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Iran embassy censures awarding Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader

Press TV – October 11, 2025

Iran’s embassy in Caracas has blasted the Nobel Committee for awarding this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to someone who advocates for military aggression against Venezuela in yet another sign of the West’s “divisive and interventionist” mentality.

In a post on its X account on Saturday, the embassy said the decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado is “nothing less than a mockery of the true meaning of ‘peace’”

“Awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to someone who justifies the genocide in Gaza and advocates for military aggression against Venezuela is yet another example of the West’s divisive and interventionist mentality in the developing world,” it emphasized.

The Nobel committee on Friday awarded the 58-year-old Machado, a Venezuelan politician notorious for advocating American and Israeli military intervention in her country, the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her “tireless work promoting democratic rights”.

The country’s Supreme Court upheld a 15-year ban against her, citing her direct support for US sanctions, involvement in large-scale corruption, and responsibility for massive financial losses suffered by Venezuela’s foreign assets — including the US-based oil refiner CITGO and the Colombia-based chemicals firm Monómeros.

This comes as the US military escalated its operations against Venezuela in August, involving three destroyers, anti-submarine aircraft, battleships, nuclear submarines, and F-35 squadrons.

Since then, US forces have attacked several vessels, killing dozens of Venezuelan nationals while claiming they were drug traffickers transporting narcotics to the United States.

In response, the Venezuelan government has declared a national emergency, reinforced its armed forces, and mobilized its national militia to counter any potential military aggression from Washington.

October 11, 2025 Posted by | Illegal Occupation | , , , | Leave a comment

The pirates of Israeli supremacy: The West’s favorite rogue state has done it again

By Tarik Cyril Amar | RT | October 2, 2025

The long-expected if perfectly criminal has happened again: Israel’s navy has intercepted the Gaza-bound Sumud Flotilla by force, stopping almost 50 boats and, in effect, kidnapping hundreds of their crews and passengers.

In terms of law – which, of course, are never really applied in practice to Israel – everything is exceedingly clear: The Sumud Flotilla was a volunteer operation to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza which has been subjected to Israeli genocide for now almost two years. Israel had a clear obligation to let that aid pass.

But then what to expect from the world’s most aggressive rogue state that is not “only” committing genocide, but also waging regional wars of aggression and running terrorist assassination campaigns in the face of the global public? And Israel has a well-established track-record of this kind of piracy, of course, having stopped several attempts to bring aid by sea since 2010, sometimes with casualties among the humanitarian activists.

Stopping the Sumud Flotilla wasn’t merely criminal but criminal in every regard lawyers can imagine, a typical Israeli super-whopper of legal nihilism: Israel attacked the flotilla ships in international waters where it has no jurisdiction. Even if the ships had gotten closer to the Gaza coast, they would, by the way, still not have been inside any Israeli territorial waters because there are no such waters off Gaza, over which Israel has no sovereignty as clearly confirmed by the International Court of Justice last year. What you find off the coast of Gaza, as a matter of fact, are Palestinian territorial waters.

The blockade of Gaza, which has lasted not “merely” for the duration of the current high-intensity genocide-ethnic cleansing campaign but for close to two decades now, is illegal. Because the blockade has been in place for so long, Israel is simply lying – surprise, surprise – when arguing it is a short-term measure covered by the San Remo rules, which summarize “International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea.” And even if those rules applied, under them as well Israel would have to let humanitarian aid through.

Finally, as Israel has attacked ships and citizens belonging to over 40 countries, Israel has committed aggression under international law against all of them and, less obvious but a fact, also crimes under each of these countries’ domestic laws, because they apply on those ships.

So far for the law, but then again, Israel is de facto outside and above the law. That much we have known for a long time. Indeed, Israel could not exist without constantly breaking international law and getting away with it. For Israel, lawlessness and impunity are not luxuries but vital necessities.

The reason why it has been able to exist in this manner is well-known, too: It is protected by the West and, in particular, the US. The latter is Israel’s single worst co-perpetrator, facilitating its crimes like no other state on Earth. Soon, for instance, the recent war of aggression waged by America and Israel together against Iran will probably be followed by a second, even worse assault.

