[SUDANTRIBUNE] Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty affirmed Cairo's support for Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... 's legitimate government and rejected the formation of any parallel authority in the country, Sudan's foreign ministry said on Sunday.
Abdelatty's statement came during a meeting in Cairo with his Sudanese counterpart Ali Youssif, as the two countries held a bilateral political consultation mechanism.
The meeting follows the signing of a founding charter on Saturday by Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and 23 allied factions, including the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), in Nairobi, Kenya. The charter aims to establish a parallel government in RSF-controlled areas in the coming weeks.
''Egypt rejects any framework or government parallel to the legitimate government in Sudan and any external interference,'' the Sudanese foreign ministry said in a statement, quoting Abdelatty.
The Egyptian foreign ministry didn't explicitly report the rival government's rejection in a statement released after the meeting.
''The two delegations also discussed the situation in brotherly Sudan. They emphasized the importance of preserving its unity, territorial integrity, independence and respecting its illusory sovereignty and all its national institutions, including the armed forces. They also stressed the importance of non-interference in Sudan's internal affairs under any pretext, affirming their rejection of any steps that would undermine Sudan's illusory sovereignty,'' stated the foreign ministry in Cairo.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2025 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11131 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan
Did they include a cute little map with all the Egyptian troop positions marked, including manpower counts and armaments?
[IsraelTimes] Israel has lodged an official complaint with Egypt over alleged violations of agreements on troop deployments in the Sinai peninsula, Israel Hayom reports.
Last month, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter accused Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi of violating the US-brokered 1978 peace deal between Jerusalem and Cairo.
“Egypt is in very serious violation of our peace agreement in the Sinai. This is an issue that is going to come to the fore because it’s not tolerable,” Leiter told American Jewish leaders.
“We have bases being built that can only be used for offensive operations, for offensive weapons — that’s a clear violation,” Leiter said. “For a long time, it’s been shunted aside, and this continues. This is going to be an issue that we’re going to put on the table very soon and very emphatically.”
In addition, multiple Israeli outlets have run articles in recent weeks highlighting concern over Egyptian deployment in the Sinai.
[Breitbart] Mexican President Sheinbaum revealed that her government is studying a letter sent by jailed drug lord Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada asking for help as he faces a possible life sentence and even the death penalty for his crimes as one of the supreme leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel. The letter comes just days after Sheinbaum filed a series of proposed changes to the country’s constitution that would impair foreign investigations and actions against drug cartels even though the U.S. government formally designated the Sinaloa Cartel and five other Mexican cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO).
On Friday, President Sheinbaum said that her staff was analyzing a letter Zambada and his attorneys sent to the Mexican Consulate in New York City, where he requested that Mexico’s government help get him repatriated. The drug lord claims he was not arrested but kidnapped and is facing capital punishment. In his letter, the famed kingpin contended that the methods used in his arrest were dangerous to international relations since the same could be done to anyone, including politicians.
During her news conference, Sheinbaum said that her government was concerned about not who made the request but how his detention took place.
The letter further muddies Mexico’s image since, as Breitbart Texas reported this week, Sheinbaum filed a series of proposed changes to the country’s constitution that would impair foreign investigations and actions inside the country unless the government authorized them. The proposed changes would add criminal penalties to foreigners and Mexican nationals participating in those actions and investigations. The filed changes come soon after the U.S. government formally designated the Sinaloa Cartel, Cartel Jalisco New Generation, Los Zetas (CDN), the Gulf Cartel, La Familia Michoacana, and Guerreros Unidos as FTOs.
As Breitbart Texas reported, the arrest of Zambada took place when he was lured to a meeting by his godson Joaquin Guzman Lopez, only to be kidnapped and placed on a U.S.-bound plane into the waiting hands of federal agents. In the aftermath of the arrest, Mexico started a treason investigation over the drug lord’s kidnapping and arrest. The arrest set off a fierce turf war as Zambada’s son and his allies have been fighting against the Guzman Lopez brothers and their allies, who are known as Los Chapitos. The group got its name from being led by the four sons of jailed kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera, who is currently in a U.S. prison serving a life term.
