Japanese authorities have accused two US marines stationed in Okinawa of recently raping and assaulting local women.
Police said on Thursday that the latest incidents inside US military bases were in a string of assault cases that have angered local residents.
One of the US marines accused of rape is also suspected of assaulting another woman.
“A US marine in his 20s is suspected of raping a Japanese woman at an American military base in March, and is also suspected of injuring another woman,” a local police official told AFP.
The second marine, also in his 20s, is suspected of raping a Japanese woman at a US base in January, the official said.
Police have referred the two cases to Japan’s judicial officials. The US ambassador to Tokyo pledged to cooperate “fully” with Japanese authorities in the investigations.
Japan’s top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said in a regular briefing on Thursday that any crime by US troops based in Japan is “unacceptable”, without making any direct reference to the latest incidents.
Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki has expressed grave concern over the incidents as local authorities struggle to deter sexual and other crimes carried out by the US military personnel based in Japan.
He called the latest cases “deplorable” and said authorities would urge the US military to prevent such happenings.
Relations have long been strained between Okinawans and US marines.
Last year, a total of 80 people connected to the US military were charged in Okinawa for various crimes.
A 21-year-old marine was charged with rape in June last year, just months after prosecutors charged a 25-year-old US marine for allegedly assaulting a girl under 16.
The 1995 gang rape of a 12-year-old girl by three US soldiers in Okinawa prompted a major backlash, with calls for a rethink of the 1960 pact allowing the United States to station troops in Japan.
The United States has around 54,000 military personnel stationed in Japan — mostly on the subtropical southern island of Okinawa, to the east of Taiwan.
The news of the latest sexual assaults came after US troops on Friday joined Japanese officials and residents in Okinawa for a one-off joint nighttime patrol along a downtown street dotted with bars.
The patrol, the first such joint operation since 1973, followed other sexual assault cases in Okinawa involving US marines.
April 24, 2025
Posted by aletho |
Illegal Occupation | Human rights, Okinawa, United States |
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As part of an ongoing military escalation, Israeli occupation forces advanced into Syria’s Quneitra countryside and established a temporary military checkpoint, according to local sources.
The sources reported that several Israeli military vehicles were mobilized west of the village of al-Asha in southern Quneitra, where they advanced toward Tel al-Ahmar al-Gharbi and set up a checkpoint.
Civilian areas targeted amid escalation
The Syrian province of Quneitra has witnessed a rapid increase in Israeli military activity, marked by swift incursions and expanded targeting zones. Local reports indicate that the occupation forces have widened their operations to include civilian areas, suggesting a strategy that may involve the displacement of the local population.
Earlier this week, Israeli occupation forces carried out a sudden military operation near the towns of Taranjeh and Koum Mheires, targeting Syrian army positions and destroying installations within minutes. The strikes also hit nearby residential zones, raising concerns about whether the targeting was deliberate or collateral.
Local voices, claims of forced displacement
Abu Marwan, a resident of Quneitra province, told Al Mayadeen he is seeking compensation after ongoing Israeli operations damaged property and farmland. He said that hundreds of farmers have been affected, with Israeli forces targeting abandoned posts, disabled vehicles, and civilian areas despite the lack of any apparent security threat.
“Israel’s” creation of so-called buffer zones has moved civilian homes into active military zones, increasing the risk to residents and reinforcing concerns about an intentional push toward forced displacement.
This latest Israeli military operation aligns with a broader pattern of rapid and forceful strikes, including similar raids near the town of Hadr. In those cases, military sites were destroyed swiftly, with effects extending beyond combat zones and into populated regions.
The frequency and scale of such operations in Quneitra and near the occupied Golan Heights reflect growing concerns over Israeli expansionism and its long-term impact on southern Syria.
April 20, 2025
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Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation, War Crimes | Human rights, Israel, Syria, Zionism |
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US President Donald Trump’s recent threat to strike Iran unless it halts its nuclear program has revived interest in a long-standing American asset: Diego Garcia. B-2 stealth bombers have been deployed to the island – British territory in name but an American garrison in practice – suggesting that Washington is either preparing for war or raising the stakes with an aggressive bluff.
Located in the heart of the Indian Ocean, the Diego Garcia island gives the United States unmatched reach across West Asia, Eastern Africa, and South Asia. It has been a launchpad for every major US war in the region – from Iraq to Afghanistan. Now, it may be key to a possible assault on the Islamic Republic of Iran.
