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A New Economic Front: Yemen’s Entrance to Regional War against US-Israeli Alliance

By Robert Inlakesh | The Palestine Chronicle | June 11, 2026

During the Ramadan War earlier this year, Yemen’s Ansarallah’s role was notably limited – a move that is now turning out to have been strategic. The Yemeni Armed Forces now have the potential to tighten the noose of the global economy if the US-Israeli-UAE alliance seeks to escalate its war of aggression regionally.

When the Islamic Republic of Iran imposed a new equation by striking Israeli military targets in response to the bombing of southern Beirut, it did so with a carefully calibrated plan that continued after the initial 15-hour missile exchange. That is being done through the implementation of Yemen’s blockade in the Red Sea.

What has effectively just occurred is the re-imposition of the blockade in support of the Gaza Strip, which was in place until October 8, 2025. Originally, the closure of the consequential sea route – that passes through the Bab al-Mandab Strait and leads up to the Egyptian Suez Canal – was imposed on the Israelis alone. That was before the US and its European allies decided to launch naval campaigns in support of Tel Aviv.

In December of 2023, the US Biden administration launched the failed “Operation Prosperity Guardian”, which cost the American taxpayer roughly $600 million per month alone. Periodically, the intensity of the operations would increase, bringing on greater costs, yet the efforts were just an enormous waste of funds, achieving precisely nothing. During this period, Israel’s Eilat Port went bankrupt and economic strain destroyed countless Israeli businesses.

Fast forward to March of 2025, US President Donald Trump decided to step things up a notch and initiated “Operation Rough Rider” against Yemen. The Trump administration pledged to destroy Ansarallah, using B-2 Bombers to target sites believed to be storing missiles and drones – which failed to properly penetrate the bases. In the first three weeks alone, the US had spent a minimum of over $1 billion on the embarrassing operation, which was solely launched for Israeli interests. By the end of it, including equipment losses/damage, the cost was in the billions.

Yemen’s Ansarallah established an equation whereby they could strike Tel Aviv with ballistic missiles and drones, while maintaining the blockade, even preventing US ships from passing following their intervention, with the only response being airstrikes on civilian targets.

Due to a clear lack of intelligence information on the ground inside Yemen, Israel’s occasional strikes on Yemen eventually became too much of a logistical nightmare to continuously conduct. They had to accept that there was no way to stop the Yemeni Armed Forces.

Following the US-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28, Ansarallah was expected to play a much larger role in the conflict than it did, only firing a handful of missiles towards Israeli targets. Tel Aviv didn’t even respond to these attacks, as they were overburdened already with fighting both Iran and Hezbollah simultaneously.

It could be argued that the Yemen card was never truly played during the hot war itself. Now that card is on the table. The Strait of Hormuz has been on lockdown since the start of March, the economic fallout of which has not yet been truly felt, but is beginning to take effect. Through Ansarallah’s new step, reimposing its blockade on Israeli shipping, another lever has been turned.

If the war continues escalating, it will be simple for Ansarallah to completely close the Bab al-Mandab Strait, meaning that all trade will have to be conducted without the Suez Canal. In order for cargo to reach Europe, it will have to go all the way around the African continent instead. This will mean economic devastation if the situation is not quickly reversed.

What is perhaps the most troubling part for the US Trump administration and its allies is that there is absolutely nothing they can do about it militarily. On top of this, the entire world will be feeling the effects of a war launched entirely for Israeli interests, with no real game plan at all, and all because the man in the White House couldn’t summon the strength to tell the Israelis: No!


Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He focuses on the Middle East, specializing in Palestine.

June 11, 2026 Posted by | Economics, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Wars for Israel | , , , , | Comments Off on A New Economic Front: Yemen’s Entrance to Regional War against US-Israeli Alliance

Settlers, sanctions and impunity

By Ramona Wadi | MEMO | June 10, 2026

From 1st January 2008 to 31st December 2025, Israeli settlers killed 61 Palestinians and injured 3,778. The findings of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, which partly discusses settler violence, note that “Israeli authorities have consistently acknowledged settler violence as a problem, while promoting structural conditions that enable it.”

The recently published report details the overt nature of Israeli settler violence – the claiming of responsibility for settler attacks on Palestinians as part of the process to ‘Greater Israel’, the unequivocal assertion that attacks are unprovoked, and the indoctrination of settler children by family members and settler organisations. Supporting the entire spectrum of settler-colonial violence is the Israeli government, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu downplaying the attacks against Palestinians as attributed to “a small group of unruly youth”. The report notes how government settlement expansion policy contributes to settler violence, and provides the framework for settler impunity. Mentioning prominent Israeli ministers and settler leaders, the report states, “They [the officials] have explicitly permitted or condoned settler violence as an instrument to achieve a broader agenda.”

As the UK, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway imposed sanctions on networks that collaborate with settler violence in the occupied West Bank, the Commission of Inquiry’s report details the structure that supports settler violence against Palestinians. Reacting to the sanctions, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Oren Marmorstein declared, “The real essence of these steps is the attempt to impose a political stance regarding  the right of Jews to settle in the Land of Israel and concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – camouflaged as measures against violence.”

Of course the decision is political. However, as the report shows, the six countries’ decision to impose sanctions does not even scratch the surface of the politics and policies that support Israel’s settler-colonial expansion. Israel and its institutions have created a protective structure for settler violence, and Marmorstein’s statement illustrates how central settler violence is to completing the process of Greater Israel.

Without settler violence contributing to the forced displacement of the Palestinian people, Israel would have a difficult time maintaining its structure.

The discrepancy, however lies in world leaders’ decision to target entities and individuals rather than Israel itself. For example, the report highlights that the line between settlers and soldiers has blurred since regional brigades were formed and gun licenses were handed out by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. Settlers are being given power by Israel’s colonial structure, therefore sanctioning settlers is unlikely to make a difference in halting colonial expansion.

International diplomacy is still viewing Israeli settler-colonialism in manageable sections, and detached from Israel’s expansionist policies.

Targeting settlers with sanctions simply encourages Israel to provide more impunity for those doing its work on the ground, while the Israeli government continues with settlement construction.

As the Commission of Inquiry’s report shows, Israel cannot be discussed separately from settler violence. Sanctions, therefore, need to appropriately target the colonial framework itself, which would then have an impact on the settler-colonial society in its entirety.

