United States refuses to call for a ceasefire

The United States, stressing the right of Israel to defend itself, has so far refused to call for a ceasefire or place limitations on weapons it has shipped to the country should civilians continue to bear the brunt of the Israeli strikes.

A series of Israeli airstrikes hit the densely packed Jabaliya refugee camp in Gaza Tuesday in what Israel said was an attempt to take out a senior Hamas commander in the area.

At least six Israeli airstrikes hit residential dwellings in the heart of the refugee camp on the outskirts of Gaza City, The Associated Press reported, citing the Hamas-run Interior Ministry.

Gaza officials told Reuters that 50 Palestinians were killed and 150 more wounded, with footage from the scene showing people searching through gutted concrete apartment blocks for loved ones.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Tuesday claimed the airstrikes killed Ibrahim Biari, the commander for Hamas’s Central Jabaliya Battalion, along with neutralizing an estimated 50 other terrorists, a claim that Hamas has pushed back on.

Asked about the Israeli attack on the Jabalya camp late Tuesday, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said he could not speak to individual Israeli strikes, but that the US believes taking civilian safety into account is both a moral and a strategic obligation.

Defense officials do care about civilian casualties, and we’ve made it both clear publicly and privately about our concern for the protection of innocent life and the respect for the law of war, he told reporters.

Ryder also said that the Israeli military is not deliberately targeting civilians, unlike Hamas, which is creating this extra challenge for Israel as they conduct their operations.

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday pressed IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Richard Hecht on why Israel’s military moved forward with the attacks knowing there were refugees and innocent civilians in the area.

“This is the tragedy of war, Wolf,” Hecht responded. “I mean, we as you know, we’ve been saying for days — move south. The civilians, who are not involved, please move south.”

Israeli forces stepped up their military incursion into northern Gaza over the weekend, attacking Hamas militants and infrastructure north of Gaza City. IDF claimed it also has intensified air and naval strikes as part of its ramped up counteroffensive.

At least 8,525 Palestinians have died in the violence in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. More than 21,500 civilians have been wounded since October 07, the ministry reported, pushing hospitals to the brink of collapse.

 

 

Isolating Iran No Longer Possible

The US President Joe Biden is convinced that one of the reasons Hamas launched the attack on Israel was the announcement during the G-20 Summit in New Delhi on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor .

Biden has been telling so many lies to reclaim its leadership role in the Muslim Middle East. The two most compelling realities rejecting the American leadership are: one, a strong united regional solidarity cutting across sectarian divides to seek a settlement on Palestine, like at no time before, and, two, the Saudi-Iranian rapprochement. 

The latest developments involving Hamas and Israel undermined the US efforts to persuade Saudi Arabia to recognize Israel. No doubt, the Saudi stance on the Palestine problem has hardened.

Do these words sound as if Biden is preparing for a war with Iran? For the first time, perhaps, there is a ray of hope that the US will no longer work around the Palestine problem. The bottom line, as the deliberations at the UN Security Council also testify, is that all responsible powers understand that the Middle East continues to be the centre of gravity in world politics and a conflagration in the region could easily turn into a world war. And none of the big powers wants such an apocalyptic outcome. 

That said, while the US still has unrivalled power in the Middle East, its influence has diminished, as new realities emerged which include:

Israel has grown more powerful militarily and economically vis-a-vis Palestinians, but no longer enjoys regional dominance. 

Saudi Arabia and the UAE, two dominant powers in the Middle East, are increasingly asserting their own interests. 

China, although a relatively new player, is no longer confining itself to economic diplomacy. 

US has lost the capacity to leverage the world oil market, as Russia works closely with Saudi Arabia within the ambit of OPEC Plus to calibrate oil production level and prices. 

Consequently, petrodollar is weakening.  

The Abraham Accords have been shelved practically. 

The Arab-Israeli conflict has assumed new dimensions in the recent years, thanks to the ascendance of the axis of resistance, which require new postures and operational thinking on the part of the US. 

Israeli politics has swung sharply to extreme right. 

The global environment is highly complicated; the peace process can no longer be under US mentorship.

Russia hosted a trilateral meeting in Moscow with Iran’s deputy foreign minister  and a Hamas delegation. Later, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who is also Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa, announced that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will soon arrive on an official visit to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.  

In an all-out war with Iran, the US will take heavy casualties and the state of Israel may face destruction.

Iran may opt for nuclear deterrent capability. It is a near-certainty that a US-Iran war will turn into a world war. Clearly, war is not an option. 

