Recent Appearances...

Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !
Recent Appearances...

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Russians executed three Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers in Donetsk region

2025-05-07

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] During the assault, the occupiers surrounded the Ukrainian defenders, forced them to lay down their arms and surrender.

Russian soldiers shot three Ukrainian soldiers who were captured near the village of Novopol in Donetsk region. A pre-trial investigation has been launched into the deliberate murder of the prisoners. This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General on Tuesday, May 6.

"According to the procedural guidance of the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor's Office, a pre-trial investigation has been initiated in criminal proceedings regarding the commission of a war crime that resulted in the death of people (Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine)," the statement noted.

On May 3, three servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were performing combat missions at a position near the village of Novopol, Velikonovoselkovskaya TG, Volnovakha district. During the assault, the occupiers surrounded the Ukrainian defenders, forced them to lay down their arms and surrender. Realizing that the servicemen of the Defense Forces could not resist, the representatives of the Russian army shot them with automatic weapons.

The Office of the Prosecutor General recalled that the deliberate killing of prisoners of war is a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions and is classified as a grave international crime.

Urgent investigative actions are currently being carried out to establish all the circumstances of the event and the persons involved in the crime.

It was previously reported that law enforcement officers were investigating 49 criminal cases involving the murder of 124 prisoners of war on the battlefield. But after that, new cases of shooting Ukrainian soldiers were revealed.

In 2024, the Russians executed at least 109 Ukrainian prisoners of war. And in the previous years of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, another 177.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Hamas condemns Switzerland's ban on the organisation

2025-05-02

[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] The Islamic Resistance® Movement, Hamas
Hamas

..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
, considered Switzerland
...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell...
's decision to enact a ban on the Movement as a reprehensible bias against the Paleostinian people, their just cause, and legitimate resistance against the occupation, especially in light of the war of genocide in the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
Strip.

In a statement on Thursday, Hamas said, ''The Islamic Resistance® Movement (Hamas) regrets that the move to ban the Movement comes from a country historically known for its neutrality and defense of international humanitarian law.''

It stressed that the political, humanitarian and moral obligations of the international community, foremost among them Switzerland, require urgent action to stop the flagrant violations of international law, including the Geneva Conventions, rather than tightening the noose on the Paleostinian people.

Hamas stated that the ''terrorist Netanyahu government'' violates international commitments and agreements on a daily basis, denouncing ''the imposition of laws that restrict freedoms and stifle any pressure to stop the ongoing massacres in the Gaza Strip.''

Hamas called on the Swiss government to reverse this ''unjust'' and unjustified decision, to side with justice, and to support the legitimate struggle of the Paleostinian people to end the occupation and achieve their legitimate national rights.

On Wednesday, the Swiss government announced its intention to enforce a ban on Hamas and affiliated groups, starting from May 15.

This move follows a similar measure in neighboring Germany, which banned Hamas less than a month after the genocide had been launched by Israel on October 7, 2023.

The Swiss ban prohibits all activities and support for Hamas and allows the authorities to impose entry bans and expulsions from the country. Officials said the measure also aims to prevent Hamas from using Switzerland as a financial center.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

IDF says strike targeted Hamas, Islamic Jihad terrorists in north Gaza command center

2025-04-25

[IsraelTimes] Hamas-run civil defense says at least 25 dead in IDF strikes across Strip; Israel’s Foreign Ministry blasts UK-France-Germany call for resumed aid, says ‘no shortage of aid in Gaza’

The IDF and Shin Bet said Thursday an ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
...KABOOM!...
in northern Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
’s Jabalia targeted a group of Hamas
Hamas

..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
and Paleostinian Islamic Jihad
...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah...
operatives at a command center used by the terror groups.

Paleostinian media reported that the strike targeted Jabalia’s former cop shoppe, and that at least nine people were killed.

According to the IDF, the site was used by the terror operatives to plan and carry out attacks on Israeli civilians and troops.

The IDF said it had taken steps to mitigate civilian harm in the strike, including the use of a "precision munition, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence."

"The terror organizations systematically violate international law while taking over civilian infrastructure, and while brutally exploiting the civilian population as a human shield for its terror attacks," the military added.

The Hamas-run Gaza civil defense agency and Paleostinian medics said that Israeli air strikes killed at least 25 people on Thursday, including a family of six whose home was struck in Gaza City.

The numbers cannot be verified and do not differentiate between civilians and terror operatives.

