Aletho News

ΑΛΗΘΩΣ

Confusion, delusion, and how Israel drives the Iran War

By Jamal Kanj | MEMO | April 23, 2026

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz following the temporary ceasefire is the culmination of an American policy defined by strategic incoherence. At the center stands Donald Trump, whose shifting positions, confused war objectives, and conflicting actions have not only failed to ease regional tensions but have actively deepened them.

Nowhere is this clearer than in Trump’s threats to blow up the whole country, including its bridges and power plants. At the same time, he touted a military “big day,” presenting potential war crimes as diplomatic tool, aggression as diplomacy, and destruction as leverage.

Trump’s inflated, almost delusional, promises ahead of potential talks come across less as statesmanship and more as a calculated sales pitch to the American public. His vows “to end up with a great deal,” coupled with an almost obsessive focus on Barack Obama by insisting his agreement will be “far better” than the one negotiated over a decade ago. An approach that reflects a tendency toward messaging driven less by policy depth and more by projection, comparison, and to frame outcomes in terms of self-aggrandizement and personal glory.

Instead of articulating clear strategic objectives, his policy relies on distinguishing himself and image cultivation to project authority and superiority, leaving the underlying substance vague and open to question.

By manufacturing optimism and exaggerating progress while promising an imminent “great deal,” Trump appears to be negotiating with himself—or detached from reality—seeking to construct a narrative of success regardless of the facts on the ground. The performative optimism stands in sharp contrast to his simultaneous threats and pompous rhetoric, suggesting not confidence but a measure of desperation.

Trump’s rationale for extending the ceasefire because of “internal divisions”  within Iran is unconvincing. If internal debate within Iran is seen as warranting a pause, what should be said of a policy where direction shifts from one moment to the next? Differing political views are the essence of a normally functioning political system, whereas impulsive, erratic, personalized decision-making is not.

All of this unfolds as Trump continues issuing maximalist demands for conditions he helped create. For instance, he demands the surrender of enriched uranium that would not exist had he not abandoned the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Likewise, the Strait of Hormuz was closed as a consequence of his and Netanyahu’s war, not as its cause.

The consequences of these Israel-driven U.S. policies are felt by ordinary Americans at the gas pump and in grocery stores. The Strait of Hormuz has become a battleground, destabilizing global energy supply chains and economies worldwide. Yet despite these cascading effects, the core strategy remains unchanged. Trump continues to operate within an echo chamber of Israel-first sycophants that assume military might alone can deliver results, even as the policy falters and the war spills across the region, threatening roughly one-fifth of the world’s energy infrastructure.

This is not merely a political flaw or a matter of mismanagement. It is rather a strategic vulnerability shaped by Israel-first loyalists pulling U.S. strategy in directions that ultimately undermine U.S. national interests. In the absence of clearly defined national objectives, as in the first Israel’s war in Iraq, each step risks drawing the U.S. deeper into the polluted water of the Gulf, while simultaneously advancing an environment of chaos that serves only Israel’s calculated aims.

In this framework, was Israeli Prijamame Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent statement that the war with Iran is “not over” an embedded message to Trump ahead of the proposed peace talks in Pakistan?

Negotiation between countries, especially in the context of war is not selling real estate deals, where haggling and the threat of retracting an offer are routine tactics. The craft of negotiation in this case operates on an entirely different level. Culture, national dignity, historical memory, and political positioning shape both the process and the outcome.

Leaders are not merely bargaining over financial assets or credit ratings, they are navigating domestic demands, legitimacy, and the perception of strength or weakness on the global stage.

In this regard, threats or the constant withdrawal and reintroduction of proposals are not leverage, they are weakness. Unlike commercial transactions where the “Art of the Deal” is largely concluded at the moment of signing, international agreements mark the beginning of an ongoing, often long-term relationship. What may pass as hard-nosed bargaining in business can, in international diplomacy, be interpreted as bad faith, an approach that tends to invite resentment and resistance instead of compromise. This is why since last Tuesday, Trump was left waiting for Iran to come to the negotiation table.

Effective diplomacy requires serious leadership, consistency, and an understanding of the symbolic as much as the substantive. Agreements endure not because one side is pressured into submission, but because all parties can present the outcome as preserving their dignity and advancing mutual interests.

The lack of strategic maturity is indicative in a proclamation in the morning signaling openness to de-escalation; by midday, the message splinters, issuing threats and ultimatums while simultaneously hinting at imminent breakthrough deals; by the middle of the night, amid his insomnia, it escalates to threats of total destruction. This constant shifting of positions is not a minor stylistic quirk. It is possible that, at least some of this, is associated with his nocturnal communications with Netanyahu, who is apparently wagging him left and right.

This yo-yoing of positions does more than create confusion; it erodes credibility. Diplomacy depends on a baseline of predictability and mental stability. When signals shift faster than the wind, uncertainty breeds mistrust, and negotiations drift from closed rooms into fiery statements played out for public consumption, creating an opening for Israel to drive the war and breed destruction and more chaos.

April 23, 2026 Posted by | Economics, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Wars for Israel | , , , | Comments Off on Confusion, delusion, and how Israel drives the Iran War

After the ceasefire illusion: Why Gaza’s “Day After” still has no buyer?

By Dr Mustafa Fetouri | MEMO | April 23, 2026

The international community remains fixated on a phantom: Gaza’s “Day After.” While Washington, Cairo, and Doha debate elaborate governance frameworks and the “Board of Peace,” these plans share a fatal flaw—they lack a viable “buyer” on the ground.

