Tag: israel

World’s Largest Group Of Genocide Scholars Finds Israel Guilty

The world’s largest group of genocide scholars has overwhelmingly approved a resolution asserting that Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide. “The government of Israel has engaged in systematic and widespread crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide, including indiscriminate and deliberate attacks against the civilians and civilian infrastructure,” said the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), joining a growing list of institutions and governments who’ve reached the same conclusion. 

About a quarter of IAGS members participated in the balloting, with 86% voting to approve the resolution. IAGS second vice-president and University of the Bundeswehr Munich professor Timothy Williams told the Financial Times that “the association believes there is considerable merit to the largest group of genocide scholars saying: ‘Yes, we do believe this is genocide’.” As defined under the 1948 Genocide Convention, the term applies to actions taken with the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” 

Israel’s foreign ministry swiftly condemned the group of academics, saying their “disgraceful” resolution is “entirely based on Hamas’ campaign of lies and the laundering of those lies by others…IAGS has set a historic precedent – for the first time, ‘Genocide Scholars’ accuse the very victim of genocide.” 

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Israeli army commander visited Nova festival moments before Hamas attack, took ‘no action’ despite warnings

A top Israeli military commander visited the site of the Nova music festival that came under attack on 7 October, but took “no preemptive action” despite receiving prior intelligence warnings, Haaretz reported on 2 September. 

Lieutenant Colonel Haim Cohen, commander of the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade, “arrived at the site after receiving prior intelligence warnings, but he took no preemptive action,” the Haaretz report said. 

Cohen saw the huge crowds at the music festival and noted that only a small number of police officers were present, according to the report. But he told army investigators he had no information that would have forced him to act differently or disperse the festival. 

Haaretz said it is unclear exactly what kind of intelligence information Cohen was informed of. 

“It was a mistake not to consider canceling or dispersing the festival during the divisional assessment held that night,” says an army investigation obtained by the Israeli newspaper. 

The investigation also said that Cohen made a miscalculation when he did not assign a military force to the site, given the size of the crowd, the timing, and the location.

Cohen arrived at the site of the Nova festival at 5:30 am, about an hour before the launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. Cohen was updated on the intelligence that was arriving as he was driving to the site. 

Throughout the night before the Hamas operation began, the Israeli army, military intelligence, and Shin Bet were receiving signs of “unusual” Hamas activity, as has been previously reported. 

Cohen “saw a force of the Yamam counterterrorism unit and another police vehicle positioned on Route 232,” but told army investigators that the increased police presence reassured him that the event was secure. However, the probe revealed only 50 officers were there, and that several had left by the time the attack started. 

“Even after Cohen arrived at the division’s base, and despite escalating alerts, he did not mention the festival in situation briefings nor change the military’s preparedness to secure it.” 

“Most sector forces were unaware it was taking place and therefore lacked knowledge … This information, however, was fully available to Cohen and fresh in his memory,” the report went on to say. 

Several reports have emerged since the war in Gaza began, revealing that Israeli authorities ignored multiple warnings about Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.

Just weeks after resistance fighters flooded into the Israeli settlements surrounding Gaza, the Times of Israel cited eyewitness accounts from soldiers in Israel’s Combat Intelligence Corps, which is responsible for surveilling the Gaza border. 

They said warnings of Hamas training for such an attack were issued at least three months prior.

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Israeli official barred from social media, minors after court hearing on child sex charge

Israeli government official Tom Alexandrovich appeared before a Henderson Court judge on Wednesday via Zoom to discuss the conditions of his bail.

The judge ruled that Alexandrovich is not allowed to have contact with minors and is not allowed to use dating apps or social media to meet with people.

Attorney Matthew Hoffmann explained that since Alexandrovich is not in the United States, it becomes difficult to implement the new conditions of his bail.

“There’s been a lot of media spotlight on this case for obvious reasons, so I think that all of that combined pressure is really the realistic way that you’re going to see the court can feel comfortable that there will be compliance,” he said.

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Construction intensifies at site linked to Israel’s suspected nuclear program, satellite photos show

Construction work has intensified on a major new structure at a facility key to Israel’s long-suspected atomic weapons program, according to satellite images analyzed by experts. They say it could be a new reactor or a facility to assemble nuclear arms — but secrecy shrouding the program makes it difficult to know for sure.

The work at the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center near the city of Dimona will renew questions about Israel’s widely believed status as the Mideast’s only nuclear-armed state.

