Tag: perpetual war

Iran Will Hold US Responsible For Any Israeli Attack On Nuclear Sites: Foreign Minister

Earlier this week CNN had issued an alarming report claiming that Israel is currently preparing possible preemptive strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. It underscored that at this moment it has become very clear that Netanyahu could care less about ‘pressure’ from Western allies the US, UK, and Canada regarding the Gaza crisis. Israel continues to essentially be at war on multiple fronts.

Parallel to all of this, Washington and Iran have been engaged in productive talks on potentially reaching a fresh nuclear deal – which the Netanyahu fundamentally sees as but an Iranian ploy to buy time as it secretly develops nukes (in Tel Aviv’s thinking). But Iran’s leaders are calling for the United States to essentially ‘keep its dog on a leash’ – as Israel wishes to torpedo a deal.

In fresh statements, Iran now says it will hold the United States responsible in the event of an unprovoked Israeli attack on its nuclear energy sites. Certainly any such attacks would completely derail efforts to reset relations with Washington.

“Iran strongly warns against any adventurism by the Zionist regime of Israel and will decisively respond to any threat or unlawful act by this regime,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated in a letter addressed to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

“I have called on the international community to take effective preventive measures against the continuation of Israeli threats, which if unchecked, will compel Iran to take special measures in defense of our nuclear facilities and materials,” Araghchi said.

And as cited in Reuters:

Araqchi said Iran would view Washington as a “participant” in any such attack, and Tehran would have to adopt “special measures” to protect its nuclear sites and material if threats continued, and the watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency would be subsequently informed of such steps.

“The nature, content, and extent of our actions will correspond and be proportionate to preventive measures taken by these international bodies in accordance with their statutory duties and obligations,” the Iranian top diplomat added.

Washington and Tehran are gearing up for a fifth round of nuclear talks to be held in Rome this Friday.

Lately the Ayatollah has weighed in following reports that Iran is ready to halt enrichment altogether and in return get sanctions lifted. Ali Khamenei had called the latest US demands that Iranian enrichment be taken down to zero “excessive and outrageous,” according to state media on Tuesday. He further expressed doubts that current nuclear talks with the Trump administration will actually lead anywhere.

Meanwhile in Tehran, the parliament has “reaffirmed the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program, saying that the Islamic Republic has never sought, nor will it seek, to build an atomic bomb.”

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Cops probing anti-Israel manifesto allegedly written by terror suspect Elias Rodriguez ahead of DC Jewish Museum shooting: sources

Police are investigating whether the suspected terrorist arrested for fatally shooting two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington, DC, blasted out an anti-Israel manifesto online in the lead-up to the bloodshed, law enforcement sources told The Post.

Elias Rodriguez, 31, had allegedly chanted “Free, free Palestine” just moments before he confessed to gunning down the couple outside the Capital Jewish Museum late Wednesday, cops said.

As investigators probed a motive behind the horrific antisemitic bloodshed, cops were homing in on a 900-word manifesto bearing Rodriguez’s name that started circulating online immediately after his arrest, the sources said.

In addition to trying to determine the document’s authenticity, authorities were trawling through Rodriguez’s electronic devices and probing whether he was self-radicalized, according to sources.

The missive, which was apparently dated May 20 — a day before the slayings — appeared to suggest the killings were an act of political protest ignited by the war in Gaza.

“An armed action is not necessarily a military action. It usually is not. Usually it is theater and spectacle, a quality it shares with many unarmed actions,” the document reads.

The alleged manifesto went on to suggest that those “of us against the genocide” have “forfeited their humanity.”

“But inhumanity has long since shown itself to be shockingly common, mundane, prosaically human. A perpetrator may then be a loving parent, a filial child, a generous and charitable friend, an amiable stranger, capable of moral strength at times when it suits him and sometimes even when it does not, and yet be a monster all the same,” the writings state.

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Human Rights Groups Condemn Israel’s Gaza Aid Plan

A group of British human rights organizations is sounding the alarm on the Trump administration’s plan to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Under the plan, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a U.S.-based organization, would handle the aid and private military contractors would secure the distribution sites. The Israeli military would provide “necessary security.”

