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Israel has no one to blame but itself for war with Palestinians: Lawmaker

Press TV – October 8, 2023

Israel has no one to blame but itself for the war with the Palestinians, says a lawmaker of the regime, insisting that the illegal occupation of the Palestinian land has caused the situation to escalate.

Ofer Cassif, a member of the Knesset and leftist Hadash coalition, told Al Jazeera on Sunday that his party had repeatedly warned the regime authorities that the way they treated the Palestinians would have serious repercussions.

“We have been warning time and time again… everything is going to erupt and everybody is going to pay a price… And unfortunately, that is exactly what happened,” said Cassif, whose party has four seats in the 120-member parliament.

The “fascist” regime, he said, “supports, encourages, and leads pogroms against the Palestinians.”

“There is an ethnic cleansing going on. It was obvious the writing was on the wall, written in the blood of the Palestinians.”

Some sources say more than 750 Israelis have been killed since early Saturday, when the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas launched massive rocket attacks and a ground operation from its bases in the Gaza Strip into the occupied territories.

Hamas says Operation al-Aqsa Storm is a response to Israel’s growing acts of aggression against the Palestinians, especially in the occupied West Bank, and its support for the recurrent presence of settlers in the al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied Quds.

Scores of Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza, a besieged enclave on the Mediterranean, since the regime started to respond to Hamas attacks on Saturday.

October 8, 2023 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , | 1 Comment

Iron Dome’s ‘Inefficiency’ Revealed by Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Escalation – Expert

By Andrei Dergalin – Sputnik – 08.10.2023

The massive attack launched by Hamas militants against Israel on October 7 was accompanied by a series of rocket launches, many of which managed to bypass Israeli defenses and hit their targets.

Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system is widely regarded as one of the best in the world. That said, it apparently failed to completely negate the Palestinian rocket barrage on Saturday.

Commenting on this failure, Russian military historian and Museum of Air Defense Forces’ Director Yuri Knutov pointed out that while Iron Dome is a very advanced and sophisticated air defense system, it has drawbacks that can be exploited by any enemy.

For one, a single Iron Dome battery can protect a relatively small area (about 150 square kilometers).

Secondly, Knutov noted, Iron Dome is extremely effective when dealing with a small number of incoming targets all of which approach from the same direction.

“In case of a more intensive barrage, involving at least about 100 rockets, the Iron Dome usually fails to do its job and up to 90 percent of the rockets bypasses it and strike the intended targets,” he claimed.

The historian also observed that Hamas militants deliberately launched mass rocket salvos from different directions, apparently in order to overwhelm the Israeli Iron Dome defenses.

“When it (an Iron Dome system) intercepts the first salvo, when it is dealing with those rockets, it is unable to deal with the second salvo that was fired practically a minute after the first one. And so the rockets from the second, third and fourth salvos reach their targets practically unopposed,” he said, arguing that this tactic essentially capitalizes on Iron Dome’s “inefficiency.”

Furthermore, a single Iron Dome interceptor missile costs at least $20,000 while Palestinian jury-rigged rockets – the threat Iron Dome systems usually have to deal with – cost only about $2,000-$3,000 apiece, Knutov added.

Knutov did, however, praise the Iron Dome’s radar unit capabilities and the interceptor missiles this air defense system uses, describing both of them as quite “interesting.”

He also noted that Iron Dome can determine whether an incoming missile poses a threat to a populated area or a military facility and refrain from wasting ammo on a projectile that would otherwise crash in a deserted area.

What Does Iron Dome Do?

Iron Dome is an Israeli-made air defense system designed to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles and artillery shells fired from distances of 4 to 70 kilometers.

Developed during the late 2000s by Israeli defense contractor Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, the Iron Dome was first deployed in 2011 and has since been actively used by IDF to counter rocket strikes conducted by Palestinian militants.

An Iron Dome battery typically consists of several launcher units (the payload of each consists of 20 interceptor missiles), a radar unit and a control unit.

Israeli Intelligence Services’ Failure & Merkava Fiasco

According to Knutov, the fact that Hamas militants managed to prepare thousands of rockets for this attack in secret, not to mention train all those militant squads that launched incursions into Israeli territory on October 7, effectively means that Israel’s intelligence agencies failed to do their job properly.

Meanwhile, Hamas militants displayed what looks like special operations tactics, with teams of militants using paragliders and executing amphibious landings in order to bypass Israeli forces and storm Israeli military bases, Knutov said.

He also described reports about an Israeli Merkava main battle tank, “which was portrayed as the best tank of in the world and which was equipped with Trophy active protection system and with dynamic protection,” being disabled by a Palestinian militant armed with a fairly antiquated anti-tank weapon as surprising.

“The first tank was taken out with an old RPG-7 grenade launcher loaded with a shaped charge that punched straight through the tank’s frontal armor,” he said.