June 10, 2026 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Progressive Hypocrite | , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Settlers, sanctions and impunity

Christian village in occupied West Bank goes up in flames after large-scale attack by Israeli settlers

The Cradle | June 10, 2026

On June 9, extremist Israeli settler groups launched a coordinated arson attack on the historic Christian village of Taybeh in the occupied West Bank, torching agricultural fields east of Ramallah as part of a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing.

The violence against the 3,000-year-old village intensified following the establishment of an illegal settlement outpost in the immediate vicinity, as local residents of Taybeh face persistent encroachment and assaults by Israeli settlers whose stated objective is to seize the area’s rich pastoral lands.

This ongoing attempted annexation has placed the community under significant pressure as it attempts to maintain its agricultural and pastoral way of life under constant violent harassment.

This latest assault follows previous instances of settler-led violence specifically targeting the historic Church of Saint George, a landmark of significant religious and cultural importance within the village.

Despite international attention and the historical status of the site, the campaign of intimidation has continued.

The torching of the fields on Tuesday is a direct hit on the economic and territorial integrity of the village, with the proximity of the illegal Israeli settlement outpost serving as a primary launch point for these repeated incursions.

The Christian Palestinian community now finds itself at the center of an escalating cycle of land seizures and property destruction in the occupied West Bank.

The attack comes as part of a systematic, state-backed campaign of ethnic cleansing, mass displacement, and gradual annexation of occupied Palestinian territories.

It represents a microcosm of the broader settler campaign to render Palestinian territory uninhabitable, marked by the systematic displacement of residents and the destruction and seizure of agricultural resources.

A UN Commission of Inquiry published on Tuesday has concluded that Israeli authorities are directly involved in facilitating settler violence in the occupied West Bank, providing financial and military support within a climate of impunity.

Attacks on Palestinian villages have surged by 130 percent since 2023, according to the report, and frequently involve masked assailants directly shielded by Israeli military forces.

These documented assaults include the abduction and abuse of children and the use of sexual violence to instill fear, and are identified as tools for advancing state policies of territorial annexation and unlawful displacement.

The inquiry describes a “de facto collapse” of the distinction between soldiers and settlers, noting that at least seven Palestinians were killed and 832 injured last year amid near-daily attacks.

On 3 June, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced a major illegal settlement project involving the construction of approximately 2,000 houses on seized Palestinian land.

This plan includes 1,006 units near Jerusalem, 920 near Nablus, and 234 near Hebron.

Smotrich, who has held substantial authority over the West Bank Civil Administration since 2023, plainly states that these developments are intended to “establish clear facts on the ground” to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state.

Smotrich’s administrative powers effectively granted him free rein to use the military body governing the occupied territory to accelerate the de facto annexation of the West Bank through calculated land seizures.

June 10, 2026 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , | Comments Off on Christian village in occupied West Bank goes up in flames after large-scale attack by Israeli settlers

Nuking Iran: Why Israel and the US gain nothing from crossing the ultimate red line

By Hadi Zaarour | The Cradle | June 10, 2026

A question many strategists and military planners have floated in recent months is whether the US or Israel could, or would, use a nuclear weapon against Iran.

Since the latest US-Israeli war on the Islamic Republic erupted, some have brushed the idea aside as too extreme to be taken seriously. Others, however, have treated it as a real option, even if only through the use of a so-called tactical nuclear weapon – a smaller-yield device designed to devastate a more limited area while still crossing the nuclear threshold.

One point should be beyond dispute: the question is no longer whether the US or Israel can strike Iran with a nuclear weapon. They can. The more important question is whether anyone in power is reckless enough to believe such an act would solve a strategic problem rather than set the world on fire.

A precedent with no return

Only a handful of countries possess nuclear weapons. Yet only one nation has ever used them in war, and used them twice: the US.

That historical reality inevitably raises an uncomfortable question. If Washington used nuclear weapons before, what, in absolute terms, prevents it from doing so again? And what prevents its ally Israel – whose leaders frequently invoke existential threats while standing accused across much of the world of carrying out mass atrocities against others – from considering the same path?

Since 1945, the world has lived under what many describe as the nuclear taboo: an unwritten but powerful restraint against the use of nuclear weapons in war. It is not a legal shield, nor is it a moral guarantee. Yet it has shaped state behavior for nearly eight decades. Once that taboo is broken again, particularly in West Asia, there is little reason to assume it can simply be rebuilt.

From a purely military perspective, both the US and Israel possess the means to strike Iran and successfully deliver a nuclear warhead. That much is not seriously in doubt. Both have demonstrated, directly or indirectly, the capacity to project air power, conduct long-range strikes, and deliver devastating payloads with precision. The real question, therefore, is not whether they can, but what happens if they do.

Certainly, such an act would not strengthen deterrence in the long term. If a country with the scientific and industrial capacity to acquire nuclear weapons is attacked with one, the strategic conclusion is difficult to avoid: acquire a nuclear deterrent, whatever the cost.

Rather than reducing fears of proliferation, a nuclear strike would guarantee them. Any state capable of developing nuclear weapons would draw the same lesson.

The illusion of a ‘limited’ nuclear option

A crucial point is often overlooked in discussions of nuclear war. A nuclear weapon is indeed a weapon of mass destruction (WMD), but that does not mean a single bomb destroys an entire country. Nuclear weapons have specific blast, heat, and radiation effects determined by their yield, altitude of detonation, terrain, population density, and many other variables.

The Hiroshima atomic bomb (“Little Boy”), often cited in discussions of nuclear devastation, had a yield of roughly 15 kilotons. Its destruction was immense and horrifying, yet even that bomb had a limited radius of severe direct damage relative to the scale of a modern nation. Newer nuclear weapons are more powerful, but larger yields do not magically erase geography. To destroy more, more weapons are required.

In broad theoretical terms, the US possesses a wide range of nuclear warheads, including weapons with yields far beyond Hiroshima, ranging from the low hundreds of kilotons to much larger strategic systems. Israel, while maintaining its policy of nuclear ambiguity and officially declaring nothing, is widely believed to possess a nuclear arsenal as well, with estimates ranging from dozens to more than one hundred warheads, though exact figures remain unconfirmed.