This diplomatic theatre has been eclipsed by the US-Israeli aggression against Iran that began on 28th February. Since then, Gaza has been sidelined globally, yet the genocide—begun in October 2023—has never stopped. Even before the Iran escalation, the 10th October ceasefire was a hollow promise; Israel violated the agreement over 2,400 times through near-daily air raids and shelling.

Since that supposed de-escalation, nearly 1,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed, pushing the total death toll past 72,300. This grim reality proves the “Day After” is not a sincere peace plan, but a cynical mask for a permanent, lethal status quo. Far from transitioning to Phase II, the current impasse suggests the ceasefire was merely a tactical suspension of a conflict Israel refuses to end. With the occupation intact and violations occurring daily, Gaza is not moving toward a post-war era. Instead, it is being forced into a state of managed catastrophe, where “peace” serves as a placeholder for the next phase of destruction.

The “Day After” blueprints—specifically the Trump-led Board of Peace and the National Transitional Committee (NTC)—envision technocratic governance for Gaza but face a wall of refusal. For the Israeli government, any plan offering a pathway to Palestinian sovereignty is a non-starter; Netanyahu’s coalition instead prioritises “forward defence” and indefinite military hegemony. Conversely, the Palestinian Authority (PA) remains wary of being “parachuted” into the ruins on the back of Israeli tanks, a move that would permanently strip them of national legitimacy.

The vacuum is further complicated by the survival of the Resistance on the ground. Despite the fanfare surrounding the Board of Peace’s “Phase II,” Hamas has explicitly rejected  any form of international guardianship, viewing the NTC not as a governing partner, but as a Trojan horse for disarmament. Meanwhile, the wealthy Arab states—the intended financiers of a reconstruction effort now estimated to cost $71.4 billion—have failed to commit any tangible funds.

Their hesitance is rooted in a grim economic reality: the regional losses they have accumulated, and continue to accumulate, from the spillover of the war on Iran have depleted the very sovereign wealth once earmarked for Gaza.

Without a “buyer” willing to assume the immense security and political risks of governing a site of ongoing genocide, the various “roadmaps” coming out of Washington and Brussels serve as little more than academic exercises in a theater of the absurd. The international community continues to pitch governance models to a phantom audience, while the reality on the ground remains one of systematic destruction, leaving Gaza caught in a loop where “reconstruction” is discussed as a future hope but never funded as a present necessity.

The “Day After” illusion is further sustained by the inflammatory rhetoric of Nickolay Mladenov, the High Representative for the Board of Peace. In his recent April 2026 briefings, Mladenov has essentially weaponised Gaza’s reconstruction, explicitly linking the release of the $71.4 billion in aid to the immediate and total disarmament of Palestinian factions.

By framing the situation as a binary choice—disarm or continue to suffer—Mladenov has abandoned the role of a neutral mediator.

Hamas has responded by accusing Mladenov of siding with the Israeli occupation and ignoring the thousands of ceasefire violations that have occurred since October 2026 effectively freezing the process in Phase II. By prioritizing the “decommissioning of weapons” over the immediate cessation of the genocide and the lifting of the blockade, Mladenov’s framework has become a symbol of international bias rather than a bridge to peace. This disconnect is why the “Day After” has no buyer: the brokers are selling a plan that demands the surrender of the victims while the aggressor continues its military operations with impunity.

Sensing that the Resistance groups are not convinced by his frameworks, Mladenov has recently attempted to soften his public tone while maintaining his rigid demands. In an interview with Reuters on 20th April, he admitted that negotiations with Hamas are “not easy,” yet he struck a jarringly optimistic note, claiming he is “optimistic that we will be able to come up with an arrangement that works for all sides and, most importantly, works for the people in Gaza.” Since neither Israel—which continues its strikes—nor the Resistance—which has rejected international guardianship—has publicly shifted their positions, Mladenov’s forward-looking posture appears increasingly detached from the ground reality.

In recent high-level meetings in Cairo (ending 17th April), Hamas negotiators, led by Khalil al-Hayya, delivered a firm list of prerequisites to the Egyptian mediators. They made it clear that they will not consider any decommissioning of weapons without:

  • A definitive and irreversible plan toward a sovereign Palestinian State.
  • The complete and immediate lifting of the 19-year blockade.
  • A full Israeli withdrawal to the pre-October lines (specifically removing the “Yellow Line” military zones).
  • The prior implementation of all Phase I humanitarian commitments, including the reopening of all commercial crossings and the restoration of Gaza’s power plant.

By insisting on these core national rights as a baseline, the Resistance has effectively neutralized Mladenov’s “aid-for-arms” trade-off, exposing the Board of Peace as a seller with a product that the actual stakeholders refuse to buy.

Ultimately, the “Day After” is failing because it has lost its primary architect. Donald Trump, once the loudest champion of these regional “deals,” is now completely bogged down by the escalating war on Iran, a conflict that is siphoning away the political capital and attention once directed toward Gaza. His schedule for next month confirms this pivot: a rescheduled state visit to China (May 14-15) and a high-stakes reception for the UK’s King Charles later this month, both of which were delayed specifically by his war on Iran.

With Trump preoccupied by a naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz and a domestic battle over war powers, Gaza has been relegated to a secondary theatre.

This lack of American bandwidth means the “Board of Peace” is effectively a rudderless ship. For the people on the ground, this means the “Day After” is not just a geopolitical myth, but a casualty of a larger regional fire that the White House is currently more interested in fuelling than extinguishing.

April 23, 2026 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation | , , , , | Comments Off on After the ceasefire illusion: Why Gaza’s “Day After” still has no buyer?

