[IsraelTimes] A bigwig from the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group Hezbollah has made a landmark trip to the United Arab Emirates to facilitate the release of more than a dozen Lebanese nationals detained there, four sources close to Hezbollah tells Rooters.
The visit at the invitation of the UAE could signal a significant shift away from the hostility that has long defined relations between Shi’ite Moslem Hezbollah and the Sunni Moslem UAE, a strategic ally of the United States, analysts said.
There is no immediate response from the UAE foreign ministry to Rooters’ requests for comments.
One of the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... , describes Wafiq Safa’s visit as a "new page" in ties between the UAE and Hezbollah, which is designated a terrorist group by the United States and its Gulf Arab allies.
Safa traveled to the UAE yesterday, the sources say. He runs Hezbollah’s Liaison and Coordination Unit, responsible for coordinating with Lebanese security agencies, and is sanctioned by the United States.
The four sources familiar with Hezbollah’s thinking say that the UAE made contact with Hezbollah with a message that they were seeking to release the Lebanese detainees, several of whom were serving life sentences.
The sources say the detainees were arrested on charges including providing support and finance for Hezbollah, describing these as politically motivated charges.
All four sources say the detainees will be released in the coming days and will accompany Safa back to Leb ...an Iranian satrapy currently 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... Two of the sources say the UAE asked Hezbollah’s ally Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... to pass on the message before the start of 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 an 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... war, during which Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged fire across the Lebanese-Israeli border.
There is no immediate response from Syria’s information ministry to a Rooters request for comment.
One of the sources says the visit suggests an effort to alleviate "some of the regional tensions," without elaborating.
[AFRICANEWS] India will prosecute 35 Somali pirates arrested during an operation to free a hijacked vessel off Somalia on Saturday, a navy official said.
The men are due to arrive in India on Saturday where they will be handed over to law enforcement.
India was previously only concentrating on freeing hijacked vessels and abandoning the disarmed pirates at sea without charging them. The navy official did not state what charges will be brought against the men.
On Saturday, the Indian navy managed to seize the Malta-flagged commercial ship MV Ruen which had been comandeered by pirates in the Northern Arabian Sea on December 14.
The event was the first hijacking of a commercial ship by Somali pirates since 2017. At the peak of their activity in 2011, somali pirate activity cost the global economy an estimated $7 billion.
Since December, India has deployed about a dozen boats to police the Gulf of Aden to stop Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... attacks on fat merchantmen with ties to Israel.
The Houthis who govern most of Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... have vowed to continue targeting ships transiting the Gulf of Aden until Isreal stops what they have termed as a genocide 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 an 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... MORE ON THE FREED VESSEL
The Indian navy said late Saturday that it had taken control of a bulk carrier hijacked by Somali pirates and evacuated the 17 crew members on the vessel.
In a statement on X, the navy said all 35 pirates on board the Maltese-flagged MV Ruen had surrendered and the vessel was checked for illegal arms, ammunition and contraband. The whole operation took about 40 hours and involved drones, navy vessels and marine commandos.
The development came after men on the bulk carrier fired at an Indian warship in international waters Friday, triggering the navy to intercept the vessel some 2,600 kilometers (1,615 miles) off the Indian coast.
The vessel was first boarded by pirates Dec. 14 near the Yemeni island of Socotra, around 240 kilometers (150 miles) off Somalia.
Activity from Somali pirates has dropped in recent years, but there has been growing concern it could resume amid the political uncertainty and wider chaos in the region that has included attacks on ships by Yemen's Houthi rebels.
Earlier this week, a Bangladesh-flagged fat merchantman with 23 crew members was hijacked by pirates off Somalia. A European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... vessel was tracking the ship, the EU's maritime security force said Wednesday.
India recently began to flex its its naval power in international waters, including anti-piracy patrols and a widely publicized deployment close to the Red Sea to help protect ships from attacks during Israel’s war with Hamas ...not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... The navy has helped at least four merchant vessels that were attacked in high seas by Houthi forces. Indian forces include three guided missile destroyers and reconnaissance aircraft.