The fact that neither the vaunted Trophy system nor Merkava’s armor and dynamic protection managed to save the tank from destruction essentially means that all of them are not as good as advertised, to put it mildly, Knutov suggested.

October 8, 2023 Posted by | Militarism | , , | 4 Comments

War as an “Investment”

The Bizarre Business-Speak of Mass Killing

By Bill Astore | Bracing Views | October 3, 2023

Did you know the Russia-Ukraine War is a great “investment” for the United States? A terrific opportunity to kill lots of Russians and to destroy lots of their military equipment at a relatively cheap cost to us? (Just don’t mention the price paid by Ukraine.) It gives new meaning to the expression “making a killing” on the “market.”

To Gordon Gekko’s infamous “greed is good” speech we must now add “war is good.” That war is “right.” That it “works”—at least for America, allegedly.

War as an “investment” truly symbolizes the moral bankruptcy of conventional discourse in the U.S. political mainstream. Instead of war being a calamity, a catastrophe, a realm of death and destruction, dare I say even a mortal sin of grievous evil, we’re told that instead it’s an investment that’s paying dividends, especially in that growth stock known as Ukraine.

We can’t let MAGA Republicans stop the Ukraine “investment,” can we? Not when it’s paying such great dividends

Even body counts and truck counts from the Vietnam War era are being brought back to show what a great “investment” the Ukraine War has been for the U.S. In her latest, Caitlin Johnstone cites war-lover Max Boot for his advocacy of the Russia-Ukraine War as a continuing investment opportunity for the U.S., including the use of body and truck counts as a measure of progress:

“Russia has lost an estimated 120,000 soldiers and 170,000 to 180,000 have been injured,” [Max] Boot writes [in a Washington Post op-ed]. “Russia has also lost an estimated 2,329 tanks, 2,817 infantry fighting vehicles, 2,868 trucks and jeeps, 354 armored personnel carriers, 538 self-propelled artillery vehicles, 310 towed artillery pieces, 92 fixed-wing aircraft and 106 helicopters.”

“The Russian armed forces have been devastated, thereby reducing the risk to front-line NATO states such as Poland and the Baltic republics that the United States is treaty-bound to protect,” Boot continues. “And all of that has been accomplished without having to put a single U.S. soldier at risk on the front lines.”

“That’s an incredible investment,” gloats Boot.

At no time in his masturbatory gushing about how many Russians this war has helped kill does Boot make any mention of the immense toll this deliberately provoked and completely unnecessary war has taken on Ukrainian lives. Their deaths and dismemberments and displacement are the largest price being paid into this “investment” by far, but Boot doesn’t deem them worthy of even a footnote.

We’ve been seeing this “investment” line being promoted with increasing frequency by US empire managers and their apologists. In an article published in the Connecticut Post last month, Senator Richard Blumenthal assured Americans that “we’re getting our money’s worth on our Ukraine investment.” A few days prior to that Senator Mitt Romney had described the proxy war as “the best national defense spending I think we’ve ever done,” because “We’re diminishing and devastating the Russian military for a very small amount of money… a weakened Russia is a good thing.” In December Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that funding the proxy war is “a direct investment in reducing Vladimir Putin’s future capabilities to menace America, threaten our allies and contest our core interests.” Last November the imperial war machine-funded think tank Center for European Policy Analysis published a report arguing that “US spending of 5.6% of its defense budget to destroy nearly half of Russia’s conventional military capability seems like an absolutely incredible investment.”

Imagine the vacuity, the bankruptcy, the venality, the sinfulness of writing about war and killing as “an absolutely incredible investment.” And what is our ROI, our return on investment? A lot of dead and wounded Russians and Ukrainians, a devastated and poisoned landscape, millions of war refugees, and an increasing likelihood of a wider war that could possibly go nuclear. ROI, indeed.

War is many things, but it is not an “investment.” People who talk and write like this have no moral center. They are soulless. They are automatons of war.

October 8, 2023 Posted by | Militarism | , | Leave a comment

Heinous Choreography of Village Massacre as Zelensky Begs for More Weapons at EU Summit

By Finian Cunningham | Strategic Culture Foundation | October 8, 2023

The horrific missile strike on a Ukrainian village in which 52 people, including a young boy, were killed in a cafe was widely reported by Western media with strident condemnations of a Russian “war crime”.

All the American and European media reports relied solely on Ukrainian security sources for their immediate attribution of the massacre to Russian forces. It was claimed that a Russian Iskander missile hit the village of Hroza (Groza).

Russia did not make any comment on the specific accusations, simply repeating that its military does not deliberately target civilian centers.

The carnage on Thursday, October 5, occurred at the very same time that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky was addressing a summit in Granada in Spain attended by European Union leaders. Zelensky referred to the missile strike in highly emotive language, condemning it as “Russian genocidal aggression”. EU leaders joined in the denunciation of Russia.