An open letter from 11 NGOs, including Action For Humanity and Christian Aid, refers to the plan as a “politicized sham” and a “blueprint for ethnic cleansing.”

“Despite branding itself as ‘independent’ and ‘transparent,’ the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation would be wholly dependent on Israeli coordination and operates via Israeli-controlled entry points, primarily the Port of Ashdod and the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem crossing,” the letter explains. “This entrenches and legitimises the very structures of control that are responsible for cutting Gaza off from food, fuel, and medicine.”

“Limiting aid distribution to restricted collection points would effectively exclude persons with disabilities and those who are injured and unable to move easily through the destruction and rubble, violating the principle of impartial needs-based humanitarian assistance,” it continues. “Let us be clear: the biggest barrier to humanitarian access in Gaza is not inefficiency or corruption, it is the deliberate restriction of aid by the Israeli government. The military siege on Gaza is a form of collective punishment. The restriction of aid is being used as a weapon of war.”

The plan has also been condemned by the U.N.’s Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which says the system “contradicts Israel’s obligations under International Humanitarian Law to allow and facilitate impartial humanitarian relief for civilians in need.”

“UN involvement would legitimize a military tactic that would have devastating consequences on the population and would damage the organization’s reputation in Gaza and the region,” reads a recent document from the group.

In recent remarks, U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee admitted that the plan will feed only 60% of Gaza initially and blamed the deadly Israeli blockade on Hamas.

“You have to start somewhere, and the somewhere feeds an enormous level of the people of Gaza,” Huckabee said.

The GHF is headed by Jake Wood, a U.S. military veteran who started the disaster relief nonprofit organization Team Rubicon in response to the Haiti earthquake in 2010.

“This plan is not perfect, but this plan will be feeding people by the end of the month, in a scenario where no one has allowed aid in over the course of the last 10 weeks,” Wood said in his first interview since starting the foundation.

“Ultimately, the community is going to face a choice. This is going to be the mechanism by which aid can be distributed in Gaza,” he continued. “Are you willing to participate? The answer is going to be, you know, pretty critical to whether or not this ramps up to sufficiently feed 2.2 million people in a very desperate situation.”

Wood has insisted that the plan would not lead to the further displacement of Palestinians, but the U.N. points out that it excludes northern Gaza, which could force people to relocate from the north.

The plan has also been condemned by the U.N.’s Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Israeli leaders have also publicly admitted that the aid plan will enable them to continue their genocidal policies in the region.

In a video posted on social media, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged the hunger crisis and said that images of famine would impair Israel’s ability to achieve its war aims.

“Our best friends in the world, senators that I know as enthusiastic Israel supporters, who I’ve known for many years, are coming to me and telling me, ‘We give you all the support for a final victory — arms, support on your maneuvers to destroy Hamas, support at the U.N. Security Council,” Netanyahu said. “There is one thing we cannot endure — pictures of mass famine. This is something we are unable to witness. We will not be able to support you.’”

In the same video, Netanyahu said that Israel would “take control of all the Gaza Strip” while delivering “minimal humanitarian aid: food and medicine only.”

These sentiments were echoed by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who held a news conference to assure his base that the aid plan was a means of continuing the genocide.

“The [aid] that will enter Gaza in the coming days is the tiniest amount,” he explained. “A handful of bakeries that will hand out pita bread to people in public kitchens. People in Gaza will get a pita and a food plate, and that’s it. Exactly what we are seeing in the videos: people standing in line and waiting to have someone serve them, with some soup plate.

“We are disassembling Gaza and leaving it as piles of rubble, with total destruction [which has] no precedent globally,” he continued. “And the world isn’t stopping us. There are pressures. There are those who attack [us]; they are trying to [make us] stop; they are not succeeding.”

NBC recently reported that the Trump administration is working on a plan to permanently relocate 1 million Palestinians from Gaza to Libya. Sources say the U.S. government would release billions in funds to Libya that were previously frozen in exchange for the country participating in the ethnic cleansing.

Hamas says it is unaware of any such plans.

“The [aid] that will enter Gaza in the coming days is the tiniest amount.”