Shifting to Guerilla Warfare, Hezbollah Delivers Massive Blows to Israel

By Robert Inlakesh | Palestine Chronicle | April 22, 2026

Hezbollah has shifted to waging a guerrilla war against the Israeli occupiers in southern Lebanon, reminding Tel Aviv why it decided to withdraw from the country in the year 2000. Instead of allowing Israel to violate the ceasefire unchecked, the responses have been immediate and painful.

On April 16, the White House declared that a 10-Day temporary ceasefire had been reached between Lebanon and Israel. Only the day prior, both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Israel Katz had delivered speeches claiming that their operations in the south of Lebanon would continue to expand.

This caused immense frustration amongst the Israeli public and sparked backlash in the Hebrew-language media.

Sure enough, when the ceasefire went into effect, the Israelis decided to violate the agreement at least 10 times within an hour, mainly through artillery fire on Lebanese villages in the south. This was followed by two drone strikes targeting vehicles in southern Lebanon, in addition to an attack on an ambulance.

Israeli Arabic spokesperson Avrechay Adraee, who was supposed to have retired, yet has made a recent return, openly released a video message ordering displaced Lebanese civilians not to return south of the Litani River area. The occupation forces even bombed the area where efforts were being made to reconstruct a temporary bridge that had been deliberately destroyed during the war to prevent civilian passage into the south.

For a period of time, it had been feared that a return to the pre-March “ceasefire” in Lebanon had just been secured in favor of Tel Aviv once again, where the Israelis carried out frequent operations without any response. All of this as Israel was now occupying more territory illegally, as the Lebanese government negotiated for a normalisation agreement.

Hezbollah Secretary General, Sheikh Naim Qassem, then delivered an address, during which he made it clear that the Lebanese leadership was behaving unacceptably and betraying their duties through their normalizing efforts. He also insisted that the previous status quo would not return and that instead his organization would respond to the Israeli violations, fighting until the occupation of South Lebanon was totally abandoned.

Little more than a day into the ceasefire agreement, despite no announcements of retaliatory actions from Hezbollah, a series of “security incidents” were announced by the Israeli Army. The first few were said to have been tanks running over previously planted explosives, making it appear as if the incidents had occurred by accident.

However, three major “security events” occurred, inflicting at least 37 Israeli casualties, 2 of whom the Israelis admitted were deaths. At this point, it had become clear that something else was going on.

Then came an official Hezbollah statement, claiming responsibility for a single incident, where 4 Israeli Merkava tanks were said to have been completely destroyed by pre-planted IEDs, detonating them on an enemy convoy, after Lebanese fighters had been monitoring their movements. After this, the Israeli military decided not to publish any details on the IED attacks.

Yet, Israeli media commentary explained that soldiers, stationed in what is being called a “buffer zone” in southern Lebanon, have reported their frustrations over Hezbollah drones monitoring their movements.

In other words, Hezbollah has cells throughout the territory that Israel claims to be in control of, who do reconnaissance, then calculate the movements of Israeli forces, anticipating their common routes, before planting IEDs that they then detonate on convoys.

Not only is this a transition to asymmetric warfare, which the Iraqi resistance became well known for when fighting an insurgency against US occupying forces, but it is also beginning to usher in flashbacks to the days of the occupation in South Lebanon.

As an example, in 1997, Hezbollah had managed to pull off what was known as the Ansariyeh Ambush, killing 12 Israeli special forces soldiers from its elite Shayetet 13 Unit. This had been carried out through reconnaissance and intelligence work, to anticipate the arrival of the Israeli unit, a total disaster for the Israeli military at the time.

Today, Hezbollah has advanced from what it was in the 1990s and possesses much more sophisticated and powerful weapons. What it means for Israeli forces on the ground is that they must constantly keep moving, as they remain under surveillance and could be subjected to an ambush at any time.

When Israeli tanks travel down roads they have taken a number of times previously, they could suddenly face a series of EIDs. The more these attacks happen, the more terrified the Israeli conscript army’s soldiers become, fearing the possibility that they could at any moment lose an arm, leg, or their life.

Hezbollah, having shifted to such tactics, could also seek to capture Israeli soldiers at one point, something that would represent a catastrophe for the Israeli political leadership.

If such a capture operation succeeds, then Netanyahu’s campaign of triumph will be suddenly transformed into yet another costly operation that will inevitably accelerate on the ground, while eventually forcing him to commit to a prisoner exchange.

All along, this was precisely the scenario that Hezbollah had hoped for, to rope the Israelis in on the ground, in order to eventually inflict enormous losses on them and fulfill the pledge of its former leader, Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah that the south will become a graveyard for the invading army and that they will eventually have no tanks left.

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

April 23, 2026 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation | , , , | Comments Off on Shifting to Guerilla Warfare, Hezbollah Delivers Massive Blows to Israel

Monitoring group finds UK media guilty of ‘systematic’ dehumanization of Palestinians

The Cradle | April 23, 2026

A British media monitoring group accused major UK media outlets on 23 April of “systematic” anti-Palestine bias in their coverage of Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza over the past two years.

NewsCord announced it had analyzed thousands of articles published by BBC, The Guardian, and Sky News in their coverage of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza since 2023.

The group quantified various bias metrics, including “attribution, passive voice, source qualification, humanization, legal framing, and the reporting of documented genocidal statements by Israeli officials.”

NewsCord found systematic patterns of anti-Palestine bias in the reporting of all three news outlets. For example, the BBC names Israel as the perpetrator in just 50 percent of reports of casualties and uses passive voice, which obscures responsibility, in 80 percent of sentences reporting casualties from Israeli attacks.

The Guardian names the perpetrator in just 54 percent of cases.

All three routinely label the Gaza Health Ministry as “Hamas-affiliated” in an effort to undermine the credibility of its casualty and death counts, even though the UN and Israeli military view the ministry’s reporting as credible.

