Iranian general who vowed to ‘see dead bodies of Americans all over the Middle East’ possibly killed in Israeli airstrike

https://x.com/nypost/status/1842997274009374769

https://nypost.com/2024/10/06/world...ani-possibly-killed-in-israeli-airstrike

Scum.

Smoke bomb thrown at Amsterdam memorial of Hamas assault; Arrests at Pro-Palestinian rally

https://nltimes.nl/2024/10/07/smoke...as-assault-arrests-pro-palestinian-rally

terrorists -- still standing still firing
Sirens sounded in central Israel after Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthis launch rockets

From: ABC News October 8, 2024
While Israelis mourned, the IDF was fighting on multi-fronts

Monday may have been spent commemorating those killed or taken hostage last October 7, but reminders of a war in full flight were everywhere.

While civilians paused to remember those lost in the Hamas attacks, the IDF didn’t stop, carrying out heavy fighting on multi-fronts.

Back in Israel, air sirens sounded several times across the day as rockets were fired from Gaza and Lebanon and a surface-to-surface missile from Yemen was intercepted by the Iron Dome later in the day — a reminder that Israel is still in the midst of an expanding war.

IDF said on Monday that sirens sounded in central Israel after several projectile launches were identified, crossing into Israeli territory,
1. missiles fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon.
2. projectiles had also been fired by Hamas from Gaza.
3. and a surface-to-surface missile fired by Houthis from Yemen

Hezbollah later confirmed it had targeted a military intelligence unit in suburbs of Tel Aviv.
"A missile launch operation [was carried out on] the Glilot base of the military intelligence unit 8200 located in the suburbs of Tel Aviv," the group said in a statement.

The Israeli Air Force said that following the alerts in central Israel, five launches were detected that crossed from Lebanon and "some of the projectiles were intercepted by the IAF", in a post on social media platform X.

They said that the rest "fell into an open area" There were no immediate reports of damage or injury.

law-abiding citizens are sick and tired of this minority and their daily disruptive and violent protests -- reinforces their vile mentality, insensitivity smoke bombing the memorial for the terrorist massacre victims, on the first anniversary too

They have been protesting the whole year
Yet they couldn't even let the Israelis and the World, mourn October 7 in peace Just one day of the 365

They think such malicious acts advance whatever their cause is
and not rocket science that pro-Palestinian always violent pro-Israeli not

A lawyer and researcher with the Jewish peak body, Simone Abel, claimed many people attending pro-Palestine demonstrations were engaged in antisemitic behaviour and questioned whether they were really concerned about civilian casualties in Gaza, where more than 40,000 people have been killed and at least 101,000 wounded by Israel’s military since October 7, 2023

“The 40,000 is a Hamas figure,” Ryvchin claimed. “Before citing 40,000 you need to understand that we’re dealing with 18,000 to 20,000 Hamas fighters.”

The number of casualties suffered by people in Gaza is mostly sourced from hospital statistics produced by the Hamas-controlled health ministry, but are accepted as broadly accurate by the World Health Organisation and the United Nations

Yes freedom of speech and to protest (for peace) is important, but to blame Jews on 7 October is pure Antisemitism or Jew-hatred.
They condone the terrorist attack by Hamas. That is the same as supporting Al-Qaeda on September 11.

Sure thing but freedom of speech comes with responsibilities and obligations
freedom of speech and to protest (for peace) is a privilege and right, in the Western countries

These pro-Palestinian protesters will not be able to demonstrate / protest in their pro non-western countries Yet.... among others,
1. they abuse this privilege and right
2. they bite the hand that feeds them
3. their daily disruptive and violent protests the whole year
4. their vile mentality, insensitive acts, in respect of the terrorist massacre victims, on the first anniversary too
5. they think such malicious acts advance whatever their cause is -- it is off-putting
6. they engage in antisemitic behaviour, in Israel ally countries

I rest my case

also haven't seen any of the 50odd Muslim countries offering refuge and taking in any Palestinians nor now Lebanese -- wonder why!
They all shut their borders real quick and keep them shut

Israel's winning from above, as Hezbollah makes a major strategic mistake below
ABC Australia by global affairs editor John Lyons in Beirut 08 October 2024

