[IsraelTimes] The US is attempting to pressure Cairo into accepting President Donald Trump’s vision for the postwar Gaza Strip and the relocation of Palestinians to Egypt, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reports.
Citing Egyptian sources in Washington, the London-based news outlet alleges that the Pentagon recently warned Egyptian military officials that it may begin restricting military aid if Cairo doesn’t fall in line and accept Trump’s plan.
In particular, the sources say that supplies needed for routine maintenance and spare weapons parts could be on the chopping block.
Trump first suggested on January 25 that Egypt and Jordan should take in Palestinians from Gaza. In the days that followed, he proposed a US takeover of Gaza and a potential permanent displacement of Palestinians from the enclave with no right of return.
He has continued to insist that both Jordan and Egypt will come around, although the Egyptian foreign ministry said earlier this week that it plans to present an alternative vision for the reconstruction of Gaza that ensures Palestinians remain on their land.
[AFRICANEWS] The Ivorian justice system sentenced Damana Adia, also known as Pickass, and Koua Justin, two officials from the PPA-CI, to ten years in prison without bail for public disorder and incitement to insurrection related to the pre-election violence of 2020.
The secretary general of Laurent Gbagbo ... Former President-for-Life of Ivory Coast from 2000 to 2011. Laurent lost to Alassane Ouattara in 2010 but his representtive tore up the results on the teevee and he refused to vacate the presidential palace. French troops assisted the Oattara forces in extricating him from his Fuhrerbunker... 's party claims this is a political maneuver by the government to weaken their faction.
Tch d Gervais, Secretary General of the PPA-CI, expressed outrage over these tailored sentences aimed at keeping key figures in Gbagbo's camp suppressed.
He stated that the PPA-CI, which supports Gbagbo as its candidate for the October 2025 presidential election, believes the ruling party is attempting to eliminate any rivals that could obstruct its pursuit of perpetual power.
The Ivorian public prosecutor, however, argues that the scheduling of the trial for Mr. Damana Pickass, Koua Justin, and their co-defendants, occurring just months before the 2025 presidential election, was not influenced by the electoral calendar, a claim the PPA-CI disputes.
Tch d Gervais further noted that the lawyers for the convicted individuals have filed an appeal, and the party will support and mobilize for them, urging the government to stop imprisoning PPA-CI officials.
He emphasized that they will remain focused on preparing for Laurent Gbagbo's presidential campaign. Additionally, the secretary general of Gbagbo's party confirmed that the opposition is collaborating to address a potential candidacy from President Alassane Ouattara ...the former president-for-life of Ivory Coast. He actually beat his predecessor in an election before having to eject him from the presidential palazzo.... , although it is not yet time to discuss a unified opposition candidate.
It is important to mention that the former Ivorian president is currently facing a conviction.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2025 00:00 ||
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Link ||
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Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
#1
Is Damana Pickass a real name or is this one of Fred's jokes?
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics.
[ColonelCassad] Many people may find themselves in a severe identity conflict.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs on its Russian-language Telegram channel that an Israeli citizen who also holds Russian citizenship (regardless of whether he or she holds such citizenship and a Russian passport or merely has the right to Russian citizenship in accordance with Russian law) and who enters, resides, or will reside in the territory of the Russian Federation is subject to Russian laws and regulations, including decisions on conscription of citizens into the Russian army, as well as requirements for entry into and exit from the country.
According to local law, an Israeli citizen who holds Russian citizenship (even if he or she has never held a Russian passport) must enter and exit the Russian Federation using a Russian passport.
Thus, an Israeli citizen who has Russian citizenship and does not have a valid Russian passport will most likely be allowed to enter Russia, but his departure from the country may be delayed for the period required by local law to confirm his citizenship and issue a valid Russian travel document, and he will not be able to leave Russia until he receives a Russian travel document (internal and foreign passports), a process that can take many months.
And cost much money: some for fees, more to encourage functionaries to function less slowly.
Israeli citizens who may have Russian citizenship are advised to take this information into account, check and settle citizenship issues BEFORE arriving in Russia.
This also will cost money, and will be even harder to do from a distance.
Meanwhile, the number of Jews living in the Russian Federation has increased since the beginning of the "special military operation", including all those who left Russia after the escalation in Ukraine began, have returned.
