[IsraelTimes] The US military is replacing its B-2 bombers with another type of bomber at a base in the Indo-Pacific that was seen as being in an ideal location to operate in the Middle East, US officials tell Reuters.
The Pentagon deployed as many as six B-2 bombers in March to a US-British military base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, amid a US bombing campaign in Yemen and mounting tensions with Iran.
Experts say that this had put the B-2s, which have stealth technology and are equipped to carry the heaviest US bombs and nuclear weapons, in a position to operate in the Middle East.
The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, say the B-2 bombers were being replaced by B-52 bombers.
What should we conclude from this, dear Reader?
The Pentagon says it does not comment on force posture adjustments as a matter of policy.
Fresh talks between Iranian and US negotiators to resolve disputes over Tehran’s nuclear program ended in Oman on Sunday, with further negotiations planned.
The fourth round of talks took place ahead of President Donald Trump’s planned visit to the Middle East. Trump, who has threatened military action against Iran if diplomacy fails, has restored a “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran since returning to the White House in January.
Tehran is willing to negotiate some curbs on its nuclear work in return for the lifting of sanctions, according to Iranian officials, but ending its enrichment program or surrendering its enriched uranium stockpile are among what the officials have called “Iran’s red lines that could not be compromised” in the talks.
Additionally, Trump announced last week that a deal had been reached to stop bombing Yemen’s Houthi group. The B-2 bombers had been used to carry out strikes against the Iran-backed group.
This happened in Leeds UK.
***************************
Dr. Maalouf
·
May 11, 2025
@realMaalouf
·
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GERMANY: Muslim woman accuses company of Islamophobia for not hiring her for a receptionist position.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/13/2025 00:00 ||
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[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] A second international politician has been notified that President Donald Trump ...His ancestors didn't own any slaves... 's administration revoked her and her husband's tourist visas.
Marina del Pilar Avila, the governor of Mexico's Baja Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, state, announced on Sunday that she and her husband, Carlos Torres, had been informed of the United States' consular measure.
She did not provide any reason for the revocation in her X post, but Torres wrote on Facebook Saturday that it 'does not represent an accusation, investigation or formal incident by any authority, neither in Mexico nor in the United States.'
Tragic. But no doubt there is an unspoken reason, well known to all the parties involved. Something about narco gangs, perhaps?
Torres, who serves as the coordinator of special projects within the Baja California state administration and for the city of Tijuana, also claimed that the revocation is 'a measure that, as is with many people in similar contexts, responds to internal arrangements of the State Department.'
'Currently, the application of these administrative criteria has become increasingly common and like so many others, I am included in that universe,' Torres told his followers.
In fact, their visa revocation comes just weeks after Colombian President Gustavo Petro claimed the Trump administration revoked his visa to attend meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
It also comes amid President Trump's war of words with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum for her refusal to deal with narco mobs in her country.
Hmmm… a bunch of breadcrumbs, for those willing to follow them…
Trump had pressured Sheinbaum last month to allow US soldiers into her country to help fight the narco gangs that produce and smuggle fentanyl into the United States, but she declined the offer, according to the Wall Street Journal.
#2
I asked, Skidmark, and you found the exact answer:
A photograph with a prominent drug cartel figure may be behind the Trump administration's refusal to grant a top Mexican politician a visa to enter the United States.
The picture showed Baja California governor Marina del Pilar Ávila hugging Emmanuel 'El Botas' Serrano while she was campaigning for mayor of the border town of Mexicali in 2019.
Serrano allegedly reports directly to Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, who leads half of the infamously brutal Sinaloa Cartel.
[KhaamaPress] U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Afghanistan, effective July 12.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump ...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party... has announced that Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for thousands of Afghan refugees will expire by next month. The move is set to affect approximately 11,000 Afghan nationals currently residing in the United States under this humanitarian designation.
Kristi Noem, the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, issued a statement on Monday, May 12, declaring that TPS for Afghanistan will officially end on May 20, with the termination becoming effective from July 12. Noem stated that after a recent assessment, Afghanistan "no longer meets the conditions required for TPS," citing an alleged improvement in the country’s security and economic stability.
However,
the way to a man's heart remains through his stomach... this decision has drawn sharp criticism. Shawn VanDiver, head of AfghanEvac, an organization advocating for Afghan refugees, condemned the move as politically motivated rather than based on ground realities. In a statement, he said, "This decision does not reflect the truth about conditions in Afghanistan."
VanDiver emphasized that Afghanistan remains under Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... control, lacking any functional asylum system. He noted ongoing reports of assassinations, arbitrary detentions, and widespread human rights ...which often include carefully measured allowances of freedom at the convenience of the state... violations—particularly against women and minorities—making it unsafe for returnees. He called the U.S. government’s decision a "betrayal of those who stood with American forces and rebuilt their lives in the U.S."
