi Arabia as of 2016. The Turks hate him, so he must be all right, despite the occasional brutal murder of Qatar-owned journalists... and attended remotely by Ottoman Turkish President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important... In a statement following the meeting, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said at the time that Trump urged Sharaa to "sign onto the Abraham Accords with Israel."
The Abraham Accords are a series of normalization agreements between Israel and several Arab countries - beginning with the UAE and Bahrain in 2020 - brokered by the US during Trump’s first term in office. These accords established formal ties in areas like diplomacy, security, and trade.
Continued on Page 47
[IsraelTimes] The Lebanese army is searching for weapons and military equipment in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, a stronghold of the Hezbollah terror group, the Lebanese TV network Aljadeed reports.
It comes days after Israel struck underground drone manufacturing sites in the neighborhood.
This was happening, the military said, “despite the understandings between Israel and Lebanon” as laid out in a November ceasefire agreement that halted more than a year of fighting along Israel’s northern border.
“This activity is a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon. The Hezbollah terror organization creates challenges for the Lebanese state and thus impairs the implementation of the understandings,” the IDF asserted.
An image circulating on social media appeared to show Lebanese troops searching Dahiyeh, apparently for weapons.
[NAHARNET] Officials close to President Joseph Aoun have floated the idea that a U.S. envoy carry out continuous negotiations between Leb ...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects.... and Israel to halt the Israeli escalation and try and find solutions for the disputed border points and the captives file, Kuwait's al-Anbaa newspaper has reported.
''They are relying on the fact that U.S. envoy to Syria Tom Barrack, who is of Lebanese origins, can carry out this mission in light of his closeness to U.S. Presiden Donald Trump ...The Hero of Butler, Pennsylvania... and his preliminary success in the Syrian file until now, and also because he greatly understands the Lebanese situation and the Lebanese thinking,'' al-Anbaa said.
''What's important is for Tel Aviv to accept such a proposal, seeing as it is reiterating its stance on the need to disarm Hezbollah north of the Litani River — while accusing Hezbollah of rebuilding its military arsenal through manufacturing drones,'' al-Anbaa added.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred ||
06/09/2025 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
..always the voice of sweet reason...
...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important...
...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects....