• The war in Lebanon is asymmetric — Israel's winning from above, as Hezbollah makes a major strategic mistake below

One thing you notice upon arriving in Beirut is the ever-present sound of Israeli drones

One of the first things, I saw when I walked out of Beirut airport recently was a drone hovering above the airport — I could see it glinting in the late-afternoon sun

This means Israeli army officers sitting in Tel Aviv or Haifa can watch every plane arriving and taking off from Beirut airport. With the extraordinary capability of the cameras on these drones, they can study the identities of every person walking from the terminal

They can use facial recognition to try to spot anybody of interest arriving in Beirut
And if it's a senior Iranian or Hezbollah person, they could assassinate that person before they have even had a chance, to put their luggage into a car


Both sides learnt lessons from the brutal 34-day war of 2006 and have been preparing for this new confrontation

Hezbollah learnt that,
1. for all Israel's US-provided weapons and funding, it was not good at fighting a guerilla war
2. amid Hezbollah's home terrain -- the mountains, caves and tunnels of southern Lebanon, the IDF was vulnerable
3. even Israel's own official inquiry into its performance in that war, the Winograd commission, found that Israel performed badly

The Israeli Defense Forces learnt that,
1. it didn't matter how much it trained, southern Lebanon was the home of Hezbollah fighters who knew every metre of terrain
2. and could lie in wait for Israeli soldiers
3. It was a quagmire waiting to happen

What the past three weeks of this new war have shown is that Israel learnt more significantly from 2006 than did Hezbollah

• how does Israel see its role in this neighbourhood in years to come?

But Israel needs to ask itself a longer term question:
— having reduced Gaza to essentially an unliveable enclave, destroyed significant parts of Beirut and southern Lebanon, displaced 1.2 million Lebanese and now on the verge of a war with Iran,

Israel's winning from above, as Hezbollah makes a major strategic mistake below
ABC Australia by global affairs editor John Lyons in Beirut 08 October 2024

The war in Lebanon is asymmetric — Israel's winning from above, as Hezbollah makes a major strategic mistake below

• Hezbollah's strategic mistake

This time Israel has not fallen into the trap of a ground war set by Hezbollah
Fighting Hezbollah in southern Lebanon is much more difficult than fighting Hamas in Gaza still "undefeated" "unconquered" ONE year on

Hezbollah has made a major strategic mistake assuming that Israel would do the same thing again — send large numbers of ground troops into southern Lebanon to try to destroy Hezbollah missile launching pads, weapons storage facilities and tunnels

The death of eight Israeli soldiers last week highlighted again that fighting Hezbollah with ground troops on their terms is a losing proposition for Israel

Hezbollah has a military advantage in guerilla warfare in southern Lebanon which is why Israeli soldiers are making only short-term incursions into Lebanon

It appears the Israeli soldiers are engaging in multi-pronged attacks:
1. firstly, they make aerial attacks on an area they want to push into, then pound the area with artillery
2. the combination of these two, forces Hezbollah fighters to retreat from the area
3. then once Hezbollah fighters have left in the face of this aerial assault, Israeli ground troops move into the area
4. then IDF try to find and destroy what their intelligence has indicated are Hezbollah weapons storages and tunnels
5. once they have destroyed these weapons, the Israeli army are quickly retreating to Israel
6. thus minimising their exposure to Hezbollah attacks and ambushes

• No defence against Israel's drones

Along with this rapid incursion approach, Israel is using one of its clear advantages: complete aerial dominance

Hezbollah has no air capability — it has no jets, few land-to-air missiles to shoot down Israeli jets and no apparent weapons to shoot down Israeli drones

Right now, Israel is using drones to destroy the leadership of Hezbollah. They have killed as many as 25 of Hezbollah's senior command

All of this has wreaked chaos on Hezbollah:
To begin with, Israel's use of explosive devices in pagers killed some of Hezbollah's senior command
This has made it almost impossible for Hezbollah's military command to communicate

Now, Israel is picking off one Hezbollah leader or weapons facility, after another
At nights here, you hear the constant low-level hum of drones

Sometimes, when it appears two or three drones hover over a target, the sound reaches a crescendo
That usually means that Israel has decided on a target — a massive explosion often follows

