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The Resistance Has a Plan for Israel. But on the Other Side, Fantastical U.S. Stratagems Ensure a Cascading Failure

By Alastair Crooke | Strategic Culture Foundation | February 19, 2024

In a speech on Tuesday, Hizbullah leader Seyed Nasrallah said that the Party will continue the border offensive until at least the Gaza massacre stops. The war in Gaza however, is far from over. And Nasrallah warned that even were a ceasefire to be reached in Gaza, “should the enemy perform any action, we will return to operating according to the rules and formulas that existed before. The purpose of the resistance is to deter the enemy, and we will react accordingly”.

Israel’s Defence Secretary Gallant has underlined that contrary to international consensus expectations, he too expects the war in Lebanon to continue. Gallant said the military has stepped up its attacks against Hizbullah by one level out of ten:

“The Air Force planes flying currently in the skies of Lebanon have heavier bombs for more distant targets. Hizbullah went up half a step, whilst we, a full one … We can attack not only at 20 kilometres [from the border], but also at 50 kilometres, and in Beirut and anywhere else”.

It is not clear what ‘red line’ Hizbullah would have to cross for Israel to significantly escalate its response to much higher levels; Israeli leaders have suggested that an attack on a strategic site; or an attack leading to major civilian casualties; or a substantive barrage on Haifa might constitute the breaking point.

Nonetheless, with three military divisions rather than the usual one now deployed in the north of Israel, the IDF has more forces poised for action on the northern border than it has preparing for an incursion into Rafah – at this point. It is clear, as Chief of Staff Halevy has specified, that Israel is “preparing for war” against Hizbullah (more than preparing for Rafah).

Is the threat to Rafah a bluff to put pressure on Hamas to concede on the deal and hostages? One way or another, both Israel’s political and military chiefs are adamant: The IDF will incurse into Rafah – ‘at some point’.

The qualitatively different Hizbullah strike on Safed on Israel’s northern regional command HQ on Wednesday – which resulted in 2 dead and 7 further casualties – is being treated in Israel as the gravest attack since the start of the war, with Ben Gvir calling it a “declaration of war”. Subsequent Israeli attacks killed 11 people, including six children, in a barrage of strikes on villages across southern Lebanon, in retribution for the Safed blitz – with the fierce exchange of fire still continuing.

The ‘Safed Strike’ deep into the Galilee very likely was intended to signal that Hizbullah is not about to capitulate to western demands that it provide Israel with a ceasefire that is intended to facilitate evacuated Israelis to return to their homes in the north. As Nasrallah confirmed in a scathing attack on those external (Western) mediators who serve only as Israel’s lawyers, and neglect to address the massacres in Gaza:

“It is easier to move the Litani River forward to the borders, than to push back Hezbollah fighters from the borders, to behind the Litani River … They want us to pay a price without Israel committing to a thing”.

In these circumstances, Nasrallah clarified that residents of northern Israel will not return to their homes – warning that even more Israelis risk being displaced:

“‘Israel’ must prepare shelters, basements, hotels and schools to house two million settlers who will be evacuated from northern Palestine, [were Israel to expand the war zone].”

Nasrallah outlined what is clearly the agreed Axis of resistance’s overarching strategic plan. (There has been a flurry of meetings between senior Axis principals over the last week, across the region, for which Nasrallah is speaking):

“We are committed to fighting Israel until it is off the map. A strong Israel is dangerous to Lebanon; but a deterred Israel, defeated and exhausted, is less of a danger to Lebanon”.

“The national interest of Lebanon, the Palestinians, and the Arab world is that Israel leaves this battle defeated: Therefore, we are committed to Israel’s defeat”.

Put bluntly, the Axis has its vision of the conflict’s outcome. And it is a “deterred, defeated and exhausted” Israeli State. By implication, it is an Israel that has relinquished the Zionist project – one that is reconciled to the notion of living as Jews between the River and the Sea – albeit with rights no different to others living there (i.e. Palestinians).

On the other side, the western strategic plan, as the Washington Post reports – which the U.S. and several Arab countries hope to present within a few weeks – is a long-term plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, including a “time frame” for the establishment of a provisional de-militarized Palestinian “state”:

“Imperatively, it begins with a hostage deal accompanied by a six-week cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. While it may be termed “cessation of hostilities” or an “extended humanitarian pause,” such a cease-fire will signal the de facto end of the war along the lines and scale that it has been fought since 7 Oct.”

The plan addresses “Post-war Gaza”, in terms already well-known. As senior Israeli commentator, Alon Pinkas, affirms:

“Parallel to the announcement U.S., Britain and possibly other countries will consider and eventually make a joint statement of intent by recognizing a provisional, demilitarized and future Palestinian state – without delineating or specifying its borders”.

“Such a recognition does not necessarily contradict Israel’s legitimate and reasonable demand to have overriding security control over the area west of the Jordan River in the foreseeable future … [it constitutes] a practical, timebound, irreversible path to a Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace with Israel … whose recognition could also be submitted to the UN Security Council – as a binding resolution. Once the Arab countries sign off on such a framework, the U.S. believes that neither Russia nor China would veto it …

“Within the “regionalization” phase however, the Americans will craft a regional security cooperation mechanism. Some in Washington imagine a reconfigured region with a new “security architecture” as a harbinger to a gradual Mideast version of the European Union, with greater economic and infrastructure integration”.

Ah – the New Middle East again!!!

