[KhaamaPress] Local sources report that after the shooting by Iranian border guards on Afghan refugees, six injured individuals were recently transferred from Pakistain to Nimruz province.
The news site Hal Vash, sharing images of Afghan refugees, reported that dozens of Afghan refugees, including six injured individuals, were attacked by Iranian border guards at the Kalgani border.
According to sources, the condition of two Afghan refugees is reported to be critical.
According to videos released by Hal Vash, the refugees stated that groups of 50, totaling around 300 people, were trying to enter Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... when they encountered an ambush by Iranian forces.
The refugees reported that after the attack, they fled to Pakistain. After several days of efforts, they managed to return to Nimruz with the help of Pak forces.
Despite nearly 20 days having passed, the results of the Taliban ...Arabic for students... ’s investigation have not yet been made clear.
I can’t imagine that the Talib “interim government” actually wants to know — unlike the IDF, their jihadis can’t stand up to the Iranian military, even with the myriad modern weapons the Americans left behind.
According to reports, over 250 Afghan refugees were killed in the Kalgani border region, located between Pakistain and Iran, as a result of gunfire.
Several UN agencies, including UNAMA, have called for a comprehensive investigation into the incident.
Hal Vash, which covers news in Sistan and Baluchestan, cited sources stating that dozens of Afghan refugees, including six injured, were transferred to Nimruz by the Mighty Pak Army on Sunday, October 27.
One refugee recounted, "We were a group of 300 people divided into groups of 50 to cross the border, but we were ambushed by Iranian border forces. Dozens were killed and injured, and we had to flee to Pakistain.
The incident raises serious concerns about the violation of human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... and the protection of refugee rights by the Iranian authorities.
[IsraelTimes] ‘You wanna piss on everyone’s night?’ Thom Yorke responds to protester yelling about Gaza death toll before storming off stage; he then returns for final song, ‘Karma Police’
The lead singer of Radiohead clashed with an anti-Israel heckler before storming off stage at a concert in Melbourne, Australia on Wednesday night.
Thom Yorke, whose English rock band has defied boycott calls to perform in Israel three times, was nearing the end of his solo show when a protester began yelling about the Jewish state.
While it was not entirely clear what the protester said from the footage, reports said the heckler referenced the corpse count of Paleostinians in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... during the Israel-Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... war.
"Come up here and say that, right now," Yorke responded.
"Come up on the f*cking stage and say what you want to say. Don’t stand there like a coward, come here and say it," he said, as the crowd roared in approval of the singer.
"Come on. You want to piss on everybody’s night? OK, you do, see you later then," Yorke said, and then left the stage. Many in the crowd cried "no" in disappointment.
Yorke later returned to the stage to perform a final number, Radiohead’s "Karma Police."
[X]
Thom Yorke discutiu com uma pessoa pró-Palestina na pista e abandonou palco do show na Austrália (info do @nme). Segue o vídeo
“Come up and say that. Right here. Come up on the fucking stage and say what you want to say. But don’t stand there like a coward, come here and say it" pic.twitter.com/ZKXgDCEYTK
Radiohead, which has won several Grammy Awards and sold millions of records since the 1990s, has been the target of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, especially in the lead-up to its 2017 concert in Tel Aviv. In response, Yorke called BDS protesters "offensive" and "patronizing."
The band first performed in Israel in 1993 and then again in 2000.
Lead guitarist Jonny Greenwood, who is married to Israeli visual artist Sharona Katan, partnered for an album last year with Israeli singer Dudu Tassa, along with artists throughout the Middle East, including Paleostinian singer Freteikh, Egyptian singer Ahmed Doma and Moroccan singer Mohssine Salaheddine.
Greenwood pushed back on critics this year who urged him to cancel a planned tour with Tassa in Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... due to the ongoing war.
[IsraelTimes] Paris Commercial Court blocks Macron’s second attempt this year to bar Israeli defense firms from a trade show, following petition by Israeli companies and trade groups
The Gay Paree Commercial Court ruled Wednesday that the Euronaval arms show cannot keep Israeli companies from exhibiting at the event based on their nationality, and ordered organizers "to suspend the execution of the measures adopted against the Israeli exhibiting companies."
French President Emmanuel Macron decided earlier this month to ban Israeli firms from exhibiting at the naval arms show, a decision that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called "a disgrace."