In this regard, what has happened to the Sumud Flotilla has been a test: Clearly, recent moves by various Western governments, including the UK, France, and Australia to “recognize” – in an extremely dishonest manner – a Palestinian state and add some cautious rhetorical criticism of Israel make no difference to their absolute deference in practice to both Israel and its backers in the US.

What seemed like a glimmer of hope for a moment, the appearance of warships from various nations to apparently escort the humanitarian flotilla, has turned into just another humiliation: the escort abandoned their charges well in time to allow Israel a free hand.

The same Western leaders responsible for this cowardly retreat cannot stop waffling about the need not to “reward the aggressor,” when dialing up the war hysteria against Russia, as they have been doing mightily again recently, from mystery drones to declaring unconstitutional states of “not-peace” to chatter of states of emergency.

What about, for once, not rewarding the genocider for a change? But that’s hard, isn’t it? Once all Western governments are accomplices of Israel.

The Sumud Flotilla will not have been the last attempt to break both Israel’s genocidal blockade and its aura of impunity. There is hope, because even in NATO-EU Europe and the US ever more people understand what Israel really is and what it really does: a settler-colonial apartheid state that won’t stop committing genocide and ethnic cleansing. Israel’s systematic campaigns of propaganda and information war are escalating in response, as the case of TikTok has just demonstrated. But even Israel and its American friends cannot reverse history and an experience that the whole world has made. The Gaza Genocide is a fact already. It will not be forgotten. The resistance to Israel will never end.

Tarik Cyril Amar is a historian from Germany working at Koç University, Istanbul, on Russia, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe, the history of World War II, the cultural Cold War, and the politics of memory.

October 5, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation, Progressive Hypocrite, Solidarity and Activism, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

Why the US is so open about its intentions for Lebanese civil war

By Robert Inlakesh | Al Mayadeen | September 30, 2025

The United States is now openly admitting that it is arming the Lebanese military to fight its own people and that it won’t allow Lebanon to defend itself against the Israelis. This is no mistake and is instead part of a clear-cut strategy, designed to plunge the nation into chaos.

Although Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has openly followed orders from his American allies, choosing to pursue the disarmament of Hezbollah without any national defense strategy, a move opposed by the majority of the Lebanese public, it seems that the US is still not impressed.

While some have been duped into believing the policy of pursuing disarmament depends on the willingness of the Lebanese military, this way of reading the current American plot is completely wrong. Disarming Hezbollah is just step one in a much more complex strategy.

Since the ceasefire on November 27, 2024, the Zionist regime has continuously bombarded Lebanese territory, anywhere and at any time. They have committed around 5,000 total violations, continuing to expand their military presence in the south of Lebanon, where the Zionist leadership vows to remain indefinitely.

It is crucial at this stage to ask why, especially since airstrikes, specifically those that kill civilians, only complicate the US-assigned tasks of the Lebanese government, bringing both shame and embarrassment, particularly to Nawaf Salam.

One way of looking at the airstrikes is that the Israelis are seeking to degrade the capabilities of Hezbollah and prevent them from rebuilding following the war. Yet, their strikes are simply not effective enough to make a significant dent in this regard, although they may be hitting some sensitive targets on occasion.

This leaves us with the obvious explanation: the ongoing military assault is part of a war of perception which Hezbollah should behave in a very calculated way to deal with. The Israelis achieve two objectives by carrying out more and more provocative violations of Lebanese sovereignty: they project an image of dominance and attempt to bait Hezbollah into responding.

Some would then ask: Why does Hezbollah not respond? A question sometimes asked rhetorically in order to infer that they are too weak to do so.

The answer is quite simple. Hezbollah has put up a limited military front for almost an entire year in support for Gaza, responding to each Israeli escalation in what it considered a calculated manner. Yet all this merely allowed “Israel” to hatch a plot which harmed not only Hezbollah, but Lebanon as a whole. Despite this, the Zionist regime failed to finish the job, and Hezbollah not only survived but fought a defensive war to a stalemate.

