Ukrainians torching empty homes in Kursk Region – senior Russian official

RT | August 30, 2024
Ukrainian troops are seemingly trying to inflict maximum damage on civilian property in the parts of Russia under their control, a senior Foreign Ministry official has said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has tasked Rodion Miroshnik with collecting evidence of Ukrainian war crimes in the conflict. Last week, he visited Kursk Region, which Kiev targeted with a massive cross-border incursion earlier this month.
Evidence on the ground and interviews with dozens of eyewitnesses indicate that Ukrainian forces are deliberately trying to devastate settlements within their grasp, the official told RIA Novosti on Friday.
”There are a huge number of reports of burned out and looted private properties, of auxiliary buildings being destroyed with a purpose. I visited some of such homes literally hours after they got attacked. People were evacuated, but their homes were shot at and burned with a kind of malice,” he claimed.
In some instances Ukrainian troops used incendiary munitions, Miroshnik said. Local residents told him that they saw soldiers firing at homes point-blank from armored personnel carriers and cheering when they went up in flames.
Some properties were apparently hit with shrapnel rockets, the diplomat said. Some munitions are armed with thousands of BB pellet-sized metal balls designed to hit enemy manpower in the field with an airburst.
”I visited someone’s place, which was hit by such a rocket. There seemed to be not a thing that was not pierced by those balls,” the diplomat said. Such an attack “leaves not a single windowpane. A car was turned into a sieve. Walls around were all in holes, and even a gas pipeline forty meters away had 40 holes in it.”
Kiev has deployed thousands of troops into Kursk Region, seizing some border areas but failing to advance deeper into Russian territory. The Ukrainian leader, Vladimir Zelensky, has claimed that the operation was highly successful, citing the capture of Russian border guards, who could be exchanged for Ukrainian troops in Russian custody. His aide, Mikhail Podoliak, has claimed that the attack benefited Kiev by instilling fear into the Russian population and putting pressure on Moscow.
As of Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry estimated Ukrainian military losses in the Kursk operation at up to 7,800. Moscow has ruled out peace talks with Kiev following the attack, citing its targeting of Russian civilians.
Hamas: Washington adopts Israel’s ceasefire-disrupting position
Palestinian Information Center – August 29, 2024
ISTANBUL – The Hamas senior official Sami Abu Zuhri said the US administration adopts the Israeli position, which is disrupting ceasefire negotiations, noting that Washington is not serious about obliging Israel to stop its war on the Gaza Strip.
This came in his interview with Aljazeera Net in Istanbul on the sidelines of his participation in a conference held by the “Al-Quds International Foundation”.
Abu Zuhri told Aljazeera Net that the US administration does not show serious intention to obligate Israel to conclude an agreement.
He explained that the Hamas Movement “accepted the proposal of the brokers – Egypt, Qatar and the United States – on July 2, but Israel kept imposing new conditions, although the offer is outlined by the US President Joe Biden’s speech and the UN Security Council resolution.”
On the prospects for the negotiations in the future, Abu Zuhri said, “In all cases, there is an ongoing Israeli war of extermination in Gaza, and all international parties have to assume their responsibilities to stop the Israeli aggression and crimes.”
Abu Zuhri added, “the ball is now in the Israeli and the US court. If the Us administration is serious to reach an agreement, it must intervene to compel the Israeli occupation authority to stop this aggression against the Palestinian people and respect the previously reached agreements.”
With regard to the ongoing developments in the occupied West Bank, and the expansion of the Israeli occupation army’s military operations, Abu Zuhri said that the Israeli occupation army exploits the US cover to expand its aggression in the West Bank, stressing that the Israeli aggression is not limited to Gaza but extends to all the occupied Palestinian territories, especially the West Bank and Jerusalem.
US, Russian Deputy Envoys Have Heated Exchange at UN Security Council Over Gaza Ceasefire
Sputnik – 30.08.2024
UNITED NATIONS – The deputy representatives of the US and Russian missions to the United Nations engaged in an argument at the UN Security Council meeting over which of their countries is doing a better job at trying to resolve the conflict in Gaza, a Sputnik correspondent reported.
“I don’t need to sit here and explain to you why the US did what it did with regard to these resolutions. You know quite well and I think everybody in this room does,” US Deputy Envoy Robert Wood said in response to his Russian counterpart Dmitry Polyanskiy.
The Russian diplomat remarked earlier that the United States has been blocking a ceasefire in Gaza by supporting Israel and vetoing UN Security Council resolutions concerning the Palestinian enclave.
“One delegation, shielding their main Middle Eastern ally, as we are well aware, for ten months has been blocking any real steps to that end, essentially compelling all members of this council to become complicit in the collective punishment of Palestinians,” Polyanskiy said, adding that the US falsely claimed that Israel had agreed to a ceasefire deal.
