Iran recruiting Israeli civilians for spying, accuses Shin Bet

Israel's Shin Bet foiled an Iranian honeypot network that aimed to recruit unsuspecting Israeli civilians to gather intelligence and commit terror attacks under the guise of criminal activities, the Israeli Security Agency announced Thursday.

The Iranian network turned to Israelis through social media and employment websites. Speaking in Hebrew, English, and Arabic, the network operatives introduced themselves as salespeople or real estate agents and, in some cases, sought out Israelis who expressed interest in online dating.

The network also attempted to reach out to families of fallen soldiers and Israelis taken hostage by Hamas on October 07.

The Israelis were then sent on paid reconnaissance missions, gathering information on certain addresses and taking photos of sites of interest to the operatives in an attempt to expand the Islamic Republic's intelligence pool on Israel.

The tasks were given to the civilians in a manner that made them appear harmless, the Shin Bet said. Some of the Israelis who received such suspicious inquiries avoided answering them, and alerted security officials about them, the security agency added.

Over 20 countries agree to join US led Red Sea coalition

A total of more than 20 countries have agreed to participate in the new US-led coalition safeguarding commercial traffic in the Red Sea, the Pentagon said on Thursday.

At least eight of the countries who have signed up have also declined to be publicly named, in a sign of political sensitivities of the operation as regional tensions soar over the Israel-Hamas war.

"We've had over 20 nations now sign on to participate," Major General Patrick Ryder said, noting declarations by Greece and Australia.

"We'll allow other countries, defer to them to talk about their participation."

The United States launched Operation Prosperity Guardian two days ago, saying more than a dozen countries had agreed to participate in an effort that will involve joint patrols in Red Sea waters near Yemen.

Each country will contribute what they can, Ryder said, dubbing it a "coalition of the willing."

The crisis in the Red Sea has grown out of the war between Israel and Hamas.

Israel's retaliatory bombardment and invasion of Gaza, which Israeli officials state is aimed at wiping out Hamas, has killed nearly 20,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in the densely populated, coastal enclave.

Western media reports that Houthis and Hezbollah have fired rockets at Israel since the conflict began. The Houthis, meanwhile, have stepped up their Red Sea attacks, threatening to target all ships heading to Israel and warning shipping companies against dealing with Israeli ports.

The attacks have disrupted a key trade route that links Europe and North America with Asia via the Suez Canal and caused container shipping costs to rise sharply as companies seek to ship their goods via alternative, often longer, routes.

The US Navy, British and French navies have responded by shooting down Houthi drones and missiles, defensive actions that some critics in Washington say don't go far enough to discourage the Houthis from continuing their attacks.

 

Raisi talks to Serdar of Turkmenistan

The president of Iran asserts that the crimes committed by the United States and the Israeli regime against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have enraged people internationally. Ebrahim Raisi made the remarks in a Tuesday phone call with his Turkmen counterpart Serdar Berdimuhamedow.

“What is being afflicted on the oppressed people of Gaza in terms of oppression and crime, by the Zionist regime and the US has deeply affected and angered all the Muslims of the world as well as all the people of the world,” the Iranian president said.

The atrocities, he stated, have deeply affected and enraged not only all the world’s Muslims, but also the entire people of the world.”

The president of Iran stressed the necessity of using all resources at hand to support the oppressed Gazan people.

The remarks were made in the midst of the war that Israel has been waging against the Gaza Strip since October 07 in retaliation for an operation that the Palestinian resistance groups had organized.

Washington has exercised its veto power over all UN Security Council resolutions that demanded the establishment of a quick cease-fire throughout the beleaguered Palestinian territories.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Raisi was pleased with the remarkable development of relations between Turkmenistan and Iran, particularly in the area of trade.

He emphasized the necessity of carrying out the significant agreements that had been made during the most recent meeting of the nations’ joint economic commission in the areas of energy, transportation, and transit.

While announcing the readiness of Iran to promote cooperation between the two countries in the field of electricity and gas, Raisi also emphasized the development of cooperation between Tehran and Ashgabat in the transport and transit sector by utilizing the capacity of Iran’s southern ports, including Bandar Abbas and Chabahar Port.

The president also referred to the historical and civilizational background of the two countries and the availability of the ground for further promotion of cultural interactions between the two nations, and announced Iran's readiness to hold a joint cultural program with Turkmenistan and honor common cultural figures and personalities.

The Turkmen official, for his part, also expressed satisfaction with the rising trend of the two nations’ relations in a number of political, economic, and cultural domains.

Berdimuhamedow stated that Ashgabat is well-prepared to carry out bilateral agreements and raise the degree of collaboration between the two nations.

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Biden pressurized to focus on deterring Iran

The spate of attacks from Iranian-backed groups across the region, which broke out nearly two months ago on October 17 amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, are not letting up and have spurred growing anger on Capitol Hill.

Republicans are pushing the Biden administration to project more strength against the Iranian-backed groups. 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the floor Wednesday that Biden must focus on the task at hand — deterring Iran. 

These Iranian-backed groups are not deterred, they believe they can try to kill Americans with impunity, McConnell said, calling for Biden to get serious about the threats we face. 

Republican presidential candidates also called out Biden on the debate stage. Ron DeSantis, a Navy veteran said American troops are sitting ducks in the Middle East.

Nikki Haley, former UN ambassador, accused Biden of appeasing Iran.“They only respond to strength,” Haley said of Iran. “You’ve got to punch them, you’ve got to punch them hard and let them know that.” 

Since October 17, Iranian-backed groups in Iraq and Syria have attacked US bases and troops 92 times, according to the Pentagon’s latest estimate. 

The US has also engaged the Houthi rebels in Yemen several times. The Houthis, who are also backed by Iran, have shot drones at American ships and attacked merchant vessels, including the successful hijacking of one commercial boat last month.  

Those attacks are in the Red Sea, where about 10% of the world’s commerce flows through every year. 

With the attacks stacking up and stirring criticism, defense officials argue the main objective is to contain the Israel-Hamas war and prevent a wider regional conflict, with Washington taking proportional measures against Iranian-backed militias. 

The dangerous tit for tat is spurring concerns the US is playing with fire — and creating fears that a misstep could spark an even greater surge of violence. 