If Hezbollah decides to respond in a limited manner to Israeli aggressions, it would provide the perfect excuse for the occupying entity to launch a large-scale military operation which would significantly damage Lebanon. In return, if Hezbollah does not manage to achieve major and overt military victories in such a confrontation, it would be a devastating blow.

In other words, the next confrontation has to be on a much greater scale than anything seen before, a military campaign in which Hezbollah manages to shock not only the Israelis, but the world, and most importantly, the Lebanese people themselves.

The martyred Secretary General of Hezbollah, Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, often spoke of the media war with the Zionist entity, treating it with great seriousness. This was because public perception shapes not only political outcomes, but also the course of battles on the ground through morale.

Prior to September 2024, the stock of Hezbollah was incredibly high. The public perception was that the Resistance was capable of defeating the Israelis by itself. This is why the end of the war and its results, the renewed occupation of Lebanese lands, brought shock. In reality, Hezbollah’s capabilities were never matching those of the Israelis, yet the tenacity of the Lebanese fighter and the Resistance’s planning created such an impression, especially following the 2006 war.

The perception of Hezbollah’s strength made the Israeli terrorist pager attack and assassination strikes against its leadership all the more devastating, because the public believed such attacks to be impossible.

This is something that the US has since weaponised, with figures like US envoy Morgan Ortagus even declaring that Hezbollah is over. This brings us to her fellow American envoy Tom Barrack’s recent interview with Sky News Arabia.

Barrack explicitly asserted that the US is supplying the Lebanese army to fight its own people, even laughing at the idea that this support is intended to confront “Israel”. While some analysts interpreted Barrack’s statements as ill-advised or mistaken, they couldn’t be further from the truth, there is a reason why he speaks with such confidence.

The U.S. Trump administration understands full-well that the Lebanese army is not capable of removing Hezbollah’s weapons by force alone. The Americans and their Israeli allies may be many things, but they are not naive on this issue. They understand that many strings must be pulled if Hezbollah is actually going to suffer a blow which will lead to significant military degradation.

Part of this strategy is to try and publicly humiliate not only Hezbollah, but also the Lebanese State and people as a whole. Meanwhile, the Israelis are performing their part in this plot and are escalating their provocative actions, now implementing tactics such as deliberately carrying out civilian massacres, like the one that occurred in Bint Jbeil recently. Also, they are now attempting to clear portions of southern Lebanon by issuing evacuation orders before bombing civilian buildings.

What the likes of Nawaf Salam don’t appear to understand is that they are totally disposable in this equation. Meaning that there is even a danger he could be assassinated by the Israelis or Americans in order to pin the blame on Hezbollah and its allies.

Right now, the US and “Israel” are plotting against Lebanon. They will seek to carry out actions which will be just as detrimental, if not more, than what we witnessed last September, and they are under no illusions about whether the Lebanese army could simply disarm Hezbollah for them.

The Israelis are openly seeking the so-called “Greater Israel”, as per their Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s own admission earlier this year. A common misconception about the “Greater Israel Project” is that it would mean occupying Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, parts of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and even Türkiye, in the same way it did in Palestinian occupied territories.

In fact, the man who first conceived the “Greater Israel” model, Oded Yinon, in his academic article back in 1982, advocated for an Israeli empire, under which the nations of the region would be broken down into sectarian regimes and ethno-states, all of which would be effectively demilitarized and under the de-facto control of the Zionist Entity.

When the Zionist regime occupied southern Lebanon following the 1982 invasion, during which 20,000 people were killed, it relied on the “South Lebanon Army” to carry out its agenda. A similar system was not set up in the occupied West Bank. There, the Zionists instead injected their population to build illegal settlements and Judaize the area, while collaborators managed the territory under Israeli rule.