All? No likely.
This was previously stated by the President of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia (FJCR), General Director of the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center, Rabbi Alexander Boroda at a press conference dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
The head of the FEOR reported on the growth in the number of Jews, noting that "many people leave to obtain Israeli citizenship, and then return to Russia."
Some who go to Israel find it not to their taste for a variety of reasons that add up to it’s not like home. This is common among expats and émigrés of all nationalities — no matter where they come from or their destination — and says nothing whatsoever about Russia.
"There was some activity in leaving for Israel with the beginning of the Second World War, but a short period of time passed, and those who left, in fact, all returned.
There was activity in leaving for Israel, among other parts of the world, since the so-called First Aliyah or immigration wave (1881 - 1903). There were five aliyahs, the last ending when Israel became independent in 1948. There have been two aliyahs from the former Soviet Union since then, one starting in the 1970s and the second in the 1990s. A number have come to escape the current nonsense in Ukraine but I’m not sure it’s big enough to count as a proper wave. Most of the immigrants did not return home, though some went on to America or settled in Europe.
Then there were the events associated with October 7, with the open war with Hamas, and I would say that even more Jews came to Russia than left since the beginning of the Second World War," Boroda explained.
Oy vey. And they said that the best people of THIS country are leaving for their historical homeland...They traded Haifa and Tel Aviv for Moscow and St. Petersburg.
#1
I was talking to a russian once and he was telling my the Jewish Oblast is mostly inhibited by non-jewish Slavs. I was just double-checking this factoid, and yes - there's less than a 1000 jews left in the Oblast.
Follow up to this story from two days ago, when Israeli Max Veifer called Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh, both nurses at Bankstown hospital in Sydney, Australia, who boasted to him that they’d killed lots of Israelis while working at the hospital; as a result of that encounter the two vicious jokesters are now enjoying the gentle attentions of the police.
[X]
They knew. A healthcare worker tried to warn about antisemitism in Sydney hospitals shortly after October 7 over a year ago. You won't believe what happened to her. pic.twitter.com/hMsF0at9aD
🧵1/4 Who is Sharon Stoliar ☝🏻 Sharon Stoliar is an Australian midwife, author, and academic known for her work in maternal health and advocacy against birth trauma. She holds a Bachelor of Nursing (2006) and a Graduate Diploma in Midwifery (2008) from the University of…
…(2008) from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). Furthering her education, she earned a Master of Public Health and a Master of International Public Health from the University of New South Wales in 2013. Currently, she is pursuing a PhD at Western Sydney University, focusing on the personal pregnancy and birthing experiences of midwives.
[IsraelTimes] The US House Committee on Education and the Workforce denounces Columbia for its handling of anti-Israel protesters and demands the university turn over disciplinary records for the activists.
The 6-page letter addressed to the university leadership says that the university promised students, faculty and Congress that it would address campus antisemitism, but has failed to do so.
“Columbia’s continued failure to address the pervasive antisemitism that persists on campus is untenable, particularly given that the university receives billions in federal funding,” the letter says.
The letter cites campus disturbances last year, such as protesters’’ takeover of a campus building in the spring, and incidents this semester including the disruption of an Israeli professor’s class.
The committee accuses Columbia of failing to properly discipline those responsible, creating a “hostile environment for members of Columbia’s Jewish communities.”
The letter demands Columbia turn over disciplinary records by the end of this month for 11 different protest incidents that took place between April and January.
The House committee has grilled the heads of Columbia and other top universities over anti-Israel activism for more than a year. The Trump administration has put further pressure on universities since taking office.
Columbia has repeatedly condemned protest activities that violate campus rules in recent weeks, and disciplined some students, including for the disruption of the Israeli professor’s class.
[IsraelTimes] The Jewish Majority releases first poll on community’s attitudes toward campus protests, anti-Zionism; leading demographer questions its methodology
A new initiative aims to collect data on the majority views of American Jews to counter Jewish activist groups that espouse less popular positions on issues such as anti-Zionism, support for Israel and university protests.
The Jewish Majority, based in Washington, DC, launched in September and released its first batch of data on Wednesday, said founder Jonathan Schulman.