"This is a huge victory for the rule of law and the independence of justice," said Patrick Klugman, one of the attorneys representing Israeli firms.
"Whatever the stated intention, from the highest level of the State to the organizing company, the action which we had to take note of here was manifestly ill-founded and illegal," he said.
The petition to overturn the ban was submitted by the Manufacturers Association of Israel, together with the Israel-La Belle France Chamber of Commerce, Israel Shipyards, and representatives of five additional Israeli defense firms that have been banned from exhibiting at the event.
Among the Israeli firms represented in the appeal were the country’s largest defense heavyweights, including Elbit Systems, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Orbit Communications Systems.
Some 500 exhibitors are expected to partake in the expo from 30 countries around the world, attracting 25,000 visitors. It will take place November 4-7 in Villepinte, near Gay Paree.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz said earlier this month the ministry would take "legal and diplomatic measures" against the decision to bar the firms, which was issued as Macron has grown increasingly critical of Israel’s offensives in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... and Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... Earlier this month, the French president provoked an outcry in Jerusalem over his demand for an arms embargo on Israel, asserting it was the only way to end the fighting in Gaza and in Lebanon, a former French colony where Gay Paree still wields great influence.
The ban from Euronaval was the second time this year that La Belle France tried to ban Israeli firms from a major defense show, and had the decision struck down by the Gay Paree Commercial Court.
In May, La Belle France said conditions were not right for Israel to participate in the Eurosatory military trade show, and banned Israeli manufacturers. The court overturned the decision, but only after the conference had already begun.
[IsraelTimes] European Legal Support Center files suit in name of three Gazans, claiming MV Kathrin’s cargo is en route to defense contractor and could be used for alleged war crimes in Strip
Human rights lawyers have filed a court appeal in Berlin seeking to block a 150-metric-ton shipment of military-grade explosives aboard German fat merchantman MV Kathrin which they say is to be delivered to Israel’s biggest defense contractor.
The European Legal Support Center (ELSC) said on Wednesday the action was filed on behalf of three Paleostinians from Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... , arguing that the shipment of primarily RDX explosives could be used in munitions for Israel’s war against the Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... terror group in the Gaza Strip, potentially contributing to alleged war crimes, which Israel strenuously denies.
Germany-based Lubeca Marine, which owns the MV Kathrin, said the ship "was never scheduled to make any port calls in Israel" and had recently discharged its cargo in Bar, Montenegro.
The company declined to disclose details of the cargo for contractual reasons, but said it complied fully with all international and EU regulations, ensuring necessary permits are obtained before any operations.
The ELSC said the RDX shipment was destined for Israeli Military Industries, a division of Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest defense contractor. Elbit Systems declined to comment.
"We never claimed that the Kathrin was bound for Israel (itself), it’s the cargo which is bound for Elbit Systems," ELSC lawyer Ahmed Abed told Rooters with respect to the group’s appeal filed at Berlin’s Administrative Court. "The company ignored all the warnings."
LSEG data and vessel-tracking website Marine Traffic indicated that the MV Kathrin had docked in the major Egyptian Mediterranean port of Alexandria on Monday and was last seen there.
According to the port of Alexandria’s website, the ship, which it identified as German, unloaded military equipment in Alexandria and was set to depart on November 5.
The Egyptian foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Rooters request for comment.
The MV Kathrin has been denied entry at several African and Mediterranean ports, including in Angola, Slovenia, Montenegro, and Malta, according to the ELSC. It said Portuguese authorities recently required the ship to switch from a Portuguese flag to a German flag before it could continue.
In August, Namibian authorities blocked the vessel, which departed from Vietnam’s port of Haiphong, from entering its main harbor, Amnesty International has reported.
Germany’s economy ministry, named in the case because the ship is German-owned and flagged, said it had received letters from lawyers on the matter but declined to comment on them.
The ministry said the MV Kathrin shipment did not constitute an export from Germany, as the explosives were neither loaded nor dispatched from German territory. It said there was no legal basis for requiring an export license under German law.
The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led forces of Evil invaded southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
Israel denies accusations it has committed war crimes in its campaign, stressing that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
[IsraelTimes] After cultural boycott call, literary and entertainment figures back those who ‘don’t share one-sided narrative’ about Oct. 7, slam ‘censorship based on identity or litmus tests’
A group of over 1,000 figures from the literary and entertainment industries have signed a letter rejecting attempts "to boycott, harass and scapegoat Jewish and Israeli authors and literary institutions."