The Department of Homeland Security has also indicated that some Afghan TPS holders are under review for alleged "fraud and threats to public safety," further complicating their legal status.
Rights groups and refugee advocates are urging the U.S. government to reconsider its decision, warning that sending vulnerable Afghans back to a volatile environment could endanger lives and contradict America’s commitments to its allies.
As the July deadline nears, legal and humanitarian organizations are preparing for possible legal challenges and lobbying efforts to protect Afghan TPS holders. Many fear the end of protections may lead to deportations or forced returns to a still-dangerous homeland.
[KhaamaPress] AfghanEvac condemned the U.S. decision to end Temporary Protected Status for Afghans, calling it a betrayal of American promises.
Shawn VanDiver, President of AfghanEvac, has strongly criticized the U.S. government’s decision to end the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Afghan nationals. He described the move as a “betrayal” of those who risked their lives for the United States and trusted its promises.
The argument would be stronger if someone, perhaps AfghanEvac, would provide documentation of their rescuees’ services to America back in Afghanistan that justify bringing them here, and more documentation showing that they have no connection to to jihadi or radical Moslem groups, and have not misbehaved in any way since arriving in America, not to mention working hard to become self-supporting..
In an official statement, VanDiver said, “This decision is not rooted in reality, but in politics. Afghanistan remains under Taliban control, with no functioning asylum system. Assassinations, arbitrary arrests, and widespread human rights abuses—especially against women and ethnic minorities—persist.”
He warned that the decision would not enhance U.S. security, but would instead tear families apart, destabilize lives, and erode America’s remaining moral credibility on the global stage.
VanDiver emphasized that AfghanEvac and many other advocacy groups are prepared to fight the decision through legal action, lobbying in Congress, and mobilizing public opinion. “We will do everything in our power to oppose this,” he stated.
This reaction follows the announcement by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, who said the TPS program for Afghans would officially end on July 12. The status had protected thousands of Afghans from deportation following the fall of Kabul in 2021.
[KhaamaPress] U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Afghanistan, effective July 12.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump ...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party... has announced that Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for thousands of Afghan refugees will expire by next month. The move is set to affect approximately 11,000 Afghan nationals currently residing in the United States under this humanitarian designation.
Kristi Noem, the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, issued a statement on Monday, May 12, declaring that TPS for Afghanistan will officially end on May 20, with the termination becoming effective from July 12. Noem stated that after a recent assessment, Afghanistan "no longer meets the conditions required for TPS," citing an alleged improvement in the country’s security and economic stability.
However,
the way to a man's heart remains through his stomach... this decision has drawn sharp criticism. Shawn VanDiver, head of AfghanEvac, an organization advocating for Afghan refugees, condemned the move as politically motivated rather than based on ground realities. In a statement, he said, "This decision does not reflect the truth about conditions in Afghanistan."
VanDiver emphasized that Afghanistan remains under Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... control, lacking any functional asylum system. He noted ongoing reports of assassinations, arbitrary detentions, and widespread human rights ...which often include carefully measured allowances of freedom at the convenience of the state... violations—particularly against women and minorities—making it unsafe for returnees. He called the U.S. government’s decision a "betrayal of those who stood with American forces and rebuilt their lives in the U.S."
The Department of Homeland Security has also indicated that some Afghan TPS holders are under review for alleged "fraud and threats to public safety," further complicating their legal status.
Rights groups and refugee advocates are urging the U.S. government to reconsider its decision, warning that sending vulnerable Afghans back to a volatile environment could endanger lives and contradict America’s commitments to its allies.
As the July deadline nears, legal and humanitarian organizations are preparing for possible legal challenges and lobbying efforts to protect Afghan TPS holders. Many fear the end of protections may lead to deportations or forced returns to a still-dangerous homeland.
BREAKING: Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna calls out Palo Alto School district in California for voting to remove honors biology for all students and already removing honors English.
Text taken from the Telegram channel of @neinsider
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics.
[ColonelCassad] The United States has defined future priorities in the development of special operations forces (SOF).
On May 11, during a briefing as part of the "SOF Week" in Tampa (Florida), Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations Colby Jenkins announced the main priorities according to which the SOF reform is planned, previously announced by the new Secretary of Defense Hegseth.
- Rebuilding SOF and its structure to the requirements that will prevail in future conflicts.
- SOF fighters must be as effective as possible.
- Training of new personnel must meet new standards that will be determined by the conditions of future conflicts.