Two sets of people who, like the Biden administration, agree that Israel has a right to defend itself after Hamas’s 10/7 massacre, but only so long as they actually actually don’t.
[IsraelTimes] Nearly 70 former US officials, diplomats and military officers are urging President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. We get to suffer the consequences... to warn Israel of serious consequences if it denies civil rights and basic necessities to Paleostinians and expands settlement activity in the West Bank.
Someone should get their names.
"The United States must be willing to take concrete action to oppose" such practices, the group says in an open letter to Biden, "including restrictions on the provision of (US) assistance (to Israel) consistent with US law and policy."
Among the signatories are more than a dozen former ambassadors, as well as other retired State Department officials and former Pentagon, intelligence and White House officials, including Anthony Lake, a national security adviser to former President Bill Clinton ...former Democratic president of the U.S. Bill was the second U.S. president to be impeached, the first to deny that oral sex was sex, the first to have difficulty with the definition of the word is... In its letter, the group says that an Israeli military operation against Hamas ...a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... was "necessary and justified."
But Israel’s operations "have been marked by repeated violations" of international law banning indiscriminate killing and the use of weapons that do not permit discrimination between combatants and civilians, the group says.
"Tens of thousands of Gazook civilians have been killed, the majority of whom are women and kiddies," the group says. "Civilian killings of this nature and magnitude cannot be justified."
Israel denies that its operations breach international law.
The group says that it strongly backs Biden’s call for an immediate truce of at least six weeks, the establishment of a reliable humanitarian aid delivery system, and the release of hostages.
The signatories also call on the Israeli military to implement rules of engagement consistent with international law.
[IsraelTimes] A number of prominent Jewish donors are included in a letter from more than 100 Democratic funders calling on US President Joe Biden to pull back his “unconditional” support for Israel’s war effort, and warning that it may harm his reelection prospects.
“Because of the disillusionment of a critical portion of the Democratic coalition, the Gaza war is increasing the chances of a Trump victory,” says the letter, which was sent Monday and first reported by The New York Times.
The letter comes amid growing pressure on Biden over Gaza from a swell of progressive voters, who have voted “uncommitted” in significant numbers in several primaries. The protest votes raise the prospect that progressive voters may stay home or decline to vote for the president in November, potentially facilitating a victory for former president Donald Trump.
“As donors and activists, we have committed much time and treasure in helping increase the turnout of likely Biden voters, particularly among young voters and voters of color.” the letter says. “Many of these voters are now questioning whether the Democratic Party shares their values.”
Among the signers are George and Liana Krupp, the father and daughter who steer the Krupp Family Foundation, which funds progressive Jewish organizations as well as the Council of American Jewish Museums. George Krupp, who has given $600,000 to Democrats this cycle, according to the Times, told the Times he remains committed to electing Biden to office.
Other prominent Jewish names include Barbara Dobkin, a philanthropist who has given to Jewish and Israeli feminist causes; Carol Winograd, who has funded progressive Jewish groups including J Street and Bend the Arc; Tamara Abrams, a Bay area climate activist who has served on the board of the East Bay Jewish Community Center; Margery Goldman, a philanthropist who has funded Israeli-Palestinian peace groups; and Marsha Rosenbaum, who has been at the forefront of advocating for drug reforms.
The letter says Israel has the right to defend itself from Hamas after the terror group’s October 7 attack on Israel, which it said included war crimes.
“We cannot imagine the pain that the hostages and their families endure every day,” the letter says. “We also acknowledge that Israel has the right, as does every country, to defend its citizens, and we sympathize with the stated joint goals of eliminating Hamas and freeing the hostages.
But the letter goes on to charge Israel with “indiscriminate” bombing and “systematically” destroying “nearly all civil structures in Gaza.” It calls for conditions on US defense assistance to Israel and adds, “Regrettably President Biden has provided what appears to be unconditional support for the Israeli operation.” It says Biden’s pressure on Israel to minimize civilian casualties has been ineffective.
“We are asking the Biden administration immediately to change course,” it says. “Conditions need to be placed and monitored on any further military, financial or diplomatic aid. All indiscriminate bombing and demolition must stop.”
