Iran finesses its deterrence strategy
By M. K. BHADRAKUMAR | Indian Punchline | August 12, 2024
The latest Israeli spin has it that Iran cannot make up its mind whether to retaliate or not for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on July 28 while on a visit to Tehran for the inaugural of President Masoud Pezeshkian.
The hypothesis here is that there must be a standoff between Pezeshkian and hardliners of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) with the new president pushing back against any aggressive strategy against Israel.
Prima facie, it is a ridiculous spin. But Iran rebutted it, nonetheless, with the Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani stating as recently as on Saturday night that Tehran “will make the aggressor Israeli regime pay the price for its aggression in a legitimate and decisive action.” Those were carefully chosen words.
But how come Iran didn’t act for a fortnight already? Several factors are in play here. First, Pezeshkian has not yet formed his government. He submitted his list of proposed ministers to the Parliament for approval only yesterday. The executive branch of the government is carrying on with day-to-day functioning.
Nonetheless, according to Russian media, Pezeshkian did speak about Iran’s retaliatory strike against Israel at a meeting with the visiting Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu on July 5 in Tehran.
That said, do not rule out that there could be some calibration in the timing. After all, Israel is in panic and reports say people stay awake at night fearing Iranian attack. According to IRNA, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for all his bravado, evacuated four of Israel’s important intelligence and security bases in Tel Aviv.
Second, Iran will not act as “spoiler” when regional states and the US are pulling all stops to pick up the threads of the Gaza ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel. The fact that Israel agreed to the talks on Thursday suggests that Netanyahu also sees advantages in returning to the negotiating table.
Of course, Iran will also be carefully weighing the scale of its attack on Israel. After all, Haniyeh was killed in a covert operation in which there was no Iranian casualty.
However, the clincher is going to be the progress in the upcoming talks. Iran may altogether postpone the operation if the Israeli side gives guarantees at the talks not to invade Lebanon and withdraws troops from the Gaza Strip.
Tehran could potentially reconsider its position if a radical change occurs in the situation in the region following the conclusion of a truce between Hamas and Israel. Expectations are running high. And, make no mistake, Tehran has a much closer equation with Yahya Sinwar than it had with Haniyeh.
Therefore, the high-stakes diplomacy this week leading to the talks scheduled for Thursday to secure a hostage and ceasefire deal in Gaza becomes an inflection point.
Iran’s UN mission in New York said in a statement on Friday, “Our priority is to establish a lasting ceasefire in Gaza. Any agreement accepted by Hamas will also be recognised by us.” The statement reiterated Iran’s right to self-defence against Israel but also added, “However, we hope that our response will be timed and conducted in a manner not to the detriment of the potential ceasefire.”
Tehran is intensely conscious that the outcome of the Hamas-Israel talks (with the participation of CIA Director William Burns) in terms of the release of American hostages is the stuff of Joe Biden’s presidential legacy as much as it holds the potential to burnish the prospects of the Democratic Party candidate Kamala Harris in the November election.
Jordan is acting as go-between to enable Washington and Tehran to sensitise each other their respective problematic borderlines. Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi visited Tehran on August 4 for talks with Ali Bagheri. They met again on the sideline of the OIC extraordinary meeting in Jeddah on August 7 (which was by the way, a diplomatic coup for Tehran.) In between, Biden spoke with King Abdullah of Jordan.
The White House readout said Biden and Abdullah “discussed their efforts to de-escalate regional tensions, including through an immediate ceasefire and hostage release deal. The President thanked His Majesty for his friendship, and affirmed unwavering US support for Jordan as a partner and ally in promoting regional peace and security.”
Meanwhile, Biden is using all channels available to moderate Iran’s attack on Israel. The Americans have also openly dissociated themselves from the killing of Haniyeh. They have reportedly conveyed to Tehran that an escalation is fraught with the risk of a US-Iran conflict, which is avoidable.
Finally, in the range of discourses over Iran’s retaliation, what is overlooked generally is that Iranians invariably have a strategy, unlike Israelis who resort to knee-jerk reactions. Therefore, the ‘big picture’ becomes important here.
Iran is not looking for war, especially when it has done exceedingly well so far to cut losses and turn the table on Israel in a cost-effective manner. Israel’s international image is in the mud and not all the freshwater in the Sea of Galilee can wash off the filth.