While the numbers matter, they are not the central issue. Nuclear weapons are not simply larger bombs. They are political weapons. Psychological weapons. Civilizational weapons. Their use sends a message far beyond the immediate target. It tells every country watching that survival may depend less on diplomacy, treaties, or restraint than on possessing a nuclear deterrent of its own.

The central question remains: why would Iran be targeted with a nuclear weapon in the first place?

One argument is deterrence. That argument quickly collapses under scrutiny. Another is the idea of compelling surrender in a major war, echoing the historical justification long invoked for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Whether one accepts that argument or not, applying it to Iran is deeply questionable. Iran is not Imperial Japan in 1945, and the international environment today is far more dangerous, interconnected, and difficult to control.

There is also a major difference between various nuclear scenarios. A demonstration strike is not the same as a battlefield tactical strike. A strike on military infrastructure is not the same as a strike on cities. Limited nuclear use is not the same as a campaign of annihilation.

Some may argue that the US or Israel would not need to strike a city or a major military facility at all. Instead, they could detonate a tactical nuclear weapon in one of Iran’s vast desert regions as a demonstration of resolve – a terrifying signal intended to show Tehran that Washington and Tel Aviv are prepared to go all the way if Iran refuses to back down.

On paper, this may appear to offer a controlled or limited nuclear option. In reality, there is nothing controlled about breaking the nuclear threshold.

A nuclear detonation in an empty desert would still be a nuclear detonation. It would still break the taboo that has largely held since 1945 despite wars, crises, invasions, and confrontations between nuclear powers. More importantly, it would send a message to every government in the world that restraint offers no protection against nuclear coercion.

For Tehran, the lesson would be unmistakable. The only reliable guarantee against future nuclear threats would be the acquisition of a nuclear deterrent of its own. Any lingering debate over whether Iran should pursue such a capability would effectively end overnight.

Strategically, such a demonstration strike would have much the same effect as a direct nuclear attack. It would push Iran toward the bomb, establish the same global precedent, and destroy the psychological barrier that has kept nuclear weapons from being used for nearly eight decades.

The target may be an empty stretch of desert, but the message would be heard in every capital in the world. Once a nuclear weapon is used as political signaling, nuclear blackmail becomes part of modern warfare.

The fantasy of destroying Iran 

Consider the most extreme scenario, one in which the objective is not merely coercion, but the destruction of the Islamic Republic as a functioning state.

Iran is a vast country covering roughly 1.6 million square kilometers, with difficult mountainous terrain stretching across much of its territory. Geography matters. Mountains, dispersion, strategic depth, and terrain all influence how blast effects spread, how infrastructure survives, and how populations are distributed.

Even if one assumes the use of a nuclear weapon in the tens-of-kilotons range, the notion that a country the size of Iran could be “destroyed” with one or two bombs belongs more to fantasy than military reality.

Take Tehran alone. The metropolitan area is enormous. To comprehensively devastate it through direct blast effects would require not one weapon, but multiple strikes distributed across a vast urban area. And Tehran is only one city.

Even a city as large and densely populated as Tehran could not simply be erased by a single low- or medium-yield weapon in the manner often imagined in political rhetoric or popular culture. The destruction would be horrific, but comprehensive devastation would require multiple strikes, coordinated targeting, and the acceptance of civilian casualties on a scale that would shock the conscience of much of the world.

And even then, Tehran is not Iran.

One must also distinguish between direct destruction and indirect consequences. Here, the discussion concerns only the immediate effects of blast and thermal radiation, not the long-term consequences of fallout, environmental contamination, infrastructure collapse, mass displacement, economic devastation, regional instability, or generations of human suffering.

In reality, the aftermath would likely prove even more destructive than the strike itself, because nuclear war does not end at detonation. Its effects expand through time, geography, illness, panic, and retaliation.

That raises an unavoidable question. What exactly would be the objective? Regime change? The destruction of military infrastructure? The collapse of civilian morale? Forced surrender? Or, in its most extreme formulation, the destruction of Iran as a civilization?

The experience of that war matters because it suggests that overwhelming violence does not necessarily produce submission. A nuclear strike might just as easily generate the opposite outcome, producing rage, radicalization, mass mobilization, and a permanent national commitment to acquiring a nuclear deterrent. In that sense, the strategy risks failing before its immediate objectives are even achieved.

The world after the nuclear threshold

The broader questions are perhaps the most important.

Would the world simply stand by as millions were killed, displaced, or poisoned by the consequences of nuclear warfare? Would governments issue statements, convene emergency meetings, and then return to business as usual? Or would such an act fundamentally alter what remains of the international order?

What would become of NATO if the US were directly involved in a nuclear strike, or openly supported one carried out by Israel? Would every European government accept being politically, morally, and strategically tied to such a decision? Would NATO remain unified, or would internal fractures deepen under the weight of an action many of its own populations would likely regard as indefensible?

The same questions extend far beyond Europe.

What kind of isolation would Washington and Tel Aviv face afterward? Countries that already view the US-led order with skepticism would see their suspicions confirmed in the most dramatic way possible. The political fallout would reach far beyond West Asia, making it increasingly difficult for even close allies to defend actions that much of the world would regard as indefensible.

Countries that already accuse the US and Israel of operating under a different set of rules would see those accusations confirmed in the most dramatic way possible. The implications stretch even further.

What would nuclear-armed Pakistan do in such a scenario? How would the wider Muslim world respond politically, socially, and emotionally if Iran became the target of the first wartime nuclear strike since 1945? How would non-state actors react?

How long would it take for North Korea to conclude that the nuclear taboo had effectively collapsed? What calculations would Russia make regarding Europe or Ukraine in a world where nuclear use had once again become thinkable? And what precedent would such an act establish in a world that still claims to be civilized?

This is where the real danger lies. One or two nuclear strikes on Iran would not resolve the underlying strategic problem. They would all but guarantee that Iran – or whatever political structure emerged from the aftermath – would pursue a nuclear deterrent with absolute urgency. A large-scale nuclear campaign, meanwhile, would not remain confined to the region. Its consequences would ripple through the international system politically, strategically, and potentially militarily.

Whether limited or large-scale, both scenarios amount to strategic failure. Neither offers a realistic path to stability, and both carry consequences that would extend far beyond Iran itself.

