Palestinian Factions: The day after the war is a Palestinian internal affair
Palestinian Information Center – July 19, 2024
GAZ – The Palestinian national and Islamic factions said on Thursday evening that the day after the war on Gaza is a purely Palestinian national affair, and no external party will be allowed to interfere in the Palestinian internal affairs.
The factions stressed in a statement that the Rafah crossing is a Palestinian-Egyptian border crossing, and that the form of its management on the Palestinian side is determined by the Palestinian forces and definitely not the USA or Israel, or those who cooperate with them.
“The recent Knesset resolution which rejects the establishment of a Palestinian state takes us to the heart of the conflict with the occupier,” the statement added.
The factions called for establishing a widespread national movement aimed at “reclaiming the Palestine Liberation Organization that has been silenced for decades and for developing a national strategy and program for liberation.”
The factions’ statement comes in light of the news about a secret meeting held last week between the USA, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority, represented by its intelligence chief Majid Faraj, to discuss reopening the Rafah crossing under the control of Israel and the USA.
For 73 days, Israeli occupation forces have been occupying and closing the Gaza crossings, preventing the wounded and sick from traveling abroad for treatment or bringing in any humanitarian aid into the besieged Strip, turning a blind eye to warnings from humanitarian and relief organizations and international demands to reopen the crossings to avoid famine and to save the lives of thousands of citizens.
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.
Yemen has ‘very large stock’ of UAV used in unprecedented Tel Aviv attack
The Cradle | July 19, 2024
The Yemeni drone that successfully targeted Tel Aviv early on 19 July was locally produced, according to a source who spoke with Al Mayadeen.
The Yafa drone, named after the Palestinian city of Jaffa over which Tel Aviv was built, was “locally manufactured and developed [during the war], after Arab countries intercepted Yemeni [drones] that were targeting Umm al-Rashrash (Eilat), after 7 October,” the Yemeni source told Al Mayadeen on Friday.
The Armed Forces of Yemen’s Sanaa government has a “very large” stock of this type of drone, the source added.
“This is not the last weapon … [This drone] covers a distance of more than 2,000 km, and is equipped with modern jamming and infiltration systems … [The operation] coincides with ongoing naval operations, in accordance with the objectives announced by the Yemeni army. The operations will not stop,” the source went on to say.
“The target bank in Jaffa [Tel Aviv] is diverse … it will never be safe again … the operation is considered an advanced military success.”
The Israeli army identified the drone as an Iranian-made Samad-3, which was modified to have extended range, Israeli media reported.
The Yemeni Armed Forces – which are aligned with the Ansarallah resistance movement – announced the drone attack that struck Tel Aviv early on 19 July. At least one Israeli was killed and several others injured in the attack, which failed to trigger alarms.
In the statement, Yemeni army spokesman Yahya Saree declared Tel Aviv an “unsafe zone and a primary target within our weapon range.” He revealed that Sanaa holds “a bank of targets in occupied Palestine, including sensitive military and security targets, and will, with Allah’s help, continue to strike these targets in response to the enemy’s massacres and daily crimes against our brothers in Gaza.”
The Yafa drone did not set off any alarms as it entered Israeli airspace from the south before hitting a building near the US consulate in Tel Aviv.
According to Israeli media, the army has blamed its failure in intercepting the drone on a “human error.” The air force is also examining why the drone did not trigger sirens after entering Israeli air space from the south.
Israeli Army Radio reported on Friday morning that a preliminary investigation from the army showed that air defense systems detected the drone, but it was not classified as an aerial threat. Therefore, no alarm was activated, and the target was not shot down.
The successful drone attack “shouldn’t have happened,” the Israeli Air Force said. The Israeli army said fighter jets would increase patrols over Tel Aviv’s skies.
Collapsing Empire: Yemen Defeats US Navy
By Kit Klarenberg | Al Mayadeen | July 19, 2024
On July 12th, the Associated Press (AP) published an astonishing report, on the return of US Navy fighter pilots to Virginia after nine months of failing to thwart the righteous anti-genocide blockade of Red Sea shipping by Yemen’s Ansar Allah. The article was at pains to portray the pilots’ arrival Stateside as a heroic homecoming for courageous American flying aces. In reality, the Empire’s terminal weaknesses, and drastically ever-reducing power, were amply exposed.
