Israel-Palestine War: Hamas Breaks Out of Gaza, Israel Responds With Genocide

[Seppo Ilmarinen]

note that Lavrov, on his on initiative, is questioning Israels claims of what happened and clearly draws attention to and essentially compares it with 9/11 and similar "conspiracy theories". I don't think that this a coincidence. And Lavrov says that before he starts with the other stuff. As for what Lavrov said in regard to Gaza and demilitarization later, considering the context of what he says before that point, I don't think it is so clear and/or black and white.

I agree. I found it interesting in itself how the question was basically about whether October 7th was Israel's false flag (which is not a typical media question) and how Lavrov answered vaguely about Israel's possible foreknowledge and decided to add also 9/11 in his answer, again talking very vaguely around the topic of "conspiracy theories" and false flags.

Kind of like just throwing these ideas in the air: "I heard some reports said Israel had foreknowledge... Oh, and there's similar theories about 9/11, interesting, eh. But I'm sure they wouldn't do something that, right?"

So I was wondering if this was pre-planned, perhaps meant as a veiled message for the PTB, as Russia supposedly has evidence on 9/11, and must be aware of Israel's role in it, just as what happened during October 7th.

 

[Evan]

Terrific New Year’s interview with Roger Waters from the People’s Dispatch:
People’s Dispatch Roger Waters 2023

 

[Cosmos]

I recently saw something about Epstein on X that got me thinking. As we have noted in this thread, the caliber and scale of famous, powerful and/or influential people who don’t seem to get what is happening in Gaza is quite staggering. And that often includes very smart people who don’t seem to get the most basic things any decent 5 year old would understand instantly. Where you think „can somebody like that really be that stupid?“. Normally, we would tend to explain that oddity by sacred cows, cognitive dissonance and similar „thinking errors“.

While that could very well explain some of it, what if some, or even many, of those people are being blackmailed and/or threatened? And maybe in some cases the blackmail involves skeletons they themselves have in the closet?

That might be a pretty logical and fitting explanation for at least some of those oddities since it is kind of the hallmark of „Mossad“ to do exactly that and those actions are probably especially pronounced when the content is about telling the truth about their most prominent habitat, namely Israel.

So maybe what we see has quite a lot more to do with blackmail and/or threats then we would assume?

 

[BHelmet]

Yes blackmail OR fear of political suicide, career suicide, or actually being suicided.

“Fear will keep the local systems in line.” -Grand Moff Tarkanyahu.

 

[Alejo]

'"Encourage emigration": The "depopulation" of Gaza aims to not allow establishment of Palestinian state.'

Israeli minister proposes depopulation of Gaza

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has suggested that Arabs should be encouraged to leave Gaza for good

www.rt.com

1 Jan, 2024

I saw that, look at the coldness with which he's discussing the fate of over 2 million people:

“What needs to be done in the Gaza Strip is to encourage emigration,”Smotrich, who is leader of the far-right Religious Zionism party, told Army Radio on Sunday. “If there are 100,000 or 200,000 Arabs in Gaza and not 2 million Arabs, the entire discussion on the day after will be totally different.”

His position is so transparently genocidal that it is a bit shocking, not that he hold genocidal thoughts, rather that he feels so comfortable simply discussing it openly.

 

[Alejo]

In other news, I caught this today also, which I found interesting.

Israel strikes down judicial overhaul​

Israel’s Supreme Court struck down Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial judicial reform legislation on Monday, canceling a measure that had limited the court’s power to challenge the government’s actions.

In an 8-7 vote, the court ruled that a legal amendment that had stripped it and all lower courts of the power to cancel any government decision or appointment deemed “extremely unreasonable,” would deal a “severe and unprecedented blow to the core characteristics of the State of Israel as a democratic state.”

The controversial piece of legislation that was the source of so many protests for months in Israel, was stuck down by their supreme court, I wonder how this will fare in light of all the international condemnation that is taking place. Just today also, in Turkey and Berlin there were massive protests in favor of Palestine, at the same time as Israel is making massive arrests in Gaza.