"We’ve seen for a long time a coordinated effort of groups claiming to speak as Jews in the name of Jews," Schulman said. "The Jewish Majority was actually founded to help make sure that the majority opinions, the majority views of the Jewish community are also being heard."
"People who are claiming to speak in the name of the Jewish people that actually represent very fringe views, we want to provide a counterweight," said Schulman, who was a longtime staffer for AIPAC before leaving to found the Jewish Majority.
Schulman pointed to Jewish activists who have participated in anti-Israel protest activities, such as blocking transportation. The activists sometimes bear Jewish religious signifiers such as shofars. The survey released on Wednesday was framed as a rebuttal to the anti-Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace.
"You look at the mainstream media coverage, and often the story was ’Jews opposing Israel,’" Schulman said. "To most people, they can’t distinguish between what is a fringe group that represents almost nobody and what is actually the position of the Jewish community."
Schulman said the group has secured funding but declined to discuss details. He said he is planning to hire more staff, and the group will focus on research to "demonstrate where the Jewish community is."
A Jewish student at Columbia University, for example, when asked about the campus chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, which plays a prominent role in protests, could cite Jewish Majority data indicating that the group is not representative of the majority view in the Jewish community.
The poll released on Wednesday found that 70% of American Jews believe anti-Zionism is antisemitic by definition, and three-quarters of respondents said last year’s anti-Israel campus protests were antisemitic. A majority opposed protest tactics, including blocking traffic, protesting the homes of government officials, and wearing masks to conceal identity.
The survey also found widespread support for, or membership in, mainstream US Jewish groups. For the Anti-Defamation League and Jewish National Fund, 79% were supportive or members; 74% for the American Jewish Committee; and 73% for the Jewish Federations of North America.
A majority — 71% — said that, for an organization to speak for American Jews, it must be almost entirely made up of Jews.
The poll was conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, a research firm in Virginia, on behalf of the Jewish Majority. The researchers said they polled 800 Jewish adults in December and that the margin of error was 3.95%.
Ira Sheskin, a professor at Florida’s University of Miami who studies Jewish community demographics, questioned the survey’s results, saying there was little information on methodology and it had likely oversampled for religious Jews. Public Opinion Strategies is an established survey firm but does not appear to work with Jewish clients, he said, adding that some of the survey’s questions should have been framed differently for Jewish respondents.
"Usually, an organization is into a topic, let’s say, care for the elderly or antisemitism or Israel or any one of those, they’ll commission surveys using survey experts," he said. "Doing Jewish surveys is different from doing other types of surveys, and they have no experience in that."
Sheskin said that some of the survey’s questions were covered by polls from other groups, such as the ADL, while others appeared to be new. He added that "everything is different since October 7th," so some data preceding the Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... attack on Israel might be outdated.
"The more data we have, the better. On the other hand, if we’re going to do it, we’re going to do it as close to right as you can, and you can’t get it exactly right. No one ever will," said Sheskin, who serves as the president of the Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry research group.
Sheskin said he was not aware of any Jewish groups specifically dedicated to conducting surveys like the Jewish Majority and that such an approach could limit bias.
"Sometimes when an organization sponsors, like the Democratic or Republican Party, the Democratic Party seems to come out with results that are somewhat more democratic, and the Republican Party, the same thing. You do lose that if you’re doing it independently of a specific organization," Sheskin said.
Two faltering economies attached to two teetering governments, each hoping to get enough from the other to shore itself up. Sounds like a winning formula to me.
[GEO.TV] Underscoring a shared commitment to fortifying economic ties between the two nations, Turkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdo%u011Fan said on Thursday that both nations have agreed to ramp up efforts to boost bilateral trade to $5 billion.
"We agree with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to increase our efforts to reach the target of $5 billion dollars in trade volume," Ottoman Ottoman Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo%u011Fan said at joint news conference with the Pak premier in Islamabad.
Accompanied by a high-level delegation, Erdo%u011Fan arrived in Islamabad late Wednesday night for a two-day visit to co-chair the 7th session of the Pakistain-Turkiye High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSCC) with PM Shehbaz.
In light of the deep-rooted historical ties between the two nations, the HLSCC, which was established in 2009, stands as the highest-level mechanism institutionalising Turkiye-Pakistain solidarity, Erdogan said.
