Tag: israel

Report: Israel Plans To Invade Lebanon in the Second Half of July

The German newspaper Bild reported on Monday that Israel is planning to invade Lebanon in the second half of July as Israeli forces and Hezbollah continue to trade fire across the border.

The report, which cited diplomatic sources, said Israel would launch the assault unless Hezbollah stopped firing on northern Israel. But Israeli officials have made clear that’s not enough for them as they are demanding Hezbollah withdraw from the border to areas beyond the Litani River.

The Litani River is about 18 miles north of the Israel-Lebanon border, and Israel has said a Hezbollah withdrawal from the area is necessary for Israelis who have evacuated from northern Israel to return to their homes.

Hezbollah’s position is that it won’t stop firing on northern Israel unless there is a ceasefire in Gaza, while Israeli officials have threatened to escalate in Lebanon if they reach a truce with Hamas.

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Israeli military investigation reveals many Oct. 7 Israeli casualties were caused by IDF rather than Hamas

Israel has used the events of October 7 to justify a lengthy and very bloody war in Gaza that has caused the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians. On that date, Hamas terrorists entered southern Israel, where they reportedly killed more than 1,100 people and took 251 hostages.

However, it turns out that some of the Israeli deaths on that day came not at the hands of Hamas but instead as the result of “friendly fire” from the Israeli military. This is something that Hamas has been claiming for some time now, and many media reports about it were quickly dismissed as “disinformation.”

Now, however, leaks from a report compiled by the Israeli military itself confirm that a lot of the October 7 casualties were the result of friendly fire.

According to Israeli broadcaster Channel 12, a military investigation revealed that “friendly fires led to the deaths and injuries of an unspecified number of Israeli soldiers”. In addition, IDF forces were deployed in a “chaotic” manner.

A full official report is expected to be released next month, and it will essentially be an official admission that numerous Israelis were killed by the IDF and not Hamas. The IDF has not denied the information that has been leaked so far despite being aggressive about denying other leaks and failures.

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IDF Uses Palestinian Prisoners as Human Shields in Gaza, Report Says

Every accusation is a confession.

Al Jazeera said it received exclusive footage of IDF troops using Palestinian prisoners as human shields while carrying out missions inside the war-torn Gaza Strip.

Hamdah Salhut, a reporter for the news outlet, posted on X that these prisoners “were forced to enter tunnels while tied to ropes, and search buildings with hands behind their backs & cameras strapped to them.”

The report came after a video emerged of IDF troops driving with an injured Palestinian strapped to the top of the jeep’s hood. The Times of Israel reported that the video was taken in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, and the vehicle could be seen passing two ambulances. 

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Israel’s leaked plan for annexing the West Bank, explained

The issue of Israel’s creeping annexation of the West Bank has resurfaced in recent days after a leaked recording of Israel’s finance minister Bezalel Smotrich revealed a “dramatic” plan to impose permanent Israeli control over the West Bank “without the government being accused of annexing it,” as Smotrich was recorded saying.

Smotrich’s statements, recorded by the Peace Now Israeli NGO and published by CNN and the New York Times, were made during a speech he gave to settler leaders earlier in June. Smotrich was recorded saying that he had elaborated a plan in the past year and a half and exposed it to Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu, who was “fully onboard.”

The plan centers around transferring administrative authorities in the West Bank from the Israeli army to the civil authorities of the Israeli government. Smotrich said that he oversaw the creation of an entire administrative body directly linked to the government and that members of this body were already embedded in the Israeli army’s Civil Administration.

In 1967, Israel began administering the West Bank and Gaza under a military administrative body, the Military Government, and in 1981, the Civil Administration was established in its place. Following Netanyahu’s formation of the most right-wing government in Israel’s history in 2022, Smotrich was put in charge of the Civil Administration. Since October 7, Smotrich’s hardline policies pushing for settlement expansion have reached new heights, with the recently leaked annexation plan raising fears about the intentions of the self-described fascist toward the Palestinians living in the West Bank.

According to Smotrich, the administrative changes he wishes to implement represent a “dramatic change” equivalent to “changing the DNA of the system.”

Smotrich said that large budgets were allocated to infrastructure projects for settlement expansion and for “security measures” for the settlements, adding that the aim of such a plan is “to avoid the West Bank from becoming part of a Palestinian state.”

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US prepares to evacuate citizens from Lebanon — NBC

The US Department of Defense is moving its forces closer to the Israeli-Lebanese border to promptly evacuate its citizens from Lebanon if necessary, NBC reported citing sources.

According to the report, Washington fears that Israel may launch a ground operation in Lebanon in the coming weeks.

On Wednesday, USS Wasp multipurpose amphibious assault ship of the US Navy and the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit were redeployed to the Mediterranean. Moreover, USS Oak Hill dock landing ship is also in the area. Besides, US officials remain in touch with allies to jointly coordinate the evacuation if necessary.

It was earlier reported that the Israeli army approved an operational plan for an offensive in Lebanon in mid-June. After the operation against the radical Palestinian movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the country’s authorities expect to simultaneously attack the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah. Hezbollah, like Hamas, is opposed to Israel and regularly shells the country’s territory from the north.

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Liberal Zionism: Gatekeeping Criticism of Genocide

Israel’s ongoing genocide is part of a downward spiral for the Zionist project. In the words of acclaimed historian Professor Ilan Pappe: “We are witnessing a historical process – or, more accurately, the beginnings of one – that is likely to culminate in the downfall of Zionism.”