Their letter came after some 1,000 authors and literary professionals signed a pledge to boycott Israeli cultural institutions. The signatories pledged not to work with Israeli publishers, festivals, literary agencies and publications that are "complicit in violating Paleostinian rights," including "whitewashing and justifying Israel’s occupation, apartheid, or genocide."
The signatories rejecting the boycott pledge included Bernard Henri-Lévy, Lee Child, Herta Muller, Howard Jacobson, Yossi Klein Halevi, Elfriede Jelinek, Mayim Bialik, Debra Messing, Julianna Margulies, Haim Saban and many more.
They declared that they "continue to be shocked and disappointed to see members of the literary community harass and ostracize their colleagues because they don’t share a one-sided narrative in response to the greatest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust."
"Regardless of one’s views on the current conflict, boycotts of creatives and creative institutions simply create more divisive ...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled... ness and foment further hatred," they said.
"Israel is fighting existential wars against Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... and Hezbollah, both US, UK, and European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... designated terrorist groups. The exclusion of anyone who doesn’t unilaterally condemn Israel is an inversion of morality and an obfuscation of reality.
"We call on our friends and colleagues worldwide to join us in expressing their support for Israeli and Jewish publishers, authors, and all book festivals, publishers, and literary agencies that refuse to capitulate to censorship based on identity or litmus tests."
The letter also said that "history is full of examples of self-righteous sects, movements and cults who have used short-lived moments of power to enforce their vision of purity, to persecute, exclude, boycott and intimidate those with whom they disagreed, who made lists of people with ’bad’ views, who burned ’sinful’ books (and sometimes ’sinful’ people)."
Ouch. That slices deep.
"The instincts and motivations behind cultural boycotts, in practice and throughout history, are directly in opposition to the liberal values most writers hold sacred."
The boycott call endorsed by Rooney
…Irish writer Sally Rooney, who regularly indulges her hobby of urging the literary world to join her anti-Israel boycott, an urge that long predates the current excitements…
and others follows numerous other campaigns around the globe urging individuals and institutions to cut ties with Israel amid the ongoing war in the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip
[IsraelTimes] A major international LGBTQ rights group has dismissed out of hand a motion by an Israeli member organization to host its World Conference in Tel Aviv, proceeding to suspend the Israeli organization.
ILGA World, in a statement, apologizes for even considering bringing for a vote the proposal by Aguda, the umbrella organization for the LGBTQ community in Israel.
Ahead of an upcoming ILGA World Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, the group says it received "significant and legitimate disconcert regarding a member organization bidding to host the World Conference in Tel Aviv, Israel in 2026 or 2027.
"In response to these multiple concerns, the ILGA World Board held an emergency meeting and unanimously decided to remove the bid from The Aguda from consideration," it says, claiming that this is to "ensure we fully uphold universal respect for human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... , equal representation, and the elimination of barriers to participation for all members — including in our conferences."
The bid "will not go forward and will not be put to a vote" as it "was found in violation of ILGA World’s aims and objectives set out in our Constitution," the statement continues.
"The ILGA World Board is also reviewing The Aguda’s compliance with our Constitution and has decided to suspend the organization from our membership to allow for that to happen," it says.
"ILGA World apologises. We know that seeing the Tel Aviv bid taken into consideration caused anger and harm to our communities... We recognise the historical experience with apartheid and colonialism in South Africa: even the possibility of voting on such a bid in their home country would have been at odds with the unequivocal solidarity for the Paleostinian people."
Aguda responds, according to Hebrew media, that it is "deeply disappointed by the fact that ILGA chose to boycott those who work for LGBTQ rights and for a more just society. The Aguda has been working for over 50 years to aid the LGBTQ community and preserve all human rights, including helping LGBTQ people from the Arab community and Paleostinian asylum seekers persecuted over their sexual and gender identity."
A Wider Bridge, a pro-Israel US LGBTQ rights organization, slams ILGA’s decision as "outrageous and unacceptable."
"By singling out Israel and Israeli LGBTQ people for opprobrium, ILGA violates its fundamental principles," it says. "We urge ILGA World to withdraw its discriminatory decision immediately."
[IsraelTimes] Hezbollah demands that Germany be permanently removed from the UNIFIL peacekeeping force in Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... after it became an "accomplice of the enemy," according to the Lebanese daily al-Akhbar, affiliated with the Shiite terror group.