“However, it turned out – and no one is surprised about this- that these calls were far from a reality as was the US so-called Biden-plan which was [adopted by the Security Council on June 10 as Resolution 2735],” Polyanskiy continued. “Israel did not agree to that deal then, nor has it agreed now to end its operations… [The US is] modifying the parameters for a ceasefire in Gaza for the benefit of Western Jerusalem. Let us recall that the Security Council did not consent to any reformatting of the parameters of agreements that were set out in Resolution 2735.”
Wood pointed out that the United States is now focusing on its efforts together with Egypt and Qatar to implement a framework that was agreed to by the Israeli government and Hamas.
Wood also emphasized that Hamas has been changing its position on the proposed ceasefire and hostage release deal.
“So my recommendations to you and your government would be, if you are going to contribute something positively, then contribute it. If not, you should be quiet,” Wood said.
Polyanskiy replied that that Wood should keep his recommendations about him or the Russian government to himself and the United States should stop getting in the way of the UN Security Council discussing the Palestinian dossier.
The United States bears the responsibility of what is happening now in Gaza, where more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 2023. “If my other colleagues don’t have the courage to tell you this to your face, I have no problem doing so,” Polyanskiy said.
Israel says will evacuate Palestinians from parts of West Bank as bloody raids continue
Press TV – August 28, 2024
Israel’s foreign minister says Palestinians will be ordered to evacuate parts of the northern occupied West Bank, amid unprecedented bloody raids in the area as similar measures have been taken by the regime’s military in the Gaza Strip, which is subjected to a genocidal war since October.
In a post on social media platform X on Wednesday, Israel Katz said the Israeli military is working “intensively” to thwart what he alleged to be “terrorist infrastructures” in the Jenin and Tulkarm refugee camps, claiming that “an eastern terrorist front” is being established against Israel in the West Bank.
Katz noted that the raids see “temporary evacuation of Palestinian residents” in areas in the northern West Bank in measures akin to those imposed in Gaza.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Israeli army launched raids in the cities of Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas in the northern West Bank, killing at least 11 Palestinians.
Since the start of Israel’s aggression on the besieged Gaza Strip in October, the West Bank has also seen a rise in violence from Israeli forces and settlers that has claimed the lives of hundreds of Palestinians.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 662 Palestinians were killed and about 5,400 others injured by Israeli fire since October 7, considering the new deaths.
Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.
The regime’s bloody onslaught on Gaza has so far killed at least 40,534 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 93,778 others. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under rubble.
In a landmark ruling, the United Nations’ top court said last month Israel’s presence in the 1967- occupied Palestinian territories is “unlawful” and must end.
In a 1967 war, Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East al-Quds, which it subsequently annexed.
The 83-page advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice also outlined a wide list of policies that it said violated international law, including the building and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east al-Quds.
France’s chief rabbi urges Israel to ‘finish the job’ in Gaza
The Cradle | August 28, 2024
France’s chief rabbi, Haim Korsia, justified Israel’s brutal war on the Gaza Strip in a television interview on 26 August, urging the Israeli army to “finish the job.”
Korsia told French network BFM TV that he supports Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The rabbi described Israel’s indiscriminate strikes on the besieged enclave as “acts of war” and said all of Israel’s actions in the strip are necessary to “protect its nationals.”
“It’s an act of war that no country in the world would conduct like Israel is doing, and I have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of in how Israel is conducting the fighting,” Korsia said in response to a question on the civilian casualties.
When asked if he was critical of Netanyahu’s policy in Gaza, he said, “I’m never uncomfortable with a policy that consists of defending one’s citizens.”
In response to a question on whether he condemns Israeli massacres against civilians as he condemned Israeli deaths on 7 October, the rabbi said, “They are not of the same order.”
A member of the French parliament, Aymeric Caron, blasted the rabbi’s comments, calling them an “apology for war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
“Chief Rabbi Haim Korsia calmly declares that he supports the ongoing genocide in Gaza, that it is deserved, and makes clear his hatred of the Palestinians,” Caron added.
“These are crimes punishable by law … And here I thought religious men were supposed to defend moral values and the sanctity of life,” the MP went on to say.
The toll of confirmed deaths in the Gaza Strip has risen to 40,534, a majority of them women and children. Another 93,778 Palestinians have been wounded as a result of the war.
The Israeli army has repeatedly targeted schools and UN facilities housing displaced Palestinians.
Disease has spread across the besieged enclave due to the war. UN experts, the EU, and Human Rights Watch (HRW) have all said Israel is using starvation as a weapon against the people of Gaza.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) announced in May that it has decided to seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, a move backed by the French government. The ICC decision also includes warrants for Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Mohammad Deif.
