Israel Halts Electricity Supply To Gaza

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

The Jerusalem Post has an article about why the Gaza ground invasion has been delayed so far since Friday. Some people do claim it because of the weather, or Israel wants to give the civilists more time to evacuate.

According though to different sources the real reason is that the IDF fears that the moment they invade Gaza Hezbollah will open a second front in the north. So far Hezbollah is keeping a pretty low profile of attacks, which many do see as false lure into security.

So the IDF is double checking that, and also reinforcing their troops in the north. Also the IDF and politicians do recognize that the IDF hasn't done anything like this in decades, and rushing in unprepared could be a large mistake. In this perspective the 2006 Lebanon war ground invasion was a failure, with the 2008 and 2014 invasions being more symbolic.

Other factors are that the US is asking Israel to delay because of the American hostages, as well the world reponse to date. But when Israel starts the invasion in a real way and with rising Palestinean death counts this support will change into pressure for Israel to stop.

Why has the Gaza ground invasion been delayed since Friday? - analysis | The Jerusalem Post

Is Hezbollah waiting to strike until forces are in a Gaza quagmire?

www.jpost.com

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

The Jordanian King Abdullah II. stated today, that Egypt and Jordania are unwilling to take Palestinian refugees: "This is a situation that has to be handled within Gaza and the West Bank. And you don’t have to carry this out on the shoulders of others."

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi denounced the strikes on the border crossing on Thursday, which have also prevented humanitarian aid from entering the region. He said it is in the best interest of Palestinians to stay in Gaza.

“The threat there is significant because it means the liquidation of this (Palestinian) cause,” el-Sissi said. “It’s important for its people to stay steadfast and exist on its land.”

Joe Biden stated at the same meeting that occupying Gaza by Israel would be a mistake, but in order to take the extremists out is going to be a necessity.

Jordan, Egypt unwilling to take Palestinian refugees, king says

Jordan and Egypt will not accept Palestinian refugees amid the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Jordanian King Abdullah II said Tuesday. “This is a situation that has to be handled within Gaza…

thehill.com

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Ron DeSantis has something to say: “You have Israelis being held hostage, as well as Americans being held hostage, but I don’t think they are under an obligation to be providing water and these utilities while those hostages are being held. Hamas should return those hostages before any discussions are had,” DeSantis told CBS’s “Face The Nation.”

“The U.S. should not be absorbing any of those. I think the culture — so they elected Hamas, let’s just be clear about that. Not everyone’s a member of Hamas, most probably aren’t. But they did elect Hamas,” he said of people in Gaza.

He described what he said is “a toxic culture” in Gaza. “I think if we were to import large numbers of those to the United States, I think it would increase antisemitism in this country, and I think it would increase anti-Americanism in this country,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis says Palestinian refugees from Gaza are 'all antisemitic' and taking them in would increase 'anti-Americanism' | Fortune

DeSantis decried a "toxic" culture in Gaza, arguing that because Hamas was elected in the region, “The U.S. should not be absorbing any" refugees.

fortune.com

AOC of course has something to say about that:

“I also want to address something very specific about what Governor DeSantis said when he said, quote unquote, all Gazans are antisemitic,” Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview on CNN’s “NewsNight.” “How incredibly destructive and dangerous that rhetoric is.”

“We just had a 6-year-old boy stabbed 26 times this morning because of rhetoric like that,” Ocasio-Cortez said, referring to a Muslim child who was killed allegedly by his landlord on Sunday outside Chicago. The man charged in the death is also charged with hate crimes.

Ocasio-Cortez also told CNN she thinks some regional partners should help Gazan refugees who were forced from their homes since the war began just over a week ago, but the U.S. still may play a role.

“I think there’s something to be said about the region’s partners being able to support and step up Palestinians,” she said. “However, that does not abdicate the United States from our historic role that we’ve played in the world of accepting refugees and allowing people to restart their lives here.”