On October 17, a German warship operating as part of the United Nations ...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... ’ peacekeeping mission brought down an unmanned flying object off the coast of Lebanon. Berlin has also authorized over $100 million in military exports to Israel in the last three months, according to foreign ministry data.
Al-Akhbar further outlines Hezbollah’s position in ongoing talks for a ceasefire. The terror group demands that Israel completely cease its "aggression" as a necessary precondition for further negotiations, adding that it has "not made any commitment" to disconnect the Lebanese front from the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... front, since this would run counter to its ideology of a "united resistance."
Hezbollah reportedly insists that no amendment be made to Security Council Resolution 1701, the UN decision that ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah and calls for southern Lebanon to be free of any troops or weapons other than those of the Lebanese army.
The resolution has gone largely unenforced since it was passed, allowing Hezbollah to build up a formidable arms cache and defensive capabilities, with neither UNIFIL peacekeepers nor the Lebanese army willing to challenge the Iran-backed terror group.
Al-Akhbar says that the terror group is not opposed in principle to increasing the number of Lebanese or international armed forces, but refuses to add new countries to the peacekeeping mission.
According to a report in Axios last week, Israel has demanded that even after a ceasefire deal is concluded, IDF troops be allowed to engage in "active enforcement" to make sure Hezbollah doesn’t rearm and rebuild its military infrastructure close to the border.
The terror group further says that it will not negotiate over giving up its weapons and that after the war, it will do "anything in its power to preserve them," according to al-Akhbar. In the meantime, Hezbollah says it is prepared to confront Israel in a long war, and it will keep fighting despite liquidations of its leaders, thanks to the organizational structure of its jihadists, the paper adds.
Al-Akhbar confirms that the terror group is represented in ongoing negotiations by Nabih Knobby Berri
...perennial Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians... , the Shiite speaker of the Lebanese Parliament and a Hezbollah ally. Talks have been ongoing with foreign mediators Egypt, Algeria, Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... and La Belle France, and there is an open communication channel with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, the paper adds.
[IsraelTime] The US has informed Israel of its displeasure over legislation passed by the Knesset yesterday banning the opening of new foreign consulates in Jerusalem that serve the Paleostinians, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says.
Get in your car and drive over to Ramallah. It’s a small territory — you’ll get there in plenty of time for lunch.
The law was largely seen as aimed at putting a further obstacle to the US reopening its consulate after former president Donald Trump ...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US... shuttered the diplomatic mission to the Paleostinians in 2019.
Such insight! That’s why he gets the big bucks.
US President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. The man who made Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter look competent, if only by comparison.... came into office pledging to reopen the mission but the move requires Israel’s acquiescence since the building is located in Israel’s sovereign territory in West Jerusalem. Successive governments have refused to sign off on the move, and yesterday’s legislation will likely make it even more difficult to carry out.
"We oppose that legislation, have made clear to them that we oppose the bill and continue to believe that opening a US consulate in Jerusalem would be an important way for our country to engage with and provide support for the Paleostinian people," Miller says.
That’s nice, dear. Here, have a cookie.
He notes that the US continues to engage with the Paleostinian people and the Paleostinian Authority through its Paleostinian Affairs Bureau in the US Embassy in Jerusalem and the Office for Paleostinian Affairs in Washington, which was formed earlier during Biden’s tenure in order to boost ties with the Paleostinians.
See? You have no need for that musty old consulate in Jerusalem anyway.
Asked whether the US would consider closing Israeli consulates throughout the US in retaliation for the move, Miller says this is not a move that Washington is considering.
[IsraelTimes] The IDF announces the formation of a new division that will be tasked with defending Israel’s eastern border.
The move was approved by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi.
The IDF says the establishment of the new eastern regional division comes following an examination of the military’s “operational needs and defense capabilities in the area, in accordance with the planning of the IDF’s force build-up, in the light of the lessons of war and the situational assessment.”
The division will be subordinate to IDF Central Command.
“The mission of the division is to strengthen defenses in the border area, Route 90 highway and the communities, and to respond to terror incidents and weapons smuggling, while maintaining a peaceful border and strengthening cooperation with the Jordanian army,” the IDF says.
