[IsraelTimes] Key regional mediator Egypt replaces the head of its powerful state intelligence agency, local media reports, appointing a new chief, Hassan Rashad.
Abbas Kamel, a close ally of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and his former chief of staff, has held the post since 2018. He held the role of the main Egyptian mediator in talks between Israel and Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... Kamel will now take up the post of presidential advisor and envoy, as well as general coordinator of security services, according to state-aligned media Extra News. It is unclear if he will maintain his role as mediator in 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... talks.
The switch-up comes as Egypt finds itself surrounded by regional conflict.
For over a year, it has failed alongside fellow mediators Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... and the US to achieve a ceasefire and hostage deal in the Israel-Hamas war, which has since spread into Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... .
#5
Fractionation Day! Masks, waxing antic,
And making caucasians act frantic!
It's fiery and Black,
Full of agency, [*crack*]
And now new and improved! Transatlantic!
Grab a Berliner Weisse while I fix y'all up a tectonic plate. [needle drops on your favorite Kool and the Gang tune]
[IsraelTimes] The tax authority’s revocation of charitable status for JNF Canada and others has reverberated inside and outside the country – though the motives behind it are disputed.
[IsraelTimes] The Inter-Parliamentary Union defeated a motion calling on Israel to withdraw its forces from Gaza and Lebanon, as well as the West Bank and East Jerusalem, during a meeting of representatives of 195 parliaments in Geneva yesterday.
The Palestinian resolution demanded the Knesset “submit a monthly report on the extent of its compliance with UN General Assembly resolution ES-10/24,” which called on Israel to vacate the West Bank within a year. Failure to do so would result in sanctions.
The resolution failed to obtain the necessary two-thirds majority, eliciting cheering and clapping from the members of the Israeli delegation, led by MKs Dan Illouz (Likud), MK Tzega Melaku (Likud) and MK Elazar Stern (Yesh Atid).
When Illouz spoke out against the resolution, parliamentarians from Iran and a number of Arab countries walked out of the hall in protest, with lawmakers from multiple countries chanting “free, free Palestine” and yelling “murderers” at the Israeli delegation.
“How dare the Palestinian Authority lecture us on international law violations,” Illouz countered. “This is the same authority that pays terrorists to murder innocent Jews and brainwashes schoolchildren to hate and kill.”
“The clause submitted by the Palestinians is full of lies. Israel, unlike its neighbors, respects international law. We are the only democracy in the region, committed to the rule of law,” he declared.
[IsraelTimes] Defense minister accuses France of implementing ‘hostile policy toward the Jewish people,’ after Euronaval organizer says French gov’t decided Israeli companies can’t display wares
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday called French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to ban Israeli firms from exhibiting at a naval arms show "a disgrace" and accused Gay Paree of implementing a hostile policy towards the Jewish people.
The decision to bar Israeli firms is the latest by the Macron government to express its unease over Israel’s conduct in the fighting against Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... in 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... and Hezbollah in Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... It came after French efforts to secure a truce in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon foundered and as Israel carries out more Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s in the former French mandate.
"French President Macron’s actions are a disgrace to the French nation and the values of the free world, which he claims to uphold," Gallant posted on X.
"La Belle France has adopted, and is consistently implementing, a hostile policy toward the Jewish people. We will continue defending our nation against enemies on 7 different fronts, and fighting for our future — with or without La Belle France."
French officials have repeatedly said that Gay Paree is committed to Israel’s security and point out that its military helped defend Israel after Iranian attacks in April and earlier this month.
Euronaval, organizer of the event set to take place in Gay Paree from November 4-7, said in a statement that the French government had informed it on Tuesday that Israeli delegations were not allowed to exhibit stands or show equipment, but could attend the trade show. The decision affected seven firms, it said.
It is the second time this year that La Belle France has banned Israeli firms from a major defense show. In May La Belle France said conditions were not right for Israel to participate in the Eurosatory military trade show when Macron was calling for Israel to cease operations in the Gaza Strip, where it has been fighting since Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught last year started the war.
"These measures not only harm relations between our two countries, but also the bonds of trust that they have built, and thus cast doubt on La Belle France’s ability to play a leading role on the diplomatic scene to promote peace and stability in the Middle East," the Israeli embassy said in a statement.