The BBC quoted Zelensky as saying the act “couldn’t even be called a beastly act – because it would be an insult to beasts”.

The purpose of Zelensky’s attendance in Granada was to make a renewed appeal for European NATO members to supply more air defence systems to Ukraine. It was reported that Spain pledged to send the U.S.-made HAWK system to Ukraine.

Zelensky also told European leaders that the political turmoil in the United States over the abrupt Congressional cutting off of financial aid to Ukraine was a “dangerous situation”.

The Biden White House referred to the missile strike on the village of Hroza as a reminder to U.S. lawmakers why continued military aid to Ukraine is essential.

As several Western media reports acknowledged, the targeted village with a population of around 300 did not have any military or tactical value. It is located around 17 miles (27 kms) from the front line between Ukrainian and Russian forces in the Kharkiv region.

The victims of the explosion were attending a funeral for a Ukrainian soldier. If Russia fired a missile it would have been for a depraved reason, as the Western media and politicians like Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak were quick to allege.

On the other hand, cynical as it might seem, for the Kiev regime there was a big incentive to stealthily carry out the missile strike against its territory for the propaganda value of blaming Russia. The timing comes at a crucial moment when the Kiev regime is “freaking out” over the possible long-term cutting off of military aid by the U.S. and its NATO partners.

Such a false-flag provocation carried out by the Kiev regime has precedent, albeit not reported by the Western media.

Last month, on September 6, the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kiev with an additional $1 billion in military and financial aid. Hours before Blinken arrived, the city of Konstantinovka (Kostiantynivka) was hit by a missile killing 17 people. The city is located in territory under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).

That atrocity was similarly condemned as “Russian terrorism” by Ukrainian President Zelensky while he was hosting Blinken in the capital.

Like the attack on Hroza last week, the one on Konstantinovka was immediately blamed on Russia and reported widely as such by Western media.

It turned out, however, that the missile that hit Konstantinovka was not fired by Russian forces. A follow-up report by the New York Times on September 18 found that the warhead had been fired from AFU positions. The NY Times described it as an “errant missile” that slammed into a busy marketplace by mistake. Nevertheless, despite the evidence, the Kiev regime continues to blame Russia for the crime.

There is good reason to conclude that the missile atrocity on September 6 was not “an error” but rather was deliberately staged by the Kiev regime as a false-flag provocation to highlight the visit by the senior American diplomat, Antony Blinken, and the need for his weapons gifting.

For those who don’t rely on the Western media for their information, it is well-documented that the NeoNazi Kiev regime has a foul habit of staging massacres for propaganda. The Bucha massacre last March was one such macabre event. This was when several civilians were found executed, their bodies strewn on streets, supposedly after Russian forces retreated from the city. All Western media blamed the apparent executions on Russia and continue to do so. But the freshness of the corpses found days after Russian troops pulled out of Bucha proves that the killings were done by others, probably Kiev agents.

Another probable false flag was the missile strike on a railway station in the city of Kramatorsk on April 8, 2022, that killed 63 people. Again, Russia was roundly blamed and condemned by Western media and politicians taking their cue from Ukrainian official sources. In that incident, the missile was later identified as a Tochka-U not in regular use by Russian forces, but more likely used by the AFU.

The Kramatorsk atrocity came on the day that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was visiting Kiev, condemning it as “despicable” and vowing tens of billions more Euros in support for the Kiev regime.

The Ukraine war has become an obscene racket for profiteering by the U.S. and European military industries, their lobbyists and most of the Western politicians they have close sponsorship links to, like Blinken and Von der Leyen. It is also a money-spinner for the corrupt Kiev regime whose President Zelensky and other cronies have made up to $400 million in skimming off aid, as reported by Seymour Hersh citing Pentagon sources. This rampant corruption was why the Kiev regime sacked most of its defence officials last month in a desperate attempt to appear as if it were cleaning up the graft.

Western public fatigue and disgust with the war racket are growing and imperilling the continuation of the colossal scam. False-flag atrocities are a logical, heinous way to keep the racket on track.

October 8, 2023 Posted by | Fake News, False Flag Terrorism, Mainstream Media, Warmongering, Russophobia | | 1 Comment

Biden has ‘creative ideas’ to keep Ukraine cash flowing – Politico

RT | October 8, 2023

The Biden administration is looking for “creative” ways to secure further military aid for Ukraine amid mounting opposition at home, POLITICO has reported. Meanwhile, Britain’s Telegraph newspaper claimed that the White House is considering the possibility of a mega aid package to the tune of $100 billion.

In its article on Friday, POLITICO quoted President Joe Biden hinting on Wednesday that “there is another means by which we may be able to find funding” for Kiev. According to the media outlet, the US leadership is considering using the State Department’s foreign military financing program. Under this, grants or loans are provided to partner countries to purchase weapons and defense equipment.