#2
Prominent Jews among progressive donors warning Biden against ‘unconditional’ support for Israel
In a milieu where white celebrities and college professors routinely express their hatred for "whiteness" in public, such behavior is hardly surprising. The scum exhibiting it probably think they gain points over their non-Jewish fellow travelers in the leftard exhibition competition.
Correct me please.
Based on US Oath of Office and the known campaign funds switching hands to support HAMAS activities. Doesn't something like 18 U.S. Code § 2339___- regarding the support to terrorism kick in?
[IsraelTimes] Independent panel will issue recommendations to tackle issues on April 20; US lawmakers reach deal to continue ban on funding agency until March 2025.
”We’re the UN and we’re here to help,” with all the grace and tact of a self-righteous bull in a china shop.
[IsraelTimes] UNITAD to end investigations in country in mid-September due to souring relationship with government
A United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... mission set up to help Iraq investigate alleged Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... genocide and war crimes is being forced to shut down prematurely before it can finish its probes, following a souring of its relationship with the Iraqi government.
The removal of the UN mission set up in 2017 comes nearly a decade after the krazed killer group rampaged across Syria and Iraq and at a time when many of the Islamic State’s victims still live displaced in camps and long for justice.
"Is the work done? Not yet, this is pretty clear," Christian Ritscher, head of the UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by ISIS (UNITAD), told Rooters in an interview.
"We need more time... If you look at an end-date of September 2024, we will not achieve completion of all investigative lines," nor other projects such as creating a central archive for millions of pieces of evidence, he said.
Ritscher was speaking at length about the closure for the first time since the UN Security Council renewed the agency’s mandate for only one final year in September at Iraq’s request.
UNITAD’s international backers and donors had expected its work would continue for several more years.
Critics of Iraq’s decision to end the mission say it will hamper efforts to hold more members of IS accountable after UNITAD contributed to at least three convictions on charges of genocide and other international crimes in Germany and Portugal.
They also say it casts doubt on Iraq’s commitment to holding IS members accountable for such crimes at home, at a time when the vast majority of convictions in Iraq are made for simple membership of a terrorist organization, rather than specific crimes such as sexual abuse or slavery.
From Iraq’s perspective, UNITAD was no longer needed and had not successfully cooperated with Iraqi authorities, Farhad Alaaldin, foreign affairs adviser to the prime minister, told Rooters.
"In our view, the mission has ended and we appreciate the work that has been done and it’s time to move on," he said, noting the mission "didn’t respond to repeated requests for sharing evidence" and must now do so before it ends.
’HIGHLY POLITICAL’
But that transfer of information appears uncertain.
UNITAD was set up to help Iraq hold IS members accountable for international crimes — genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity — but Iraq has not passed legislation for that to happen in-country, leaving UNITAD "in a waiting position," Ritscher said.
Additionally, UNITAD was reluctant to share evidence it gathered with Iraqi authorities because of Iraq’s use of the death penalty , which goes against UN policy, according to six people familiar with the mission’s work.
These factors put UNITAD in the awkward position of gathering evidence, including hundreds of witness testimonies, in Iraq but mainly using that evidence in legal processes abroad, in a mismatch that festered for years.
Rooters spoke to nine diplomats and international officials and four Iraqi sources to piece together this account of how UNITAD’s mission came to be curbed and the consequences it may have for accountability efforts.
Apart from the baked-in mismatch between the mission’s goals and Iraq’s expectations, six people said that under Ritscher, a seasoned German prosecutor, UNITAD had not properly invested in the politics of dealing with Iraqi authorities, harming the relationship.
"Death penalty was always a main issue with UNITAD. Its mandate was far-fetched but many hoped it could work," a senior international diplomat said, referring to the incompatibility between goals and expectations.
"Added to that, the current leadership did not have the political skills to reach out. That doesn’t work here in Iraq. Everything is highly political here."
In response to that comment, a UNITAD spokesperson said the mission had absolute clarity from the beginning that it existed under the request of Iraq, and was always convinced the Iraqi judiciary was its main partner.