“We’re in a really terrible, unstable and vulnerable condition,” said Thanassis Cambanis, the director of Century International, a progressive think tank. “Even if Iran and the US don’t want a wider war, it’s easy for miscalculation to produce one.” 

The militants waging war in the Middle East against the US have been doing so for years — there were some 70 attacks on US forces between 2021 and early 2023, many by Iran-backed groups in Iraq and elsewhere.

But the breakout of the Israel-Hamas war sparked an unprecedented number of attacks in a short time frame.

Analysts say the militia groups — and Iran — want to send a message of solidarity with the Palestinian people, while they are also bristling against increased US military presence, including American aircraft carrier ships and nuclear-powered submarines in the region.

The US is struggling with two major wars in Gaza and Ukraine. With those hot conflicts stretching Washington thin, the Biden administration’s main goal is to ensure there is not a wider regional war in the Middle East. 

Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters Thursday the US is succeeding in deterring Iranian-backed militia groups.  

“That’s not to say that the challenges associated with Iranian proxies attacking US forces in Iraq and Syria or the rebels firing missiles at international shipping are not something we shouldn’t take serious,” Ryder said.

“But we will address those problems in the way that we’ve been doing. And we will continue to stay very focused on not only deterring, but also protecting our force.” 

Michael Knights, an expert in Iraq and Iran at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the US has managed to keep the fighting at a proportional level, and while that doesn’t look good in a headline, in reality there is no real threat. 

Knights noted that no American service members have died in the recent attacks, and the militia groups appear to be designing the rocket and drone attacks to avoid fatalities

“They have a pretty limited chance of hitting Americans, and sometimes [the strikes] are quite aimed off, because large salvos haven’t even landed within the bases,” Knights said. “There’s been a lot of bangs, but they’ve all fallen into what we call the polite category, which means we’re largely looking at single drone attacks that the US can just eat for breakfast.” 

But Knights said the deterrence of the Houthis near Yemen has failed, and the US may deliberately be holding back from carrying out more destructive strikes.

One reason for the restraint could be to prevent the unraveling of peace talks in a years-long war between Houthi rebels and the Yemeni government, both of which are in a fragile cease-fire, he added. 

“The US doesn’t want to disrupt that peace process … and the Houthis are taking full advantage of that because they know right now they can do whatever they want,” Knights said. “They are the part of the deterrence puzzles where the US is doing the least well.” 

The Houthis, like Lebanon’s Hezbollah, are a prominent Iranian-backed faction and have earned their stripes in the war with Yemen’s government. That has molded them into a more formidable fighting force compared with other militia groups in Iran’s sphere. 

Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, slammed Biden for failing to stop the Houthi attacks and urged greater action against the group, including a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) designation.  

“By prioritizing politics over security, this administration emboldened the Houthis, enabling them to develop more advanced weapons, deepen ties with Iran, and further entrench their control over millions of innocent Yemenis,” McCaul said in a statement.

“It is clear that the Houthis are a threat to Yemen, our partners across the Middle East, US service members and citizens in the region, and freedom of navigation and global commerce.” 

Jason Blazakis, director of the Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, said the FTO designation would help the US and likely would not endanger Houthi-Yemen peace talks. 

“It would be a signal of US displeasure with Iranian action,” he said. “There needs to be a response to the Houthis because of their untoward activities. They’ve become increasingly belligerent. That can’t be ignored.” 

The US is also considering a maritime task force, which would be made up of attack ships from several countries, to defend ships against Houthi threats in the Red Sea.

Tensions are likely to remain high as long as Israel’s war to defeat Hamas rages in Gaza, with devastating consequences for civilians there. On Thursday, Israel’s defense minister said the war in Gaza could last months.  

Lawrence Wilkerson, a retired U.S. colonel who previously served under former Secretary of State Colin Powell, said Biden should bring the war in Gaza to a resolution if he wants to stop the Middle East conflict from ballooning out of control. 

 “Until we decide to essentially cut down our power a bit and let things settle,” he said, “they aren’t going to.” 

 

Yemen one of the key resistance in Gaza war

When Israel began its deadly attacks on Gaza, few thought that Yemen would become one of the key players in this war. The intervention of Ansar Allah of Yemen in the recent war is subject to several considerations and analyses.

One dimension of this intervention is economic. In fact, Ansar Allah has opened the third economic front against Israel.

The first front is related to Gaza. Tel Aviv has called up 360,000 reserve forces in attacking Gaza, and tens of thousands have also left southern Israel.

On the second front, Hezbollah's movements in northern Israel have also paralyzed the economy of this region.

The economic costs on these two fronts have been high for the regime. Official sources in Israel have admitted that the country's economy has shrunk by 15% in the last three months of the year.

The tourism industry has almost stopped, and retail has also declined significantly. The unemployment rate has reached about 10%, while in the month before October, this rate was less than 4%.

Ansar Allah started their economic war against the regime in the foreign trade field by opening the third front.

They began their work less than a month ago by seizing the Galaxy Leader. They recently announced that only Israeli ships will not be targeted, insisting all commercial ships that travel from Israeli ports to another country or vice versa will be seized or attacked.

In recent days, they have attacked several container ships in the Red Sea. The attacks have led to the closure of Eilat port, and commercial ships are forced to circumnavigate the whole of Africa to reach Israeli ports without any hassle, resulting in increased travel time and therefore higher transportation costs.

These attacks have not only increased insurance cost for the ships heading to Israel, but also burdened the already under-pressure Israeli economy.

The Red Sea corridor is vital for Israel's economy, and the continuation of the current situation will become increasingly difficult and expensive for it.

"National Security Council" has issued urgent instructions to Israel’s ports to remove information related to the arrival and departure of ships from their websites.

Another solution proposed by some Zionist experts is to transport goods to Port Said in Egypt and unload them there, then transfer them to smaller ships and transport them to Israeli ports. However, this solution is not practically feasible. In fact, they know that they have no practical and military options against Ansar Allah.

However, the most important hope for Israel is to try to turn their problem into everyone's problem. They are doing their best to pretend that Yemen's actions endanger international trade security in the Red Sea and thus force others to solve their problem.

Although the Americans are involved in this project with Israel, as the revolutionary authorities of Yemen have stated, no one can prevent them from supporting the oppressed people of Palestine.

They have clearly announced the solution: stop the massacre in Gaza and deliver food, medicine, and vital goods to the besieged people. 