DIPLOMATIC SPARRING
Israeli forces have carried out numerous airstrikes and a ground incursion targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon, causing substantial civilian casualties and leading Western allies, including La Belle France, to call for an immediate ceasefire.
Diplomatic sparring between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Macron has increased in recent weeks after Gay Paree had worked with Washington to secure a 21-day truce that would then open the door to negotiations on a long-term diplomatic solution.
Believing Israel was generally on board with the effort, and having received assurances from the Lebanese government that Hezbollah would go along with it, La Belle France and the United States were caught by surprise when the next day Israel launched strikes that killed Hezbollah leader His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...> Netanyahu has rejected a unilateral ceasefire that fails to stop Hezbollah rearming and regrouping, while the Lebanese terrorist organization has ruled out any truce that is not accompanied by an end to the fighting in Gaza. La Belle France has sought to continue to work on a diplomatic resolution.
Macron has irked Netanyahu several times, notably as United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... peacekeeping forces have been caught in Israeli crossfire in southern Lebanon.
La Belle France, with nearly 700 troops in the 10,000-strong UNIFIL peacekeeping force, is one of the main European contributors alongside Italia and Spain. All three have condemned what the UN says have been Israeli attacks and violations against peacekeepers, while Israel maintains its operations have targeted Hezbollah posts but their proximity to UNIFIL has led to several accidental strikes.
Macron has urged an end to the supply to Israel of offensive weapons used in Gaza and Lebanon, a call that Netanyahu has slammed as "a disgrace."
On Tuesday, Macron told a cabinet meeting that Netanyahu should not forget that Israel was created by a UN decision, according to a French official.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot sought to downplay the comments, saying they had been general remarks reminding Israel of the importance of respecting the UN charter.
But Netanyahu’s office said in response that Israel was established through "the War of Independence with the blood of our heroic fighters, many of whom were Holocaust survivors, including from the Vichy regime in La Belle France" — referring to the French government that had collaborated with Nazi Germany.
[IsraelTimes] Invisible detonators and wafer-thin plastic explosives turned batteries into bombs after a fake, but convincing, online history was created for bulky new product used by thousands.
[IsraelTimes] US notes initial steps taken by Israel to boost humanitarian aid into Strip, hours after confirming it sent letter warning of consequences if situation doesn’t improve in 30 days
Israel allowed 50 trucks of humanitarian aid into the northern 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 on Wednesday, hours after the US confirmed sending a letter warning that Washington’s continued supply of weapons was at risk if Jerusalem didn’t take significant steps to address the growing humanitarian crisis in the enclave within 30 days.
Fifty trucks carrying food, water, medical supplies and shelter equipment from Jordan were transferred from the Allenby Crossing into the West Bank into northern Gaza through the Erez West Crossing, said a statement from COGAT, the Israeli military body that oversees aid distribution in the coastal enclave.
COGAT said Israel "will continue to facilitate and ease the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza."
Israel allowed 30 trucks of aid to reach northern Gaza on Monday after nearly two weeks during which humanitarian groups said that all assistance had been blocked. This period coincided with the IDF’s launch of an operation aimed at thwarting Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... ’s revival in northern Gaza.
The military issued broad evacuation orders to tens of thousands of civilians before launching the operation, but many have refused to comply. Some have said they are unable, others cite claims Israeli troops have targeted those fleeing the area and others highlight the squalid conditions in the southern Gaza humanitarian zone where millions have been pushed after repeated evacuations throughout the past year of war sparked by Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught.
The dire conditions in northern Gaza appeared to have been one of the triggers leading US Secretary of State Antony Blinken ...71st United States secretary of state and a leading light of the corrupt and inept Biden administration. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and deputy secretary of state from 2015 to 2017 under the corrupt and inept Obama administration. He advocated for the 2003 invasion of Iraq while serving as the Democratic staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2002 to 2008. He was a foreign policy advisor for the Biden 2008 presidential campaign. During his tenure in the Obama administration, Blinken helped craft B.O.'s policy on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the nuclear program of Iran. We all saw how well each of those worked. After leaving government service, Blinken moved into the private sector, co-founding WestExec Advisors, a lobbying firm... and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to send a letter to Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday, warning that Israel would be in violation of an executive order signed by President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. Sleazy Dem machine politician, paterfamilias of the Biden Crime Family... if significant measures weren’t taken to alleviate the humanitarian situation in Gaza within a month.
