#Israeli-linked vessels

[sayruq]

If shipping companies decide Israeli ports are too risky, the country could soon find itself running out of food.

[memecucker]

Eilat is situated on Israel’s southern coast on the Red Sea, linking the country to Asia and the Indian Ocean without the need to transit the Suez Canal, but its volumes had been in decline since a Q4 2022 spike saw the facility handle 124,000 tonnes, doubling its Q1 levels that year.

However, in a meeting with the Knesset’s Economic Affairs Committee on 7 July, CEO Gideon Golbert said there had been no activity at the port for eight months and no revenues coming in.

The port mainly handles bulk cargoes, potash and car imports as well as some containers is considerably smaller than the country’s Mediterranean ports of Ashdod and Haifa, but the effects of the Houthi attacks have clearly affected the Israeli trade.

On a broader scale the Houthi actions have diverted hundreds of container vessels every week on a much longer journey, some 4,000 miles longer, around the African cape to Europe, increasing the fuel costs, and emissions, with the first increment of the EU ETS introduced in January this year.

Conversely the Middle East conflict has given a significant boost to the secondhand container ship market, reports Alphaliner.

[probablyasocialecologist]

Insurers are placing restrictions in their war-risk policies so that they don’t have to cover US-, UK- and Israel-linked ships sailing through the Red Sea, according to one of the world’s top insurance brokers. Some are seeking exclusions for vessels with links to the US and UK when issuing cover for trips through the area, according to Marcus Baker, global head of marine and cargo at Marsh, essentially meaning they won’t provide insurance. “Underwriters are adding clauses saying no US, UK or Israeli involvement,” he said. “Just about everybody is putting something like that in, and many include the words ‘ownership’ or ‘interest’.” Last week, Yemen’s Houthi rebels said that UK and US ships were legitimate targets for attack, after the two nations launched a barrage of airstrikes on targets in the country. Those warnings were brought into focus on Monday when a US-owned commodity carrier was attacked while sailing in the Gulf of Aden. The security situation in the waterway has deteriorated in recent days, with key naval forces warning that it’s unsafe for merchant shipping.

(Bloomberg)

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Shoshana Bryen

The Assad regime is gone. Sadynaya Prison is liberated, and the depth of the Assad family’s depravity is becoming clear.

While the West seems to hold out hope that the transition will lead to something better for the Syrian people, the saying in the Middle East goes, “The enemy of my enemy can also be my enemy.”

The incoming warlords are the HTS — a Sunni, ISIS-adjacent, Taliban-adjacent, Turkish armed and funded organization on the US and UK terrorist lists. If you Google them, the stories would be accompanied by graphic, hideous videos of revenge killings. I am choosing not to link to the horrific murders here, but you can find them online, and just know that they are a tiny fraction of what’s out there.

HTS leaders and militants said, upon entering Damascus, “This is the heart of the Abode of Islam. This is Damascus, the [land of] Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, the land of Islam … This is the camp of the Muslims. From here we are coming to Jerusalem. Be patient, oh people of Gaza. Say Allah Akbar!”

One fighter added: “Just like that, Allah willing, we will enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Prophet’s Mosque [in Medina], and the Kaaba. We will enter these [mosques], Allah willing.”

In this context, Israel has offered the world a gift, decimating the Russian-Iranian arsenal Assad left behind before HTS can get its hands on it.

The first IDF strikes were on Syrian chemical weapons depots and “research facilities.”  (You know, the ones President Obama declared 96 percent destroyed in 2014.) Then, according to @IDF on X:

Israeli Navy missile ships struck the Al-Bayda and Latakia ports, where 15 Syrian naval vessels were docked. They took out dozens of sea-to-sea missiles with ranges of 80–190 km. Each missile carried significant explosive payloads posing threats to civilian and military maritime vessels in the area.

The Air Force conducted more than 350 strikes on targets including anti-aircraft batteries, Syrian Air Force airfields, and dozens of weapons production sites, neutralizing Scud missiles, cruise missiles, surface-to-sea, surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles, UAVs, fighter jets, attack helicopters, radars, tanks, hangars, and more.

The IDF conducted air strikes on 130 ground assets in Syria, including weapons depots, military structures, launchers, and firing positions.

No civilians or homes — or anything besides destructive weapons — were targeted.

[battleangel]

WHY DOES ISRAEL WANT TO DESTROY GAZA?

2008 - 2009: Gaza massacres.

2012: Gaza massacre.

2014: Gaza massacre.

2018 - 2019: Gaza massacre.

2021: Gaza massacre.

2023 - Ongoing: Gaza massacre.

Chevron also supports Israel’s lobbying effortsfor the construction of the Eastmed Pipeline, a massive, EU sponsored fossil fuel infrastructure project that would exacerbate the climate crisis and whose feasibility is widely contested.

EastMed is a mega pipeline that would carry fossil gas from the disputed waters of the Levantine Basin (Cyprus, Israel and potentially Palestine) to Italy.

It would be one of Europe’s longest pipelines, and, reportedly, the world’s deepest.

The Israeli government is one of the most enthusiastic proponents of the EastMed pipeline, as it would secure a European export market for Israeli gas reserves.

The EastMed continues from Israel to Cyprus, where important offshore gas reserves are located.

Siemens was awarded the contract for building the EuroAsia Interconnector, a  subsea cable that will link Israel’s electricity grid with Europe’s, allowing its illegal settlements on stolen Palestinian (and Syrian) land to benefit from Israel-EU trade of electricity produced from fossil gas.

The Biden administration has been working to give Israel over $14 billion to buy more weapons. This is on top of the $3.8 billion the U.S. already gives to the Israeli military annually. Israel is required to use this money to buy U.S.-made weapons.

This is a form of corporate welfare not only for the largest weapons manufacturers, like Lockheed Martin, RTX (Raytheon), Boeing, and General Dynamics, which have seen their stock prices skyrocket, but also for companies that are not typically seen as part of the weapons industry, such as Caterpillar, Ford, and Toyota.