#3
Sheinbaum filed a series of proposed changes to the country’s constitution that would impair foreign investigations and actions against drug cartels
Making the cartels officially part of the government, eh?
Sheinbaum said that her government was concerned about not who made the request but how his detention took place.
Oh, dear! I hope no harsh words were exchanged.
Still, a kidnapping is less disruptive than going in with guns blazing.
To our German correspondents: Is this a reasonable read of your new chancellor’s intentions, or is the reporter cherry-picking quotes for malign effect?
[IsraelTimes] Friedrich Merz, set to become Germany’s next chancellor after his opposition conservatives won the national election, vows to help give Europe “real independence” from the US as he prepares to cobble together a government.
Merz, 69, faces complex and lengthy coalition negotiations after the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) surged to a historic second place in a fractured vote after the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s unloved three-way alliance.
Mainstream parties rule out working with the AfD which enjoyed the endorsement of prominent right-wing US figures including Elon Musk, the tech billionaire and ally of President Donald Trump.
Merz, who has no previous experience in office, is set to become chancellor with Europe’s largest economy ailing, its society split over migration and its security caught between a confrontational US and an assertive Russia and China.
He takes aim at the US in blunt remarks after his victory, criticizing the “ultimately outrageous” comments flowing from Washington during the campaign, comparing them to hostile interventions from Russia.
“So we are under such massive pressure from two sides that my absolute priority now is to achieve unity in Europe. It is possible to create unity in Europe,” Merz tells a roundtable with other leaders.
Merz’s broadside against the US comes despite Trump welcoming the election outcome with a post on his Truth Social platform.
“Much like the USA, the people of Germany got tired of the no common sense agenda, especially on energy and immigration, that has prevailed for so many years,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Hitherto seen as an Atlanticist, Merz says Trump had shown his administration to be “largely indifferent to the fate of Europe”.
That’s certainly one way to look at it. My understanding is that President Trump is not interested in carrying those who are not doing the work to protect themselves. Is Germany going to fund her military properly — last I heard y’all lacked bullets, vehicle spare parts, and the capability to transport fighting units to the battlefield. Has that changed?
Merz’s “absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that we can achieve real independence from the USA step by step,” he adds.
Europe has been threatening that for years. Is it finally time to deliver?
#3
We'll see. Merz is actually as US friendly as it gets, and he sure does know a thing or two about the economy. Trump's first reaction has been quite positive.
As it stands now Merz will only need the SPD as a coalition partner, not the Greens, this should make things easier for him (although the Greens are - these days - more hawkish than the SPD). But the SPD will almost certainly be led by (soon) former defense minister Oskar Pistorius, who will not cause any trouble when it comes to raising military spending.
Companies like Thyssen Krupp and Rheinmetall are booming (shares are up 30%). Military spending will boost the economy, and that includes my company.
And a little extra: Merz seems to have invited Netanjahu to Germany, ignoring the ICJ warrant.
Of course there's nothing wrong with European unity. European countries don't want to be eaten alive by the "Big Three".
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/24/2025 5:48 Comments ||
Top||
#4
BTW, in Germany voter ID is mandatory, also they use paper ballots
the preliminary results are available within a few hours of the polls closing but an audit takes place and the final results are available in about 3 weeks
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
02/24/2025 9:22 Comments ||
Top||
#5
The Euros are itching for a third world war. Fought and paid for with American blood and treasure.
Sorry, Europe; we're just not that into you any more.
Posted by: Regular joe ||
02/24/2025 10:54 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Eventually the AfD will have a real majority and return the favor.
#7
"The Euros are itching for a third world war."
Nonsense. This war would be fought on European soil. Nobody wants that. In fact, we want to prevent it.
If the United States is no longer prepared to stand with Europe, Japan, Korea and Taiwan will take note. And then, good luck with your fight against China. It won't be America First, it will be America Alone.