Ocasio-Cortez: DeSantis remarks about Gazans are ‘incredibly destructive and dangerous’

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Monday said Florida Gov. Ron. DeSantis’s (R) labeling of “all” Gazans as antisemitic is “incredibly destructive and dangerous.” “I also want to address som…

thehill.com

 

[Cindy Claveau]

I've been seeing a few reports that Israel has killed the Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar. He's been at the top of their kill list since the start of this war, hiding in tunnels.

The only news article I can find so far is Fox News and I'm not linking that.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

“The U.S. should not be absorbing any of those. I think the culture — so they elected Hamas, let’s just be clear about that. Not everyone’s a member of Hamas, most probably aren’t. But they did elect Hamas,” he said of people in Gaza.

He neglected to add that this was 17 years ago, in 2006, when Hamas won 44.45% of the popular vote in Gaza vs Fatah's 41.43%. No elections have been held since.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Palestinian_legislative_election

 

[Jolene Benoir]

It seems to me that it is the Hamas leadership that is what needs to be removed from the equation. From what I understand they are living quite comfortably in Qatar as the people they purport to *represent* are merely pawns in their hands. Mossad has been rather effective in the past in hunting down Nazis and the like.

The main issue with that, of course, is that they're in a foreign country, that it would be extrajudicial, much like past CIA operations, and that they are technically the leading political party of Gaza, though since they assassinated many of their Fatah counterparts and have not held elections since that time, they aren't exactly democratically representing the people of Gaza. They are a terrorist organization first and foremost, not that dissimilar to what ISIS once was.

Without them being removed, they continue to be surreptitiously funded by the likes of Iran, possibly Russia and China, however I also would imagine that when one domino falls, many are willing to take their place.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

The Wexner foundation is cutting off its ties with Harvard University, because of Harvard's silence and therefore failure to condemn the Hamas' actions.

“We are stunned and sickened by the dismal failure of Harvard’s leadership to take a clear and unequivocal stand against the barbaric murders of innocent Israeli civilians by terrorists last Saturday,” the foundation’s leaders wrote in a public letter sent to the Harvard Board of Overseers.

The Wexner Foundation, founded in 1983 by billionaire Les Wexner, has for decades facilitated programs at elite universities for promising public leaders and professionals in Israel and in the US Jewish community. Its prestigious fellowship program has supported yearlong studies at Harvard of many famed Israeli political and public service professionals.

‘Sickened’ by silence on Hamas atrocities, Wexner Foundation cuts ties with Harvard

Heads of philanthropy group say decades-long fellowship for Israeli, Jewish leaders won't continue at US university, citing its 'tiptoeing' and student groups' slamming of Israel

www.timesofisrael.com

 

[Veritable Quandry]

Just a reminder that Les Wexner's money guy was Jeffery Epstein.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

US supermodel Gigi Hadid, daughter of a palestinian immigrant to the US, has something to share with the world, which was in her Instagram story reel:


The state of Israel officially responded to her quite harshly (4th picture of the reel shows a blood stained hospital floor):

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Palestinian children's TV... this video is 8 years old by now.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Slavoj Žižek held the opening speech for Frankfurt Book Fair of this year. He condemned Hamas' terrorist attacks on the Israeli population, but stressed that if you want to understand the conflict, you also have to listen to the Palestinians.

During the speech, some guests left the hall. The Hessian anti-Semitism commissioner Uwe Becker contradicted Žižek first in front of and later directly on stage. Becker accused Žižek of relativizing the crimes of Hamas, left the room several times, but finally returned accompanied by local politicians in Frankfurt. Book fair director Juergen Boos also tried to appease Becker.

He doesn't relativize at all, Žižek replied. The terrorist attacks are a horrific crime and Israel has every right to defend itself. But in order to understand what is happening there, one must also look at the background of the Palestinians. There can be no peace in the Middle East without a solution to the Palestinian question.

Even before the interruption, the philosopher had criticized a "ban on analysis" on this topic. Žižek criticized the fact that all the previous speakers had talked about Israel, but no one had talked about the Palestinians. He considers the decision not to award the Palestinian author Adania Shibli at the book fair to be "scandalous".