Nidal al-Sarafiti, a relative of the family, said the strike was carried out when the family was sleeping.

"What can I say? The destruction has spared no one," he told AFP.

Elsewhere, five people were said to have died when the tents they had sought refuge in were hit.

Three people were killed, including a child, in the town of Zuwaida in central Gaza, the civil defense said in a statement.

Another two people were reported killed in a strike on a home in the southern city of Khan Younis.

"We were sitting in peace when the missile fell.. I just don’t understand ... what’s happening," said Mohammed Faris, who said he witnessed the strike on the house.

FOREIGN MINISTRY BLASTS UK, FRANCE, GERMANY
The strikes came as Israel continued to take military action against Hamas and deny the entry of aid into the Strip in a bid to pressure the terror group into reaching a deal to release hostages.

Late Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry responded to a joint statement by the United Kingdom, La Belle France, and Germany condemning Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid

into Gaza, in a blurb shared by the ministry’s front man, calling the statement "ethically outrageous."

"Israel is fighting Hamas, which steals humanitarian aid, uses it to rebuild its war machine, and hides behind civilians," the Foreign Ministry said, adding that it "categorically reject[s] the claim of ’politicization of humanitarian aid’ as stated in the E3’s statement."

In the statement, the three nations’ foreign ministers called for the immediate resumption of aid deliveries to the Strip and criticized recent comments on the issue by Defense Minister Israel Katz. They also called for Israel to do more to protect Paleostinian civilians in Gaza, for Hamas to release the remaining 59 hostages, and for all parties to return to a ceasefire.

"Article 70 of the First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions requires aid when ’the civilian population is not adequately supplied,’" the statement from the Foreign Ministry added. "During the 42-day ceasefire, 25,000 aid trucks entered Gaza. Israel is monitoring the situation on the ground, and there is no shortage of aid in Gaza."

"According to Article 23 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, a side is not obliged to allow in aid if it is ’likely to assist the military or economic efforts of the enemy.’ Hamas hijacked the humanitarian aid to rebuild its terror machine," the ministry further stated.

Instead of mentioning that "Hamas is the one targeting Israeli civilians while hiding behind Paleostinian civilians," the three countries "chose to accuse Israel of strikes on humanitarian personnel and healthcare facilities — this is morally twisted and wrong," the blurb said.

The Foreign Ministry asserted that the IDF "conducts thorough and transparent investigations" in cases involving civilian casualties, and says that "all condemnations should be directed at Hamas, which hides in hospitals and behind civilians."

"The so-called balance the E3 statement is trying to create between Israel and Hamas is ethically outrageous," the response went on, saying that the countries mention "only in passing the fact that Hamas still holds 59 hostages in inhumane conditions underground."

"The war can end tomorrow if the hostages are released and Hamas lays down its weapons," the ministry said.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Red Crescent: Medic who’s been missing since ambulances fired upon is held by Israel

2025-04-14

[IsraelTimes] A Paleostinian Red Islamic Thingy staff member who went missing in late March when 15 people were killed by Israeli fire is being detained by Israeli authorities, the rescue service and the Red Thingy said on Sunday.

Hisham Mhana, the spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Thingy (ICRC) in the Gazoo Strip, confirmed to Rooters that it had received information that the Paleostine Red Islamic Thingy Society paramedic Assad al-Nsasrah was being held in an Israeli place of detention.

"As per standard practice, we informed the families immediately. In this case, we also informed the Paleostine Red Islamic Thingy Society (PRCS) as they have special standing as a partner of the International Red Thingy and Red Islamic Thingy Movement," he said.

The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately comment.

Mhana said the ICRC has not been granted access to Nsasrah, who until Sunday had been declared missing, and also has not been able to visit any of the Paleostinian detainees and prisoners in Israeli jails since Hamas’s invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023, who are being held on suspicion of being affiliated with Gaza-based terrorist organizations.

The Red Cross has also not visited any of the hostages held by the Hamas terror group in Gaza, including the 59 captives who remain in the coastal enclave.

Those “captives” being about 1/3rd living and 2/3rds formerly living, thanks to those perverse Gazan proclivities.

In a post on X, the PRCS demanded the immediate release of Nsasrah, who it said was “forcibly abducted” while carrying out humanitarian duties.

The duty of transporting jihadis hither and yon to confound the enemy is not recognized by the Geneva Conventions, guys. It is, in fact, considered an act of war, rendering the participants subject to capture or death as spies.