AP described the pilots as “feeling relieved…after months of shooting down Houthi-launched missiles and drones off Yemen’s coast in the most intense running sea battle the Navy has faced since World War II.” Accompanying photos depicted them embracing their wives, and children waving the Star Spangled Banner. One pilot, “clearing the emotion from his voice,” boasted that he “couldn’t be prouder of his team” – the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier strike group – and “everything that the last nine months have entailed.”
The pilot looked ahead to spending time with his family, and trying to “make up for nine months of lost time.” The wife of a Navy lieutenant commander and pilot lamented that she “initially thought this deployment would be relatively easy” – “it was going to be, if you could call it, a fun deployment where he’s going to get lots of ports to visit.” As it was, the USS Eisenhower became embroiled in a brutal, unwinnable quagmire, and “plans continued to change.”
The drastic prolongation of her husband’s deployment “was exacerbated” due to knowing “people” – in other words, Ansar Allah – “[wanted] to harm the ship.” She was forced to consult “counselors provided by the Navy,” and was not alone. AP records “months of fighting and extensions placed extra stress on roughly 7,000 sailors and their families.” Pentagon officials are now investigating how to care for pilots and sailors “when they return home, including counseling and treatment for possible post-traumatic stress.”
It’s been a hellacious nine months for the US Navy in the Red Sea, courtesy of God’s Partisans [literal translation of Ansar Allah]. AP notes the Eisenhower and its accompanying ships have been bombarded relentlessly by Ansar Allah drones, and ballistic and cruise missiles. Frequently, these attacks have penetrated multiple layers of on-ship defenses, which is totally unprecedented in modern history. AP reports many sailors “have seen incoming Houthi-launched missiles seconds before they are destroyed by their ship’s defensive systems.”
Battling an enemy that can actually fight back has been a deeply ravaging experience for the US Navy. One pilot remarked, “most of the sailors…weren’t used to being fired on given the nation’s previous military engagements in recent decades.” He described the experience as “incredibly different”, “traumatizing for the group”, and “something that we don’t think about a lot.” A new experience it may be – but it’s one the US military will need to promptly and permanently adapt to.
Given the pace with which events move in this epoch, many may have forgotten the tubthumping fanfare that accompanied Operation Prosperity Guardian’s launch in December 2023. This followed a flurry of ineffectual, flaccid British and US airstrikes on Yemen. Officials in Washington bombastically announced that a multi-country coalition led by the US, comprising Bahrain, Britain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, the Seychelles, and Spain would be dispatched to the Red Sea, to decisively end Ansar Allah’s blockade, and ensure “freedom of trade”.
Almost immediately though, the much-vaunted coalition came apart. France, Italy, and Spain all announced they wouldn’t actually be taking part. Despite this inauspicious debut, when footage emerged of a grand international naval flotilla dramatically slicing its way to the region, many prominent social media users shrieked that Yemenis were about to find out why Americans don’t enjoy universal healthcare. Fast forward to July this year, and the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) published a forensic report on the impact of AnsarAllah’s “attacks on international trade.”
It found that container shipping through the Red Sea, which typically accounts for approximately 10-15% of international maritime trade, had declined by approximately 90% since Operation Prosperity Guardian began. Due to Ansar Allah’s inexorable onslaught against corporations and countries supporting the Gaza genocide, many ships were forced to take alternative routes around Africa, adding approximately 11,000 extra nautical miles, up to two weeks further transit time, and approximately $1 million in additional fuel costs for each voyage:
“For many shipping companies, the combined costs of crew bonuses, war risk insurance (roughly 1000% more than pre-war costs), and Suez transit fees make the additional time and financial costs traveling around Africa less expensive by comparison…Threats to Red Sea transits are compounding ongoing stress to global maritime shipping…Insurance premiums for Red Sea transits have risen to 0.7-1.0% of a ship’s total value, compared to less than 0.1% prior to December 2023.”
The DIA calculates that “at least 65 countries’ interests have been affected” by Ansar Allah’s actions, and “at least 29 major energy and shipping companies have altered their routes to avoid Houthi attacks.” And this is while their anti-shipping aerial strikes have been subject to relentless bombardment by US missiles and pilots.
On July 15th, mere days after Associated Press surveyed the smoldering wreckage of Operation Prosperity Guardian, AnsarAllah announced three separate operations in response to the Zionist entity’s massacre at the UN al-Mawasi Khan Yunis refugee camp. Undefeated and indefatigable, God’s Partisans are not backing down, and are going nowhere. The Resistance fights to win.