- Development and construction of SOF will correspond exclusively to strategic interests.
- Control over the distribution and use of resources will be strengthened.
Regarding the first point, the United States has determined that it is now necessary to move from old formations and units, mainly optimized to respond to crisis situations and the fight against terrorism, to new "adaptable and multi-domain SOF formations." That is, moving away from standard units like the 75th Ranger Regiment to smaller, more mobile units using the latest intelligent systems and technologies that will operate in a strategic hybrid conflict.
In terms of "improving efficiency" and "training," the priority here will be to train future operatives who, in their physical and mental qualities, must be able to cope with "future high-tech conflicts," capable of using high-performance military technologies and systems, and operating autonomously in an environment controlled by the enemy.
According to the U.S. Department of Defense, the future of armed conflict will be unlike anything SOF has ever encountered before. Therefore, it is necessary to train units that can combine traditional actions with actions in cyberspace, electronic warfare, and reconnaissance. Conduct irregular warfare using various regional local forces, from the stage of strategic competition to strategic conflict.
As for the focus on strategic interests, everything is generally clear here. The tasks of such units will be the creation of regional problems (for example, the organization of coups and internal armed conflicts) in the areas of interest of strategic opponents, which will entail corresponding costs and tie "geopolitical" competitors in regional conflicts, with all the ensuing consequences. And so on and so forth. The fight against global terrorism is no longer a priority.
Regarding the strengthening of control over funds and resources, everything is clear here. They will cut as much as possible the costs of bureaucracy, which does not carry any military effectiveness.
At the same time, what is important, in reforming SOF, so to speak, wishes and proposals "from below" will be taken into account.
It is obvious that preparations for future conflicts are in full swing. In general, the right conclusions are being drawn from the SVO.
The intentions to increase the effectiveness of SOF are quite obvious.
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin:
[ColonelCassad] The loss of the Rafales in the confrontation with the Chinese J-10 fighters has hit the French manufacturer hard. The Chinese, on the other hand, are reaping the fruits of success.
India will probably be seriously engaged in updating its aircraft fleet in the next couple of years. The question of the need to buy 5th generation fighters has become ripe. Since China will not sell its 5th and, in the future, 6th generation aircraft to India, there are only 2 options left - either the American F-35 or the Russian Su-35. We can expect an intensification of the struggle for prospective purchases of new weapons by India.
Pakistan, in turn, will strengthen its air defense system, since the Chinese replicas of the S-300 HQ-9P have not been able to withstand Indian missiles, especially the Brahnos-2. Here, systems of the C-400 or THAAD level are needed. At worst - Israeli Arrow 3. After the successful use of hypersonic missiles to strike Pakistani airfields and military bases, India will probably increase production of this type of missiles, although this is, of course, a very expensive weapon. Pakistan has no one to get hypersonic weapons from yet, except that they can try to negotiate with Iran, but this is unlikely, since the United States will be strongly against such arms deals, and Iran itself is unlikely to seriously worsen relations with India.
At the same time, the question remains open of what the parties will do in the event of massive use of drones by one of the parties (on the scale of the Ukrainian theater of operations). In the future, superiority in drones will allow one of the parties to gain at least a tactical advantage in such exchanges of blows or another campaign in Kashmir. Tactical and object air defense of the parties leaves much to be desired. By the way, we also faced this problem after the start of the SVO and the active use of various drones by opponents.
In general, war, as usual, highlights the real strengths and weaknesses of any army, which may not be noticeable in peacetime, since generals traditionally prepare for the past war. China also tested its weapons and will be able to make the necessary adjustments to some aspects of its military development. As it actually does, studying the experience of the Central Military District. The brief war between India and Pakistan also gave Beijing some food for thought.
Posted by: badanov ||
05/13/2025 00:00 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Israel has asked judges at the International Criminal Court to withdraw arrest warrants it issued for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant, while the ICC reviews Israeli challenges to its jurisdiction over the conduct of the Gaza war.
Documents published on the ICC website late on Sunday also show Israel has asked the court to order the prosecution to suspend its investigation into alleged atrocity crimes in the Palestinian territories.
The documents are dated May 9 and signed by Israeli Deputy Attorney General Gilad Noam.
The ICC issued arrest warrants on November 21 for Netanyahu and Gallant over alleged war crimes amid the war in Gaza. It also issued a warrant for Hamas leader Mohammed Deif over crimes against humanity during the October 7, 2023, onslaught and beyond, but withdrew it following credible reports of his death.
Israel, which rejects the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court and denies war crimes in Gaza, is contesting the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.