Usually the holidays would bring a bit of respite, not this year.

 

[Ca.]

Military Situation In Palestine On January 1, 2024 (Map Update)

More than 21,822 Palestinians were killed and more than 56,451 others were wounded as a result of Israeli airstrikes, according...

southfront.press

Map In Russian dialog by Rybar Force
What's happening in Palestine and Israel: Chronicle for December 31 - January 1
Snip:

В секторе Газа продолжаются активные боевые действия. В первые минуты нового года боевики боевого крыла ХАМАС нанесли массированный ракетный удар из РСЗО по Тель–Авиву: все цели были перехвачены, о жертвах и разрушениях не сообщалось. В Аль-Туффе и Ад-Дарадже идут ожесточенные бои, в Бейт Лахии была подорвана школа, используемая палестинцами для вылазок на подразделения АОИ.

В центре анклава ситуация остается прежней. Стычки проходят в руинах лагеря беженцев Аль-Бурейдже, АОИ наносит удары по местам возможного скопления боевиков и другим окрестным населенным пунктам: число жертв среди мирного населения выросло до почти 22 тысяч убитых и 58 тысяч раненых.

На юге АОИ продвигаются в муниципалитете Хузаа, вклинившись в оборону противника приблизительно на километр. Теперь АОИ может наступать с востока и запада от Абасан аль-Кабиры, чтобы взять боевиков на этом участке в окружение.

На границе с Ливаном стороны продолжают взаимный обмен ударами. Впрочем, после ряда ударов по местам скопления отрядов «Хезболлы» в приграничье, активность со стороны повстанцев несколько снизилась по сравнению с прошлыми неделями.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1741845976443199490

Israel Rejects Hamas’s Hostage Deal Proposal - Reports

Palestinian movement Hamas, through Qatari and Egyptian intermediaries, presented its proposal for a new prisoner deal to Israel, but the Jewish state found it unacceptable, the Axios news portal reported on Monday, citing Israeli officials and a source.

sputnikglobe.com

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Palestinian movement Hamas, through Qatari and Egyptian intermediaries, presented its proposal for a new prisoner deal to Israel, but the Jewish state found it unacceptable, the Axios news portal reported on Monday, citing Israeli officials and a source.

At the same time, an Israeli official noted that Hamas's offer shows the movement is ready to negotiate a new hostage deal, even as fighting continues in the Gaza Strip, the report said.

A proposal included a three-step process, the report read. Each phase provided for a pause in hostilities for more than a month in exchange for the release of hostages. As part of the first phase of the deal, Israel is asked to withdraw its troops from Gaza in exchange for the release of approximately 40 hostages, the report read, adding that the final phase called for the release of Israeli soldiers held in the Gaza Strip and an end to the war in the enclave.

"The proposal we received from Hamas on Sunday was totally off base and we asked the mediators to try and produce a more acceptable proposal. They are working on it and let's see what happens … The negotiations are not stuck anymore but they are also not making significant progress yet," the Israeli official was quoted as saying by the news portal.

On October 7, Hamas launched a large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip while its fighters breached the border, attacking both civilian neighborhoods and military bases. As a result, over 1,200 people in Israel were killed and some 240 others abducted. Israel launched retaliatory strikes, ordered a complete blockade of Gaza and started a ground incursion into the Palestinian enclave with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages. Over 21,800 people have been killed so far in Gaza as a result of Israeli strikes, local authorities said.

On November 24, Qatar mediated a deal between Israel and Hamas on a temporary truce and the exchange of some of the prisoners and hostages, as well as the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire was extended several times and expired on December 1. Over 100 hostages are still believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1742082576989253930

https://twitter.com/x/status/1742049866254057800

 

[sToRmR1dR]

War in Gaza won’t end in 2024 - Israel

Israel’s war in Gaza will likely last all year, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces has said

www.rt.com

1 Jan, 2024

 

[mantle]

I sometimes do wonder how many of Israel's neighbors sense that their days are also numbered. How many truly understand what the plans for Greater Israel entail in terms of sacrifices to the dark powers. Perhaps the human mind cannot encompass the utter horror being planned as the scripted Western press facilitates the blossoming sacrifice.