Similarly, in Syria, the Zionists are not necessarily interested in settling Daraa, for instance, they would much rather demilitarize the entire south, except the collaborator regime they hope to implement in Sweida. Officials in Tel Aviv have also made it clear that they will never tolerate the rebuilding of the Syrian Arab Army; they will only allow a military force comparable to that of Lebanon.

All of this is to say that there is a psychological war being waged on the people of Lebanon and region at large. Hezbollah is still very much militarily capable of taking the fight to the Israelis, but how they do it is of great importance. We know well that the Resistance still possesses considerable capabilities, because we witnessed newly revealed weapons right up until the final days of the war, many of them in clear abundance.

One mistake that the US may be making, however, is that all its rhetoric about Hezbollah could well backfire.

September 30, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation, Militarism | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hamas: Blair not welcome in Palestine, our people can manage their own affairs

MEMO | September 29, 2025

Hamas said on Sunday evening that former British prime minister Tony Blair is “not welcome in the Palestinian context,” and stressed that it has not received any proposal through mediators for a ceasefire.

The statement came by Hossam Badran, a member of the movement’s political bureau, in remarks published on the movement’s Telegram channel.

His comments followed a report by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, quoting an Arab political source, that the US administration had developed a plan to appoint Blair to lead a temporary administration for the Gaza Strip.

Badran warned that “linking any plan to this unwelcome person (Blair) is a bad omen for the Palestinian people.” He described Blair as a “negative figure who may deserve to stand before international courts for crimes he committed, especially his role in the war on Iraq (2003–2011).”

He further labelled Blair “the brother of the devil,” saying, “He has brought no good to the Palestinian cause, nor to Arabs or Muslims, and his criminal and destructive role has been known for years.”

Badran stressed that managing Palestinian affairs in Gaza or the West Bank is an internal Palestinian matter that must be agreed upon nationally, and that no regional or international party has the right to impose how the Palestinian people govern themselves.

September 29, 2025 Posted by | Illegal Occupation | , , , , , | Leave a comment

UN blacklist expands to 158 firms over Israeli settlement ties

Al Mayadeen | September 27, 2025

The United Nations has expanded its blacklist of companies linked to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, adding 68 firms from 11 countries accused of contributing to violations of Palestinian human rights.

The updated “database of companies,” released Friday by the UN human rights office, now includes 158 businesses, most of them Israeli. Others are headquartered in the United States, Canada, China, Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

The list highlights firms engaged in activities deemed supportive of settlement expansion, which much of the international community considers illegal under international law. These include suppliers of construction materials, heavy equipment vendors, and providers of financial, security, and travel services.

Among the latest additions are German building materials giant Heidelberg Materials, Portuguese rail systems provider Steconfer, and Spanish engineering firm Ineco. US-based Expedia Group, Booking Holdings Inc., and Airbnb, Inc. also remain on the list.

First update since 2023

While 68 new companies were named, seven were removed following a UN review of 215 enterprises. The delisted firms include French transport company Alstom and online travel agencies eDreams (Spain) and Opodo (Britain).

“Businesses working in contexts of conflict have a due diligence responsibility to ensure their activities do not contribute to human rights abuses,” said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN human rights office. “We call on businesses to take appropriate action to address the adverse human rights impacts of their activities.”

Shamdasani added that governments also bear responsibility for ensuring that corporations under their jurisdiction are not complicit in rights violations.

The newly flagged companies are concentrated in industries such as construction, real estate, mining, and quarrying. Each was notified of its inclusion and granted the right of reply.

This marks the first update to the database since 2023, when 97 companies were listed, down from 112 in the original 2020 publication. Fifteen firms, including US food conglomerate General Mills, were removed during that previous revision.

September 27, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation | , , | Leave a comment

Labelling the Palestinian resistance: Political propaganda or legal classification?

By Sayid Marcos Tenorio | MEMO | August 30, 2025

The dominant narrative in the West portrays the Islamic Resistance Movement – Hamas – as a “terrorist group”, uncritically repeating the rhetoric of Israel and its allies. However, when analysing the issue from the perspective of international law and the history of national liberation movements, it is clear that the “terrorism” label is more a tool of political propaganda than a legal definition.

