Tag: perpetual war

Dying in ‘Hell’: The fate of Palestinian medics jailed by Israel

The head of orthopaedics at Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital was working at the al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza in December when he and other medics were arrested by the Israeli army for, they said, “national security reasons”.

Four months later, Ofer Prison guards dragged Al-Bursh and dumped him in the prison yard, naked from the waist down, bleeding and unable to stand, according to a statement provided by Israeli human rights organisation, HaMoked.

Recognising him, some of the other prisoners carried Al-Bursh to a nearby room, and he died moments later.

Dr Al-Bursh had become a fixture in the lives of many through the video diaries he posted before his arrest.

His videos showed him with his colleagues, digging mass graves in the al-Shifa yard to bury people because Israel would not let their bodies be taken to a cemetery, operating on the injured and the dying with little or no equipment, and waiting together for the Israeli assault on a hospital where thousands had sought safety.

The assault came in mid-November when, in scenes captured by Dr Al-Bursh, the Israeli army ordered al-Shifa, its patients, staff and approximately 50,000 displaced people sheltering in the compound to vacate.

Dr Al-Bursh made his way to the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza where he worked until that too came under fire in November and he moved to Al-Awda Hospital.

There he was arrested and entered a prison system that Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem describes as “Hell”.

Israel often detains healthcare workers like Dr Al-Bursh, holding them in horrific conditions for “investigation”.

Keep reading

Controversial Aid Plan For Gaza Revealed In New Document, Includes American CEOs & Banks

The organization set to administer Israel’s controversial plan to take control of humanitarian aid distribution in Gaza will use private contractors to secure hubs where Palestinians will receive 1,750 kcal meals that will cost donors a little more than a dollar each.

Details about the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) strategy for Gaza are laid out in a 14-page document circulating amongst aid organizations working on Gaza and seen by Middle East Eye.

The hitherto unknown nonprofit, which was registered in Switzerland in February, has been touted as the umbrella body that will seemingly take over humanitarian operations in Gaza while inviting NGOs to “take advantage” of its “logistics, security and transparency frameworks”.

The pitch-like document offers detailed information about how the foundation, largely led by Americans and involving a mix of disaster relief, security and financial experts, will operate and how it is organized, though some details appear yet to be finalized. The document is undated.

The new details have emerged as UN agencies and international aid organizations, which have roundly rejected the plan that GHF would administer, reportedly coming under pressure from the US government to participate. Earlier this week, Amnesty Switzerland raised concerns that, based on the information available, GHF could be risking contributing to international crimes through its services. 

The Israeli operation appears to already be underway. Israel security cabinet approved its plan on Sunday with satellite evidence emerging on Wednesday suggesting that work has already begun to build the humanitarian hubs from which aid will be distributed.

Keep reading

US Moves on Greenland? Danish PM Complains Greenland Is Reportedly Being Spied On, While Pentagon May Shift Artic Island To Same Military Command Overseeing Homeland Security

A couple of seemingly unrelated reports may be signaling an intensifying move from the US towards the Danish Arctic territory of Greenland, sending Euro-Globalists into a panic.

To begin with, Denmark’s Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, came out today (9) to complain that ‘you cannot spy against an ally’ after the WSJ reported that the US has ‘stepped up intelligence gathering on Greenland’.

Associated Press reported:

“Frederiksen’s comments Friday are the latest in the spat between Denmark, Greenland and the United States because Trump seeks to annex the strategic Arctic island. Denmark and Greenland insist that the mineral-rich island is not for sale, while Trump has not ruled out taking it by military force even though Denmark is a NATO ally.”

Yesterday (8), Frederiksen summoned the top American diplomat in the country, Jennifer Hall Godfrey, demanding an explanation following the Wall Street Journal report.

Intelligence agency heads are investigating Greenland’s independence movement, as well as the local sentiment about U.S. resource extraction.

“’Cooperation about defense and deterrence and security in the northern part of Europe is getting more and more important’, Frederiksen said. ‘Of course, you cannot spy against an ally.’

Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, in comments to Greenland newspaper Sermitsiaq, said the reports of espionage are unacceptable and disrespectful.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb said Friday there is ‘no question’ that the pressure Denmark and Greenland are under ‘doesn’t feel right’.”

Tulsi Gabbard’s office warned that she had already made three ‘criminal referrals’ to the Justice Department over intelligence community leaks.

“’The Wall Street Journal should be ashamed of aiding deep state actors who seek to undermine the President by politicizing and leaking classified information’, Gabbard wrote. ‘They are breaking the law and undermining our nation’s security and democracy. Those who leak classified information will be found and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law’.”

Keep reading

REPORT: Israeli Officials “Shocked” over Trump’s Houthi Truce – Trump Reportedly Upset with Netanyahu for Trying to Get U.S. involved in Military Conflict with Iran Ahead of Nuclear Talks and Visit to Middle East

President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are seemingly at odds amid a U.S. truce with Houthis in Yemen and the President seeking to peacefully negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran without plunging the United States into another endless war. 