As Israel intensifies its Gaza onslaught, focus turns to the controversial Ben Gurion Canal Project, originally proposed in the 1960s as an alternative to the Suez Canal.

Named after Israel's founding father, David Ben-Gurion, the project, conceived in the late 1960s, sought to create an alternative route to the Suez Canal, the primary shipping route connecting Europe and Asia.

Understanding the motivations behind the proposal requires exploring the complex history of the Suez Canal, the Tripartite Aggression of 1956, and the unexpected shocks to world trade resulting from its closures.

This backdrop underscores the potential strategic importance of an alternative canal, controlled by Israel, in the ever-evolving dynamics of the region.

David Ben-Gurion (1886–1973) was a prominent Zionist leader from Poland, who was known as the founding father of Israel.

He was described as a ruthless man who gave orders to Zionist militias to see the mass expulsion of Palestinians from their lands and facilitated the influx of  Jewish immigrants from all over the world into Palestine. He served as the first prime minister of Israel in 1948.

The Ben Gurion Canal project was a proposal in the 1960s by Israel to connect the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea through the southern end of the Gulf of Aqaba. The route was planned via the port city of Eilat and the Jordanian border, through the Arabah Valley for about 100 kilometres between the Negev (Naqab) Mountains and the Jordanian Highlands and veered west before the Dead Sea basin, and heading through a valley in the Negev Mountain (Naqab) Range.

It would then head north again to circumvent the Gaza Strip and connect to the Mediterranean Sea.

However, a connection between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea already exists through the Suez Canal - an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt that offers vessels a direct route between the North Atlantic and the northern Indian oceans, reducing journey distance and time.

The Suez Canal provides the shortest sea route between Asia and Europe and currently handles roughly 12 percent of the world's trade.

Timeline of the Suez Canal

1858 – French Suez Canal Company formed to build the canal with 99-year lease

1868 – Suez Canal opens

1875 - The Suez Canal Company comes under French-British ownership after the UK buy 44% shares

1888 - Constantinople International Convention guarantees free use of the canal

1956 - Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalises the Suez Canal Company

1956 – The Suez Crisis results in closing the canal after the Tripartite Aggression

1957 – The Suez Canal reopens

1961 – The Nasser Project begins, allowing for the transit of bigger ships

1967 – Egypt closes access to Suez Canal after the start of the Six-Day War with Israel

1975 – Egyptian President Anwar El-Sadat reopens Suez Canal

The Constantinople International Convention - signed in 1888 by the great European powers of the era - once guaranteed a right of passage via the Suez Canal to all ships during times of war and peace.

However, after the Suez Canal was nationalised in 1956 by then-Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egypt closed off access to the canal on several occasions following the establishment of Israel in 1948 and the violent displacement of Palestinians, also known as the Nakba.

Egypt blocked Israeli vessels from accessing the canal from 1948 until 1950, affecting its ability to trade with East Africa and Asia, and hampering its ability to import oil from the Gulf region.

Access to the Suez Canal was closed to all international shipping in 1956, following the Tripartite Aggression against Egypt, which involved an alliance between Israel, the UK and France who sought to regain control of the Suez Canal and remove Nasser from power.

The canal was effectively closed during the conflict, and the situation escalated into a crisis with international and economic ramifications.

The Suez Canal was also closed for a staggering eight-year period in 1967, at the beginning of the Six-Day War, also known as the Arab–Israeli War, which was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan).

When all land trade routes were blocked by Arab states, Israel's ability to trade with East Africa and Asia, mainly to import oil from the Persian Gulf, was also severely hampered.

The closure of the canal was also a significant and unexpected shock to world trade and disrupted global commerce.

An alternative to the Suez Canal, especially one under the authority of key Western ally Israel, would eliminate the potential use of the Suez Canal and the Straits of Tiran as leverage by Egypt against Israel or its allies.

The Suez Canal has been critical in driving Egypt’s economy forward. It earns revenues through tolls and transit fees collected from vessels that pass through the canal.

In 2021, some 20,649 vessels flowed through the Suez Canal - an increase of 10 percent over 2020. In 2022, annual revenue stood at $8 billion in transit fees. The Suez Canal set a new record with an annual revenue of $9.4 billion for the fiscal year that ended 30 June 2023.

The Ben Gurion Canal, if constructed, would rival the Suez Canal and cause a major financial threat to Egypt. 

If it goes ahead, it would be almost one-third longer than the current 193.3km Suez Canal, and whoever controls it will have enormous influence over the global supply routes for oil, grain, and shipping.

The US had once proposed to use some 520 nuclear bombs on the Negev Desert (Naqab) to help create the canal. With Gaza razed to the ground, there have been alleged plans to literally cut corners and reduce costs by diverting the canal straight through the middle of the Palestinian enclave. However, the presence of Palestinians there would remain an obstacle.

Since Israel launched its onslaught on the besieged enclave, it has pushed Palestinians to move south by relentlessly bombing northern Gaza before carrying out a ground invasion weeks later. At least 400,000 Palestinians have been displaced from the north to the south, according to statistics from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).

Some 800,000 Palestinians remained in areas considered "north" - namely past north of Wadi Gaza. Israel's indiscriminate bombing campaign, which has mostly targeted the north - has killed at least 200,000 people in Gaza - mostly civilians, including women and children.

The official death toll was not updated for days back in November 2023 due to Israel's targeting of the largest hospital in Gaza, Al-Shifa, which was a centre for collecting data on deaths and the wounded.

Israel denies it has plans to annex the Gaza Strip but it had called for the "voluntary migration" of Palestinians in Gaza amid accusations that it was "ethnically cleansing" the enclave.

VOLUNTARY?????…

[mariacallous]

How do you solve a problem like the Houthis?