In light of international law and the United Nations Charter, Hamas should be understood as a Palestinian resistance movement in the face of more than seven decades of Israeli colonisation, ethnic cleansing, and military occupation. This also includes almost two years of uninterrupted confrontation with genocide in the Gaza Strip.

The United Nations (UN) has never declared Hamas a terrorist group. Only a few countries, such as the United States, the European Union, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia, have unilaterally adopted this classification. International law, in turn, does not criminalise resistance against occupation.

Since 1967, Israel has maintained its occupation of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, in flagrant violation of the UN Charter and Security Council resolutions. According to International Humanitarian Law, peoples subjected to foreign occupation have the legitimate right to resist, including by armed means, against the occupying power.

This principle is supported by Article 51 of the UN Charter, as well as Resolutions No. 2649/1970, 2787/1971, 3070/1973, and 3103/1974, which explicitly recognise the inalienable right of peoples to fight against colonial domination, foreign occupation, and apartheid. Furthermore, the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols of 1977, along with the practice of the International Criminal Court (ICC), distinguish between armed resistance and terrorism.

Therefore, the existence of an armed struggle against occupation does not constitute terrorism, but rather a legitimate exercise of resistance.

Founded in 1987 during the First Intifada, Hamas is not just an armed group; it is also a political, social, and religious movement deeply rooted in Palestinian society.

Its surprising victory in the 2006 legislative elections, which were recognised as free and democratic by international observers, demonstrates its popular representation. It won 76 of the 132 seats, while its main rival, Yasser Arafat’s Fatah, won 43 seats.

Over the decades, Hamas has administered social institutions, hospitals, schools, and assistance programmes, playing a similar role to liberation movements in Algeria (FLN), Vietnam (Viet Minh), or South Africa (ANC), all of which were also labelled terrorists at some point in history. Today, many of these movements are recognised as legitimate builders of their national states.

The classification of Hamas as “terrorist” serves the clear objectives of Israeli policy: To silence the debate on occupation, apartheid, and genocide, diverting attention from the root cause of the conflict; to justify massive attacks against civilians in Gaza, presented as “the fight against terrorism”; to criminalise all forms of Palestinian resistance, whether armed or peaceful – from NGOs to journalists and students.

Judith Butler, an American philosopher from the University of Berkeley, observes that armed resistance under occupation cannot be reduced to terrorism, as this ignores the structural causes of violence: colonialism, supremacism, and military occupation.

Since 2007, Israel has imposed a land, air, and sea blockade on the Gaza Strip, which the UN classifies as collective punishment – a practice prohibited by international law. Millions of Palestinians live without freedom of movement, drinking water, electricity, and medicines. With each Israeli offensive, thousands of civilians are massacred, homes and hospitals are destroyed, and entire neighbourhoods are razed.

The current scenario of indiscriminate attacks on hospitals, schools, and refugee camps is described by international law experts and UN rapporteurs as ongoing genocide, due to the scale of the destruction and the explicit intention to expel or exterminate the original Palestinian population of Gaza.

In the face of this reality, Hamas’s armed resistance should be understood not as terrorism, but as the exercise of a people’s right to self-defence under occupation and ethnic cleansing. The Palestinian struggle is, in essence, a struggle for physical and cultural survival in the face of a colonial project to eliminate all forms of life in Palestine.

The framing of Hamas as a terrorist group is a political construct of Israel and its Western allies, without a basis in international law. Palestinian resistance, whether armed or not, is recognised as legitimate by the UN, the BRICS countries, and international treaties whenever it is intended to confront foreign occupation and colonial oppression.

Calling Hamas “terrorist” is an attempt to delegitimise the struggle of a people seeking freedom, justice, and self-determination. The truth is that Israel, as the occupying power, systematically violates international law, practices apartheid, and commits war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Hamas is an integral part of the Palestinian resistance and must be understood as a national liberation movement, not as terrorism. Recognising this fact is a fundamental step towards a fair and honest reading of the conflict and for seeking a solution based on historical truth, justice, and the right of peoples to self-determination.