Another possible scenario presumably on the table has been floated by Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen. The scheme envisages a three-way swap in which Poland would get America’s Iron Dome systems and send some of its own air defenses to Ukraine, POLITICO said. Israel, a co-producer of the system, which has veto authority over transfers, has previously refused to supply it directly to Ukraine despite Kiev’s repeated requests, the article explained.

The media outlet quoted the US lawmaker arguing that “Poland may be able to deploy its Patriot systems to Ukraine, where we’ve already deployed Patriot systems.”

The article concluded that the sheer fact that the Biden administration is apparently being forced to resort to such unconventional workarounds points to the fact that support for further military aid for Ukraine is waning among American lawmakers.

Representative Michael McCaul told reporters that “it’s going to be even harder now with [Speaker] McCarthy gone,” adding that supporters of aid for Kiev in the US Congress are “running out of time.”

Meanwhile on Saturday, The Telegraph, citing anonymous sources, reported that the Biden administration was considering a potential “one-and-done” Ukraine aid package totaling as much as $100 billion. The idea is presumably aimed at avoiding the requirement for multiple funding approvals from Congress until after the 2024 presidential election.

Last week, US House lawmakers passed a stopgap spending bill to avert a government shutdown, with new allocations for Ukraine conspicuously absent from it. This came as a growing number of Republicans in the House had been calling into question Biden’s generous aid for Kiev.

Congress has already approved four rounds of Ukraine funding, totaling about $113 billion.

October 8, 2023 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Militarism | , | Leave a comment

Americans get poorer as Washington throws cash at Ukraine and migrants

By Robert Bridge | RT | October 8, 2023

As Uncle Sam continues to pump billions of dollars into Kiev’s flagging fight against Russia and provide tempting handouts to illegal migrants, why is the average American worker forced to live paycheck to paycheck?

Here’s a question that most people have considered at least once in their lives, and probably a lot recently: How much annual income would you need to feel financially secure? For the average American, the magic number comes out to be $233,000 a year, according to a survey by Bankrate.

To bring the ’99 percent’ back down to Earth, the US Census Bureau released some sobering data that dashed those elusive six-digit dreams. Inflation-adjusted median household income fell to $74,580 in 2022 – a 2.3% decline from the 2021 average of $76,330. This marks the third-straight annual decrease since the Covid-19 pandemic began in 2020, taking a wrecking ball to the heart of the economy.

The bad news doesn’t end there for US consumers, who are now struggling with the consequences of a foreign conflict in a distant land and a wide-open border. Those factors have prompted the cost of living to surge higher than it has in over four decades amid runaway inflation. In June 2022, the year-over-year inflation rate, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, hit a jaw-dropping 9.1%, the highest it’s been since the administration of former President Ronald Reagan.

A significant reason for the increase in inflation happened on March 3, 2022, when President Joe Biden signed an executive order to ban the import of Russian oil, liquefied natural gas, and coal to the US. This decision has had disastrous results for the local economy. Since Biden’s inauguration, the cost of gasoline alone had jumped at one point by 100% (as of September 27, the average price of regular gas was $3.832 per gallon, according to the AAA, while gas prices were an average of $2.3 per gallon when Biden entered office), forcing just about everything else to skyrocket, including the number of poor people.

The poverty rate in the US exploded last year, the first increase in 13 years, according to the Census Bureau. In 2022, the rate was 12.4%, up 4.6 percentage points from 2021, according to the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), a method for tallying government welfare programs and tax credits designed to assist low-income families.

Meanwhile, the Expectations Index, determined by consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions, sunk to 73.7 in September. That follows a drop to 83.3 in August. The worrisome part is that an Expectations Index below 80 generally indicates an impending recession.

An economic tragedy is already quietly happening for millions of American consumers who are now living paycheck to paycheck precariously and who have been forced to use the payment method of last resort to make ends meet: the almighty credit card, with its exorbitant interest fees. On this score, the US economy has broken yet another record, although not in a way that could be considered something to cheer about.

“US credit card debt rose by $45 billion to $1.03 trillion in the second quarter from the first quarter, a 4.6% quarterly increase,” The Street reported. “It’s the first time in US history that household credit card balances topped the $1 trillion mark as the number of credit card accounts expanded by 5.48 million to 578.35 million in the quarter.” When consumer debt suddenly equals the amount the US spends on its military-industrial complex, you know there’s a problem.

Clearly, the US has some serious domestic issues that need to be resolved, but instead, it would rather fund a totally senseless proxy war against a nuclear power halfway around the world.