The spokesperson noted UNITAD’s production of joint case files with the Iraqi judiciary for trials abroad, as well as capacity-building for judges and cooperation on the exhumation of 70 mass graves and dignified burials for IS victims.
LOST HOPE
For many IS victims who distrust Iraq’s government and saw UNITAD’s presence as a reassuring sign of the international community’s support, the end of the mission has come as a blow.
These include members of Iraq’s Yazidi community, a religious minority Islamic State sees as devil worshippers and subjected to mass killings, sexual violence, and enslavement.
"It’s very hard to see them leave us like this in the middle of the road," said Zina, a Yazidi enslaved by IS at the age of 16 and held in captivity for three years.
She spoke via phone from a displacement camp near her native Sinjar in northwestern Iraq to which she cannot return amid concerns over security and lack of government compensation.
)
She asked Rooters to withhold her full name due to the sensitivity of what was discussed.
Zina said she was physically and sexually abused in captivity and true justice would require the family that enslaved her to be tried for those crimes, rather than convicted of simple membership of a terrorist group.
"We wanted UNITAD to give us the chance to achieve even a little bit of justice in Iraq but, as I see it, the world failed us," she said, referring to UNITAD’s impending closure.
Alaaldin said the government respected the critical views of citizens and was more supportive of Iraq’s minority communities than previous administrations.
Ritscher said he understood victims’ concerns but "I do not share the very negative assumptions about Iraq’s judiciary."
With the mission set to end by mid-September, a burning question currently under negotiation between Iraq and the world body is what happens to the mass of evidence UNITAD gathered.
On the one hand, some diplomats, activists, and victims are concerned it could be misused by Iraq, including in trials with little due process that might result in death sentence ...the barbaric practice of sentencing a murderer to be punished for as long as his/her/its victim is dead... s. On the other, much of the evidence could be critical to holding IS members accountable for specific international crimes.
"What we aimed to achieve is a proper completion. We want to ensure that this work is not lost or will simply go into a dead archive somewhere in the basement of a UN building," Ritscher said, though there is not yet clarity on the matter.
Razaw Salihy, Iraq researcher at Amnesia Amnesty International, noted flaws in the Iraqi justice system "that have landed thousands of men and boys on death row via confessions extracted under torture, duress and other kinds of ill-treatment."
Iraq denies obtaining confessions through coercion.
Salihy said Iraq should reform its judiciary and pass a law on international crimes but noted political will might be lacking among a ruling coalition that includes gangs.
"It could be a Pandora’s box. A working mechanism to hold members of IS accountable could also very easily be used to hold members of Iraqi security forces and gangs accountable," she said.
[IsraelTimes] Paleostinian officials say Hamas ...not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... ’s ability to rally such groups behind it over security shows it retains influence despite Israeli troops in Gazoo
Armed and masked men from an array of clans and factions have started providing security for aid convoys 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 an 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... as Hamas tries to keep its clout in the enclave, Paleostinian officials and sources in the terror group say. Video footage obtained by Rooters showed a convoy of trucks entering Gaza City with foreign aid overnight, watched by several men armed with AK-47 assault rifles and others wielding sticks.
With Israel sworn to eliminate Hamas following its deadly October 7 raid on Israel, it has become highly risky for anyone linked to the Islamist group to emerge into the open to provide security for aid deliveries to desperate civilians. So numerous clans, civil society groups and factions — including Hamas’s secular political rival Fatah — have stepped in to help provide security for the aid convoys, according to the Paleostinian officials and Hamas sources. They did not identify the clans and factions but said Hamas’ ability to rally such groups behind it over security showed it retains influence, and that efforts by Israel to build its own administrative system to keep order in Gaza were being resisted.
"Israel’s plan to find some clans to collaborate with its pilot projects of finding an alternative to Hamas didn’t succeed but it also showed that Paleostinian resistance factions are the only ones who can run the show, in one way or another," said a Paleostinian official who asked not to be named.
An Israeli military spokesperson declined comment, saying specific rules of engagement in an active war zone could not be publicly discussed.
CIVIL ORDER STRAINED
Hamas, which has run Gaza since 2007 following a violent mostly peaceful coup, has built its popularity on social services, education programs and charities it offers impoverished Gazooks.