September 4, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation | , , , | Leave a comment

Israeli drones drop grenades near UNIFIL in Lebanon amid Hezbollah disarmament push

Press TV – September 3, 2025

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) says Israeli drones have dropped four grenades close to peacekeepers working to clear roadblocks, which were hindering access to a UN position, in “one of the most serious attacks” on its personnel since the 2024 ceasefire deal between Lebanon and Israel.

“This is one of the most serious attacks on UNIFIL personnel and assets since the cessation of hostilities agreement of last November,” the UNIFIL said in a statement on Wednesday.

It added, “One grenade impacted within 20 meters and three within approximately 100 meters of UN personnel and vehicles.”

UNIFIL has stated that the Israeli army was notified beforehand regarding its road clearance operations in the area, southeast of the village of Marwahin.

“Any actions endangering UN peacekeepers and assets, and interference with their mandated tasks are unacceptable and a serious violation of Resolution 1701 and international law,” the UNIFIL said.

The resolution, which brokered a ceasefire in the 33-day-long war Israel launched against Lebanon in 2006, calls on the occupying Tel Aviv regime to respect Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Last week, the UN Security Council voted unanimously to terminate the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon at the end of next year after nearly five decades, bowing to demands from the United States and its close ally Israel.

The UNIFIL was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after Israel’s 1978 invasion. Its mission was expanded following the summer 2006 war on Lebanon.

The Israeli attack also comes amid growing pressure on the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah. The United States and Israel have increasingly attacked the peacekeeping force for not countering Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

However, observers note that UNIFIL’s mandate does not include countering Hezbollah, and the resistance movement is widely viewed across Lebanon as a critical deterrent against Israeli aggression.

Despite near-daily Israeli airstrikes and repeated violations of Lebanese airspace and sovereignty, Hezbollah remains the only credible military force capable of confronting the occupation and preventing further Israeli incursions.

Lebanese officials have condemned Israel’s continued occupation of five positions in southern Lebanon, calling it a clear breach of the ceasefire terms.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, under growing US-Israeli pressure to push for Hezbollah’s disarmament, welcomed the extension of UNIFIL’s mandate but emphasized the need for Israel to withdraw from occupied Lebanese territory.

Critics, however, question how Lebanese forces can assert control in the south while Israeli troops remain in place and escalate attacks.

As calls to disarm Hezbollah grow louder from Washington and Israel, many in Lebanon argue that such efforts ignore the core issue of Israel’s continued violations of Lebanese sovereignty.

September 3, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Belgium announces sanctions against Israel

RT | September 2, 2025

Belgium will recognize Palestinian statehood and impose sanctions on Israel over its war in Gaza, the country’s Foreign Ministry has announced.

The Western European country, which hosts the headquarters of both the EU and NATO, unveiled the measures on Tuesday as pressure grows on Israel to reach a ceasefire with Hamas and allow more humanitarian aid into the besieged Palestinian enclave.

In light of the “humanitarian tragedy in Gaza,” Belgium has decided to “increase pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas terrorists,” Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot wrote on X. “This is not about punishing the Israeli people, but about ensuring that their government respects international and humanitarian law and takes action to change the situation on the ground,” he added.

The sanctions include a ban on imports of products from Jewish settlements in the West Bank and restrictions on consular assistance for Belgian nationals living in settlements considered illegal under international law.

Brussels will also review procurement involving Israeli companies and blacklist “two extremist Israeli ministers, several violent settlers, and Hamas leaders,” Prevot said. He added that Belgium would push for the suspension of the EU’s trade agreement with Israel.

Several countries, including France, plan to recognize Palestine at the UN General Assembly later this month, drawing strong criticism from Israel.

Last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused France and Australia of failing to tackle anti-Semitism, arguing that recognition of Palestine would only embolden Hamas.