“Palestinians are very rooted in their homeland, very strongly committed to the homeland, and they are ready to fight up to the end and to sacrifice anything to defend their land, their homeland, their families and the future of their children,” senior Hamas official Basem Naim told NBC. Palestinians “are exclusively the only party who have the right to decide for the Palestinians, including Gaza and Gazans, what to do and what not to do.”

This week, Israel cleared nine aid trucks to enter Gaza, marking the first delivery in three months. U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher called it a “drop in the ocean,” as 500 trucks had been allowed in daily before the war.

The organization has warned that 14,000 babies could die within days if Gaza does not receive immediate, substantial aid.

“This is not food that Hamas is going to steal,” Fletcher told the BBC. “We run the risk of looting, of being hit by the Israeli offensive. We will be impeded, we will run huge risks, but I don’t see a better idea than getting that baby food in to those moms, who at the moment cannot feed their own kids.”

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Here’s what we know about the socialist activist arrested for killing Israeli embassy staffers in DC

A socialist, pro-Palestinian activist was arrested for allegedly shooting a couple dead on Wednesday night in Washington, DC, outside the Capital Jewish Museum. The couple were staffers from the Israeli Embassy in the nation’s capital and were about to get engaged.  

Elias Rodriguez, 30, of Chicago, has been identified by authorities as the suspected shooter. Video of Rodriguez getting arrested showed him yelling “Free, free Palestine,” and he has a history of engaging in leftist ideologies such as socialism. Israeli diplomat Yaron Lischinsky and his girlfriend Sarah Milgrim were the victims of the deadly shooting; they were set to be engaged.

A person with the same name also belonging to the Party for Socialism and Liberation had made a donation before on a fundraising page for Gaza, and wrote a note stating, “I as an individual cannot stop this violence to the people of Palestine, but I can at least help the little boy who made a difference to me, I urge other to help as much as possible, no child should experience such horrible things. Free Palestine” (sic).

Additionally, the Daily Mail has also reported images appearing to be of Rodriguez at BLM protests in 2017. The alleged killer’s work profile had him working at the non-profit organization, TheHistoryMakers, with his biography stating that he was an “oral history researcher” on African American communities.

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Chilling moment Elias Rodriguez screams ‘Free Palestine’ after shooting Israeli diplomat couple dead

A pro-Palestinian gunman suspected of shooting a young Jewish diplomatic couple dead was filmed manically screaming ‘Free Palestine‘ as he was hauled into custody.

Footage emerged overnight of 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez as he was taken into custody after two Israeli embassy staffers were gunned down outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington DC.

Yaron Lischinsky and his girlfriend Sarah Milgrim were identified as the victims in the vile attack that was condemned by President Donald Trump.

The couple, who were set to get engaged next week, had attended a Young Diplomats event before they were shot.

In one image, Rodriguez is seen sitting calmly at a bench with one leg crossed over the other, while separate footage captures the moment he is hysterically hauled away while shouting.

‘Free, free Palestine,’ he shouts repeatedly as he squirms against the officers’ grip.

The haunting pictures and images surfaced as witnesses described seeing Rodriguez ‘pacing back and forth’ outside the museum cocktail reception.

He then approached a group of people that included Lischinsky and Milgrim and then shot them at ‘close range’ with a handgun, the Israeli Embassy said. 

Moments later, he casually walked into the museum. Yoni Kalin told Fox 5 News  Rodriguez was allowed inside by well-meaning security guards who assumed he was a victim.

‘He was clearly in trauma, he was in shock. Some of the people at the event sat him down, brought him water, asked if he was okay, and he was like ”call the cops”.’

Ten minutes later when authorities arrived, Rodriguez allegedly admitted to carrying out the shooting.

‘He grabbed a red kaffiyeh out of his pocket and started a “Free Palestine” chant: “There’s only one solution, Intifada revolution,” Kalin said. ‘Thank God he left the gun in the bushes outside.’

Kalin, still in shock himself and unsure of what had happened, noticed that the red kaffiyeh had fallen on to the ground and tried to offer it to Rodriguez as he was hauled away, the video revealed. 