Ansar Allah's confrontation with Israel is not limited to economic warfare, and despite the great distance from the occupied territories, they have conducted missile and drone attacks on Israel.

The courageous actions of the Yemenis have embarrassed some Islamic countries that have many pressure tools to stop Israel's killing machine but do not use them. 

All of this is happening while the Yemenis themselves have been facing war and severe siege for more than 8 years ‑ despite all these pressures, they are stronger than ever in regional equations.

Without a doubt, making the Red Sea insecure for the economy of the Israeli regime is not the Yemenis' last card in this game. Bigger surprises may be on the way that the Yemenis will reveal in due time.

Courtesy: The Tehran Times

 

Saudi Arabia and Iran reaffirm full commitment to implement Beijing agreement

Saudi Arabia and Iran have reaffirmed their full commitment to implementing the Beijing Agreement, reports Saudi Gazette.

The first meeting of the Saudi-Chinese-Iranian Tripartite Committee concluded in Beijing on Friday. The meeting was held to follow up on the Beijing Agreement, under the chairmanship of Deng Li, the Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister. The Saudi delegation was led by Waleed Al-Khereiji, Deputy Foreign Minister, and the Iranian delegation by Dr. Ali Bagheri Kani, Deputy Foreign Minister.

The meeting reviewed the positive outcomes in the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Iran in light of the Beijing Agreement, which was brokered by China last March. This included reopening embassies in Riyadh and Tehran, and the reciprocal visits and meetings of the two countries' foreign ministers.

Both Saudi Arabia and Iran expressed appreciation for China's significant role in this process and hosting the meeting.

The Chinese side confirmed its readiness to continue playing a constructive role and supporting Saudi and Iranian efforts to further enhance relations.

The three parties discussed various aspects of tripartite cooperation. They also expressed concern about the ongoing situation in the Gaza Strip as a threat to regional and international peace and security, emphasizing the need for an immediate cessation of military operations in Gaza, sustainable relief for civilians, and opposing the forced displacement of Palestinians. They agreed that any arrangement regarding the future of Palestine must reflect the will of the Palestinian people, supporting their right to establish their own state and determine their destiny.

The participants agreed to continue the meetings of the tripartite committee, with the next meeting scheduled for June 2024 in Saudi Arabia, following a gracious invitation from the Kingdom.

Israel trying to clear Palestinians from Gaza

Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner General of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said Israel appears to be trying to clear Gaza of its Palestinian population through its military offensive and evacuation orders.

“The developments we are witnessing point to attempts to move Palestinians into Egypt, regardless of whether they stay there or are resettled elsewhere,” he wrote in the Los Angeles Times.

On Sunday, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi also accused Israel of being determined to push Palestinians out of Gaza.

“We are seeing a systematic effort, it seems to empty Gaza from its people,” he said at a conference in Doha, Qatar.

Eylon Levy, an Israeli government spokesperson, called the allegations outrageous and false.

Israel has said it is prepared to fight for months or longer to defeat Gaza's Hamas rulers, as its ground offense intensifies with more airstrikes and artillery fire.

On Monday, the Israeli army announced that 101 soldiers had been killed so far in the military offensive which began on 27 October.

Qatar, which has played a key mediating role between the warring parties, says efforts to stop the war and have all hostages released will continue, but a willingness to discuss a ceasefire is fading.

Israel faces international outrage after its military offensive killed more than 17,700 Palestinians in Gaza, around two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry.

About 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced within the besieged territory, where UN agencies say there is no safe place to flee.

With only a trickle of humanitarian aid reaching a small portion of Gaza, residents face severe shortages of food, water and other basic goods.

Yemeni Resistance declares war against Israel

Few days after the outset of Israel’s savage invasion of Gaza, Yemeni Resistance declared war against Israel after the ultimatum it had set for cessation of aggression expired and Israel Occupation Forces kept intensifying the bombardment, claiming lives of thousands of Palestinian children and women.

The Yemeni Resistance’s war declaration was initially interpreted as its intention to target Israeli facilities within the range of its known conventional mid-range armaments in south of Occupied Palestine.

Speculation to a large extent, were focused on the ability of Israel’s AD systems and those of its allies in war against Gaza, especially US, but few were ready for what Yemeni Resistance had in sleeves.

After openly announcing that Israeli military and cargo ships are now the legitimate military targets, the Resistance in Yemen started sending warning signs to the Israeli ships which soon turned into a full-scale economic war against the Regime’s previously considered safe corridors.

Amid the conflict, the Yemeni Resistance combatants successfully boarded a cargo ship belonging to one of the most renowned Israeli merchants, directing it to a port in Yemen.

This persuaded nearly all Israeli shipping companies and those associated with them to change the shipping direction and avoid passage through the Red Sea which economically serves as the most convenient maritime transportation route for the Zionist Regime; an interim remedy which has increased the shipping costs drastically.

Since then, many have articulated their contemplations about the possible future of maritime transportation for Israel, as Yemeni Resistance does not seem keen towards the idea of letting Israel’s criminal aggressions go unpunished.

For instance, an Israeli media published a report describing the soaring costs of maintaining security for Israeli shipping companies and the scenarios before them in case the Resistance in Yemen would not accept loosening the rope just for a little.

In an article titled “The Israeli shipping companies are requesting expanded military protection within the Middle East [West Asia] routes”, the outlet discloses that although attacks against Israeli cargo ships are not new, but the scale and intensity is.

Recent attacks increases the fear over the threat Iran inflicts on the Straight of Hormoz; a narrow passage which separates Iran from the Persian Gulf countries and serves as a major bottleneck for export of gas and oil in the global scale.

Although the article has undertaken the same shabby strategy all Israeli media and officials resort to whenever they see the chance (that Israel’s problem is West’s problem, and Iran is the most important problem of Israel), but there are some interesting talking points in between the lines of the piece which can be considered indicators of a mentality trending among Israeli/ US decision makers.

The article quotes McNally, a former adviser to the President of the US, saying “There is a %30 chance of substantial perturbation of energy supplies in the region”, which is not neglect able.

Although Iran and the US are not interested in a direct confrontation, McNally believes, but the two sides might find engaging in unintended conflicts inevitable, which means widespread disruption in %40 of global oil trade just in regards with what might happen in the Straight of Hormoz. To emphasize the intensity of the situation, McNally also mentions this is besides the fact that one tenth of the maritime oil trade is done through the red sea.