It added that Nsasrah and his colleagues came under heavy gunfire, which led to the killing of eight others in a “grave violation” of international humanitarian law.

On the contrary, but y’all do like pretending.

The bodies of 15 emergency and aid workers from the Red Crescent, the Hamas-linked Civil Emergency Service and the UN were found buried in a mass grave in southern Gaza in March. The IDF has said at least six of them were members of Hamas’s military wing.

Up to a maximum of all of them being military or political members, of course. Arab terrorists have a habit of secondary careers that they claim when pretending to be civilians instead of their primary work.

Link

International-UN-NGOs

Israel hails cancellation of ‘biased’ Geneva Conventions meeting on Palestinians

2025-03-07

[IsraelTimes] Swiss government invited signatories to talk on applying convention to West Bank and Gaza, but too few participants signed up; Foreign Ministry says it worked ‘intensively’ for this

Switzerland
...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell...
on Thursday canceled a conference on the application of the Geneva Conventions to the West Bank, Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
and East Jerusalem, for want of participants, in what Israel’s Foreign Ministry called a "significant diplomatic achievement" for the Jewish state.

The country had invited 196 parties to the conventions to participate in the March 7 conference in Geneva on the situation of Paleostinian civilians living in those areas, but then told them the gathering had been canceled, four diplomatic sources told Rooters.

"In the absence of a consensus between the High Contracting Parties, [Switzerland], as depositary State, decided not to convene the meeting," said Swiss foreign ministry spokesperson Nicolas Bideau on X.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry credited itself with a role in the talks’ cancellation, asserting in a statement that Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar had worked "intensively... under the radar" to prevent the conference.

The conference was set to address the Fourth Geneva Convention, part of a series of international treaties agreed upon in 1949 after World War II, which defines humanitarian protections for civilians living in areas of armed conflict or under military rule.

Had the conference taken place, participants were likely to sign a communiqué that "include elements that present Israel in a negative light, without reference to the fact that Israel is a democratic country fighting a terror organization," the Foreign Ministry said.

"The meeting was even expected to make anti-Israel resolutions that Israel’s enemies would have used in international forums" and in mechanisms used to "slander Israel," its statement continued.

The ministry also took an issue with Switzerland’s calling the conference in the first place.

"A conference of countries that are signatories to the Geneva Convention is supposed to be held only for general matters related to the Convention, not specific issues," the ministry wrote.

It noted that Switzerland has nevertheless called three such meetings, all related to the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict.

"The diplomatic effort [to avert the conference] succeeded, and a great number of countries decided not to take part in the biased conference," the ministry said.

The cancellation amounted to a diplomatic blow for neutral Switzerland, which prides itself on conflict mediation and frequently hosts summits and peace talks.

PALESTINIANS, ISLAMIC COUNTRIES SAID THEY’D SKIP CONFERENCE
The Paleostinian Authority’s ambassador to the United Nations
...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense...
in Geneva, Ibrahim Khraishi, told Rooters earlier that his delegation did not plan to attend the event, criticizing a draft declaration circulated among participants.

"We want the international community to take concrete measures and this fell short of expectations," he told Rooters, saying such measures could include economic or diplomatic steps against Israel. "What we want is for the Geneva Conventions to be implemented."

A member of The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation said that the group had also planned to miss the event, saying the document "did not reflect the gravity of the situation."

Britannia felt that, along with many other states, it could not fully support a proposed declaration as a precondition for attending the conference, according to a statement from its diplomatic mission.

Diplomats from other Western states that back Israel also privately expressed concerns about the meeting, although at least some European countries had been planning to attend.

Link

International-UN-NGOs

Foreign Ministry: Israel rejects ‘agenda-driven’ Geneva conference on Gaza war

2025-03-04

[IsraelTimes] Israel "strongly rejects" an upcoming conference in Switzerland
...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell...
on international humanitarian law in the Middle East, the Foreign Ministry says.

"The planned conference is part of the legal warfare against Israel," the Foreign Ministry states in a blurb, saying that "Israel will not lend its hand to this agenda-driven initiative."

The upcoming conference of the states who have ratified the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which governs the protection of civilians during war and occupation, is set to take place in Geneva on Friday.

The parties at the convention "have convened only three times in the past — all of them in relation to Israel — rendering this event inherently political and a blatant politicization of the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law," says the Foreign Ministry.

According to Swiss public broadcaster SWI swissinfo, the convention will be held at the ambassadorial level and a declaration is expected to be adopted.