But this island, remote and seemingly uncontroversial, is steeped in colonial injustice. Its original inhabitants, the Chagossians, were forcibly expelled to make way for the base. The UK, under pressure from Washington, detached the archipelago from Mauritius and ethnically cleansed it.
In 2024, Britain finally agreed to hand back the islands to Mauritius, but the US lease remains. For now, Diego Garcia is securely in American hands – and poised once again to serve as a launchpad for imperial warfare.
From paradise to genocide
Once colonized by France and later Britain, the Chagos Islands were home to a unique Creole population descended from African slaves and Indian laborers. For generations, the Chagossians lived peacefully on the islands, building a distinct identity with their own language and customs.
As anti-colonial movements swept across Africa and Asia in the 1950s and 1960s, the US sought new bases to maintain its influence around the Indian Ocean. Camp Badaber in Pakistan ultimately closed in 1970 as the country became closer with China. The Eritrean War of Independence threatened Kagnew Station in Ethiopia. The loss of both bases would be a major blow to US intelligence gathering of Soviet activities.
Diego Garcia could plug this gap, but there were two problems: the islands were part of Mauritius and had inhabitants.
In violation of international legal norms, Britain pressured Mauritius into giving up the Chagos Archipelago.
Then began the ethnic cleansing. To intimidate the islanders, their beloved pet dogs were killed en masse through shooting and gassing. The largest plantation was closed, depriving people of employment.
Food and medical supplies were restricted to kill the population or force them to leave. By 1971, those who remained were told they needed a legal permit, which no one received. With little notice, many were forced to leave their homes. Reminiscent of the slave boats their ancestors were brought in, Chagossians were crammed into the bottom of boats as they fled the islands.
A launchpad for endless war
With the island empty and the runway extended, Diego Garcia quickly became central to US war strategy. It played a key role in the 1980 failed hostage rescue mission in Iran, “Operation Eagle Claw,” and later against Iran during the Iran–Iraq War.
In 1987, the runway was improved for the stationing of US B-52 Bombers, which can deliver large payloads and precision-guided munitions. These bombers were vital during the Gulf War for attacking Iraq’s command and control centers, and again during the beginning of the invasions and occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq.
As the US expanded its footprint in the Persian Gulf, bases in Qatar and Bahrain took on greater significance – hosting long-range bombers, the US Central Command’s (CENTCOM) headquarters, and the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet. These two bases were vital: bombers from Qatar and vessels from Bahrain helped strike Taliban strongholds during the invasion of Afghanistan and hit Baghdad in the Shock and Awe campaign.
But proximity to the battlefield has become a double-edged sword. Iran’s significant missile arsenal, including hypersonic ones – demonstrated during its October 2024 retaliation against Israel – makes those Persian Gulf bases vulnerable.
Close proximity is also a challenge for B-2 stealth bombers, which can be detected at ground level and during takeoff. With only 20 B-2s, costing $2 billion each, this is a price the US cannot afford. If war breaks out, Tehran is unlikely to spare the economic infrastructure of its neighbors.
It is unlikely that either Bahrain or Qatar would be willing to bear the cost of an Iranian attack. Iran could not only attack US military bases, but also oil and gas infrastructure, which would destroy their economies. The two nations have also been edging closer to Iran: Tehran was one of the few capitals that supported Qatar during its diplomatic crisis with Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf emirates; in the past year, Bahrain and Iran have also been working on restoring ties.
Diego Garcia, by contrast, sits well beyond the range of most Iranian missiles – at least that is the assessment for now. It allows stealth bombers to launch undetected, and Iran’s limited ability to punish the island’s British overlords makes it an ideal staging ground for Washington’s war plans.
According to available data, Iran’s longest-range missile is the Khorramshahr-4, with a reach of approximately 2,000 kilometers. Yet, the US military base in Diego Garcia – located deep in the Indian Ocean – is nearly 4,000 kilometers from Iran’s southern coast. While there is no confirmed evidence that Iran currently has the means to strike such a distant target, the existence of capabilities – undisclosed by the Islamic Republic – that could reach the US base cannot be entirely ruled out.