Currently, the Jordan Valley Regional Brigade, under the Central Command, is tasked with defending about 150 kilometers of the eastern frontier, from the northern part of the Dead Sea in the West Bank to the Hamat Gader hot springs in the Golan Heights.
The Yoav Regional Brigade, under the Southern Command, is responsible for the sparsely populated southern section, from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea resort city of Eilat.
#1
Wiki: Highway 90 is the longest Israeli road, at about 480 kilometres (300 mi), and stretches from Metula and the northern border with Lebanon, along the western side of the Sea of Galilee, through the Jordan Valley, along the Dead Sea's western bank (making it the world's lowest road), through the Arava Valley, and until Eilat and the southern border with Egypt on the Red Sea. The central section of the road traverses the Israeli-occupied West Bank. While it passes near the city of Jericho, it runs through Area C and does not enter areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority.
Posted by: Albert Pelosi3459 ||
10/31/2024 5:19 Comments ||
Top||
#2
So, Combat Command A, Combat Command B, and Combat Command Reserve, just like the US heavy divisions of WWII.
Another Harris-Biden knife in the Israel back. How many involve the human shields Hamas is famous for?
[IsraelTimes] US State Department officials have identified nearly 500 potential incidents of civilian harm during Israel’s military operations in Gaza involving US-furnished weapons, but have not taken further action on any of them, according to three sources, including a US official familiar with the matter.
The Washington Post reports that the reports have come from various US government agencies, aid organizations, nonprofits, media reports and other eyewitnesses, the Post says.
While State Department guidance directs US officials to complete investigations and recommend a response to such claims within two months, no single case has gotten this far in the process, according to the report.
Some of the cases likely amount to violations of US and international law, sources familiar with the matter tell The Post.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken submitted a report to Congress earlier this year concluding that it is reasonable to assess that US weapons have been used by Israel in ways that are inconsistent with US law. However, he also said Israel’s assurances to the contrary are “credible and reliable” and that the US could not at the time provide a conclusive determination.
[IsraelTimes] Since the US sent a letter to Israel warning that continued security assistance was at risk if it doesn’t take significant steps to improve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the measures Jerusalem has taken have been minor and insufficient, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says.
While there has been some improvement in the number of delivery routes to aid, the uptick has been minor and the humanitarian “situation still remains at a level that we don’t find acceptable,” Miller says during a press briefing.
He says there continue to be breakdowns in communications between the IDF and aid agencies and issues in which approvals aren’t granted by the IDF for aid workers to operate throughout Gaza, or issues where authorizations are given but they aren’t transmitted to officers on the ground. There are also still Palestinian armed gangs that have been looting some of the aid coming into Gaza, Miller says.
[BreakingDefense] Most cases are probably just hobbyists flying too close, according to Gen. Gregory Guillot, who said he has not seen evidence of a concerted campaign by an adversary to fly small drones over US bases.
The US military has collectively reported hundreds of drone flights over Pentagon installations on American soil in the past few years, and that’s just the ones US Northern Command (NORTHCOM) knows about.
“I have no doubt that there’s significantly more incursions that we don’t see, either with a system or with our eyeballs,” Gen. Gregory Guillot, the commander of NORTHCOM and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), said during a roundtable today with a small group of reporters at Peterson Space Force Base, the dual headquarters for both commands.
Unmanned aircraft system (UAS) sightings over US military bases have raised alarm at the Defense Department, as incursions at sensitive installations like Langley Air Force Base — where the Air Force keeps F-22s — have mystified officials, as the Wall Street Journal previously reported. According to data shared by NORAD, drone sightings in 2022 numbered 250, but that figure has dipped somewhat in recent years, numbering 202 in 2023, and 163 so far this year.
Guillot said the events are likely gaining more attention due to the spread of systems that are able to detect and track UAS with greater “fidelity.” The UAS sightings at places that contain highly classified programs have also raised questions about the drones’ provenance, including whether they reflect operations of an adversary nation, though Guillot said today that he has not yet seen evidence of any “organized or unorganized foreign nexus.”
Instead, he said “the overwhelming majority of them are probably local hobbyists that are just flying too close to the base.”
And while he said there are certainly more events that have gone undetected, Guillot cautioned that many observed phenomena could be duplicate sightings, such as multiple servicemembers calling in the same event. Others could be a case of mistaken identity, like if a servicemember mistakenly identifies blinking lights on a civilian airliner miles away as a closer UAS. Several reports could even concern the same drone flying back and forth over a base repeatedly, he said.