To make sure that all westerners are on board, even those who are not clever enough, the article makes is explicitly clear that this is not just Israel’s problem, but all Europe’s problem.

The writer quotes the CEO of an advising company in field of maritime transportation, saying “The Red Sea routes are important, especially for the Europeans as they receive all of the oil and LNG they’ve purchased from the Middle East [West Asia] through the Red Sea”.

The Yemeni Resistance has time and again insisted that its targets are the Zionist Regime’s assets, not those of any country, and has proven this point in practice as well.

Nevertheless, it’s unlikely to see the westerners, especially Europeans, realizing that only the Israeli assets are at stake here. It is only a matter of time before we see the European politicians chewing rhetoric about how the Yemeni Resistance should be confronted; which doesn’t matter anyway.  
 

 

Exercise of veto leaves the US diplomatically isolated

The exercise of veto by the United States has left Washington diplomatically isolated on the 15-member council. Thirteen members voted in favor of the draft resolution put forward by the United Arab Emirates, while Britain abstained.

Deputy US Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood said, "We do not support this resolution's call for an unsustainable ceasefire that will only plant the seeds for the next war."

The United States and Israel oppose a ceasefire, saying it would only benefit Hamas, which Israel has vowed to annihilate.

Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour told the council the vote means that millions of Palestinian lives hang in the balance.

Ezzat El-Reshiq, a member of Hamas' political bureau, condemned the US veto as inhumane.

Israel's UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan said in a statement, "A ceasefire will be possible only with the return of all the hostages and the destruction of Hamas."

Has Hamas committed horrendous mistake?

Countries of all stripes – whether developed or underdeveloped, democratic or authoritarian – have been known to commit strategic military miscalculations. The United States, for example, won decisive wars against developed countries such as Germany and Japan, but blundered in wars against much lesser powers like Vietnam in the 1970s and Iraq and Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks.

Strategic military miscalculation usually results in the collapse of authoritarian regimes. The decision of Argentina’s military junta to invade the Falkland Islands in 1982 led to its defeat in the war against Britain and the fall of General Leopoldo Galtieri’s regime.

Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 led to a military disaster for the Iraqi army following Operation Desert Storm, paving the way for the 2003 US invasion of the country and the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime.

Successful countries eventually accept the need to revamp their political systems, initiate democratic reforms and champion world peace.

It took Germany, whose army fought exceptionally well operationally and tactically, two world wars to metamorphose.

It took Japan’s disastrous defeat precipitated by the Pearl Harbor attack to convince Tokyo to change. Under the US direction, the two countries transformed into full-fledged democracies.

Since the turn of the 20th century, political leaders, heads of state and political movements in the Arab world have also shown a propensity for massive miscalculation.

Hamas October 07 attack is a prime example, but it was precipitated by several other cases that have shaped the region since World War I.

Hamas’ rationale for last month’s attack stemmed from its conviction that Israel, with United States backing and Arab acquiescence, intended to eliminate any possibility of Palestinian statehood.

By taking Israeli hostages, it also intended to secure the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails, knowing that Israel has in the past been willing to conduct prisoner swaps.

In 2011, Israel released more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners to secure the release of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier detained by Hamas for more than five years.

 However, Hamas failed to consider the likelihood that Israel’s war Cabinet would launch an unprecedented air and ground campaign following its attack, the scale of which recalled the genocidal horrors ingrained in Israel’s collective consciousness.

Hamas expected Israel to plead for negotiations to secure the freedom of some 240 Israeli captives. Images from Gaza on October 07 showed Hamas guerrillas ecstatic about the possibility of a massive prisoner swap. But Israel instead unleashed a withering military campaign.

Moreover, Hamas did not inform Iran and its regional allies in advance about its plans. It assumed Hezbollah would join the fighting from southern Lebanon and that Iraqi militias in Syria would engage Israel from the Golan Heights.

Hezbollah’s unenthusiastic involvement in the war has cost it far more casualties than Israel and did not relieve even the slightest pressure on embattled Hamas.

Hamas was left stunned by its allies’ tepid response; having previously believed its attack would transform the Middle East and pave the path toward establishing a Palestinian state.

An extraordinary summit of Arab and Islamic countries held last month in Saudi Arabia resulted only in generic statements of support for the Palestinians and demands for the immediate cessation of hostilities.

Hamas counted on the outbreak of a third intifada, but Israel’s preemptive raids against West Bank activists ruled out this possibility as well.

Arab leaders, engrossed in a distorted worldview, tend to see the world through the prism of their domestic politics, often failing to comprehend the complexity of international relations.

Arabs in high office are autocrats who do not answer to anybody else, driving them to make fateful decisions.

Many Arab leaders live in echo chambers, making decisions premised on faulty assumptions, inattentive to how their antagonists might respond. The consequences have played out time and again, including today in Gaza.

Israel intensifies Gaza strikes

Israel sharply ramped up strikes on the Gaza Strip, pounding the length of the Palestinian enclave and killing hundreds in a new, expanded phase of the war.

The Israeli military said on Friday it had struck more than 450 targets in Gaza from land, sea and air over the past 24 hours - the most since a truce collapsed last week and about double the daily figures typically reported since then.

With the vast majority of Gazans now displaced and unable to access any aid, hospitals overrun and food running out, the main UN agency there said society was on the verge of a full-blown collapse.

Residents and the Israeli military both reported intensified fighting in both northern areas, where Israel had previously said its troops had largely completed their tasks last month, and in the south where they launched a new assault this week.

Gaza's health ministry reported 350 people killed on Thursday, bringing the death toll from Israel's two-month campaign in Gaza to more than 17,170, with thousands more missing and presumed buried under rubble. More strikes were reported on Friday morning in Khan Younis in the south, the Nusseirat camp in the centre and Gaza City in the north.

Israel launched its campaign to annihilate the Hamas that rules Gaza alleging Hamas killing 1,200 people and seizing more than 240 hostages.

Since then, the vast majority of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes, many forced to flee three or four times, with only the belongings they can carry.

With the fighting now extended across both halves of the Gaza Strip at the same time, residents say it has become almost impossible to find refuge.