In April, the ICC’s appeals chamber ruled that the judges of the pre-trial chamber, which issued the warrants, must review Israel’s objections regarding the court’s jurisdiction and the legality of the arrest warrants.
It is unclear what form the ordered review will take, and there are no specific deadlines set for decisions on Israel’s request that warrants be withdrawn and the investigation halted.
[IsraelTimes] Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa will not attend the Arab League Summit in Baghdad this weekend, Syrian state media says, after Iraq’s invitation spurred controversy over the rebel-turned-leader’s potential return to a country where he fought and was jailed.
Syria’s delegation to Saturday’s summit will be headed by Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani, state-owned Ekhbariya TV reports, without providing a reason for Sharaa’s absence. The summit is expected to focus on Gaza reconstruction and the Palestinian issue.
Sharaa’s decision highlights Syria’s mixed results establishing ties across the region after former President Bashar al-Assad’s ouster last year. Sharaa has made rapid inroads with Sunni-majority Gulf Arab states Saudi Arabia and Qatar, but has tread more carefully with others where Iran has had strong influence, like Shi’ite-majority Iraq.
Sharaa fought with Al Qaeda in Iraq after the U.S-led invasion in 2003. He was imprisoned there for more than five years, then released for lack of evidence in 2011, according to a senior Iraqi security official.
He then opened Al Qaeda’s branch in Syria, breaking away in 2016 to form what became Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the group that ousted Assad.
Iraq’s prime minister invited Sharaa last month to the summit, prompting criticism from mainly Shi’ite Muslim factions who accuse Sharaa of orchestrating attacks against Shi’ites during his years in Iraq.
[IsraelTimes] The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group says Jordan has refused to receive the body of Moatassem Radad, a Palestinian prisoner of Jordanian origin who was released in a hostage deal earlier this year and died of cancer in an Egyptian hospital last week.
The group said it had intended to transfer the body to Jordan so he could be buried alongside his family. According to their statement, Jordanian authorities returned the body to Egypt after it had already been flown to the airport in Amman, Jordan’s capital.
Jordan has in the past refused to accept prisoners released by Israel in exchange for hostages held in Gaza who were deported to Egypt, even those holding Jordanian citizenship.
Radad was a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and was sentenced in Israel to 20 years in prison for security offenses, though the specific charges were not published in Israel. He was originally from the village of Sida in the western West Bank, though part of his family is originally from Jordan. He was hospitalized in Egypt.
[IsraelTimes] A British activist is facing deportation from Israel over social media posts criticizing Israeli cops and soldiers and supporting an organization urging a boycott against the country, police say.
The 35-year-old woman, who is not named, was arrested Monday after entering a closed military zone in the West Bank’s South Hebron Hills, according to authorities, who accuse her of refusing orders to identify herself and threatening a settlement security coordinator who arrived on the scene.
There is a photo of her at the link with her head blacked out. All one can see is that she is fond of long, tiny braids, and she is definitely not a natural blond.
“During questioning, it was discovered that the suspect had uploaded social media posts against police and IDF soldiers, and was part of an organization calling to boycott the State of Israel,” police say in a statement. “In the wake of what arose during the investigation, [the Population and Immigration Authority] decided to deport her.”
The woman is being held in jail pending her departure, police add.
[IsraelTimes] Qatari network was banned by PA from broadcasting in the territory following ‘misinformation’ and ‘incitement’ in its coverage of Ramallah’s crackdown on terror groups
Al Jazeera’s Ramallah bureau chief said Monday that the news channel can resume working in the West Bank, after Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase....> lifted a ban that had been in place since January.
"Paleostinian President Mahmoud Abbas has decided to lift the ban on the Al Jazeera network and allow its crews to resume work in the Paleostinian territories starting tomorrow morning," Waleed Omari said, in a statement to the Israeli-Paleostinian Foreign Press Association.
A Paleostinian official confirmed the removal of the ban to AFP, but the PA did not issue a formal announcement.
The Paleostinian Authority in January ordered the temporary suspension of Al Jazeera broadcasts across the West Bank, against the backdrop of the Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... i network’s critical coverage of Ramallah’s crackdown on terror groups in the territory.
The PA accused the network of "misinformation, incitement, sedition and interference in Paleostinian internal affairs."
In late December, Al Jazeera had condemned what it said was an "incitement campaign" by PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party against the network in some areas of the West Bank.
"This campaign follows the network’s coverage of festivities between Paleostinian security forces and resistance fighters in Jenin," Al Jazeera said in a statement at the time, lionizing the anti-PA fighters, many of whom were affiliated with the Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... 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... terror groups.
The Qatari broadcaster has close ties with Hamas and has long been accused of having a distinct anti-Israel slant.