Tackling the UAS problem on US soil has flummoxed officials, in part, because of regulations that protect civilian air travel — preventing commanders from taking steps like simply shooting down potential threats or taking other steps to disable them.
“The threat, and the need to counter these threats is growing faster than the policies and procedures that [are] in place can keep up with,” Guillot said.
One solution the general pointed to is disrupting position, navigation and timing capabilities for a UAS, otherwise known as GPS jamming or spoofing. But as the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have shown, GPS interference can pose hazards for civilian travel if painted with too broad a brush. Tight coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is needed, Guillot stressed, to ensure counter-UAS capabilities are responsibly used.
With established ties to the FAA, Guillot said NORTHCOM can step up to play a greater role in defeating drone incursions. One example would be developing preset approvals to engage UAS under specific parameters, obviating the need for a potentially days-long process to get an FAA greenlight.
IDF confirms: Irans air defenses have been put out, and allows Israel free range over Iran.
The Israeli military has announced the creation of new units within its Intelligence Directorate and Air Force aimed at facilitating “repetitive actions” in Iran.
… A dedicated Iran department has been set up in the Intelligence Directorate’s Research Division, along with a “depth” unit in the Air Force’s Intelligence Department.
Additionally, the military reports that the Air Force conducted extensive training exercises in preparation for last weekend’s long-range strikes. More than 100 IAF aircraft participated in the strikes early Saturday, targeting Iran’s strategic long-range air defense systems and impacting its ballistic missile production capabilities.
According to the military, the destruction of Iran’s air defenses has granted “freedom of aerial action” for future operations, while the strikes on missile production sites have “eliminated an immediate and future threat to the State of Israel.”
Posted by: 3dc ||
10/31/2024 13:30 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11147 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
A new division facing Jordan, new units just for Iran? No longer business as usual, no matter what The Powers That Be in Washington and elsewhere might demand.
Kudos to the IDF generals who were able to turn themselves around despite loathing their prime minister
War is not healthy for children and other living things, ‘tis said. The IDF did suggest you remove yourselves from the line of fire, but you chose the big, stupid gesture. Enjoy your consequences.
[IsraelTimes] The UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon recorded more than 30 incidents this month resulting in property damage or injury to peacekeepers, about 20 of them from Israeli fire or action, a spokesman says.
The UN peacekeeping force has been thrust into the front lines of the new war between Israel and Hezbollah, with Israel repeatedly calling on peacekeepers to abandon their positions, and UNIFIL refusing.
Of the 30 incidents this month, “about 20 of those we could attribute to IDF fire or actions, with seven being clearly deliberate,” Andrea Tenenti, a spokesman for the force, known as UNIFIL, tells a news conference held by video.
“What has been very concerning are incidents where peacekeepers performing their monitoring tasks, as well as our cameras, lighting and entire watchtowers, have been deliberately targeted by the IDF,” Tenenti says.
Israel maintains it does not target UN forces, but that they are sometimes caught in the crossfire with Hezbollah.
On Monday, a rocket that was probably fired by Hezbollah or an affiliated group hit the headquarters of the UN mission in the Lebanese city of Naqoura, he says.
For about a dozen other incidents, the origin of fire could not be determined.
[KhaamaPress] Ahmad Reza Radan, the General Commander of Iran’s security forces, announced that 850,000 undocumented Afghan migrants colonists have been deported from the country.
On Tuesday, October 29, Tasnim News Agency reported, quoting the Iranian official, that foreign nationals without proper documentation are not allowed to work or reside in Iran.
This comes amid increasing pressure and restrictions by the Islamic Theocratic Republic against Afghan migrants colonists, with authorities frequently emphasizing the deportation of undocumented migrants colonists from the country.
Just yesterday, Nasser Farshid, the Police Commander of Kerman, stated that more than 38,000 undocumented migrants colonists have been deported from the province this year alone.
He urged employers to refrain from providing work to undocumented migrants colonists.
Previously, Iranian officials warned that by the end of this solar year, a total of two million undocumented migrants colonists would be deported from the country.
According to Iranian media statistics, around 90 percent of foreign nationals in Iran are citizens of Afghanistan, most of whom enter the country illegally without valid documents.