Even Alon Pinkas, an experienced former Israeli diplomat, concedes: “If the plan seems too fantastical to you: You’re not alone”.

The basic improbabilities to this plan simply are disregarded. Firstly, Israel’s Finance Minister Smotrich responded to the reported American-Arab plan, saying: “there’s a joint American, British and Arab effort to establish a terrorist state” next to Israel. Second, (as Smotrich further notes): “They see the polls. They see how the absolute majority of Israelis oppose this idea [of a Palestinian State]”; and thirdly, some 700,000 settlers were installed in the West Bank – precisely to block any Palestinian State.

Is the U.S. really going to impose this onto a hostile Israel? How?

And, from the Resistance perspective, ‘a provisional, demilitarized and future Palestinian ‘state’, without delineated or specified borders, is not a state. It is truly a Bantustan.

The reality is that when a Palestinian State might have been a real prospect (two decades ago), the international community turned a willing ‘blind eye’ – for decades – to Israel’s successful and complete sabotage of the project. Today, circumstances are much changed: Israel has moved far to the Right and is in the grip of an eschatological passion to establish Israel on the entire “Land of Israel”.

The U.S. and Europe have only themselves to blame for the dilemma in which they now find themselves. And a policy stance – such as outlined by Biden – plainly said is doing untold strategic damage to the U.S. and its compliant European allies.

Even on the Lebanon track, let us be plain too, Israel’s demands from Lebanon go far beyond a mutual ceasefire. There is no guarantee, even should a ceasefire be reached in Gaza as part of a comprehensive hostage/end-of-war deal, that Nasrallah will agree to withdraw all his forces from the border with Israel, or conversely, that Israel will comply with its commitments.

And with the U.S. defining its Palestinian ‘solution’ as an improbable, provisional, disarmed and wholly impotent Palestinian entity, nestled within a fully militarised Israel, exercising ‘full security overlordship from the River to the Sea’, it would not be surprising were Hizbullah rather, to opt to pursue the Axis’ plan of a defeated, exhausted post-Zionism.

Israeli commentator, Zvi Bar’el, writes:

“Even were the American assumptions to become a working plan, it is still unclear what policy Israel will adopt on Lebanon. Even pushing Hezbollah back so that Israeli communities are no longer within the range of its anti-tank missiles does not remove the threat of tens of thousands of medium and long-range missiles. The deterrence equation between Israel and Hezbollah will continue to determine [the true] reality along the border”.

[The current U.S. working assumption, as presented by the Administration’s special envoy Amos Hochstein in his previous visits to Lebanon], “is that a border demarcation agreement between Israel and Lebanon will result in final and full recognition of the international border and thus deny Hezbollah the formal basis for justifying its continued fight against Israel to liberate occupied Lebanese territories. At the same time, it allows the Lebanese government to order its army to deploy its forces along the border in order to assert its sovereignty over its entire territory and demand that Hezbollah forces pull back from the border”.

This is just more wishful, ‘fantastical’ thinking. And it contains a flaw: Hochstein’s work plan does not include an agreement on the Sheba’a Farms, but only on the ‘Blue Line’ – the border agreed in 2000, but which is not recognized by Lebanon as an international border. If the issue of the Sheba’a Farms is not settled, Hezbollah will not be bound by a limited demarcation accord that omits the Sheba’a area.

Since Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October, every stratagem and protocol, dug from some musty West Wing cupboard, and upon which the U.S. leant, has failed. What was supposed to be a limited and compartmentalized military operation in Gaza by the IDF has turned into a regional firestorm. Aircraft carriers sent to deter other actors from getting involved failed with the Houthis; U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria became targets, with attacks on U.S. bases continuing, despite U.S. attempts at delivering deterrent ‘punches’.

Quite clearly, Netanyahu is ignoring Biden, and ‘defying the world’ – as this week’s headlines attest:

“Defying Biden, Netanyahu Doubles Down on Plans to Fight in Rafah” (Wall Street Journal )

“As Israel corners Rafah, Netanyahu defies the world” (Washington Post )

“U.S. won’t punish Israel for Rafah op that doesn’t protect civilians” (Politico )

“Egypt Builds Walled Enclosure on Border as Israeli Offensive Looms: Authorities are surrounding an area in the desert with concrete walls as a contingency for possible influx of Palestinian refugees” (Wall Street Journal ).

Netanyahu has vowed to forge ahead, saying on Wednesday that Israel would mount a “powerful” operation in the city of Rafah, once residents have been “evacuated”. Israelis explicitly say the White House is not opposed to the Rafah blitz, provided Palestinians are given the opportunity to “evacuate” (to where, is left unsaid). (Meanwhile, Egypt is building a refugee camp inside its border, surrounded by concrete walls …).

At this point, all of the U.S.’ various problems – the political polarization, widening war, funding for wars, the alienation amongst the swing-state Arab constituencies and Biden’s sinking ratings – are beginning to feed into, and reinforce, each other. What began as a foreign-policy issue – Israel defeating Hamas – has become a significant domestic crisis. Dissatisfaction within the U.S. at Israel’s conduct of the war is fuelling the growth of significant protest movements. Who can truly believe that yet another trip by Blinken to the region will solve anything at this point, asks Malcom Kyeyune?

It is hard to say where things in the region will stand, a couple of months from now. We have entered a period of breakdown and violence, as the forces pulling apart the old status quo cascade and mutually reinforce one another.