There is high risk, therefore, in an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza. If Israel gets bogged down in Gaza, which by no means cannot be ruled out, there is a high possibility that Hezbollah may open a second front. And that, in turn, can trigger a chain reaction that may spin out of control. There is a danger if a ceasefire is not agreed upon early enough in the conflict, the repercussions could be very serious.

 

Hezbollah surprises Israeli regime again

Hezbollah has taken an iron fist approach to defend Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Lately, it has targeted Israeli military installations, troops and destroyed a sophisticated spying network. 

Since the Palestinian resistance launched the al-Aqsa Storm Operation, hostilities have gradually flared up between Hezbollah and Israeli forces on the Lebanese border with occupied Palestine. 

The Lebanese organization, which forced the Israeli occupation out of Lebanon in the year 2000 and defeated the regime again when it launched a war on Lebanon in July 2006, is now engaging the regime again militarily. 

Experts believe events on the border are not exactly tit-for-tat exchanges, but far from a full-blown-out war. 

The exchange of fire has inflicted losses and casualties on both sides. 

On Monday, Israeli media reported that another regime’s soldier has been killed, and three others have been injured after their tank was overturned in the north, on the border with Lebanon. 

Hezbollah announced the martyrdom of Mohammad Najib Halawi from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila. 

It's been this way for some two weeks now.

Hezbollah is a formidable force in Lebanon, and its impressive military capabilities have been on show once again. 

On Friday, the organization published a video detailing the functions of Israel's technical and spying equipment in 42 locations on the border, how they operate and the security threat they pose to all Lebanese people, across all of Lebanon and its borders with other Arab countries. 

The Israeli equipment includes day and night thermal monitoring and surveillance cameras, different types of radar towers, embedded systems, and naval monitoring systems. 

The Israeli intelligence systems that contact traitors in Lebanon are also shown in the video as well as sophisticated spying network technology, all of which are controlled by Israeli military operators far away from the border. 
The four-minute clip, which begins with a narration stating "These are not defensive positions that the Zionist entity portrays them to be", concludes with Hezbollah missiles, rockets and gunfire either destroying the Israeli equipment or damaging them to the extent they are out of service. 

At one point, a precision-guided missile is shown being fired toward a radar tower with a direct hit.  

Hezbollah says the damage it inflicted in destroying the equipment is a huge blow to the Israeli spying and monitoring network in Lebanon. 

Hezbollah says the calculated attacks go a long way to serving Lebanon's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and its people. 

The organization has also been targeting Israeli military vehicles, tanks, and troops in response to Israeli attacks on Southern Lebanon. 

The men it has lost are being labeled as the martyrs on the path to al-Quds, in reference to the Israeli-occupied Palestinian city that hosts the holy al-Aqsa Mosque, also known as Jerusalem. 

Israeli occupation forces continue to target forests in various areas of the Lebanese border with incendiary shells, which has led to the outbreak of a number of fires.

On Monday, the occupation regime acknowledged the death of a first sergeant in the Israeli army on the northern front, announcing that he was killed as a result of another tank being hit in the area. 

On Sunday, Hezbollah announced that it had targeted points of the Israeli army on the Lebanon-occupied Palestine border.

Hezbollah confirmed in a statement that after careful follow-up and monitoring its forces located an Israeli infantry force in the al-Malikiyah area and its surroundings (in southern Lebanon), which was immediately targeted with appropriate weapons, inflicting confirmed casualties.

In a separate statement, the group said that it had targeted the al-Samaqa area in the occupied Lebanese Sheba'a farms with appropriate weapons that led to direct hits on Israeli forces.

The group also announced that its forces targeted an Israeli drone with a surface-to-air missile, hitting it directly, and it was spotted within eyesight as it fell into the occupied Palestinian territories.

Reports suggest countries around the world, in particular the West and the United States at the forefront, have been trying their best diplomatic efforts to prevent the merciless Israeli war on Gaza from spilling over to Lebanon or elsewhere in the region. 

The regime's mass killing of children in Gaza is making that very difficult. 

Military bases belonging to the illegal American presence in Iraq and Syria have come under attack dozens of times by local forces already. 

Experts have said the silence of the Hezbollah leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, since Hamas staged the October 07 Storm operation, has frightened the Israeli regime, as it remains clueless whether another front will open in the north. 

The occupation regime may not have to wait too much longer. 