The U.S. Navy has certainly tried. It’s fired missiles at the militia’s facilities in Yemen. Together with the British Royal Navy, it has intercepted Houthi missiles being fired at ships in the Red Sea. All sorts of Western navies are conducting patrols in the troubled waters. But the Houthis are not relenting. On the contrary, they have asked the world’s most notorious arms dealer for more weapons. And the arrival of Russia’s Viktor Bout in the Red Sea is bad news for global shipping.

The Houthis are unlike any other adversary that Western militaries have faced in the past few decades. They’re not traditional armed forces. They’re not a Taliban-like insurgency outfit whose only objective is to seize territorial power. And they’re definitely not a mere criminal gang, like Somalia’s pirates.

Instead, the group is a powerful militia that has discovered that it can attack ships to get global attention, and it uses weapons ordinarily reserved for official armed forces.

Not even Hezbollah has such capabilities—or at least, it doesn’t use them, perhaps because Lebanon depends on shipping for its survival. Since the Houthis launched their campaign against Western-linked vessels, they’ve certainly been getting the attention they crave, and they’ve been demonstrating that they have access to highly sophisticated weaponry.

On Oct. 10, for example, the Yemeni outfit struck a Liberian-flagged ship with drones and missiles, and less than a month before that, they fired a missile that reached central Israel before being disabled by an Israeli interceptor.

The Houthis claimed the missile they directed at Israel was hypersonic, which has not been confirmed and is unlikely, but they like to brag. Their attacks seem designed to keep the global public in a state of fear over what might come next. And now, the Wall Street Journal reports, the group is in talks with Viktor Bout over the delivery of additional weapons.

Bout, you may remember, is the world’s most notorious arms dealer. The Russian merchant—who is known as the “merchant of death” and has also worked for Russia’s GRU intelligence service—spent nearly two decades selling weapons to armed groups around the world. Death and destruction followed wherever his weapons went.

But in 2008, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) managed to get him arrested in a sting operation in Thailand. He was subsequently extradited to the United States and sentenced to 25 years in prison on several counts, including conspiracy to kill Americans.

“He’s one of the most dangerous men on the face of the earth,” Michael Braun—the DEA’s chief of operations until 2008—told CBS’s 60 Minutes in 2010.

But two years ago, the United States decided to trade Bout for an American citizen imprisoned in Russia, basketballer Brittney Griner. Former DEA officials were aghast. So were U.S. military personnel, who had seen the immense harm that Bout’s weapons were doing.

Writing in Foreign Policy, Braun strongly advised against the exchange, noting that Bout remained close to the Kremlin: “Even after formally leaving the GRU, Bout enjoyed the backing of—and at times took assignments from—his former employer.” But the Biden administration believed, or wanted to believe, that the Bout of 2022 was much less dangerous than the Bout of 2008.

And now the Houthis have turned to the wily arms dealer. Before his arrest one-and-a-half decades ago, he specialized AK-47s and grenade launchers, but he seems to be able to deliver whatever his clients need.

In 2008, he offered two FARC guerrillas who’d arranged to meet him in Thailand 30,000 AK-47s, “10 million rounds of ammunition, or more, five tons of C-4 plastic explosives, ultralight airplanes outfitted with grenade launchers, mortars, unmanned aerial vehicles, Dragunov sniper rifles with night vision, vehicle-mounted anti-aircraft cannons that could take down an airliner,” not to mention some 700 to 800 MANPADs (man-portable air-defense systems), as Politico subsequently reported. (Alas for Bout, the guerillas had been turned by the DEA, and Bout was arrested.)

That means that Western navies and shipping companies have to prepare for the potential arrival of new weaponry in the Red Sea. The first two deliveries facilitated by Bout, expected as early as this month, “will be mostly AK-74s, an upgraded version of the AK-47 assault rifle,” the Wall Street Journal reported in early October. Bout and the Houthis have also discussed Kornet anti-tank missiles and anti-aircraft weapons.

The Houthis may well need automatic assault rifles in their armed conflict against Yemen’s official government, but it’s the larger weapons that Western countries should worry most about. If Bout’s relationship with the Houthis takes off, anti-ship weapons could well follow. Thanks to Iran, the Houthis already have access to drones and missiles, but Iran is weakened and may not be able to focus much on the Houthis. That’s where Bout could be useful.

And the arms dealer’s talks with the Houthis are hardly a freelance venture. Since his return from a U.S. prison, Bout—hailed as a hero by Russian state media—has entered the warm embrace of the Russian state, and in last year’s regional elections, he was elected a member of the Ulyanovsk state parliament. If he procures weapons for the Houthis, it will be with the knowledge or even assistance of the Kremlin.

The Kremlin has already shown a desire to help the Houthis. Iran is brokering talks between Russia and the militia that would see Russian P-800 Oniks anti-ship missiles delivered to the Houthis, Reuters reported in September.

The powerful missiles, which have a range of 300 kilometers (186 miles) and carry a 200-kilogram (440 pound) high-explosive warhead, would significantly increase the risk for merchant vessels in the Red Sea—and even for the Western naval vessels there to protect them. Indeed, the arrival of the nasty P-800 Oniks would trigger the departure of the remaining few shipping companies still sending their vessels through the Red Sea.

“The very notion of the high seas is now challenged, and once state and/or nonstate actors, especially proxies, discover a new approach that has strategic, operational, and tactical impact, it will only be mimicked by others,” retired Vice Adm. Duncan Potts, who commanded the European Union’s counter-piracy operation in the Indian Ocean at the height of the piracy resurgence there in the early 2010s, told Foreign Policy. “I fear this is a game-changer,” he added. “Defending against complex weapons needs complex weapons, and there are relatively few navies who have the capability, number of platforms, and will to do anything about it.”

It’s also about the dividing world. Ever since launching its campaign against shipping last November, the Yemeni militia has spared Russian and Chinese vessels. The two powers have shown their appreciation by not pressuring the Houthis to end their campaign and—unlike earlier operations against Red Sea pirates, where China participated—by not taking part in escort plans. (Western countries are conducting the escorts and fighting of Houthi attacks regardless of what flag ships fly and in which country they’re owned.)