Washington has given Ukraine close to $100 billion in aid, with more in the pipeline, since Moscow launched its military operation in February 2022. The cash, however, has not only been used to fund Ukraine’s military. Billions of dollars have subsidized participants of the Ukrainian economy, like farmers and small business owners, market players whose counterparts in the US desperately need help, too. A recent study conducted by the Council on Foreign Relations shows that more than $30 billion – around 40% of total US aid to Ukraine as of July 31 – has been financial or humanitarian assistance that is not directly connected to military support. Military funding comes out to around $50 billion.

As if that were not enough, the Biden administration continues to welcome illegal migrants at a price that is more than what is being spent fighting a proxy war against Russia in Ukraine. Yes, you read that right; the annual cost of providing care for the millions of illegal migrants entering the US is $150.7 billion, according to the Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on United States Taxpayers (FAIR).

In August, US Border Patrol recorded 232,972 migrant encounters along the southwestern border, a jump from 183,494 in July. The number of crossings for September is predicted to be higher than the previous month.

So here we have two concurrent events – a disastrous military conflict in Ukraine and a leaky US border – that are sucking away precious funds from the American taxpayer. It’s important to note that the king’s ransom that is being handed over to support these deranged Democratic agendas will never be returned, not in our lifetime. Instead, it will just be added to the unsustainable US national debt load, which is currently at $33 trillion, according to the US Debt Clock. That is an astronomical sum of money that we or future generations will someday be forced to deal with, and probably sooner rather than later.

What American citizen could possibly believe that any of this government funding has been a good investment for the American people? Well, they’re representatives in Washington, DC, for one. In May, ‘conservative’ US Senator Lindsey Graham, during a meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in Kiev, pronounced joyfully that “the Russians are dying” and aid to Ukraine is “the best money we’ve ever spent.” Aside from discounting the chances that such an “investment” could have towards unleashing World War III, Graham never thought for a second that such funds could have gone far at rebuilding America’s crumbling infrastructure, like that non-existent wall on the US-Mexico border. It would have been a wonderful work program for the US economy.

In short, it’s just another day in the discombobulated American empire, which, much like its ancient Roman precursor, could learn the lesson of overexpansion and overspending in the most brutal way imaginable – with its total and complete dissolution.

Robert Bridge is an American writer and journalist. He is the author of ‘Midnight in the American Empire,’ How Corporations and Their Political Servants are Destroying the American Dream.

October 8, 2023 Posted by | Economics, Militarism | | 1 Comment

US Deploying Carrier Strike Group to Eastern Mediterranean Amid Hamas Attacks – Pentagon

Sputnik – 08.10.2023

WASHINGTON – The United States is deploying the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to the Eastern Mediterranean to bolster US regional deterrence efforts in response to the Hamas attack on Israel, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Sunday.

“I have directed the movement of the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to the Eastern Mediterranean. This includes the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG 60), as well as the Arleigh-Burke-class guided missile destroyers USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116), USS Ramage (DDG 61), USS Carney (DDG 64), and USS Roosevelt (DDG 80),” Austin said in a statement.

The United States maintains ready forces globally to further reinforce this deterrence posture if required, the US defense chief also said.

The US will be rapidly providing the Israel Defense Forces with additional equipment and resources, including munitions, which will begin arriving in the coming days, Austin added.

October 8, 2023 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Militarism, Wars for Israel | , , , | 2 Comments

Hamas continues offensive inside occupied territories as war with Israel escalates

The Cradle | October 8, 2023

Heavy clashes between Palestinian resistance fighters and Israeli troops continued across the settlements of the Gaza envelope on 8 October. 

One day after the start of Hamas’ Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, Palestinian fighters attempted to advance further into the occupied territories after partly liberating and establishing a presence in over several settlements and military sites in the Israeli-occupied territories. 

Hebrew media reported a serious security incident at the Israeli Tasalim military base in the Negev (Al-Naqab) after dozens of resistance fighters and paratroopers stormed the site. Dead and wounded Israeli soldiers were transported to Soroka Hospital shortly after.

According to Palestinian reports, Hamas fighters have also expelled Israeli soldiers from the Kissufim military site and raised their flag over it. 

Clashes also raged across the settlements of Beeri and Kfar Azza. 

A group of resistance fighters ambushed an Israeli military site in the Mefakeim settlement near the city of Asqalan, capturing a vehicle and making their way to Ashdod south of Tel Aviv, where intense clashes are taking place with Israeli forces. Fifteen settlers were reportedly killed in the Mefakeim settlement.

A correspondent for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s (PIJ) military wing, the Quds Brigades, said: “Our fighters … have continued continuous clashes for more than 30 hours in several axes within the Gaza envelope settlements.” 

“We confirm that the enemy is fighting from behind the walls and is afraid of advancing, and what we need is the prayers of our people.” 

Israel has announced the capture of hundreds of resistance fighters. 

