Tag: perpetual war

Israel’s parliament votes to ban UNRWA, the UN’s Palestine aid agency

The Israeli parliament has approved two controversial bills to ban the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) from operating on Israeli territory and areas under Israel’s control.

The legislation, passed on Monday, risks collapsing the already fragile aid distribution process at a moment when the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is worsening and Israel is under increased pressure to allow in aid supplies.

The ban is set to take effect in 90 days and lead to the closure of UNRWA’s premises in the occupied Palestinian territory – the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem – and Gaza, effectively paralysing the agency’s ability to fulfil its mandate as set out by the UN General Assembly in 1949.

UNRWA is the leading agency running humanitarian aid in Gaza, which has been devastated by more than a year of Israel’s war. Hundreds of UNRWA workers have been killed in Israeli strikes, making it the deadliest conflict for UN workers.

The first law, which bans UNRWA from conducting “any activity” or providing any service inside Israel, passed 92-10 following a fiery debate between supporters of the bill and its opponents, primarily members of Arab parliamentary parties.

The second legislation, which declares UNRWA a “terror” group and bans Israeli officials from any contact with the agency, passed 87-9.

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Allowing Ukraine to join NATO ‘risks World War III’: Former NSA Robert O’Brien

Robert O’Brien, the former National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump, says the West has to be realistic about allowing Ukraine to join NATO and realize that such membership is anathema to Russia. “To bring a country into NATO and the alliance that’s in a war with Russia is very provocative to the Russians, and could lead to escalation, even nuclear war,” he told Fox News.

“We can certainly give Ukraine security guarantees … put eastern European troops [in Ukraine] to help secure peace after a peace deal gets done. But NATO is too provocative at this point,” he said, adding that it “risks World War III.”

O’Brien’s willingness to accommodate the hard reality of realpolitik sounds like a reflection of Republican presidential nominee Trump’s desire to find peace in Ukraine and not continue to endlessly finance Ukraine’s defense. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s “victory plan” involves granting his country NATO status and embroiling the US in a war with Russia: both direct trips to a nuclear confrontation.

O’Brien could be back in the NSA role or perhaps even secretary of state if Trump wins reelection on Nov. 5. When asked if he would accept a cabinet position in a new Trump White House, O’Brien told Fox News, “Of course” “It’s always an honor to serve the country and to serve the president. But I’m not campaigning for a job,” he said. “There are a lot of really great people who’d like to work for the president.”

O’Brien believes Russia must be brought to the negotiating table in order to secure a meaningful peace. He advocates harsher economic sanctions against Russia if its president, Vladimir Putin, is unwilling to participate in a ceasefire.

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Israel fails with ultra-Orthodox draft as only four percent show up for service

Less than four percent of the 3,000 Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Israelis who received recruitment orders since July to join the military have done so, Israeli army radio reported on 28 October.

The head of the Israel Beiteinu party, Avigdor Lieberman, criticized the Haredi community for its failure to participate in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza and invasion of Lebanon.

Lieberman criticized the government for failing to enforce conscription orders, stressing that “the army is violating the law” and that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant “must ensure that the law is applied to everyone.”

“The government has extended regular service by four months and reserve service by a year,” Lieberman told Yedioth Ahronoth, adding: “No more quotas, targets and exemptions – one people, one conscription,” stressing that “the whole story of quotas must end.”

Members of the Haredi community who are studying at Jewish religious schools are currently exempt under the law from army service. In practice, the exemption has extended even to Haredi men not actively engaged in religious study.

Israel’s ultra-Orthodox argue that by studying the Torah, its young men are doing a greater service to the state of Israel than by fighting.

The Haredi parties in Israel’s Knesset threaten to block the passage of regular laws, including the general budget, until the law exempting Haredim from military service is enacted.

The Haredi parties said that no law not related to war would be promoted until the conscription law was enacted and the budget for housing religious students was settled.

The Israeli media reported that Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir was siding with the Haredi Jews, saying: “Against coercion, for military service.”

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Israel traps 100,000 Palestinians in Gaza extermination zone

Israeli tanks thrust deeper on Monday into northern Gaza, trapping around 100,000 civilians, while the air force carried out airstrikes that brought the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since last October above 43,000.

The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said around 100,000 people were stuck in Jabalia, Beit Lahia, and Beit Hanoun without medical or food supplies as a result of the siege imposed by Israeli forces.

The emergency service said it was forced to end its operations because of the three-week-long Israeli assault on Gaza’s north.