The Hezbollah secretary-general will deliver a speech on Friday, November 3, 2023, at 15:00 local time, during a ceremony honoring the martyrs on the path to al-Quds.

It is a widely anticipated speech in which the Hezbollah chief will no doubt address his party's position on the war on Gaza as well as the devastating Israeli bombardment on the completely blockaded coastal enclave.

 

United States unveils bill to fund Israel

According to Reuters, the US House of Representatives Republicans on Monday introduced a plan to provide US$14.3 billion in aid to Israel by cutting funding for the Internal Revenue Service, setting up a showdown with Democrats who control the Senate.

In one of the first major policy actions under new House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Republicans unveiled a standalone supplemental spending bill only for Israel, despite Democratic President Joe Biden's request for a US$106 billion package that would include aid for Israel, Ukraine and border security.

Johnson, who voted against aid for Ukraine before he was elected House speaker last week, had said he wanted aid to Israel and Ukraine to be handled separately. He has said he wants more accountability for money that has been sent to the Kyiv government as it fights Russian invaders.

"Israel is a separate matter," Johnson said in an interview on Fox News last week, describing his desire to bifurcate the Ukraine and Israel funding issues.

Johnson has said bolstering support for Israel should top the US national security agenda in the aftermath of the October 07 attack by Hamas militants that killed more than 1,400 people and saw more than 200 others taken hostage.

Democrats accused Republicans of stalling Congress' ability to help Israel by introducing a partisan bill.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre issued a statement accusing Republicans of politicizing national security and calling their bill a non-starter. To become law, the measure would need to pass the House and the Senate and be signed by President Biden

"House Republicans are setting a dangerous precedent by suggesting that protecting national security or responding to natural disasters is contingent upon cuts to other programs," Representative Rosa DeLauro, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said in a statement.

The House Rules Committee is expected to consider the Republican Israel bill on Wednesday.

Trust me, western media is dishonest

I started this blog in June 2012 and the focus has remained on Geopolitics in South Asia and MENA. Over the years my conviction has got stronger that western media is dishonest. Since media is supported by conglomerates, especially ‘Military Complexes’ the focus remains on creating conflicts that can lead to proxy wars and ultimately sale of arms. Referring to two mantras: Presence of Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan and Iraq building weapons of mass destruction (WMD) may help the readers understand my assertion.

I am listing titles of some of my blogs and their links with a request o readers to spend a few minutes in reading these blogs and then decide does the western media publishes/ airs real stories or these are tweaked to achieve their ultimate objective of selling lethal arms to facilitate their military complexes working at the best capacity utilization.

To read details click the following links

Ten dumbest things propagandists want people to believe

https://shkazmipk.blogspot.com/2023/10/ten-dumbest-things-propagandists-want.html

Dishonest western media not reporting correct situation of oil market

https://shkazmipk.blogspot.com/2022/07/dishonest-western-media-not-reporting.html

Media in United States in the grip of intelligence agents

https://shkazmipk.blogspot.com/2019/10/media-in-united-states-in-grip-of.html

Time to mend Saudi-Iranian relationship

https://shkazmipk.blogspot.com/2019/08/time-to-mend-saudi-iranian-relationship.html

Trump acts touching insanity

https://shkazmipk.blogspot.com/2019/06/trump-acts-touching-insanity.html

As world faces Armageddon, west seems leaderless

https://shkazmipk.blogspot.com/2019/06/as-world-faces-armageddon-western-world.html

Western Media is Key to Syria Deception

https://shkazmipk.blogspot.com/2019/05/western-media-is-key-to-syria-deception.html

Syria planning another chemical attack, another hoax call by the US

https://shkazmipk.blogspot.com/2017/06/syria-planning-another-chemical-attack.html

Anti Iran stance of western media

https://shkazmipk.blogspot.com/2017/01/anti-iran-stance-of-western-media.html

What are the motives behind alleging Russia of hacking US election?

https://shkazmipk.blogspot.com/2016/12/what-are-motives-behind-alleging-russia.html

The Long History of Lies about Iran

https://shkazmipk.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-long-history-of-lies-about-iran.html

 

Need to stop violence by West Bank settlers

The Israeli government is supportive of these attacks and does nothing to stop this violence.

With international focus on the horrors of Israel's assault on Gaza, 30 Israeli human rights and anti-occupation organizations on Sunday aimed to draw attention to a surge in settler violence against Palestinians in the illegally occupied West Bank.