With public order strained and civil police having concerns about providing security for fear of being targeted by the Israeli military, the safe distribution of supplies has become increasingly hard to guarantee.
Dozens of Paleostinians were killed last month after crowds surrounded a convoy of aid trucks entering northern Gaza. The IDF’s probe into the incident in late February found that troops stationed in the area did not open fire on the convoy itself as Hamas had claimed. Rather, the probe found that shots were fired at several Gazooks who moved toward soldiers and a tank at an IDF checkpoint, in a way that "posed a threat to them." Israel said many victims had been trampled or run over, and that its troops opened fire only after its troops felt threatened by the advancing crowd.
A senior Israeli official, speaking to Rooters on condition of anonymity, said Israel was open in principle to Paleostinians securing areas of the Gaza Strip cleared of Hamas, and could even approve the formation of an armed police.
"But this is more of a day-after (the war) enterprise than something that could be implemented as a policy right now. We would need to be assured that the individuals have no Hamas ties — and certainly that they are not directly or indirectly serving Hamas interests," the Israeli official said.
Juliette Touma, spokesperson for the UN refugee agency UNRWA, had no information about masked men securing convoys. Jamie McGoldrick, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Paleostinian Territory, said the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... was not working with clans.
"We’ve been trying to get the Blue Police (Paleostinian civil police) back on track again. There have been a number of incidents where the blue police have been targeted by Israel, because they regard them as part of the Hamas infrastructure," he said.
"And so we are trying to find the best way suitable to have delivery of assistance into the north and other parts of Gaza Strip. That is a combination of using community groups, etc. And where we can use the police in a discreet manner as well."
Shimon Freedman, spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Ministry liaison agency for Paleostinian civilian affairs, said the distribution of aid in Gaza was the responsibility of international organizations.
"While we assist in that distribution and we help coordinate those convoys and allow them to go through our humanitarian corridor, the aspects of that are up to them," he said.
As part of plans for running Gaza after the war, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has considered empowering local representatives not affiliated to Hamas or other terror groups, but it is unclear who those people might be. Gaza has large traditional family clans, affiliated with political factions including Hamas and Fatah, which dominates the Paleostinian Authority in the West Bank. Some of the larger clans are widely believed to be heavily armed. Some clan leaders have publicly rejected Israel’s plan and said they cannot take the place of UN relief agencies helping Paleostinian refugees, or be a substitute for local authorities.
[GEO.TV] Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that preparations were underway for the invasion of Rafah in the southern 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 an 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 but that such an action "will take some time".
In the statement, Netanyahu said that he will soon approve a plan for the evacuation of Paleostinian civilians from fighting areas after having green-lit the military's operational plans for Rafah.
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[IsraelTimes] Histadrut Labor Federation says terminal’s administration notified its 120 workers that 60 would be fired, accuses managers of taking advantage of war
Idiot labour union is still somewhat powerful in Israel, despite the labour socialist movement having lost control of the political levers of power.
Half the workers at Eilat Port are at risk of losing their jobs after the southern seaport took a major financial hit due to the crisis in Red Sea shipping lanes, Israel’s main labor federation said on Wednesday.
Eilat sits on the northern tip of the Red Sea and was one of the first ports to be affected as shipping firms rerouted vessels to avoid attacks by the Iran-backed Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... Continued on Page 49
More “Yes, but”, this time with a helping of putting Israeli security in Egyptian hands.
[IsraelTimes] US officials tell ToI next week’s meeting with visiting Israeli delegation will be used to advance viable options other than massive ground offensive in packed south Gaza city
The US will present alternative plans for how Israel can continue pursuing Hamas ...a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... without launching a major ground operation in Rafah during an upcoming meeting with a visiting Israeli delegation in Washington, two senior US officials told The Times of Israel on Tuesday.