In a speech on 8 October, Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida said that the group was “able to replace their forces and carry out new infiltration operations.” 

In Sderot resistance fighters clashed with Israeli forces, as the city was targeted with missiles from Gaza. Other cities in the southern occupied territories were also hit with missile barrages, resulting in serious infrastructure damage. 

Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes are launching continuous indiscriminate airstrikes on the Gaza Strip after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared all-out war with Hamas.

Residential buildings have been destroyed in the targeting. The homes of resistance commanders, reportedly including Hamas leaders Yahya al-Sinwar and Abu Anas Ghandour, have been bombed. 313 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 2,000 injured. 

Resistance also launched rocket barrages into the illegal settlements of “Nahal Oz,” “Kfar Azza,” “Saad,” and “Alumim.”

Since the start of Operation Aqsa Flood, at least 400 Israelis have been killed by the resistance, and over 1,800 injured. Dozens of captured soldiers, commanders, and settlers have been captured and returned to the Gaza Strip. 

Hebrew media reports say that up to 750 Israelis have been declared missing. 

Hamas, in coordination with other resistance factions, launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood during the early hours of 7 October. 

Taking Israel completely by surprise, less than a thousand fighters, equipped with vehicles and parachutes, descended on the settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip, taking dozens of settlers and soldiers as prisoners, while simultaneously launching rockets into Israel. 

The operation has been described as a total failure of Israel’s security and intelligence establishments. 

October 8, 2023 Posted by | Illegal Occupation | , , | 1 Comment

Hamas Attacks, What Does It Mean?

By Ian Welsh | October 7, 2023

For once I was taken by surprise. I didn’t expect this attack and despite my low opinion of the Israeli military, would not have expected it to be so successful.

Hamas actually captured the Israeli southern command base briefly. It was retaken with massive air strikes (meaning Israel was willing to hit its own people.) In the initial 12 hours or so they wiped the floor with local Israeli forces.

This is the most successful Palestinian military operation I can think of.

Hamas could not, of course, hold the ground it took and is retreating to Gaza. Israel has declared war and stated that they will invade Gaza.

A ground invasion will be extremely bloody, Gaza is one of the most densely populated places on Earth, and Hamas has had plenty of time to prepare. Bombing and shelling urban areas does not make invasion significantly easier.

Let’s draw out some specific points:

Complete Mossad Intelligence Failure

Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, has a fearsome reputation, but they either wanted the attack to happen (which is unlikely) or they were caught completely by surprise. This is an embarrassment, to vastly understate the case.

Israeli Military Weakness

As I have said repeatedly, and as the last war with Hezbollah showed, the Israeli army, no matter how many weapons or men or planes it has, is weak and incompetent. This is not the military of 1967 or even 1980, when the legend of Israeli military brilliance was created.

This is due to serving primarily as an occupation army. All occupation armies, fighting against the weak, become weak, brutal bullies incompetent at fighting real opposition.

The Israeli army was slow to respond, a general was captured and a command base. This is, again, humiliating.

Humiliation

Humiliation is the word of the day. Just as a bully whose victim manages to get in a few good punches has to be brutal in response, so Israel will lash out massively.

Context

This is one reason why Hamas lashed out. No one could be expected to endure this, year on year, and not want to strike back. It is also why, while I have sympathy for anyone hurt or killed, I have no patience with crocodile tears from Israeli supporters, acting as if they haven’t been doing worse to Palestinians for years.

The Hezbollah Question

is whether they’ll attack. The answer seems to be “probably” as Hezbollah has said that if there is a ground invasion of Gaza, they will declare war. Hezbollah is no joke, they are battle hardened, have between 40K and 150K missiles, a drone force, and their own private comms system.

Israel is moving forces to the Lebanese border as we speak. Militarily speaking, if I were Hezbollah, I might attack sooner rather than later.

The Iran Question

Iran is Hamas and Hezbollah’s sponsor. It is VERY unlikely Hamas did this without Iranian greenlighting and if that’s so, the plan isn’t “do one attack, then get hammered.”

The “Iron” Dome

Israel’s missile defenses cracked under Hamas’s missile barrage. There is no question, if Hezbollah attacks, the Iron Dome will not shoot down most missiles. This time it won’t be Lebanon’s heartland being bombed mercilessly while Tel Aviv is spared, there will be carnage in both homelands.

Nukes

In some ways this is the bottom line. Israel has nukes. If they did not, I would expect Iran to join in and if I were Egypt, I might invade. Israel is weak and humiliated. But as long as they have nukes, other countries will shy off from direct war unless they think they have a way of taking out those nukes.

Diplomatic Damage

Israeli-Saudi Arabia negotiations are dead for the time being and other Arab allies will not be able to do anything but condemn Israel. There are massive demonstrations in support of Hamas in Turkey, Egypt and many other Muslim countries.