The network is already banned from broadcasting from Israel, amid a long-running feud with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which has only worsened during the ongoing war 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 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... . Israeli officials have long complained about Al Jazeera’s coverage, which they say is heavily influenced by Hamas and endangers IDF troops in Gaza.
A court, reviewing the temporary ban, determined that there was a "close connection" between Al Jazeera and Hamas, that some Al Jazeera news hounds in Gaza had turned themselves into "assistants and partners" with Hamas, and that some of them had even carried out terror attacks.
[GEO.TV] Israel has refused a ceasefire despite the release of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, asserting that military pressure secured his freedom.
Given Hamas’s bold and repeated commitment to repeat the 10/7 attack, they should be grateful Israel paused the current clearance operation leading up to the release Hamas negotiated with the Trump team. PM Netanyahu keeps telling the world that he no longer will stop until Hamas is disarmed and ejected from Gaza, full stop.
Prime Minister Netanyahu highlighted Israel's commitment to intensified operations 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 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... , dismissing diplomatic solutions as there was no deal on a wider truce or hostage releases.
Netanyahu said Alexander's release came thanks to Israel's military pressure in Gaza and political pressure by Trump.
The Israeli leader said he spoke with Trump on Monday and the U.S. president expressed commitment to Israel, according to a statement by Netanyahu's office.
Netanyahu has said there will be no ceasefire and that plans to intensify military action in Gaza continued.
Fighting halted at midday in Gaza after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would pause its operations to allow for the hostage release.
Witnesses reported Israeli tank shelling on eastern Gaza City after the handover. Local health authorities said a woman was killed and several other people maimed when tank shells hit a school housing displaced families in the Tuffah neighborhood.
Humanitarian monitors warn of looming famine, with food shortages worsening across the enclave.
Open the Hamas warehouses, don’t start a war that Allah does not want you to win — it isn’t hard. Remember how comfortable life was on 10/6/2023?
Talks for further hostage releases continue, but Israel maintains its stance on military action.
American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander reunited with his parents in Israel on Monday, after being released by Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... in a gesture of goodwill to the United States, as President Donald Trump ...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party... was set to embark on a visit to the Middle East.
Alexander, the last living hostage with American citizenship, was freed following direct talks between the US and Hamas in Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... that were aimed at securing his release. The negotiations sidelined Israeli officials, who were updated only after the deal was struck.
After arriving in Israel, the 21-year-old lone soldier embraced his teary-eyed parents, Yael and Adi, and his siblings, at an army facility near the Gazoo border community of Re’im, following 584 days in Hamas captivity.
"Look how massive this kid is!" Alexander shouted, as he hugged his little brother.
Hamas handed Alexander over to Red Thingy officials in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis at around 6 p.m., without staging a propaganda ceremony, as was typical of the terror group in past hostage releases.
In the first photo taken after his release, Alexander was seen standing unassisted while flanked by a Red Thingy worker and three armed, masked Hamas terrorists. He was dressed in a baseball cap and black Adidas t-shirt, as opposed to the mock army uniforms other hostage soldiers were made to wear.
According to Channel 12 News, a Red Thingy official said Alexander’s "physical condition was poor, but he is smiling," and that he required assistance getting into the car.
Alexander told soldiers who received him in the Strip that Hamas subjected him to harsh torture for weeks on end and kept him in a cage over a long period of time with his hands and feet bound, the Kan public broadcaster reported. He was apparently held in a Hamas tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip, alongside other hostages.
Once in the hands of the Red Thingy, he was handed over to IDF special forces stationed in the enclave, who brought him back over the border to a facility at the Re’im base in Israel, where his parents anxiously awaited him. Alexander’s mother flew with relatives from the US to Israel with American hostage envoy Adam Boehler, leaving on Sunday night in order to arrive in time for her son’s release. His father arrived separately on Monday evening.
Accompanying his family Monday evening were US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hostage point-man Gal Hirsch. Waiting at the base, Edan’s mother Yael Alexander elatedly spoke by phone with her son, once he was released by Hamas.
"You’re out, my love, you’re out!" she exclaimed in a video shared by the Prime Minister’s Office. "You are strong. You are safe. You are home. We’ll see each other soon. I love you."
On his way to the hospital by helicopter from the Re’im base, Alexander posed for a photo while holding a sign that read: "Thank you President Trump! The people of Israel live! Let’s go Golani 51," referring to his army battalion.
Alexander, a dual citizen who grew up in New Jersey, was serving in the IDF’s Golani Brigade at the time of his abduction. Hamas kidnapped him from his base near the Gaza border community of Nirim, known as the White House post, during its October 7 onslaught.