So the original question remains. Can the US or Israel nuke Iran?

Technically, yes.

Whether they will is a different matter altogether.

Yet it is difficult to believe anyone is that reckless – not even the Israelis, for all the brutality, escalation, and dangerous rhetoric that have accompanied this war. They understand, as everyone else does, that once the nuclear threshold is crossed, there is no meaningful return to the world that existed before it.

Yet even after all of that destruction, Iran would not be erased in any absolute sense, nor is there any guarantee it would surrender. From every strategic angle – military, political, diplomatic, moral, and civilizational – the logic of a nuclear strike on Iran collapses under scrutiny.

There is no credible path to stability at the end of such an action. A nuclear strike would weaken one of the few restraints that have survived since 1945, accelerate proliferation, invite retaliation, and encourage future nuclear brinkmanship by states that conclude such weapons are once again usable.

The real danger, therefore, is not whether Washington or Tel Aviv can cross the nuclear threshold, but what kind of world emerges once they do. The first wartime use of a nuclear weapon in eight decades would not remain confined to Iran.

Its consequences would reverberate through the international system for generations, leaving behind not order or deterrence, but escalation, instability, and a precedent from which the world may never fully recover.

June 10, 2026 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Timeless or most popular, War Crimes | , , , , | Comments Off on Nuking Iran: Why Israel and the US gain nothing from crossing the ultimate red line

Pakistan says Israel derailed US–Iran peace deal described as ‘inches away’: Report

The Cradle | June 9, 2026

Diplomatic efforts to finalize a peace agreement between the US and Iran ran into significant delays due to Israeli violations across West Asia, Pakistani government mediators revealed to Anadolu Agency on 9 June.

US President Donald Trump told reporters in New York on Monday that a settlement could be reached in “two or three days,” yet Pakistani mediators say that such an immediate breakthrough is “unlikely.”

While Trump continues to maintain that a peace deal is close at hand, officials in Islamabad stress that the “situation is complex and has entered a sensitive phase” due to persistent Israeli military aggression in southern Lebanon.

According to sources close to the mediation, the two nations were “inches away” from concluding a temporary truce in late May, only for the momentum to be derailed by the  “large-scale” Israeli incursion and the annexation of Lebanese territory.

Although a temporary ceasefire in Lebanon was established on 17 April and subsequently extended until early July, Israel has maintained daily violations, including airstrikes and ground incursions.

Pakistani officials have informed Washington that Israel’s actions in both Lebanon and Gaza are the primary obstacle to reaching a final end to the war.

The Iranian leadership has reiterated through diplomatic channels that it will not return to the negotiating table while Israeli strikes persist.

Last week, Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi traveled to Tehran for the fourth time since 28 February to deliver a “special message” to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei from the Pakistani army chief, Field Marshall Asim Munir.

Pakistan, alongside regional partners such as Qatar, is currently attempting to convince Trump to apply “maximum” pressure on Israel to halt its offensive.

Islamabad has reported receiving a “positive response” from the White House regarding the situation in Lebanon, despite the lack of an immediate cessation of attacks.

Pakistani sources told Anadolu Agency they anticipate a “breakthrough” in efforts to stop the Israeli military attacks “in a few days.”

If a halt to the fighting is achieved and direct communication between Washington and Tehran is restored, mediators believe there are “high” chances of reaching a deal “soon,” noting that the majority of conflicting issues have already been resolved.

However, the officials maintained that “this process cannot be completed within two or three days.”

Israel has continued to strike out on multiple fronts. On Tuesday morning, Israel issued a forced mass displacement order against the southern Lebanese city of Tyre (Sur) for the second time in less than a month.

At least 15 airstrikes hit Tyre on Tuesday morning, killing nine and injuring over two dozen.

Thousands of civilians were forced to flee north, joining the over 1 million already displaced throughout Lebanon.

Since the Israeli invasion of Lebanon began in March, the attacks have so far killed at least 3,666 people and injured over 11,000.

On Monday, Israel also reignited a brutal campaign of collective punishment on Gaza by closing all entry points for humanitarian aid in response to Iranian retaliatory strikes triggered by Israel’s overnight violations in the Lebanese capital of Beirut.
Iran had repeatedly asserted that a strike on the Lebanese capital was an unacceptable red line that should not be crossed.

June 10, 2026 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Wars for Israel | , , , , | Comments Off on Pakistan says Israel derailed US–Iran peace deal described as ‘inches away’: Report

Why Iran’s Retaliation for Israel’s Attack on Beirut is a Regional Game Changer

By Robert Inlakesh | The Palestine Chronicle | June 10, 2026

Iran’s ballistic missile response to Israel’s attack on Beirut is a game-changer for the power dynamics of West Asian politics. The ‘Unity of Squares’ concept has officially led to a NATO-style defense pact developing between the members of the Iranian-led Axis of Resistance.

When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to strike the southern suburbs of Beirut last Monday, the immediate threat issued by the leadership in Tehran forced him to take a step back. Ultimately, the US and Israel would delay the implementation of the decision to attack the Lebanese Capital, then suffering an overwhelming response that outperformed expectations.

The first detail to consider here is that the mere threat of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launching strikes on Israeli targets forced Tel Aviv and Washington to take a step back, meaning that both de facto admitted that Tehran maintains deterrence power. Then came the Israeli strike on the southern suburbs this Sunday, which was extremely limited and nothing of the nature of what Netanyahu had originally advertised.

A weak strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs, which had no actual impact on Hezbollah whatsoever, indicates that the US-Israeli alliance acted in order to save face, seeking to test Iran’s resolve, but also to leave space for it to retreat from all-out war.

Following Iran’s missile waves, which struck Ramat David Airbase – according to satellite imagery evidence – the Israelis decided to launch an attack on Iran. Although they did target at least three radar sites and a petrochemical company, amongst other targets, it was clear that the Israeli attack was lackluster; designed primarily to give them the veneer of having risen to confront the IRGC. No Iranians were killed in the Israeli attack, and the majority of the sites hit were previously struck during the 40-day war earlier this year.

It was clear that the IRGC had prepared for the Israeli counter-strike, not only unleashing an attack of its own on Israeli companies and military sites in response but also coordinating its retaliatory action with Yemen’s Ansarallah.