"Some states will push for the declaration to condemn the illegal occupation of the Paleostinian territories," but won’t go beyond a declaration passed by the convention in 2014, Vincent Chetail, professor of international law at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, tells the news outlet.

The convention comes at a delicate stage in Israel-Hamas
Hamas

..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
ceasefire negotiations, after Israel paused the entry of all trucks carrying aid into Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
as a response to Hamas’s refusal of what Israel called a US-proposed offer to extend the first phase of the ceasefire that ended on Saturday.

The UN General Assembly mandated Switzerland to convene the parties in September. In the past, the conference has convened in response to concerns about Israeli policies in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, with discussions often focused on the legal status of occupied territories and alleged violations of international law.

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Russians Execute Three Prisoners of War in Donetsk Region

2025-01-07

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] The enemy committed another war crime in the Volnovakha district

Russian troops carried out an assault on the positions of the 141st Separate Brigade east of point 160.9. The soldiers surrendered, their hands were tied, they were taken out in front of the position and shot in the back of the head.

The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmitry Lubinets reported another war crime by Russia - the probable execution of three Ukrainian prisoners of war near the village of Neskuchnoye in the Volnovakha district of Donetsk Oblast. The ombudsman reported this on Telegram on Monday, January 6.

"We are once again witnessing atrocities that demonstrate the true face of the aggressor state. On January 3, Russian occupiers committed a terrible crime - they probably shot three Ukrainian prisoners of war," Lubinets noted.

According to DeepState, the Russians tied their hands and shot them in the back of the head.

"On January 3, the enemy carried out an assault on the positions of the 141st separate brigade east of point 160.9. The fighters surrendered, their hands were tied, they were taken out in front of the position and shot in the back of the head... Unfortunately, the UN baboons are trying to show that both sides are bad, ignoring the fact that the murders and abuse of Ukrainian prisoners of war are systematic and supported by the military-political leadership of Muscovy," the analysts added.

The Ombudsman stressed that despite the fact that, according to the Geneva Conventions, prisoners of war are under special protection and no country has the right to torture them, abuse them or take their lives, Russia demonstrates disregard for international norms.

The Commissioner once again immediately contacted the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations, indicating that these organizations should condemn this crime and put pressure on the Russian side to stop such acts.

"Ukraine maintains its obligation to respect humanitarian law even during war, but we will not allow Russia to turn the world into a lawless territory. The guilty must be punished!" Lubinets said.

Let us recall that the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmitry Lubinets reported that the Russians shot five Ukrainian soldiers who had surrendered.

Let us add that in November it was reported that law enforcement officers were investigating 49 criminal cases on the facts of the murder of 124 prisoners of war on the battlefield. However, after this, new facts of the execution of Ukrainian fighters were discovered.

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Execution of Ukrainian soldiers in Kursk region: prosecutor's office launches investigation

2024-11-12

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] The intentional killing of prisoners of war is a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions and is classified as a grave international crime.

The Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation into the alleged shooting of two Ukrainian soldiers in the Kursk region. This was reported by the press service of the Prosecutor General's Office on Monday, November 11.

Under the procedural leadership of the Office of the Prosecutor General, a pre-trial investigation has been initiated into the fact of violation of the laws and customs of war, coupled with premeditated murder (Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Thus, on November 11, while monitoring information on social networks, a publication was discovered with a video recording of the alleged shooting of two unarmed Ukrainian servicemen by representatives of the Russian army in the Kursk direction.

The prosecutor's office recalled that the deliberate killing of prisoners of war is a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions and is classified as a grave international crime.

"As part of the criminal proceedings, priority investigative (search) actions are being carried out aimed at establishing the circumstances of the incident and bringing the perpetrators to justice," the statement noted.

Let us recall that law enforcement officers are investigating 49 criminal cases regarding the murder of 124 prisoners of war on the battlefield.

Earlier, in the Kursk region, Ukrainian fighters destroyed an assault group from a Russian brigade involved in the execution of Ukrainian prisoners.

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Russians executed six prisoners at the front

2024-11-06

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] The enemy shot unarmed Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers in the Pokrovsky direction.

The intentional killing of prisoners of war is a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions and is classified as a grave international crime.

The Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation into the shooting of six captured Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers by Russians in the Pokrovsk direction. This was reported by the press service of the Prosecutor General's Office on Tuesday, November 5.