US not solution but obstacle in way of resolving international issues: Iran
Press TV – July 19, 2024
Iran’s interim foreign minister says the United States’ unilateral approach to international issues has proven to be a failure, stressing that Washington is not part of the solution, but an obstacle in the path of peace.
Speaking to reporters in New York on Friday, Ali Bagheri Kani criticized the US’s withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and its export of weapons to Israel amid the regime’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.
“The Americans’ claims that unilateralism can bring about peace, stability and security to the world have failed,” he said.
“Practically, the American’s approaches to the Iran nuclear negotiations, as well as the Palestine issue and the Zionist’s aggression against Gaza, demonstrated that they cannot be part of the solution, but they are themselves the main obstacle.”
The top diplomat also noted that the US is not qualified to be a “neutral mediator” as it disrupted the JCPOA’s implementation and is even “encouraging” Israel to commit more crimes in Gaza by providing the regime with lethal arms.
Bagheri Kani made the remarks after he attended two United Nations Security Council meetings focusing on the developments in Palestine and multilateralism.
He said that in the meetings, he had underlined the need for an immediate end to the Gaza genocide and highlighted the consequences if the regime committed a “strategic mistake” by invading Lebanon.
“The Zionists are killing and injuring 20 oppressed Palestinians almost every hour. Thus, the world should not remain silent and passive in the face of these continued crimes that are being normalized,” he added.
The interim foreign minister further hailed resistance as an effective element in the region, saying it plays a major role in creating regional stability and prevents the Zionists from escalating their offensive and massacre in the region.
Israel unleashed its brutal Gaza onslaught on October 7, 2023, after the Hamas resistance group carried out its historic operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for the regime’s intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.
The Tel Aviv regime has so far killed at least 38,848 Palestinians, mostly women, and children, in Gaza, and injured 89,456 others in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Lavrov: Hezbollah, Lebanese govt. avoid full-scale war with Israel, but some within regime seek conflict
Press TV – July 18, 2024
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement and the Lebanese government do not want a “full-blown war” with Israel but “some” within the regime are seeking it.
Speaking at a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday, the top Russian diplomat said “there’s a suspicion that some circles in Israel are trying to achieve just that.”
Lavrov, citing some American and European analysts, stressed that “escalation, as the practical developments show, is something which Israel is interested in.”
Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging deadly fire since early October, shortly after the regime launched a genocidal war on Gaza following a surprise operation by the Palestinian Hamas resistance group.
Hezbollah has vowed to keep up its retaliatory attacks as long as the Tel Aviv regime continues its Gaza onslaught.
“Hezbollah has been very much restrained in its actions,” Lavrov further said, adding that its leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, has already “delivered a number of public statements which reaffirmed that position.”
“However, the sentiment is that there’s an attempt to provoke them, and to provoke them into a full-blown engagement,” the top Russian diplomat warned.
According a tally by the Associated Press, Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon since October have killed more than 450 people while Hezbollah’s retaliatory attacks have claimed 34 lives.
Israeli media say Hezbollah’s retaliatory strikes have displaced around 60,000 Israeli settlers from northern parts of the occupied lands.
Israel’s war on Gaza slammed as ‘collective punishment’
Elsewhere in his remarks on Wednesday, Lavrov stressed that Israel’s war on the besieged Gaza Strip has crossed the line and is now a form of “collective punishment” on the territory’s 2.3 million Palestinians.
“When it comes to collective punishment in violation of international humanitarian law, one cannot fight against one form of violation through other violations. It’s the same principle here,” he said.
The Tel Aviv regime has killed about 38,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza, since October 7.
Since the start of the war, the United States has supplied Israel with more than 10,000 tons of military equipment and used its veto power against all UN Security Council resolutions that called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Despite the unabated campaign of bloodletting, the occupying regime has so far fallen short of realizing its two main “goals”, namely defeating and eliminating Hamas, and releasing Israeli captives.
US declares ‘mission complete’ for Gaza Aid Pier after delivering one day’s worth of food
The Cradle | July 18, 2024
The Pentagon announced on 17 July that the floating pier built off the coast of Gaza would be dismantled for good, declaring its “mission complete” two months after it started operations.
“The maritime surge mission involving the pier is complete. So there’s no more need to use the pier,” Navy Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, deputy commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), told a news briefing late Wednesday.