As the Israelis were playing catch-up, the Iranians were implementing a carefully calibrated phase two of their promised retaliation to Israel’s attack on Beirut– that being the inclusion of new fronts. The IRGC had previously warned Tel Aviv that the war would expand to other fronts; the Yemeni Armed Forces achieved precisely this.

Ansarallah has declared that the Bab al-Mandab Strait is now closed to Israeli shipping, returning to the equation imposed in support of Gaza until October of 2025, when the ceasefire was signed. Yemen then went a step further and vowed to totally close Bab al-Mandab, should the war escalate further. This would represent an enormous economic blow to the global economy, considering the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The concept of the ‘Unity of Squares’ was originally developed by former Secretary General of Lebanese Hezbollah, Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, and before him Iran’s former IRGC Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani. In essence, it was the idea of linking all of the fronts of the Axis of Resistance so that none would stand alone. On October 8, 2023, Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah put this into action by immediately intervening on the side of the Palestinian resistance in Gaza. Soon thereafter, Ansarallah would follow, and to a lesser extent, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq.

Israel had long bragged that its assassination of Nasrallah had broken this Unity of Squares dynamic, because Hezbollah was forced into accepting a less-than-favorable ceasefire in late 2024. It was because of Nasrallah’s refusal to abandon Gaza “no matter where it takes the region”, that Tel Aviv had decided to kill him. Therefore, it is accurate to say that the former Hezbollah leader quite literally gave his life for Gaza.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s quest to achieve “total victory” in his 7-front war has not proven successful, but one major step towards that was managing to break the idea of the Unity of Squares. Through Iran’s actions this Sunday, that “success” was just undone.

The IRGC has also recently been insisting that Gaza be included in their ceasefire agreement, something that a number of statements released by Hamas also appear to be indicating will be the case. If the Islamic Republic does impose its will on the US-Israeli alliance by setting in stone the equation that an attack on one is an attack on all, the Unity of Squares equation will be imposed fully, as it was originally intended. In the past, it was never fully implemented because of Iran’s absence as a front that could easily open.

The implications of this equation coming to life are that the Iranian-led Axis will undoubtedly be the most powerful alliance in the region. Not because they necessarily possess the most firepower and capabilities, but because they will together be able to cut off key international chokepoints, while battering their adversaries in a way that can achieve strategic deterrence.

It should be noted that this is a direct result of the US-Israeli failure in their war of aggression to achieve any of their goals. Instead of weakening Tehran, their reckless aggression and arrogance may have just undone the tactical victories they previously achieved, pushing Iran into the position that many previously argued it should have assumed sooner after October 7, 2023. Unless Tel Aviv and Washington find a way to reverse this, this will represent a major historic shift in regional power dynamics.


Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He focuses on the Middle East, specializing in Palestine.

June 10, 2026 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Solidarity and Activism | , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Why Iran’s Retaliation for Israel’s Attack on Beirut is a Regional Game Changer

The Possibility Of Bari Weiss Being Installed As Head Of CNN Is Part Of Israel’s Information War

The Dissident | June 9, 2026

Axios has reported that if David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance deal to absorb Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of CNN goes through, Zionist genocide denier Bari Weiss, the current editor of CBS News, may now be installed as editor-in-chief of CNN as well.

The report noted that “Paramount has held preliminary conversations with several candidates for a business-side counterpart to CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, according to two sources familiar with the network’s inner workings”, adding, “The search implies that if Paramount Skydance’s deal with Warner Bros. Discovery goes through, Weiss would oversee all news editorial across both CBS News and CNN. Her potential counterpart would manage business operations across both companies.”

For context, David Ellison’s production company Skydance previously bought Paramount, the parent company of CBS News.

David Ellison, according to the Jerusalem Post, “quietly donates quite a bit to the State of Israel and the IDF”.

His father, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, is the largest private donor to the Israeli IDF and is close with Benjamin Netanyahu.

David Ellison bought Skydance primarily to turn CBS News into a propaganda organ for the Israeli government.

He installed Bari Weiss- a self-described Zionist fanatic and open Israeli propagandist who has published outright genocide denial articles at her outlet The Free Press, denying well-documented Israeli atrocities in Gaza.

Weiss also ran a smear campaign on the Palestinian academic Reefat Alareer to silence his countering of Israeli atrocity propaganda, which led to the IDF labelling him an “Amalekite” and slaughtering him along with multiple family members.

At CBS News, Bari Weiss fired any reporter who has said anything remotely critical of Israel and promoted committed Zionists into high-level positions.

Having Bari Weiss turn CBS News, and now likely CNN, into full-on state media outlets for Israel is just part of Israel’s larger information war on America.

Benjamin Netanyahu himself boasted that Larry Ellison’s Oracle purchasing a large share of TikTok was part of Israel’s information war campaign, boasting, “We’re going to have to use the tools of battle, the weapons change over time, we have to fight with the weapons that apply to the battlefields in which we are engaged, and the most important ones are the social media” in reference to the purchase of TikTok.

Benjamin Netanyahu also boasted about using Elon Musk to manipulate the X algorithm in his favour, saying, “the other one that’s most important is X, we have to talk to Elon, he’s not an enemy, he’s a friend, we should talk to him”.

Aside from using Zionist billionaires like David and Larry Ellison to further its agenda, Israel is simultaneously directly funding PR firms to push pro-Israel propaganda on Americans.

As I reported in my last article , Israel has hired Havas Media Germany, a subsidiary of the marketing company Havas, to hire the production company Piro Inc. to produce Zionist propaganda targeting Americans.

Through Havas Media Germany, Israel has similarly:

  • Hired the firm Clock Tower X to distribute pro-Israel messaging through the conservative network Salem Media Network.
  • Hired the firm Show Faith by Works to focus on ‘churches and Christian organisations in the western United States’ aimed at countering ‘declining support for Israel among evangelical Christians
  • Hired the firm SKDKnickerbocker to “develop a ‘bot-based program on various social media channels that ‘floods the zone’ with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ pro-Israel message”.
  • Hired the firm Bridges Partners to “fund social-media influencers promoting Israel”.