Currently, pre-trial investigations have begun into the fact of war crimes that resulted in the death of prisoners of war (Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

It is reported that on October 23, 2024, during the offensive on Selidovo, Russian troops captured three Ukrainian fighters. After some time, the occupiers shot the unarmed prisoners of war.

Later on November 1, during the assault on Ukrainian Armed Forces fortifications in the same Pokrovsk direction, three more Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed by Russian army representatives using automatic weapons.

"These actions are a violation of the Geneva Conventions and qualify as an international crime," the statement emphasized.

Let us recall that law enforcement officers have information about the execution of 102 Ukrainian prisoners of war on the battlefield by Russian soldiers.

Earlier in the Kursk region, Ukrainian fighters destroyed an assault group from a Russian brigade involved in the execution of Ukrainian prisoners.

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: November 1, 2024

2024-11-02

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 22:03 Ukraine is capable of producing even more shells, but it lacks explosives, Minister for Strategic Industries German Smetanin told Reuters: "The main problem we have now is gunpowder and explosives. We will have as many shells as the explosives that come to Ukraine." According to him, this shortage is global.

21:57 Poland is offering to sell weapons to Ukraine on credit, said the country's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski: "This could have been done from the very beginning: here you go, buy from Polish factories on credit, and when you recover, you will pay back."

21:34 Hungarian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mate Paczolai stated that Budapest will not include its NATO membership in the agreement with Kiev: "We have made it clear to the Ukrainian side that Ukraine's intention to join NATO cannot be part of this agreement."

21:28 Russian troops attacked a residential area in Sumy with a drone: a nine-story building was damaged, five people were injured, the prosecutor's office reported.

19:35 The White House announced a new $425 million military aid package for Ukraine. It included, in particular:

BC for NASAMS air defense missile system;

Stinger MANPADS;

counter-UAV equipment;

air-to-ground munitions;

BC for HIMARS;

155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition;

TOW ATGM;

Javelin and AT-4 ATGMs;

Stryker APC;

small arms and ammunition, etc.

19:24 Russians have launched two missile strikes on a police station in Kharkiv: one policeman was killed and 26 others were wounded , said Ivan Vyhovsky, head of the National Police. Four civilians were also wounded. OVA head Oleh Sinegubov specified that the enemy used S-300 missiles, damaging 20 private and apartment buildings.

17:20 Russians hit Kharkov with ballistics, one hit a residential building. Two people suffered an acute stress reaction, said OVA chief Oleg Sinegubov.

15:07 The Russian army has captured the largest territory since the beginning of the year in a week - more than 200 sq. km, Bloomberg writes. The agency added that this entailed huge losses of Russian troops and equipment.

13:29 The DPRK promises to "stand firmly next to" Russia in the war against Ukraine, said the country's Foreign Minister Choi Son Hee. According to her, Kim Jong-un gave instructions "without looking back at anyone" to consistently support and assist the Russian army in the "holy war."

12:18 A water leak occurred from an impulse line at the Zaporizhzhya NPP, repair work is currently underway, the IAEA reported. "The Agency will continue to closely monitor this issue. Although we do not see any immediate problems for nuclear safety," said Director General Rafael Grossi.

10:46 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit the European Union in December for the first time since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the minister will take part in a meeting of OSCE foreign ministers in Malta on December 5-6.

09:50 In October 2024, Russia attacked Ukraine with 2,023 Shahed-type attack UAVs and other unmanned aerial vehicles of an unknown type, the General Staff reported. Of these, 1,185 were destroyed or suppressed, 738 were lost, and another 29 UAVs left Ukrainian airspace. Since the beginning of the year, the enemy has launched 6,987 attack UAVs at Ukraine. The strikes primarily targeted civilian and critical infrastructure.

09:41 Canada is trying to convince other countries to allow Ukraine to carry out long-range strikes on Russian territory, said the country's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly: "We approve of Ukraine's use of long-range weapons against targets on Russian territory, since Ukraine needs this for self-defense. We are also trying to convince other countries to take this position."

09:36 In Svetlograd, Stavropol Krai, a drone fell on an oil depot; there were no casualties, Governor Vladimir Vladimirov said. In Bryansk, one person was injured as a result of a drone attack on a multi-story building, Governor Alexander Bogomaz said. The Russian Defense Ministry said that air defense intercepted and destroyed 83 drones overnight: 36 over Kursk Oblast, 20 over Bryansk, 12 over Crimea, eight over Voronezh, four over Oryol, and three over Belgorod.