The fact that Moscow appears so willing to fund an assault on Western vessels shows that global shipping is splitting in two—and a divided ocean will be a far riskier and more costly place.

[adropofhumanity]

At least 16 people were killed and 30 injured on 30 May following intense air raids by US and UK warplanes across several Yemeni provinces that destroyed civilian infrastructure.

According to the Yemeni Health Ministry, the death toll is expected to rise as many of those injured remain in critical condition.

Local media reports say the western jets conducted 13 air raids in total, with six of those hitting the capital Sanaa, including near the country's main airport and in several residential neighborhoods.

The attacks also hit telecommunication infrastructure in Hodeidah and Taiz provinces and the Port of Saif.

Health officials in Sanaa condemned the airstrikes, saying in a statement that "the deliberate and unlawful killings carried out by the American-British-Israeli [alliance] against civilians constitute war crimes [and] a grave violation of the rules of international humanitarian law."

Officials in Sanaa also stressed that the western aggression "confirms the great impact of the heroic operations carried out by the Yemeni armed forces against American, British, and Israeli targets" in the Red Sea and beyond.

US and UK jets launched an illegal war on Yemen in January in a failed attempt to deter the country's military operations in support of Palestine.

The latest round of attacks came after the Yemeni armed forces announced they downed a sixth US MQ9 Reaper drone worth $30 million since November. It also follows near-daily attacks on Israeli-linked vessels and western warships in nearby sea routes.

[workersolidarity]

[ 📹 Footage from the Al-Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in the central Gaza Strip, where the Israeli occupation army targeted and destroyed two residential buildings in the Camp earlier this morning, killing and wounding several Palestinian civilians.]

🇮🇱⚔️🇵🇸 🚀🏘️💥🚑 🚨

ISRAELI SETTLERS LAUNCH POGROMS ON WEST BANK VILLAGES, IRAN SEIZES ISRAELI VESSEL, DESTRUCTION OF AL-ZAHRAA IN GAZA COMPLETE AS CONFLICTS SPIRAL OUT OF CONTROL

On the 190th day of "Israel's" special genocide operation in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupation forces committed a total of 5 new massacres of Palestinian families, resulting in the deaths of no less than 52 Palestinians, the majority being women and children, while another 95 others were wounded over the previous 24-hours.

In response to constant Israeli aggression, and the recent Zionist attack on the Consulate section of the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria, the Iranian military, known as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), hijacked an Israeli commercial vessel from the Straight of Hormuz on Saturday, which was covered in a news piece published by Iran's Tasnim news agency.

According to Tasnim, the IRGC seized the MSC Aries, which flies the Portuguese flag, a container ship linked with the London-based Zodiac Maritime, a subsidiary of the Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer's Zodiac Group.

Tasnim says the vessel was in the waters off the coast of Dubai, heading through the Straight of Hormuz with its transponder turned off at the time it was seized, apparently a common tactic of Israeli-owned or operated ships.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Israeli colonial settlers and their organized militias launched a pogrom against several Palestinian towns and villages across the occupied West Bank of Palestine.

According to reports, armed Zionist colonial settlers, backed by the Israeli occupation forces, launched several large-scale assaults on Palestinians and their property, including the firing of live bullets towards Palestinians civilians and their vehicles, as well as burning Palestinian homes and cars.

The raid began on Friday with attacks on the town of Al-Mughayir and Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah, which saw violent assaults on Palestinian families, including gunfire directed at Palestinian homes and vehicles, as well as the burning of several homes and cars, and was soon followed by attacks on the village of Duma, southeast of Nablus, in the northern occupied West Bank, with similar results.

At least one Palestinian, by the name of Jihad Afif Abu Alia, was killed in the assault, while at least 25 others were wounded by the colonists, who were actively being protected by IOF soldiers.

Attacks also occured on the villages and towns of Turmus Ayya, Abu Falah, Silwad, and several villages east of Ramallah, while attacks also occured on multiple villages north of Nablus, specifically the towns of Bitlo, Kafr Ni'ma, as well as several other areas west of Nablus.

In response the pogroms, the largest of their kind since the October 7th attacks by Hamas, the National and Islamic Forces of Ramallah and al-Bireh called for confronting the settler militias and activating the Popular Guard committees.

Calling the attacks "terrorism and brutality," the defensive organization said Israeli settlers were attempting to force Palestinian citizens to leave their homes in the hope of seizing their lands.

In a statement issued by the defense forces, the group urged Palestinian residents to maintain a state of alertness, calling for "constant and continuous vigilance" to "thwart malicious plans aimed at uprooting our people from their land, and to work with all channels of cooperation, coordination, and epic internal solidarity of our people."

The group emphasized the need to activate the popular guard and protection committees, calling on the defensive militias to burn tires at the entrances to villages adjacent to colonies, bypass streets, and to use mosque loudspeakers to to call on neighboring villages, for any area being attacked, and for everyone to come together in one field unit to prevent the implementation of massacres against the Palestinian people.

The group also emphasized the need for taking measures to provide towns and villages with the necessary means of survival and resilience, to support farmers and marginalized groups, work on campaigns at the international level, and to take immediate action to stop Israeli crimes and aggressive actions against Palestinians.

Meanwhile, as Israeli colonial settlers stormed Palestinian towns in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli occupation army continued its constant destruction of what remains of the Gaza Strip after six months of Zionist aggression.

Israeli occupation warplanes focused intensive bombings and missile strikes targeting the outskirts of Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, while also bombarding the neighborhoods of Al-Zaytoun and Al-Daraj in Gaza City, and also bombing and shelling the Al-Fukhari neighborhood, southeast of Khan Yunis.

Occupation forces also completed their destruction of Al-Zahra and Al-Assra in the central Gaza Strip, destroying the remaining dozens of buildings and hundreds of units of residential apartments.