Moreover, the Khorramshahr-4 missile’s proven ability to evade Israeli air defenses raises concerns about the US’s ability to defend Diego Garcia in a major conflict – particularly if Iran possesses long-range missiles capable of striking the remote base.
Any attack on Iran could trigger a wider regional war, with blowback against American assets and allies across West Asia – from Tel Aviv to Riyadh. Killing a few Iranian leaders might offer symbolic victories, but Tehran’s command structure is built for resilience. The risks far outweigh the tactical gains.
A homeland turned fortress
Despite a 2019 International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling demanding Britain end “its administration of the Chagos Islands as rapidly as possible,” real justice for the Chagossians remains elusive. Although London agreed in October 2024 to begin the process of returning the archipelago to Mauritius, the US base is staying put. Mauritius offered a 99-year lease, without securing the right of return for the expelled Chagossians.
That could soon become permanent. If war erupts, Diego Garcia may once again be expanded, militarized further, and rendered uninhabitable. A concrete fortress will be all that remains of what was once a peaceful homeland.
In the end, whether through military strike or imperial inertia, the Chagossians risk losing their islands forever – not to history, but to America’s wars.
April 19, 2025
Posted by aletho |
Illegal Occupation, Militarism, Wars for Israel | Human rights, UK, United States |
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Anger has mounted in Tel Aviv as the United States informed Israel of its decision to begin a gradual withdrawal from Syria in the coming period, according to Israeli media reports yesterday.
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that American security officials notified the Israeli occupation army that the withdrawal is set to commence within two months.
Israeli officials quoted by the paper said that Tel Aviv is still pressing Washington to delay the pullout, fearing that “Turkiye will take over more strategic assets in the new Syria” once US troops leave.
The report clarified that the decision by President Donald Trump to withdraw American forces from Syria does not come as a surprise. Trump had announced his intention to pull troops out of the region on 20 January.
The paper noted that Israel is concerned about heightened tensions with Turkiye, which has been openly working to expand its influence in the region following the fall of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime.
It added that “Israel believes the withdrawal of American forces could embolden Turkiye to take control of additional strategic military assets on the ground.”
Since a coalition of opposition factions ousted Al-Assad in late 2024, the Israeli occupation’s military has launched hundreds of strikes in Syria, under the pretext of targeting military installations, naval bases and air bases to prevent the new administration from seizing the former army’s arsenal.
Israeli forces have also infiltrated the buffer zone in the Golan Heights and expanded their occupation of Syrian land.
Israel has expressed concerns over Ankara’s growing influence in Damascus, especially given Turkiye’s alliance with the interim Syrian government.
Last week Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he has “great relations” with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, adding that “Any problem that you have with Turkiye, I think I can solve. I mean, as long as you’re reasonable, you have to be reasonable. We have to be reasonable.”
April 16, 2025
Posted by aletho |
Illegal Occupation, Wars for Israel | Israel, Syria, Turkey, United States, Zionism |
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The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights announced Tuesday that Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 71 civilians in Lebanon since the November 27 ceasefire came into effect, in what it described as an ongoing Israeli assault on Lebanese territory.
Among the victims were 14 women and 9 children, according to the UN rights office, which added that fear continues to grip the population, and over 92,000 people remain displaced from their homes.
UN human rights spokesperson Thameen al-Kheetan told reporters in Geneva that the southern suburb of Beirut was bombed in two separate incidents since the ceasefire was struck. He noted that both strikes targeted areas near schools.
On the morning of April 1, an Israeli airstrike hit a residential building in the area, killing two civilians and causing serious damage to nearby buildings, he said.
Just two days later, on April 3, Israeli airstrikes destroyed a newly constructed medical center operated by the Islamic Medical Association in the southern town of Naqoura. The strike also damaged two ambulances.
Deadly Israeli strikes
Between April 4 and 8, Israeli airstrikes reportedly killed at least six more people in various towns across southern Lebanon.
Al-Kheetan said Israeli strikes have repeatedly hit civilian infrastructure since the ceasefire was declared, including residential buildings, medical facilities, roads, and even a café in the town of Aita al-Shaab.
The latest report comes amid continued Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement, with repeated attacks on southern Lebanon, the Bekaa region, and Beirut’s southern suburb, alongside the ongoing Israeli occupation of five disputed points along the border.