The Israeli military says it seeks to destroy Hamas and claimed it had captured 100 “suspected Hamas militants” during a raid of the Kamal Adwan hospital in the Jabalia camp in recent days.

Hospital officials said that Israeli forces detained members of the hospital staff, patients, and Palestinians sheltering in the hospital complex.  

Since the start of the war, Israel has claimed that Hamas uses hospitals as command centers as a pretext to deliberately destroy Gaza’s hospitals and health system.

Israeli forces carried out multiple airstrikes across Gaza on Monday, killing five people and bringing the number killed by Israel during the war on Gaza to more than 43,000.

The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that an Israeli drone struck a group of people in the Beit Lahia area Monday, killing one and injuring several others.

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Zero Battlefield Gains Force Ukraine to Send Foreign Mercs on ‘Revenge’ Sabotage Missions – Expert

An attempt by a Ukrainian sabotage team to covertly infiltrate Russia’s Bryansk region was thwarted by Russian border guards, with four enemy saboteurs eliminated. Foreign weapons, equipment, and personal items on the corpses of four saboteurs indicated the presence of foreign mercenaries in the unit.

The lack of any battlefield success has prompted Ukraine and its NATO handlers to resort to expanded use of “revenge” sabotage missions using foreign mercenaries, Joao Claudio Pitillo, historian and researcher at the Center for the Study of the Americas at Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ), told Sputnik.

“These mercenaries are recruited, trained, and increasingly directed towards this type of sabotage action that takes the form of revenge… The realization of the impossibility of victory for Ukraine and NATO against Russia prompts expanded use of punitive actions,” he said.

“Such training takes a lot of time and requires experienced personnel. Ukraine likely lacks the manpower to cover both fronts,” Brazilian naval reserve officer and defense consultant Robinson Farinazzo added.

As part of Ukrainian sabotage groups, Western military personnel from elite units, such as the US Rangers, are also engaged in collecting intelligence on enemy routes, weak points, etc., which may subsequently prove useful for “NATO command and future operations on Russian territory,” Farinazzo told Sputnik.

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Who Perpetrated the 2014 Ukraine ‘Maidan Coup’ That Started Ukraine’s War?

On 22 October 2024, the BBC headlined “The ex-British army chief on why peace with Russia is not possible,” and at 5:00 in the podcast he said “We’ve been there [in Ukraine] since 2014, we’ve had a presence in Ukraine, we’ve been working with them, and trying to build up their capability,” and then he immediately skipped forward to 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. He didn’t say from what precise date in 2014 was — was it before, or instead only after, the 20 February 2014 coup — that the UK’s Army was “working with them, and trying to build up their capability,” to use those weapons so as to bring down the democratically elected President of Ukraine, but he went on to say that The West unfortunately “frittered away” “that wonderful unipolar moment” [the UK/U.S Governments’ control over the entire world] into “serious competition with the great powers — Russia, China, Iran, North Korea — this Axis [he was saying that this is the modern equivalent of WW2’s “Axis” or fascist-imperialist powers], and I think the world is as dangerous as I’ve known it, in some respects more dangerous than the Cold War, because The System, you know, The International Order, which kind-of kept us safe, that is a period of extraordinary peace and prosperity, has ended … and we’ve now got these great powers, this Axis of powers, trying to overturn The World Order, and I don’t think that peace with Russia is possible.” He is saying that unless and until The West will conquer Russia, there wil be war between The West and Russia. “Russia sees itself in existential conflict with The West. Putin’s aims are … take over Ukraine, dominate its near east, including parts of Eastern Europe, and dismantle the Euro-Atlantic security order that we enjoy. And so, this isn’t a crisis, this is a campaign … and it will go on for decades. … And this is why Ukraine is so important, because if you allow Russia to prevail in Ukraine, if you follow the path we’re on at the moment, which is leading inexorably to a Russian victory … then The International Order is unfrayed, so things like sovereignty, territorial integrity, don’t matter, war wins, you begin to see the dismantling of The European Order — these are institutions that have been tested by this conflict, and on a practical level, you end up with a bitter and angry Ukraine, a quarter of the world’s grain supplies being held by Russia, all of its [Ukraine’s] extraordinary military capability and technology — Ukraine is the most heavily armed country in Europe now — falling to Russia, … we should be really clear that the cost of failure is far greater than the price it would take in order to make sure that Ukraine prevails. … This is about OUR security, but by keeping Ukraine in the fight, you can get to a point where you achieve a mutually [blurred syllable] stalemate. … And we need to give Ukraine the ability to strike deep into Russia [bomb The Kremlin].” He wants World War Three, which the UK’s Prime Minister and Denmark’s Prime Minister likewise want.