At the same time, occupation forces renewed its airstrikes on the Al-Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in the central Gaza Strip, targeting anyone or anything that moves in the camp, resulting in a number of casualties.

In one example, occupation warplanes bombed the Thabet family home in the Nuseirat Camp, martyring two civilians, while two other Palestinian civilians were killed after IOF fighter jets bombed the Kahil building in the Al-Samer area in central Gaza City.

Similarly, Zionist warplanes bombed a residential neighborhood in the al-Zarqa area of central Gaza City, targeting the home of the Al-Issa family, resulting in the deaths of at least five civilians and wounding more than 30 others, while at the same time, occupation aircraft bombed and completely destroyed the nearby Al-Asi Mosque.

In another atrocity, Zionist forces bombarded the Tabatabi family home on Friday night, located in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City, resulting in at least 28 civilian casualties, while IOF raids were also launched against the Al-Shati Refugee Camp, as well as the Al-Zaytoun and Al-Shujaiya neighborhoods of the city.

Elsewhere, the Israeli occupation army bombed in the vicinity of Sheikh Zayed City, killing two Palestinians from Beit Hanoun.

Local civil defense crews from the Khan Yunis governate also said they recovered the decomposing corpses of 10 Palestinians from under the rubble of the Al-Amal neighborhood of Khan Yunis, in the south of Gaza.

Later, the Israeli occupation air forces bombarded the Al-Fokhari area, southeast of Khan Yunis, while an Israeli reconnaissance drone fired a missile at a Palestinian pedestrian as he walked in the street, severely wounding the man, who eventually died from his injuries after being transported to Al-Najjar Hospital in the southern city of Rafah.

At least two Palestinian citizens were also killed, and several others wounded, after Zionist artillery forces shelled the Nuseirat Camp, in the central Gaza Strip, while the IOF also heavily shelled the Jabalia Refugee Camp in the northern Gaza Strip.

As a result of "Israel's" ongoing special genocide operation in the Gaza Strip, the death toll among the Palestinian population has again risen, now exceeding 33'686 citizens killed, including over 14'500 children and 9'500 women, while another 76'309 others have been wounded since the start of the current round of Zionist aggression, beginning with the events of October 7th, 2023.

April 13th, 2024

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#videosource

@WorkerSolidarityNews

[palestinegenocide]

International campaign targets tanker supplying Israeli war planes with Texas oil

A growing international coalition is fighting to prevent vessels carrying military fuel to Israel from docking in the Mediterranean Sea.

[link]

[dertaglichedan]

Sixth US Reaper Drone Falls Into Houthi Hands

Via The Cradle

A US MQ–9 Reaper drone came down over Yemen on Wednesday, video footage and images circulating social media have confirmed. This marks the sixth US MQ-9 Reaper to fall into the hands of Yemen’s Ansarallah movement and Armed Forces (the Houthis).

Yemeni forces have yet to confirm whether the drone was downed or if it crashed, as video footage shows the US drone in near-perfect condition. The fourth and fifth MQ-9 Reaper drones were shot down on 17th and 21st of May. The MQ-9 Reaper is worth around $30 million.

Washington and London have, since January, been waging a brutal campaign of airstrikes against Yemen in response to the pro-Palestine naval operations that Ansarallah and the Yemeni army began in November last year.

The start of the US-led war against Yemen prompted Yemeni forces to begin targeting US and British vessels alongside those linked to or bound for Israel. 

The western campaign has done nothing to deter the Yemenis. US and EU maritime task forces have failed to progress in preventing attacks on ships in the Red Sea, Arab Sea, Indian Ocean, and elsewhere, which have resulted in a strain on both the Israeli economy and international shipping as a whole. 

The Yemeni Armed Forces announced in a statement on Wednesday that it targeted six ships in three different seas, using both missiles and drones. Three ships were struck in the Red Sea, another two US ships were hit in the Arabian Sea, while one oil tanker was hit in the Mediterranean. 

Yemen said at the start of May that its operations would expand into the Mediterranean Sea, following its announcement in March that the Indian Ocean would be included in its scope of attacks. 

[head-post]

Houthis hit another ship in Red Sea, Israel destroys Palestinian homes in West Bank

The UK Maritime Trade Operations Office (UKMTO) of the country’s UK Naval Forces (UKN) said on Tuesday it had received information about another incident in the Red Sea.

Another attack in the Red Sea

A vessel in the Red Sea was the target of a third attack allegedly carried out by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Tuesday as part of their campaign of attacks over the war between Israel and Hamas, officials said.

The attacks come as Iran, is considering retaliating against Israel for the assassination of Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh in July, heightening fears of a wider regional war in the Middle East.

The Houthi attacks have already disrupted the annual flow of $1 trillion worth of goods along a sea route crucial to trade between Asia, Europe and the Middle East, as well as sparking the most intense fighting for the US Navy since World War II.

The ship was attacked about 115 kilometres (70 miles) south of the port city of Hodeidah, controlled by Houthi militants, the UKMTO said. An explosive went off near the ship, then a small vessel “behaving suspiciously” lit a light next to the ship and approached it, followed by a second explosion, the UKMTO said.

Private security firm Ambrey also reported the attacks, saying the ship had experienced “two explosions in close proximity.”

The Houthis have been actively attacking ships in the Red Sea since November 2023 in a show of support for the Palestinians in their fight against Israel. They attack ships and vessels they believe are linked to the US, Britain and Israel.

Israel’s attacks take new lives

The Israeli army killed a Palestinian in clashes in the central occupied West Bank early Tuesday after destroying two residential flats belonging to Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa quoted security sources as saying that the Israeli army raided the flat of prisoner Aysar Barghouti in Ramallah’s Al-Tira neighbourhood and the flat of Khaled Al-Harouf in Al-Bireh town, after which both dwellings were destroyed.

The raids provoked clashes between Palestinians and the Israeli army in both cities, killing Palestinian Moataz Sarsour and injuring three others. Barghouti and Al-Harouf were detained by Israeli forces on January 8 on charges of opening fire on Israeli settlers in July previous year.

