Tag: perpetual war

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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The Last Wunderwaffe

I shall return yet again to the prospect of “Made in the USA” F-16s sallying forth boldly into eastern Ukraine to “teach the cabbage heads what Airpower (capitalized) really means.”

From what information I’ve been able to glean in recent weeks, it does in fact look as though the US is aggressively setting up air ops housekeeping in Romania, very near the Black Sea coast — ostensibly to serve as the base of F-16 operations against Russia.

I submit that the preparation of this base is implicit proof that they have long-since assembled and, likely for many months, have been honing the skills and teamwork of a few squadrons of “NATO-affiliated contractor pilots” — and the plan must be to use them.

You see, if the “true plan” were to put a dozen woefully undertrained Ukrainian apprentice kamikazes behind the wheel of 1980s vintage F-16s, and then wave them off on a glorious one-way mission into the wild blue yonder … well, you don’t need much of a logistical hub for that operation.

So, if they’re really working to prepare what is reputed to be the “largest NATO base in Europe,” the logical conclusion is that it is intended to house, maintain, and sustain at least a couple squadrons of NATO “volunteer” pilots flying much later F-16 models than the European boneyard relics Ukraine has long been promised.

Hey, I say field five full squadrons, and outfit at least a couple of them with the latest model F-16 Vipers.

Go big or go home.

Make it the last “all in” roll of the wunderwaffe dice.

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Ukraine Pushing NATO To Create No-Fly Zone Over Western Ukraine

Ukrainian officials are pushing NATO countries to impose a no-fly zone over western Ukraine using air defense systems in eastern Europe, a step that would mean direct NATO involvement in the war with Russia.

“I don’t understand why NATO doesn’t deploy Patriot systems along the Polish border,” Oleksiy Goncharenko, a Ukrainian lawmaker, told AFP. “After all, Russian missiles have already entered Polish and Romanian airspace. This would protect the borders of Poland and Romania, and this would create a safe zone in the west and south of Ukraine.”

The idea is for NATO to protect Ukrainian industry and energy infrastructure in the western portion of the country. But a no-fly zone would require NATO to shoot down Russian missiles and potentially Russian aircraft, and the direct NATO involvement would make nuclear war much more likely.

Despite the huge risk of escalation, Ukraine’s Western backers appear to be entertaining the idea of a no-fly zone. A European diplomatic source told AFP that talks about the issue were “in progress,” adding that it was “not a simple decision.”

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Russia Threatens US Drones in Black Sea Aiding Attacks on Crimea

In response to Ukrainian attacks on the Crimean Peninsula, tensions between the US and Russia have significantly escalated, with Moscow threatening US drones operating over the Black Sea. The Kremlin says the drones are part of the Ukrainian operations in the region. 

On Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry said there had been an uptick in American drone operations in the Black Sea “carrying out reconnaissance” of the Crimean Peninsula. The statement explained that the Russian military was instructed to prepare an “operational response” to the flights. 

The remarks followed a Ukrainian attack using US cluster munitions that caused the death of four civilians and wounded hundreds of others. Moscow argues that Washington’s support for Kiev makes the US effectively a party to the conflict. “This demonstrates the increasing involvement of the United States and NATO countries in the conflict in Ukraine on the side of the Kiev regime,” the Defense Ministry said. 

As Ukrainian forces have continued to lose territory to Russia on the battlefield, its Western backers have significantly stepped up support for Kiev. The US has allowed Ukraine to use its munitions to strike Russia, signed off on the transfer of F-16s to Ukraine, and sent Abrams Tanks to Ukraine, all actions the White House previously warned could risk provoking World War Three. 

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Putin Says Russia Should Follow US and Produce Previously Banned Missile Systems

On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia should follow the US in developing missile systems that were previously banned under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which the US withdrew from in 2019.

The INF prohibited land-based missile systems with a range between 310 and 3,400 miles. After leaving the treaty, the US immediately began developing and testing batteries that could fire nuclear-capable Tomahawk missiles, which have a range of about 1,000 miles and are primarily used by US Navy ships and submarines.

“We need to start production of these strike systems and then, based on the actual situation, make decisions about where — if necessary to ensure our safety — to place them,” Putin said on Friday, according to The Associated Press.

The US recently deployed one of its new, previously banned missile systems for exercises in the Philippines. The missile system, known as the Typhon launcher, is concealed in a 40-foot shipping container and can fire Tomahawks and SM-6 missiles, which can hit targets up to 290 miles away, below the levels previously banned by the INF. The US has also previously deployed the Tyhpon system and the US Navy’s variant for exercises in Denmark.

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US DRONE SHOT DOWN OVER BLACK SEA! UAV from Sicilian USAF-CIA Station

The news of the shooting down of a US drone was reported by two Russian Telegram channels – “Military Informant” and “Fighterbomber” – reported by the Italian newspaper La Stampa, according to which, in the past, these two channels have rarely written less than informed things.

The American UAV Shoot Down by Russia aviation

«By the newspaper’s own admission it is, in the first case, one of the most informed Russian telegram channels on what is happening in Russian airspace and aviation. The article quotes what the channel reports as follows: “A Russian MiG-31 fighter shot down a US Air Force reconnaissance drone over the Black Sea. Presumably it is a high-altitude RQ-4B Global Hawk reconnaissance drone.” Shortly after, the channel publishes an update: “Yes, the incident has now been confirmed.”

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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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