Against this, Hezbollah has no defence
It is unable to shoot down any of these drones which are therefore presenting a round-the-clock threat

Israel's winning from above, as Hezbollah makes a major strategic mistake below
ABC Australia by global affairs editor John Lyons in Beirut 08 October 2024

The war in Lebanon is asymmetric — Israel's winning from above, as Hezbollah makes a major strategic mistake below

• Netanyahu's power grows

Added to this is the political element underwriting all of this
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now all-powerful, perhaps the most powerful and emboldened Israeli leader ever

• Israel's "self defence"

The view in Israel is that given the atrocities Hamas committed on, a year ago today that Israel can cite that as authority to do whatever it wants in the name of "self defence"

Perhaps the most common phrase among many world leaders wanting to support Israel at the moment is that "Israel has a right to self defence"

But Israel and these leaders, are certainly taking "self defence" to a new level and well beyond the borders of Israel — in recent days Israel has been bombing Gaza, the West Bank, southern Lebanon, northern Lebanon, the Bek'aa Valley, parts of central Beirut and the southern suburbs of Lebanon

Israel has ordered people from about 135 towns in Lebanon to evacuate

Added to this list may soon be Iran — many people in Israel and the Arab world expect Israel will respond shortly to Iran's missile attack on Israel last week with a direct attack on Iran

• Hezbollah's new leader 'lost contact'

Another crisis for Hezbollah is that its leadership is uncertain — Hassan Nasrallah had towered over Hezbollah, building it from a Shia militia into the strongest non-state army in the world

After Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli air strike, Hashem Safieddine emerged as the likely successor

Within two days Safieddine, too, was targeted by Israel in another air strike
Now Safieddine's missing — Hezbollah says it has "lost contact" with him

Safieddine may well be dead — perhaps he's buried under rubble. Perhaps Hezbollah knows,
1. perhaps Safieddine is dead and Hezbollah does not want to admit that, at a time when they are suffering so many losses or
2. perhaps Safieddine is alive but does not want Israel to know that so he doesn't continue to be hunted

Rarely has the world seen such a sustained bombing campaign as Israel is executing now

And Netanyahu knows that the major supplier of the bombs, the United States, may give lip service to the need for moderation or a ceasefire but will not cut supplies of bombs

Israel has military supremacy in the Middle East at the moment and clearly wants to push ahead with its attacks as it senses that its enemies are on the run

Emirates cancels all flights to and from Iran

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/emirates-cancels-all-flights-to-and-from-iran/

From: CNN October 8, 2024

Hezbollah supports efforts aimed at achieving a ceasefire in Lebanon, its top official said on Tuesday, marking the first time the group has publicly endorsed a truce and not conditioned it to stopping the war in Gaza.

“We support the political efforts led by (Parliament Speaker Nabih) Berri under the banner of achieving a ceasefire.
Once the ceasefire is firmly established and diplomacy can reach it, all other details will be discussed and decisions will be made collaboratively,” Deputy Secretery General Naim Qassem said.

in his speech marking the first anniversary of Hezbollah’s involvement in the war, Qassem did not mention a Gaza ceasefire as a condition for achieving one in Lebanon.

It was Qassem’s second speech since Israel assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah late last month.

Israel has since been conducting limited ground incursions into southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah, which has continued to fire rockets into northern Israel.

Despite the nod to ceasefire talks, much of Qassem’s speech on Tuesday carried a defiant tone, emphasizing Hezbollah’s readiness and capability to continue its fight against Israel. “If the enemy continues its war, then the battlefield will be decisive, and the battlefield belongs to us” he said.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib told CNN last week that Nasrallah had agreed to a temporary ceasefire that was called for by US President Joe Biden, his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and other allies during last month’s UN General Assembly. Soon after, he was assassinated by Israel.

Tzipi Hotovely, the Israeli ambassador to the UK, said in an interview with Sky News on Sunday that Nasrallah hadn’t agreed to a ceasefire and called Bou Habib’s claim “ridiculous.”

terrorists -- still standing still firing

Hezbollah leader says more Israelis will be displaced as the militants extend their rocket fire

Hezbollah launched a large barrage of rockets toward the Israeli cities of Haifa and Kiryat, one of the largest on the city since the start of the war.