The coalition of groups—including B'Tselem, Breaking the Silence, and the Israeli arms of Amnesty International and Physicians for Human Rights—released a joint statement calling on the international community to act urgently to stop the state-backed wave of settler violence which has led, and is leading to, the forcible transfer of Palestinian communities in the West Bank.

In retaliation for a Hamas-led attack earlier this month—in which over 1,400 Israelis were killed and around 200 others were taken hostage —Israel has waged what some legal scholars are calling a genocidal  war, killing more than 8,000 people in Gaza.

"Settlers have been exploiting the lack of public attention to the West Bank, as well as the general atmosphere of rage against Palestinians, to escalate their campaign of violent attacks in an attempt to forcibly transfer Palestinian communities," the coalition noted.

"During this period, no fewer than 13 herding communities have been displaced. Many more are in danger of being forced to flee in the coming days if immediate action is not taken."

"Palestinian farmers are particularly vulnerable at this time, during the annual olive harvest season, because if they are unable to pick their olives they will lose a year's income," the groups explained.

"Lately Bilal Muhammed Saleh from the village of As-Sawiya south of Nablus was murdered while tending to his olive trees. He was the seventh Palestinian to have been killed by settlers since the current war began."

The Palestinian Health Ministry said Saturday that 111 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed since October 07.

Jewish settlers have recently tried to scare Palestinians into fleeing the West Bank by displaying dolls covered in blood or a substance meant to mimic it and distributing leaflets with messages like "Run to Jordan before we kill our enemies and expel you from our Holy Land, promised to us by God."

The coalition said Sunday, “Unfortunately the Israeli government is supportive of these attacks and does nothing to stop this violence. On the contrary: government ministers and other officials are backing the violence and in many cases the military is present or even participates in the violence, including in incidents where settlers have killed Palestinians."

Over the past three weeks, Israeli forces fatal violence against Palestinians in the West Bank has included raids and an airstrike on a mosque in the densely populated Jenin refugee camp.

"Moreover, since the war has begun there has been a growing number of incidents in which violent settlers have been documented attacking nearby Palestinian communities while wearing military uniform and using government-issued weapons," the coalition continued. "With grave concern and with a clear understanding of the political landscape, we recognize that the only way to stop this forcible transfer in the West Bank is a clear, strong, and direct intervention by the international community."

In response to the statement, Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at the US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), said on social media that the "world must act."

Meanwhile, in Gaza, Israeli forces have moved to a second stage of the war with ground operations, despite global demands for a cease-fire—though notably not from the US government, which provides Israel with billions of dollars in annual military support.

"Israel's major ground offensive in Gaza, following weeks of bombardment that have reduced large parts of neighborhoods to rubble, raises grave concerns for the safety of all civilians caught in the fighting," HRW executive director Tirana Hassan said in a statement Sunday. "Thousands of children and other civilians have already been killed."

"Palestinian armed groups are continuing to indiscriminately launch rockets at Israeli communities," she added. "All civilians, including the many who cannot or do not want to leave their homes in northern Gaza, retain their protections under the laws of war against deliberate, indiscriminate, or disproportionate attacks."

Over objections from Israel and the United States, the U.N. General Assembly on Friday adopted a nonbinding resolution demanding that "all parties immediately and fully comply with their obligations under international law," and calling for "an immediate, durable, and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities."

Iran votes in favor of Arab-drafted resolution

The Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York has defended its vote in favor of the Arab-drafted resolution on the situation in Palestine, saying any vote otherwise would have played into the hands of the Israeli regime. 

The resolution in question was passed overwhelmingly at the UN General Assembly on Friday, with 120 countries voting in favor, 14 voting against, and 45 abstaining.

The resolution called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the cessation of hostilities in Gaza.

Iran’s UN mission said that the resolution was proposed by the Arab League, and its text had not even been put into debate at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, adding that the Islamic Republic did not approve of some parts of the resolution as they were in conflict with Iran’s principled and definite policies towards Palestine, according to IRNA.

Iran voted in favor of the resolution, because the Zionist regime and its allies were attempting to portray the October 07 resistance operation as a terrorist act, the mission said in reference to the Operation Al-Aqsa Storm that Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas launched against Israeli positions from the Gaza Strip.

That attempt was foiled through strong efforts by Islamic nations and a number of other states, the Iranian mission said, adding that the Zionist regime and its allies were also trying to create division among countries so that the resolution was approved with the least number of votes.

Considering all these, the mission said, any Iranian vote other than a positive one would have been playing into the hands of the Zionist regime and its supporters, IRNA reported.