Israel is also being accused of committing genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
IAEA head confirms that Ukraine has struck Russian nuclear plant with drones
By Dénes Albert | Remix News | August 28, 2024
As the expanding frontline inches within just a few kilometers of the Kursk nuclear power plant in Russia, there are fears there could be a major nuclear disaster.
“There is a risk of a nuclear incident at the Kursk nuclear power plant,” said Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), after visiting the facility in Kurchatov, in the Kursk region bordering Ukraine, on Tuesday.
He added that he had seen evidence of drone strikes during his visit to the plant.
“I was told today that there have been several cases of drone attacks on the site (the site of the Kursk nuclear power plant), on the facilities. The fact that there is fighting a few kilometers away from the nuclear power plant raises great concerns and anxiety about the security system,” Grossi added.
He stressed that under no circumstances should a nuclear power plant be the target of military action, nor should it be used by either side for military purposes. The director general also said that the security systems of a plant must be fully operational under all circumstances.
Grossi noted that the IAEA delegation was shown the traces of the Ukrainian attack on the Kursk nuclear power plant. Based on the evidence his team gathered, he said there could be no doubt that Ukraine carried out these strikes and where they came from.
Putin also announced on Thursday that Ukraine had attempted a drone strike on the Kursk nuclear power plant.
Grossi, who said that he had visited the reactor hall, the engine room, and the control room of an operating power plant unit — as well as the spent nuclear fuel storage — found that the Kursk plant was operating at what is very close to “normal” mode.
He stressed that the IAEA is responsible for maintaining nuclear safety and security in nuclear installations worldwide. He said that he had accepted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invitation to visit the Kursk nuclear power plant with his team to assess the situation personally and to find solutions together with his Russian counterparts. Earlier in the day, the IAEA director general was received by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
He said that he intends to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky next week to discuss, among other things, the situation at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant and the IAEA’s intention to extend its observer presence to other nuclear facilities in Ukraine, as requested by Kyiv. … Full article
25 shelters, 4 wells in Deir al-Balah went out of service due to forced displacement
Palestinian Information Center – August 26, 2024
DEIR AL-BALAH – The Municipality of Deir al-Balah announced that 25 shelters and four water wells went out of service, following the Israeli evacuation of new neighborhoods in Deir al-Balah over the past 72 hours.
The municipality said in a press statement on Monday, “25 shelter centers went out of service after forced displacement of 250,000 citizens within the past 72 hours, including the only government hospital which was still operating in the southern Gaza Strip.”
The municipality further explained that the closure of the four water wells brings the number of disabled wells to 14, noting that the disabled wells were supplying nearly 70% of the people in the city, and their closure would exacerbate the water and food crisis.
The recent Israeli evacuation order in the vicinity of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital threatened the only remaining main water tank in the city, according to official sources.
Deir al-Balah municipality called on the international community to urgently intervene to enable the humanitarian service crews, including municipalities, hospitals and relief associations, to carry out their humanitarian duty to provide service to the displaced and citizens.
On Sunday evening, the Israeli occupation army issued a decision to evacuate new neighborhoods northeast of Deir al-Balah, and some neighborhoods west of Salah al-Din Street.
The IDF Uses Palestinian Civilians As Human Shields to Inspect Gaza’s Tunnels
Richard Medhurst | August 24, 2024
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Iran will hit Israel, ball is in US-Israeli court
By M. K. BHADRAKUMAR | Indian Punchline | August 22, 2024
There is a Zen proverb — ‘If you want to climb a mountain, begin at the top.’ All the show of contrived enthusiasm by US President Joe Biden and CIA Director William Burns over an Israel-Hamas deal on the Gaza war cannot obfuscate the grim reality that unless and until Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu greenlights it, this is a road to nowhere.
But what did Netanyahu do? On the eve of the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s arrival in Tel Aviv on Sunday to press the flesh and cajole Netanyahu to cooperate, the latter disdainfully ordered yet another air strike in the central town of Deir Al-Balah in Gaza, killing “at least” 21 people, including six children. Biden had emphasised only the previous day that all parties involved in the Gaza ceasefire negotiations should desist from jeopardising the US-led diplomatic efforts to halt the war and secure a deal to return hostages and achieve a ceasefire to end the bloodshed.
And this was even after a ‘senior administration official’ who has been actively involved as negotiator — presumably, Burns himself — laboured to convey in a special briefing from Doha that the negotiations had reached an inflection point. The crux of the matter is that the western leaders have a maximum pressure strategy toward Iran to exercise restraint while they don’t have the moral or political courage to tackle Netanyahu, who is invidiously undermining the Doha process because he is simply not interested in a ceasefire deal that may lead to his removal from power, investigation to pin responsibility for October 7 attacks, revival of court cases against him and possible jail sentence if convicted.