Iran’s number one priority will be to have the western sanctions removed. Supreme Leader Khamenei’s deal with Pezeshkian quintessentially narrows down to improving the economy by getting rid of sanctions and making it possible for Iran to gain its rightful place in the international order by using its vast resources optimally.
All major pronouncements by Pezeshkian have signalled his prioritisation of Iran’s relations with the West. Quite obviously, Pezeshkian is walking a tight rope, as Javad Zarif’s announcement of his resignation as the president’s deputy for strategic affairs shows. Zarif is reportedly peeved that the steering committee responsible for candidate selection picked only three out of the 19 names he had proposed for the cabinet posts!
Be that as it may, Abbas Araghchi, introduced as the new Minister of Foreign Affairs, had served for 8 years as the deputy to Zarif during Hassan Rouhani’s presidency, playing a key role in the nuclear negotiations (JCPOA) with the Obama administration. The European powers see Araghchi as a ‘moderate.’ Indeed, he makes an effective interlocutor for Tehran in western capitals — and it is the clearest signal so far that Iran’s foreign policy trajectory is leaning toward constructive engagement of the West.
Smart thinking involves the brain getting precedence over brawn. That is where Iran scores over the die-hard Zionists in Tel Aviv who are still wallowing in the culture of the Nakba.
Iran shrewdly assessed at a very early stage that contradictions were inevitable in Biden-Netanyahu equations post-October 7 and the Greater Israel agenda and the US’ Indo-Pacific strategy are pulling in opposite directions.
Equally, Iran has drawn the correct conclusions out of the standoff in April where it displayed its formidable military capability to inflict pain on Israel while also prompting the US to prevail upon the latter not to react! In the entire chronicle of US-Iran tango since 1979, such a thing never happened before.
Why should Tehran give up that pathway leading to the rose garden? For sure, Tehran will inflict even greater pain on Israel than in April. But, fundamentally, the 900-pound gorilla in Tel Aviv has to be tamed with a smart admixture of hard and soft power — and, it also involves the West. And to that end, Iran will restrain itself and remain a nuclear threshold state.
Hamas rejects Israeli claim of having command center in bombed Gaza school
Press TV – August 11, 2024
The Palestinian Hamas resistance group has dismissed the Israeli military’s allegations that it had set up a “command and control center” at a school compound housing displaced Palestinian families in Gaza City, where more than 100 people were killed and dozens wounded in a dawn strike.
The Gaza-based group, in a statement, also denied the Israeli claim that 19 resistance fighters from Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements were killed in the assault on the al-Tabin school in Gaza City’s al-Daraj neighborhood as “false and baseless.”
“Such claims have made been in an attempt to justify the heinous crime amid widespread international criticism,” the statement read.
“We emphasize there was not a single armed individual among those martyred in Saturday’s massacre. They are all civilians who were targeted while performing morning prayers. The victims include children, civil servants, university professors and religious figures, most of whom have no connection whatsoever to any political or military party,” Hamas noted.
The Palestinian resistance group went on to describe the Israeli attack on the Gaza school as “among thousands of massacres committed by the criminal and Nazi Israeli regime in the Gaza Strip. The Zionist entity deliberately and intentionally targets unarmed civilians,” in the coastal sliver.
“The occupying regime purposely spreads such lies after every massacre it perpetrates [in Gaza] in order to justify the horrendous crimes, which are now conspicuous to all,” Hamas added.
Palestinian activist succumbs to injuries after release from Israeli detention
This file photo shows female Palestinian activist Wafa Jarrar
Press TV – August 5, 2024
A female Palestinian activist has succumbed to injuries she sustained during an Israeli raid on her home back in May.
Wafa Jarrar died on Monday from injuries she had sustained when Israeli forces detained her on May 21.
Jarrar suffered severe injuries, and as a result underwent above-knee amputations.
The Israeli authorities reportedly released her shortly after her legs were amputated to avoid responsibility for her treatment.
The Israeli army claimed that Jarrar was injured in a blast while inside the military vehicle, where she was kept detained for four hours.
Despite its claim, the regime issued an administrative detention order against Jarrar before releasing and handing her over to the Palestinian Liaison Office, while she was in a critical condition.
Last month, the Euro-med human rights monitor said the Israeli army bears full responsibility for the life and safety of Wafa Jarrar.