Hamas reported the most intense clashes with Israeli forces were taking place in the north in Gaza City's Shejaia district, as well as in the south in Khan Younis, where Israelis reached the heart of the enclave's second-biggest city on Wednesday.

The Israeli military's Arabic-language spokesman posted to social media that troops were operating forcefully against Hamas and terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, especially in the Khan Younis area and the northern Strip.

Reuters journalists in the southern Gaza Strip have seen dead and wounded overrunning the main Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, where there was no room on the floor on Friday for arriving patients sprawled across bloodsmeared tiles.

Reuters was unable to enter other parts of the enclave but reached residents by telephone. With the fighting now in all directions, there was no place left to flee.

US-made weapon used by Israel in airstrikes

An investigation by Amnesty International alleges that the US made weapons guidance system was used in two Israeli airstrikes in Gaza in October that killed 43 civilians, reports CNN.

Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of US foreign assistance since World War II, according to the Congressional Research Service. The US on average gives Israel US$3 billion in military aid per year, and the Biden administration sought an additional US$10.6 billion in military aid in the wake of Hamas’ October 07 attack in Israel.

Fragments of the US-made Joint Direct Attack Munitions guidance system were found in the rubble of destroyed homes in the neighborhood of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.

Israel uses a wide variety of US weapons and munitions, but Amnesty International’s report is one of the first attempts to tie an US-made weapon to a specific attack that left a significant number of civilians dead.

The JDAM is a guidance tail kit that converts existing unguided free-fall bombs into accurate, adverse weather smart munitions, according to the US Air Force.

Amnesty International said its weapons experts and a remote sensing analyst examined satellite imagery and photos of the homes that show the fragments of ordnance recovered from the rubble and the destruction, the report explains. Amnesty’s fieldworkers took the photos.

As a result of these two attacks, 19 children, 14 women, and 10 men were killed.

The human rights organization said it did not find any indication that there were any military objectives at the sites of the airstrikes or that the individuals living in the homes were legitimate military targets.

“The organization found that these air strikes were either direct attacks on civilians or civilian objects or indiscriminate attacks,” the report says, calling for the attacks to be investigated as war crimes.

In a statement to CNN, the Israel Defense Forces called the report flawed, biased and premature, based on baseless assumptions regarding the IDF’s operations.

“The assumption that intelligence regarding the military use of a particular structure does not exist unless revealed is contradictory to any understanding of military activity, and the report uses this flawed assumption to imply equally flawed and biased conclusions regarding the IDF, in line with existing biases and prior problematic work by this organization,” the IDF said.

The statement said that the military regrets any harm caused to civilians or civilian property as a result of its operations, and examines all its operations in order to learn and improve.

Amnesty International, in its report, said that the use of American weapons for such strikes should be an urgent wake-up call to the Biden administration.

“The US-made weapons facilitated the mass killings of extended families,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, according to the report.

The US State Department is reviewing Amnesty International’s report, spokesperson Matt Miller said Wednesday.

“We have made clear in our discussions with Israeli leaders that we are deeply concerned about the protection of civilians in this conflict,” Miller said. “We expect Israel to only target legitimate targets and to adhere to the laws of armed conflict.”

The Pentagon on Tuesday said it too was reviewing the report.

“We are going to continue to consult closely with our Israeli partners on the importance of taking civilian safety into account in conducting their operations,” spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder told journalists.

“The US may share responsibility for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed by Israel with US-supplied weapons, as all states have a duty not to knowingly contribute to internationally wrongful acts by other states,” Amnesty warned.

The human rights organization is urging the US government and other governments to stop transferring arms to Israel that more likely than not will be used to commit or heighten risks of violations of international law.

“A state that continues to supply arms being used to commit violations may share responsibility for these violations,” Amnesty said.

 

Iran warns of terrible days ahead

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian warned of terrible days to come for Israel in a call with his Qatar counterpart.

The two men discussed the war in Gaza. Tehran and Doha have excellent ties; Iran’s foreign minister has traveled to Qatar to meet Hamas leaders over the last two months in the wake of the Hamas attack and massacre of more than 1,200 people in Israel on October 07.

According to Iranian media, Iran's foreign minister discussed the West Bank and Gaza with the Qataris. He also discussed the Zionist aggression that Tehran has slammed numerous times. Iran backs proxies in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen and has sought to inflame the West Bank.

“Condemning the Israeli regime's crimes against women and children in Gaza and the West Bank, the foreign ministers called for an immediate stop to war crimes, genocide, and clear violations of international laws by the Israeli regime through the international community's immediate action,” the Iranian media reports said.

They also repeated calls for humanitarian aid. The foreign ministers also backed the UN secretary-general’s calls for increased action regarding Gaza. “In this telephone conversation, Amir Abdollahian said that the Islamic resistance has so far responded with strength to the aggression of the Israeli regime, and said that with this trend, the coming days will be very terrible for the Israeli regime,” Fars News said.

Iran continued to warn that the region could become more tense and there will be reactions if the war continues. The Islamic Republic has used this threat continually, and has also been responsible for the current tensions and has backed Hamas in its war against Israel.

Iran also helped release Thai hostages from Gaza through talks with Thailand and Hamas, illustrating Tehran’s influence over the Gaza-based terrorist group controlling the coastal enclave. Qatar hosts Hamas leaders and also mediated the hostage deal that led to a pause in fighting on November 24, which ended on December 01.

It is not clear if the Iranian threats regarding “terrible” things are an escalation. The Iran-backed Houthis escalated attacks this week as well as having been additional threats from Syria.

Iranian pro-regime media has highlighted threats to Israel from Syria’s Dara’a province and has also discussed new Iranian-backed attacks on US forces in Syria.

Iran’s Tasnim News also covered the recent Houthi threats against Israel and the missile attack on Wednesday in which Israel shot down a Houthi missile using the Arrow air defense system.

 

United States supporting Israel, accuses Iran

Iran has denounced the United States for its undeniable participation in the war crimes committed by Israel against the Palestinian people. Washington has given Tel Aviv additional weaponry to use in the genocide in the Gaza Strip.

Speaking on Monday at a weekly press conference in Tehran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said that the US has essentially sided with the occupying regime, which has killed thousands of Palestinians to make up for its loss in the war on Gaza, rather than taking a stand to stop the catastrophe.