February 19, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Yemeni navy destroys British ship in Gulf of Aden

The Cradle | February 19, 2024

The Yemeni armed forces announced on 19 February a new attack on a British commercial vessel in the Gulf of Aden, adding that the ship was nearly destroyed.

“The naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces … carried out an effective military operation, targeting a British ship in the Gulf of Aden, RUBYMAR, with several naval missiles,” Yemeni army spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement.

“The ship was seriously damaged, causing it to stop completely. As a result of the extensive damage the ship suffered, it is now at risk of sinking in the Gulf of Aden. We ensured the ship’s crew exited safely during the operation,” Saree added.

UK maritime authorities said an investigation was launched following reports of an explosion near a British cargo ship on Sunday.

The Yemeni spokesman added that air defenses also brought down a US MQ-9 drone “while it was carrying out hostile missions against our country on behalf of the Zionist entity.”

This was the third UK vessel that Yemen has struck in the last four days. The Yemeni army announced on 17 February an attack on the British oil vessel, the POLLUX, in the Red Sea. This came two days after an attack on the UK ship LYCAVITOS.

Since the US and UK launched a violent airstrike campaign against Yemen last month, Sanaa has attacked several US and British vessels in the Red Sea and elsewhere.

CENTCOM announced “five self-defense strikes” on what it said were Yemeni cruise missiles on Saturday.

Nevertheless, these strikes have done little to deter Yemen from continuing operations against Israeli-linked ships.

The Yemeni attacks have dealt a significant blow to the Israeli economy and western shipping as a whole. Several major shipping companies were forced to suspend journeys in the Red Sea and make lengthy and expensive reroutes.

Yemeni naval operations “will not stop until the aggression ends and the siege on the Gaza Strip is lifted,” Saree confirmed in Monday’s statement.

The Sanaa government’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Hussein al-Ezzi, warned on 16 February that Washington “will soon” regret its escalation against Yemen.

February 19, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Wars for Israel | , , | Leave a comment

US changes position on Gaza ceasefire – Reuters

RT | February 19, 2024

US President Joe Biden’s administration has reportedly dropped its opposition to a humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and proposed a UN resolution calling for Israel to cancel its planned military offensive in the Palestinian enclave’s last refuge for displaced civilians.

The draft resolution noted that the planned storming of Rafah would harm civilians and displace more Gaza residents, potentially pushing many into Egypt, Reuters reported on Monday, citing a copy of the text.

Israel’s Rafah operation – targeting the last Hamas stronghold in the besieged enclave – “would have serious implications for regional peace and security, and therefore underscores that such a major ground offensive should not proceed under current circumstances,” according to the proposed resolution.

Washington’s UN delegation has previously opposed making demands for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and has twice vetoed UN Security Council resolutions since the conflict began in October. Its new proposal comes in response to a draft resolution from the Algerian delegation, which demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield has said the Algerian resolution could undermine “sensitive negotiations” to broker a pause in the fighting. She indicated on Saturday that the US would veto the resolution if it came up for a Security Council vote on Tuesday.

About 1.4 million Gazans displaced by Israeli bombardments have been crammed into Rafah, a city on the strip’s southern border that normally has a population of around 280,000, according to the UN.

The UN has warned that Israel’s planned Rafah operation would have “dire humanitarian consequences.” Dozens of European countries issued a similar warning on Monday, following in the footsteps of such nations as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to completely eliminate Hamas in response to the deadly October 7 attacks by Palestinian militants that triggered the war. He has rejected international calls for a ceasefire and has insisted that only “total victory” will make Israel safe. “Those who want to prevent us from operating in Rafah are essentially telling us, ‘Lose the war,’” he told reporters on Saturday.

While publicly supporting Israel’s war effort – and providing US weaponry – Biden has reportedly clashed with Netanyahu behind the scenes. During a telephone call with Netanyahu on Thursday, Biden “reiterated his view that a military operation should not proceed without a credible and executable plan for ensuring the safety of, and support for, the civilians in Rafah,” according to a White House statement.

The UN resolution proposed by the Biden administration also would condemn any efforts to reduce Gaza’s territory or move Israeli settlers into the enclave, Reuters said.

February 19, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , | Leave a comment

US Official Admits Israeli Actions Make It ‘Virtually Impossible’ to Distribute Aid in Gaza

By Kyle Anzalone | The Libertarian Institute | February 18, 2024

A US Middle East official explained that Israeli decisions to target police in Gaza have made the distribution of aid in the besieged enclave “virtually impossible.” The official added that Israel has failed to provide evidence for its claim that Hamas is stealing the aid sent into Gaza. Tel Aviv has used allegations that Hamas is tied to international humanitarian agencies and steals shipments to severely restrict aid deliveries into Gaza as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are starving to death.

David Satterfield, the Biden administration’s special Middle East envoy for humanitarian issues, explained that Israel had killed several members of the police force in Gaza that safeguarded aid deliveries. Targeting the police force led to them being unable to escort aid deliveries.

“With the departure of police escorts, it has been virtually impossible for the UN or anyone else, Jordan, the UAE, or any other implementer to safely move assistance in Gaza because of criminal elements,” Satterfield said at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on Friday.

The Middle East envoy went on to admit that Israel has not presented “evidence of diversion or theft” of aid shipments into Gaza. Tel Aviv has used claims that assistance to the Palestinian people is exploited and stolen by Hamas to restrict the amount of food, fuel, and medicine that enters the enclave. Tel Aviv also restricts many medications, including painkillers, antibiotics, and anesthetics, from entering Gaza, claiming the aid could be used by Hamas militants.