Israeli authorities have a policy of demolishing the homes of Palestinians accused of attacking Israeli soldiers and settlers, a practice widely condemned as a form of collective punishment prohibited under international law, as it often results in the displacement of entire families.

The Israeli military has regularly carried out raids in the West Bank in recent years, a campaign that has intensified since the Gaza war began on October 7, 2023. Palestinians have also faced increased violence by illegal Israeli settlers.

Read more HERE

[tieflingkisser]

Australia’s pro-Palestinian activists to continue targeting Israeli ships

A blockade eventually broken up by police stopped the Israeli-owned ZIM Ganges from reaching a Melbourne port for days.

Ports have emerged as the centre of pro-Palestine rallies in Australia as protesters target Israeli ships, and vessels alleged to have links with the country. Last week, dozens of people attempted to stop the ZIM Ganges container ship from reaching the Port of Melbourne, with police eventually deploying pepper spray to break up the blockade against a backdrop of shipping containers and cranes, the familiar symbols of a global industrialised world. Dozens were arrested after the picket blocked access to the wharf and forced the Victorian International Container Terminal (VICT) to close. Voluntary legal observers (MALS) who were accompanying the protesters say they were met by about 200 police, some of whom were on horseback. Tasnim Mahmoud Sammak of the community organisation Free Palestine Melbourne was at the blockade, which lasted for four days. “I have family in Gaza and they have nowhere to go in the bombarded prison it has become,” she said. Sofia Sabbagh, a prolific Melbourne-based Palestinian artist, was also there for the final showdown. “They circled us forming lines, intimidating us,” she told Al Jazeera, saying the group complied with a request to move on to avoid arrest. The legal observers say the crowd was not threatening and people were just chanting. “Once we were on public property, police pushed us away from our medical supplies and gear, pulling one person out of a wheelchair and pushing over a lot of other people, pepper spraying over 20 people,” Sabbagh added. “I was traumatised seeing a person being dragged out of their wheelchair.” Victoria Police said the use of pepper spray was in response to the “dynamic nature” of the blockade and the threat of “aggressive” protesters.

[abbyshands]

random, but i really am proud that you are using your platform to speak so boldly about palestine + n💀il dr💀ckmann (i love using skulls to censor) like i will literally always link your post discussing the israeli themes of tlou in my fics because it is so educational. overwhelmingly educational, in a good way! seriously need more ppl like you. 🧡🧡

the skulls are so funny PLS (and used in the right way!) but gosh, you’re so sweet, i was about to go to sleep but i saw this and :( ♡ i’m so blessed to be someone who can’t watch from the sidelines when i see people suffering, & i grow more and more grateful for that everyday. that isn’t and will never be me, and i can’t imagine it any other way. my account will be a vessel for the people in gaza for as long as it needs to be. there’s no doubt about that.

but i’m so glad i was able to educate you with that post! it took me sooo long but i knew it would be worth doing the right thing, and i’m glad it had the end result i wanted, which was just what you said: education. aside from my fics, that’s what i’m here for! anyway, thank you so much for sending this kind ask, lovely, it seriously warmed my heart. btw, i’ve seen you using your account regarding this matter, too, and you have my utter respect and love for it. i hope you have a wonderful day/evening <3 again, sending all my love to you !

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

November 26, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

NOV 27, 2023

A four-year-old dual Israeli-American citizen was among the 17 more hostages released by Hamas today. Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners, all of whom were under 19 years old. Hamas has expressed interest in extending the truce; Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has echoed that interest so long as each day brings at least ten more hostages out of captivity. Officials from the U.S., Egypt, and Qatar continue to negotiate. 

In the Washington Post today, reporters Steve Hendrix and Hazem Balousha put on the table the idea that both Netanyahu and Hamas “may be on the way out.” Such a circumstance would permit changes to the current political stalemate in the region, perhaps bringing closer the two-state solution for which officials around the world, including U.S. president Joe Biden, continue to push. 

Israelis are furious that Netanyahu failed to prevent the October 7 attack, and seventy-five percent of them want him to resign or be replaced when the crisis ends. At the same time, Hendrix and Balousha write, Palestinians are angry enough at Gaza’s leadership to be willing to criticize Hamas.

Whether Hendrix and Balousha are right or wrong, it is significant that a U.S. newspaper is looking for a change of leadership in Israel as well as in Gaza. That sentiment echoes the statement of Netanyahu’s own mouthpiece, Israel Hayom, about a month ago. Begun by U.S. casino mogul Sheldon Adelson to promote Netanyahu’s ideas, the paper in early November said that Netanyahu should “lead us to victory and then go.” 

Meanwhile, Iran-backed Houthi forces from Yemen fired two ballistic missiles at a U.S. Navy destroyer, the USS Mason, this evening, missing it by about ten nautical miles (which are slightly longer than miles on land), or eighteen and a half kilometers. Earlier in the day, the USS Mason and Japanese allies rescued a commercial vessel, the Central Park, when it came under attack by five pirates in the Gulf of Aden near Somalia. The USS Mason captured and arrested the attackers as they fled. The USS Mason is part of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group deployed to the region. Attacks on shipping in the area have increased since the October 7 attack. Last week, Yemeni Houthis seized a cargo ship linked to Israel. 

As Congress prepares to get back to work after the Thanksgiving holiday, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today released a letter addressed to his colleagues outlining the work he intends to get done before the end of the year. He emphasized that he and the Democrats want bipartisan solutions and urged his colleagues to work with Republicans to isolate the Republican extremists whose demands have repeatedly derailed funding measures.

Top of Schumer’s list is funding the government. The continuing resolution that passed just before Thanksgiving extended funding deadlines to two future dates. The first of those is January 19, and Schumer noted that lawmakers had continued to work on those bills over the Thanksgiving holiday to make sure they pass.