Hamas took 19 male soldiers hostage — not all of them on duty — and seven female surveillance soldiers, the latter of whom have all since been returned to Israel. Five were released in a deal with Hamas, one was rescued, and the body of one was recovered by troops.
Hamas and other terror groups are holding 58 hostages, 35 of whom have been confirmed dead — 32 Israelis, and three foreigners.
Three or four of the dead are American. I guess Hamas is holding them for future negotiations with the Trump team.
While Israel’s official estimate of the number of living hostages stands at 23, Netanyahu announced last week that there was grave doubt about the fates of three hostages — Israeli Tamir Nimrodi, Bipin Joshi, and Pinta Nattapong, from Nepal and Thailand, respectively.
Asked at a presser whether Monday’s release marked a step toward a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, Trump said that "we hope that we’re going to have other hostages released."
DOHA TALKS
In light of Alexander’s release and after speaking with Trump, Netanyahu announced Monday that he would send a delegation to Doha on Tuesday to try to negotiate another temporary hostage release and ceasefire deal.
Netanyahu discussed in an earlier meeting with Witkoff and Huckabee "the recent effort to implement the hostage release framework presented by Witkoff," ahead of the IDF’s potential expanded ground campaign in Gaza, his office said in a statement.
"To that end, the prime minister instructed that a negotiation delegation be sent to Doha tomorrow," his office continued, clarifying that "the negotiations will take place only under fire," with the military campaign against Hamas ongoing.
Netanyahu later Monday evening claimed in a video that Alexander’s return was "achieved thanks to our military pressure and the diplomatic pressure applied by President Trump," calling it "a winning combination."
Oh? And were they destroyed in place or handed over to the Lebanese army, which is still significantly manned by Hezbollah turbans?
[IsraelTimes] The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon says that since the start of the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, it has uncovered more than 225 weapons caches in the south and referred them to the army.
To the army and thence right into Hezbollah’s hot little hands. Goody.
Under the deal, Hezbollah was to withdraw its fighters north of Lebanon’s Litani River and Israel was to pull all its forces from south Lebanon. Israel nevertheless has kept troops in five areas it deems “strategic.”
The Lebanese army has been deploying in the area as Israeli forces have withdrawn and has been dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure there.
Since the November 27 truce began, “peacekeepers have found over 225 weapons caches and referred them” to the Lebanese army, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon says in a statement.
UNIFIL also has a seat on the ceasefire monitoring committee, alongside truce brokers France and the United States, and the Israeli and Lebanese governments.
“With UNIFIL support,” Lebanon’s army has “redeployed to more than 120 permanent positions south of the Litani,” the peacekeeping force says.
It criticizes the IDF for keeping troops in five areas, saying that the “full deployment” of the Lebanese army has been “hindered” as a result.
Very pragmatic, and clearly determined to ensure that his caliphate will be permanent, unlike those feckless ISIS losers.
[IsraelTimes] With Gulf help, Sharaa launches bid to get face time with Trump during his Mideast visit, with a pitch that includes a detente with Israel and US access to Syria’s oil and gas
A Trump Tower in Damascus, a detente with Israel and US access to Syria’s oil and gas are part of Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa’s strategic pitch to try to get face time with US President Donald Trump ...The man who was so stupid he beat fourteen professional politicians, a former tech CEO, and a brain surgeon for the Republican nomination in 2016, then beat The Smartest Woman in the World in the general election. Then he beat Kamala while dodging bullets... during his trip to the Middle East, according to several sources familiar with the push to woo Washington.
Jonathan Bass, an American pro-Trump activist who on April 30 met Sharaa for four hours in Damascus, along with Syrian activists and Gulf Arab states has been trying to arrange a landmark — if highly unlikely — meeting between the two leaders this week on the sidelines of Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... , Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... and the United Arab Emirates.
Syria has struggled to implement conditions set out by Washington for relief from US sanctions, which keep the country cut off from the global financial system and make economic recovery extremely challenging after 14 years of grinding war.
Bass hopes that getting Trump into a room with Sharaa, who still remains a US-designated terrorist over his al-Qaeda past, could help soften the Republican president and his administration’s thinking on Damascus and cool an increasingly tense relationship between Syria and Israel.
Part of the bet for the effort is based on Trump’s history of breaking with longstanding US foreign policy taboos, such as when he met with North Korea ...hereditary Communist monarchy distinguished by its truculence and periodic acts of violence. Distinguishing features include Songun (Army First) policy, which involves feeding the army before anyone but the Dear Leadership, and Juche, which is Kim Jong Il's personal interpretation of Marxism-Leninism, which he told everybody was brilliant. In 1950 the industrialized North invaded agrarian South Korea. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force opposing the invasion, with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel. Seventy years later the economic results are in and it doesn't look good for Juche... n leader Kim Pudge Jong-un ...the overweight, pouty-looking hereditary potentate of North Korea. Pudge appears to believe in his own divinity, but has yet to produce any loaves and fishes, so his subjects remain malnourished... in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea in 2019.