With Americans across the political spectrum abandoning support for Israel, Israel – which relies entirely on U.S. funding and arms to maintain its occupation of Palestine – will go into overdrive with its information war targeting Americans.

June 9, 2026 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Mainstream Media, Warmongering, Wars for Israel | , , , , , | Comments Off on The Possibility Of Bari Weiss Being Installed As Head Of CNN Is Part Of Israel’s Information War

Congress Moves to Institutionalize US-Israeli Relationship

Israel will benefit enormously and Americans will bear the burden

By Philip Giraldi | Unz Review | June 7, 2026

There is near certainty that Section 224 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2027 will pass through the House of Representatives to become law this coming week after a failed attempt last Thursday in the House Armed Services Committee to pass an amendment to delete it led by Democratic Party Congressman Ro Khanna and Republican Thomas Massie. The NDAA will now be awaiting only the fully expected signature of Israel’s servant President Donald Trump on the Act to become part of the nation’s legislative package that will set the rules and regulations that the nation’s defense will operate under. It will, unfortunately, also set up through Section 224 a “United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative” that integrates “US-Israeli military research and development, co-production of weapons systems, licensing agreements, AI, directed energy, data integration, and missile defense.” It also creates the framework for “bilateral research and development, co-production of weapons, joint ventures, licensing agreements, and seemingly every manner of US-Israeli military-industrial complex cooperation.” The Director of the “Initiative” will be responsible for the coordination of the work and it is already being suggested that he will be an Israeli. And the funding will come 100% from the US Treasury by way of the budgeted allocation of $1.5 trillion that has been requested for the US military in 2027.

The result is to completely connect the functionality of the US military with that of the Israeli military in what has been described as an equal partnership that will include the government of Israel and its Israeli Defense Force as full participants. There will be full intelligence sharing and a planning process that will determine many aspects of how the American Department of War (sic) procures its weapons and equipment and establishes its strategic goals. This is plausibly the hidden story behind why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been slyly suggesting that Israel might in future forego the $3.8 billion in annual automatic “aid” (which some refer to as “tribute”) from the US Treasury, a process begun by President Barack Obama. Netanyahu, working through his accomplices in the White House and the US Congress, clearly would have known in advance that a much larger slice of the pie was on its way via Section 224.

Those politicians who have sponsored and promoted 224 inevitably cite how the Jewish state is a major “ally and best friend” even though it is neither, but they ignore the dark side fact that it is also a genocidal state whose leaders have been condemned by international courts for multiple war crimes that is hated by most of the world. And this hatred has rubbed off on the United States, which is Israel’s principal source of arms, money and political cover. The slaughter in Gaza and now in Lebanon would not occur without the support of Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

And there’s more, coming from the Senate which is doing something similar via the FY27 Intel Authorization bill which will make US intelligence sharing with Israel mandatory. The bill in question is S-4615, introduced on May 20th by leading Israel Firster Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas. The full text is here. S-4615 includes Section 622, entitled “US-Israel intelligence sharing enhancement.” This new section would establish as law (where it would apply forever, unless repealed by Congress) new US national security-related obligations with respect to Israel. It includes a Statement of Policy: “(1) To maintain and strengthen the strategic security partnership with Israel as a means of advancing the national defense of the United States… (2) To enhance intelligence collaboration through robust intelligence sharing and analytic partnership with Israel… (4) To ensure that security assistance and defense cooperation are structured to help Israel maintain its qualitative military edge…”

When the Intel Authorization Bill comes up for a vote in the Senate it will no doubt pass due to the Republican Majority supplemented by the usual Israel Firsters among the Democrats. And to complete the takeover by Israel there is a bill moving through Congress that will give US military benefits to American citizens, often Israeli dual nationals, who serve in the Israeli military, to include educational and medical benefits unavailable to other Americans who have not served in the US armed forces. Ironically, Israel’s new status as America’s partner in national security and warfare coming from both parts of Congress is not shared with any of Washington’s actual allies in NATO, making the relationship with Israel both unique and, in the opinion of many, uniquely dangerous as an empowered Israel will inevitably work to advance its security perceptions and Middle East “Eretz Israel” ambitions at the expense of genuine concerns that the United States might have intrinsic to its much broader worldwide exposure to global threats. In other words, pandering to Israeli concerns will actually make the United States much weaker and more vulnerable.

Astonishingly, the danger that Israel poses to US national security through its insertion as something like an equal into the planning process has been little remarked in the mainstream US media, possibly due to increased federal and state government pursuit of “antisemites” which includes criminalization of criticism of Israel. And it is certainly once again suggesting the power of the Israel Lobby, its “bought” media and its stable of supporting Jewish billionaires. But there has been considerable concern being expressed across much of the alternative media, some of which has even reached the front pages, suggesting that there is some leakage going on to feed official reservations about 224. The New York Times, which sometimes serves as a go-to leaked resource for the intelligence and defense communities had an interesting article on Israeli spying on the United States sourced to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) which appeared just after 224 was being debated in Congress.

The Times article is entitled “Pentagon Sees Growing Espionage Threat From Israel” and is summarized as “The Defense Department has increased the counterintelligence threat assessment to its highest level, and Israel is believed to have eavesdropped on American negotiations with Iran.” The story details how “Israel is now at the Pentagon’s highest counterintelligence threat level.” It includes how American officers working with their Israeli counterparts both in the US and overseas have had their phones and other messaging systems tapped through the insertion of surreptitious listening devices by the Israelis. Negotiations to end the Iran War have also been particularly targeted, both through phones being used by the negotiators as well as from the Washington end where the calls and messages are received.

The reality is, of course, that Israel has been a major source of spying and even worse against the United States since the 1950s, always ranking in FBI and Department of Defense assessments as one of the top three foreign espionage offenders, frequently as number one. And Israeli clandestine covert actions and false flag attacks have not hesitated to kill Americans as part of their efforts to cover-up their more disreputable activities. Notably, the Israeli false flag attack on the US Navy’s USS Liberty in international waters on June 8th 1967 in which 34 crewmen were killed stands out, particularly due to the subsequent cover-up conveniently arranged by Presidents Lyndon B Johnson and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara.