Next on Schumer’s list is a bill to fund military aid to Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific region as well as humanitarian assistance for Palestinian civilians and money for U.S. border security, including funding for machines to detect illegal fentanyl and for more border agents and immigration courts. President Biden requested the supplemental aid package of about $105 billion back in October, but while the aid in it is popular among lawmakers, hard-right Republicans are insisting on tying aid for Ukraine to a replacement of the administration’s border policies with their own. Some are also suggesting that helping Ukraine is too expensive.

Schumer noted that U.S. aid to Ukraine is vital to its ability to continue to push back the Russian invasion, while Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has pointed out that money appropriated for Ukraine goes to the U.S. defense industry to build new equipment as older equipment that was close to the end of its useful life goes to Ukraine. 

Foreign affairs writer Tom Nichols of The Atlantic explains that foreign aid is normally about 1% of the U.S. budget—$60 billion—and 18 months of funding for both the military and humanitarian aid in Ukraine have been about $75 billion. Israel usually gets about $3 billion; the new bill would add about $14 billion to that. (For comparison, Nichols points out that Americans last year spent about $181 billion on snacks and $115 billion on beer.) 

Schumer reminded his colleagues that backing off from aid to Ukraine would serve the interests of Russian president Vladimir Putin; backing off from our engagement with the Indo-Pacific would serve the interests of China’s president Xi Jinping. 

“The decisions we will have to make in the coming weeks on the aid package could determine the trajectory of democracy and the resilience of the transatlantic alliance for a generation,” Schumer wrote. “Giving Putin and Xi what they want would be a terrible, terrible mistake, and one that would come back to haunt us…. We cannot let partisan politics get in the way of defending democracy….”

Schumer said he would bring the measure up as soon as the week of December 4.

Schumer’s letter came the day after the annual day of remembrance of the 1932–1933 Holodomor famine in Ukraine, when the Soviet Union under leader Joseph Stalin starved 3.5 to 5 million Ukrainians, seizing their grain and farms in an attempt to erase their national identity. 

In a statement in remembrance of Holodomor yesterday, President Biden drew a parallel between the Holodomor of the 1930s and Russia’s war against Ukraine today, noting that “Ukraine’s agricultural infrastructure is once more being deliberately targeted” as Russia is “deliberately damaging fields and destroying Ukraine’s grain storage facilities and ports.” (Even so, Ukraine has managed to deliver more than 170,000 tons of grain to Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Yemen in the past year.)

“On this anniversary, we remember and honor all those, both past and present, who have endured such hardship and who continue still to fight against tyranny,” Biden said. “We also recommit ourselves to preventing suffering, protecting fundamental freedoms, and responding to human rights abuses whenever and wherever they occur. We stand united with Ukraine.”

On the Ukrainian remembrance day of Holodomor, Russia launched 75 drones at Kyiv, its largest drone strike against Ukraine since the start of its invasion in February 2022.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[thisisabernieblog]

‘A frightening precedent’: New Zealand to send military personnel to target Houthis

By Mick Hall

Jan 25, 2024



Bombing one of the most impoverished nations on Earth over its sea blockade to stop genocide in Gaza reflects Kiwi values, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says.

A decision to send military personnel to the Red Sea to help bomb Yemen reflects New Zealand’s values and a desire to protect the “rules-based international order”, New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says.

Addressing his first post-Cabinet media stand-up on January 23, Luxon announced the deployment of six NZDF members to target Houthi assets for UK and US bombing missions. The deployment is to last up to 31 July.

Luxon was accompanied by Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins.

The decision was greeted with alarm by a range of politicians and peace campaigners.

In Context revealed in December the government was weighing up a request from the US to send military assets to support Operation Prosperity Guardian, a naval coalition formed to confront Ansarallah/Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in response to Israel’s military onslaught against Gaza.

Yemen has now been targeted in strikes on eight separate occasions since it was first attacked on January 12, a move New Zealand backed in a joint statement by 10 countries. The US has said the bombing campaign is separate from and not associated with Operation Prosperity Guardian.

In the latest attack on January 22, Yemen’s capital was hit Sanaa as up to 30 strikes on targets across the country aimed at degrading drone and rocket capabilities were recorded.

Luxon said the NZDF personnel would not enter Yemen and would be used in an intelligence gathering capacity, based at an undisclosed location outside of New Zealand.

New Zealand military officers already operate out of a US base in Jordan, working alongside others as part of Operation Gallant Phoenix. The intelligence cell of about 250 personnel was originally set up in 2013 to monitor foreign Islamic State (IS) fighters in Iraq and Syria, but is said to target “terrorist” groups across the region regardless of ideology.

The US Department of State announced on January 17 it was designating the Houthis as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group.

The Yemeni forces announced in November shipping destined for Israel and vessels linked to the country would be targeted in response to Israel’s Western-backed genocidal onslaught in Gaza, which began after the Hamas attack on October 7.

Houthis ‘destabilising’

The Houthis have targeted other naval and commercial ships, including those owned by US and UK interests. In response, shipping giants have decided to use travel around Africa, through the Cape of Good Hope, rather than attempt to use the Suez Canal, adding up to 10 days to journeys. Approximate 400 commercial vessels use the route at any one time.

Luxon said: “Houthi attacks against commercial and naval shipping are illegal, unacceptable and profoundly destabilising.

“This deployment, as part of an international coalition, is a continuation of New Zealand’s long history of defending freedom of navigation both in the Middle East and closer to home.”

The Israeli bombardment of under-siege Gaza has officially killed nearly 26,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, with many of the strip’s displaced residents now on the verge of starvation and threatened by disease. A leaked Israeli government document revealed last year Israel would like to expel the 2.3 million population into Egypt’s Sinai desert.

In an often-incoherent appraisal of the New Zealand’s foreign policy settings, Luxon said his government’s decision to help bomb one of the most impoverished nations on Earth at the behest of the US was ethically grounded and necessary to maintain a rules-based international order, a descriptor for US hegemony.