Targeting of civilians
Earlier today, one person was killed and three others, including a child, were injured in an Israeli airstrike targeting a vehicle in the town of Aitaroun, in the Bint Jbeil district of southern Lebanon.
On a related note, MP Hassan Fadlallah of the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc emphasized in parliament last week that expelling the Israeli occupation from Lebanese territory, liberating Lebanese prisoners, halting “Israel’s” aggression and violations of sovereignty, and rebuilding what it has destroyed are responsibilities that fall on all loyal Lebanese citizens, as well as on the state and its institutions.
He emphasized that the defensive strategy is a purely internal Lebanese matter to be agreed upon by those who believe in these principles and who recognize “Israel” as Lebanon’s enemy.
“As for those who do not view Israel as an enemy of Lebanon, who incite internal division, and who promote, justify, and market for the enemy — such individuals are unfit to take part in any internal dialogue focused on building the components of national strength to protect sovereignty,” Fadlallah indicated.
April 15, 2025
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Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation, War Crimes | Israel, Lebanon, Zionism |
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The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has filed a legal appeal in the United Kingdom in an unprecedented move, challenging the British government’s decision to designate the group as a “proscribed terrorist organization.”
The case, submitted on Wednesday, seeks to overturn the classification, with Hamas asserting that it is a legitimate movement advocating for Palestinian self-determination and liberation, not a “terrorist entity.”
Mousa Abu Marzouk, a prominent leader of the group and its head of international relations, is spearheading the appeal.
He has vehemently rejected the UK’s characterization of Hamas in those terms, reminding that the group’s goal is to liberate Palestine from Israeli occupation, not to target Western nations.
Marzouk has stressed that the resistance movement’s struggle was against Zionism, a colonial project targeting Palestine, while underlining that the group has never harbored any plans to harm Jewish people.
“We are not fighting against Jews, we are fighting against the Zionist regime, which is an illegitimate entity in Palestine,” he stated.
He also denounced the UK for rendering support for Zionism and the establishment of the Israeli regime in 1948, and regretted that the regime continues the legacy of colonialism in the region.
Drawing comparisons to global liberation struggles, Marzouk likened Hamas to South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) and Ireland’s Sinn Féin, stressing that like these movements, Hamas represents a legitimate resistance force against foreign occupation.
Legal team: Hamas sole effective force resisting genocide
Hamas’ legal team, led by two British barristers from Riverway Law, a law firm based in South London, underscores that the proscription not only misrepresents the group, but also obstructs freedom of speech and stifles open dialogue.
The lawyers also contend that by labeling Hamas as a “terrorist group,” the British government violates international obligations related to the prevention of genocide and crimes against humanity — which the Israeli regime has been indulging in across the Gaza Strip, where the movement is headquartered.
They assert that Hamas is the sole effective force resisting the ongoing genocide being committed by the Israeli regime in Gaza.
The British government first proscribed Hamas’ military wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, as a “terrorist organization” in 2001.
In 2021, the political wing of Hamas was also added to the proscription list. The Home Office tried to defend its decision, claiming that Hamas operated as a “unified terrorist entity.”
However, Hamas’ lawyers strongly contest this characterization, clarifying that the group functions as a broad-based resistance movement with political and social dimensions.
In his witness statement, Marzouk has provided a personal perspective on the issue of the Israeli regime’s Western-backed occupation of Palestine and aggression towards Palestinians.
He rejected the so-called legitimacy of the regime and reaffirmed Hamas’ commitment to full liberation of Palestine, with the holy occupied city of al-Quds as its capital, and establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state along its borders before 1967, when the regime went on to grab more Palestinian land with more Western support.
The case’s potential
The UK Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, has 90 days to respond to the petition. If the case is rejected, it will proceed to a tribunal for further legal proceedings.
If successful, it could lead to a reevaluation of Hamas’ designation.
Addressing the issue, observers say the case could have a far-reaching impact on how resistance movements are viewed in the political and legal arenas amid growing international opposition against the Israeli regime’s genocidal, expansionist, and other criminal efforts.
London’s likely reversal of the designation, they further note, could potentially shift the international discourse surrounding Palestinian liberation efforts.
Marzouk, meanwhile, commented on Hamas’ members and their fellow Gaza-based resistance fighters’ historic Operation al-Aqsa Storm against the occupied Palestinian territories. The operation saw the fighters venture deep into the territories, encircle strategic Israeli bases, and ensnare 240 Zionists.