08:59 In the evening, Russians attacked the Kievsky district of Kharkov, two people were injured, reported the head of the OVA Oleg Sinegubov. Three more people were wounded as a result of enemy shelling in the city of Dergachi. In Kupyansk, as a result of shelling, one person was killed, in the village of Kucherivka in the Kupyansky district, one person was wounded.

08:47 In the Kherson region, over the past day, as a result of Russian shelling, one person was killed and 13 were injured, reported the head of the OVA, Oleksandr Prokudin.

08:35 Air defense destroyed 31 of 48 Russian drones (Shahed attack type and unspecified type) in Kirovograd, Kyiv, Cherkasy, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytsky, Sumy, Chernihiv, Odessa and Poltava regions at night, the Air Force reported. Another 14 drones were lost, three flew off in the direction of Belarus.

In addition, during the night attack, the enemy used three Kh-59/69 guided air missiles. One of them was shot down, the rest did not reach their targets due to active counteraction. Russian tactical aviation also struck Kharkiv, Sumy and Zaporizhia regions with guided air bombs. As a result of falling debris, several civilian enterprises were damaged, as well as apartment buildings and private houses in Poltava, Cherkasy, Kyiv and Odessa regions.

08:23 In Donetsk region on October 31 as a result of Russian shelling two people were wounded - in Kurakhovo and Dronovka, reported the head of the OVA Vadim Filashkin.

07:56 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of November 1:

personnel - about 696,410 (+1,460) people,

tanks - 9162 (+6),

combat armored vehicles - 18,470 (+20),

artillery systems - 20,039 (+26),

MLRS - 1244 (+1),

air defense systems - 994 (+0),

aircraft - 369 (+0),

helicopters - 329 (+0),

Operational-tactical level UAVs - 18,088 (+25),

cruise missiles - 2628 (+1),

ships/boats - 28 (+0),

submarines - 1 (+0),

automotive equipment and tank trucks - 28,038 (+77),

special equipment - 3579 (+9).

06:18 The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) writes in its report that the Russians have begun using "shaheds" with thermobaric warheads. Analysts cite a study by the Kiev Research Institute of Forensic Expertise, which examined the wreckage of Shahed-136 drones used in Russian attacks from October 26 to 29. The results of the study indicate that Russian troops have modified the attack drones to install thermobaric warheads on them.

00:52 Seoul's decision to provide weapons to Kiev will depend on the level of involvement of North Korean forces in Russia's war against Ukraine, said South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul. "We need to see the level of involvement of North Korean forces in Russia, and what North Korea will get from Russia... So we will have to look at this before making a decision on providing weapons to Ukraine," he explained.

00:13 A ministerial conference on the human dimension of the Formula for Peace was held in Montreal, Canada, where participants adopted a joint communiqué on the return of all captured and deported Ukrainians, the Office of the President reported. "The communiqué reflects a common set of principles that the conference participants will be guided by in the future, demonstrates unwavering support for Ukraine's victory, and condemns any country that helps Russia carry out its aggression," the statement said.

In particular, the conference participants agreed to strengthen Ukraine's cooperation with partners and international organizations to resolve humanitarian issues and ensure compliance with the Geneva Conventions. One of the points is to find trusted mediator countries for negotiations with the Russian Federation on the return home of Ukrainian military personnel, civilians, and children.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Officials said to warn PM that hostages are in dire conditions, intel is drying up

2024-10-07

[IsraelTimes] Netanyahu convenes what is reportedly the first discussion in full month on the hostages, half of whom are thought to be alive, as Israel marks one year since their abduction

Israeli security officials warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday that there has been a steady decline in the amount of intelligence being gathered on the 101 people still held captive in Gaza, but that it is nevertheless clear the conditions in which they are held have deteriorated significantly.

Yahya Sinwar is uninterested in negotiating, because he sees his only hope for not being assassinated in being surrounded by the hostages. Thus Israel’s only hope for negotiations is to take Mr. Sinwar’s existence off the table, hopefully in the process rescuing some or all of the hostages. But if not, it must be remembered that the hostages would not be in danger were it not for Hamas, and according to the Geneva Conventions — that is to say international law - and no doubt also according to Jewish law, were those idiots to actually look at the rabbis’ accumulated discussions on the subject over the centuries, Hamas is wholly responsible for everything bad that happens to them. No matter how good it might feel to the noisy anti-Bibi h8ters to blame him for everything they dislike about the universe.

The information was relayed to Netanyahu during a discussion on the plight of the hostages on the eve of the first anniversary of the October 7 Hamas terror onslaught in southern Israel, when some 1,200 people were slaughtered and 251 were seized as hostages.