"Sharaa wants a business deal for the future of his country," Bass said, noting it could cover energy exploitation, cooperation against Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... and engagement with Israel.
"He told me he wants a Trump Tower in Damascus. He wants peace with his neighbors. What he told me is good for the region, good for Israel," said Bass.
Sharaa also shared what he saw as a personal connection with Trump: both have been shot at, narrowly surviving attempts on their lives, Bass said.
Syrian officials and a presidency media official did not respond to a request for comment.
Sharaa spoke with Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
...Crown Prince and modernizer of Saudi Arabia as of 2016. The Turks hate him, so he must be all right, despite the occasional brutal murder of Qatar-owned journalists... on Sunday, according to the Syrian presidency.
A person close to Sharaa said afterwards a Trump-Sharaa meeting remained possible in Saudi Arabia, but would not confirm whether Sharaa had received an invitation.
"Whether or not the meeting takes place won’t be known until the last moment," the person said.
’PUSH UNDERWAY’
To be clear, a Trump-Sharaa meeting during the US president’s visit to the region is widely seen as unlikely, given Trump’s packed schedule, his priorities and lack of consensus within Trump’s team on how to tackle Syria.
A source familiar with ongoing efforts said a high-level Syria-US meeting was set to take place in the region during the week of Trump’s visit, but that it would not be between Trump and Sharaa.
"There is definitely a push underway," said Charles Lister, head of the Syria Initiative at the Middle East Institute.
"The idea is that getting to Trump directly is the best avenue because there are just too many ideologues within the administration to get past."
Washington is yet to formulate and articulate a coherent Syria policy, but the administration has increasingly been viewing relations with Damascus from a perspective of counterterrorism, three sources including a US official familiar with the policy-making said.
That approach was illustrated by the make-up of the US delegation in a meeting last month between Washington and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani in New York, which included a senior counterterrorism official from the State Department, two of the sources said.
US officials conveyed to Shibani that Washington found steps taken by Damascus to be insufficient, particularly on the US demand to remove imported muscle from senior posts in the army and expel as many of them as possible, the sources said.
The US Treasury has since conveyed its own demands on the Syrian government, bringing the number of conditions to more than a dozen, one of the sources said.
The US State Department declined to disclose who attended the meeting from the US side and said it does not comment on private diplomatic discussions.
White House National Security Council spokesperson James Hewitt said the actions of Syria’s interim authorities would determine the future US support or possible sanctions relief.
’OLIVE BRANCH’
A key aim of Syria’s overtures to Washington is communicating that it poses no threat to Israel, which has escalated Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s in Syria since the country’s rebels-turned rulers ousted former strongman Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... last year.
Israel says the strikes were largely aimed at destroying Syria’s military and chemical arsenal to stop them falling into the hands of the new regime.
Israel’s ground forces have also occupied a buffer zone in southwestern Syria along the border, while the government has lobbied the US to keep Syria decentralized and isolated.
The IDF described its presence in southern Syria’s buffer zone as a temporary and defensive measure, though Defense Minister Israel Katz has said that troops will remain deployed to nine army posts in the area "indefinitely."
Israel has also said it aims to protect Syrian minority groups. Sectarian violence in Syria has escalated in recent weeks, as Islamist supporters of the country’s new regime have targeted Druze communities in festivities in southern Syria. Reports have put the corpse count from the fighting at around 100.
Israel has vowed to protect the Syrian Druze community from threats, and the IDF has struck targets in the country as a "warning" to the new regime.
Syria’s government has condemned Israel’s strikes as escalatory and as foreign interference, and says the new government in Damascus is working to unify the country after 14 years of civil war.
Sharaa last week confirmed indirect negotiations with Israel aimed at calming tensions, after Rooters reported that such talks had occurred via the UAE.
In a separate effort, Bass said Sharaa told him to pass messages between Syria and Israel that may have led to a direct meeting between Israeli and Syrian officials.
But Israel soon resumed strikes, including one near the presidential palace, which it framed as a message to Syria’s rulers to protect the country’s Druze minority amid festivities with Sunni holy warriors.
"Sharaa sent the Israelis an olive branch. Israel sent missiles," Bass said.
"We need Trump to help sort this relationship out."