In contrast, the outlets only noted the credibility of the UN in one percent of instances when the international body’s reports are cited.

Across UK media, the word “genocide” to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza is rarely mentioned, NewsCord found. This is despite the International Court of Justice issuing provisional measures ordering Israel to halt its military operations to prevent its troops from perpetrating genocide, and despite the findings of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory that Israel has committed genocide.

Rights groups Amnesty International and Israeli-based B’Tselem have also concluded Israel is guilty of genocide in Gaza.

Additionally, none of the three UK news outlets have reported on documented genocidal statements by Israeli officials that are cited as evidence of intent in ICJ proceedings, NewsCord added.

Shortly after the genocide began, Netanyahu referred to Palestinians in Gaza as “Amalek,” recalling a story from the Jewish Torah in which God commands the ancient Israelites to eradicate an entire people, including every last woman and child.

The monitoring group also found that Palestinian voices were given far less prominence, as measured by word count, compared with Israeli perspectives, and that detainees were more often humanized only when Israeli.

In December, Drop Site News revealed that BBC editor Raffi Berg has almost complete control of the British broadcaster’s online coverage of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and is ensuring that all events are reported with a pro-Israel bias.

“This guy’s entire job is to water down everything that’s too critical of Israel,” one former BBC journalist said.

Pro-Israel bias is not just an issue in the UK media, but in the western media broadly.

A media-analysis report released by Media Bias Meter last November titled “Framing Gaza” presented data showing that major western outlets mention “Israel” far more often than “Palestine” in both headlines and article bodies.

The outlets in question included the New York Times (NYT), BBC, Le Monde, the Globe and Mail, The Guardian, Reuters, AP, and AFP.

According to the dataset, NYT uses “Israel” in headlines 1,868 times and “Palestine” only 10 times, a ratio of 187 to 1.

The disproportionate pattern appears across the other outlets, with BBC showing 1,100 uses of “Israel” in headlines and 91 uses of “Palestine,” Le Monde showing 1,087 versus 65, and De Telegraaf showing 952 versus 65.

April 23, 2026 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Mainstream Media, Warmongering | , , , , , | Comments Off on Monitoring group finds UK media guilty of ‘systematic’ dehumanization of Palestinians

US naval blockade has disrupted but ‘not broken’ Iran’s oil exports: Kpler

Al Mayadeen | April 23, 2026

The US naval blockade of Iranian ports has disrupted the country’s oil machine, but its loading infrastructure remains intact, and cargoes are still flowing toward China, according to maritime analytics firm Kpler.

US Central Command announced overnight that American forces have redirected 31 vessels to return to port or turn around as part of the ongoing US blockade against Iran. Most of the redirected vessels were oil tankers, CENTCOM posted on X.

The US has also seized an Iranian-flagged vessel in the Gulf of Oman and boarded a sanctioned vessel in the Indian Ocean.

Despite the blockade, tankers are still positioned in Iran’s loading zones and Iranian crude continues to move toward China, Kpler data shows. The maritime analytics firm estimated the flow of crude from Iran to China to be 985,000 barrels per day in the first half of April. Since then, this flow has not been interrupted, Kpler said.

Jask terminal bypasses Strait of Hormuz

At Jask, an Iranian oil export terminal located outside the Strait of Hormuz, there is currently an all-time high of 5.8 million barrels in storage, Kpler reported. Tankers carrying oil are able to depart from the Jask terminal directly into the Gulf of Oman without needing to transit through the strait.

“The blockade has disrupted the oil machine, but it has not broken it,” Kpler said.

The findings suggest that while the US naval campaign has inflicted damage on Iran’s ability to export oil freely, Tehran has developed alternative routes and maintained key infrastructure to ensure continued revenue from crude sales. The Jask terminal, which bypasses the strategically vulnerable Strait of Hormuz, has emerged as a critical asset in Iran’s efforts to sustain exports despite the blockade.

‘Iran will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz’

In this context, a senior Iranian official involved in communications with Washington told the BBC that, at this stage, it is not possible to reopen the Strait of Hormuz due to blatant violations of the ceasefire by the United States and “Israel.”

According to the official, these violations include the US naval blockade on Iranian ports and Israeli aggression across various fronts, particularly Lebanon.

These steps, according to the official, “hold the global economy hostage” and undermine the chances of achieving political progress.

April 23, 2026 Posted by | Economics, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Wars for Israel | , , , , | Comments Off on US naval blockade has disrupted but ‘not broken’ Iran’s oil exports: Kpler

John Mearsheimer: U.S. Expands Iran War & Divorces Europe

Glenn Diesen | April 22, 2026

Prof. John Mearsheimer argues that the failure to make peace with Iran can dramatically widen the war in the Middle East, while the rift with Europe and other allies widen. John J. Mearsheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, where he has taught since 1982.

Elbridge Colby speech

Follow Prof. Glenn Diesen:

Support the research by Prof. Glenn Diesen:

Books by Prof. Glenn Diesen

April 22, 2026 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Militarism, Russophobia, Video, Wars for Israel | , , , , , , , | Comments Off on John Mearsheimer: U.S. Expands Iran War & Divorces Europe

Israeli-backed armed gang kidnaps 25 Palestinians in Gaza’s Zeitoun neighbourhood

MEMO | April 22, 2026

An armed gang backed by Israel has reportedly kidnapped 25 Palestinians, including women and children, in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood.

In a statement issued yesterday, the “Deterrence” force, affiliated with the Palestinian resistance’s security forces, said that the gang attacked families in the Al-Dawla and Al-Sawafiri areas before abducting several people.