He called the development a military operation targeting the Israeli regime’s Southern Command rather than a deliberate assault on civilians as Tel Aviv and its backers have claimed.
April 10, 2025
Posted by aletho |
Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation | Israel, Palestine, UK, Zionism |
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Through ‘David’s Corridor,’ Israel aims to forge a geopolitical artery stretching from occupied Golan to Iraqi Kurdistan, reshaping West Asia
In recent years, the Zionist idea of “David’s Corridor” has surfaced in Tel Aviv’s strategic and political discourse on the reshaping of its geopolitical influence in the Levant. Though the Israelis have made no official announcement, analysts have pointed to this corridor as a covert project aimed at linking Kurdish-controlled northern Syria – backed by the US – to Israel via a continuous land route.
The so-called David’s Corridor refers to an alleged Israeli project to establish a land corridor stretching from the occupied Syrian Golan Heights through southern Syria to the Euphrates River. This hypothetical route would traverse the governorates of Deraa, Suwayda, Al-Tanf, Deir Ezzor, and the Iraqi–Syrian border area of Albu Kamal, providing the occupation state with a strategic overland channel into the heart of West Asia.
A biblical blueprint
Ideologically, the project is rooted in the vision of “Greater Israel,” an expansionist concept attributed to Zionism’s founder, Theodor Herzl. The vision draws on a biblical map extending from Egypt’s Nile to Iraq’s Euphrates.
Dr Leila Nicola, professor of international relations at the Lebanese University, tells The Cradle that David’s Corridor embodies a theological vision requiring Israeli control over Syria, Iraq, and Egypt – a triad central to both biblical lore and regional dominance. Regional affairs scholar Dr Talal Atrissi echoes this view, believing that developments in Syria have lent new geopolitical realism to Israel’s historical ambitions.
Unsurprisingly, the proposed corridor is a lightning rod for controversy, seen by many as a strategic bid to expand Israeli hegemony. Yet significant barriers stand in its way. As Atrissi notes, the corridor cuts through volatile terrain, where actors like Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) remain formidable spoilers. Even a minor act of sabotage could disrupt the project, particularly given the absence of a stable regional environment needed to sustain such a sensitive and expansive route.
Strategically, David’s Corridor aligns with Israel’s enduring policy of cultivating ties with regional minorities – Kurds, Druze, and others – to offset hostility from Arab states. This decades-old “peripheral alliance” strategy has underpinned Israeli support for Kurdish autonomy since the 1960s. The project’s biblical symbolism of expanding “Israel” to the Euphrates, and its strategic calculus, combine to make the corridor both a mythological promise and a geopolitical asset.
Nicola further contextualizes this within the framework of the “ocean doctrine,” a policy Israel pursued by courting non-Arab or peripheral powers like the Shah’s Iran and Turkiye, and forging alliances with ethnic and sectarian minorities in neighboring states.
The doctrine aimed to pierce the Arab wall encircling Israel and extend its geopolitical reach. David’s Corridor fits snugly within this paradigm, drawing on both spiritual mythology and strategic necessity.
Syria’s fragmentation: A gateway
The collapse of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s government and the rise of Ahmad al-Sharaa’s Al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) have accelerated Syria’s internal fragmentation. Sharaa’s administration inked deals with the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), integrating Kurdish-controlled areas into the nominal Syrian state while cementing Kurdish autonomy. In Suwayda, a separate agreement preserved Druze administrative independence in exchange for nominal state integration.
But Atrissi warns that such sectarian autonomy, even if pragmatic for containing tensions in the short term, risks entrenching divisions and inviting foreign meddling. He notes that the trauma of massacres on Syria’s coast has left minorities, especially the Alawites, deeply skeptical of the central authority in Damascus, pushing them toward local power arrangements. Israel, with its historical penchant for minority alliances, sees an opportunity to entrench its influence under the guise of protection.
Israel’s longstanding partnership with Iraqi Kurdistan is a case in point – a strategic relationship that offers a blueprint for replication in Syria. David’s Corridor, in this reading, is less a logistical imperative and more a political ambition. Should conditions allow, the occupation state may leverage the corridor to encircle Iran and redraw regional fault lines.