The large-scale deportation of Afghan migrants colonists highlights the growing strain between Iran and its migrant population, as Tehran tightens its policies on undocumented individuals.
The emphasis on deporting millions by the end of the year raises humanitarian and regional concerns, as a significant number of Afghans continue to seek refuge in Iran amidst ongoing challenges in Afghanistan.
The situation calls for coordinated regional efforts and international attention to address the underlying issues and humanitarian impacts of such mass deportations.
[IsraelTimes] Terror group likely to feel pinch after strikes on banking arm, but its network of charities is too entrenched in Lebanon’s Shiite community to be extracted easily, expert says
Last week, Israel’s military launched a series of Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s across Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... targeting branches of al-Qard al-Hassan, an unlicensed credit association considered to be Hezbollah’s bank.
The sorties marked a shift from strikes against military objectives alone to targeting infrastructure ostensibly in the civilian realm, underlining the challenges posed by the terror group’s deep integration in Lebanese society.
Due to its networks of welfare organizations, clinics, and extensive patronage system among Shiites, extricating Hezbollah from Lebanon’s civil fabric could prove a more complicated and daunting task than destroying the Iran-backed group’s military capabilities.
The Hezbollah that existed before the launch of the ground offensive no longer exists, "but it still is dangerous and it’s not going to disappear," Hezbollah expert Matthew Levitt told The Times of Israel in a recent phone conversation.
"Hezbollah really is a movement. It’s not just a terrorist organization, or a militia, or a political party. It’s also deeply involved in social and religious activities," said Levitt, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and former FBI counterterrorism expert.
Hezbollah’s military capabilities are weakened and ostensibly crumbling. Last week, the IDF said it had killed over 2,000 members of the Iran-backed group since October 2023, including many of its commanders, and destroyed about 70-80% of the rockets it possessed before the war. It also said it defeated Hezbollah’s forces in every area where its troops operated in southern Lebanon.
And while the terror group recently appointed a new leader, Naim Qassem ... the Grand Vizier of the Hezbullies... , to replace its slain Secretary General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...> , it is not clear who is leading the terror groups’ military strategy on the ground.
However,
a clean conscience makes a soft pillow... "much of Hezbollah’s social welfare infrastructure remains intact, because the IDF is targeting its weapons caches and command and control centers. They are not targeting Hezbollah-run medical clinics and welfare programs," Levitt said.
The Hezbollah expert described the terror group’s wide range of social activities as a "shadow governance," providing critical services to a country long on the brink of financial and political collapse, plagued by perennial corruption and sectarian strife. This has created a "shadow constituency" dependent on its assistance, Levitt said.
"Hezbollah today has the best of both worlds — it is part of the Lebanese state, with members holding cabinet positions and seats in parliament, but remains an independent group that operates apart from the state," Levitt wrote in a recent article for the Washington Institute. Thus, "it avoids the accountability that typically comes with holding elected office."
HEZBOLLAH’S VAST NETWORK OF CHARITIES
The financial group al-Qard al-Hassan, or AQAH, was founded by Hezbollah in 1983, one year after the terror group’s establishment, to provide interest-free loans in line with Islamic principles. Over the years, AQAH grew into a major financial institution with branches throughout Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon.
The US blacklisted AQAH in 2007, saying Hezbollah uses it as a cover to manage the group’s financial activities and gain access to the international financial system.
However,
a clean conscience makes a soft pillow... Hezbollah’s civilian infrastructure extends far beyond, constituting a system of patronage that fills the gaps left by the inefficient Lebanese government and strengthens its clout over the country’s Shiite community of some 2 million, effectively creating a Shiite "mini-state."
It includes a network of medical centers known as the Islamic Health Organization, which provides healthcare services for free or at a reduced cost to Shiites, while also treating maimed Hezbollah fighters, according to the Israeli Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center.
In 2021, Hezbollah also launched the al-Sajjad supermarket chain, named after a revered figure in Shiite Islam. These supermarkets sell products (often of Iranian, Syrian or Iraqi origin) at significantly reduced prices for customers who present Hezbollah-issued cards.
Additionally, Hezbollah controls a chain of gas stations, the Amana Petroleum Company, which sells Iranian fuel at discounted rates, sometimes in defiance of the Lebanese government. It has been under US sanctions since 2020.