The statement added that these areas are effectively under Israeli army control, making it difficult to obtain accurate information about the identities or fate of those abducted.

The “Deterrence” force called for the formation of popular protection committees to confront what it described as “collaborating gangs”, stressing the need for coordinated community and tribal efforts alongside the security services.

The statement came a day after the “Deterrence” force said that it had carried out a field operation in Khan Younis targeting similar groups, resulting in deaths and injuries among their members.

Similar incidents have been reported in other parts of the Gaza Strip in recent weeks, including an attack by an armed group east of Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza. Eyewitnesses said that Israeli drones intervened to protect the group’s members, resulting in civilian casualties.

According Arabic sources, several armed gangs are operating in areas under Israeli control in the east, north and south of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli occupation has previously acknowledged supporting such groups, which openly declare hostility towards the resistance and vow to pursue its members.

Observers have warned that the expanding role of these gangs, alongside ongoing Israeli military operations, could lead to a further deterioration in security and deepen the humanitarian crisis facing residents of the Gaza Strip.

April 22, 2026 Posted by | Corruption, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , | Comments Off on Israeli-backed armed gang kidnaps 25 Palestinians in Gaza’s Zeitoun neighbourhood

No war crimes in Gaza, says Nigel Farage’s Israel tsar

Jason Pearlman is among several pro-Israel figures behind the party predicted to win big in May elections

By Martin Williams | Declassified UK | April 21, 2026

Israel has not committed a single war crime in Gaza, the head of the newly-formed Reform Friends of Israel has claimed.

Speaking to Declassified, Jason Pearlman also described the torture and abuse of Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons as “the minutiae of individual claims”.

Until December, Pearlman was a media adviser to Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, who a UN commission found to have incited genocide.

Speaking from Israel, where he still lives, he told Declassified that he started a conversation with Reform about turning the party’s ‘Friends of Israel’ group into a “full-time” organisation while he was still working for Herzog.

“We did have a dinner with Nigel and some key backers,” he said. “We were able to put seed funding together.”

Pearlman refused to say who Reform Friends of Israel’s (RFOI) donors were.

But he admitted: “I’m sure some of the people who fund CFI [Conservative Friends of Israel] and LFI [Labour Friends of Israel] will also be funding RFI.”

Who is Jason Pearlman?

While Jason Pearlman remains an obscure figure in British politics, he stands to become one of the most influential figures on foreign policy, if Nigel Farage’s party wins the next election.

He has said he has “great respect” for Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.

And, when his departure from Israeli politics was announced in December, he was personally thanked by President Herzog.

“Jason has helped guide the Office of the President through perhaps Israel’s most challenging times with the international press,” Herzog said.

“I am grateful for his tireless efforts to promote understanding of the work of the President of Israel and bring Israel’s story to millions around the world.”

When Declassified asked Pearlman if he believed Israel had committed any war crimes since 7 October 2023, he said: “No, of course not.”

He added: “The tragedy is that there is no nuance when it comes to discussing this conflict.”

Declassified asked if he could think of a single specific case where he would condemn IDF soldiers in Gaza. Pearlman replied: “Probably… [but] I can’t think of anything specifically off-hand.”

And when asked about the well-documented abuse and torture of Palestinian prisoners, Pearlman said: “I am sure there is some truth to all of these things…” But he appeared to dismiss such cases in favour of focusing on “the wider perspective of ‘how do we solve these issues?’”.

He said: “We are looking at how can we promote a dialogue and a narrative that advances a better region or, in this case of Reform Friends of Israel, a better relationship between the UK and the values and the UK with Israel and the values of Israel.

“And rather than getting dragged into the minutiae of individual claims – which obviously need to be dealt with; if they’re brought to you, then you obviously need to deal with them – but individual cases, I’m much more interested in promoting a dialogue which puts a very clear line between terrorism and a future.”

Pressed about why he was referring to abuse allegations as “the minutiae of individual cases”, Pearlman simply said: “I have full faith in the judicial system to prosecute, investigate and prosecute any such cases. I am not aware of any such cases being proven or prosecuted.”

Discussing the aims of Reform Friends of Israel, he pushed back at the suggestion it is a lobbying organisation, saying that he instead considered the group to be “a resource for the party”.

“[RFOI] believe fervently that the UK-Israel relationship is an important relationship,” he said, adding that it “needs heavily investing in”.

“Reform, as a party, I think we can find a lot of people who understand that importance and want to help promote it.”

April 22, 2026 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , | Comments Off on No war crimes in Gaza, says Nigel Farage’s Israel tsar

IDF Gives Order To Fire On Civilians In Southern Lebanon

The Dissident | April 21, 2026

The Israeli paper, The Jerusalem Post, has admitted that the Israeli IDF has been given the order to slaughter any civilians attempting to return to South Lebanon.

For context, Israel has been carrying out a new Nakba in South Lebanon, with the intention of ethnically cleansing its civilian population and setting up Jewish settlements.

After forcing South Lebanon’s population to flee past the Litani River, Israel intended to create a “new northern border” in South Lebanon, as the Likud-connected journalist Amit Segal admitted.

Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said “the new Israeli border must be the Litani,” and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said, “Israeli forces would control ‘the entire area’ from the border to the Litani River after the offensive had concluded”.

However, as part of the temporary ceasefire with Iran, Donald Trump announced a 10-day ceasefire with Lebanon last Tuesday.

Over the course of three days, Israel violated the ceasefire 220 times, including with:

-7 aerial strikes
– 50 detonations and blowing up infrastructure
– ?52 artillery shelling
– ?15 shooting with machine guns.
– ?30 incidents of overflights by military and reconnaissance planes, including over Beirut.