A map of the proposed David’s Corridor
A corridor of influence, not infrastructure
From Tel Aviv’s perspective, southern Syria is now a strategic vacuum: Syria’s army is weakened, Turkiye is entangled in its own Kurdish dilemmas, and Iran is overstretched. This power void offers fertile ground for Israel to assert dominance, particularly if regional dynamics continue to favor decentralized, weak governance.
Despite Washington’s reduced military footprint, the US remains committed to containing Iran. Key outposts like the Al-Tanf base on the Syrian–Iraqi border are instrumental in severing the so-called Iranian land bridge from Tehran to Beirut.
Nicola argues that while David’s Corridor is not an explicit US policy, Washington is likely to support Israeli initiatives that align with American strategic goals:
“The United States does not mind Israel implementing the project if it serves its interests, even though it is not part of its immediate strategy. It focuses on reducing Iran’s influence and dismantling its nuclear program, while supporting the path of regional normalization with Tel Aviv.”
The 2020 Abraham Accords, by easing Israel’s diplomatic isolation, have created additional maneuvering space. David’s Corridor – once a fantasy – now appears more plausible amid the regional flux.
Israeli leaders have sent unmistakable signals. On 23 February, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected any Syrian military presence south of Damascus, insisting on demilitarized zones in Quneitra, Deraa, and Suwayda under the pretext of protecting Syria’s Druze minority.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar openly advocated for a federal Syria – a euphemism for fragmentation. Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed that Israeli troops would remain indefinitely in Mount Hermon and the Golan, and called for the dismantling of Syria into federal entities. Media leaks of corridor maps have only fueled speculation.
These moves have triggered outrage in southern Syria, with protests erupting in Khan Arnaba, Quneitra, Nawa, Busra al-Sham, and Suwayda. Yet, as Nicola notes, the new Syrian leadership appears remarkably disinterested in confronting Israel, and Arab states remain largely indifferent, even as the project edges toward realization. Turkiye, by contrast, stands firmly opposed to any Kurdish-led partition of Syria.
Geopolitical stakes and final frontiers
Ultimately, David’s Corridor signals a broader Israeli project to reengineer Syria’s geopolitics: isolate the south militarily, bind the Kurds in alliance, shift the balance of power, and carve a corridor of influence through fractured terrain.
Israel’s objectives are layered. Militarily, the corridor provides strategic depth and disrupts Iran’s land routes to Hezbollah. It enables the flow of arms and intelligence support to allies, especially Kurdish forces.
Economically, it opens a potential oil pipeline from Kirkuk or Erbil – Kurdish-majority, oil-rich areas – to Haifa, bypassing Turkish routes and maritime threats from actors like Yemen’s Ansarallah-allied army. Politically, it solidifies Israeli–Kurdish ties, undermines Syrian and Iraqi sovereignty, and advances the vision of Greater Israel, with the Euphrates as a symbolic frontier.
Yet the corridor is not without risk. It threatens to deepen the region’s instability, antagonize Syria, Turkiye, Iran, and Iraq, and trigger new fronts of resistance. Whether Israel can realize this project depends on the fluid regional calculus and its ability to maneuver within it.
David’s Corridor may still be a project in the shadows – but its implications are already casting a long one across the region.
April 5, 2025
Posted by aletho |
Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation, Wars for Israel | Israel, Middle East, Syria, Turkey, United States, Zionism |
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UK military officials have dismissed Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s proposal for deploying Western troops to Ukraine as part of a ‘peacekeeping force’ to oversee a potential ceasefire, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. Senior military sources told the outlet that Starmer had “got ahead of himself.”
Starmer announced the initiative earlier this month, aiming to build a “coalition of the willing” to support Ukraine militarily. Last week, he claimed that multiple countries backed the idea of sending in a peacekeeping force of up to 10,000 troops, despite Moscow’s opposition to any Western deployments in the conflict zone.
London hosted planning talks last week with military officials from partner nations. However, military sources dismissed the plans as premature and politically motivated.
“There is no defined military end-state or military-strategic planning assumptions. It’s all political theater,” one senior army official told the news outlet.
“Starmer got ahead of himself with talk of boots on the ground before he knew what he was talking about.”
The discussions have reportedly shifted their focus from boots on the ground to air and naval support. The Telegraph reported that RAF fighter jets could be deployed to patrol Ukrainian airspace, while British Typhoons could provide air cover for ground forces, though the size and role of any ground deployment remain unclear.