Israeli spies, which might have included Netanyahu himself when he resided in the US, arranged the illegal removal of enriched uranium from a Zionist-Jewish-owned metallurgical company in Pennsylvania and also obtained the special triggers in California that enabled Tel Aviv to create a nuclear arsenal. When President John F Kennedy sought to stop that development he was assassinated, quite possibly with help from Mossad. And then there was the most damaging spy in the history of the US, Jonathan Pollard, who stole for Israel the most sensitive intelligence ever obtained by a foreign power. He is now running for the Knesset in Israel and is speaking of the next two likely targets for the Israeli army once the Palestinians, Lebanese and Syrians are disposed of, neighbors Egypt and Turkey!

The appearance of the Times article is suspicious and it might have been a shot across the Israeli-Israel Firster bow from the intelligence community coming as it apparently did from what was once called the Department of Defense. But Israel appears to have won this round and will be entering into a new relationship with the United States national security, intelligence and defense systems. Given the utter ruthlessness of Israel and the willingness of its sponsors in Washington to let it get away with mass murder, literally, this is a disaster for the United States and will only produce excruciatingly bad results.

June 9, 2026 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , | Comments Off on Congress Moves to Institutionalize US-Israeli Relationship

Israeli forces kidnap Red Crescent paramedics in Gaza

Palestinian Information Center – June 9, 2026

GAZA – Gaza’s health ministry has denounced the arrest of seven Palestinian Red Crescent paramedics by the Israeli occupation forces on Tuesday morning while they were carrying out their humanitarian duties in the Gaza Strip.

The incident occurred as the medical team was passing through a military checkpoint set up by Israeli forces on Salahuddin road, the main artery connecting central and southern Gaza.

The health ministry explained that the arrests took place while the paramedics were carrying out their usual humanitarian duties of rescuing the wounded and transporting patients.

The ministry noted that the seven paramedics were detained and subjected to harsh on-site interrogations before five were later released, adding that two of them remain in custody at an undisclosed location.

The ministry called for immediate international intervention to secure the release of the remaining paramedics and guarantee their safety.

June 9, 2026 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Subjugation - Torture | , , , , | Comments Off on Israeli forces kidnap Red Crescent paramedics in Gaza

Hamas: Iran seeking end to war on all fronts, including Gaza

MEMO | June 9, 2026

Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said the movement highly valued the Iranian and Yemeni responses to what he described as escalating Israeli aggression against the Lebanese people, saying the stance represented a genuine model of solidarity among the region’s nations in confronting Israeli attacks.

In a press statement on Monday, Qassem said Hamas viewed the position as “the true form of solidarity that should prevail among all components of the nation”. He called on regional forces to regard this level of support and backing as a duty at this stage in support of the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples.

Qassem said Hamas had received repeated assurances from Iranian and Yemeni officials that they were seeking to end the war on all fronts, including the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

He added that Iran had provided the movement with political, military and financial support and continued to declare its backing for the Palestinian people and their right to resist, while also supporting efforts aimed at securing a ceasefire.

Qassem said Hamas hoped that the current state of solidarity and direct support would extend to Gaza and that the enclave would remain central to regional efforts linked to ending the war and halting the aggression.

June 9, 2026 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Solidarity and Activism | , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Hamas: Iran seeking end to war on all fronts, including Gaza

Gaza and its people may not survive this phase of ceasefire

Corralling millions of Palestinians into 30% of the former strip is making life there untenable. This is all part of the plan.

By Omar Shaban Ismail | Responsible Statecraft | June 8, 2026

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced late last month that he had ordered the Israeli military to seize 70% of the Gaza Strip.

Under President Donald Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan, Israeli forces were required to withdraw to a zone encompassing roughly 50% of Gaza’s territory, demarcated by the so-called Yellow Line, ahead of further withdrawals in the future. Instead of retreating, however, the Israeli army has steadily expanded its area of control, which now stands at roughly 60% of Gaza, while leveling the areas under its occupation to the ground.

Indeed, despite a so-called ceasefire, Israel continues to carry out near daily attacks on Gaza — at least 932 people have been called since the ceasefire was announced — while heavily restricting the entry of aid.

So what does it mean to squeeze more than two million people into 30% of the already tiny Gaza Strip? It is a direct and deliberate policy of slow death, one that forces the population into an overcrowded and ever-shrinking open-air prison that lacks even the most basic conditions to sustain life. The plan Israel is implementing in Gaza is not the Trump Plan but a plan to make Gaza permanently uninhabitable.

Prior to the war, the Gaza Strip had an area of about 140 square miles and a population of roughly 2.2 million people, making it one of the most densely populated territories in the world. If around 2 million people are squeezed into only 30% of the territory, density rises to more than 46,000 people per square mile; if the full pre-war population is counted, it approaches 52,000. These basic figures are consistent with the World Bank’s latest rapid damage and needs assessment (RDNA) and with the wider demographic reality of Gaza before the war.

For comparison, population density per square mile is about 230 people in Morocco, 320 in Egypt, 100 in the United States, 390 in China, 750 in the United Kingdom, around 1300 in India, and about 1000 in Belgium. Even before the war, Gaza’s population density already exceeded any of these at 16,000 people per square mile. What is being imposed now is the compression of an entire society into a space that can no longer support life, services, dignity, or social order. This is nothing short of demographic suffocation.

The Israeli plan for controlling 70% of the territory — up from 50% in October 2025 — will turn the remaining 30% into a pressure cooker. The occupied and inaccessible areas include much of Gaza’s agricultural land, especially around Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia, Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah. These lands are Gaza’s food basket. They also include water wells, desalination projects, wastewater facilities, roads, warehouses and open public land needed for future expansion.

The U.N. summary of the RDNA estimates recovery and reconstruction needs at $71.4 billion, including major needs in agriculture, health, education and sanitation. But without land, even the best-funded reconstruction plan becomes a spreadsheet without geography.

The humanitarian reality is already catastrophic. According to the RDNA, more than 1.9 million Palestinians have been internally displaced, many several times, and more than 1.2 million people have lost their homes. Fewer than half of hospitals and less than 38% of primary healthcare centers are even partially functional. Around 728,000 school-aged children and youth have been out of formal education for more than two years. At least 41,844 people are estimated to be living with life-changing injuries requiring long-term rehabilitation, and over 68 million metric tonnes of debris must be removed.