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Canada in talks with the US about joining its ‘Golden Dome’ missile defense system, Carney says

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday his government is talking to the U.S. about joining President Donald Trump’s future Golden Dome missile defense program.

The multilayered, $175 billion system would for the first time put U.S. weapons in space. Trump said the previous day he expected the system to be fully operational by the end of his term in 2029.

“Is it a good idea for Canada? Yes, it is a good to have protections in place for Canadians,” Carney said.

Carney confirmed he’s had talks with Trump about it and said there are discussions with senior officials. Trump said the Canadian government had contacted his administration indicating it wants to join the program and that he will work with Ottawa to ensure it contributes its “fair share.”

Golden Dome is envisioned to include ground- and space-based capabilities to detect and stop missiles at all four major stages of a potential attack: detecting and destroying them before a launch, intercepting them in their earliest stage of flight, stopping them midcourse in the air, or halting them in the final minutes as they descend toward a target.

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Trained and Sponsored by France, the 155th Ukrainian Mechanized Brigade ‘Anne de Kyiv’ Is Under Investigation for Corruption, Embezzlement and Mass Desertion

A brigade idealized by French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, trained and equipped in France, has become an endless source of scandal.

Ukrainian and French media report on the mass desertion in the 155th Ukrainian mechanized brigade ‘Anne de Kyiv’, where almost a quarter has deserted.

Le Figaro reported (translated from the French):

“This unit was intended to be a successful combat force of the Ukrainian army. But since its deployment to the front, it has been multiplying controversies over equipment shortages, including drones, and mass abandonment of posts among its soldiers.

The Ukrainian army announced on Tuesday, May 20, 2025, that it was launching an inspection of the “Anne of Kiev” brigade, trained and equipped by France to support Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion, but which has been at the heart of scandals concerning embezzlement and desertions for months.”

The brigade was hailed by Macron and Zelensky as ‘a symbol of military cooperation between Kyiv and Paris’.

Ukrainian magazine Ukrainska Pravda revealed on Monday (19) that Colonel Tarass Maksimov was involved in a case of false payments and extortion of money from his troops.

“The brigade is also facing some 1,200 abandonments of posts, while its numbers include less than 5,000 soldiers, about half of whom were trained in France. ‘After the publication of the article in Ukrainska Pravda, I ordered an additional official inspection of the facts revealed by the journalists’, the commander of the ground forces Mykhailo Drapaty was quoted as saying by the newspaper.”

The ‘Anne of Kiev’ Brigade has been criticized since its deployment to the front, with the Ukrainian General Staff using its soldiers to ‘plug holes’ in other units.

“About 2,300 of the brigade’s soldiers were trained on French soil and equipped with French VAB transport vehicles, AMX-10 tanks and Caesar self-propelled guns, as well as ammunition and anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles. Emmanuel Macron had visited the soldiers of the Ukrainian 155th Brigade in October 2024 during their training in France.”

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Mercenary Firm Set To Oversee Gaza Aid For Israel Goes On LinkedIn Hiring Spree

The US private military contracting firm set to oversee Gaza aid distribution on Israel’s behalf is actively hiring for positions on LinkedIn, according to job postings shared with Middle East Eye by current and former US officials.

The firm, Safe Reach Solutions, or SRS, says it is actively looking for “Humanitarian Liaison Officers” who will “serve as vital connectors between our operational teams and the broader humanitarian community,” according to one job description.

Another position on offer a week ago but has since closed is for a “Team Deputy/Manager” to support “day-to-day management, planning, and mission execution”.

A liaison officer position appears to be analytically focused. It says that hires will “advise on best practices for engaging with affected populations, local authorities, and community-based organizations” while monitoring developments that could impact “operational posture”.

The team deputy position is geared towards recruits with a background in operations. One of the requirements is “field experience in the Middle East, especially in conflict-affected or post-crisis settings”.

The positions want applicants with at least seven years of experience. They require applicants to be US citizens and say fluency in Arabic is preferred. 