Hezbollah’s construction arm, Jihad al-Bina, was instrumental in rebuilding areas destroyed in the 2006 Second Lebanon War. Today, the foundation, established in 1988, manages various large-scale projects in civil engineering, agriculture, and industry, and runs vocational training centers, according to the Meir Amit Center.
On the propaganda front, Hezbollah runs its own TV channel, al-Manar, and various educational programs, including a youth group known as the Mahdi Scouts, used to indoctrinate young Shiites, according to the IDF.
The terror group also claims to be involved in environmental sustainability. It operates Green Without Borders, a nonprofit, which claims to manage reforestation projects in southern Lebanon. According to Israel, the group actually provides cover to Hezbollah positions; it was sanctioned by the US for alleged terror activities last year.
HEZBOLLAH’S FINANCIAL STRUGGLES
Last week, the IDF revealed that it had located a Hezbollah bunker under a Beirut hospital. Inside, the army said, was more than $500 million in gold and cash being stored by the terror group.
Despite its fortune, though, Hezbollah is reportedly undergoing a liquidity crisis, with the IDF’s airstrikes on branches of AQAH likely adding to the growing financial strain on the Iranian proxy.
Lebanese and foreign sources cited in a recent Voice of America report claimed Hezbollah was running out of cash and unable to pay its members. Its access to Lebanon’s formal banking system is also reportedly curtailed, as the country’s wealthiest bankers have fled abroad, fearing they could be targeted next by Israel for helping Hezbollah, according to VOA.
Until recently, the terror group was awash in cash, thanks to Iranian money transfers and its own illicit activities — chief among them its vast international drug smuggling network, according to experts. Hezbollah used that liquidity to keep its Shiite constituents happy, handing out monthly stipends in stable foreign currency.
A Shiite woman who recently evacuated from south Lebanon to Beirut told The Guardian that the group had doled out monthly cash payments of $200, as well as food parcels, praising them for "taking incredible care" of her family.
It is not clear how long Hezbollah will be able to continue disbursing those payments. The social welfare network also faces a labor shortage, as many of Hezbollah’s members whose day jobs were in its charities have been called up to fight or are incapacitated due to injuries sustained in pager and walkie-talkie explosions in September.
Furthermore, the displacement of over a million people from Shiite-majority areas in southern Lebanon and elsewhere has put additional pressure on the informal welfare system.
"This is going to be another significant layer of demands at a time of diminishing resources and competing demands for those resources," Levitt said.
WILL HEZBOLLAH TURN ITS WEAPONS AGAINST THE LEBANESE?
As Israel works to dismantle Hezbollah’s military and financial capabilities, the terror group may resort to using guns instead of butter to maintain its grip over Lebanon, Levitt warned. The group has a long history of using violence to suppress its critics.
With Iran’s backing, the terror group is likely to attempt to rearm and refill its coffers at the earliest opportunity. It remains unclear whether the international community would be able to step in and keep Tehran’s influence from infiltrating Lebanon, and whether the Lebanese Armed Forces would be capable of reasserting illusory sovereignty and a state monopoly over the legitimate use of force, Levitt said.
"Hezbollah will fight hard to prevent it," he predicted, "and it will still have the means to do so even after Israel removes a significant proportion of its strategic threat."
Lebanese Media is reporting that Hezbollah has informed the Lebanese Speaker of the House, Nabih Berri, that they agree to the 60-Day Ceasefire Proposal with Israel, which will see the Demilitarization of Southern Lebanon in accordance with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701.
[IsraelTimes] The White House says in a statement that a leaked draft of the US ceasefire proposal between Israel and Hezbollah published earlier this evening on the Kan public broadcaster “doesn’t reflect the current state of negotiations.”
The proposal aired on Kan envisions a 60-day implementation period, during which time the Lebanese army will deploy along the border and confiscate Hezbollah arms in southern Lebanon.
IDF forces will be out of Lebanon within seven days of the end of hostilities, and will be replaced by the LAF, with UN peacekeepers facilitating the transition. Ultimately, there will be 10,000 LAF troops along the border with Israel.
If it were agreed to, it would just mean more chew toys for the IDF in some short period of time. The Lebanese army is good for parades, as far as I can tell — and even then only if the Hezbollah turbans among the troops are willing.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/31/2024 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11134 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
Experience teaches that any "peace treaties" with Arabs are not worth the paper they're written on.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...Arabic for 
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
...46th president of the U.S. The man who made Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter look competent, if only by comparison....
...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