"This isn’t just us saying, ’No you can’t do it.’ We’re saying that we’re willing to work with you on viable alternatives that still help you achieve your objectives," one of the senior US officials said, speaking to The Times of Israel on condition of anonymity.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan touched on this idea on Monday when he announced that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had accepted a request from US President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. Joe's wife and daughter weren't killed by a drunk driver. He didn't graduate with three or even two degrees, wasn't in the top half of his law class, and his daddy didn't come home from a hard day's work in the mines and play football with the guys. The NAACP hasn't endorsed him every time he's run.... during their phone call earlier that day to send an inter-agency team to Washington "to hear US concerns about Israel’s current Rafah planning and to lay out an alternative approach that would target key Hamas elements in Rafah and secure the Egypt-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 an 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... border, without a major ground invasion."
Elaborating on the alternative approach the Biden administration has in mind, a second senior US official said Washington envisions Israel focusing instead on preventing the smuggling of weapons from Egypt into Gaza through the Philadelphi Corridor.
The official avoided blaming the Egyptian government for the smuggling that was partially responsible for Hamas’s re-armament amid successive rounds of conflict with Israel over the past 15 years. However, today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... they said reaching a new arrangement with Cairo and building the necessary infrastructure to cut off the smuggling route would be more critical to the dismantlement of Hamas than a major ground offensive in Rafah.
"If Israel smashes into Rafah with all the civilian casualties that doing so would entail, cooperation from Egypt on locking down the [Philadelphi] Corridor will be much more difficult," the second bigwig said.
The first official clarified that US opposition to a major Rafah ground invasion doesn’t mean it opposes more targeted operations against Hamas’s leadership in Rafah or elsewhere, and said that the alternative plans the Biden administration intends to present to the visiting Israeli delegation will focus on this goal as well.
The US also envisions Israel using the coming period to implement a massive humanitarian surge, the US official said, speaking two days after the publication of a UN-backed report warning that famine is imminent in northern Gaza.
The senior US official said this will require Israel to open additional ground routes within Gaza to deliver aid to the north, where some 300,000 Paleostinians have been practically cut off from aid after bucking IDF directives to evacuate at the beginning of the war. Israel and Hamas are almost six months into a war sparked by Hamas’s October 7 massacre, when thousands of bully boyz killed some 1,200 people and took 253 hostages during a murderous rampage across southern Israel.
Any sort of operation in Rafah — let alone the massive invasion that Washington opposes — will require a far more stable humanitarian situation in Gaza, the US official explained.
They noted that the southern Gaza city has become a humanitarian hub in recent months and that new storage and distribution mechanisms will have to be established in other areas.
The number of aid trucks coming into Gaza from the yet-to-be-established maritime corridor from Cyprus along with other routes into the Strip will need to be significantly scaled up, to figures not seen since before the war when 500 trucks entered each day, the bigwig said. "That’s not happening any time soon, especially not when we’re in the middle of an imminent famine."
The US, only last week, dispatched a ship with supplies for the temporary pier it plans to build off the Gaza City coast in a project that could take up to two months.
The alternative plans the US wants to discuss with the visiting Israeli delegation will also include efforts to begin the reconstruction of Gaza and to build up a viable alternative to Hamas, the first senior US official said.
Both of these aspects are points of contention, given that the outline of a post-war Gaza plan Netanyahu presented to his cabinet last month does not envision Israel allowing reconstruction to begin until the enclave has been de-militarized and "de-radicalized." Netanyahu has also sought to empower local clan leaders with no ties to the Paleostinian Authority to replace Hamas in governing Gaza, though the idea has received a chilly reception from the US and international community, which wants a reformed PA to return to the Strip.
Both US officials clarified that the Biden administration is not ignoring the four remaining Hamas battalions in Rafah but argued that their strength and importance to the mission of defeating Hamas was being overblown by Netanyahu.
"We don’t want Hamas to have a safe haven there, but the current situation is not feasible," the first US official said.
The officials credited Israel for taking steps over the past couple of weeks to alleviate the humanitarian crisis, but one of them said that the situation could deteriorate again if Jerusalem does not begin implementing a "non-scorched earth strategy for pursuing Hamas."
Earlier Tuesday, Netanyahu’s office announced that the premier has tapped two of his most trusted aides, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, to lead the Israeli delegation to Washington. A representative from COGAT, the IDF unit responsible for coordinating aid in the Gaza Strip, will also be making the trip.