Since October 7, Tel Aviv has exploited and promoted several lies to justify the genocide that is being inflicted on the Palestinian people. Last month, Israel claimed 12 members of the UN aid agency UNRWA participated in the Hamas attack on Israel. The US and over a dozen other Western nations cut funding to the agency based on Israeli allegations. However, several media outlets that have reviewed the Israeli dossier, which supposedly supports Tel Aviv’s assertions, say it contains no evidence.

Tel Aviv has asserted that Hamas command and control centers were built under critical civilian infrastructure in Gaza, such as cemeteries, the UNRWA headquarters, and Shifa Hospital. But, Israel was unable to produce evidence to back their claims even after having total control over the facilities.

The Israeli destruction of Gaza and restriction of aid have created a humanitarian catastrophe for the 2.3 million Palestinians that live in the Strip. Food, medical supplies, clean water, and fuel are scarce. Hundreds of thousands of people are in a state of famine.

February 18, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

Genocide Court Calls on Israel to Prevent ‘Exponential Increase of Humanitarian Nightmare’

By Kyle Anzalone | The Libertarian Institute | February 18, 2024

The International Court of Justice demanded that Israel abide by a ruling the court issued last month as Palestinians suffer in a “perilous situation.” The court issued the statement in response to a request by South Africa for the court to intervene and prevent an Israeli attack on Rafah.

Near the end of last year, South Africa filed a suit with the ICJ alleging Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. In January, the court issued a primary ruling that Israel was committing a genocide fueled by statements from Israeli officials.

The ICJ ruling demanded that Israel halt operations that endanger civilians, end genocidal rhetoric, and punish those who commit or encourage war crimes. Israel and the US dismissed the ICJ ruling.

Last week, Pretoria filed a request with the court to issue an additional ruling against Israel as Tel Aviv planned operations in Rafah. Rafah is the last remaining city in Gaza not completely decimated by the Israeli military operations. At least 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering in the city, many in tents and on the streets.

The ICJ responded to the South African request by declining to issue further orders to Israel but cited its previous ruling that called on Israel to halt operations that could endanger Palestinian civilians. “The Court notes that the most recent developments in the Gaza Strip, and in Rafah in particular, would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare with untold regional consequences,” A statement from the ICJ said.

“This perilous situation demands immediate and effective implementation of the provisional measures indicated by the Court in its Order of 26 January 2024.” The press release continues, “The Court emphasizes that the State of Israel remains bound to fully comply with its obligations under the Genocide Convention and with the said Order, including by ensuring the safety and security of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”

The Israeli government is planning the attack on Rafah, and Prime Minister Netanyahu says it will go ahead despite international pressure. Human rights organizations and Western governments are warning Israel not to attack the city because of the suffering it will inflict on Palestinian civilians.

It is unclear where the Palestinians will go once Israel destroys Rafah. Tel Aviv says it will not push the Palestinians from Rafah across the border into Egypt. However, Cairo is preparing for an influx of refugees.

February 18, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

Israeli military, intelligence bodies admit Hamas will survive onslaught on Gaza Strip

Press TV – February 18, 2024

Israeli military and intelligence institutions have warned the regime’s top-ranking authorities that the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement will survive the unrelenting ground and air strikes against the besieged Gaza Strip.

A document circulated from Israeli military leaders to senior politicians states that “authentic support remains” for Hamas among Gazans, according to a report published by the Hebrew-language Keshet 12 television channel.

The document, put together by the Israeli army’s research division, also warned that “Gaza will become an area in deep crisis”, given the lack of plan for the “day after” war.

The document was reportedly presented on Monday to leading Israeli officials following a week of senior military and intelligence talks about the findings, Keshet 12 noted.

Ilana Dayan, an investigative journalist at the broadcaster, said that the “bottom line” of the document was that the Hamas movement would inevitably survive Israel’s offensive.

The report comes as Israel prepares a ground offensive on Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah.

The UN special rapporteur on Palestine has slammed Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledge to push on with the assault.

“Rafah stands as the last line of Palestinian existence in Gaza, amidst the relentless anguish faced by the people trapped therein,” Francesa Albanese wrote on X.

“How can we possibly allow another Nakba? Have we really lost our minds?”

According to diplomatic sources quoted by the AFP news agency, the UN Security Council is set to put to vote a new resolution put forth by Algeria that demands an “immediate” truce in Gaza.

The latest version of the text “demands an immediate humanitarian ceasefire that must be respected by all parties”, the agency said.

It also “rejects forced displacement of the Palestinian civilian population”, and it “demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages”, AFP reported.

Earlier, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield issued a statement responding to reports that Algeria plans to put the resolution to a vote on Tuesday.

“Should it come up for a vote as drafted, it will not be adopted,” Thomas-Greenfield said.

The US has previously used its veto to prevent the UN Security Council from passing resolutions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has reiterated his country’s “categorical rejection of the displacement of Palestinians to Egypt in any shape or form”.

During a phone conversation with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Saturday, the two leaders agreed on the need to “stop the bloodshed” in the Gaza Strip and discussed advancing the establishment of an independent sovereign Palestinian state, a statement by the Egyptian presidency read.

Israel has been waging the war against Gaza since October 7, 2023, when the coastal sliver’s resistance groups staged an operation, dubbed Operation al-Aqsa Storm, against the occupied territories.