Under these conditions, the absence of cemeteries is one of the cruelest indicators of social collapse. Families in Gaza have already been forced to bury their dead in informal graveyards, empty lots and makeshift spaces because major cemeteries were damaged, inaccessible or full. A society that cannot find space to bury its dead cannot be expected to build schools, clinics, playgrounds, water tanks, greenhouses, factories or homes. Even death becomes displaced.

This is why the question of land cannot be separated from health, education and social behavior. Gaza’s population grows by roughly 60,000 people each year. Under normal circumstances, the territory would need dozens of new schools annually, additional hospitals and clinics, more cemeteries, more sports facilities, more wastewater treatment capacity, and more public space. Today, Gaza must do all of that while rebuilding hundreds of destroyed or damaged schools and hospitals, tens of thousands of homes, and the economic base that once allowed families to survive without total dependence on aid.

The loss of schools is not only an educational problem. Schools regulate time, protect children, transmit civic norms, and give adolescents a reason to imagine a future. When schools disappear, the street, the shelter, the armed group, the black market and the phone screen become alternative institutions.

This environment is fertile ground for violence, hatred and extremism — not because Gazans are naturally violent, but because engineered deprivation produces social pathologies. Overcrowded shelters and informal camps concentrate exhausted families in spaces where privacy is absent and resources are scarce. PalThink’s research on displacement and survival in Gaza describes how mass displacement has torn family and neighborhood bonds and replaced many patterns of solidarity. When this condition continues for months and years, it becomes very difficult to contain.

The most dangerous outcome is not only humanitarian collapse, but the formation of a generation raised without school, reliable health care, employment, public space, justice institutions, or a credible political horizon. Such a generation will not simply wait patiently for reconstruction conferences. Some will withdraw into despair. Some will search for revenge. Some will be recruited by radical actors. Some will turn against their own society. Others will try to leave. These are the predictable outcomes of compressing life until it becomes unlivable.

It is in this light that one should read Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz’s recent calls for “voluntary migration” from Gaza, to be implemented “at the proper time and in the proper manner.” Indeed, Israeli authorities have created an official government agency to advance such departures. The sequencing of Israeli actions suggests clear intent: first make return impossible, then make life unbearable, then present departure as voluntary.

If two million people are denied land, water, schools, hospitals, jobs, safe homes and even cemeteries, the final destination will be a mass exodus.

The policy conclusion is straightforward. Preventing mass displacement begins with ending the policy of territorial compression inside Gaza. Palestinians must regain access to their land, including agricultural areas, public land and infrastructure sites. Reconstruction must be allowed where people actually lived, not only in overcrowded containment zones. Schools, hospitals, cemeteries, water systems and municipal services must be treated as security infrastructure, because without them no society can remain governable.

In 2012, the United Nations warned that Gaza could become unlivable by 2020. That warning now reads like an understatement. Amid the destruction of war, the loss of homes, the collapse of services and the shrinking of available land and resources, Gaza is not merely facing a humanitarian catastrophe but an imposed and politically engineered geography of non-life.

The occupation of 70% of the already tiny Gaza Strip is not merely the occupation of land. It is a policy aimed at the destruction of all means of life within a confined enclave. If this continues, the question will not be whether people leave but how many will be forced to choose the sea.


Omar Shaban Ismail is a senior analyst at PalThink and a development expert. He holds Master’s of Entrepreneurial studies from University of Stirling, Scotland, and a 2nd Master’s in Development from Geneva Graduate Institute. Omar was born in Gaza in 1962; he exited to Cairo in October 2023. Omar has published tens of article and policy paper in well recognized international magazines.

June 9, 2026 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , | Comments Off on Gaza and its people may not survive this phase of ceasefire

Israel’s Ben-Gvir calls for abduction of Lebanese women to pressure Hezbollah

Press TV – June 9, 2026

Itamar Ben-Gvir, the fanatic Israeli minister for security affairs, says the Lebanese women and youth must be kidnapped as a means of exerting pressure on the resistance movement Hezbollah.

He made his proposal during a security cabinet meeting on Tuesday, urging officials to adopt more aggressive measures against the Lebanese group as discussions focused on expanding Israel’s military invasion in Lebanon.

“Let’s start thinking outside the box about Hezbollah,” Ben-Gvir said, adding that conquering territory and killing many Hezbollah fighters, but also abducting their women and youth and taking them to prisons is “what hurts them the most.”

Israeli forces continue to suffer casualties and equipment losses in southern Lebanon.

Several cabinet members reportedly voiced support for intensifying military raids in Lebanon despite a ceasefire announced by the United States earlier this year.

Israeli forces have already kidnapped Lebanese civilians during the aggression, although the exact number remains unclear.

The abductees are believed to be among the 1,316 individuals currently held under Israel’s “unlawful combatant” law, a measure that includes Palestinians from Gaza and Syrian nationals.

The legislation, first enacted in 2002, allows authorities to hold individuals for indefinite and renewable periods without formal charges.

Human rights organizations have repeatedly criticized the law, arguing that it violates international legal standards by permitting detention without court orders, limiting access to legal counsel, and withholding information about detainees’ whereabouts and conditions.

Calls for escalation were echoed by other Israeli officials during the cabinet meeting. Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf urged finance minister Bezalel Smotrich to increase military funding, saying he should “open his pockets” for the armed forces and artillery units.

Israel’s minister of military affairs, Israel Katz, also backed expanding military operations, saying “the prime minister made an important decision to attack, and we must expand the armaments even further.”

The discussions come amid continued Israeli strikes on Lebanon despite a US-brokered ceasefire.

Lebanese Defense Minister Michel Menassa said earlier this week that Israeli forces had carried out approximately 3,500 attacks and hundreds of controlled explosions since the ceasefire was announced on April 17.

According to Lebanese authorities, around 1.2 million people have been displaced nationwide as a result of the ongoing hostilities.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry says at least 3,637 people have been killed since the latest phase of the conflict began in March, including more than 800 deaths recorded after the April ceasefire announcement.

Israeli officials say Hezbollah attacks have also caused casualties on the Israeli side. At least 34 Israelis, most of them soldiers, have been killed since March, including 18 deaths reported since April 17.

June 9, 2026 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , | Comments Off on Israel’s Ben-Gvir calls for abduction of Lebanese women to pressure Hezbollah