He also stressed, “The US has a direct and undeniable role in the Zionist regime’s war crimes against the Palestinian people. It is clear that Operation Al-Aqsa Storm was a legitimate and defensive action by the Palestinian nation against the occupiers and that it exposed Israel’s fake claim to enjoy security capability.”

“The new round of attacks started when US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was present at the Zionist regime’s war cabinet... the US has provided new weapons and equipment to the Zionist regime and has filled its hands to continue crimes,” he added. 

Additionally, Kanaani cited remarks made on Saturday by Lloyd Austin, who reiterated that Washington’s commitment to Israel is not negotiable.

Also in his remarks, the top diplomat warned that action against Iran’s interests and security, as well as the country’s military advisors in Syria, will not go unanswered.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced in a statement on Saturday that two of its members, Mohammad Ali Ataee Shoorcheh and Panah Taqizadeh, were killed by the Israeli regime while on an advisory mission.

Speaking briefly about recent Western charges over Iran’s missile program, Kanaani also said certain groups aim to mislead the people and conceal the bitter reality in Palestine by bringing up petty matters and baseless worries.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman also commented on a bipartisan bill approved by the US House of Representatives that would prevent Iran from obtaining US$6 billion in cash that had been unfrozen and moved to Qatari banks a few months ago, saying, “The plan to block Iran’s money needs the approval of the Senate and the signature of the US president. The US government must honor its commitments in the agreement with Iran. We got necessary guarantees in this regard as the US has shown that it is not reliable.” 

Kanaani further emphasized that the Iranian government has access to the funds, saying, “We can use them according to our needs.”

Kanaani also expressed regret that the UN Security Council has succumbed to US pressure and failed to carry out its mandate in relation to the barbaric Israeli attacks against Gaza.

“The United Nations Security Council has shown itself unable to carry out its mandate to protect Palestinian lives and maintain calm in Gaza, which has been subjected to weeks of ruthless Israeli bombings.”

Kanaani also took issue with the US government misusing their hosting of the UN headquarters.

“The US government has practically stood by the occupying Zionist regime. Reports substantiate US has provided Israeli regime with arms in the war on Gaza,” he added.

Kanaani also condemned as an outright lie American claims that the US is not interested in the expansion of the Gaza war.

The US cannot arm the Israeli regime and send its Secretary of State to the Israeli war room in Tel Aviv and then claim to defend civilians, the ministry spokesman pointed out.

Kanaani emphasized Iran’s efforts to stop the Israeli slaughter in Gaza, saying it is the international community’s obligation to defend Palestinians.

“If the Israeli crimes go unpunished, they will pose a threat to humanity.”

GCC Summit in Doha

Yet another meeting of Arab countries is being held today. These countries have failed miserably in stopping Israeli genocide. There are talks and talks but no action. Over 15,000 people, mostly women and children have been killed and killing is going unabated.  

The Gaza conflict and other major developments in the region will figure high at the 44th summit session of the Supreme Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, which will be held in the Qatari capital Doha on Tuesday.

Leaders from the six member states of GCC will attend the summit, set to be held at a time when the region is witnessing Israel’s military aggression on the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip. The leaders will also discuss major international developments.

The 158th preparatory meeting of the GCC foreign ministers held on Sunday finalized the agenda of the summit. Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan led the Saudi delegation that attended the ministerial meeting.

The ministerial meeting was chaired by Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who is also chairman of the current session of the Ministerial Council.

Foreign ministers of the GCC states and GCC Secretary General Jasem Albudaiwi attended the meeting.

The ministers discussed a number of reports regarding the follow-up to the implementation of the decisions of the 43rd summit of the GCC Supreme Council held in Riyadh, as well as memorandums and reports submitted by the ministerial and technical committees and the General Secretariat. The meeting also discussed topics related to dialogues and strategic relations between the GCC countries, as well as with other countries and global blocs, in addition to the regional and international developments taking place in the region.

From the Saudi side, the meeting was attended by Ambassador to Qatar Prince Mansour bin Khalid bin Farhan, Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Rasi, deputy minister of foreign affairs for multilateral international affairs, and Abdul Rahman Al-Daoud, director general of the Office of Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Also, on Sunday, Prince Faisal bin Farhan and his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, co-chaired the first meeting of the Executive Committee of the Saudi-Qatari Coordination Council.

Ruthless Israeli killings in Gaza

Backed by the United States, the indiscriminate Israeli attacks against the civilian population across the entire Gaza Strip continue unabated. But the level of anxiety among the Israeli soldiers, especially in the northern part of the enclave is growing and they are shooting at anything that moves. 

The US administration claims it has pressured Israel to limit the number of civilian casualties in the next phase of the war on Gaza. 

The Israeli military, as instructed by the Israeli cabinet, has brushed the wider concerns of the international community on the rising civilian death toll. 

The regime is not taking into account any caution against the loss of civilian life amid Israeli military is attacking the densely populated southern Gaza Strip and in particular Khan Younis area where Palestinians had been forcefully displaced by the Israeli army. 

In a sign of the anxiety among Israeli ground forces operating in Gaza, they are shooting with lethal force at anything that moves, including the vehicles belonging to Doctors without Borders. 

In a post on social media, one of the passengers who survived the attack

"When we arrived at al-Wahida Street, which is close to our office and guesthouse and Gaza clinic, I saw tanks on the street and snipers on top of the buildings. I was terrified when I saw that the snipers and tanks are pointing at us.” 

The chances of committing massacres have increased as seen in the current war on Gaza, which has entered its 58th day with a civilian death toll surpassing 15,200, 70% being women and children. 

It allows airstrikes on non-military targets and the use of an AI system, which has enabled the Israeli army to carry out its deadliest war on Gaza.

"In one case discussed by the sources, the Israeli military command knowingly approved the killing of hundreds of Palestinian civilians in an attempt to assassinate a single top Hamas military commander," the probe revealed. 

As for the northern Gaza Strip, there was never any regard for civilian life in the first place.

The Palestinian higher education ministry has announced that an Israeli airstrike on Gaza has killed the prominent Palestinian scholar Sufyan Tayeh along with his entire family. 

Tayeh was president of the Islamic University of Gaza and was a leading researcher in physics and applied mathematics. 

In northern Gaza, an airstrike flattened a residential building hosting displaced families in the urban refugee camp of Jabaliya on the outskirts of Gaza City.