The February executive order requires the administration to receive written assurances from recipients of security assistance that they won’t arbitrarily restrict the delivery of humanitarian aid.
In their letter, Blinken and Austin pointed to the fact that September saw the lowest amount of aid entering Gaza since the start of the war; the apparent Israeli "isolation" of northern Gaza and the nearly complete halt to aid deliveries from Jordan. They suggested that Israel was not adhering to a written assurance it provided in March and presented a list demanding over a dozen steps be taken in the next 30 days to address the humanitarian crisis.
Failure to do so would put the continued US supply of offensive weapons to Israel in jeopardy.
Asked by news hounds what legal action should be taken against Israel if the warnings in the letter are ignored, US Vice President Kamala Harris who got her start in politix between former Oakland mayor Willie Brown's' knees responded, "We’ll take it one step at a time, if necessary."
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller noted during a Wednesday briefing that the administration is still obligated under US law to ensure that Israel maintains a Qualitative Military Edge over its regional adversaries, in addition to abiding by the 10-year Memorandum of Understanding to deliver $3.8 billion in security assistance to Israel through 2028.
However,
ars longa, vita brevis... he noted that the administration is no less bound by the February executive order, indicating that the US could still restrict the delivery of some — but not all— weapons to Israel.
Alarmed by the US warning, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened an emergency meeting Friday to discuss expanding humanitarian aid to Gaza, three Israeli officials who attended the discussion said, adding that assistance would likely to increase soon.
A fourth Israeli official said the security cabinet was expected to further discuss the matter on Sunday.
Miller noted Wednesday that Israel has already taken several steps to address the crisis since the letter was sent. He pointed to the 50 aid trucks Israel allowed into northern Gaza earlier in the day.
Over the past several days, Israel also reopened the Erez Crossing into northern Gaza in addition to opening a new access route from the south to the north of the Strip, Miller said, adding that another route was opened for delivering aid in southern Gaza.
Israel also reopened an aid route to allow the resumption of aid deliveries from Jordan, he added.
Israel has taken steps to approve new warehouses and other staging facilities for the UN and other humanitarian organizations aimed at easing some of the logistical burdens they have faced in storing and delivering aid inside Gaza, Miller continued.
Israel has also informed the UN and other humanitarian organizations in the past day that it would waive for 12 months the customs declarations that it has been requiring individuals to sign to bring goods in, Miller said. This follows a request from aid organizations and was one of the demands made by the Biden administration in its letter to Israel earlier this week.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council during a Wednesday session on the Gaza war that Washington is watching to ensure that Israel’s actions on the ground show that it does not have a "policy of starvation" in the northern Gaza Strip.
She told the 15-member council that such a policy would be "horrific and unacceptable and would have implications under international law and US law."
"The Government of Israel has said that this is not their policy, that food and other essential supplies will not be cut off, and we will be watching to see that Israel’s actions on the ground match this statement," Thomas-Greenfield said.
Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon told news hounds ahead of the Security Council meeting that Jerusalem "remains committed to working with our international partners to ensure aid reaches those who need it" in the Gaza Strip.
"The problem in Gaza is not a lack of aid. The problem is Hamas, which hijacks the aid — stealing, storing, and selling it to feed their terror machine, while civilians suffer," he said.
This dynamic is what has led several former IDF generals to advocate for laying siege to northern Gaza until Hamas fighters aiming to re-establish control over the area surrender. The IDF has insisted that this is not its policy.
Moreover, US officials have warned that Hamas fighters will likely continue popping up throughout Gaza, so long as Israel doesn’t allow for a viable alternative to fill the temporary power vacuum it is creating through its military victories. The US argues that the Paleostinian Authority should be tasked with filling that vacuum, but that idea has been blocked by Netanyahu, who likens the PA to Hamas and rejects the two-state framework that the PA aims to advance through its return to Gaza.
Netanyahu’s refusal to plan for the post-war management of Gaza has been a major source of tension with the US, with Biden and his aides convinced that the premier is unwilling to take steps necessary for winding down the war due to fears that he’ll alienate his far-right coalition partners who he needs to remain in power.
Asked about Blinken and Austin’s letter during a press briefing, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stressed that the message was similar to one that Washington sent in April after Gaza aid had plummeted and the IDF had just killed several aid workers in an Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... Israel responded to that warning constructively, taking a range of steps to boost aid, and the administration hopes it will do so again this time, Jean-Pierre added.
