“Republicans” passed it, too … “Insane”: Senate Dems Blasted For Adding Women To Draft See image from 2016 below.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/insane-senate-dems-blasted-adding-women-draft
The Japan Times: A sensational story about the Israeli prime minister’s “psychiatrist” has exploded online, but it was AI-generated, originating on one of hundreds of websites researchers warn are churning out tech-enabled fiction masquerading as news. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/03/11/world/politics/news-sites-ai-fake-stories/UN: Israeli Authorities Responsible for Crimes Against Humanity
A United Nations inquiry into the Israeli onslaught in Gaza found officials in Tel Aviv were culpable for myriad war crimes
Navi Pillay, chairperson of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, announced her findings to the UNSC on Wednesday, stating the commission had concluded that “Israeli authorities are responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.”
She explained that those crimes include “extermination, intentionally directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects, murder or willful killing using starvation as a method of War, forcible transfer, gender persecution, sexual and gender-based violence amounting to torture and cruel or inhuman treatment.”
The commission noted that Hamas has committed similar crimes throughout the latest conflict. https://news.antiwar.com/2024/06/19/un-israeli-authorities-responsible-for-crimes-against-humanity/IDF Report Found Multiple Cases of Friendly Fire Deaths on Oct 7
A review by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) set to be released this summer will conclude that Israeli soldiers killed many of their own people on October 7, Israeli media reported. The inquiry is expected to identify multiple failures of the IDF during the Hamas rampage in southern Israel.
According to Israel’s Channel 12 News, the IDF report due to be released in mid-July found “many casualties due to our forces firing on our forces.” Tel Aviv has been accused of ordering its soldiers to kill hostages rather than allow Hamas to use them in negotiations, a policy long known as the ‘Hannibal Directive’…
..While Tel Aviv has denied that the Hannibal Directive was put into effect and insists it is no longer used, evidence has emerged of Israeli forces firing on homes knowing civilians were inside. One incident in Kibbutz Be’eri left 12 Israeli civilians dead.
There are multiple probes investigating the IDF’s actions on October 7, though one Israeli government-led inquiry was shut down by the country’s top court this week amid objections from the IDF and a number of senior officials. https://news.antiwar.com/2024/06/20/idf-report-found-multiple-cases-of-friendly-fire-deaths-on-oct-7/US Tells Lebanon It Will Support Israeli Attack on Hezbollah
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has said the militant group is ready for full-blown conflict with Tel Aviv, but would prefer to avoid a war. [If only they had Russian missiles…]
Deputy assistant to the US president Amos… Hochstein bluntly warned that the US plans to support an Israeli attack should the two sides fail to deescalate tensions. The US envoy added that Tel Aviv expects to significantly scale back its military operations in Gaza in around five weeks, saying the break could allow a new round of talks with Hezbollah even if no ceasefire deal is reached with Hamas. However, Hochstein also stated that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would shift “full focus” to Israel’s northern border following the Gaza pause, with the goal of pushing the Hezbollah away from Israeli soil. https://news.antiwar.com/2024/06/19/us-tells-lebanon-it-will-support-israeli-attack-on-hezbollah/Moon of Alabama, Hizbullah Ready To Defeat Israel
On October 8, a day after Hamas attacked Israel, the Lebanese Hizbullah joined the fray. It sent missiles towards military installations in north Israel. 80,000 Israeli settler living in the north fled from their homes. They are still sitting in hotels around Israel and are waiting for the return of quietness to that front.
Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah had announced that the current northern tit-for-tat campaign between Hizbullah and Israeli forces would continue until a permanent ceasefire is agreed upon in Gaza.
But the radicals in charge of Israeli policies do not want a ceasefire in Gaza. They want to eradicate Hamas and as much of the Gazan population as possible. A ceasefire would prevent them from doing so.
On the other hand there is pressure from northern settlers who want to return to their homes. But without a ceasefire in Gaza the low level conflict in Israel’s north and southern Lebanon is bound to continue.
Instead of working towards a ceasefire in Gaza the Israeli military and government are planning to invade southern Lebanon and to occupy it up to the Litani river…
..In a speech on Thursday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah doubled down on military action saying Hezbollah has “a complete bank of targets”, against Israel that include in the Mediterranean.
“The enemy should expect us on land, sea and air, and we will fight without restraints, rules or limits,” he said.
Hizbullah published a 9 minutes long drone video which showed military and economic targets around the Israeli harbor city of Haifa. That multiple Hizbullah drones could fly over Israel without being bothered by air defenses is a huge loss of face for the Israeli military.
The members of the resistance axis, Hizbullah in Lebanon, Shia groups in Syria, Iraqi militia and the Houthi in Yemen, are ready to fight. Even without attacking Iran, the main power behind the resistance, Israel and the U.S. are likely to lose such a war.
Without a chance to win they would of course, as usual, escalate the war most likely towards Iran, potentially Turkey, and elsewhere. Where it would go from there is unpredictable.
Why they would even launch such an avoidable war is beyond me. [Gamble on crisis today, instead of slow demographic death of colonial settler-state?] https://www.moonofalabama.org/2024/06/hizbullah-ready-to-defeat-israel.html#moreNasrallah Says ‘No Place’ Safe, Even Threatens Cyprus, If Israel Invades Lebanon [What kind of missile range is that?]
“Storming the Galilee is a possibility that remains present within the framework of any war that the occupation may launch against Lebanon,” Hezbollah’s Secretary-General continued.
And that’s when he for the first time of the conflict which began in wake of Oct.7 issued a warning against Cyprus, given that the Greek-speaking island-nation currently has a bilateral defense cooperation agreement with Israel.
“Opening Cypriot airports and bases to the Israeli enemy to target Lebanon would mean that the Cypriot government is part of the war, and the resistance will deal with it as part of the war,” Nasrallah said.
He further warned that targets in the Mediterranean would also come under attack. In 2006 the Israeli Navy’s INS Hanit warship suffered a direct hit from a Hezbollah anti-ship missile (likely made by Iran), killing four soldiers.
His fresh words are also being interpreted by Israeli media to say gas fields in the Mediterranean and energy platforms could also be attacked:
Israel “knows that what also awaits it in the Mediterranean is very big,” Nasrallah added, without elaborating, possibly insinuating the group could attack its offshore gas rigs. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/nasrallah-says-no-place-safe-even-threatens-cyrus-if-israel-invades-lebanonRussia may potentially launch a strike from Syria targeting a British military base in Cyprus. This assertion was made by Andrey Klintsevich in an interview with “Tsargrad,” as reported by the Russian outlet Gazeta.ru. https://bulgarianmilitary.com/2024/06/19/russia-might-strike-a-uk-base-in-cyprus-from-syria-klintsevich/
(Real or theatrical?) White House Fuming, Cancels Meeting With Israelis, After Netanyahu’s Public Scolding https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/white-house-fuming-cancels-meeting-israelis-after-netanyahus-public-scolding