 

[Jebra]

I think they do. But it's not just that Mantle. Do you think that even if Israel gets it's 'Greater Israel' that it will be content with those borders? No never. It will always hunger for more and more.

 

[iamthatis]

I sometimes do wonder how many of Israel's neighbors sense that their days are also numbered. How many truly understand what the plans for Greater Israel entail in terms of sacrifices to the dark powers. Perhaps the human mind cannot encompass the utter horror being planned as the scripted Western press facilitates the blossoming sacrifice.

Depends what you mean by neighbours. I think certain sections in the governments of Israel's neighbours are all pretty well appraised of those crazy plans - and also maybe other nefarious plans we have no clue about. As for neighbouring populations, I'd say much of the Arab world knows Israel is bloody insane, but as usual, many people probs would be clueless and just focused on survival, etc.

I see the whole Greater Israel plan as major wishful thinking. The Israeli military can barely handle the Hamas forces (in a 75 year old open-air prison) + Hezbollah to the North, let alone project power across such a big portion of the Middle East. Probably even more true with the world waking up to their psychopathy.

So they may try, but even with (1) the American Aircraft Carriers (which are apparently severely understaffed) backing the IDF, and (2) Mossad shadow warfare... I don't see how they could possibly violate the sovereignty of Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria & Turkey, etc., especially in the BRICS+ era. Team America World Police is quickly becoming just a dream of the past.

 

[RedFox]

Two articles related to the spillover into a regional situation from today:

Israeli army launches attacks on targets in Syria and Lebanon

As war in Gaza rages, Israel is continuing its campaign against Syrian military and Hezbollah targets.

www.aljazeera.com

As war in Gaza rages, Israel is continuing its campaign against Syrian military and Hezbollah targets, sparking fears of regional spillover.

Published On 2 Jan 20242 Jan 2024

Israel has launched attacks on positions in Syria and Lebanon, as part of its ongoing campaign against opposing militaries and armed forces in the Middle East.
“The [Israeli army] struck military infrastructure belonging to the Syrian Army,” the Israeli military said in a post on the social media platform X on Tuesday.

“[Israeli military] fighter jets also struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in Lebanon,” it added, promising it would “continue to operate against any threat to Israel’s sovereignty”.

Israel’s military has been engaged in cross-border fighting with Hezbollah and has launched repeated air raids on Syria since its war on Gaza began on October 7, raising fears of the conflict spilling over into the wider region.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1742111065087881348

The latest attacks, which occurred between Monday and Tuesday, marked a spike in tensions between Israel and neighbours it has said have links to its enemy, Iran.

Earlier on Tuesday, Syrian state news agency SANA said pre-dawn Israeli attacks came from the direction of the Golan Heights.

The air raids targeted “a number of sites in the Damascus countryside”, SANA reported, citing an unnamed military source as saying only “material damage” had been caused.

Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that one position targeted near the town of Kanaker housed members from Lebanon’s Hezbollah, the AFP news agency reported.

Parts of the southern Lebanese city of Yaroun also came under fire, the Israeli military said on Tuesday, after Hezbollah announced it had fired on Israeli units near the northern Israeli village of Sarit.

Iran links​

Syria and Iran are regional allies, with President Bashar al-Assad having received staunch support from Tehran during the war in Syria.
Since its formation in 1982, Iran-backed Hezbollah has grown into a powerful “state within a state” in Lebanon, and has also backed Hamas in Gaza.
Israel has repeatedly said it will not allow Iran to expand its presence in Syria.
Tuesday’s attacks follow closely on the heels of an air raid near Aleppo at the end of December, which caused some material damage, according to the Syrian Ministry of Defence.
Since the Syrian war began, Israel has launched hundreds of air raids on Syrian territory, both on Syrian military and Hezbollah targets. As the war in Gaza has raged, there has been an increase in cross-border exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel.
In December, an Israeli air raid outside Damascus killed Razi Moussavi, a senior adviser in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) responsible for coordinating the military alliance between Syria and Iran.
Reports from Iran’s news agency INRA said that Mousavi had been part of an entourage accompanying IRGC General Qassem Soleimani at Baghdad airport when he was killed by a US drone attack almost exactly four years ago.