Europe has the means to reinvent itself. Wo Gefahr ist, wächst das Rettende auch.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/24/2025 11:32 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Metz is known as a pro capitalist. A number of tiems he has said that Europe should be able to defend itself (presumably from Russia). This isn't a problem except it means more funds need to be allocated to defense and much of Europe is in bad shape financially. What he isn't so clear about is how Germany and Europe can defend itself from Islamist migrants and how Europe can recoup the electrical generation capacity that they lost during the Energiewende.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
02/24/2025 12:19 Comments ||
Top||
Please help the new government do the things they promised, which will satisfy those AfD voters who aren’t rabid racists, but are turning to the party in desperation, just as so many did to Donald Trump here.
I would like Europe to be more independent of the US. But that is also whey they are getting spooked by Russia as it starts trying to regrow the Russian empire.
#12
EC, Germany has taken 20 years to dig the hole it now finds itself. Energy runs the economy and you guys absolutely screwed yourselves. It will take years to rebuild away from the failed green energy sources, all while trying to build up your withered military (both men and material). I appreciate your optimism but it will be a long hard slog.
#13
Talk is cheap but self reliance and self defense is not. So, good luck with all that. Euros have always been saying that they are independent from US but they are like a little dog that barks and lunges at everything while on the leash. If the leash is released, they cower behind their master.
#17
"The U.S. voted against a resolution condemning Russia as the aggressor in the war in Ukraine that passed the United Nations General Assembly on Monday, marking three years since Russia’s launched its full-scale invasion of the country.
Among the 17 countries that joined the U.S. in opposition to the non-binding measure were Russia, Belarus, North Korea, Israel and Hungary, whose Prime Minister Viktor Orban is a close ally to President Trump. China abstained along with 64 other countries."
Quo vadis?
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/24/2025 15:01 Comments ||
Top||
#21
Europe has the means to reinvent itself.
-----------
I doubt it has the *will*. Until Europe is more concerned with Islamic lunatics polluting their lands than they are with people posting on social media about it, I can't assume they really care about re-inventing themselves.
#22
My take on Merz is that here he's lashing out in frustration because of his atrocious election result.
He had been nominally the leader of the opposition against a government that had enacted a policy of economic self-destruction, and the election result of his party was the second worst in its history.
Quo vadis?
Russia made its demands clear in 2021. They go far beyond Ukraine and far beyond Europe. I think Trump should be asked just how much he is going to give away to appease (and to surrender to?) Russia.
In fact if the pro censorship Europeans in Munich had been smart they could have retorted that the abolition of free speech in the West had been NATO consensus since the start of the Afghanistan mission. A consensus then shared even by Donald Trump.
#24
""The Euros are itching for a third world war."
Nonsense. This war would be fought on European soil. Nobody wants that. In fact, we want to prevent it.
If the United States is no longer prepared to stand with Europe, Japan, Korea and Taiwan will take note. And then, good luck with your fight against China. It won't be America First, it will be America Alone.
Europe has the means to reinvent itself. Wo Gefahr ist, wächst das Rettende auch."
I think you think you're being tough, but all you're accomplishing is showing us that Trump should really not only be doing what you've been falsely accusing him of, but going WAY beyond that, such as pulling back the "rental" nuclear deterrent we've loaned you for my entire adult life.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] French security forces have unsuccessfully approached the Algerian authorities ten times with a request to expel from France a native of this country who attacked people with a knife in the city of Mulhouse. This was stated on February 22 by the head of the French Ministry of Internal Affairs Bruno Retaillo on the air of the TF1 TV channel.
"My services have contacted the Algerian consulate ten times, but they have never taken back a person born in Algeria. I think we need to change our position in relations with Algeria. From now on, the balance of power must change," Retailo said.
Very glad to hear it.
According to the head of the Interior Ministry, France was "too kind" to Algeria, but this country did not appreciate the "helping hand extended to it", and therefore tough measures must be taken to force it to accept Algerians deported by the French authorities.
The AFP (Agence France-Presse) agency clarified that in 2023, the attacker was being treated for schizophrenia in a psychiatric hospital, and also abused alcohol and drugs.