“This is a clear effort by Israel’s army to avoid taking responsibility for the serious injuries Jarrar sustained during her detention, which resulted in the amputation of her legs above the knees as well as damage to her spine and lungs, and to avoid its legal obligation to provide the necessary medical treatment,” the Euro-med human rights monitor said on July 1.
“What Jarrar, age 49, was subjected to from the first moment of her arrest until her release reflects the repeated and systematic violations faced by Palestinians during their detention by Israeli forces, including arbitrary arrests, abuse, use as human shields, torture, and denial of medical care,” it added.
Wafa is the wife of Hamas leader Abdul Jabbar Jarrar who has been held in Israeli jails since February 2022 under administrative detention.
There are reportedly more than 8,000 Palestinians held in Israeli jails, with hundreds of the inmates incarcerated under the so-called practice of administrative detention.
Human rights organizations say Israel violates all the rights and freedoms granted to prisoners by the Fourth Geneva Convention, noting administrative detention violates their right to due process since the evidence is withheld from prisoners while they are held for lengthy periods without being charged, tried, or convicted.
Palestinian detainees have continuously resorted to open-ended hunger strikes in an attempt to express outrage at their detention. Israeli jail authorities keep Palestinian prisoners under deplorable conditions without proper hygienic standards. Palestinian inmates have also been subject to systematic torture, harassment, and repression.
Since the outbreak of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza last October, the regime has also intensified arrest campaigns in the West Bank and al-Quds.
In a report issued over the weekend, the Commission of Detainees’ and Ex-detainees’ Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoners Society, the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association said Israeli forces had arrested about 9,920 people, including 345 women, 690 children and 93 journalists, since October 7.
More than 7,500 administrative detention orders have been issued since October 7, including new orders and renewals, according to the report.
The Israeli arrest campaigns, the groups said, were also accompanied by physical assaults, threats against detainees and their families, destruction of the detainees’ houses, and seizure of their properties.
The Israeli forces also carried out field executions against detainees and their family members, the report added.
“Since October 7, at least 20 detainees were martyred in Israeli prisons and their identities have been revealed,” the report said, adding that dozens of detainees from Gaza also lost their lives in Israeli prisons and detention centers, but the Israeli authorities refrained from declaring their names or the causes of the their death.
“The bodies of 18 detainees who were martyred after October 7 are still withheld” by the Israeli regime, the report said.
Israel Has a History of Killing Hamas Leaders Who Are Trying To Secure Ceasefires
Benjamin Netanyahu’s reckless assassination of Ismail Haniyeh undermines the prospects for a peace deal and the release of the hostages
Ismail Haniyeh in Doha, Qatar, on March 26, 2024. Photo by AFP via Getty Images
By Mehdi Hasan – zeteo – July 31, 2024
“Israel’s leaders killed three birds with one stone,” wrote Reuven Pedatzur, a senior military affairs analyst for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. “They assassinated the man who had the power to make a deal with Israel; they took revenge on someone who had caused more than a few Israeli casualties; and they signaled to Hamas that communications with it will be conducted only through military force.”
Was Pedatzur referring to the Israeli assassination of senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the group’s political bureau, in Tehran in the early hours of Wednesday morning?
No. Pedatzur died in a road traffic accident in 2014. His quote from Haaretz, above, was in response to the Israeli assassination of another senior Hamas commander, Ahmed Jabari, in November 2012, which kicked off the 2012 Gaza war.
As my former colleague at The Intercept, Jon Schwarz, documented in great detail last year, “Jabari had come to believe that it was in the best interest of Palestinians for Hamas to negotiate a long-term truce” and had been in communication with the respected Israeli peace activist Gershon Baskin. “Just before the assassination, [Baskin] gave Jabari a draft proposal for such a truce to review and approve. The draft was agreed to by Baskin and Hamas’s deputy foreign minister, and Baskin also said he had previously shown it to Ehud Barak, then the Israeli minister of defense.”
Would Jabari have signed off on a ‘hudna,’ or long-term truce, between Hamas and Israel? We’ll never know.
Israel, in fact, has a long and cynical history of killing Hamas leaders who are in the midst of ceasefire negotiations or, even, proposing long-term truces with the Jewish state.