[Jpost] Investigations continue into allegations that Lafarge was complicit in crimes against humanity, part of the wider probe into how the group kept its factory running in Syria.
Cement maker Holcim's Lafarge will face trial in a French court on charges that its Syrian subsidiary financed terrorism and breached European sanctions in order to keep a plant operating, France's anti-terrorism prosecutor and a lead plaintiff said.
Lafarge, which became part of Swiss-listed Holcim in 2015, has been the subject of an investigation into its operations in Syria since 2016, one of the most extensive corporate criminal proceedings in recent French legal history.
Investigative judges in Paris gave the order Lafarge face trial on Wednesday.
In a statement to Reuters on Thursday, Lafarge said it acknowledged the decision of the investigating judges.
Holcim shares fell nearly 2% in late Wednesday trading after the news, before recovering a little to close 0.7% lower.
Investigations continue into allegations that Lafarge was complicit in crimes against humanity, part of the wider probe into how the group kept its factory running in Syria after war broke out in 2011, said the anti-corruption group Sherpa, which brought the criminal complaint against Lafarge.
Charges of complicity in crimes against humanity
France's highest court in January rejected a request from Lafarge that charges of complicity in crimes against humanity be dropped from the investigation.
The sanctions breach charges relate to a European ban on financial or commercial links to Islamist militant groups Islamic State and Al-Nusra, Sherpa said.
In a separate investigation in the United States, Lafarge admitted in 2022 that its Syrian subsidiary paid groups designated by Washington as terrorists, including Islamic State, to help protect staff at the plant in a country shaken by years of civil war.
[Jpost] As Iran's foreign minister makes his tour, it is in contrast to his Israeli counterparts, who have not made any regional tours like this or have not been able to do much outreach since October 7.
Posted by: Skidmark ||
10/17/2024 09:26 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[IsraelTimes] The United States imposes sanctions on what it described as a Lebanon-based sanctions evasion network that funnels millions of dollars to Hezbollah.
The action targeted three individuals linked to Hezbollah’s finance arm and four Lebanon-based companies registered to conceal ties to the terror group, according to a Treasury Department statement.
The US also sanctions three individuals involved in the production and sale of the amphetamine known as captagon, who it said have funded the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad and its allies, including Hezbollah.
“Today’s action underscores (Hezbollah’s) destabilizing influence within Lebanon and on the wider region, as the group, its affiliates, and its supporters continue to finance their operations through covert involvement in commercial trade and the illicit trafficking of captagon,” Bradley T. Smith, acting undersecretary of Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, says in the statement.
Lebanese MP Nadim Gemayel has criticized Hezbollah, stating that they are now facing the consequences of their own actions. He asserted that Lebanon will not step in to resolve Hezbollah’s crisis, emphasizing that the group must first disarm. Gemayel questioned the… pic.twitter.com/orB04YaHo8
#3
Wiki: On 14 September 1982, a bomb was detonated during a meeting of the right-wing Christian Kataeb Party (also known as the Phalanges) in the Beirut neighborhood of Achrafieh. Militia commander and Lebanese president-elect Bachir Gemayel and 23 Kataeb Party politicians were killed in the blast.
The attack was carried out by Habib Shartouni and allegedly planned by Nabil Alam, both members of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP). Both men were believed to have acted on instructions of the Syrian government led by president Hafez al-Assad. The next day, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) moved to occupy the city, allowing members of the Lebanese Forces militia under the command of Elie Hobeika to enter the centrally located Sabra neighborhood and adjoining Shatila refugee camp.
Posted by: S MAI ||
10/17/2024 7:09 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Damour massacre...by Palestinians is more important...
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.
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
...71st United States secretary of state and a leading light of the corrupt and inept Biden administration. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and deputy secretary of state from 2015 to 2017 under the corrupt and inept Obama administration. He advocated for the 2003 invasion of Iraq while serving as the Democratic staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2002 to 2008. He was a foreign policy advisor for the Biden 2008 presidential campaign. During his tenure in the Obama administration, Blinken helped craft B.O.'s policy on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the nuclear program of Iran. We all saw how well each of those worked. After leaving government service, Blinken moved into the private sector, co-founding WestExec Advisors, a lobbying firm...