''We have just concluded the seventh meeting of our council, where we reaffirmed our commitment to further strengthening our relations. Within this framework, we signed 24 agreements covering trade, water resources, agriculture, energy, culture, family and social services, science, banking, education, defence, and healthcare,'' the Turkiye president added.
Erdogan said they organised a business forum with the participation of entrepreneurs from various sectors, emphasising: "We encourage our investors, who are the driving force of economic cooperation, to engage more actively in Pakistain."
Both countries signed several memorandums of understanding (MoUs), protocols, and cooperation agreements across various sectors to further strengthen bilateral economic ties.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2025 00:00 ||
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#1
About the only thing that Pakistan exports that makes money is opium and derivatives.
[IsrelTimes] Sanctions freeze Karim Khan’s US assets, ban him from the country, a week after Trump signed order to punish court for having ‘abused its power’ in Gaza, Afghanistan probes
The US on Thursday slapped sanctions on International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan, following US President Donald Trump ...Oh, noze! Not him!... ’s order last week to penalize the court over its decision in November to issue arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant.
The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said that any assets Khan has in the US are now frozen, and he is barred from entering the country.
Khan, who announced in May that he was seeking the warrants, is the first ICC official to be sanctioned under Trump’s order. The White House confirmed on Monday that Khan would be first on the list of ICC officials to be targeted by the order.
Trump signed the executive order last Thursday, while Netanyahu was visiting Washington. The order accused the court of having "abused its power" by issuing the arrest warrants for the Israeli leaders.
The order also accused the tribunal of having engaged in "illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America," referring to ICC probes into alleged war crimes by US service members in Afghanistan.
Republican politicians had already sought to pass separate legislation sanctioning the ICC over the arrest warrants against Israel. Last month, a bill was passed by the US House of Representatives before being blocked by Democrats ...every time you hear the phrase white people, white supremacy,white anything but paint, you're listening to a Democrat. Ask him/her/it to reimagine something for you; they do that a lot, though not well. They can hear a dog whistle a mile or two away. They invented the spoils system and Tammany Hall, and inspired the addition of the word (Thomas) Nasty to the English language. They want to stop continental drift and repeal the law of unintended side effects... in the Senate.
In May, Khan announced he was seeking warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant for allegedly targeting civilians and using starvation as a weapon of war 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... . Israel has rejected the accusations, with some calling the arrest warrants antisemitic.
Khan also sought warrants against Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... leaders Ismail Haniyeh ...became Prime Minister of Gaza after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continued as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintained a separate PM in the West Bank. Zapped during the 2023-24 war, to eveyone's satisfaction... , Muhammad Deif and Yahya Sinwar for crimes against humanity perpetrated during and after October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led forces of Evil stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
Israel killed Sinwar in October and Haniyeh and Deif in July. However,
a clean conscience makes a soft pillow... Hamas did not acknowledge Deif’s death until last month. As a result, the ICC dropped the charges against Haniyeh and Sinwar but issued an arrest warrant against Deif, as well as Netanyahu and Gallant, in November.
[IsraelTimes] A recently returned captive reportedly spent months with 27-year-old, said to be in ‘relatively stable state’; Kalfon’s is 11th hostage family to announce sign of life since weekend
The family of hostage Segev Kalfon said Thursday that it had received a fresh sign of life from him, the latest information to be known about a young male captive since Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... released three Israelis as part of 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... ceasefire deal on Saturday, Hebrew media reported.
According to the Kan public broadcaster, Kalfon’s family received the information from one of the hostages who returned over the weekend and had spent "long months" with Kalfon in captivity.
"He didn’t elaborate on [Kalfon’s] condition, but said he was okay," the family was quoted as saying.
The Maariv newspaper said they described Kalfon as being in "relatively stable condition."
Kalfon, 27, from Dimona, was kidnapped from the Reim-area Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led snuffies stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
Kalfon is slated for release only in the next, second of the hostage deal. The second phase, which Israel has not committed to, would see Hamas release remaining living hostages — who, when the first phase is completed, would comprise men aged less than 50 who are not considered "humanitarian cases" for health reasons.
Kalfon’s is the latest hostage family to announce having received information about their loved one since the return of Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy on Saturday.
The three returning hostages’ emaciated state highlighted the male captives’ harsh conditions. Ben Ami, Sharabi and Levy were said to have been bound, gagged, beaten, starved and beaten with a searing hot object.