Israel has rejected UN warnings of famine in Gaza, where more than 63,500 people have been killed since October 2023, according to local health authorities. West Jerusalem has pledged to allow the delivery of aid, but not through distribution points it claims are controlled by Hamas.

September 2, 2025 Posted by | Economics, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

Pentagon begins sudden troop withdrawal from major Iraq bases: Report

The Cradle | August 25, 2025

US forces have begun their withdrawal from two major military bases in Iraq, accelerating a previously negotiated timeline for the drawdown of International Coalition troops, Iraqi Kurdish media reported on 24 August.

According to a high-level source in the Iraqi government speaking with Kurdistan24, the withdrawal began Sunday morning following an order issued by the US Embassy.

The source stated that the Ain al-Asad base in Anbar and the Victory base at Baghdad International Airport are expected to be completely evacuated within the next few days.

The source added that some 2,000 US troops have been stationed at Ain al-Asad, a key hub for US operations in the country.

An Iraqi security source speaking with Shafaq News had provided a longer timeline for the withdrawal from Ain al-Asad, stating last week that the last US soldier would leave the base by 15 September, after which the international coalition headquarters there would be permanently closed.

Washington has justified the presence of US troops in Iraq under the pretext of fighting ISIS as part of an international coalition.

However, the US military has covertly supported ISIS in the past, including during the organization’s lightning capture of Mosul – the country’s second largest city – in June 2014.

The source speaking with the Kurdish news outlet indicated that a portion of the soldiers who have withdrawn have been transferred to Erbil, the capital of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.

The Kurdistan region is controlled in part by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), led by Masoud Barzani.

The KDP assisted ISIS in taking over Mosul in 2014 and in carrying out the Genocide of Yezidis in nearby Sinjar two months later. Following the genocide, some ISIS leaders continued to live in safety in Erbil under KDP protection.

The abrupt withdrawal of US forces also accelerates the official timeline recently announced by Hussein Alawi, an advisor to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.

Alawi announced a timeline for a gradual withdrawal that would begin in September of this year and be completed by September 2026. He said the move would return relations between the US and Iraq to a “normal state,” giving the US military only an advisory role in Iraq.

US troops invaded and occupied Iraq in 2003 in a war to topple the government of Saddam Hussein. After withdrawing in 2011, they returned in 2014 following the rise of ISIS.

Alawi stated that “the Iraqi government is committed to its governmental program by building up the armed forces, ending the mission of the International Coalition, and transitioning the security relationship with them to a stable, bilateral defense relationship.”

Earlier this month, the US Defense Department announced that US forces had departed three military bases in northeast Syria. US troops were also stationed in Syria under the pretext of fighting ISIS.

A quarterly report from the Defense Department’s Inspector General said US and coalition troops had withdrawn from Mission Support Site Green Village, H2, and Mission Support Site Euphrates, sometimes referred to as the Conoco gas field, in May.

August 25, 2025 Posted by | Illegal Occupation | , , | Leave a comment

Damascus requests Russian patrols in south Syria to ‘limit’ Israeli incursions: Report

The Cradle | August 12, 2025

The Syrian government has requested that the Russian military resume patrols in Syria’s southern governorates, according to a source cited by Kommersant.

The Russian outlet said Damascus believes these patrols could help reduce Israeli incursions.

According to the source, who attended a meeting between Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and members of the Syrian diaspora in Moscow, during the minister’s official visit to Russia, told the Russian newspaper that Damascus has asked Moscow to resume military police patrols in the border areas with Israel, as it did before the fall of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s government.

“Russia’s return to its previous positions could prevent Israel’s interference in Syrian affairs,” the source said.

Since the fall of Assad’s government last year, Israeli forces have established a widespread occupation across southern Syria.

Occupation forces continue to expand their presence in the country’s south, launching regular raids and incursions. Israel says it wishes to demilitarize the entire south and protect the Druze minority from persecution.

Last month, Israel bombed Syria’s Defense Ministry and Presidential Palace in Damascus amid clashes between government forces and Druze militants. According to reports, Syrian-Israeli negotiations, which had been ongoing since the start of the year, resumed quickly after the attacks following a brief pause.