Earlier, Regnum reported that at least one person was killed and five were wounded in an attack by a man armed with a knife in Mulhouse, a French city in the east of the country. The attack took place near a street market in the afternoon. According to preliminary information, the victims were municipal workers. The suspect was detained and was registered with law enforcement agencies as part of efforts to "prevent terrorism."
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed condolences to the victims of the attack, calling it an act of terrorism.
Portuguese man killed in Saturday attack in city of Mulhouse; French authorities arrest four after terror stabbing in country’s east
Four people were in jug Sunday after a deadly stabbing in eastern La Belle France that authorities linked to Islamic extremism, according to the national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office.
A Portuguese man was killed in the Saturday attack in the city of Mulhouse, near the border with Germany. Seven coppers were maimed, including a parking control agent hospitalized with grave injuries, the prosecutor’s office said.
Those detained include the suspected assailant, a 37-year-old Algerian man identified by prosecutors as Brahim A. The interior minister described him as an Islamic turban with a schizophrenic profile. Two of the suspect’s family members and a person who lodged him were also detained, the prosecutor’s office said.
The suspect repeatedly said "holy shit! Allahu akbar" — "God is great" in Arabic — during the attack, the prosecutor said. He was armed with a knife and a screwdriver.
The suspect arrived in La Belle France without papers in 2014 and was arrested and convicted of glorifying terrorism in the wake of the October 7, 2023, Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... attack on Israel, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau told news hounds Saturday night. Police experts had ″detected a schizophrenic profile″ in the suspect, he added.
After several months in prison for that conviction, the suspect was confined to house arrest as authorities sought to expel him to Algeria. Retailleau criticized Algeria for resisting the return of criminals La Belle France is seeking to deport.
The suspect was also on a terror watchlist, called FSPRT, which compiles data from various authorities on individuals to prevent "terrorist" radicalization. It was launched in 2015 following deadly attacks on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo ...Pix/Charliehebdo.jpgA lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe... ’s offices and a Jewish supermarket.
The French government will convene a special meeting Wednesday about immigration in the wake of the attack, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Sunday. They will notably study 19 countries "where we have the most difficulty in returning people without papers,″ Barrot said on Europe-1 radio.
#3
How hard can it be to deport someone from France? You stuff them in the trunk of a Citroen, drive them to the airport, and leave the car in long-term parking. Easy peasy.
As for which wine goes with brains, Malbecs are good. Don't ask how I know this.
[IsraelTimes] Ramped-up preparedness on Gazan front comes amid talk of possible return to fighting, but not in response to concrete threat near border; no changes to instructions for civilians
The Israel Defense Forces raised its alert and readiness level along 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... border on Sunday, the military said in a statement, while at the same time it ended all remaining restrictions on civilian activity along the northern border with Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel... The increased alertness near Gaza came amid uncertainty over the future of the ongoing ceasefire in the Strip, and the possibility of a return to fighting between Israel and the Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... terror group there.
There are no changes to guidelines for civilians, the military said, though civil defense squads in the area were put on alert. The IDF noted that it had not identified any effort to approach the border from Gaza.
The change came amid a fresh assessment of the situation in the enclave, as Israeli leadership decides whether to proceed with negotations on the deal’s planned second stage — which would see the return of remaining hostages in exchange for a permanent end to the war — or to resume combat, in the war that began with the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023.
In speeches to graduates of an IDF officers’ course on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz both stressed that Israel is preparing battle plans, should a decision be made to return to combat, and reiterated their commitment both to returning all hostages and to removing Hamas as the governing power in Gaza.
Amid the deliberations, the IDF has altered its deployment of forces in Gaza’s buffer zone and the western Negev, though it has not said that it will send any additional troops for the time being.
HOME FRONT COMMAND ENDS RESTRICTIONS IN NORTH Meanwhile,
...back at the bunker, his Excellency called the chief of staff and complained that the artillery was keeping him awake... the IDF Home Front Command said Sunday night it had lifted all remaining restrictions on Israel’s northern frontier communities, which had been imposed during the fighting with the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon since October 2023.