In the days since their release, 12 hostage families have reportedly received signs of life for their loved ones.
Kalfon’s is the eleventh family to go public with the sign of life it received, following the families of hostages Yosef-Haim Ohana, Alon Ohel, Elkana Bohbot, Matan Angrest, Nimrod Cohen, Eitan Mor, Omri Miran, Eliya Cohen and twins Gali and Ziv Berman.
Of those hostages, 27-year-old Eliya Cohen is the only one slated for release in the current phase.
Cohen was reportedly being held in an underground tunnel, chained, starved and suffering from a bullet wound to his leg sustained during the Hamas onslaught. Several other young male hostages were said to be suffering similar conditions.
Hamas has so far released 16 Israeli and five Thai hostages as part of the first phase of the hostage deal.
[IsraelTimes] The female surveillance soldiers recently freed from Gaza were forced by Hamas to watch videos of male hostages being tortured, according to one of their mothers.
Speaking with Channel 12 news alongside three other mothers of the surveillance troops, Shira Albag quotes her daughter Liri as saying “I got out of the hell that we went through there, but the men, the soldiers, are going through worse than us.'”
“The terrorists also made a point to show them videos and share with them all sorts of things that they [the male hostages] were going through there, that they starved… all sorts of things that are really tough,” Shira Albag says. “Even today when they’re here, we don’t know everything exactly that they went through.”
[IsraelTimes] Netanyahu meets defense brass as report indicates bid to pressure Hamas into expediting releases of six others in first stage; don’t get your hopes up, Arab diplomat cautions
Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... said Thursday it would release three Israeli hostages as planned Saturday, backing off a threat to delay the next release of captives after accusing Israel of failing to meet its obligations to allow tents and shelters, among other alleged violations of the truce.
Israel was reported to be pushing for further live hostages to be released in the upcoming days, but a senior Arab official told The Times of Israel that it was unlikely that Hamas would deviate from the original timeframe of the agreement.
Underscoring the fragility of the ceasefire and hostage release arrangement, a rocket was fired 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... for the first time since fighting halted last month, reportedly killing a Paleostinian teen inside the Strip and drawing the second Israeli military strike in as many days.
In southern Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz spent several hours huddling with top military commanders and security officials Thursday evening, as Jerusalem reportedly sought to pile more pressure on the Hamas terror group to begin releasing hostages sooner than previously agreed.
Israel has said it will resume fighting if the hostages are not freed, and appeared to endorse US President Donald Trump ...They hit him with slander, they impeached him twice. Nancy Pelosi tore up his State of the Union address on national TV. They stole an election and put his adherents in jail. They vilified him. They couldn't crucify him, so they shot him. Still, they can't keep him down... ’s demand that all hostages be freed, not only the three scheduled for release Saturday, reflecting growing concerns over the condition of captives held in Gaza for nearly 500 days.
Hamas said it held talks in Cairo with Egyptian officials and was in contact with 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... ’s prime minister about bringing into Gaza more shelters, medical supplies, fuel and heavy equipment for clearing rubble — its key demand in recent days. It said in a statement that the mediators had pledged to "remove all hurdles."
Netanyahu’s office earlier denied a report No, no! Certainly not! that it would let mobile homes and earth-moving equipment into the Strip, calling it "fake news."
"There is no entry of mobile homes or heavy equipment into Gaza, and there is no coordination for it," Netanyahu front man Omer Dostri said.
Nonetheless, Egyptian media aired footage showing trucks carrying temporary housing and bulldozers on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing with Gaza. They reported that the trucks were heading to an Israeli inspection area before crossing into Gaza.
Hamas front man Abdul Latif al-Qanou later confirmed to The News Agency that Dare Not be Named by phone that three hostages would be released on Saturday.
Under the terms of the ceasefire that went into effect last month, 17 hostages are still slated to be released under the deal’s first stage, nine of whom are believed to still be alive. Recent weeks have seen the group release 16 Israelis and five Thai hostages under the arrangement, which also requires Israel to free some 2,000 Paleostinian security prisoners, including hundreds of snuffies serving life and long terms.
Even as the hostage releases appeared to get back on track, a rare rocket launch Thursday afternoon briefly raised concerns that the sides could decide to resume fighting.