Furthermore, the Israeli media has admitted that the IDF has been given the order to fire on displaced civilians attempting to return to their homes in South Lebanon to continue the Israeli occupation.

The Jerusalem Post reported that “large numbers of Lebanese civilians attempted to return to southern Lebanon,” adding that “Some said that they succeeded in reaching their villages and found significant amounts of damage.”

The article added that the “latest effort” from the IDF “appeared to be directed at deterring Lebanese civilians who may have remained in or penetrated into southern Lebanon from nearby areas where the IDF is establishing new positions”.

It noted “the IDF has given general orders to open fire within southern Lebanon even if an approaching unidentified person is not armed, based on the idea that there are no civilians left in southern Lebanon”, adding that “the IDF said that the ceasefire only applied North of the Litani River”.

By slaughtering displaced civilians attempting to return to Southern Lebanon, Israel hopes to continue the ethnic cleansing it previously carried out, in hopes it will lead the United States to recognize South Lebanon as Israeli territory.

The aforementioned Likud-connected journalist Amit Segal gave the game away behind Israel’s intention, writing, “Trump, a man with no sentimentality for old borders, already shook the Middle East when he agreed in principle to recognize Israeli sovereignty over parts of Judea and Samaria in the framework of the Peace to Prosperity plan, and when he supported mass emigration from Gaza. The mass migration from southern Lebanon has already happened. The only question is whether he will give Israel merely de facto approval of its new northern border or de jure approval as well.”

In order to continue its forced “mass migration” (ethnic cleansing) in South Lebanon, the IDF will fire on any displaced civilian trying to return home in hopes it will allow Israel to create its “new northern border”.

April 22, 2026 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , | Comments Off on IDF Gives Order To Fire On Civilians In Southern Lebanon

Islamabad’s post-war push: A new Gulf security order takes shape

Regional powers are moving quickly to fill the vacuum before Washington can reassert control

By F.M. Shakil | The Cradle | April 22, 2026

US President Donald Trump’s decision to extend the ceasefire with Iran at Pakistan’s request has given Islamabad more time to push for a broader settlement between Washington, Tel Aviv, and Tehran. Yet even as diplomacy inches forward, the war has already triggered a deeper shift across West Asia.

A Pakistan-brokered truce is now tied to a broader regional realignment. Persian Gulf states, long dependent on Washington’s military shield, are openly questioning whether that shield still works. In its place, a new conversation has emerged: one centered on regional defense cooperation led by Muslim-majority states rather than the US.

Iran signaled cautious optimism last week about joining a second round of talks in Islamabad. Reports had suggested Tehran might refuse to attend after a US naval assault on an Iranian vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, but Trump’s decision to extend the ceasefire has bought negotiators more time.

That development reportedly pushed Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, to press Washington for a ceasefire extension and an easing of the blockade. Trump’s decision to prolong the truce has partly addressed Iran’s conditions for rejoining negotiations, although the blockade remains in place.

Munir, who concluded a three-day visit to Tehran last week, has remained in direct contact with Trump while Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has carried out parallel diplomacy in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkiye.

Yet another obstacle to an agreement is the status of the enriched uranium that Iran possesses. Latest updates reveal that both Russia and China have offered to store Iranian uranium to address a major US demand for a peace agreement.

A regional order without Washington

Parallel to the peace effort, intense diplomacy is underway between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Turkiye, and Egypt over a possible “Muslim” replacement for the US-led Gulf security architecture.

A quadripartite meeting on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, held from 17–19 April in Turkiye, reportedly focused on lowering tensions and building a new regional security structure. Sources speaking to The Cradle say there is now broad support for an “internal security apparatus” rooted in economic integration and defense coordination.

Ankara has proposed what it describes as an “organized regional security platform” built around the idea that regional states, not outside powers, should be responsible for defending West Asia.

The urgency behind those discussions is easy to understand.

Several Arab states, particularly Saudi Arabia and Qatar, now believe that US bases in the Persian Gulf have become liabilities rather than assets. After Iranian strikes damaged or destroyed multiple US military facilities in the region, Gulf governments began to question whether the US presence protects them or simply turns them into targets.

Zahir Shah Sherazi, executive vice president of Bol News, tells The Cradle:

“Targeting the US bases and installations in the Gulf states, where American outposts were located, was a strategic and insightful military tactic of Iran that exposed the true nature of Washington. The Gulf nations came to understand that the US is unable to safeguard them, as its primary focus lies on the Zionist state and its expansionist ambitions.”

Sherazi states that the concept of a Greater Israel stems from the expansionist designs of the Zionist state, which is working on it in the West Bank, Lebanon, Gaza, and Syria under US protection. This situation, he argues, has worried the Gulf states, and even Turkiye is at risk of clashing with Israel in Syria and Lebanon.

These apprehensions led to the formation of a NATO-like force in West Asia, not to counter Iran but Israel’s expansionist designs. He says Iran may join this force after its war, making it a strong military alliance against the US and Israel.

Sunni alliance or regional deterrent?

Not everyone sees the proposed force in the same way.

Imtiaz Gul, executive director of the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), tells The Cradle that the project could end up functioning as a Sunni coalition rather than a genuinely regional defense structure.

In his view, the force may ultimately suit both Washington and the occupation state because it could be used to contain Iran while protecting the oil-rich Arab monarchies.

“This force is perceived as a facilitator of the Abraham Accords, as it is designed to fortify regional alliances and counteract Iranian influence in the Middle East. This coterie may emerge as an alternative security arrangement, specifically for Saudi Arabia, as the US military bases have become liabilities rather than functioning as a protective umbrella for the Gulf and Arab states.”

Concerning the prospects of this force, Gul is not so optimistic. He is of the view that such an organization could not effectively assume the responsibility of regulating this region.