“Our assessment is that the temporary pier has achieved its intended effect to surge a very high volume of aid into Gaza and ensure that aid reaches the civilians in Gaza in a quick manner,” Cooper said, adding that nearly 20 million pounds of aid entered Gaza via the pier – the equivalent of about 600 truckloads.
For months, the UN and other human rights organizations have established that a minimum of 500 to 600 truckloads of aid need to enter Gaza daily to alleviate critical famine conditions. A large part of the aid that reached Gaza via the pier rotted under the sun for weeks after the US and Israel used the alleged humanitarian corridor to launch a bloody rescue operation in Nuseirat camp that killed nearly 300 Palestinians.
Cooper also announced that efforts to deliver aid to Gaza by sea would shift to the Israeli port of Ashdod. He added that, after US troops failed to re-attach the pier last week for a final time, about five million pounds of aid stranded in Cyprus and at sea will be heading to Ashdod.
“Having now delivered the largest volume of humanitarian assistance ever into the Middle East, we’re now mission complete and transitioning to a new phase,” Cooper claimed. “In the coming weeks, we expect that millions of pounds of aid will enter into Gaza via this new pathway.”
Earlier this week, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced that the floating pier would be replaced with a “dedicated facility” called Pier 28 in Ashdod Port without specifying a timeline.
He also claimed that the facilities will include a field hospital to “treat Palestinian children.” “This is a significant short-term solution that will address immediate humanitarian needs until a permanent mechanism is established to evacuate and treat ill children,” Gallant’s office said.
US President Joe Biden, who announced the construction of the $230 million structure in March, expressed disappointment in the pier’s ultimate failure, saying, “I was hopeful that would be more successful.”
After its launch in mid-May, the pier operated for fewer than 25 days, and aid agencies used it only about half that time due to security concerns, as the Israeli army has continuously targeted aid convoys and humanitarian groups operating in Gaza.
Barely any humanitarian aid has entered Gaza since the start of May when Israel violently took control of the Rafah crossing after Hamas accepted the terms of a US-backed ceasefire agreement. Tel Aviv is also in control of another six land crossings into the besieged enclave, which could allow for the delivery of necessary assistance that has been rotting on the Egyptian side of the border.
Israel approves resolution rejecting creation of Palestinian state
MEMO | July 18, 2024
Israeli lawmakers voted yesterday to approve a draft resolution rejecting the creation of a Palestinian state even as part of a peace agreement.
Some 68 deputies voted in favour of the bill in the General Assembly session, nine voted against it or abstained from voting, while the centrist Yesh Atid Party left the session before the vote was held, according to a statement issued by Knesset.
The resolution declares that “the Israeli Knesset opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state on any piece of land west of the Jordan River” claiming that “the existence of a Palestinian state in the heart of Israel will pose an existential threat to the State of Israel and its citizens, will further extend the Israel-Palestinian Arab conflict and be a source of destabilisation for the entire region.”
The motion concludes: “Supporting Palestinian statehood at this time would reward terrorism and serve to encourage Hamas and its supporters. Israel’s enemies will interpret it as the victorious outcome of the massacre perpetrated on October 7 and a precursor to the conquest by jihadist Islamism of the entire Middle East.”
The proposal was introduced by the opposition New Hope-United Right Party and supported by several parties within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, as well as the National Unity Party led by former War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz.
Gideon Sa’ar, a prominent Israeli lawmaker and chair of the New Hope-The United Right Party, said the resolution “aims to express the opposition that exists among the Israeli people to the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel’s security and future.”
He added that the decision sends a message to the international community, indicating that “pressures aimed at imposing a Palestinian state on Israel will not work.”
In response to the vote, Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh stated that peace and security cannot be achieved without the creation of a Palestinian state in accordance with international legitimacy.
According to the Wafa news agency, he accused Israel of terrorism resulting in the deaths of children, women and the elderly.
Abu Rudeineh emphasised that the Palestinian state is recognised globally, with 149 United Nations member states acknowledging its existence. He added that international recognitions continue to affirm that the establishment of an independent Palestinian state does not require permission or legitimacy from anyone.
He further noted that these decisions highlight Israel and its ruling coalition’s determination to destabilise the entire region, holding the US accountable for its bias and unwavering support.
The vote comes after an earlier decision this year by the Knesset to reject any “unilateral” international recognition of a Palestinian state.