The move was approved by Katz following an assessment held by the Home Front Command with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi.
The Home Front Command has adjusted the public activity scale in northern frontier communities from "partial activity" to "full activity."
A US-brokered ceasefire agreement in November ended most of the fighting, and last week Israel completed the withdrawal of its ground troops from most of southern Lebanon, with the exception of five strategic points, as the Lebanese military deployed in its place.
The agreement came after more than a year of fighting that began on October 8, 2023, when Iran-backed Hezbollah started attacking Israeli military posts and border communities with rockets and drones in support of Hamas.
Displaced Israeli residents of northern Israel are set to return to their homes beginning March 2.
“If we are forced to return to fighting, the enemy will face the IDF with power it has never known before. We are preparing for this, and we are ready for this,” he says.
“The fighting will end with two clear achievements: The defeat of Hamas and the release of all our hostages,” Katz says, adding that Israel will work to return all the remaining living and dead hostages in Hamas captivity “swiftly.”
Also in his speech, Katz says that Israel’s eyes are looking at the entire Middle East, “especially toward Syria.”
“We have committed that we will not be able to return to the reality of October 7. There is a new policy in southern Syria. The IDF will not allow hostile forces to base themselves in the security zone in southern Syria, from here to the Suwayda-Damascus route, and we will act against any threat,” he says.
Throughout his address, he promises total victory.
“All of our hostages, without exception, will return home,” he says. “Hamas won’t rule Gaza. Gaza will be demilitarized, and its fighting force will be dismantled.”
Netanyahu comes to the stage amid cheers and boos, and when he holds up a photo of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, some in the crowd yell out in protest. Netanyahu says the image “says it all… So that we will always remember, what we are fighting for, and who we are fighting against.”
He stresses that the Bibas family was murdered in cold blood in the early days of the war. “They strangled the tender boys with their bare hands,” he says. “We must defeat those monsters, and we will defeat them.”
“Victory, victory and only victory,” says Netanyahu. The victory “can be achieved in negotiations,” he says. “It can be achieved in another way.”
He says that the combination of diplomatic and military pressure on Hamas is what is enabling the return of hostages. Referring to recent reinforcements sent to Gaza, Netanyahu says that the redeployment “alongside President Trump’s firm statement brought about the release of the hostages in recent weeks.”
Netanyahu thanks Trump for his commitment to send crucial weapons to Israel. “The new defensive and offensive weapons will help us greatly in achieving total victory.”
Trump sees “eye-to-eye” with Israel on Gaza, he adds.
“We support President Trump’s groundbreaking plan to enable the freedom to leave for Gazans and the creation of a different Gaza,” says Netanyahu of the president’s proposal to relocate the entire Gaza population and have the US take over and rebuild the war-torn Strip.
In the West Bank, Netanyahu says, IDF troops will stay in cities as long as it takes. The tank platoon that Israel introduced into the West Bank means that Israel is fighting terrorism “with all means and in all places,” he says.
In Lebanon, the premier continues, the IDF is holding key positions “until the Lebanese army and Lebanese government fulfill all of their commitments according to the agreement.”
Troops will stay on the Syrian Hermon and the buffer zone in the Golan Heights for “an unlimited period of time… We will not allow [Hayat Tahrir al-Shams] forces or the new Syrian army to move into territory south of Damascus,” he insists.
“We demand full demilitarization of southern Syria from troops of the new Syrian regime in the Quneitra, Daraa and Suweyda provinces,” Netanyahu says, adding that Israel will not accept any threats to Druze in southern Syria.
On Iran, he says that Israel will not accept a nuclear weapon in the hands of the regime.
He also thanks the outgoing IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi for leading the IDF in the ongoing war, as the crowd cheers.