But what must HTS agree to, to get such a thing? President Trump is transactional…
[IsraelTimes] US President Donald Trump hails Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and thanks him for hosting direct talks between Russia and Ukraine on Thursday.
He tells reporters during a White House press conference that he may even fly to Turkey to join those talks. He is flying to Saudi Arabia later today, and will be in Qatar and the UAE on Thursday.
Trump says Erdogan and others have asked him to lift US sanctions on Syria.
“We have to make a decision on the sanctions, which we may very well relieve. We may take them off of Syria because we want to give them a fresh start,” Trump says.
Turkey is the largest foreign backer of the new Islamist regime in Syria led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, who led the overthrow of dictator Bashar Assad.
Israel has cautioned the US against warming up to Erdogan and the new regime in Syria.
An interesting combination of searchers in Syria, even if one assumes Qatar is the money bags and the FBI provided strong backs and sharp brains. Could this be where those FBI staff on probation were sent to demonstrate attitude adjustment, or are they the best of the best, building contacts for future hunts back home?
[IsraelTimes] Bodies uncovered near Dabiq on Turkish border, DNA tests underway in effort to identify them; Qatari internal security forces declines to say who the search team was looking for
The remains of 30 people believed to have been killed by the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... terror group have been found in a remote Syrian town in a search led by Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... i search teams and the FBI, according to a statement from Qatar on Monday.
The Qatari internal security forces said the FBI had requested the search, and that DNA tests are currently underway to determine the identities of the people. The Qatari agency did not say who the American intelligence and security agency is trying to find.
Dozens of foreigners, including aid workers and journalists, were killed by IS turbans who had controlled large swaths of Syria and Iraq for half a decade and declared a so-called caliphate. The group lost most of its territory in late 2017 and was declared defeated in 2019.
Since then, dozens of gravesites and mass graves have been discovered in northern Syria containing remains and bodies of people IS had kidnapped over the years.
American-Israeli journalist Steven Sotloff, fellow US journalist James Foley, and humanitarian workers Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig are among those killed by IS.
John Cantlie, a British correspondent, was kidnapped alongside Foley in 2012, and was last seen alive in one of the Death Eater group’s propaganda videos in 2016.
The search took place in the town of Dabiq, near Syria’s northern border with The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and structure.... member, but not the most reliable... .
Mass graves have also been found in areas previously controlled by Syrian president Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... , who was ousted in a lightning insurgency in December, ending his family’s half-century rule. For years, the Assads used their notorious security and intelligence agencies to crack down on dissidents, many of whom have gone missing.
The United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... in 2021 estimated that over 130,000 Syrians were taken away and disappeared during the uprising that began in 2011 and descended into a 13-year civil war.
Last June, a federal United States appeals court upheld the conviction of a Brit for his role in a hostage-taking scheme by the Islamic State group that was tied to the abductions of Foley, Sotloff, Mueller, and Kassig.
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[NAHARNET] Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said the municipal and mayoral elections were conducted ''successfully'' in north Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel... on Sunday thanks to the ''responsible management'' of the Interior Ministry.
''Electoral bribery, regardless of its source, will be met with strict measures, and we will continue the investigations to reach the source of the bribe and take the appropriate judicial measures, seeing as no one enjoys a cover,'' Salam added in remarks on the X platform.
''As for the scene of weapons and stray bullets, which resulted in dangerous injuries, it is a scene that is rejected ethically and legally. This is a shameful and primitive phenomenon that must stop,'' Salam said.
''The relevant authorities, especially the army, arrested many shooters and there will be leniency in continuing the security and judicial course and imposing the severest penalties on security violators,'' the premier added.
''I urge citizens to put an end to this dangerous trend, seeing as weapons are not a way of expression nor a way to impose a situation that defies the principle of the state,'' Salam went on to say.
[NAHARNET] Beirut port blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar is on the verge of issuing his indictment in the case, after he reached a complete conclusion about the issue of the ammonium nitrate shipment -- where it came from, how it entered the port and how it went kaboom!, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Monday.
''He will complete his interrogations before issuing the indictment, which will likely be released on the disaster's fifth anniversary on August 4,'' the daily added.
It also noted that a French judicial delegation that visited Leb ...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration.... recently did not present any extra evidence, after media reports said that Gay Paree would submit documents to the Lebanese judiciary.
[NAHARNET] President Joseph Aoun may attend a meeting in Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... with U.S. President Donald Trump ...So far he's been unkillable, and they've tried.... , Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, Syrian interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa and Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase....> , media reports said. ''President Aoun will attend the summit based on Saudi Arabia's request and the insistence of Prince Mohammad bin Salman,'' the reports said.
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05/13/2025 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...His ancestors didn't own any slaves...
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel...
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