Damascus has repeatedly signaled that it does not intend to pose a threat to Israel.

The Syrian government has also held talks with Russia over several issues, including its continued military presence in Syria. Earlier this year, it was reported that Syria was receiving currency shipments from Moscow.

Russia was a major backer of the former Syrian government, and carried out strikes targeting many of the groups which are now a part of the new Syrian army and security apparatus, including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the former Al-Qaeda affiliate which toppled Assad’s government in December last year.

Despite past enmity, ties between Moscow and the new Syrian state have been cordial, and the Russian military has kept bases in the country.

August 12, 2025 Posted by | Illegal Occupation, Militarism | , , , | Leave a comment

US House Speaker claims West Bank “rightful property of Jewish People”

MEMO | August 5, 2025

US House Speaker Mike Johnson visited on Monday the illegal settlement of Ariel, built in the occupied West Bank, marking the first visit of its kind by a US official in this position.

During the visit, Johnson said “Judea and Samaria” was the “rightful property of the Jewish people”, using the Israeli term for the occupied West Bank, Israel’s Channel 7 reported.

According to the channel, the high-level US delegation led by Johnson made the visit with the aim of “strengthening strategic relations between the two countries and deepening knowledge of the Judea and Samaria region”.

During the visit, Johnson, along with 15 other members of Congress, participated in a tree-planting event in the settlement.

The Hebrew channel claimed that the visit affirms US “support for Israel’s right to sovereignty over its lands.”

Ariel Mayor Yair Chetboun described the visit as “historic” and embodies the shared values, deep friendship, and strong partnership between the United States and Israel.

In response, the Palestinian foreign ministry condemned Johnson’s visit and described it as a “blatant violation of international law and international legitimacy resolutions, and an encouragement of settlement crimes and the confiscation of Palestinian lands”.

The ministry considered Johnson’s statements “provocative” and a “clear contradiction of the declared U.S. position on settlements and settler attacks.”

The ministry stressed that “all settlements are invalid and illegal and undermine the chances of implementing the two-state solution and achieving peace.”

Under international law, all territories occupied by Israel in 1967 including the West Bank and Syria’s Golan Heights and all settlements built there are considered illegal.

August 5, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

Moscow lists countries whose citizens took part in Ukrainian incursion into Russia

RT | August 5, 2025

Foreign nationals from over ten countries took part in Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region, according to the head of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Aleksandr Bastrykin.

Bastrykin told the media on the eve of the anniversary of the incursion that investigators identified individuals from Brazil, Colombia, Denmark, Georgia, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Sweden, the UK, and other nations as having fought alongside Ukrainian troops in the Western-supported raid.

Russian forces fully repelled the incursion in April, claiming that the attackers suffered around 76,000 casualties during the fighting, in which Ukrainian troops employed Western-supplied heavy weaponry.

Bastrykin said 331 civilians were killed and another 553 injured due to Ukraine’s actions in Kursk Region. The Investigative Committee has opened over 600 criminal cases related to the incursion, with around a third already referred for trial.

Moscow maintains that the incursion was an example of Kiev’s use of terrorist tactics, citing claims by captured soldiers that they were encouraged to use violence against civilians. Ukrainian officials have acknowledged that part of the goal was to apply pressure on the Russian public.

He detailed a range of alleged abuses, from a case in which unarmed civilians were beaten to death, to occurrences in which US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems were fired at civilian targets which Kiev allegedly knew held no military value.

Since the escalation of the conflict with Russia in 2022, Kiev has called on foreign nationals with military experience to join its armed forces, passing legislation to accommodate them. Moscow does not recognize the fighters as lawful combatants, classifying them instead as mercenaries subject to prosecution.

In May, Bastrykin reported that the Russian authorities charged 902 people with acting as mercenaries under Ukraine’s command; 97 individuals from 26 different countries have been convicted.

August 5, 2025 Posted by | Illegal Occupation, War Crimes | , , | Leave a comment

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