Ironically, SRS is seeking people with UN experience, but the plan to take over aid distribution seeks to supplant the United Nations, which is already capable of delivering aid in Gaza. “These mid- to senior-career professionals will help bridge communication, coordination, and trust with NGOs, international agencies, and UN bodies operating in complex environments.”

Demand for the positions appears to be high. According to LinkedIn, more than 100 people applied for the humanitarian liaison officer position within two weeks.

The team deputy position also drew comments from interested users directed to “Ali Ali,” SRS’s recruiting consultant. “Hi Ali I worked in Gaza last summer with the US army. I was in charge of the humanitarian aid delivery through the trident pier. Please reach out to me at your best convenience to talk more,” a LinkedIn user wrote.

The former Biden administration floated a costly pier project to bring aid into the Gaza Strip last year, but it was widely considered a failure.

American private military contractors have already started arriving in Israel, according to photos shared on social media of khaki-clad and bearded men at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. MEE couldn’t independently verify the photos. 

Who is Phil Reilly and his firm SRS?

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Zelensky to Trump: ‘Ukraine Is Ready for a Full and Unconditional Ceasefire’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared in a statement following a conversation with President Donald Trump on Monday his country “is ready for a full and unconditional ceasefire,” asserting that Russia, the invading country, must be convinced to agree to one.

President Trump spoke to Zelensky on Monday before and after a separate phone conversation with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, which the American president spoke favorably about. Trump’s direct conversation with Putin followed a chaotic week for Ukraine peace talks in which Putin initially proposed a ceasefire, Zelensky responded by flying to Turkey and challenging Putin to meet him in person, and Putin rejected the invite. Low-level Ukrainian and Russian delegations held talks in Istanbul of Friday that did not lead to any meaningful reduction in violence.

“Russian demands are detached from reality and go far beyond anything that was previously discussed. They include ultimatums for Ukraine to withdraw from its territory for a ceasefire and other non-starters and non-constructive conditions,” an unnamed Ukrainian official complained, the U.K. Times reported.

Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014, colonizing its Crimean peninsula, and has been actively backing “pro-Russian” separatists in the eastern Donbass region since. In 2022, Putin announced a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, arguing that Zelensky, who was democratically elected, was an illegitimate “Nazi” dictator. That invasion has led to the Russian conquest of the entire Donbass region and the Ukrainian territories of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

Under former President Joe Biden, the United States effusively financed the Ukrainian war effort and did not effectively advocate for an end to the conflict. President Trump has prioritized dialogue leading to an end in the video and proposed several potential mediating entities in addition to America, including Turkey and the Vatican.

Zelensky announced in a message posted to social media on Monday that he held two separate phone conversations with Trump, the second a conference call also featuring several heads of government around the world including French President Emmanuel Macron, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

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Israeli Troops Fire Shots On International Diplomats Visiting West Bank

International pressure on Israel and the Netanyahu government is already at a historic high, even from Western allies which have been sanctioning hardline Israeli settler groups and individuals, and a new international incident has unfolded Wednesday in the West Bank.

“Israeli soldiers mistakenly fired warning shots at diplomats representing the European Union, UK, France, China, Russia and other countries on Wednesday,” Bloomberg writes.

An international group of diplomats and activists were visiting the West Bank town of Jenin when they reportedly came under gunfire from Israel Defense Forces.

Videos show the diplomatic group fleeing and running to their vehicles in a chaotic scene. Some of the vehicles appeared marked with flags of their respective countries.

The Palestinian Authority (PA), which governs the West Bank, issued a statement condemning Israel troops. The statement claimed the IDF “deliberately targeted by live fire an accredited diplomatic delegation.”

The IDF for its part, issued a statement alleging that while the diplomatic group was approved to be in the area, it departed from the ‘approved route’. The IDF did confirm that “warning shots” were fired. 

“IDF soldiers operating in the area fired warning shots to distance them away,” the IDF said in the statement. “The IDF regrets the inconvenience caused.” The army said an investigation into the incident will follow.

Bloomberg lists that diplomats from the following were on the ground at the time: the EU, Portugal, Morocco, Brazil, Austria, Japan, Canada, India, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Romania, France, the UK, Mexico, China, Egypt and Jordan.

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