Nearly 29,000 Palestinians, mostly women, children, and adolescents, have been killed so far as a result of the brutal military onslaught.

February 18, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Israeli army converts Nasser Hospital into military barracks, arrests dozens of doctors, patients

Palestinian Information Center – February 18, 2024

GAZA – Israeli occupation forces converted the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis into a military barracks after taking it out of service. They have arrested dozens of medical staff and patients.

Dr. Ashraf al-Qudra, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, said on Sunday that the Israeli occupation has turned the Nasser Medical Complex into a military barracks and taken it out of service.

He pointed out that the Israeli occupation forces kept medical personnel for hours in the maternity building, handcuffed them, beat them, and stripped them of their clothes. He pointed out that the occupation army arrested 70 healthcare workers in the medical complex.

He said that there are now only 25 medical personnel left in the Nasser Medical Complex who are unable to handle cases in need of critical care. He warned that the occupation army has arrested the intensive care doctor and there is no doctor to follow up on critical cases.

He noted that the Israeli occupation forces have arrested dozens of immobile patients who are receiving treatment and placed them in military beds, loaded them onto trucks, and taken them to an unknown location, putting their lives at risk.

He added that the electricity has been cut off from the Nasser Medical Complex for three days, resulting in lack of oxygen for the patients. This has led to the death of seven patients so far, with fears of the death of dozens of critical cases.

He pointed out that three women, including a female doctor, gave birth in the Nasser Medical Complex under difficult and unsafe conditions, lacking water, food, electricity, and cleanliness. The water supply to the Nasser Medical Complex has been completely cut off for three days due to the power generators being out of service.

The spokesperson held Israel fully responsible for the lives of the medical staff and patients in the Nasser Medical Complex.

The Israeli army since January 22, following the expansion of its ground attack to the west of Khan Yunis and their issuance of more evacuation orders for the area, has been besieging the Nasser Hospital with a capacity of 475 beds, Al-Amal Hospital with a capacity of 100 beds, the Jordanian Field Hospital with a capacity of 50 beds, and Al-Khair Hospital, in addition to three health clinics, which housed thousands of displaced people along with patients, according to the statement.

On the same day, the Israeli occupation forces raided Al-Khair Hospital, which is run by a charitable association, and ordered women and children to evacuate towards Rafah. They also arrested several medical staff members and completely took it out of service.

In the following days, the Israeli occupation forces continued to shell and fire at Al-Amal Hospital and the Nasser Medical Complex, using artillery, snipers, and quadcopter aircraft, resulting in the killing and injury of dozens of civilians. The hospital grounds turned into temporary graves before being raided, and taken out of service, along with the medical staff and patients inside.

February 18, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

Behind the curtain: How British spy agencies are aiding Israeli genocide in Gaza

By Reza Javadi | Press TV | February 18, 2024

Since the launch of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in early October, the United Kingdom has dramatically increased its military and intelligence support for the Israeli regime.

It has done so either by recruiting spies in the occupied Palestinian territories, engaging private military companies, deploying surveillance aircraft and vessels, or conducting spy missions over Gaza.

Notable components of the British deployment include Royal Air Force P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, unspecified surveillance assets, two Royal Fleet Auxiliary support ships, three Merlin helicopters, and a contingent of Royal Marines, which were meant to aid the Israeli aggression against Palestinians.

According to the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), a UK-based civil society organization, the United Kingdom and Germany are among the biggest arms suppliers to Tel Aviv.

The CAAT report said British companies supplied approximately 15 percent of components used in F-35s that were employed in the Israeli bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip.

Some companies, such as Elbit, the Israeli regime’s international military contractor, hold licenses for trading military equipment in Britain, the report stated.

MI5 recruits spies in Gaza

Beyond military assistance, the UK has consistently sought to provide intelligence support to the Israeli regime by utilizing existing intelligence operatives and recruiting new agents within occupied territories.

In a recently revealed case, the British spy agency MI5 tried to recruit a British man in Gaza by offering to help his family escape the city, which is currently under heavy bombardment by the Israeli regime.

The man, who reportedly declined the offer, revealed that his family had registered with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) for evacuation but experienced prolonged delays, enduring dire conditions in a tent among other displaced individuals in Gaza.

“I have been waiting for more than two months for them to get me and my family out of this crazy, dangerous war,” he was quoted as saying, expressing frustration.

The MI5 contact with the man in Gaza indicated that the agency’s ability to facilitate the family’s evacuation through FCDO was contingent upon the man agreeing to work for the intelligence agency.

Despite the urgency of their situation, the man said he did not agree to this condition.

MI5, the contact said, had influence over the FCDO but only if he could show “there is willingness from your side about working together”.

“After I received their offer, I said to myself: the UK is a country of institutions and law, and they will not obstruct the evacuation of me and my family because I did not respond to MI5’s proposal. But unfortunately, I was wrong,” the unidentified man stated.

Moazzam Begg, a senior director at advocacy organization Cage International, and a former Guantanamo Bay detainee assisting the family, noted that the recruitment methods employed by MI5 seem consistent with the agency’s tactics to exploit individuals facing desperate circumstances.

Begg emphasized the coercive nature of such recruitment, sharing his own experience.

“I know from personal experience from MI5 agents telling me directly that the only way you can get out of a place where you are being tortured or abused or detained without trial is by cooperating.”

UK spy mission over Gaza

The British intelligence support for the Israeli regime and its spy missions in the occupied territories is not limited to the recruitment of potential spies.