Remember Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the quadriplegic co-founder and spiritual leader of Hamas? He was assassinated less than three months after he proposed a long-term truce with Israel “if a Palestinian state is established in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.”
His successor, Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi, was assassinated less than three months after he made a similar truce offer to Israel.
Then there was the Netanyahu government’s 2012 assassination of Jabari, who, as mentioned, was reviewing a “long-term mutual cease-fire” deal just “hours before he was killed,” according to Baskin.
The parallels between 2012 and 2024, between the killings of Jabari and Haniyeh, are eery.
“He was in line to die, not an angel and not a righteous man of peace,” Baskin said of Jabari shortly after his killing, “but his assassination also killed the possibility of achieving a truce and also the Egyptian mediators’ ability to function.”
The same could be said of Haniyeh. Mainstream Western media outlets agree that the Hamas leader was – by Hamas standards – a “pragmatist”; a key figure in the ongoing negotiations to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and free the Israeli hostages.
From Reuters:
“For all the tough language in public, Arab diplomats and officials had viewed [Haniyeh] as relatively pragmatic compared with more hardline voices inside Gaza, where the military wing of Hamas planned the October 7 attack. While telling Israel’s military they would find themselves ‘drowning in the sands of Gaza,’ he and his predecessor as Hamas leader, Khaled Meshaal, had shuttled around the region for talks over a Qatari-brokered cease-fire deal with Israel that would include exchanging hostages for Palestinians in Israeli jails as well as more aid for Gaza.”
From Sky News:
“Haniyeh was the pragmatic face of Hamas. He was less hard-line and militaristic than Yahya Sinwar, who is the head of Hamas inside Gaza and is leading the battle. Haniyeh was the public face of Hamas’s diplomacy in Arab capitals. He was leading efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza.”
This was the person that the far-right Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu chose to assassinate on Iranian soil on Wednesday.
Why?
Put simply, Netanyahu and his coalition of fascists and bigots do not want a deal to release the hostages. They prefer to continue the war, no matter the cost to Gaza’s civilians or to their own citizens still held inside of the enclave. Despite Joe Biden’s ludicrous claims to the contrary, it is Netanyahu who has been the biggest obstacle to a deal to free Israel’s hostages in Gaza. The former spokesperson for the hostages’ families says Netanyahu rejected a deal. Benny Gantz, a former member of Israel’s war cabinet, says Netanyahu blocked a deal. Israeli defense officials tell Haaretz that “Netanyahu systematically foiled the negotiations to free the hostages.”
There is nothing new here. To misquote Winston Churchill, Israel has always preferred “war-war” over “jaw-jaw.” Israeli governments – especially those led by Netanyahu – have preferred having Hamas as the permanent enemy – or as an “asset,” to quote the current Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich – rather than trying to do a permanent deal with Hamas.
As the late Israeli journalist Pedatzur wrote, in his analysis of the disastrous Jabari assassination in 2012:
“Our decision makers, including the defense minister and perhaps also Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, knew about Jabari’s role in advancing a permanent cease-fire agreement. … Thus the decision to kill Jabari shows that our decision makers decided a cease-fire would be undesirable for Israel at this time, and that attacking Hamas would be preferable.”
Change the name ‘Jabari’ to ‘Haniyeh’ above, and those words could have been written today.
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.
Khamenei vows to avenge blood of ‘dear guest’ Haniyeh, warns Israel of ‘harsh punishment’
Press TV – July 31, 2024
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has warned the Israeli regime of a “harsh response” for the the assassination of Hamas’s Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh, saying it is the Islamic Republic’s duty to avenge the blood of the Palestinian resistance leader.
Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks on Wednesday, hours after Haniyeh, who had traveled to Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s new president, was killed in a dawn attack in the capital.
“The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our homeland and left us bereaved, but it also set the ground for a harsh punishment for itself,” the Leader said.
Ayatollah Khamenei commended Haniyeh’s years-long sacrifices in his fight against the Israeli occupation and said he was ready for martyrdom and sacrificed his children and households on this path.
“He was not afraid of embracing martyrdom in the way of God and saving God’s servants, but we consider it our duty to avenge his blood in this bitter and horrific incident that came to pass in the Islamic Republic’s territory,” the Leader asserted.
The Leader also extended his condolences to the Islamic Ummah, the resistance front, the proud nation of Palestine as well as Haniyeh’s family and one of his companions, who was martyred with him.
Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend the inauguration ceremony of new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday.
Iranian authorities announced that rigorous investigations have been launched into the targeted killing of Haniyeh in the capital and the results will subsequently be released.
The Islamic Republic has declared three days of national mourning for the loss of the Palestinian resistance leader.
Palestinian groups have already condemned his assassination in the strongest terms, vowing to make those behind the assassination pay the price of the heinous act.
Haniyeh, 62, was born in a refugee camp near Gaza City and joined Hamas in the late 1980s during the First Intifada or uprising.
As Hamas grew in power, Haniyeh rose through the ranks and was appointed part of a “collective leadership” in 2004 and reached the Hamas top job in 2017.
Three of his sons were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza in April.
Palestinian Factions Sign Unity Deal in Beijing
Al-Manar – July 23, 2024
Palestinian factions have signed a “national unity” agreement aimed at maintaining Palestinian control over Gaza once Israel’s war on the enclave concludes.
The deal, finalized on Tuesday in China after three days of intensive talks, lays the groundwork for an “interim national reconciliation government” to rule post-war Gaza, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
The agreement was signed by long-term rivals Hamas and Fatah, as well as 12 other Palestinian groups.
“Today we sign an agreement for national unity and we say that the path to completing this journey is national unity,” said senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk at a news conference in Beijing.
Mustafa Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, one of the 14 factions to sign the accord, told Al Jazeera the agreement goes “much further” than any other reached in recent years.
He said its four main elements are the establishment of an interim national unity government, the formation of unified Palestinian leadership ahead of future elections, the free election of a new Palestinian National Council, and a general declaration of unity in the face of ongoing Israeli attacks.
The move towards a unity government is especially important, he said, because it “blocks Israeli efforts to create some sort of collaborative structure against Palestinian interests”.
Reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah would be a key turning point in internal Palestinian relations.
“We’re at a historic junction,” Abu Marzouk said, according to CNN. “Our people are rising up in their efforts to struggle.”
Barghouti said the Israeli war on Gaza was the “main factor” motivating the Palestinian sides to set aside their differences.
“There is no other way now but for Palestinians to be unified and struggle together against this terrible injustice,” he said.
“The most important thing now is to not only sign the agreement, but to implement it.”
Hamas: The Beijing Declaration is an important step towards national unity
Palestinian Information Center – July 23, 2024
BEIJING – The head of the Hamas National Relations Office and a member of its political bureau, Husam Badran, said the Beijing Declaration is an important positive step to achieve Palestinian national unity.
In a press statement on Tuesday, Badran expressed his appreciation for China’s efforts to reach this declaration, stressing the Palestinians’ need for confronting the US solo policy in the Palestinian issue file and its complete bias to and partnership with Israel.
Badran explained that during the Beijing meetings, it has been agreed on the Palestinian demands related to ending the Israeli genocide war and aggression on Gaza, a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and starting Gaza reconstruction.
He said that the most important point of the agreement is the formation of a national consensus government with specific tasks to confront regional and international interventions that seek to impose facts against the interests of the Palestinian people, and to supervise Gaza reconstruction and prepare for holding elections.
Badran reported that the Beijing meeting stressed the need for confronting the Israeli occupation’s conspiracies and its ongoing violations at Al-Aqsa Mosque and its attempts to Judaize Jerusalem as well as the necessary need for the support of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Hamas calls on PLO to withdraw recognition of Israel after Knesset rejects Palestinian statehood
Palestinian Information Center – July 18, 2024
DOHA – The Hamas Movement and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) called on the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to withdraw its recognition of Israel.
The announcement was made during a meeting between head of Hamas’s political bureau Ismail Haneyya and the PIJ Secretary-General Ziyad Al-Nakhaleh and his deputy Dr Mohammad Al-Hindi in Doha.
The leaders of the two movements discussed the overall political and field developments related to the Israeli genocide war on the Gaza Strip.
They also hailed the heroic steadfastness of the Palestinian people in the face of the Israeli bloody massacres in the Gaza Strip.
“The leaderships viewed that, in light of the Knesset’s declared position rejecting the Palestinian people’s right to establish their independent state, the national forces are required today to take a unified stance to confront these attempts to erase the Palestinian cause,” they said in a joint statement.