It could also draw international criticism, especially since it comes after Israel and the United States bombed nuclear sites across Iran in June over their fears that the Islamic Republic could use its enrichment facilities to pursue an atomic weapon. Among the sites attacked was Iran’s heavy water reactor at Arak.

Seven experts who examined the images all said they believed the construction was related to Israel’s long-suspected nuclear weapons program, given its proximity to the reactor at Dimona, where no civilian power plant exists. However, they split on what the new construction could be.

Three said the location and size of the area under construction and the fact that it appeared to have multiple floors meant the most likely explanation for the work was the construction of a new heavy water reactor. Such reactors can produce plutonium and another material key to nuclear weapons.

The other four acknowledged it could be a heavy water reactor but also suggested the work could be related to a new facility for assembling nuclear weapons. They declined to be definitive given the construction was still in an early stage.

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IDF drones mistakenly drop grenades close to UNIFIL troops

The IDF mistakenly sent drones to drop grenades close to UNIFIL forces in southern Lebanon, believing they were Hezbollah forces, it said Wednesday afternoon.

Earlier on Wednesday, UNIFIL said Israeli drones had dropped four grenades close to its peacekeepers who were working on Tuesday morning to clear roadblocks that were hindering access to a UN position.

“This is one of the most serious attacks on UNIFIL personnel and assets since the cessation of hostilities agreement of last November,” UNIFIL said.

One grenade impacted within 20 meters and three within approximately 100 meters of UN personnel and vehicles, it said.

The IDF had been informed in advance of UNIFIL’s road clearance work in the area, southeast of the village of Marwahin, UNIFIL said.

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The Gaza War Isn’t Over, But Israel Has Already Lost

The Israeli regime has lost its multi-front war in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen. Yes, really. It may not look like it, but the defeat is real and  baked into Israel’s future.

Let me first make the case for Israeli “victory”:

Since its 2023 invasion of Gaza, the Israeli Defence Forces report fewer than 800 troops killed, while in turn killing tens — maybe hundreds — of thousands of mostly civilian Palestinian Arabs (and 250 or more inconvenient journalists).

Since the beginning. They’ve established their ability to attack any point in Gaza at will, driving a displaced, hungry population back and forth over piles of bodies, while seizing more land in the West Bank and Syria, liquidating Hezbollah’s Lebanese strongholds, trading missile strikes with Yemen’s Houthis, and even emerging relatively unscathed, if not particularly successful, in an intermittent war with Iran.

Top Israeli regime officials confidently assert that the ethnic cleansing of Gaza and annexation of the West Bank are inevitable.

Yes, that sounds rather like multiple “victories,” accomplished and pending.

But those victories didn’t come from nowhere. They were enabled by decades of massive financial, military, and diplomatic support from the United States.

Yes, other regimes too, but most of those “allies” are moving in the other direction already — cutting off arms sales, recognizing a Palestinian state, and sanctioning Israeli war criminals.

It’s quickly coming down to the “no daylight between us” US/Israel relationship under which the former annually shovels billions of dollars, and when requested direct military assistance, at the latter, no questions asked (US law “guarantees” Israel a “Qualitative Military Edge”), while using its own sanctions power and veto on the UN Security Council to protect Benjamin Netanyahu and Friends from the consequences of their actions.

That relationship is nearing its end.

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‘Trump Zone’ Would See Southern Lebanon Occupied, Depopulated

The more information we get about the “Trump economic zone” proposal in southern Lebanon, the worse it seems for the people who live there. The latest reports reveal the plan to totally depopulate the south of the country, to place the whole area under US military control, and to grant Israel to right to build “permanent” bases in what are currently Lebanese towns and villages.

The plan first appeared a little over a week ago, with the US presenting it as their proposal while Israel maintains they came up with the idea. The broad strokes are that it is meant to replace border villages with Lebanese government-run industrial zones.

But the plan would involve no less than 27 villages being depopulated, spanning the Israel-Lebanon border from Naqoura to Marjayoun. Among those, Israel is demanding it be granted permission to construct permanent military sites within 14 of the former villages.

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Democratic senators say Israel barred their entry to Gaza

Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) drew praise from the Council on American-Islamic Relations for their efforts to enter Gaza, and the group, which blamed Israel for being attacked shortly after Oct. 7, 2023, urged other U.S. lawmakers to attempt the same thing.

On Friday, Van Hollen used language that U.S. Jewish groups have said hearkens back to centuries-old antisemitic conspiracy theories.