Indeed, Tehran is sceptical that peace cannot come to Gaza under American mediation but taking care not to create any new facts on the ground while the Doha negotiations are under way. Tehran has adopted a mature, responsible attitude not to derail the Doha process. The point is, Iran is keen that the horrific war that the Israeli state unleashed in Gaza must be somehow brought to an end. Over 40,000 people have died so far.
That said, Hamas’ response to the US’ “bridging proposal” at Doha meeting will be a major determinant for Tehran. From available indications, there are serious disagreements over Israel’s continued military presence inside Gaza, particularly along the border with Egypt, over the free movement of Palestinians inside the territory, and over the identity and number of prisoners to be released in a swap. Both Israel and Hamas have signalled that a deal will be difficult.
On the other hand, the new Iranian government under Masoud Pezeshkian has highlighted his desire for a constructive engagement with the West and prioritises the removal of western sanctions. Pezeshkian’s nominee for the foreign ministry Abbass Araghchi reiterated these policy parameters in his testimony at the Majlis on Sunday while seeking parliament’s approval for his appointment.
Dispelling speculations that Araghchi, a career diplomat who is reputed to be a moderate, may face difficulty to garner support in the conservative-majority parliament, the Majlis recognised his high professionalism by unanimously approving his name as Iran’s next foreign minister in a vote instantaneously.
There is much food for thought here for the strategists in the White House. Suffice to say that what Pezeshkian’s predecessor late Ebrahim Raisi left behind as his foreign policy legacy will continue to guide the new government. That signals a high level of national consensus. Succinctly put, in all these years since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, there has not been a more conducive setting in the power calculus in Tehran for a pragmatic engagement with the West. It will be extremely unwise for Washington to overlook the window of opportunity to engage with Iran.
On the other hand, Tehran’s grit to push back western bullying is also at an all-time high level. The bottom line is that Iran will not submit to western diktat. In today’s circumstances, therefore, it is unrealistic to expect Tehran not to react to the Israeli aggression of July 31. Iran’s sovereignty was violated and its response will be strong and decisive, — and as a deterrent for the future as well.
No amount of muscle-flexing by Washington will frighten Tehran. The national unity, unlike in the US, is a crucial factor. The stunning endorsement by the Majlis of the entire list of cabinet ministers proposed by President Masoud Pezeshkian shows that there is no daylight between the different branches of state power. All indications are that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and Pezeshkian are on the same page — and this message has gone down the echelons of policymaking and state power in Tehran.
The contrast with the disarray in Israel’s confrontational domestic politics couldn’t be sharper.
Therefore, Iran will do what it considers necessary and an obligation — and a matter of national honour. The Deputy Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, General Ali Fadavi said on Monday, “We will determine the time and manner of punishment (of Israel). The usurping Zionist regime committed a great crime by assassinating Martyr Haniyeh, and this time it will be punished more severely than before.”
In a statement to The Wall Street Journal, Iran’s UN mission said any response must both punish the Israeli regime and deter future strikes in the country, but also “must be carefully calibrated to avoid any possible adverse impact that could potentially influence a prospective ceasefire.
“The timing, conditions, and manner of Iran’s response will be meticulously orchestrated to ensure that it occurs at a moment of maximum surprise; perhaps when their eyes are fixed on the skies and their radar screens, they will be taken by surprise from the ground — or, perhaps, even by a combination of both.”
The Iranian statement from the UN podium in New York is a message addressed to the White House that the ball is in the US-Israeli court. Interestingly, it coincided with the toned down White House readout on Biden’s call with Netanyahu on Wednesday, where Biden flagged the “defensive U.S. military deployments” and stressed the urgency of bringing the ceasefire and hostage release deal to closure and discussed upcoming talks in Cairo to remove any remaining obstacles.” It stands to reason that Tehran and Washington are communicating with each other.
Clearly, against such a heavily nuanced backdrop, the paranoia about a regional war is unwarranted, since neither Iran nor the US wants war. As for Israel, a small country, it simply lacks the capability to go to war with Iran armed with three submarines stacked with nuclear missiles as its strategic assets.
The stunning disclosure of Hezbollah’s vast network of underground missile network in southern and central Lebanon is a reality check for the Israeli political elite and settler communities on what they are up against.
As the former Israeli war minister Avigdor Lieberman puts it, Israel is engaged in a war of attrition, exactly as the Iranians wanted, having succeeded in uniting the resistance fronts. Lieberman pointed out that the agony of the indeterminate waiting for Tehran’s retaliatory operation is in itself an achievement for Tehran and the Axis of Resistance.
READ MORE: Iran finesses its deterrence strategy, Indian Punchline, August 12, 2024