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Putin Brings Peace Between China And India – Violent Himalayan Border Region May Be Quieted

This year’s BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia has produced more than expected, beyond the trade and reserve currency foreshadowed developments, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has begun the process of implementing a peace deal on the Himalayan border, long a violently contested area.

The deal was put together on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit.

India and China have begun implementing an agreement to end a military standoff on their disputed Himalayan border, the two sides said on Friday, in the biggest thaw between the Asian giants since deadly clashes between their armies four years ago, reported Reuters.

Troops who were eyeball-to-eyeball at two points on the frontier in India’s Ladakh region in the western Himalayas had begun pulling back, an Indian government source said, heralding an end to the standoff.

The process began on Wednesday and is expected to conclude by the end of the month, a senior Indian army official said.

“According to the recently agreed solution between India and China … their frontline armies are implementing relevant work, with smooth progress so far,” Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry said.

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What Explains Israel’s Surprisingly Restrained Retaliation Against Iran?

It’s becoming very difficult for Israel and Iran to balance their own hawks’ demands, domestic public perception, and the perception of their opponent’s policymakers (which include hawkish elements).

Israel finally retaliated against Iran on Friday for Iran’s own prior retaliation against Israel earlier this month, which the Islamic Republic carried out against the self-professed Jewish State in an attempt to restore deterrence, in the second round of their dangerous tit-for-tat that first began in spring. Unlike Iran’s retaliation against Israel, Israel’s retaliation against Iran wasn’t widely filmed. It was also surprisingly restrained despite lots of earlier hype and concerns about an uncontrollable escalation.

No critical infrastructure, including Iran’s sole nuclear reactor and its oil refineries, was directly targeted but the New York Times cited unnamed sources from both countries to report that Israel destroyed surrounding air defenses in order to leave Iran open to a more painful attack if it retaliates to this one. Axios also reported that Israel warned Iran about its attack in advance via third parties in an attempt to deter retaliation that could risk everything spiraling into a larger conflict depending on how it plays out.

Iran announced that four of its soldiers had been killed and reaffirmed its right to respond. A high-ranking source reportedly told Tasnim that Iran is ready to do precisely that, though Sky News Arabia cited an anonymous source to report that Iran informed Israel via third parties that it won’t do so. Meanwhile, the Jerusalem Post reported that Israel does indeed expect retaliation, but it might be carried out via Iran’s regional allies in the Resistance Axis. It’s therefore unclear what’ll happen next.

In any case, Israel’s surprisingly restrained retaliation deserves to be analyzed. Prime Minister Benjamin (“Bibi”) Netanyahu’s office denied reports that Israel changed its targets under US pressure to avoid an uncontrollable escalation like what could have followed if it hit Iran’s critical infrastructure. Even so, it’s difficult to imagine that the US’ resistance to this didn’t play a role in Israel’s retaliation. After all, in the event of a massive Iranian retaliation, Israel would depend on US support then and afterwards.

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Russian Foreign Minister – “If Ukraine Joins NATO Eeither Ukraine Disappears, Or NATO Does.”

Important quotes from the BRICS Summit where the other ‘new world order’ is shaping against Western hegemony.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia declared that if Ukraine joins NATO, Russia would destroy Ukraine as a nation, or even NATO itself.

President Putin also said he hoped NATO heard his warning about the consequences of allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied missiles to strike inside Russia.

Russian President Putin warned failure to recognize a state of Palestine will fuel “permanent crisis and inevitable large-scale violence.”

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared, “Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory. The Taiwan question is not about freedom of navigation but about China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

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U.S. Military Bases in South Korea and Japan Arouse Persistent Protests

On August 12, 2024, around 2,500 Okinawans including the island’s governor staged a demonstration near Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.

The main focus of the protest—organized by the anti-U.S. military political party All Okinawa and two civic groups fighting in the courts to eliminate base aircraft noise—was a rash of sexual assaults allegedly committed against local women by U.S. servicemen stationed at the base.

In March, a senior airman, Brennon R.E. Washington was indicted on charges of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a minor. In June, prosecutors indicted Marine Lance Cpl. Jamel Clayton on attempted sexual assault charges.

All Okinawa co-chairman Susumu Inamine, a former mayor of Nago city, told the crowd that the Japanese government had been hiding information regarding these and other cases, and that even Okinawa’s governor was kept in the dark, which, she said, was “unforgivable.” Other speakers at the rally condemned the recent return of Bell Boeing MV-22 Osprey flights over the island, which are known for making a lot of noise.

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