[IsraelTimes] UK Lawyers for Israel says use of inaccurate data, inconsistent methodology, potential bias led to false assertions that were utilized by ICC when charging Netanyahu with war crimes
A review conducted by the UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) organization into allegations by international famine review bodies that famine and severe malnutrition were widespread and prevalent 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 war between Israel and Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... has found that famine did not break out in the territory according to the figures of the very organizations making the claims.
The report noted severe problems with the reports these organizations issued, due to what it said was their use of "incomplete or inaccurate data," the inconsistent application of methodological standards, failure to take into account new data, and "potential bias" in how it interpreted and presented the information it had.
These groups data were used as evidence by the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court prosecutor in legal proceedings they initiated against Israel, and have created severe legal problems for the State of Israel.
From almost the very beginning of the war, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), connected to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) established by USAID, began issuing periodic reports on the food security situation in Gaza, asserting in early and late 2024 that famine was either imminent or had already taken hold in parts of the territory.
Israeli academics and public health officials began questioning the accuracy and reliability of these reports from May 2024, highlighting how the estimates made by these organizations appeared to ignore key information about aid supply and use data from questionable sources.
UKLFI’s review of the issue, published last week and which highlighted these criticisms, found that there was no famine in Gaza during the war, as defined by IPC standards, and that even levels of acute malnutrition were only marginally higher than pre-war figures.
These errors resulted from overlooking significant sources of food supply, IPC misclassifying its own data, and using an incorrect baseline figure for pre-war acute malnutrition which made it appear that there had been a sharp increase in the phenomenon during the war, UKLFI’s study stated.
Other problems leading to false IPC and FEWS NET determinations about famine and malnutrition in Gaza included comparing different metrics for those phenomena and overestimating the population of northern Gaza, where predictions of famine were especially grave due to an erroneous understanding of the amount of food aid available per person there.
The allegations of famine formed a central part of the legal processes against Israel’s conduct of the war against Hamas in both the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The ICC has charged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant with war crimes and crimes against humanity for allegedly using starvation as a method of war against the Paleostinians, and issued warrants for their arrest.
UKLFI said in its report that future assessments of food security "should strive for greater accuracy and objectivity to ensure that international responses are proportionate and based on factual realities."
In the wake of Hamas’s October 7 invasion and massacres, Israel embarked on a massive military campaign against Gaza and initially limited the amount of aid that went into the territory. But two weeks after the beginning of the war, aid began entering the strip.
A SERIES OF PROBLEMATIC REPORTS
Two of the most problematic reports regarding alleged famine were issued in March 2024 and November 2024 by the IPC’s Famine Review Committee (FRC).
The FRC’s March report asserted that famine was "was projected and imminent," in particular in northern Gaza, and that 677,000 people in the Gaza Strip were already in the Phase 5 Catastrophe level of its food insecurity scale.
If this were correct, it would have meant that at least 135 people were dying of starvation every day in March 2024.
An IPC Special Brief projected that 1.1 million people would be in the Phase 5 Catastrophe level in the period from March 16 to July 15, 2024, which would have meant at least 221 people dying of starvation every day in that period.
The FRC’s November report stated that there was "an imminent and substantial likelihood of famine occurring," while in December 2024, FEWS NET published an "Alert" asserting that "A Famine (IPC Phase 5) scenario continues to unfold in North Gaza Governorate."
UKLFI identified numerous, substantive problems with these reports, however.
In June 2024, the FRC itself published an updated report stating that "the available evidence does not indicate that Famine is currently occurring," despite its dire predictions from March.
The March report also did not provide any statistics on the mortality rate from the malnutrition and starvation it asserted was happening and predicted would strengthen from March to July.
That report noted that the corpse count related to malnutrition was 25 in total, whereas the claimed Phase 5 catastrophe level in northern Gaza should have meant that some 60 people were dying from malnutrition every day, according to the population in the region at the time, UKLFI said.
The June report did provide a mortality rate from all causes, meaning as a result of military action and malnutrition together. The stated level would, however, only have qualified as Phase 3 level of food insecurity at the most, if it was based on non-trauma deaths, which it was not.