“Why have a State Department bureau on the Middle East if Trump and Sec. Marco Rubio are taking their orders from Netanyahu?” stated the Maryland Democrat. “We can save a lot of money by cutting out the middleman.” (Many American Jewish groups have said that suggesting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu runs the U.S. government is Jew-hatred.)

“What will his next post be? The Jews who control our U.S. government?” stated Hussain Abdul-Hussain, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “Antisemitism, anyone?”

In nearly a dozen and a half statements posted to social media, the two senators criticized Israel and Netanyahu, including accusing the latter’s government of “weaponization of hunger.”

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Israel In Turmoil – IDF Says Can’t Defeat Hamas Quickly, Reservists Not Showing Up, West Bank Annexation Proceeding

The war on all fronts in Israel is affecting military capability and readiness reports local press. In addition, policy towards current Palestinian areas is attracting global negative attention.

The Netanyahu administration believes Gaza must be completely conquered to move forward and ensure Israeli security, and is looking to transport the current population to 3rd party countries and rebuild the area. President Trump seems to be involved in this agenda, as he published a video to such.

Israel is debating annexing parts of the West Bank in response to planned recognition of Palestine by Western countries, reports Axios.

Israeli officials warned Europe that Israel may annex West Bank land, with Ron Dermer saying it could extend to all of Area C (60%).

European officials warned annexation could bring EU sanctions; Arab officials said it could harm peace deals and halt Saudi normalization. Trump previously blocked Netanyahu from annexations in 2020. His administration’s current position remains undecided.

In addition, Israeli defense chiefs told Netanyahu that Gaza City’s takeover won’t defeat Hamas and urged a limited hostage deal instead, reports Haaretz. They warned an invasion could drag on for a year, cost many lives, and worsen Israel’s global standing. Some Likud ministers even likened Gaza to becoming “Israel’s Vietnam.”

Israel is struggling to get enough reservists to report for duty as it prepares a new Gaza City invasion.  A commando master sergeant said after 400 days of fighting — “People are dying for nothing… Netanyahu is prolonging the war for his own political survival,” reported Clash Report.

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Israel And The West Set The Stage For Next Round Of Warfare On Iran

Peace-loving people throughout the world breathed a sigh of relief when the Israeli-American war on Iran ended in June after 12 days, with President Trump racing to triumphantly declare US strikes had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program.

While his rhetoric suggested he wanted Israel and the world to view the US bombing as a lasting resolution of accusations that Iran was pursuing nuclear weapons, Israel and its Western collaborators are already setting the stage for new aggression against Iran. Israeli strikes could be just days or weeks away, with Netanyahu hoping that, this time, the United States will be drawn into yet another protracted, bloody regime-change campaign to further the Israeli agenda.

On Thursday, France, Germany and the United Kingdom notified the UN Security Council that they were starting the process to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran via “snapback” provisions of the 2015 nuclear deal. Under that agreement — the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — Iran agreed to many additional safeguards to ensure its nuclear program remains peaceful. For example, Iran eliminated its inventory of medium-enriched uranium, cut its low-enriched uranium by 98%, capped future enrichment at 3.67%, and rendered its heavy-water reactor inoperable by filling it with concrete. In exchange, Iran was granted sanctions relief.

Despite Iran’s compliance with the JCPOA, President Trump spontaneously withdrew the United States from the deal in 2018 and reimposed US sanctions that his administration called “the toughest sanctions ever imposed” on Iran. Victimized by a new round of Israel-encouraged US economic warfare, and lacking any other leverage to nudge the United States back into the deal, Iran began enriching uranium well above the levels allowed under the JCPOA.

Parroting Israel, Trump has insisted that Iran must cease all nuclear enrichment, something Tehran has categorically ruled out for years, asserting that it’s Iran’s right, both as a sovereign state and — unlike nuclear-armed Israel — as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Internal politics play a significant role in the impasse, with important Iranian segments opposed to bending to Western demands on a point of national pride for the scientifically-advanced country.

In something akin to Vito Corleone’s “offer that can’t be refused,” US-Israeli insistence on zero enrichment is — quite deliberately — a demand that won’t be accepted. To the benefit of the warmongers, this demand helps ensure perpetual tension and recurring US-Israeli military brinksmanship, all pursuant to Israel’s long-standing goal of maneuvering the United States into an all-out war on Iran, or at least a major drive to topple the regime via proxies. That’s consistent with Israel’s strategy, which centers on continuously shattering territories and countries throughout the region so none can serve as a potent rival. It’s a strategy that’s taken an unfathomable toll that falls heaviest on the people of the region, but also profoundly harms the United States.

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