The joint statement also called on the leadership of the PLO “to withdraw its recognition of the Zionist entity, reaffirming at the same time our people’s right to establish their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital, and the right of return for refugees.”
Earlier Wednesday, Israel’s Knesset voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The resolution garnered support from 68 Knesset members, including those from Benny Gantz’s National Unity Party. Nine Knesset members from Arab parties opposed the proposal, and members of the Labor Party abstained from voting.
Palestinian steadfastness and Hamas tactics have thwarted Israel’s goals
By Nidal Adaileh | MEMO | July 15, 2024
There is no dispute about Hamas’ ability to survive, despite more than nine months of fighting against Israel. The occupation state has to admit that it has not achieved any of its goals.
More than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed, and almost 100,000 more have been wounded. Nevertheless, Hamas and the factions fighting alongside it remain steadfast, and even take the war to the so-called invincible army occasionally.
It has become clear that Benjamin Netanyahu’s stated objective of eliminating Hamas is pure vanity. Now we see statements from Israeli officials which are clearly intended to prepare the general public that this objective may not really be possible, even as Hamas and its allies have adopted a new strategy targeting Israeli forces inside Gaza, instead of launching rockets towards Israel.
The Israeli prime minister is trying to limit the threats of the Palestinian resistance factions through the ongoing military offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza. However, he faces major challenges in achieving his two main goals of “eradicating” the Islamic Resistance Movement and returning the Israelis held as prisoners in the enclave.
Time is no longer on Israel’s side.
International pressure is increasing for it to “limit its operations”. The longer that Hamas holds out, the more difficult it becomes for Israel to achieve its goals.
Nine months into its war, Israel has failed to destroy Hamas as a military and political force, and even if it has succeeded in killing key leaders who planned the 7 October cross-border incursion, battle-hardened replacements are emerging in their stead.
The resilience of the resistance groups reflects their effective use of guerrilla tactics, the extent of their arsenal and the regrouping of their fighters. Led by the Hamas military wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, the factions are engaged in confrontations that reflect a high level of preparation and implementation, despite the technological imbalance favouring the Israeli army. The objective of the resistance groups is to inflict losses on the Israeli war machine so that it pays the price for its brutal offensive which has targeted and killed so many innocent civilians and destroyed essential infrastructure in Gaza. If and when Israel realises the extent of its failures, it may open the way for an end to the war.
Hamas has had to cope with 18 years of siege imposed on the Gaza Strip, but has nevertheless been able to develop militarily. Its fighting capabilities have grown, with locally-produced weapons and munitions produced using technology provided by supporters. The movement’s strategic, operational and tactical options are hugely varied compared with those of its early days.
The steadfastness of the Palestinians in Gaza in the face of the bloody massacres of the Zionist entity, meanwhile, has attracted global attention and admiration. It is a mistake to think that the Palestinians can be defeated through military means; they may be bloodied, but they are unbowed. On many occasions throughout the 20th century societies retreated in the face of brutal crimes and terrorism, even though they knew themselves to be in the right, but what we are witnessing in Gaza is the steadfastness of an entire people.
It may not be clear who are the victors and who are the defeated, but what is clear is that Israel has not achieved its goals: Hamas still very much exists, and Israelis are still held as prisoners in Gaza.
The Gaza Strip has now become a thorn in the side of the Israeli occupation army. It is at a loss about what it can do. I am sure that the Gaza experience will — if it has not already — become a special case study for military academies around the world.
Palestinian steadfastness in Gaza and, increasingly, in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, is the password in the current phase of the struggle to end the Israeli occupation and establish an independent, sovereign Palestinian state in which Palestinians can live in safety.
Israel refuses Hamas demand for written ceasefire assurances
The Cradle | July 7, 2024
Israel will not accept Hamas’ request for written assurances regarding negotiations in the second phase of a proposed deal for a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in Gaza.
The Palestinian resistance group is demanding that a cessation of hostilities outlined in the first phase of the proposal be ongoing throughout negotiations in the second phase. However, Israel is insistent on the option to resume the war if negotiations falter.
During David Barnea’s visit to the Qatari capital, Doha, last week, the Mossad chief conveyed the message to mediators that Israel “does not accept Hamas’ demand for a written commitment regarding negotiations for the second phase of the agreement,” Axios reported on 6 July, citing Israeli officials.