Footage showed the rocket appear to strike inside Gaza. According to Paleostinian media reports, the projectile landed in the Nuseirat area in the Strip’s center, killing a 14-year-old boy.
A source in the Hamas-run police claimed the rocket was an unwent kaboom! Israeli ordinance that had ignited and had gun sex while it was being moved away from a residential area.
The Israel Defense Forces said it struck the source of the launch in the Bureij camp in central Gaza. On Wednesday, the IDF said it carried out a dronezap against Gazooks attempting to collect a smuggled UAV in Rafah, killing one.
At the IDF’s Southern Command headquarters in Beersheba, Netanyahu met with defense brass for over 4 hours to examine the IDF’s operational plans "for various scenarios," an Israeli official said. Attending the meeting were Katz, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, and incoming chief of staff Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir, Shin Bet director Ronen Bar, and head of the IDF Southern Command Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman.
Israeli officials were expecting Hamas on Friday to name the three it intends to release over the weekend, Channel 12 news reported.
According to the station, which did not cite a source for the information, Jerusalem was also pushing mediators, Qatar, Egypt and the US, to pressure Hamas to expedite the release of the other six living hostages ahead of their scheduled release dates on February 22 and March 1.
Israel has been pushing to speed up the releases since Saturday, when hostages Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami were released looking emaciated. Freed hostages have recounted being subjected to torture, starvation, and inhumane living conditions by their captors.
A senior Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel that Hamas was not expected to release additional hostages either on Saturday or in the immediate days that followed, as this is not what was stipulated in the agreement.
"We got Hamas to agree to release the hostages on Saturday, after it was threatening not to release any of them. To assume that they will go beyond that would be a stretch," the diplomat says.
The fragile ceasefire was thrown into doubt on Monday when Hamas announced that it wouldn’t release any hostages on Saturday as planned, accusing Israel of preventing aid from reaching the Strip, which Israel denied.
Trump then warned that "hell" would break loose if Hamas failed to release all the hostages being held in Gaza by Saturday. The terror group is holding 73 people kidnapped from Israel on October 7, 2023, including at least 35 bodies. It is also holding two civilians who entered the enclave around a decade ago, and the remains of a soldier killed fighting there in 2014.
Following Trump’s remarks, Netanyahu said Israel would resume "intense fighting" in Gaza if Hamas did not return the hostages by Saturday noon. Israel then put out a series of conflicting statements saying Hamas must release "our hostages," "nine hostages," and "all of them" for the ceasefire to continue.
Despite the tough talk, Israel had reportedly sent a message to Hamas through Egypt and Qatar that the deal would continue if the terror group released three hostages as scheduled on Saturday.
Appearing to confirm the climb-down, government front man David Mencer told news hounds Thursday that Hamas must release three live hostages Saturday.
"If those three are not released, if Hamas does not return our hostages, by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end," he said.
US hostage envoy Adam Boehler argued Thursday night that Hamas only agreed to walk back from its threat not to release three hostages this weekend because of Trump’s threat.
"At the end of the day, the president has seen movement, and who knows what would happen if he wasn’t there," Boehler told Fox News.
"But it’s not enough," he clarified. "We still have seven Americans that are there, and we’re not going to stop until that’s [not] the case. I hope that Hamas is hearing loud and clear from the president united states that they’ve got to address that issue immediately."
Asked if Trump’s threat remains in place, Boehler responded, "That’s the current message of the president United States."
But the hostage envoy then added that Trump "reserves the right to change or adjust as he sees fit."
The threat to the future of the ceasefire had drawn thousands of Israeli protesters onto the streets this week, calling on the government to stick with the deal and bring the remaining hostages home.
[IsraelTimes] Top US diplomat says Arab allies must figure out how to remove Hamas from power or Israel will have to, ‘and then we’re back to where we’ve been, so that doesn’t solve the problem’
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration... indicated Thursday that renewed fighting 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... would not ultimately end the threat that Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... poses to Israel, just two days after he appeared to back a resumption of the war.
"Someone has to confront [Hamas]. Who’s that going to be? It’s not going to be American soldiers. If the countries in the region can’t figure that piece out, then Israel is going to have to do it, and then we’re back to where we’ve been, so that doesn’t solve the problem," Rubio said in an interview with conservative radio show hosts Clay Travis and Buck Sexton.