“It is a highly intricate issue that is both challenging and difficult to implement due to several internal differences and conflicting interests, such as the ongoing tensions between Iran and Turkiye, with Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which complicate any potential regulatory efforts.”

US bases become a burden

Even as Trump signals a possible drawdown of US military operations in West Asia, Washington continues to expand its military footprint.

Trump has suggested that thousands of US troops could leave Iraq and Syria by September 2026. Yet his administration has also sent an additional 2,500 marines to the region.

That contradiction has reinforced Russian warnings that “the US and Israel can use the peace talks to prepare for a ground operation against Iran, as the Pentagon continues to increase US troop numbers in the region.”

Gul believes a large-scale US withdrawal from Gulf bases would leave the occupation state more isolated. Without those facilities, Tel Aviv would lose much of the logistical and intelligence infrastructure that underpins its military reach across the region.

He argues that Washington will maintain a military foothold in West Asia for as long as it sees Israel as vulnerable.

A recent report by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) urged the Pentagon to reassess its Gulf basing strategy once the war with Iran ends. The report argued that Bahrain and the UAE should remain key hubs for US naval power, while other facilities may create more problems than advantages.

AEI suggested that Washington rely more heavily on Greece and Cyprus instead of accommodating Turkiye. It also argued that the US should deepen its presence in Somaliland rather than maintain extensive deployments in Saudi Arabia and Oman.

According to the Middle East Institute (MEI), US forces remain stationed in the UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar. Roughly 50,000 troops are spread across 19 known sites.

“The US security umbrella became more of a liability, directly threatening the sovereignty of the host countries, especially since these bases were implicated in the attack on Iran. Although Iran is not a threat to the GCC’s sovereignty, it is assaulting the US bases from which the US attacks Iran,” Gul says.

Pakistan moves in as Gulf protector

Pakistan deployed 13,000 troops and a fleet of 10 to 18 fighter jets, including advanced platforms such as the JF-17 “Thunder” Block III and J-10CE fighters, at King Abdulaziz Air Base in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

Sherazi goes further. He argues that despite its military superiority and technological edge, Washington has already been forced to abandon some positions in Saudi Arabia and Qatar because of Iranian retaliation.

“Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan have established strong connections in trade and defense collaboration. Qatar appears to be signaling its intention to join this Saudi–Pakistan defense mechanism. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have also declared that their territories will not be used for actions against Iran.”

Pakistan has already started positioning itself as an alternative security guarantor for the Gulf monarchies.

Islamabad and Ankara are also deepening military cooperation. Pakistan is involved in the KAAN stealth fighter program, while Turkiye is providing support in drone technology, training, and military equipment.

There is also growing speculation that Iran may quietly support parts of this regional transition. One of Tehran’s key demands in recent negotiations with Washington was reportedly the closure of US military bases across the region.

“Almost all Middle Eastern nations, except for a few like the UAE, support an indigenous security mechanism in the region due to the US-Israel collusion that has caused significant bloodshed among Arab nations,” Sherazi says.

“Now is the time for a robust force to end the barbarity of the Zionists and their supporters.”

April 22, 2026 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Wars for Israel | , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Islamabad’s post-war push: A new Gulf security order takes shape

Israeli army blows up school in southern Lebanon in violation of ceasefire

Press TV – April 21, 2026

‎‎The Israeli regime has demolished a public school in southern Lebanon in a new violation of a temporary ceasefire agreement with Beirut approved by US President Donald Trump.

‎The Israeli army destroyed a public school building in the southern Lebanese town of Khiam despite the 10-day ceasefire.

‎The state-run Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) reported on Tuesday that the Israeli forces rigged the building with explosives and detonated it overnight, completely leveling the structure.

‎‎Israeli forces also fired artillery near the town of Kunin in the Bint Jbeil district in southern Lebanon, according to another report by NNA.

‎‎A series of Israeli demolitions occurred across the south, targeting homes, buildings and other infrastructure, the report said. Israeli forces also “booby-trapped” numerous homes in the villages of Beit Lif, Shamaa, Biyyada, and Naqoura, leveling them, the report added.‎

Trump announced on Thursday a 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon following calls with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

However, the Israeli regime’s forces have continued attacking Lebanese civilian infrastructure and residential areas, disregarding the ceasefire agreement.

‎Meanwhile, Israel has planned to systematically flatten civilian buildings in southern Lebanon, according to Israeli media. Engineering tools, including excavators, have been brought into the area and are being operated by paid Israeli contractors.

Israeli forces are assessing the scale of the destruction through digital tools, including statistical systems that track the number of buildings demolished in each sector.

‎Last month, Israeli Minister of Military Affairs Israel Katz said, “All houses in villages near the border in Lebanon will be demolished in accordance with the Rafah and Beit Hanoun models in Gaza.”

He added that after Israel’s aggression in Lebanon ends, the military would maintain control “over the entire area up to the Litani.”

‎Since March 2, Israel has carried out an aggression against Lebanon that has killed around 2,300 people, wounded more than 7,500, and displaced over 1.2 million, according to Lebanese authorities.

April 21, 2026 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation, Militarism | , , , | Comments Off on Israeli army blows up school in southern Lebanon in violation of ceasefire

Palantir CEO Calls for Draft to Fight the Empire’s Wars

Involuntary servitude is good for business

By Kurt Nimmo | Another Day in the Empire | April 20, 2026

In 2025, Alex Karp, the CEO of government and military tech contractor Palantir, published The New York Times best-seller, The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West. The Wall Street Journal praised the book as a cri de coeur, a passionate appeal “that takes aim at the tech industry for abandoning its history of helping America and its allies,” while Wired praised the book as a “readable polemic that skewers Silicon Valley for insufficient patriotism.”