Russia Ready for Ukraine Peace Talks With Focus on Clear Security Agreements
Sputnik – 17.07.2024
Russia is ready for negotiations on Ukraine and European security issues and will incorporate safeguards against dual interpretations in any future European security treaty said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
“We are ready for negotiations, but considering the sad experience of talks and consultations with the West and Ukrainians… I hope a treaty will be reached at some stage on European security, and in this context the Ukraine crisis will be resolved,” Lavrov stated during a press conference following a UN Security Council meeting.
“We will, of course, be very careful with the wording and will incorporate safeguards into this document against repeated unscrupulous, unreliable interpretations,” the foreign minister added.
Lavrov emphasized that, unlike China, the West does not address the root causes of the conflict in its initiatives on Ukraine.
“This already concerns the content of the dialogue; China has very clearly indicated in its first initiative the need to start with addressing the root causes of the current crisis in Europe and to work on agreements to eliminate these causes,” he said.
He noted that “no one at the Copenhagen or Burgenstock meetings even mentioned the root causes.”
Thus, the West is trying to push through Volodymyr Zelensky’s plan by all possible means.
“A course has been set to push through at any cost the so-called Zelensky plan, which has a clearly defined form of an ultimatum,” Lavrov emphasized.
Lavrov’s comments were in response to a question about Russia’s possible participation in the second summit on the Ukraine conflict and the outcomes of the recent conference in Switzerland.
On Russia-US Unofficial Contacts Regarding Ukraine
Russia and the United States have held unofficial and so-called “second level” expert level contacts to discuss issues related to the conflict in Ukraine, Minister Lavrov added.
“I will tell you in confidence — we have had unofficial contacts with the Americans involving political experts, political experts who know each other and understand the policies of their governments,” Lavrov told the press conference, adding that Ukraine was on the agenda of such contacts.
Despite the fact that the two countries are holding phone conversations from time to time, there is nothing significant in these talks, he noted.
On Russia’s Readiness to Work With a New US President
Russia will be ready to work with any elected president of the United States, the foreign minister claimed.
“Once again I want to say: we will work, we will be ready to work with any American leader that the American people elect and who … will be ready for an equal, mutually respectful dialogue,” Lavrov said at the press event.
On Israel Seeking to Involve the US in Regional Escalation
It appears that Israel’s goal is to involve the United States in the escalation of tensions with Iran, the minister observed.
“The sense is that they want to provoke them into full-scale involvement with Hezbollah. The purpose of such a provocation, analysts suggest, is to draw the United States directly into the involvement of its armed forces in this [regional] conflict,” Lavrov emphasized.
Russia hopes the West will do everything to ensure that such ideas, “if they exist in the Israeli leadership,” will remain only ideas.
Moscow is doing everything to “calm down the situation,” Lavrov added.
On the Nord Stream Explosions
Russia will continue seeking the truth regarding the explosions of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, Lavrov said.
“We will pursue the truth – since I’ve mentioned the Nord Streams, we’re going to seek the truth,” he highlighted.
160 journalists killed by ‘Israel’ since October: Gaza Media Office

Mohammed Meshmesh, program director at Al-Aqsa Voice radio.
Al Mayadeen | July 16, 2024
The media office of Gaza’s government reported on Tuesday that at least 160 journalists have been killed in the strip since Israeli airstrikes began in October.
“The number of journalists killed since the start of the genocide war against the Gaza Strip has risen to 160,” the media office said in a statement.
In April, the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate reported that at least 140 journalists had been killed in the Israeli military offensive on Gaza. The latest martyr is Mohammed Meshmesh, a program director at Al-Aqsa Voice radio, according to the media office.
On Sunday, a senior official in the Israeli security administration claimed that the intensive phase of military operations in Gaza has ended and the regime has proceeded to the third stage of the war, as quoted by Israeli broadcaster Channel 14.
This supposedly means that “Israel” has concluded its most active and aggressive period of its campaign in Gaza.
Yet, earlier today, Israeli forces committed two massacres across the Strip, including at the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) school of al-Razi in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, where many forcible displaced families were taking refuge.
23 Palestinians were killed in the horrific massacre and dozens were injured.
Another attack on displaced people near the al-Attar Station in the al-Mawasi, Khan Younis, has resulted in the killing of at least 17 people and the injury of at least 26, as per the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced in its daily report today that the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza due to the Israeli genocidal war ongoing since October 7 has now reached 38,713, in addition to 89,166 injuries.
It further confirmed that Israeli forces committed two massacres in 24 hours, killing 49 and injuring 69, and that thousands of victims are still under the rubble on the streets.