The remarks marked the first time a Trump official has made such an acknowledgment, though it was unclear whether Rubio was speaking off the cuff or on behalf of US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and whatever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th and 47th President of the United States... , who appeared to give Israel a green light to return to fighting when he warned earlier this week of hell breaking loose if the hostages are not all released by Saturday at noon.
On Tuesday, Rubio had told NewsNation that "Hamas continues to use networks to smuggle in weaponry and aid for themselves to reconstitute themselves."
"Israel can’t allow that to happen. You can’t allow Hamas to use the ceasefire to rebuild itself and recover strength," he said. "It’s a ceasefire, but it’s not a stupid ceasefire."
Rubio was asked during Thursday’s interview about Trump’s proposal for the US to take over the Gaza Strip and relocate the enclave’s entire population. The secretary reiterated that the US is willing to consider alternative proposals from its Arab partners, but "any plan that leaves Hamas there is going to be a problem because Israel is not going to tolerate it."
"We’re going to give [Arab allies] a chance to come up with a plan... and not just to pay for [Gaza reconstruction] because... someone’s going to have to go on the ground. Hamas has weapons," Rubio continued.
He admitted that Washington’s Arab allies don’t support Trump’s proposal, "but the only plan right now is the Trump plan. If they’ve got a better plan, now’s the time to present it. So we’re looking forward to that."
"All these countries say how much they care about the Paleostinians, but none of them want to take any Paleostinians. None of them have a history of doing anything for Gaza," Rubio charged.
Rubio, who departed Thursday evening on a trip that will take him to the Middle East, said he hopes to discuss ideas during his stops in Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... and the United Arab Emirates, after talks in Washington with Egypt and Jordan. Rubio is slated to visit Israel during his trip.
Egypt is leading efforts to present an alternative plan to Trump’s within weeks, which would involve training a new security force in Gaza and identifying local Paleostinian leaders who would be in charge, likely ones affiliated with the Paleostinian Authority — which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected to date.
Earlier Thursday, Hamas said it would release three Israeli hostages as planned Saturday, backing off a threat to delay the next release of captives after accusing Israel of failing to meet its obligations to allow tents and shelters into Gaza, among other alleged violations of the truce.
Israel was reported to be pushing for additional living hostages to be released in the upcoming days, but a senior Arab official told The Times of Israel that it was unlikely that Hamas would deviate from the original timeframe of the agreement.
Underscoring the fragility of the ceasefire and hostage release arrangement, a rocket was fired from Gaza on Thursday for the first time since the fighting halted last month, reportedly killing a Paleostinian teen inside the Strip and drawing the second Israeli military strike in as many days.
Israel has said it will resume fighting if the hostages are not freed, and appeared to endorse Trump’s demand that all the captives be released, not only the three scheduled to return to Israel on Saturday, reflecting growing concerns over the condition of captives held in Gaza for nearly 500 days.
Hamas said it held talks in Cairo with Egyptian officials and was in contact with 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... ’s prime minister about bringing into Gaza more shelters, medical supplies, fuel and heavy equipment for clearing rubble — its key demand in recent days. It said in a statement that the mediators had pledged to "remove all hurdles."
Egyptian media aired footage showing trucks carrying temporary housing and bulldozers on Egypt’s side of the Rafah crossing with Gaza. The reports said the trucks were heading to an Israeli inspection area before crossing into Gaza.
Under the terms of the ceasefire that took effect last month, 17 hostages are still slated to be released under the deal’s first stage, nine of whom are believed to still be alive. Recent weeks have seen Hamas release 16 Israelis as part of the agreement, which also requires Israel to release over a thousand Paleostinian prisoners, including convicted forces of Evil serving life sentences for their roles in deadly attacks. Five Thai nationals kidnapped during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack that started the Gaza war have also been released.
Israeli officials are expecting Hamas on Friday to name the three it intends to release on Saturday.
[GEO.TV] Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... said on Thursday it did not want the Gaza ceasefire agreement to collapse.
Mediators are exerting pressure for the deal to be fully implemented, ensure Israel abides by a humanitarian protocol and resume exchanges of Israeli hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel on Saturday, Hamas said in a statement.