"The prime minister stressed that he is determined to operate in Rafah in order to eliminate for good the remaining Hamas battalions while offering humanitarian solutions to the civilian population," the statement said.
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said the meeting will likely take place early next week.
Separately, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will host Defense Minister Yoav Gallant next week for a bilateral meeting at the US Defense Department, an American defense official said.
Also on Tuesday, Netanyahu told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that the IDF will enter Rafah and that he told Biden as much in their call on Monday.
"We have a disagreement with the Americans about the need to enter Rafah," Netanyahu said, according to a statement from his office. "Not about the need to eliminate Hamas — the need to enter Rafah. We do not see a way to eliminate Hamas militarily without destroying these remaining battalions. We are determined to do it. "
Biden effectively ruled out any potential support for a major Israeli ground offensive in Rafah during his call with Netanyahu, Jake Sullivan revealed on Monday, hardening his position after the administration had indicated for months it could support an operation there under certain conditions.
#4
With Hamas there is also no Two State Solution. Though to be fair, the exact same can be said of Fatah/the PLO/the Palestinian Authority over there in the West Bank.
Seems to me that, the best way, is just to start bombing and they'll evacuate themselves: "Give a Man a Fish" etc...
[Jpost] "The IDF is about to enter Rafah. Before it attacks Rafah, it needs to move the 1.2 million refugees who are there either [elsewhere in Gaza] or to some floating islands. The Egyptians don't want them to come to the fence with Egypt, the Americans don't want us to attack first, so that there won't be a humanitarian disaster. I think it should have happened a week or two ago," he said. "People got confused when the Prime Minister's Office says 'approved plans,' it does not mean 'gave the army an order to attack.' Today, the army and the political echelon, in my opinion, are saying the same thing, they are waiting, they are currently giving a chance to the last attempt to reach a hostage deal."
HAMAS DOESN'T FEEL PRESSURE
According to Nagel, "There won't be a deal because Hamas doesn't currently feel enough pressure, especially [Hamas chief Yahya] Sinwar, and that's why it makes ridiculous demands. I still think it's right to send the delegation to Qatar... I'm in favor of a deal that has everything Hamas wants except for a ceasefire. To get 40-50 hostages, I have no problem with a month-long cease-fire and even the release here and there of heavy prisoners. The one thing that we can under no circumstances agree to is a ceasefire."
Nagel continued, stating "What's happening right now de facto is that Hamas is getting a kind of ceasefire, not exactly, but kind of. They're still fighting in the north, in the center, and here and there, we're attacking Rafah. We need to start with this quickly, very quickly. This situation also affects the North (the border with Lebanon)."
According to Nagel, "There are 24 battalions of Hamas, we destroyed 18 to 20 of them. We need to destroy all 24, after that we need to continue working underground and above the ground, for years, just like it was in Operation Defensive Shield in Jenin. Until today, [22] years later, there are still nests of terrorism in Jenin, so whoever thinks that there will be no terrorists after we destroy Hamas in Rafah is wrong. The fight against terrorism will take place for [years to come], but if the IDF controls security in Gaza, it will be able to enter and exit as it does in Judea and Samaria, which will be much better."
[IsraelTimes] The United States has imposed new sanctions on three procurement networks that are supporting Iran’s ballistic missile, nuclear and defense programs, the Treasury Department says in a statement.
It says the networks — based in Iran, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire... , Oman and Germany — have procured carbon fiber, epoxy resins and other missile-applicable goods.
"Through complex covert procurement networks, Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... seeks to supply rogue actors around the world with weapons systems that fuel conflict and risk countless civilian lives," says Brian Nelson, under-secretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence.
Last month, the Treasury announced punitive measures targeting Iran’s ballistic missile and drone procurement programs as Washington looks to increase pressure on Tehran, whose proxies in Iraq, Leb ...an Iranian satrapy currently 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... , Syria, Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... and 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 an 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 have attacked US and Israeli targets.
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.
...an Iranian satrapy currently 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...
Somali pirates
...not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
...a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
...not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
...a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
...an Iranian satrapy currently 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...