A recent investigation revealed that the British military conducted approximately 50 spy missions over the Gaza Strip for the Israeli regime since December.

In its latest report, Declassified UK, a news website focused on British foreign policy, said the flights have taken off from the UK’s Akrotiri air base on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Flights originating from the controversial air base utilized Shadow R1 surveillance aircraft to gather intelligence.

The UK Ministry of Defense initially claimed these flights aimed to collect information on British captives held by the Hamas resistance movement, but the frequency and timing raised suspicions of broader intelligence gathering.

“The extraordinary number of flights, and the fact that they started nearly two months after the hostages were taken, raises suspicions that the UK is not collecting intelligence solely for this purpose,” Declassified UK said.

Head of the Cyprus Peace Council Charis Pashias said last week that locals have seen a “daily” increase in the number of flights from Akrotiri since Israel launched its bombardment of Gaza on Oct 7, 2023.

He said people have also “become aware of the illegal presence of thousands of American soldiers now stationed in Akrotiri.”

UK’s plan for surveillance flights

In another noteworthy development, the UK government openly announced its plan for surveillance flights over Israel and Gaza, citing it as part of hostage rescue efforts.

Hamas condemned this decision, labeling it as military involvement in the “genocidal” war on Gaza. The group urged the UK to reconsider, citing historical grievances such as the 1917 Balfour Declaration, describing it as “the sin of the century” and condemning the UK for perpetuating a shameful colonial past.

The UK’s “intention to carry out intelligence flights over the Gaza Strip makes it an accomplice to the Zionist occupation in its crimes, and responsible for the massacres to which our Palestinian people are subjected,” the Palestinian resistance group said in a statement.

The UK should have “corrected its historical position that was offensive to the Palestinian people,” and “atone for” the 1917 Balfour Declaration, a letter from then-British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Lionel Walter Rothschild, a leading figure of the British Jewish community, pledging support for “a national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.

British Cyprus intelligence base

The recent surge in UK surveillance activities is closely tied to its significant presence in the Eastern Mediterranean, specifically the British Sovereign Base Areas (SBA) on Cyprus.

These bases, constituting 3 percent of the island’s landmass, house the largest Royal Air Force base outside the UK and contain substantial signals- and intelligence-gathering assets. Most UK surveillance flights are launched from these bases, strategically located just 200 miles from Gaza.

Although officially unacknowledged, leaked top-secret documents from GCHQ, the UK’s largest spy agency, confirm that Cyprus “hosts a wide range of UK and US intelligence facilities.”

The main US spy agency of National Security Agency (NSA) particularly operates on British territory, maintaining a “far-reaching technical and analytic relationship” with the Israeli SIGINT National Unit (ISNU), sharing information on access, intercept, targeting, language, analysis, and reporting, according to Declassified.

A top-secret document from GCHQ adds that “Cyprus collection facilities are acknowledged by NSA as important assets”.

These revelations, leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, gained significance in light of the US-UK activities on Cyprus, suggesting that intelligence obtained from Gaza by American spy agencies operating on British Cyprus might be shared with the Israeli regime.

The US and British militaries are key partners of Israel and have supported its bombing of Gaza. The documents show intelligence gathered on Cyprus is likely to be part of this support.

The leaked GCHQ document acknowledges that intelligence gathered from Cyprus is integrated “with military planning and operations,” emphasizing the close interaction between GCHQ and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Cyprus.

Moreover, RAF Troodos, a British “retained site” near the northern Cyprus border, operates as a listening post for the US, providing unique access to critical points in the Middle East. The intelligence collected from Troodos supports technical analysts in both the US and the UK and is used for weapons-related collection, according to a GCHQ document.

The Troodos site, GCHQ noted, “has long been regarded as a ‘Jewel in the Crown’ by NSA as it offers unique access to the Levant, North Africa, and Turkey”.

Furthermore, it is believed that the CIA is operating from Britain’s bases on Cyprus. A leaked US cable, reported by Declassified, mentioned a UK official stating that American aircraft flying from RAF Akrotiri are operated by the State Department and US military, with the “possibility of other agencies”, presumably the CIA, conducting operations from the base.

British soldiers take part in Israeli war

In a recent revelation, the death of Nathanel Young, a 20-year-old British man serving as a corporal in the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), shed light on the fact that hundreds of Britons are serving in the IOF, which is illegally occupying Palestinian land and has killed thousands of children in Gaza.

In an interview with the Times, Sam Sank, a British paratrooper in the Israeli army, who has been participating in the Israeli war against Palestinians since early October, revealed that hundreds of fellow Brits are currently serving in the IOF.

Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, whose husband has lived in the Israeli-occupied territories, previously told the Jewish Chronicle that they have “close family members who serve in the IDF”.

It is unclear if those relatives are British citizens.

This prompted the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians to seek urgent clarification from the UK Foreign Office on the legality of British nationals enlisting in the Israeli army.

They made the request “In light of the catastrophic situation currently unfolding in Gaza, with clear evidence that war crimes and crimes against humanity may already have been committed in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and the real risk that further mass atrocity crimes may be imminent”.

People who fight for a foreign army are often viewed as mercenaries and would meet the dictionary definition. However, the UK lacks effective anti-mercenary laws and tends to prosecute foreign fighters on an ad hoc basis, depending on whatever geo-political interests are being pursued by the government of the day.

The UK even tried to thwart attempts by the United Nations to craft a ban on mercenaries. The only international law concerning mercenaries that Britain has signed is Article 47 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Convention.