UKLFI noted in its study that FRC, and the World Food Program organization, were in possession of the non-trauma mortality figures but chose not to share them.
Another key problem with the March report — as pointed out in an Israeli study by public health officials published by Israel’s Foreign Affairs Ministry in May and noted in the UKLFI’s study — was that it failed to take into account food supplied to northern Gaza by the private sector, alongside the humanitarian aid brought into the territory.
The March report was cited directly by the International Court of Justice in the genocide suit brought by South Africa against Israel, and also referenced by the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor Karim Khan when he announced he was seeking arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, warrants which were ultimately issued by the court.
Indeed Khan specifically cited the FRC claim that 1.1 million were facing "catastrophic hunger," which he said was the highest number "ever recorded, anywhere, anytime," when filing his application for arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant.
In November, the FRC issued an "Alert" saying there was a "substantial likelihood of famine, particularly in northern Gaza, and stating, "It can therefore be assumed that starvation, malnutrition, and excess mortality due to malnutrition and disease, are rapidly increasing in these areas." Famine thresholds "may have already been crossed," it added.
But this report, too, did not include mortality data to back up its assertions. It stated that a malnutrition parameter known as MUAC indicated Phase 3 malnutrition throughout Gaza, but did not provide precise details.
In a "Special Brief" also issued in November, FRC said that acute malnutrition was "ten times higher" than before the war.
But the FRC reports, and a FEWS NET report, mistakenly asserted that the MUAC rate in Gaza before October 7, 2023 was 1%, when in reality it was 4%, UKLFI pointed out.
Data sources cited by the FRC November report showed that MUAC in northern Gaza in August and September was 2%, indicative of IPC Phase 1 and for all of Gaza was 5%, indicative of IPC Phase 2, meaning only slightly above the pre-war rate, UKLFI noted.
"There has been no Famine, as defined by the IPC, in the Gaza Strip since October 2023. Acute malnutrition levels are only marginally higher than pre-war figures," the UKLFI study asserted in its conclusions.
The UKLFI report said that the IPC and FEWS NET reports had demonstrated "a pattern of overestimation and misrepresentation" due to "Reliance on incomplete or inaccurate data," "inconsistent application of methodological standards," "Failure to adequately revise projections in light of new data," and "Potential bias in interpretation and presentation of findings."
Added the authors: "These errors have led to an exaggerated portrayal of the food security situation in Gaza, which has been used to influence international opinion and policy."
IPC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
[IsraelTimes] Hamas will hold off on negotiations with Israel through mediators unless Israel frees the 602 Palestinian prisoners slated for release in exchange for the six Israeli hostages handed over yesterday, says Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi.
In a statement on Telegram, the official calls on mediators to pressure Israel into implementing the ceasefire agreement’s provisions.
Early this morning, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would not release the prisoners until Hamas provided guarantees that it would end the “demeaning” ceremonies it has held to mark the transfer of Israeli hostages.
According to the Defense Ministry and Israel Police, a truck carrying aid that was passing through the Erez Crossing into northern Gaza was found to also be ferrying 650 smartphones, dozens of sim cards, three projectors, and car replacement parts.
Unexpectedly. But how nice that President Trump and Secretary of State Rubio have a clear signal how to proceed with regard to aid to the Palestinian Authority.
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
PA’s Abbas: Payments to terrorists will continue, “even if it’s our last penny.”
Despite claims of reversing the policy, the Palestinian Authority will continue issuing monthly salaries to terrorists and their families. pic.twitter.com/O0WB3QG73d
Text taken from a Telegram post by front4494
[ColonelCassad] Interesting details on the topic of the overthrow of Assad in Syria.
Jackson Hinkle interviews Eli Hatem, a longtime lawyer for the Assad family, discussing key events during the coup against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
I was there a few days before the “revolution.” Everyone calls it a “revolution,” but it was actually a coup.
The coup was orchestrated by the US administration, Turkey, Israel and their intelligence services.
Turkey was threatened by the US into submission.
On November 19, 2024, a senior Israeli intelligence officer, the Shabak, met with Erdogan and together they worked to carry out this coup.