Clam Reports

Clam Reports is a dedicated team of international reporters, journalists, and developers. We translate and compile local news sources from various languages into comprehensive English reports, delivering accurate and swift information to our users.

www.tellerreport.com

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Israel's Strategic Crisis

President Biden heads to the Middle East

open.substack.com

Detailed analysis of Israel's military and political options by the Professor of War Studies at King's College, London.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter has a lengthy opinion piece about "Why I no longer stand with Israel":

And I decided that I could no longer stand with Israel.

I arrived late to the Palestinian cause. I was too wrapped up in the Israeli saga, too invested in the Israeli fantasy, to see the forest for the trees. I was too busy hating Hamas to realize that I should instead be hating that which enabled Hamas to carry out the crimes it has committed for the past four decades.

Simply put, I was blind to the tragedy of the Palestinian people.

Today I know that the only true victims in the Israeli saga (outside the children from every walk of life who are caught up in the tragic events foisted upon them by adults who claim to be working for a bright and shiny tomorrow, but only deliver death and destruction) are the Palestinian people.

At least Israel’s founding fathers were honest enough to acknowledge this.

The Zionists of today lack the moral character to admit that Israel can only be built and sustained at the cost of a viable, free, and independent Palestine, that Israel will never allow such a Palestine to exist, and that if there is a Zionist Israel, there will never be an independent Palestine.

The sins of the fathers are real, especially when it comes to Israel’s founding fathers and the crimes they committed against the Palestinian people. Moshe Dyan admitted this much. So, too, did David Ben Gurion. These were men—fundamentally flawed in their ideologies and motivations, but honestly so.

Benjamin Netanyahu and his fellow modern-day Israeli politicians, regardless of political affiliation, have no such integrity. They are inveterate liars, men and women who will promise one thing, then do another, when it comes to the future of Palestine, all the while leading Israel down the path of permanent war.

I arrived late to the Palestinian cause, but now that I am here, I can say this—the best way to defeat both Hamas and Zionist Israel is to support a free and independent Palestinian state.

I have never stood with Hamas, and I never will.

I once stood with Israel, but I will never do so again.

For four decades now, the Israeli-Hamas collusion has run its tragic course, each side proclaiming its desire to destroy the other, and yet each side knowing the awful truth—that one cannot exist without the other.

The Israeli-Palestine problem has become a never-ending cycle of violence which feeds off the pain and suffering of the Palestinian people. It is time to bring this cycle to an end.

From this moment forward, I will always stand with the people of Palestine, convinced that the only path for peace in the Middle East is one that leads through a viable Palestinian homeland, its capital firmly and forever ensconced in East Jerusalem.

In this way, Hamas will be disenfranchised as a terrorist organization—a legitimate Palestinian state takes away the perpetual state of conflict Hamas contributes to, a status which is justified by the pursuit of a legitimate Palestinian state Zionist Israel will never allow to exist.

A legitimate Palestinian state delegitimizes the notion of a Zionist Israeli entity which, by definition, can only exist by the perpetual exploitation of the Palestinian people. Benjamin Netanyahu was able to sustain the modern-day version of the Zionist Israeli state by generating fear through the endless cycle of Hamas-driven violence.

NYAITOGEL: Situs Bandar Togel Online Gampang Menang No 1 Pusat Terbaik

NYAITOGEL merupakan situs bandar togel online gampang menang no 1 dan menjadi pusat perhatian dari para pemain indonesia karena memiliki pilihan bandar togel terbaik saat ini.

www.scottritterextra.com

 

[Cindy Claveau]

Gaza hospital blast: what we know about the explosion

Oct 18 (Reuters) - A blast at a Gaza hospital killed hundreds of Palestinians just before U.S. President Joe Biden visited Israel as the conflict between the Israeli military and the Hamas raged.

WHO BOMBED THE HOSPITAL IN GAZA?

Israelis and Palestinians have blamed each other for the hospital bombing.

Biden, who has stood squarely behind Israel from the start of the conflict, said that based on what he had seen the explosion was caused by the "other team" - a reference to Palestinian militants.