“The more time that passes, there’s less and less intelligence on the hostages, and that’s very worrying,” a defense official was quoted by the Ynet news site as saying during the meeting, reportedly the first high-level engagement on the issue of the hostages in a month.

“There’s an impression that nobody is dealing with this, not the mediators, and everyone has given up,” a source with knowledge on the matter told the news outlet. “There’s a feeling that it’s fallen off the agenda given the fears of regional war.”

The discussion was attended by heads of security agencies, several government ministers and the government’s hostage point man Gal Hirsch.

During the meeting, security officials reiterated the grim estimation first shared last month that around half of the hostages are still alive, but that those who have survived until now are experiencing steadily worsening conditions.

Defense officials also warned Netanyahu and others at the meeting that Hamas has ordered those guarding hostages to execute them if they feel the army is getting close, Ynet reported, citing an unnamed source familiar with the details of the meeting.

Yes, we know.

Hamas first indicated that it had ordered its operatives to murder hostages if Israeli troops appeared to be closing in when the terror group executed six hostages in a tunnel in Rafah in late August, just days before troops operating in the area discovered their bodies and extracted them for burial in Israel.

Participants in the meeting were also provided with an update regarding the progress — or lack thereof — in indirect hostage deal negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

Hamas still won’t negotiate. No news is no news.

Sources privy to the details of the discussion reported that negotiations have remained at an impasse, with intermediary country Qatar reportedly distancing itself from Israel’s stance and moving closer to Hamas’s stated demands for a deal.

All Muslim Brotherhooders together.

Meanwhile, the sources said, the US “just wants to avoid an escalation, and lives in a fantasy that we can reach an agreement with Iran about everything, [Hezbollah in Lebanon,] and Gaza, and settle it together. They live in a delusion.”

The President is senile, the Vice President is a lush — where else could they live?

Israel is hoping that the limited ground operation it launched in southern Lebanon will shift the paradigm when it comes to the hostage negotiations, Ynet added, and that Hamas will feel the pressure being placed on its ally Hezbollah.

But if not, at least Israel will continue making giant strides toward breaking all Hezbollah’s things and killing many more of its people, just like they’ve done to Hamas.

Hamas, meanwhile, issued a statement on Sunday, declaring that the group was not prepared to make concessions on its demands for a hostage release-ceasefire deal, which include a call for the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip — something that Israel has said it is not prepared to do.

See? Lack of progress is not Israel’s fault.

In a speech aired on Hamas’s media channels, senior Hamas official Khalil Al-Hayya reiterated the terror group’s opposition to the hostage deal proposal endorsed by Israel.

“What we rejected yesterday, we will not accept tomorrow, and what the occupation (Israel) failed to impose by force, it will not take at the negotiating table,” he vowed in an address littered with praise for the October 7 massacre.

Screw the negotiating table — force is clearly the way to go.

Lauding the invasion and assault of Israel’s southern communities as “glorious,” Al-Hayya claimed that “the Palestine cause has become the prime cause in the world and all parties now realize that there can be no security and no stability in the region unless our people gain their full rights.”

Oh, you sweet summer child…

According to the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry, the war in Gaza — sparked by the October 7 massacre — has claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people. The toll cannot be verified, however, and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 17,000 combatants in battle as of August and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.

Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.

Al-Hayya’s speech was aired as Israel launched a new ground operation in the northern Gaza city of Jabaliya, targeting efforts by Hamas to reestablish itself in northern Gaza. Several dozen terror operatives were killed in airstrikes and tank shelling, according to the IDF.

“The operation will continue as long as necessary, while systematically striking and thoroughly destroying the terror infrastructure in the area,” the IDF said of the operation.

Prior to the cabinet meeting on Sunday night, family members of hostages told Defense Minister Yoav Gallant that they feared the renewed offensive was endangering their loved ones, according to a statement by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

“Military pressure kills hostages,” the family members reportedly told Gallant, alluding to a frequent government slogan that only military pressure will bring about the hostages’ return.

No. Hamas kills hostages, both when there is military pressure and when there is not. Otherwise at least a third of the hostages would not already be dead. Incidentally, Hezbollah also kills hostages, and they were planning to acquire their own 10/7 collection when the IDF starting doing to them what they’ve been doing to Gaza for the past year. Y’all should be grateful you don’t have a great many more hostages to make parades about.