According to Axios, Trump met with Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer in private on Thursday to discuss upcoming nuclear talks with Iran and Israel’s Gaza campaign. Dremer also met with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and special envoy Steve Witkoff.

Trump is expected to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates on Monday, as Steve Witkoff is expected to hold nuclear talks with Iran on Sunday. Trump reportedly does not plan to visit Israel despite efforts by Israeli officials to host Trump for a visit.

This comes as the U.S. entered a cease-fire with the Houthis this week after stopping their threat against global shipping in the Red Sea and deterring Iranian lethal support to the Houthis. This development left Israeli officials “shocked,” according to an unnamed Israeli official.

As The Gateway Pundit reported, Trump announced on Tuesday that the U.S. “will stop the bombing” against the Houthis in Yemen after the Houthis told the U.S. that “they don’t want to fight anymore,” said Trump. Per the truce, neither side will attack the other, including U.S. vessels in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait.

He further teased a major announcement that he will make before he departs for the Middle East next week. “We’re gonna have a very, very big announcement to make, like, as big as it gets,” the President said.

Keep reading

‘Gideon’s Chariots’ Aim to Finalize the Genocide

Drunk on impunity, Israel has grandiosely labeled its latest genocidal move “Operation Gideon’s Chariots” wherein, moving from siege to seizure, it plans the bloody conquest, ethnic cleansing and permanent recolonization of Gaza. 

Israel uses the rhetoric of holy war to justify unholy mass destruction — this, even as many of the Palestinian children who’ve somehow survived their savage 18 months of carnage now slowly starve to death. “We are complicit,” says one angry, grieving doctor. “It is an abomination.”

Having gotten away with so many atrocities while the international community looks away, Israel just unveiled the latest escalation of its illegal collective punishment of Gazans by finally declaring out loud, “We are occupying Gaza to stay.”

Unanimously approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right Security Cabinet, the new “conquering of Gaza” formalizes Israel’s plan for the indefinite occupation, forced expulsion and incorporation into “sanitized” Israeli zones of an already long-besieged civilian population “for its own protection.”

The expansion of an onslaught that has left more than 185,000 Gazans dead, wounded or missing [according to a 2024 study by The Lancet] and millions homeless, hungry, maimed and traumatized is being ludicrously framed as a final mission to dismantle Hamas and retrieve hostages, even though Israel repeatedly failed at each before breaking a ceasefire that would have accomplished both.

“Gideon’s Chariots will begin with great force and will not end until all its objectives are achieved,” Israel thundered, again virtually ignoring the fact that permanent occupation, forced displacement and ethnic cleansing violate international law.

“No more going in and out – this is a war for victory,” said apartheid Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who urged Israelis embrace, not fear the word “occupation … A people that wants to live must occupy its land.”

But the operation’s name, Gideon’s Chariots, Merkavot Gideon, invokes the righteous Biblical warrior who led a chosen few to annihilate the Midianites, an ancient Arabian peninsula tribe. The name “layers this symbolism with menace,” [as the staff of The New Arab write], blending the concepts of divine vengeance with state-sanctioned ethnic violence, the “mythic instruments of war (with) the Israeli Merkava tanks that have long razed homes and lives in Gaza and the West Bank.”

Keep reading

Ukraine’s Parliament Ratifies US Minerals Deal In Hopes Of Securing Future Arms

The minerals deal is now official and legally binding for Ukraine as on Thursday Ukraine’s parliament voted in favor of ratifying the controversial resources agreement with the United States. This was a final key step in its adoption.

The Zelensky government is hoping this will more firmly secure future military assistance from Washington. The vote was unanimous: 338 Ukrainian lawmakers approved of ratifying it, and none opposed.

“The Ukrainian Parliament has ratified the historic Economic Partnership Agreement between Ukraine and the United States,” First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced on X.

“This document is not merely a legal construct — it is the foundation of a new model of interaction with a key strategic partner,” Svyrydenko added.

Critics have warned that this could be a big resource grab by the United States, but since it’s signing was accomplished in Washington last month, Trump administration rhetoric toward Kiev has softened. For example, Trump is no longer demanding that Ukraine quickly move toward holding new presidential and parliamentary elections.

Meanwhile, Moon of Alabama has highlighted that there’s still a fight on as well as confusion over some suppressed details of the deal, citing Strana, which reported (machine translation)…

The opposition already accuses the authorities of concealing the main points about the deal. The fact is that the agreement on the creation of the fund, signed last week and already made public, is being submitted for ratification, and there are very few specifics in it. This is essentially a framework agreement. For all the main points in the text of the agreement, there are references to another document – the Limited Partnership Agreement. There is also a third document – the Foundation’s charter.

A number of deputies claim that all three documents have actually been signed (or agreed upon). But they showed only one-the least important and most abstract of them, from which it is not even clear what the Foundation will do in general.

The government denies this, saying that only one document has been signed, and the rest will still be discussed.