Some Western countries have called for an investigation, without pointing the finger at this stage, while Arab states have blamed Israel.

 

[Cindy Claveau]

Eight French airports forced to evacuate for security reasons

Meanwhile, the Palace of Versailles near Paris evacuated visitors for security reasons for the third time in less than a week, the popular tourist destination said on its website on Wednesday. The palace reopened to visitors later Wednesday.

 

[Pancake]

What’s Versailles got to do with this? One of my favorite places I’ve ever been but I’m failing to make a connection. Just because it’s popular and crowded with international tourists?

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Well, probably they've received an anonymous security threat for Versailles. France has 3-6 million muslims, many with roots from Algeria. Just remember the Nahel Merzouk riots in July this year.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nahel_Merzouk_riots

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Joe Biden is visiting Israel right now. Haaretz thinks that his visit and US armed forces deployment are a telltale sign for a shift in the relationship, namely disappointment and certain loss of confidence.

First, the United States seems to have concluded that it needs to closely supervise events. Ostensibly, the prime U.S. interest is to “prevent the spread of the conflict” and contain possible escalation. To that end, it feels that, simultaneous with an outpouring of support, it needs to check Israel. Biden has warned several times that a prolonged ground operation in Gaza, and an eventual reoccupation of the Gaza Strip, may have dire repercussions and would reverberate badly – and not just for Israel.

Second, this a show of no-confidence in the quality of Israel’s decision-making and anxiety over the absence of a clear strategy or exit strategy. The Americans support, fully understand and justify a fierce Israeli retaliation. This is about restoring a diminished deterrence as much as it is about getting justice.

Biden spoke of Israel’s response in terms of it being almost a moral imperative. But the Americans have little trust in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. His egregious bravado, arrogance, manipulations and dismissive attitude toward the United States are a matter of record. His credibility has been particularly tarnished after a year in which he instigated a constitutional coup in Israel – the reason Biden has not yet invited him to the White House.

Third – and this is possibly the worst impression – is that the United States may not be sure Israel is capable of defending itself on two fronts. Since when does the secretary of state of the United States participate, for several hours, in an Israeli cabinet meeting? In 1973, then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger briefed Golda Meir’s cabinet, but didn’t actually participate.

Israel is a rich country with supposedly a strong military, highly advanced technologies, the most modern fighting platforms, self-proclaimed state-of-the-art intelligence, superior cyberwarfare capabilities, precise munitions, a huge defense budget and a $3.8 billion annual U.S. military grant. How is it even conceivable that some 10 days into a war against Hamas, limited to Gaza, Israel is asking the Americans for $10 billion in military aid and replenishments? For what?

For many years, the working definition of Israeli foreign latitude and maneuvering room was that it is a ball free to move but contained within a larger ball. The larger ball represents U.S. interests. Once the Israeli ball moves to a point tangential to the outer circle, it needs to be distanced from it. This is how America views the escalatory potential of this war. If it expands beyond the confines of Gaza, it becomes tangential to U.S. interests.

President Joe Biden is coming to Israel to stand with Israelis, to show real support. There is no question about it. But the impetus and framing of the visit are about much more than that.

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-10-18/ty-article/.premium/bidens-israel-visit-reveals-inconvenient-truths-about-shift-in-u-s-israel-relationship/0000018b-41b7-d881-abab-edbf96650000

BTW Rishi Sunak arrived in Israel as well.

Israel's Netanyahu says Hamas attack was aimed at derailing peace

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday the Hamas attack on Israel was aimed at preventing the expansion of peace in the Middle East, and called on British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to keep supporting Israel's Gaza counteroffensive.

www.reuters.com

 

[Pancake]

Well, probably they've received an anonymous security threat for Versailles. France has 3-6 million muslims, many with roots from Algeria. Just remember the Nahel Merzouk riots in July this year.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nahel_Merzouk_riots

Sorry I should have been more clear that I was responding to Cindy’s post about the threat to Versailles.

I was wondering if there was some specific reason or link to threaten Versailles specifically other than it being a major tourist site.