The main issues revolve around Articles 8 and 14 of the proposal. Article 8 of the proposal refers to talks between Israel and Hamas that would be held during phase one and would last for six weeks of the agreement, while Article 14 refers to the transition between phase one and phase two.
The proposal was reportedly updated recently with “new language” by CIA chief William Burns and other officials, Lebanese media reported on 4 July. Hamas presented its proposed amendments to the plan on 3 July.
The proposal calls to “make every effort” to ensure the negotiations end in agreement. Hamas’ response called for the phrase “make every effort” to be replaced with the word “ensure.”
“In effect, Hamas wants to ensure that it does not turn over many of the hostages only for Israel to restart the war,” an informed official told the New York Times (NYT) on 6 July.
Another official confirms to NYT that Israel has rejected Hamas’ request. “Israel wants the option to resume fighting if it deems it necessary. Without such leverage, Hamas might drag its feet, effectively obtaining an undeclared permanent cease-fire.”
There are other outstanding issues besides Articles 8 and 14 of the proposal.
In its response, Hamas refused Israel’s veto over releasing Palestinians with life sentences as part of an exchange, a source told Al-Mayadeen on 4 July. The source also said Hamas is insisting on an Israeli withdrawal from the Rafah border crossing and the Philadelphi Corridor.
Israel seized the Rafah crossing on 7 May and began pushing into the southernmost city in defiance of months of international warnings, displacing around one million Palestinians. The Philadelphi corridor, the vital strip bordering Egypt that serves as a lifeline to both the resistance and the people of Gaza, was then seized by Israeli forces later that month.
In mid-June, the Israeli army set fire to and destroyed the Rafah crossing. According to reports at the time, this was part of a US–Israeli plan to transfer the Rafah land crossing to the Kerem Shalom area – where another border crossing that leads from the strip to Israel lies – to tighten supervision and obstruct Hamas members from entering and leaving the enclave.
Tel Aviv has long been calling to establish a permanent presence along the southern Gaza border. Hamas has stuck to its terms in the talks for a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Speaking to Al-Arabi, the head of Hamas’ national relations office, Hussam Badran, said on 6 July: “There is a positive outlook from the mediators regarding the movement’s recent stance on the exchange deal. The only obstacle to reaching an agreement is Netanyahu.”
Hamas denies Israeli allegations of presence in UNRWA school
Press TV – July 7, 2024
The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has condemned a deadly Israeli attack on a UNRWA-affiliated school in central Gaza, dismissing as “pure lies and deception” Israel’s claim that resistance fighters had been present in the building.
Hamas in a statement on Saturday called the Israeli airstrike on Al-Jaouni school, a UN-run school sheltering 7,000 displaced people at Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, a “horrific massacre” in which 16 Palestinians were killed and many others wounded.
The Palestinian group’s statement came after the Israeli forces claimed the UNRWA-run school was used by Hamas fighters as a command center.
“This criminal enemy is trying to pass and market its crimes to public opinion, and hide its clear objectives, which it seeks to implement by exterminating our Palestinian people and destroying all the components of life in the Gaza Strip,” Hamas said in the statement.
Hamas’s statement noted that shelters, schools, and UNRWA facilities have been systematically targeted and destroyed, resulting in the killings of hundreds of displaced individuals, including children, women, and the elderly.
“The number of UNRWA facilities targeted has reached one hundred and ninety centers, confirming the criminal intentions of the fascist occupation government and its pursuit of destruction and inflicting the maximum number of unarmed civilians inside, in a continuation of the war against our people,” the statement added.
Hamas labeled the Israeli attacks as war crimes and blatant violations of international law, urging the international community to take a firm stand in denouncing these attacks, taking action to stop them, and ensuring that those responsible, including occupation leaders, are held accountable for their actions.
Moreover, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in a statement strongly condemned the Israeli assault on Al-Jaouni school, describing it as a new chapter of Zionist brutality that highlights a surge in Zionist aggression backed by the American government.
“These massacres will not undermine the determination and steadfastness of our people, who refuse to succumb to oppression, massacres, and aggression. The enemy will certainly pay the price for its crimes,” the statement added.
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) announced that 250,000 people have been impacted by Israel’s latest evacuation order for parts of southern Gaza.