Oy. Israel and Turkey?? It seems highly unlikely.
No one, including Bashar al-Assad, knew about it. On December 8, I spoke to one of Assad’s cousins and told him that maybe they should leave Damascus. But he said everything was under control. That was a big surprise to us.
The next day, we had to evacuate them from Syria through Latakia.
During such coups, the crowds behave chaotically, and we feared for their lives on the way from Latakia to the Russian air base in Khmeimim.
No one expected any movements from inside Syria.
There were the usual random Israeli bombings and some army movements. A few months before, some Iranian troops were returning to Iran.
No one wanted a coup. There were no signs of it.
Hayat Tahrir al Sham wanted a coup, and had been rehearsing for over a year, as I recall. Y’all should be embarrassed that you missed it.
Of course, part of the population was against the government, but they were smaller compared to those who supported the Assad regime. However, the protesters did not reach a significant mass. I would rather expect a coup in France against Macron than in Syria.
It was a political project, carefully designed and prepared by the intelligence services - Israeli, American, which set Turkey against Syria, intimidating it with the Kurds.
Four days before the coup, Netanyahu made a threatening statement, warning Bashar al-Assad: “You are playing with fire. You will find out what will happen to you.”
The goal of this political project was to divide Syria and add fuel to the fire to provoke conflicts within all communities in the country. These conflicts were to spread throughout the region, aiming to cause a clash between Shiites and Sunnis.
This is what happened in Syria.
We are currently witnessing the massacre of Alawites and the persecution of Christians.
Al-Jolani, who was previously the second in command of ISIS, left the organization and joined Al-Qaeda. He then founded the Nusra Front in Syria as an affiliate of Al-Qaeda. He was considered a terrorist until the coup.
He’s still a terrorist. He’s just a terrorist who conquered a country, like ISIS, but has much smoother manners, so the world is willing — nay, eager — to open relations.
He said that he would not take any action against Israel. Israel has captured part of Syrian territory and its forces are only 24-25 km from Damascus. Al-Jolani thanked Israel for helping them in their “operation” against the Assad government.
This is proof that both ISIS and Al-Qaeda are creations of Western intelligence agencies.
A leap in logic that I can’t follow. The things jihadis say may or may not be true, and may be true only for now, but are always said for effect. Israel does not trust the HTS government, despite their pretty promises, and so Israel now has nine bases on Syrian territory in Quneitra province, as a buffer against any parties with non-benign objectives.
They are tools of Israel and the United States. The two organizations are connected through lobby groups such as AIPAC and also through Zionist organizations.
A blatant lie. Cut it out.
The Palestinians in Gaza are being exterminated in a genocidal campaign.
Another lie.
80% of the population of Gaza are Sunni Muslims. If ISIS really stands for true Sunni values, then why did they not take any action at all to protect the Palestinians?
Too smart to go up aginst the IDF, perhaps. But actually, each region has its own ISIS franchise, and while they happily train one another and gain/lose jihad tourists as the local action heats up or is suppressed by the local authorities, mostly they are independent operators only interested in their local concerns.
We should not forget the terrorist attacks carried out by ISIS in Iran and what happened in Moscow shortly after the visit of the Hamas delegation to that city. The terrorist attack on Crocus was a kind of warning signal addressed to Russia.
What happened in Syria was part of a plan to destroy all the states in the Middle East. The goal was to divide Syria into small areas of endless conflicts so that Israel could continue to implement the so-called "Greater Israel" project. They captured much more than the Golan Heights.
Now you are becoming boring.
Now they are trying to capture part of Egypt and intend to do the same in Jordan. There are Islamist groups in Jordan that want to overthrow the king. Then their plan is to go to Saudi Arabia, take some territory from them and create a "Greater Israel".
These are not just my words; Netanyahu showed a "new" map of the Middle East at a UN meeting.
Yeah, yeah. Protocols of The Elders of Zion redux, and just as stupid.
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.
...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans...
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
..always the voice of sweet reason...