Israel has called up military reservists to brace for a possible re-eruption of war in Gaza if Hamas fails to meet a Saturday deadline to free further Israeli hostages. Watch the hands, not the lips.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2025 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11137 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Just take out Hamas already and be done with it.
#2
Since Hamas has come on the scene.
The only statements it has ever honored were those to Kill, Rape and Torture those of, or those that supported the Jewish Faith.
Orders issued by the Iranian Islamic Radical leadership.
So it's way past time to cut the head off the snake.
Expanding on yesterday’s report. I note that this might work in most of the Anglosphere, Europe, and of course in the Ummah, where marching and screaming imprecations is the regional sport. But in America there’s a new sheriff in town.
[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] The Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... Movement called on people worldwide to go out ''in mass demonstrations in all cities of the world and let the coming Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays be a global movement'' against the ethnic cleansing of Paleostine.
''We call on the masses of our people, our Arab and Islamic nation, and the free people of the world to go out in massive solidarity marches'' from Friday through Sunday to denounce ''the plans to displace our Paleostinian people from their land,'' Hamas said in a statement.
The Movement stressed that ''these marches come in support of our people's fixed and legitimate rights to defend their land, foremost among which is their right to freedom, independence, and self-determination.''
The Movement also expressed ''appreciation for all the global positions supporting, backing, and showing solidarity with our people 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.''
The statement comes after Trump doubled down on his proposal for the US to take control of the Strip, push its inhabitants off their land into Jordan and Egypt, and rebuild the territory into the ''Riviera of the Middle East''.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2025 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11156 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
It's not Gaza that needs to be wiped out, it's Hamas.
Yes, but your enemies will be watching, and will just destroy the next one, too.
[IsraelTimes] Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says Tehran’s enemies may be able to strike the country’s nuclear facilities but cannot deprive it of its ability to build new ones.
He makes the comments after reports in the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal said that US intelligence believes Israel is likely to launch a preemptive attack on Iran’s nuclear program in the coming months.
Such an attack would set back Iran’s nuclear program by weeks or months while escalating tension in the region and risking a wider conflict, according to multiple intelligence reports from the end of the Biden administration and start of the Trump administration, the Washington Post reported.
The most comprehensive of the intelligence reports came in early January and was produced by the intelligence directorate of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Post said.
It warned that Israel was likely to attempt an attack on Iran’s Fordo and Natanz nuclear facilities.
[IsraelTimes] Israel accused Iran of sending cash to Lebanese terror group via passenger flights; shortly thereafter, Mahar Air flight reportedly denied permission to land in Beirut
Lebanese aviation authorities refused to permit an Iranian passenger flight to land at Beirut’s international airport on Thursday, local news reported, following a statement by the Israeli military that 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... has been using such flights to smuggle cash to the Hezbollah terror group.
Dozens of Lebanese nationals were stranded at the international airport in Tehran after Lebanese aviation authorities informed the Iranian Mahar Air airline that its flight to Beirut would not be permitted to land, Lebanese news channel LBCI reported.
Footage circulating on social media purported to show a small band of pro-Hezbollah protesters blocking roads near the Beirut airport in protest of the authorities’ move. "Show us the money!"
In a post to X on Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces’ Arabic-language spokesperson, Col. Avichay Adraee, said cash has been smuggled by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to Hezbollah using civilian flights.
The money is being used by the Iran-backed terror group to rebuild itself, according to the IDF.
Hezbollah was devastated by a brief all-out war with Israel last fall, which came following almost a year of near-daily rocket and drone attacks that Hezbollah began launching, unprovoked, on October 8, 2023, in solidarity with fellow terror group Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... , which had just attacked Israel 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... Strip.
Adraee said that the IDF has been in contact with a US-led committee supervising the November 27 ceasefire, which ended the war, and was regularly updating the committee with "relevant information in order to foil these transfers."
Despite the efforts, the IDF spokesperson said, some of the money transfers were likely carried out successfully.
"The IDF will not allow the organization to get stronger, and will use all the tools at its disposal to enforce the understandings in the ceasefire agreement, for the security of the citizens of Israel," Adraee added.
#1
There aren't a number of nearby alternates to divert to if you get waved off Beirut. Guessing they had to go to Aleppo? Definitely not to Cyprus or Israel...
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.
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,...
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