The mass displacement of Gaza in the war-torn territory comes amid the World Health Organization’s warning of a public health catastrophe as it says diarrhea, chickenpox and jaundice are spreading fast among Gaza’s displaced population due to lack of clean water and personal hygiene materials.
More than 38,098 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed and 87,705 wounded so far throughout Israel’s brutal military onslaught.
Featured Video
Russia-West Confrontation Fast Approaching /Dmitry Polyanskiy
or go to
Aletho News Archives – Video-Images
From the Archives
A decade of lies: The US-funded biolab denial saga
RT | May 15, 2026
Russia’s allegations that the US funded clandestine biological laboratories near its borders – claims denied until recently by Washington – have remained a persistent flashpoint in the steadily deteriorating relationship between Russia and the West for nearly a decade.
The biolabs affair was revealed in a 2017 exposé by RT that questioned a shady US military tender seeking the genetic material of living Russians. Over the years, Moscow has raised allegations against Washington of conducting clandestine bio-research, including potential WMD development and illicit human testing, in a network of labs located across multiple nations, the bulk of which operated in Ukraine. The claims were met with a blanket denial in the West, which repeatedly dismissed them as “Russian propaganda.”
This abruptly changed the past week when US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said that her department had identified more than 120 US-funded biological laboratories in 30 countries, with over a third of them located in Ukraine. The agency is now working to “identify where these labs are, what pathogens they contain, and what ‘research’ is being conducted to end dangerous gain-of-function research that threatens the health and wellbeing of the American people and the world,” according to Gabbard.
RT looks back at the timeline of the biolabs saga and the US denial of its existence until now. … continue
Blog Roll
Aletho News- EBM: Evidence-Biased Medicine
- US tech firm Cisco has deep ties with Israeli military, leaked documents show
- Palestinian families forced to demolish homes for Israeli theme park
- Al-Qassam leader Ezzeddin al-Haddad martyred in Israeli attack on Gaza
- IAEA Secretariat Ignores Daily Ukrainian Attacks on Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant – Rosatom Chief
- Trump’s Failed Mission to China
- Iranian military official warns ‘safe’ US targets now within range
- US Funded Network of High-Security Biolabs in Ukraine
- US’s war of choice on Iran imposed avoidable costs on Americans: FM
- Russia-West Confrontation Fast Approaching /Dmitry Polyanskiy
- If Americans Knew
- Israel kills a Hamas leader, plus 3 women, 1 child, and others (during “ceasefire”) – Daily Update
- We Can’t Curb Nuclear Proliferation If We Don’t Acknowledge Israel’s Nukes
- 43,000 people in Gaza suffered life-changing injuries since October 2023: WHO
- Israel’s 7 October narrative under fresh scrutiny after army accused of deleting footage
- Ex-CENTCOM chief headlines lavish Israeli-American Council gala
- Israel’s 7 October rape hoax gets a 300-page reboot
- Chants of ‘death to Arabs,’ calls for destruction of Al-Aqsa Mosque in racist Jerusalem Day march
- What Fuels My Revolutionary Optimism This Nakba Day
- Gaza elders who survived the Nakba reflect on being displaced by Israel again, 78 years later
- Israel (with US assistance) perpetuates the Nakba; Palestinians remain resilient – Daily Update
- No Tricks Zone
- How Once Hardcore Climate Alarmist Lucy Biggers Realized It Was All A Scam, Brainwashing
- German Expert: “No Climate Crisis” …”Warming Generally Better For Humanity”
- New Paleo Research: Modern ‘Climate Change’ Has Had No Apparent Impact On Precipitation Patterns
- 90% Subsidized… Bielefeld Germany’s €7 Million Hydrogen Garbage Truck Fleet Sits Idle
- New Study: Declining Trends In 1980-2023 Tropical Cyclone Frequency, Accumulated Energy
- 46 IPCC Scientists Break Rank, Publicly Challenge Long-Standing Dogmatic Climate Claims
- Another Study Links Warming To Cloud Forcing, Shortwave Radiation, Natural Atmospheric Circulation
- Wind Energy Is Toxic, Hazardous To Human Health, Scientific Review Shows
- Oversupply Of Volatile Solar Energy Leads To Record NEGATIVE Prices!
- New Study: Extreme Heat Records, Heatwaves, Extreme Cold Records Declining Across US Since 1899
Aletho News 