Also, in the north, the Palestinian health ministry said, "A violent Zionist bombing on Beit Lahia left dozens of martyrs and injured civilians."

According to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, many people have been injured in another indiscriminate Israeli missile attack that targeted the Jabalia refugee camp in the north of Gaza.

Numerous residential homes have been hit across Gaza, with multiple casualties reported in a strike that flattened a multi-story building near Gaza City.

Israel violated a seven-day truce on Friday morning by resuming its merciless attacks against Palestinian civilians. Hamas said there will be no further exchange of Israeli captives for Palestinians. 

Saleh al Arouri, the deputy Hamas chief, has said there will be no further exchanges until "the war on Gaza is over". 

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Arouri said the remaining hostages are Israeli soldiers and civilian men who served in the Israeli army.

He added that Israeli hostages will not be freed unless there is a ceasefire and all Palestinian prisoners are released.

 

Dilemma of Muslim Americans: Biden or Trump

Muslim American leaders from six states on Saturday vowed to mobilize their communities against President Joe Biden's reelection over his support of Israel's war in Gaza, but they have yet to settle on an alternative 2024 candidate.

The states are among a handful that allowed Biden to win the 2020 election. Opposition from their sizeable Muslim and Arab American communities could complicate the president's path to Electoral College victory next year.

"We don't have two options. We have many options," Jaylani Hussein, director of Minnesota's Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) chapter, said at a press conference in Dearborn, Michigan, when asked about Biden alternatives.

"We're not supporting (former President Donald) Trump," he said, adding that the Muslim community would decide how to interview other candidates.

Hussein has said he was expressing his personal views, not those of CAIR.

Abandon Biden campaign began when Minnesota Muslim Americans demanded Biden call for a ceasefire by October 31, and has spread to Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Florida.

The US and Israeli officials have rebuffed pressure for a permanent halt in fighting, with US Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday echoing Biden saying Israel has a right to defend itself.

Muslim Americans said they did not expect Trump to treat their community any better if reelected but saw denying Biden votes their only means to shape US policy.

It remains to be seen whether Muslim voters would turn against Biden en masse, but small shifts in support could make a difference in states Biden won by narrow margins in 2020.

A recent poll showed Biden's support among Arab Americans has plunged from a comfortable majority in 2020 to 17%.

That could be decisive in a state like Michigan where Biden won by 2.8 percentage points and Arab Americans account for 5 percent of the vote, according to the Arab American Institute.

There are around 25,000 Muslim voters in Wisconsin, a state where Biden won by about 20,000 votes, said Tarek Amin, a doctor representing the state's Muslim community.

"We will change the vote, we will swing it," said Amin.

In Arizona, where Biden won by around 10,500 votes, there are over 25,000 Muslim voters according to the US Immigration Policy Center at the University of California San Diego, said Phoenix pharmacist Hazim Nasaredden.

"We will not stand with a man who has tainted a blue wave with red drops of blood," said Nasaredden.

 

Palestinian Red Crescent thanks Saudi Arabia

The Executive Director of Palestinian Red Crescent Dr. Bashar Murad thanked Saudi Arabia, represented by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief), for its humanitarian role in providing relief to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Dr. Murad explained that there were many violations against hospitals and health centers carried out during the current crisis that the Gaza Strip is going through, in addition to the direct targeting of ambulances.

As a result of these attacks, more than 30 ambulances have been out of service so far, in addition to facing difficulty in transporting casualties, he said.

The executive director indicated that they had received a group of ambulances provided by Saudi Arabia, represented by KSrelief, to support the ambulance fleet in Gaza.

As for the Saudi aid that was sent to the Gaza Strip, which included various food, medical, and shelter materials, Dr. Murad confirmed that they sent it quickly to the neediest areas in the Strip.

He also added that they sent medical materials and supplies provided by the Kingdom to the Ministry of Health and hospitals working in the field to strengthen the health system in the southern regions of the Gaza Strip.

The executive director drew attention to the meetings held in Riyadh between representatives of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and officials of the KSrelief to discuss the urgent needs for relief for the people of the Strip, especially the southern regions, noting that the number of displaced people there exceeded 1 million.

Dr. Murad praised the support provided via land and sea bridges by Saudi Arabia, which was offered through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center.

Who will rule Gaza or speak for Palestinians?

It seems unlikely there will be any answer to the conundrum of who rules Gaza or speaks for the Palestinians for at least several years. The prospect is indeed real that Israel will maintain total security control for an indefinite period, just as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already declared.

According to David Ottaway of Wilson Center, there is uncertainty surrounding the resumption of peace talks, with elections in Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and the United States potentially impacting the situation. The question of who rules Gaza and who speaks for the Palestinians may remain unanswered for several years.

Seldom has the Middle East produced such an unforeseen event as was witnessed on October 7 when Hamas launched its bloody incursion into southern Israel. It had reportedly picked the date quite deliberately in memory of another similar happening fifty years ago — Egypt’s initially successful offensive against occupying Israeli troops in the Sinai Desert that marked the start of the last general Arab-Israeli clash, the Yom Kippur War.

President Biden and his foreign policy team have been pressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to announce his vision. The Israeli leader has so far sidestepped the issue other than to make clear his still-blurry ideas are quite different from those of Biden.

President Biden put forth in a Washington Post opinion piece on November 18 what he called his basic principles for any future Israeli-Palestinian peace talks based on a two-state solution, which, Biden proclaimed is the only way to ensure the long-term security of both the Israeli and Palestinian people.

He also rejected Israeli reoccupation of Gaza or expulsion of Palestinians from there. He called for a revitalized Palestinian Authority (PA) to rule over both Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Netanyahu, on the other hand, has declared Israel will remain in control of Gaza for an indefinite period and said any role for the PA is not possible. He has never supported a two-state solution, and pushed instead for the expansion of Israeli settlements on the West Bank. 

Neither leader has put forth a plan for how peace talks might be relaunched. There’s a good reason. There are far too many unknowns, both known and unknown, in the famous geopolitical lexicon of former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

Most analysts feel safe in predicting Israel will eventually prevail over Hamas militarily if outside pressure does not force it to halt its invasion beforehand.

One major unknown is whether military defeat for Hamas will translate into a political one, as both Israeli and the Biden administration dearly hope. Both have labeled Hamas a terrorist organization, in the US case, as far back as 1997.