Yet Zionism’s long-standing settler goals have not only thrived through genocidal aggression masked as “self-defence” with subsequent land grabs as obscene rewards for its adherents but also via its “liberal” flank serving a crucial propaganda role, posturing as benevolent and humanitarian whilst aligned with aims of American imperialism.

Now, confronted with Israel’s failure to achieve its stated goals and international outrage over its barbaric aggression, liberal Zionist propagandists are intensifying efforts to whitewash Zionism’s genocidal criminality. Their aim is to prevent the project’s collapse by shifting from circling the wagons to rehabilitating the liberal Zionist facade, enabling a return to management of the Occupation with periodic “mowing the lawn.”

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US, Israel in talks to supply Ukraine with Patriot air defense system: Report

Washington is in talks with Tel Aviv and Kiev to supply the Ukrainian army with Israel’s US-made patriot air defense system, as reported by Financial Times (FT) on 28 June. 

The developing agreement would see the air defense system transferred first from Israel to the US before being sent to Ukraine. 

The deal is being discussed by ministers and senior officials from the US, Israel, and Ukraine, five people familiar with the matter told FT. 

Israel had said in April that it was planning to retire the eight Patriot batteries in its possession and replace them with more sophisticated systems. But the batteries have still not been uninstalled over fears of an escalation with Lebanon’s Hezbollah. 

The transfer would significantly uptick Ukrainian defensive capabilities, marking a shift in Israeli policy toward Ukraine and its relationship with Russia. Tel Aviv has been cautious not to supply Ukraine with lethal aid, over concerns that it could compromise its use of Syrian airspace, where Russian and Israeli air forces have coordinated for years.

In the past, Israel has rejected providing Ukraine with air defenses. 

Despite this, Israeli military vehicles and radars have been spotted on the Ukrainian battlefield, and Tel Aviv has provided intelligence and training assistance. 

Moscow has previously threatened retaliation if Israel sends weaponry to Ukraine.

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Israeli Officials Hiding Data About Forced Starvation of Gaza Prisoners: Report

Israeli prison officials are concealing information about reductions in food rations for Palestinians held in the Gaza Strip, where detainees—who have also reported horrific abuse including alleged rape and deadly torture—have been deliberately driven “to the point of starvation,” according to a report published Thursday.

Security sources told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that the Israel Prison Service (IPS) is intentionally cutting Palestinian prisoners’ caloric intake, a move confirmed by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who called the policy a “deterrent.”

“The Palestinian detainees will receive the minimum rights and the minimum food, and I will ensure that this policy is implemented,” Ben-Gvir, who leads the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, said Thursday in response to a query from Israel’s Supreme Court.

“There is no starvation, but my policy does call for reducing conditions, including food and calories,” Ben-Gvir added.

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CONFIRMED: Israel KNEW the October 7 attacks were planned but chose to do nothing

Newly uncovered evidence shows that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) knew weeks in advance of October 7 that Hamas was planning a raid and kidnapping on that day, but the Israeli government chose to do nothing about it.

The Jerusalem Post (JP) reported on a document, compiled by the Gaza Division, called “Detailed End-to-End Raid Training” that was distributed to the Israeli military on Sept. 19, 2023. That document details the series of exercises that were to be conducted by the elite units of Hamas.

“These exercises included raiding military posts and kibbutzim (collective communities in Israel), kidnapping soldiers and civilians, and maintaining the hostages once they were in the Gaza Strip,” JP reported.

All of Israel’s top intelligence officials knew about the Hamas plot based on this document and its contents. Why, then, did they order a stand-down on October 7 that ultimately resulted in many needless deaths and a subsequent war-genocide?

For whatever reason, the top brass in Israel just ignored the threat and waited for it to happen. Then it brought out the big guns, killing both Israeli and Palestinian civilians alike in its bumbling and careless response that fateful day.

IDF knew precisely where Hamas was going to strike and everything, “but due to prevailing conceptions within the security establishment and possible negligence by senior officials, the warning signs were not acted upon,” JP claims.

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Israel Creating ‘Dead Zone’ Along Lebanon Border

The nearly nine-month-long war between Israel and Lebanon has prompted the Israel Defense Forces to destroy nearly everything along the Lebanese side of the border. The daily attacks are making the area uninhabitable.

Citing satellite imagery, The Financial Times reports that the IDF use of “aerial bombardment, artillery shelling and the incendiary chemical white phosphorus have made much of the 5 km north of the Blue Line uninhabitable.” Some entire neighborhoods in Lebanon have been systematically leveled.

After the Israeli onslaught on Gaza began, Tel Aviv also got locked into a low-intensity war with Hezbollah. So far, the conflict has been limited to tit-for-tat daily strikes but these have slowly escalated. The fighting has killed hundreds in Lebanon and over 25 Israelis. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been displaced from the border area, and large swaths of southern Lebanon have been decimated.

The IDF has used white phosphorus weapons – and even fireballs slung from trebuchets – to set fire to farms and vegetation. An Israeli official claimed that Tel Aviv was not trying to create a dead zone or buffer area, but rather to clear the area of Hezbollah. “We just want Hezbollah pushed back,” the official said. “We have to ‘clean out’ the area of Hezbollah’s presence.”

Tel Aviv justifies the destruction by claiming that Hezbollah uses civilians as human shields, and Israeli officials make similar arguments about Hamas in Gaza. “Every third home in south Lebanon is used by Hezbollah for weapons storage, training, firing positions, and meeting points for a possible cross-border attack,” a senior Israeli military official told FT.

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