The rockets were fired from Lebanon in two separate barrages, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

While numerous rockets were intercepted or fell in open areas, according to the military, at least two buildings in Kiryat Yam and Kiryat Motzkin were directly hit, it said.

Our Western way of living, values eroded and disappearing

Our Governments bending over backwards for these minority radicals who have taken over and have scant respect for even our law enforcement

It's also a bizar mix of protesters from peace activists, to climate protesters to college students to Lhbtq-ers to muslim extremists and also a lot of Jews. LOL

India’s approach to Israel
The Diplomat by Liyaqat Nazir 07 October 2024

Extracts:

• one year in, India’s Approach to the Gaza War Reflects a Wider Foreign Policy Change

India’s tilt toward Israel didn’t happen on October 7, 2023 It reflects a policy shift nearly a decade in the making, in line with West Asia’s changing geopolitics, the region, in which Israel is perhaps more entrenched now than ever in its history as a modern state

• India’s Response to the Gaza War

The tone for India’s initial response to the war was set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tweet immediately after Hamas’ brutal attacks, in which Modi,The prime minister’s tweet was largely seen as a categorical tilt toward Israel although it’s notable India has avoided a similar statement of support since

During a press briefing on October 12, 2023, the Ministry of External Affairs’ official spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi,

• India's Arms export to Israel

The most unprecedented move in the context of the current Gaza war is that the Indian government has resisted calls from civil society organizations, human rights activists and former bureaucrats to stop some Indian companies from exporting arms to Israel, with the weapons allegedly being used in Gaza

Some analysts see this as complicity in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, the part of some Indian firms

The Supreme Court of India refused to entertain a lawsuit from a civil rights organization seeking to stop arms exports to Israel, saying this was a determination for the government to make

• Palestinian cause

There has been some public outcry and also protests from India’s parliamentary opposition about the Modi government’s stances on the current Israel-Gaza war and alleged changes in India’s traditional support to the Palestinian cause

However, many of these criticisms were laid to rest earlier this year in the Parliament of India by External Affairs Minister
Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. In an answer to a question, Jaishankar,Jaishankar also informed the Parliament,
In many subsequent public statements, Jaishankar has asserted the necessity of the two-state solution to end the conflict

This transformation in India’s approach toward the Israel-Palestine issue or the wider West Asian region didn’t come about overnight or on October 7, 2023

An important turning point that marked the beginning of the change of attitude toward the region was May 2014 when the Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power

India’s approach to Israel
The Diplomat by Liyaqat Nazir 07 October 2024

Extracts:

• India Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi: An Evolving West Asia Strategy Amid Shifting Geopolitical Tides

India has centuries of historical, cultural and trade ties with the West Asian region and established formal diplomatic relations with all countries in the region decades ago

But an official West Asia policy was formulated only under the Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government
The policy sought to establish enduring relations with the region, especially the Gulf countries which have been the most important source of India’s energy supplies

The Gulf states also support over 8 million Indian diaspora members, who in turn send billions in remittances back home annually

India’s “Connect West Asia Policy” under Singh featured a strong affinity with the Palestinian cause which was inherited from India’s own freedom struggle against British colonialism

Due to this synergy between domestic and foreign policy imperatives, the policy was generally successful and relations with the Gulf countries were extended across several areas of cooperation. At the same time, India’s support and commitment to the Palestinian issue was further strengthened

However India’s policy toward the region has gone through a radical transformation since 2014 when Modi became prime minister for the first time

The engagement between India and the West Asian region has since moved beyond the traditionally dominant spheres of trade, energy, and diaspora ties

Modi’s “Think West” policy has emphasized cooperation in the fields of defense and security, building strategic partnerships and exploring several new areas of cooperation

India’s cooperation with the Arab Gulf countries, in particular, has been deepened and diversified which in turn led to huge amounts of investment in India by some of these countries and the signing of a historical trade deal between India and the United Arab Emirates while negotiations for an India-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) trade deal might catch up soon

The West Asia policy under Modi is arguably the most successful aspect of his diplomatic endeavors

• Still, the most significant aspect of the policy has been the deepening and strengthening of relations with Israel