It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the IDF.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Israeli strike on Gaza school shelter kills 22 people; IDF reports former school is Hamas Command & Control center

2024-09-22

[GEO.TV] Palestinians said an Israeli strike killed at least 22 people in a school sheltering displaced people in southern Gaza City on Saturday, while the Israeli military said the attack targeted a Hamas command centre.

The Hamas Gaza health ministry said most of those killed were women and children.

The media office said 13 children, including a three-month-old baby, and six women were among the dead.

Gaza hospital warns of shutting down over lack of supplies
[GEO.TV] Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital described in a statement the dire conditions facing the facility.

The hospital may go out of service in ''less than 10 days'' as a result of depleted ''quantities of oil and generator spare parts''.

Situation poses a threat of ''a real humanitarian disaster'' for more than one million residents in central Gaza under fire by Israeli forces.

The hospital has been operating on generators for a year without pause during the continuing war.

World Health Organization, Red Cross, and other international organisations are urged to ''immediately and urgently'' address the hospital's deteriorating conditions.

The Times of Israel reports:

IDF says it struck Hamas operatives at inactive Gaza school; 21 reported killed
Hamas authorities say 13 children among fatalities at al-Falah school; senior Hamas intelligence officer and armed looters of aid killed in separate strikes

The Israel Defense Forces carried out an ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
...KABOOM!...
on Saturday against a group of Hamas
Hamas

..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
operatives at a command room embedded within a former school in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
, the military said, in an attack that reportedly killed more than 20 people.

Hamas was using the al-Falah School in the Zeitoun neighborhood to plan and carry out attacks against IDF troops and against Israel, the military said. The school, inactive amid the war, had also been serving as a shelter for displaced Gazooks.

According to the Gaza civil defense agency and health ministry — both run by Hamas — 21 people were killed in the strike.

"Civil Defense crews recovered 21 people, including 13 children and six women," one of whom was pregnant, agency front man Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

There were "around 30 injured, including nine children [needing] limb amputations, as a result of an Israeli bombing on al-Zeitoun School C" in Gaza City, he said.

To mitigate harm to civilians in the strike, the IDF said it carried out "many steps," including using precision munitions, aerial surveillance, and other intelligence.

"The Hamas terror organization systematically violates international law, brutally exploiting civilian institutions and the population as a human shield for terror activity," the military added.

It said the target was "embedded inside" the al-Falah School, adjacent to the al-Zeitoun School buildings. An AFP news hound at the scene confirmed that al-Zeitoun School C had been hit.

Witnesses told AFP that before the strike, orphans had gathered there because they were due to receive sponsorship from a local NGO for humanitarian assistance.

Human shields, forbidden under the Geneva Conventions. Any harm to them is laid at the feet of those hiding behind them, in accordance with international law.

The IDF has repeatedly hit Hamas operatives at schools, civilian shelters and hospitals, frequently drawing international condemnation. The military says it is doing so because terror operatives regularly hide behind civilians, and argues that it takes pains to avoid harm to innocents.

Earlier Saturday, the military said the Israeli Air Force carried out some 20 airstrikes during the previous day. The strikes targeted buildings used by the Hamas and its operatives, the IDF said.

In another recent airstrike, the IDF said Saturday that it had killed Muhammad Mansour, a prominent Hamas intelligence officer who the military described as a "significant source of technological knowledge in Hamas’s military intelligence."

Separately, the military released footage Saturday showing dronezaps in the Rafah area of the southern Gaza Strip against button men who had attempted to loot a humanitarian aid

convoy. The footage showed the button men climbing onto the trucks carrying humanitarian aid as they drove on a designated route.

The IDF said the button men were spotted by troops, who directed a dronezap against them as they tried to flee in a car. Another gunman was killed while trying to flee the scene.

The IDF has said Hamas operatives frequently try to hijack aid deliveries before they can be distributed to civilians.

According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, a separate incident on Saturday saw an Israeli airstrike hit a warehouse in a "densely populated" area of southern Gaza, killing "three ministry of health personnel and a passer-by" and injuring six others.

"The warehouse was directly targeted with several missiles while doctors and staff were performing their duties, preparing to transport the medicines stored there to hospitals under the ministry of health that are facing severe shortages of medicines and supplies," a statement said.

The war has badly battered Gaza’s health sector, and the World Health Organization said earlier this month that only 17 of its 36 hospitals were partially functional.

All those hospitals were doing fine on October 6th. Next time don’t start a war with Israel.

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More