Ethnic Cleansing and Occupation

Israel has a huge problem, in that it has a massive population of non-citizens, and those non-citizens are out-breeding the citizenry, except for the ultra-orthodox Jews who do not serve in the military. This is an ulcer, and many Israeli politicians have been clear they want to just get rid of the Palestinians. They can’t genocide them, because it would destroy the Holocaust trump card, but many would love ethnic cleanse them. This may be an opportunity.

This is also an issue because if Israel wants to directly run Gaza, the occupation will be a bloody guerilla war, an endless bleeding ulcer.

If they don’t want to run it, they have to find a friendly quisling force, like the Palestinian authority, to do it for them, and at least right now, there’s no one to take that role. Hamas are more moderate than the other main Gaza factions.

The Ukraine Connection

Of significant amusement is that it appears that much of the weaponry used by Hamas is from stockpiles sent to Ukraine and sold on the black market. This spread of weaponry was predicted and lo.

Imperial Overstretch

Usually when Israel is in trouble the US airlifts in massive arms and munitions to help them, as they did in the 2006 war. But right now the shelves are almost bare because of Ukraine.

Balance of Forces

Hamas is obviously still the massive underdog. They are praying for Hezbollah to join in, and perhaps they want Israel to invade so they can fight a ground war against Israel on their own ground. The smart money is still on Israel.

But do not underestimate Hezbollah, and don’t underestimate how nasty this could get if Hezbollah does intervene. As noted above, they will be able to strike Israel’s heartland. If Israel attacks into Lebanon in response, with ground assets, my money is Hezbollah and if I were Hezbollah I would want that. Defeat the attack, then counter-attack into Israel.

If Hezbollah has to attack on the ground because Israel won’t oblige them I honestly don’t know how it will go.

But, while smaller and less well equipped, Hezbollah is the superior military with higher morale. If I were Israeli, I would not be sanguine.

Concluding Remarks

I won’t cavil, I think Hamas is justified in this attack. I also think the argument that settlers are civilians is weak (though by settlers I do not mean all Israelis.) Israel is an apartheid religious-ethnic state which stole another people’s land and continues to brutalize them.

The only humane solution, one which allows Israel to continue to exist, is a single state with everyone as full citizens.

Alas, that is not on the table.

In the long run, Israel as an ethic religious state, like the Crusader States, is doomed.

The only question is how many people have to suffer before Israel becomes a nation whose very basis is not completely unjust.

(Oh, and if Iran joins in.)

October 8, 2023 Posted by | Illegal Occupation | , , , , , | 1 Comment

Hezbollah Stands By Palestine by Word and Deed, Hits Israeli Posts in Shebaa Farms

Al-Manar | October 8, 2023

Hezbollah announced on Sunday it had targeted three Israeli posts in occupied Shebaa Farms, in a clear message of solidarity with Palestinian people and resistance.

In a statement, Hezbollah Media Relations declared that Units of Martyred Commander Imad Mughniyeh hit three Israeli posts in occupied Shebaa Farms.

“On the path to liberate the remaining part of our occupied Lebanese land and in solidarity with the victorious Palestinian resistance and the steadfast Palestinian people, the groups of the martyr commander Hajj Imad Moghniyeh in the Islamic Resistance carried out an attack this Sunday, October 08, 2023, targeting 3 Zionist occupation sites in the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms region,” the statement, carried by Al-Manar, read.

It named the three sites: Radar, Zibdin and Ruweissat Al-Alam. The resistance fighters used a significant number of artillery shells and guided missiles, resulting in direct hits on these sites, the statement added.

Al-Manar reporter in south Lebanon Ali Shoeib reported the shelling of the Israeli post.

Earlier on Saturday, Hezbollah lauded the heroic Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, stressing that the resistance leaderships in Lebanon and Palestine have been in full coordination.

October 8, 2023 Posted by | Illegal Occupation, Solidarity and Activism | , , | Leave a comment

‘We are not attacking civilians’: Hamas says amid Operation Al-Aqsa Storm

Press TV – October 8, 2023

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has rejected accusations of targeting civilians as the fighting rages across the occupied territories since the resistance groups launched Operation Al-Aqsa Storm on Saturday.

Osama Hamadan, senior spokesperson of Hamas, has told Al Jazeera that they are not attacking civilians.

“You have to differentiate between settlers and civilians; settlers attacked Palestinians,” Hamdan said.

“We are not targeting civilians on purpose. We have declared settlers are part of the occupation and part of the armed Israeli force. They are not civilians,” Hamadan added.

His remarks came after a number of Western-backed rights groups, including Amnesty International, accused the resistance movement of killing “Israeli civilians” in their retaliatory strikes.

Asked whether civilians in southern Israel were considered settlers, the Hamas spokesman said “Everyone knows there are settlements there.”