There has also been a tectonic shift in the public perception about Israel under Modi’s leadership
Indians no longer sympathize or identify only with the Palestinian struggle for liberation. In fact, many people in India today don’t see Israel at fault or view its occupation of Palestine as illegal

India’s approach to Israel
The Diplomat by Liyaqat Nazir 07 October 2024

Extracts:

• India-Israel: Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi

India’s rapid development of relations with Israel astutely caught on to the changing geopolitics of the region

• “West Asian Quad”

India has established what some call the “West Asian Quad” or I2U2 along with Israel, the UAE and the United States. This was made possible because of the “Abraham Accords” under which several Arab countries, including the UAE, normalized relations with Israel

Following the Abraham Accords, West Asia has seen geopolitical polarization which largely pits Israel and its Arab partners (both formal and informal) against Iran and its “axis of resistance” which seems to be more committed to the Palestinian cause

• India's Arms export to Israel

Thus Indian companies are exporting weapons to Israel amid the Gaza war while India occasionally abstains from or even supports Israel on critical U.N. resolutions – all without inviting the displeasure of Arab or Gulf countries

That’s because Israel today is ever more integrated into the region
Many Arab countries have established formal diplomatic relations with Israel and others see it as a future partner

• An Evolving West Asia Strategy Amid Shifting Geopolitical Tides

The Indian foreign policy establishment read these developments well and acted accordingly to secure India’s interests in the region
Thus the changing regional geopolitical arrangements and dynamics of India-Israel relations are both reflected in India’s response to the ongoing Israel-Gaza war

Since the West Asian region is likely to see further geopolitical churning and the India-Israel relationship is poised to grow stronger, Indian foreign policy attitudes toward the region as a whole and Palestine, in particular, are likely to see further changes

• Palestinian issue

It’s probable in the future that India might only pay lip service to the Palestinian issue because doing that would serve its national interests better

India’s approach to Israel
The Diplomat by Liyaqat Nazir 07 October 2024

Extracts:

• India’s Israel UN voting

Interestingly, in the wake of the outbreak of a full-blown war between Israel and Hamas, India stood alone in the Global South in not voting in favor of a ceasefire at the United Nations General Assembly

However, in the following months as the devastating humanitarian crisis unfolded in Gaza, India officially tried to strike a balance by sending aid to the people of Gaza, raising concerns about civilian deaths and expressing support for ending hostilities and resolving the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy
Two months into the war in December 2023 India voted in favor of a ceasefire resolution at the United Nations and reaffirmed its traditional call for a “two-state solution” to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict

On November 13, 2023 India abstained from a U.N. resolution that dealt with “investigating Israeli practices and operations for human rights violations” in the Israel-occupied Palestinian territories

Again, in April 2024 India abstained on a U.N. Human Rights Council resolution that called on Israel to implement an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and called on the member states to impose an arms embargo on the state of Israel

The resolution had called on Israel to be held accountable for possible war crimes and crimes against humanity, in Gaza

The precedent for this allegedly pro-Israel posturing on the part of India was set in June 2019 when India voted in support of Israel at the U.N.’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to deny observer status to a Palestinian human rights organization, named Shahed

This vote at the U.N. body was seen as a “first” step away from the long-standing two-state theory, under which New Delhi sees both Israel and Palestine as separate and independent countries

India has joined an overwhelming number of U.N. members in support of a UNGA draft resolution to admit the state of Palestine as a full-fledged member of the world body and recommended the Security Council to “reconsider” the matter “favorably”

However on September 19, 2024 India abstained on a U.N. resolution that called on Israel to end the illegal occupation of Palestine within a year

• India more favorably tilted toward Israel

India, it seems, has adopted a more nuanced position on the war and seeks space to maneuver when it comes to the Israel-Palestine conflict However many in diplomatic and strategic circles largely see,

• India-Israel relationship “a marriage made in heaven”

Soon after assuming power, the Modi government “de-hyphenated” the Israel-Palestine policy
This was a very bold move that paved the way for a stronger relationship with Israel under his leadership.