On April 18, 2026, Palantir posted twenty-two points to social media summarizing the book. In addition to taking Silicon Valley to task for insufficient patriotism, advocating a role for AI in forever war, and denouncing the “psychologization of modern politics,” the Palantir post on X declares: “National service should be a universal duty. We should, as a society, seriously consider moving away from an all-volunteer force and only fight the next war if everyone shares in the risk and the cost.”

National conscription, a form of involuntary servitude, and the wars it portends, is good for business, especially for corporations within the orbit of the Pentagon, the CIA, and the national security state. Palantir fits comfortably within this amalgamation.

Mass Murder by Artificial Intelligence

Project Maven is an AI-driven battlefield intelligence system designed by the corporation. The Defense Department, now known as the War Department, employed Maven in 2024 for “targeting support” in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. Maven incorporates the AI model Claude, built by Anthropic.

More recently, in US airstrikes against Iran, “AI systems born from Project Maven have helped identify and prioritize thousands of targets, accelerating intelligence analysis and operational planning,” explains the Center for a New American Security, a military think tank founded by Michèle Flournoy, a former under secretary of defense with links to Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems. She was the principal adviser to the Secretary of Defense in the formulation of national security and defense policy.

Maven was reportedly used to shorten the “kill chain” during Israel’s invasion of Gaza. “I am proud that we are supporting Israel in every way we can,” CEO Karp exclaimed. Following the Gaza al-Aqsa Flood in October, 2023, Palantir “provided Israel with multiple AI-powered data analytics tools for military and intelligence purposes,” notes the American Friends Service Committee. The corporation has a “strategic partnership” with Israel’s Ministry of Defense to assist the Zionist state and its “war effort” against Palestinian resistance to Israeli military occupation, an armed struggle recognized under international law.

“As the genocide in Gaza advances, attention is turning to the companies whose technologies may be facilitating Israel’s daily atrocities, with US-based Palantir Technologies among them,” reports the Business and Human Rights Center. “While the International Criminal Court (ICC) is stepping in to address genocide accusations, the tech barons who design and supply the tools of warfare remain largely unchallenged.”

Another Israeli AI-based targeting system, Lavender, ostensibly developed by the IDF’s Unit 8200, is said to be a Palantir project. Palantir rejected this assertion in a letter sent to Francesca Albanese, the sanctioned United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories. In the letter, Palantir stressed it “stands in solidarity with Israel in response to the horrific attacks on 7 October, 2023. Our work in Israel long predates the 7 October attacks and is in line with our global commitment to U.S. allies and liberal democracies. We proudly support our partners in Israel across a multitude of mission sets, programs, and contexts.”

Israel utilized Palantir in its September 2024 attacks in Lebanon, employing exploding electronic pagers that resulted in numerous fatalities and injuries, writes AFSC’s Investigate. In addition to its collaboration with the Israeli military, Palantir also provides the Gaza Civil-Military Coordination Center with its services. This center is located at the US military compound in Kiryat Gat, which was established in October 2025 to implement the Trump administration’s plan for Gaza. Iran targeted Kiryat Gat in March, 2026.

Maven, incorporating Anthropic’s Claude, was used to target the Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school in Minab, in southern Iran, killing 180 people, mostly young girls. President Trump praised Palantir Technologies, saying the company “has proven to have great war-fighting capabilities and equipment. Just ask our enemies,” apparently including children.

“Creepy CEO” Advocates Involuntary Servitude in “Service to the West”

“Alex Karp, the creepy CEO of creepy defense contractor Palantir, just can’t stop talking about killing people,” Lucas Ropek writes for Gizmodo. “During a recent call with investors, the billionaire let it slip that he doesn’t mind a little bloodshed, just so long as the money keeps pouring in.”

“Palantir is here to disrupt and make the institutions we partner with the very best in the world and, when it’s necessary, to scare enemies and on occasion kill them,” Karp said, with a smile on his face. The CEO added that he was very proud of the work his firm is doing and that he felt it was good for America. “I’m very happy to have you along for the journey,” he said. “We are crushing it. We are dedicating our company to the service of the West, and the United States of America, and we’re super-proud of the role we play, especially in places we can’t talk about.”

For Karp, “service to the West” includes conscription, that is to say involuntary servitude and the possibility of a violent and horrific death for an untold number of men and women drafted to fight the forever wars envisioned by the billionaire elite, including those within the “libertarian” tech sector.

However, forcing an individual against his or her will to kill and possibly be killed for the sake of the state (or foreign states, such as Israel), and in accordance with a “social contract” that demands submission and obedience, is not libertarian. In the case of Palantir, it is more accurately described as “techno-fascism,” an alliance between Silicon Valley and the state. Contrary to libertarian principles advocating against government intervention, leading tech companies frequently advocate for regulations that favor established AI companies benefiting from government funding and contracts.

Palantir, named after the “seeing stones” from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, may be characterized as a “merchant of death,” a term prominent in the 1930s regarding WWI profiteering. Alex Karp may be compared to Basil Zaharoff, a Greek arms dealer and industrialist, one of the wealthiest men of his time. Unlike Zaharoff, Karp is not selling rifles or munitions, he is selling something far worse—the ability, through artificial intelligence, to murder thousands, if not millions of people with the speed and efficiency of computer technology.

April 21, 2026 Posted by | Book Review, Civil Liberties, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Full Spectrum Dominance, War Crimes, Wars for Israel | , , , , | Comments Off on Palantir CEO Calls for Draft to Fight the Empire’s Wars

« Previous Entries     Next Entries »