On Saturday, the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement launched its large-scale operation, with a heavy barrage of rockets in response to Israel’s desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and increased settler violence.

At least 400 Israeli settlers and forces have died as a result of the large-scale operation — code-named Al-Aqsa Storm — and more than 2000 others have sustained injuries.

Following the operation, a spokesperson for the Israeli defense forces confirmed that Israeli settlers and soldiers are held captive in Gaza, however, the spokesperson declined to specify the number of hostages.

According to Israeli media outlets, unofficial estimates suggest that approximately 750 Israeli soldiers and settlers have been missing since fighting broke out.

Hospital officials in the Gaza Strip have recorded the death of 320 Palestinians and the injury of 1,990 others. A large number of buildings, homes, and public facilities have also been badly damaged due to heavy Israeli bombardments.

The Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said on its Telegram channel that the group had directed a “major missile strike on the settlement of Sderot with 100 missiles.”

The Qassam Brigades also called on Palestinians “to join this battle” as fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters continues.

Meanwhile, Mohannad Aklouk, Palestine’s permanent representative to the Arab League, said he had submitted a request for an emergency meeting of the regional body’s foreign ministers in the wake of the latest Israeli onslaught.

“The urgent meeting comes in light of the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, including the escalation of incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound by thousands of settlers and Israeli officials over the past days,” Aklouk was quoted as saying by the official Wafa news agency.

The retaliatory operation by Hamas on the occupied territories is the largest after the 11-day Israeli war against the Gaza Strip in May 2021, which took place after weeks of violence against Palestinians in Al-Quds and a brutal crackdown on worshipers at the al-Aqsa Mosque, as well as attempts to steal their land in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

At least 260 Palestinians, including over 60 children, were killed during the Israeli offensive as the Gaza-based resistance movements retaliated. The regime was eventually forced to announce a ceasefire brokered by Egypt.

October 8, 2023 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , | 1 Comment

As conflict rises in Israel, Trump offers a relatively noninterventionist reaction among Republican presidential candidates

By Adam Dick | Ron Paul Institute | October 7, 2023

In response to a Saturday attack by Hamas in Israel, Republican Party presidential candidates rushed out statements setting forth their related views. Among these statements, the statement of Donald Trump stood out as relatively noninterventionist.

While placing blame on Hamas, Trump refrained from promising support for the government of Israel in the conflict. This set him apart from the other prominent Republican candidates who made comments pledging support for Israel.

Here is Trump’s Saturday statement on the matter:

These Hamas attacks are a disgrace and Israel has every right to defend itself with overwhelming force. Sadly, American taxpayer dollars helped fund these attacks, which many reports are saying came from the Biden Administration. We brought so much peace to the Middle East through the Abraham Accords, only to see Biden whittle it away at a far more rapid pace than anyone thought possible. Here we go again.

So far so good. Trump is not endorsing in his statement the United States government supporting the Israel government in this conflict. But, there certainly is much pressure on him to make such an endorsement soon.

Other Republican presidential candidates, in contrast, jumped immediately at the opportunity to declare their support for aiding Israel in this new rising conflict. Tara Suter reported Saturday at The Hill on other prominent Republican candidates’ early statements on the matter. Every one of them took a step beyond Trump, pledging their support to the Israel government in the rising conflict.

Below are excerpts from those candidates’ statements presented in Suter’s article.

Doug Burgum: “Iran and its terror sponsors in Gaza are showing the world their true face: pure evil. Israel is at war with brutal terrorists and the United States must provide maximum support to our democratic ally.”

Chris Christie: “We must do whatever it takes to support the State of Israel in its time of grave danger, and we must end the scourge of Iran-backed terrorism.”

Ron DeSantis: “Israel not only has the right to defend itself against these attacks, it has a duty to respond with overwhelming force. I stand with Israel. America must stand with Israel.”

Nikki Haley: “Israel has every right to defend its citizens from terror. We must always stand with Israel and against this Iranian regime.”

Mike Pence: “Our prayers are with the families and soldiers of our most cherished ally. @netanyahu [Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu)] says Israel is ‘at war’ America Stands With Israel[.]”

Vivek Ramaswamy: “Israel’s right to exist & defend itself should never be doubted and Iran-backed Hamas & Hezbollah cannot be allowed to prevail. I stand with Israel and the U.S. should too.”

Tim Scott: “Israel has a right to defend itself and the United States must stand in support of its steadfast ally.”

Can Trump continue to resist the pressure being put on him to declare that he does, and the US government should, “stand with Israel” in regard to this rising conflict? We’ll see. Taking a solitary course concerning this matter would be consistent with Trump’s apparent effort to run as the peace candidate among the contenders in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

Copyright © 2023 by RonPaul Institute

October 8, 2023 Posted by | Wars for Israel | , , , | 10 Comments

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