Trump has indicated the US could just walk away from efforts to mediate peace, if neither side is a willing partner. The White House has not said whether this means it would halt arms for Ukraine’s military, or intelligence-sharing. 

But the minerals deal means the US is indeed very likely to continue arming Kiev. After all, the White House now has more of an interest in protecting US ‘investment’ now and into the future.

Keep reading

Trump ‘losing patience’ with Netanyahu, advances US plans without Israeli involvement: Report

US President Donald Trump has lost patience with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and will not wait any longer for Israel before advancing initiatives in West Asia, Israel Hayom reported on 8 May.

According to two senior sources in the US President’s entourage, Trump is interested in making decisions that he believes will advance US interests, particularly regarding Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, without waiting for approval from Netanyahu.

Regarding a potential US–Israeli agreement with Saudi Arabia, Trump believes Netanyahu is delaying making the necessary decisions. The president is not willing to wait until Israel does what is expected of it and will move forward without it.

During the presidency of Joe Biden, the US and Israel were involved in talks with Saudi Arabia that would see Washington enter a defense pact with the kingdom, provide it with civilian nuclear technology, and sell it advanced weapons – all in exchange for normalization with Israel.

As part of any agreement to normalize relations with Israel, Saudi Arabia expects an end to the war in Gaza and an Israeli declaration of a “horizon for a Palestinian state.”

However, senior ministers in Israel’s current government have vowed to never allow a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank, while promising to “destroy” Gaza, ethnically cleanse its population under the pretext of promoting “voluntary migration,” and to build Jewish settlements there.

The sources added that Trump was furious at what he saw as an attempt by Netanyahu to use US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who has since been dismissed from his position, to push for US military action in Iran.

Keep reading

Dozens of Israeli raids hit Nabatieh region in south Lebanon in major escalation

Israeli warplanes carried out a wide-scale air attack on the Nabatieh region in southern Lebanon on the morning of 8 May, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported. The violent raids came in two waves, targeting valleys, heights, and forests extending between the towns of Kfar Tibnit, Nabatieh al-Fawqa, and Kfar Reman.

Most of the raids focused on the Ali al-Taher extraction site and the former archaeological site. 

The Israeli military said in a statement that it targeted an “infrastructure site” used by Hezbollah that included “terrorists, weapons, and tunnel shafts.” 

The sound of huge explosions caused by the strikes echoed in most areas of Nabatieh and the south, sparking “an atmosphere of terror and panic among citizens, most of whom rushed to schools to evacuate their students,” NNA wrote.

The panic caused traffic jams on the roads, while dozens of ambulances were seen heading towards the vicinity of the targeted areas. Most official government departments also closed their doors.

While Israel regularly bombs southern Lebanon despite signing a ceasefire with the country reached on 27 November of last year, Thursday’s attacks were an “unusually high number.” The Times of Israel noted.

Late last month, Israel conducted an airstrike on a residential neighborhood of Dahiye in the southern suburbs of Beirut. 

Videos showed three bombs hitting a building. Rescue crews worked to put out fires after the blast. The Israeli military issued an evacuation warning before the bombing, prompting panic as residents fled the area.

Keep reading

Trump Announces the Houthis Have Contacted Him and Thrown in the Towel: ‘They Have Capitulated’

After weeks of pounding from America’s military, the Houthi rebels of Yemen have said they will stop attacking Red Sea shipping, President Donald Trump said Tuesday.

“The Houthis have announced that they are not — they have announced to us at least, that they don’t want to fight anymore,” Trump said in a video posted to X. “They just don’t want to fight.”

“We will honor that,” Trump said as he welcomed Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to the Oval Office.

“That’s news we just found out about,” Trump said.

“We will stop the bombings, and they have capitulated, but more importantly, we will take their word. They say they will not be blowing up ships any more,” Trump said, noting that was “the purpose of what we were doing.”

Keep reading

Did Pakistan really shoot down five Indian fighter jets?

At just after 1am local time on Wednesday morning, Indian fighter jets took off for the launch of Operation Sindoor, a series of strikes targeting alleged terrorist camps inside Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

French-made Rafales and Russian MiGs were in the air for less than half an hour, firing missiles that crashed into nine targets across the border. The question now gripping the region is whether all of them returned.

The first site struck was the Abbas camp in the city of Kotli, about 13km across the Line of Control in Kashmir, at 1.04am.

Vyomika Singh, a wing commander in the Indian air force (IAF), said that the camp had been used by suicide bombers from Lashkar-E-Taiba (LeT), the group New Delhi blames for killing 26 tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir last month.

In grainy, bird’s-eye video posted online by the information wing of India’s armed forces, small clouds of black smoke puff up from a scrubby hillside as the missiles explode on impact.

Some of the eight other operations targeted sites much deeper inside Pakistan, including the Subhnallah mosque compound in the Punjabi city of Bahawalpur and an LeT training camp in the city of Muridke, a short distance north of Lahore.

Keep reading