Promises of âabsolute victoryâ in Gaza are nothing but âgibberishâ, according to Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. Gallantâs comments were not meant to be public, but somehow were leaked and published by Israeli media on 12 August.
The explanation of why Benjamin Netanyahu is pursuing a losing war in Gaza has been largely confined to the prime ministerâs personal interests, not least the avoidance of corruption trials, preserving his extremist government coalition and avoiding an early general election. Still, none of these rationales explain the absurdity of continuing with a war which, in the words of former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, is âThe worst failure in Israelâs history.â
What else could explain Netanyahuâs motive for the war? And why are his most crucial government allies, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, determined to prolong it? The answer may not lie in Gaza, but in the occupied West Bank.
While Israel is extending its failed military campaign in the Strip with no clear strategic objectives, its war on the West Bank is driven by very clear motives indeed: the annexation of the occupied Palestinian territory and the ethnic cleansing of large sectors of the Palestinian population. This is not only obvious through Israelâs daily actions in the West Bank, but also because of the clear statements made by Israelâs extreme far right government officials, including a commitment by Netanyahuâs own Likud party to âadvance and develop settlement in all parts of the land of Israel â in the Galilee, Negev, Golan Heights and Judea and Samaria.â The latter, of course, is what Zionists call the West Bank. (...)
The discussions around circumnavigating FARA focused on a âPR commando unitâ formed by Israelâs Ministry of Strategic Affairs in 2017 to improve Israelâs image abroad. The group, a private-public partnership, was originally known as âKela Shlomoâ (which translates to âSolomonâs Slingâ) before being rebranded as âConcertâ in 2018 and âVoices of Israelâ in 2021. Its initial mission was to undermine the BDS movement targeting Israel with boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigns in protest of its policies towards Palestinians.
One soldier had been told Palestinian civilians were being used to replace the dog units that search for explosives âbecause too many dogs had diedâ, he added.
Jibril Rajoub, the 71-year-old head of the Palestine Olympic Committee, has been fighting the Israeli Occupation for almost 60 years. He told us that he started after Israel imprisoned him at age 14 for attempting to help Egyptian military members flee Israeli capture. As a teenager in prison, Rajoub was recruited to the Palestinian political and military resistance organization Fatah, also known as Palestinian National Liberation Movement. Rajoub, in total, has spent almost two decades in Israeli prisons. In 1985, Israel freed him as part of a hostage exchange, but Israel arrested him soon after and placed him in solitary confinement, where he almost died during a 30-day hunger strike.
Rajoubâs long career in both Palestinian politics and athletics has earned him many enemies. Fifty-four years ago, as part of the PNLM, he threw a grenade at a bus and was sentenced to life in an Israeli prison (emerging only after the aforementioned prisoner exchange). He is often referred to in the Israeli press as âconvicted terrorist Jibril Rajoub.â (...)
12 hours after taking out senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Lebanon in response to the rocket attack that killed twelve children at a soccer practice ...
Now ... Hamas leader Haniyeh ... DEAD ! Taken out INSIDE Iran !
Israel, delivering on its vow to bring down all responsible for October 7.