“It’s about values. It’s about standing up for things we believe in and we need to talk about them, but we also need to do something about it as well to make sure that we put real capability alongside our words and that’s what we’re doing,” he said.

As Israel prepared a ground assault in Gaza in late October, US and UK naval and military assets were deployed to the region to deter the so-called Axis of Resistance – Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran and Yemen’s de facto government – from intervening in Israel’s operation, which was described by South Africa at the International Court of Justice earlier this month as a genocide.

As the Gaza killings continue, Israel’s repeated bombing of neighbouring Lebanon and Syria over the past month, with the killing an Iranian general in Damascus and a senior Hamas figure in Beirut, threatens to create a catastrophic regional conflagration.

Wrong to ‘conflate’ issues – Luxon

Luxon said it was wrong to “conflate the two issues” of Houthi attacks and Israel actions in the Middle East. He claimed that 31 attacks from Yemen that had affected 60 countries were “hugely indiscriminate” and that attacks on shipping would have happened regardless of Israel’s operation in Gaza.

“What is obvious is they’ve tried to run an argument but it’s not held up in fact. It’s been a really indiscriminate attack in commercial shipping,” he said.

The Houthi disruption of shipping had the potential to cause starvation, he added.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters said the attacks on commercial shipping routes had affected hundreds of millions of people. He said the Houthi actions also threatened New Zealand’s national interests as a trading nation and necessitated military action. He said the government would “not be intimidated” by the threat of Houthi attacks on Kiwis.

Defence Minister Judith Collins said the US-led coalition’s response was an inevitable consequence of Houthi actions and were designed to address “a serious threat of global stability”.

Palestinian Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) spokesman John Minto called the government’s justifications for sending personnel “shamelessly hypocritical” and said it would only add fuel to the fire.

“Luxon should be condemning Israel’s slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza as ‘illegal, unacceptable and profoundly destabilising’ and yet Mr Luxon refuses to utter a single word of criticism on Israel despite the death toll of over 25,000 Palestinians – including over 10,000 children,” he said.

“Foreign Minister Winston Peters saying the deployment should not be linked to recent developments in Israel and the Gaza strip is simply laughable.”

Without Parliamentary mandate – Te Kuaka

New Zealand foreign policy group, Te Kuaka, called the deployment “deeply alarming”. Co-director, Dr Arama Rata, said it would “inflame regional instability and cause more civilian deaths without addressing the root cause of the Houthi actions, which is ending the genocide in Gaza.”

She said the decision was made without a Parliamentary mandate and that there had been no explicit authorisation of military action in self-defence against Yemen by the UN Security Council.”

“This sets a frightening precedent for how foreign policy decisions are made. There are huge risks to not just the Middle East, but New Zealand directly when we take the side of the US and the UK, nations that have a long history of oppressive intervention in the Global South.”

Peters told media the opposition had not been consulted about the decision because the government didn’t think it needed to.

Rata added: “We need to have an honest reflection about our positioning alongside the US and the UK. Instead of colluding with these colonial powers, we should be standing with countries like Brazil and South Africa, which are challenging old colonial regimes, and represent the majority of the international community.”

The Green Party said the government should be focused on de-escalation.

“We are horrified at this Government’s decision to further inflame tensions in the Middle East by sending New Zealand Defence Force personnel to the Red Sea,” co-leaders of the Green Party, Marama Davidson and James Shaw said.

“It seems inconceivable for this government to be so dangerously naïve to say that this deployment has nothing to do with the horrific violence that continues to suffocate Gaza. The Government should be using every opportunity to push for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.”

As well as failing to call for an immediate ceasefire, the government has failed to support South Africa’s application to The Hague for an interim injunction to stop Israel’s military operation in Gaza while the court makes a determination on whether Israeli is guilty of genocide against Palestinians.

There were also moments during the post-cabinet media event where a duplicity in paying lip service to the notion of Palestinian statehood seemed exposed.

When asked if the government would recognise the state of Palestine a clearly bemused Luxon deferred to Peters, who claimed the government supported a two-state solution to the Palestine-Israel conflict, but would not recognise Palestine as a state as its borders were not defined.

The Oslo peace accords of the 1990s clearly defined the borders of a future Palestinian state.

When pressed over the fact borders were defined, so why not support Palestinian statehood, a befuddled Peters replied: “Because the Prime Minister of Israel made a statement to the contrary… he didn’t support the two-state solution”.

Luxon bizarrely added it was because Palestinians didn’t have a functional government.

Over the weekend, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the idea of Palestinian statehood as an existential threat to Israel. He posted on social media: “I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over the entire area west of [the river] Jordan — and this is irreconcilable with a Palestinian state”.

So New Zealand's gone full fascist.

[pinkflowerperson]

A much anticipated UN Security Council vote calling for a ‘cessation of hostilities’ in Gaza is set to take place on Wednesday morning New York Time, having been postponed two times due to American resistance to the precise wording.

As fierce negotiations continue at the UN, the Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh is scheduled to visit Egypt on Wednesday for discussions regarding a truce in Gaza and a potential prisoner exchange with Israel, according to a source familiar with the group.

Here are some other notable updates

• In Gaza, Israeli bombardment continues to take a toll on the Strip. Over the past ten weeks, Al-Awda Hospital has been "besieged" and damaged in strikes, said Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)

• The death toll in Gaza is also expected to surpass 20,000 later today or tomorrow.

• Israeli soldier killed in fighting in Gaza, brining the death total to 133 since Israel started ground operations

• “Without safe water, many more children will die [in] coming days” in Gaza, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell says

• Apparent “targeted” killings of journalists in Gaza need to be investigated, Jody Ginsberg, the president of the Committee to Protect Journalists

• A Malaysian ban on Israeli shipping vessels is “effective immediately”, the office of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim says

• UK foreign minister to travel to Jordan, Egypt this week

🔗 Click the link in our bio for live coverage from #Palestine and #Israel