“It’s politics. There’s no military sense in it,” another defense source said, noting that neither Russia nor the US support the coalition. He also pointed to a lack of clarity on mission goals.
“What is a 10,000-international force based in the west of the country over 400km from the front line meant to do? It cannot even protect itself,” he argued. “What is the mission? What is its legitimacy? What are the rules of engagement? How is it commanded, supplied and housed? How long is it there for and why? No one knows.”
Further planning talks are expected in London on Monday between British and French defense officials. French President Emmanuel Macron is reportedly considering invoking the UN to authorize a European troop presence in Ukraine. However, Russia has repeatedly rejected the idea of Western peacekeepers in Ukraine, noting that it would require UN Security Council approval, where Moscow holds veto power.
March 24, 2025
Posted by aletho |
Illegal Occupation, Militarism | France, UK, Ukraine |
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The Israeli army carried out heavy airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon on 20 March, claiming it targeted “terrorist infrastructure” and a “military site” belonging to Hezbollah.
Massive explosions were seen in video footage of an Israeli attack on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese town of Jbaa on Thursday evening.
Airstrikes also hit the town of Taraya west of Baalbek and the Shaara area near the town of Janta in the Bekaa Valley, in eastern Lebanon.
“A short while ago, the IDF struck a military site containing an underground terrorist infrastructure site in the Bekaa area in Lebanon, as well as a military site containing rocket launchers in southern Lebanon in which Hezbollah activity has been identified,” the Israeli army said in a statement.
“The IDF will continue to operate to remove any threat to the State of Israel and will operate to prevent any attempt by the Hezbollah terrorist organization to rebuild its forces,” it added.
Israeli forces recently expanded their occupation of southern Lebanon in violation of the ceasefire agreement, which was supposed to see Tel Aviv fully withdraw its forces from the country.
Israel has also relentlessly bombarded south and east Lebanon since the ceasefire was reached in November last year.
Tel Aviv claims to be acting on its rights within the deal by preventing Hezbollah from rearming itself. However, the agreement signed by Beirut does not include anything about Israeli forces having the right to attack the country or occupy its land, instead stipulating that the resistance’s presence and military infrastructure must be dismantled by the Lebanese army south of the Litani River in south Lebanon.
Israel accuses Hezbollah of having not fully withdrawn to the north of the Litani River, as per the agreement. It also accuses the Lebanese resistance of trying to reconstitute its forces.
“We maintain five points on the Lebanese side of the border to protect our territory. We will not relinquish control [of the five sites],” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week.
March 21, 2025
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Illegal Occupation, War Crimes | Hezbollah, Israel, Lebanon, Zionism |
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Israel has carried out an airstrike on the outskirts of Damascus and its tanks have advanced into the southwestern Quneitra region in the latest aggression against Syria since the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad.
Media reports, quoting sources, said Israeli aircraft targeted a residential building in northwest of Damascus on Thursday.
A short video published by Israel’s military showed an explosion at the edge of a building followed by thick plumes of smoke. Local paramedics said at least three people were wounded in the latest attack.
A series of Israeli aerial raids also hit the town of Kiswah, south of Damascus, and several parts of the Dara’a province.
Elsewhere on Thursday, Israeli forces advanced into the countryside in the al-Quneitra region with tanks and military vehicles, detonating former military sites.
In a brazen declaration of expansionist Zionist ambitions, an Israeli Knesset member last week openly called for Syria to be placed under the regime’s full control.
Boaz Bismuth said Israel “will not allow a military force to emerge in Syria after Assad’s fall.”
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently said the regime will not tolerate the presence of the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) or any other forces affiliated with the new rulers in southern Syria.
He also said Israeli troops will remain stationed at a so-called “buffer zone” inside the occupied Golan Heights, seized following the fall of President Assad.
The buffer zone was created by the United Nations after the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. A UN force of about 1,100 troops had patrolled the area since then.
Netanyahu said the regime’s forces will maintain an indefinite military presence at the summit of Mount Hermon, and the adjacent zone.
Following the downfall of Assad, the Israeli military has been launching airstrikes against military installations, facilities, and arsenals belonging to Syria’s now-defunct army.