However, Hamas’ standing on the Arab street, if not with Arab governments is certain to reach new heights as a result of the first even partial Arab victory over the Israeli military since 1973. 

Israeli and the US efforts to exclude Hamas from the political landscape of Gaza and the West Bank thus risk keeping Palestinians as sharply divided as ever, a divide that has helped sabotage all past Israeli-Palestinian negotiations because of Hamas’ dedication to aborting the peace process and destroying the Israeli state. 

Three critical elections

The fate of Netanyahu is as much a known unknown as that of Hamas. He and his right-wing government are being widely blamed at home for the massive security failure that allowed Hamas to penetrate southern Israel unopposed, massacre 1,200 Israeli civilians and soldiers, and take 240 hostages back to Gaza.

Israeli parties have agreed to postpone the debate over who was responsible until after the war. But another round of Israeli elections seems to be in the offing, making it the sixth since 2019 in a closely divided electorate between secularist and religiously ultra-conservative parties.  

New elections will almost certainly have to be held as well to revitalize the equally discredited PA leadership that has governed the West Bank in partnership with Israeli security forces since shortly after the 1993 Oslo Accords. Its president, Mahmoud Abbas, 88, was first elected for a four-year term in 2005, but he is still in office 18 years later, though widely unpopular among Palestinians.

Hamas won a majority of seats, if not votes, in the Palestinian Legislative Council elections the following year, the results of which neither Israel nor the US were willing to accept. So Abbas’ Fatah Party has ruled over the West Bank ever since, although Hamas seized control of Gaza by force in 2007. 

Yet another set of elections are certain to be held next November in the United States. The results are yet another of Rumsfeld’s known unknowns. Should the likely Republican candidate, former President Donald Trump, emerge victorious, he is unlikely to press whoever leads Israel to push for a two-state solution or object to Israeli indefinite control of Gaza. He was the first US president to recognize hotly contested Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Thus, there are three elections whose outcomes must be known before a political solution to Gaza’s fate, or that of the Palestinians, is likely to be seriously addressed. 

How peace negotiations might be revived after fifteen years in limbo is anyone’s guess. One proposal is to hold a second international conference similar to the one in 1991 in Madrid, Spain that opened the way for the Oslo Accords that led to the establishment of the Palestinian Authority. It was co-sponsored by the US and the Soviet Union, which is obviously unlikely this time after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Could the US host yet another Camp David summit on its own? The Biden administration, which has backed Israel’s war to crush Hamas to the hilt, will likely be viewed as too biased to serve as a host by the international community. In addition, Biden will have his hands full with an uphill re-election campaign.

This leaves the United Nations as one possibility. Another is a neutral Scandinavian country such as Norway, which hosted secret Israeli-Palestinian talks that produced the Oslo Accords.

The question of Hamas’ participation looms as a major stumbling block, if indeed; it shows any interest in joining a revived peace process. At the 1991 Madrid conference before the PA existed, the thorny question of Palestinian representation was resolved by including officials from the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the Jordanian delegation. 

It is doubtful that either Israel or the US would agree to a similar formula to allow Hamas even an indirect presence at the peace table, at least not until it recognized the existence of Israel and renounced terrorism. This is what PLO Chairman Yaser Arafat was obliged to do before US and Israeli leaders would allow him into the peace process.

Biden is proposing that the PA replace Hamas in Gaza and thus become the voice for all Palestinians. But PA President Abbas bluntly told US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken at their meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah on November 5 that this would only be possible within the framework of a comprehensive political solution. 

 

Israel resumes Gaza bombing

Israel said on Friday its fighter jets had bombed the Gaza Strip, in the clearest sign yet the war has resumed with full force after a week-long truce. The announcement came shortly after the ceasefire expired. Minutes after the truce expired, an AFP journalist on the scene said Israeli airstrikes and artillery fire hit Gaza City.

Six Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air raid on Rafah, in southern Gaza, according to Gaza's health ministry. Two children were killed in air raids on Gaza City, a doctor at Ahli Arab hospital told AFP.

The Palestinian group nevertheless said it was ready to extend the truce in Gaza, after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for the pause to continue.

Based on internal documents, the New York Times claimed on Friday Israeli officials had obtained Hamas' plan more than a year in advance to carry out an unprecedented attack against Israel, but judged this scenario unrealistic.
The Hamas-controlled Government Media Office has blamed the United States and the international community for the resumption of fighting in Gaza after a week-long truce between Israel and Hamas broke down Friday.

The ministry said that America and the international community bears responsibility for the crimes of the Israeli occupation and the continuation of the brutal war against civilians, children and women in the Gaza Strip.

The statement added that Palestinians had a right to defend themselves by all means and to establish a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

The Israeli military resumed fighting in Gaza after the militant group broke the outline of the truce, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement released from his office Friday.

Hamas didn’t respect its obligation to release today all the abducted women and launched rockets toward the citizens of Israel, Netanyahu said.

With the return of the combat mission, the government of Israel is obliged to accomplish the targets of the fighting, according to the prime minister.

He said those targets are to release the hostages, to liquidate Hamas and to ensure the citizens of Israel are never again threatened by an attack from Gaza.

"What Israel did not achieve during the fifty days before the truce, it will not achieve by continuing its aggression after the truce," Ezzat El Rashq, a member of the Hamas political bureau, said on the group's web site.

Palestinian media and Gaza's interior ministry reported Israeli air and artillery strikes across the enclave after the truce expired, including in Rafah, near the border with Egypt.

In Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, a Reuters witness said he could hear heavy shelling and see smoke rising in the east of the town. People were fleeing the area to camps in the west of Khan Younis for cover, he added.

Qatar and Egypt had been making intensive efforts to extend the truce following the exchange on Thursday of the latest batch of eight hostages and 30 Palestinian prisoners.Thursday's releases brought the totals freed during the truce to 105 hostages and 240 Palestinian prisoners.

One of Qatar's lead negotiators, career diplomat Abdullah Al Sulaiti, who helped broker the truce through marathon shuttle negotiations, acknowledged in a recent Reuters interview the uncertain odds of keeping the guns silent.

"At the beginning I thought achieving an agreement would be the most difficult step," he said in an article that detailed the behind-the-scenes efforts for the first time. "I've discovered that sustaining the agreement itself is equally challenging."