Modi, in 2017 became the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel, where his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, famously said,
Since then the relationship has been further strengthened in the areas of technology, agriculture, education, cinema, defense etc.
India is today the largest foreign buyer of Israeli weapons and military products, accounting for 37 percent of Israel’s total arms exports

US says Hezbollah ceasefire call shows it is 'getting battered'
The Guardian by Léonie Chao-Fong, Yohannes Lowe, Martin Belam, Jonathan Yerushalmy, Liyaqat Nazir 09 October 2024

A US state department spokesperson said Hezbollah’s call for a ceasefire earlier on Tuesday shows the group is on the back foot and “getting battered”

Hezbollah’s acting secretary general, Naim Qassem, said during a speech earlier today,
Qassem also said the group supported the efforts of Lebanon’s speaker of parliament Nabih Berri, to secure a ceasefire, without providing further details on any conditions demanded by Hezbollah

US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller, at a briefing in Washington on Tuesday, said:
according to the Washington Post’s John Hudson: Miller also said,— John Hudson (@John_Hudson) October 8, 2024

From: ABC News October 10, 2024
Hezbollah claims Israeli army repelled in southern Lebanon

Hezbollah said it was fighting Israeli troops in a border area in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, after announcing it had repelled two previous infiltration attempts near other frontier villages.

The militant group fired "rockets and artillery shells … as Israeli troops tried to advance in the Mays al-Jabal area from several directions", it said.

"Clashes are ongoing."

It said in two previous statements that Israeli forces "attempted to infiltrate the border town of Bilda" in the south-east and advance towards the border area of Labouneh on Wednesday morning, local time.

Hezbollah repelled the IDF with an explosive device and artillery and "rocket-propelled weapons", it said.

The militant group, says it has thwarted a number of such infiltration attempts since the Israeli military launched ground operations in Lebanon on September 30.

In another Wednesday statement, it said its fighters "bombed … a gathering of Israeli enemy troops in… Mais al-Jabal with artillery shells".

The Iran-backed group has been launching rockets against Israel for a year in parallel with the Gaza war and is now fighting it in ground clashes.

The Israeli military said three of its troops were severely injured on Tuesday and Wednesday during combat in southern Lebanon.

Russia's foreign ministry said on Wednesday that Hezbollah was still organised and had not lost its chain of command despite Israeli strikes.

"According to our assessments, Hezbollah, including the military wing, has not lost its chain of command and is demonstrating organisation," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told reporters.

And how do they get to assess this inside information -- must be very closely affiliated with these terrorists

They expect a spectacular attack on Iran that would shock the world.

Iran and its terror axis spectacular attack on Israel that would shock Israel and the world. Never ending, tit for tat forever war

Netanyahu should put Iran on ice. first defeat and conquer the ongoing seven fronts -- release of the hostages How many still alive

The commander of an anti-tank missile unit within Hezbollah’s elite Radwan forces has been killed in an Israeli airstrike, the IDF says in a statement.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveb...i-tank-missile-unit-killed-in-airstrike/

Canada PM candidate speaks about Israel vs Iran...

https://x.com/BillboardChris/status/1844387427596792020

Arab nations are quietly backing Israel against Iran
The Australian 10 October 2024

Extracts:
Arab nations are quietly backing Israel against Iran. Why can’t the West do the same?

There’s an open secret among the governments of the Middle East:
They all welcome a weakened Iran and the dismantling of its terrorist proxies almost as much as Israel does.

May be the “West are quietly backing Israel against Iran” and Iran proxies
1. public condemnation but....
2. giving lip service for moderation or a ceasefire but....
3. continue supporting Israel behind the scenes
4. continue supplying arms to Israel -- Israel seems to have endless arsenal

Germany will send more weapons to Israel soon, Scholz say
Al Arabiya from Reuters 11 October 2024

Germany will supply more weapons to Israel soon, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Thursday, after a significant drop in deliveries this year prompted opposition accusations that Berlin deliberately delayed the exports

Scholz told parliament at an event to commemorate the victims of the October 7 Hamas attack, countering an accusation from opposition leader Friedrich Merz. Chancellor Scholz added,
Merz, leader of Germany’s conservative opposition, accused the government of delaying arms exports to Israel, including ammunition and tank spare parts. Merz said at the parliamentary session,Merz added,
Germany’s approvals for arms exports to Israel dropped sharply this year, with only 14.5 million euros’ worth granted from January to August 21 according to data provided by the economy ministry in response to a parliamentary question