It was adopted in 1977 as “countries attempted to create a fine distinction between those classified as mercenaries and other actors, essentially to retain the right to recruit, train, finance, and use mercenaries with impunity,” according to a report presented last month to the UN General Assembly by its working group on mercenaries.

Britons joining the IOF may only meet certain aspects of the Geneva Convention’s criteria for mercenaries, especially concerning material compensation exceeding that of their Israeli counterparts.

The country’s historical resistance to international efforts to ban mercenaries complicates the legal landscape around this issue.

UK arms exports to Israel

According to research by the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT), the UK has licensed approximately £472 million in arms exports to Israel since 2015. These exports include various components, equipment, and technology for fighter aircraft and drones.

It’s worth noting that, as James Butler observes, “the headline figure is taken from the value of standard licenses, but the UK also operates a system of open licenses that permit transfers of unlimited – and unspecified – quantities of particular military goods.”

Scrutiny of the Israeli regime’s genocide in Gaza has increased in the UK due to concerns that weapons supplied by the UK might be used in violation of international humanitarian law (IHL).

Despite these concerns and calls from human rights campaigners to suspend arms sales to Israel, the UK government has shown no intention of halting such exports. The UK government’s rhetorical emphasis on IHL compliance contrasts with its uninterrupted supply of arms to the apartheid regime.

In the first weeks of the war, a report by openDemocracy said “The UK government has no plans to suspend arms sales to Israel, despite human rights campaigners warning its exports have been used to kill civilians.”

In late November, when pressed in the House of Commons, the incumbent Defence Secretary Grant Shapps rebuffed the idea of the UK suspending its arms sales to the regime in Tel Aviv.

This stance persisted even after the regime’s attacks on October 7, with London and other Western nations expressing “unequivocal support” for Israel, which made them directly complicit.

February 18, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Timeless or most popular, War Crimes | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Top Ten Reasons “Anti-Semite” Is a Compliment

I’m sure you can think of others

BY KEVIN BARRETT | FEBRUARY 17, 2024

10) Though it originally meant “racism against (Jewish) Semites,” the term anti-Semitism has evolved over time. Today it refers to critics of certain Jewish ideologies and behaviors, many of which richly deserve criticism.

9) Anyone who deplores the genocidal massacre of more than 30,000 Gaza civilians, most of them women and children, will be called an anti-Semite. Ergo, the term anti-Semite refers to people who don’t like genocidal massacres of women and children.

8) Anyone who discusses Israel’s power in the United States, as Walt and Mearsheimer and James Petras and Alison Weir have, will be called an anti-Semite. Ergo, the term anti-Semite refers to people with the courage to discuss important but taboo issues.

7) People who investigate the ADL’s power in American society will be called anti-Semites. Ergo, the term anti-Semite refers to people curious about the history of America’s most powerful pro-censorship organization.

6) People who mention massive Jewish overrepresentation in Hollywood, the media, finance, politics, pornography, organized crime, false flag events, wars of aggression based on lies, and other dubious areas of human endeavor are called anti-Semites. Ergo, the term anti-Semite refers to people sentient enough to notice the all-too-obvious, and brave enough to say what they see.

5) People who figure out that elite Jews have rigged Ivy League admissions to make themselves a permanent hereditary ruling caste in America will definitely be called anti-Semites. Ergo, the term anti-Semite refers to “competent sociologists interested in American power structures.” There seems to be only one such competent sociologist in America, Ron Unz.

4) People who notice certain problematic aspects of Talmudic religion, and/or prefer a universal God to the ethnocentric tribal deity “Yahweh,” will be called anti-Semites. Ergo, the term anti-Semite refers to people whose views of religious matters are relatively sane.

3) People who dare to mention that Jews, not Germans, were by far the biggest mass murderers of the 20th century will undoubtedly be called anti-Semitic. Ergo, being called anti-Semitic means that you know your history.

2) Anyone who thinks it’s crazy to lock up historians for disagreeing with other historians will be called an anti-Semite. So if you’re sane, you’re anti-Semitic.

1) If you point out that the whole notion of anti-Semitism is, or has become, a gigantic hoax, you will be reviled as the worst sort of anti-Semite. Ergo, anti-Semitic means “capable of noticing and calling out the rankest, most obvious bullshit.”

February 17, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Full Spectrum Dominance, Timeless or most popular, War Crimes | , , | Leave a comment

Diplomatic Cables: Biden’s Support for Israel Has Poisoned Allies’ Attitudes Toward US

By Ilya Tsukanov – Sputnik – 17.02.2024

The Biden administration has offered unequivocal support for Israel’s punitive operations in spite of international condemnation of Tel Aviv and calls for an urgent ceasefire. Top US allies in the Middle East have taken or threatened to take serious steps to distance themselves from Washington amid the crisis.

US diplomats stationed in Middle Eastern countries have been sending warning signals to Washington about the lasting anti-American sentiment stirred up in the region thanks to the Biden administration’s stubborn support for Tel Aviv’s military actions in Gaza.

The warnings, collected by the State Department over recent weeks and seen by ABC News, reportedly prompted a meeting between officials and US intelligence services to evaluate just how much damage had been done.

A cable from the US diplomatic mission in Morocco, for example, indicated that pro-US “collaborators” in the Northwest African country felt that ties with the US were now “toxic” thanks to the “blank check” Biden gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for Israel’s Gaza operations.