Iran deploys navy to Red Sea – state media

Iran has deployed its Alborz destroyer to the Red Sea amid a US-led navy operation against Yemen’s Houthi militants

swentr.site

Iran deploys navy to Red Sea – state media​

The development comes amid a US-led operation against Yemen’s Houthi militants, who have been attacking commercial ships recently

Iranian Navy frigate Alborz (72 – center) is seen together with China’s Type 052D destroyer Xining (117) and Russia’s Neustrashimyy-class frigate Yaroslav Mudry (777) during joint drills in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Oman in December 2019.

Iran’s Alborz destroyer crossed the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and entered the Red Sea on Monday, the country’s state-run IRNA and Tasnim news agencies have reported. The deployment followed a deadly encounter between US warships and Yemen’s Houthi militants in the waterway on Sunday.
The Iran-affiliated Shiite group has controlled large swaths of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa and the port of Al-Hudaydah, since an internal conflict flared up back in 2014. In November, the Houthis began attacking commercial ships passing through the Red Sea, which they believe to be Israeli-owned or headed for Israel. The militants claim to be acting in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza.
According to IRNA’s report on Monday, the Alborz destroyer was deployed to the key waterway, which accounts for about 12% of all global trade, due to “heightening tensions.”
READ MORE: UK preparing to attack Houthis – The Times
On Saturday evening and Sunday morning, US destroyers, the USS Eisenhower and USS Gravely, responded to two consecutive distress calls by the Singapore-flagged container ship Maersk Hangzhou, which is owned and operated by Denmark. The second encounter saw several US helicopters open fire on four small boats manned by Houthis. Three were destroyed as a result, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
A Houthi spokesperson, Yahya Saree, confirmed the incident, revealing that ten of the group’s militants had either been killed or gone missing.
The Pentagon estimated that 23 commercial ships have been attacked or seized by Houthis in the Red Sea since November 19.
The US Navy, along with warships from nine other nations, have been patrolling the key waterway since December 19 as part of the Operation Prosperity Guardian. The Houthis have denounced the deployment as an “integral part of the aggression against the Palestinian people, Gaza and the Arab and Islamic nation.”
While Tehran has denied Washington’s allegations of its involvement in attacks, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian pointed to supposed double standards when talking to his British counterpart David Cameron on Sunday.
“Israel can’t be allowed to massacre women and children and carry out a genocide in Gaza and set fire to the region, but consider stopping an Israeli ship in the Red Sea as endangering the security of this economic waterway,” the Iranian diplomat insisted.

 

[SubnetUnMask]

Indeed! My first thought was that he may be under threat, and/or know that accusing Israel publicly has its dangers. But then again, we've seen so many smart people lose it this year, that it wouldn't be surprising to see another one.

This was my thought as well - probably he's backtracking a bit as a form of self-protection.

 

[Windmill knight]

Two articles related to the spillover into a regional situation from today:

Another potentially escalating event. Israel strikes a Hamas office in Beirut, killing a senior official:

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/explosion-southern-beirut-suburb-dahiyeh-two-security-sources-2024-01-02/

Lets see how Hezbollah responds.

 

[Obi]

Another potentially escalating event. Israel strikes a Hamas office in Beirut, killing a senior official:

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/explosion-southern-beirut-suburb-dahiyeh-two-security-sources-2024-01-02/

Lets see how Hezbollah responds.

It seems Israelis are hell bent on escalating the situation and spreading the war. I think they will get more than they bargained for.