In 2023 Germany approved arms exports to Israel worth 326.5 million euros including military equipment and war weapons, a 10-fold increase from 2022, data from the ministry, which approves export licenses, showed

Commenting on the fall in exports, the German government has said there is no arms export boycott on Israel and export permits are issued case-by-case after careful review, taking into account international law, foreign policy and security considerations

Dutch nursing home near Tel Aviv hit by drone debris, no injuries
The Dutch nursing home Beth Juiliana near Tel Aviv was damaged in a drone attack on Friday. It is believed that debris from a downed drone landed on the home in Herzliya. No injuries were reported.

Foreign Desk 12-10-24, 00:00 Last update: 00:33
The impact caused damage to the Beth Juliana nursing home in the Israeli coastal city of Herzliya. This happened around 22:00 local time.

Beth Juliana is home to many elderly people with a Dutch background and Holocaust survivors. It is the first time since the war between Hamas and Israel began over a year ago that damage has occurred to the nursing home.

According to the Israeli military, damage was caused by drones fired from Lebanon, The Times of Israel reports . One of the drones was shot down, another drone or its debris hit a building in Herzliya, believed to be the nursing home.

Iran denied a new report about "secret documents" linking the country to Hamas' surprise attack on Israel. Dozens of pages found by Israeli troops in Gaza detail a potential Hamas plan far bigger than the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

'We are under siege from all sides': Israeli attacks on northern Gaza continue

Gaza War For over a week now, the Israeli army has besieged northern Gaza, including the Jabalia refugee camp, and is carrying out airstrikes. Tens of thousands of people are trapped in their homes or shelters. The area is also cut off from aid supplies.

In the shadow of the war in Lebanon, the Israeli army is busy with a new invasion of the northern Gaza Strip. For more than a week, the attacks have been concentrated mainly on the Jabalia refugee camp, but the nearby Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia are also under siege and bombarded with airstrikes.

The army has ordered the population of the north to move south to the coastal strip of al-Mawasi, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are already staying. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 200 people have been killed so far in the recent Israeli attacks on the north, including children, women and the elderly.

Israel says Hamas has regrouped in northern Gaza, and that Hamas fighters were the target of the attacks. Hamas' military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, posted a message on Telegram about an attack on Israeli soldiers storming a house in Jabalia. However, Israel's Haaretz newspaper, citing unnamed military and security sources, reports that the army did not directly hit Hamas fighters when it entered Jabalia.

Meanwhile, there are fewer and fewer journalists in Gaza to cover the situation in the north. More than 120 journalists have been killed in the Israeli attacks on Gaza. Foreign press is still not allowed into the Gaza Strip. Last week, Al Jazeera cameraman Fadi al-Wahidi was shot in the neck while reporting on the siege of Jabalia. He is currently in critical condition.

The renewed attacks and repeated orders for the population to leave have raised new international concerns about forced displacement and ethnic cleansing . Haaretz spoke to Israeli defense officials who believe the political leadership is pushing for gradual annexation of large parts of the Gaza Strip.

The siege and the “evacuation orders” for this area suggest that the Israeli army is implementing – in whole or in part – the so-called “general plan.” This “general plan” refers to a plan by former army leaders, including former general Giora Eiland, whereby the population of northern Gaza would either be forced to leave, starve to death due to the blockade, or surrender. Anyone who remained would also be considered Hamas fighters.

The Israeli news website Yedioth Ahronoth speaks of a “smaller and preliminary version” of this “plan” in Jabalia. Eiland himself told CNN that the current siege is inspired by his plan, but differs in some respects. In northern Gaza, no humanitarian aid has arrived at all since the beginning of October, the World Food Programme (WFP) reports . In addition, several central bakeries have been closed due to the ongoing airstrikes. “These people have nowhere to go and the WFP can hardly reach them,” WFP writes. The organization is “no longer able to distribute food in any form to families who desperately need it.”

https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2024/10/1...nvallen-op-noord-gaza-gaan-door-a4869183