“Criticism of the US position has proven unshakable despite significant adjustments to US messaging to highlight the need to protect civilian lives,” the cable, marked ‘sensitive’, warned, complaining that US messaging about sending “aid into Gaza or diplomatic pressure for Israel to avoid civilian casualties” were falling on deaf ears in the Moroccan press. The Embassy’s social media accounts have been targeted by “waves of unfollows or negative and abusive comments,” according to the cable.

An anonymous official told the network that the issue has spread beyond the Middle East to other Muslim majority countries, including Indonesia. Meanwhile, the “enduring hit to US popularity” in the Mideast is said to pose a threat to US plans for post-conflict diplomacy, as well as Washington’s long-standing push for normalization with Israel.

US intelligence agencies reportedly believe the negativity will blow over in the long term, while State Department officials fear it could take up to a “generation” to reestablish frayed ties.

The diplomatic downturn abroad has also been matched at home, with the administration quietly reaching out to American Muslim communities in battleground states like Michigan amid fears that they could stay home come November instead of coming out to reelect Joe Biden.

Biden’s handlers have sought to balance his comments on the Palestinian-Israeli crisis in recent weeks, but despite the posturing, the US is reportedly proceeding with plans to supply Israel with additional weapons, including Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kits and bomb fuses, while simultaneously calling publicly for a temporary ceasefire.

Washington’s duplicity has threatened to unravel decades of US diplomacy in the region. Last week, officials warned that Egypt is considering suspending its landmark 1978 Camp David peace agreement with Israel – the keystone to US normalization strategy.

Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of former regional arch adversaries Saudi Arabia and Iran vowed on Friday to expand their bilateral cooperation, while jointly blasting Israel over its “crimes” against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank. Saudi Arabia welcomed Iran’s proposal for an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s foreign ministers to stop Israel’s “genocide.”

The latest escalation of the 75-year-old Palestinian-Israeli crisis began on October 7 after Hamas carried out surprise raids into southern Israel, catching the military off guard and taking hundreds of hostages. Over 1,450 Israelis and nearly 29,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in the conflict to date, with some 1.9 million of Gaza’s 2.1 million residents displaced in the fighting.

February 17, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hundreds of thousands march across Europe to call for immediate ceasefire in Gaza

MEMO | February 17, 2024

Hundreds of thousands of people marched on the streets of major European cities to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as the death toll in the Palestinian enclave neared 30,000 due to relentless Israeli attacks since 7 October, Anadolu Agency reports.

Marchers in London gathered in Marble Arch to initiate the march on the Global Day of Action – organised by UK-based advocacy and Palestine action groups. The procession followed the main roads in central London to reach the Israeli Embassy.

The march was one of the biggest pro-Palestinian marches held in London since 7 October. It was also attended by a group of Jewish protesters.

In Irish capital Dublin, tens of thousands of people gathered to call for action on Gaza and an immediate ceasefire.

Spanish capital Madrid saw thousands of protesters marching for an end to bloodshed in Gaza.

In German city Munich, where world leaders and ministers are attending the Munich Security Conference, protesters gathered some 200 meters away from the main conference venue to call for a ceasefire.

Tens of thousands of protesters also filled the main Dam Square in Dutch capital Amsterdam.

“Ceasefire Now”, “Stop the Genocide”, and “Free Palestine” read on many placards and banners carried by the crowds.

The second Global Day of Action was organised by the Palestine Coalition formed by Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Palestinian Forum in Britain, Stop the War Coalition, Friends of Al-Aqsa and Muslim Association of Britain.

“Over 1.7 million Gazans have been forcibly displaced from their homes, more than 28,000 Palestinians have been killed and another 100,000 injured, in what the ICJ has accepted as a plausible case of genocide,” a joint statement from the coalition said.

“Despite the ICJ calling on Israel to stop genocidal acts the Israeli Government has made clear it intends to proceed with a full scale military assault on Rafah,” it added, referring to Israeli plans to attack Rafah.

February 17, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Solidarity and Activism | , , , , | Leave a comment

Israeli army bars access of UN aid convoy to Nasser Hospital in Gaza

Palestinian Information Center – February 17, 2024

GAZA – The health ministry in Gaza said on Friday that the Israeli occupation army blocked a World Health Organization (WHO) aid convoy and top UN officials from reaching the besieged Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis.

In a statement, the ministry said that the convoy, which consists of two trucks carrying food, water and fuel, had been stopped by the Israeli army on the road for several hours, while bulldozers dug holes in front of and behind the convoy.

There was no information if the Israeli army released the convoy later and allowed it to go back or reach the hospital.

In this regard, Palestinian minister of health Mai Kayla accused the Israeli army of committing a genocidal crime against the remaining displaced civilians, patients and medical staff at the Nasser Hospital.

Kayla warned that there would be a humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip if the hospital stopped providing medical services, describing the facility as the backbone of the health system in the war-torn territory.

For its part, the WHO described the reports emerging from the Nasser hospital as “deeply alarming” and expressed its concern over the safety of the patients, health workers, and civilians sheltering at the facility.

WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic told journalists at a press briefing in Geneva that the UN health body was trying to gain urgent access to the hospital.

“We really need to get there to bring fuel so [the] hospital can continue to function and those patients who are still there can continue to receive medical care,” he said, also stressing the need to assess the conditions of patients and for their safe referral to other facilities.

“We have been saying all this time… that patients, health workers and civilians who are seeking refuge in hospitals deserve safety and not a burial in those places of healing,” he added.

February 17, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

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