The strikes were accompanied by ground incursions, as tanks and armored bulldozers penetrated Syrian territory, beyond the Golan Heights to Qatana, barely 30 kilometers from Damascus.
Israel has been condemned for the termination of the 1974 ceasefire agreement with Syria, and exploiting the chaos in the country in the wake of Assad’s downfall to make a land grab.
Former al-Qaeda affiliate the HTS took control of Damascus in early December in a stunning offensive, prompting Israel to move forces into a UN-monitored demilitarized zone within Syria.
The Israeli regime has occupied some 600 kilometers of Syrian territory since the fall of Assad.
The HTS remained conspicuously silent on the unprecedented Israeli aggression, refusing to condemn the land theft, a move seen by regional experts as a sign of internal instability.
The developments also come as the HTS militants and armed opposition groups recently engaged in deadly confrontations in the country’s northwestern coastal region.
More than 1,540 people, the majority of them civilians, have been killed so far in the violence in the provinces of Tartus, Latakia, Hama and Homs, according to the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
Iran is alarmed at the spread of violence and instability in Syria, warning that the situation serves to pave the way for regional instability and further Israeli provocations.
Most of the civilians were killed in close-range shootings by foreign-backed HTS militants.
The resistance groups in Syria have accused the new Western-backed HTS rulers of perpetrating massacres of minority communities, warning of an “endless conflict” ahead if the international community did not take immediate measures to halt the violence.
Iran and several regional nations have condemned what Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei called the “unjustifiable” killing of civilians across Syria.
March 13, 2025
Posted by aletho |
Illegal Occupation, War Crimes | Israel, Syria, Zionism |
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Ukrainian forces in Kursk Region, western Russia, have been encircled and isolated, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said on Tuesday. He added that 86% of the territory has been liberated, and that the systematic destruction of enemy forces is underway.
Gerasimov reported on the situation in Kursk Region during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at one of the command posts in the area.
Over the past five days, Russia’s ‘North’ military grouping took control of 24 settlements and 259 square kilometers of territory, Gerasimov said. In certain areas, Russian forces have advanced and crossed into Ukraine’s Sumy Region.
He also said that the Ukrainian army suffered 67,000 casualties in the area.
Gerasimov added that in the nearest future Ukrainian troops would be defeated in Kursk and that Moscow’s forces would reach the border. He said that enemy soldiers were surrendering, with 430 prisoners already taken.
According to some reports, the fighting is ongoing in the western and northwestern outskirts of Sudzha.
Putin stated that Ukrainian prisoners should be treated “as terrorists in accordance with Russian law.”
March 12, 2025
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Illegal Occupation | Russia, Ukraine |
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Hamas Resistance Movement issued on Monday a statement to condemn and reject the occupation’s violation of the ceasefire agreement and its failure to withdraw from the Salah al-Din (Philadelphi) Corridor area.
The Zionist occupation failed to comply with the gradual pull-out of its troops from the Salah al-Din (Philadelphi) Corridor during the first phase, and also did not begin its withdrawal on the 42nd day, as stipulated in the agreement, Hamas statement added.
“Yesterday marked the 50th day of the agreement, by which the withdrawal was set to be completed, but so far that has not happened.”
Hamas stressed that “this blatant violation is a clear breach of the agreement and an apparent attempt to sabotage it and render it meaningless”.
The continued violations confirm the occupation’s disregard for agreements and its manipulation of international commitments.
These violations place responsibility on the mediators to pressure the occupation into fulfilling its commitments and immediately ending its presence in the Salah al-Din (Philadelphi) Corridor, the statement underscored.
Hamas called on the mediators and the international community to intervene immediately to ensure the occupation’s withdrawal, and resume negotiations for the second phase without further delay.
Adhering to the agreement and completing the negotiations is the only way to secure the release of the prisoners, and any procrastination means tampering their fate and the fealings of their families, Hamas statement concluded.
The Israeli negotiating team left for Qatar Monday for talks aimed at extending the fragile Gaza ceasefire, after ‘Israel’ cut the Palestinian territory’s electricity supply to ramp up pressure on Hamas.
Ahead of the negotiations, ‘Israel’ disconnected the only power line to a water desalination plant in Gaza, a move Hamas denounced as “cheap and unacceptable blackmail”.
March 10, 2025
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Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation, War Crimes | Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Zionism |
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