Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited by Leonid Tsukanov
[Regnum] Israel is increasing its indirect presence in Africa. After effectively "reclaiming" Somaliland, its next target is Eritrea, where domestic political instability has persisted for decades.
Israel is thinking strategically and wants to create a permanent counterweight to Iranian influence in the Red Sea, relying on the non-systemic opposition and political émigrés. A idea that benefits everyone in that part of the world, not to mention the rest of us. And clearly, no one else local is doing anything about it. America is doing their bit, but America works at a higher level.
However, this idea hasn't resonated with everyone, even within Israel.
"BRIGADE FOR THE MOTHERLAND"
Eritrean oppositionists in exile proudly call themselves the "Nhamedu Brigade," which roughly translates as "Brigade for the Homeland," and cite the creation of an "exile force" that will return to Eritrea and overthrow the government of Isaias Afwerki —either by force or through elections.
Formally, the movement has existed since 2022 and is simultaneously located in three countries: the United States, Israel, and Ethiopia (with the movement’s leader, Beyene Gerzgiher, residing permanently in Addis Ababa).
However, over time, the Israeli track increasingly came to the fore. It was within the Eritrean community in Israel, one of the largest in the region, that the first permanent local governing bodies for the exile opposition began to form, and activists Atkelti Avraham Michael and Molu Sultan were able to establish communication with the Israeli leadership, reaching the level of the Prime Minister's Office.
And although these contacts are mostly covert, the Eritrean opposition has never reached such heights before.
Another clear shift can be seen in the emergence in 2023 of Israel's own Eritrean street fighters—groups of youths who engage in brawls with the "fifth column." These are most often other factions of Eritrean refugees who, while not supporting the Afwerki administration, do not want a civil war in the country.
And although the movement's leaders interpret this as a "civic impulse" of isolated individuals, there is clear external coordination behind the street fighters' actions. Israeli police and intelligence agencies also turn a blind eye to these clashes.
However, the Nhamedu Brigade's structures only took shape in the fall of 2026, when the movement adopted a new political program and declared its readiness to nominate its own candidates to compete for high office in Eritrea.
And this statement was made precisely at a meeting in Tel Aviv, and the first “alternative elections” of the opposition took place on the same day in the Israeli Ness Ziona, which became a fairly clear signal about Israel’s full inclusion in the game.
ADVANTAGEOUS POSITION AS A CURSE
Why has Israel, which has long called what is happening in Eritrea a “purely African matter,” suddenly become interested in the fate of the opposition in exile?
The most obvious reason is geographic. Eritrea formally controls part of the Red Sea basin, including the Dahlak Archipelago, near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
For Israel, this is important for maritime communications, surveillance of regional adversaries, and overall Red Sea security, especially given the volatile situation in the Bab el-Mandeb area.
However, to establish outposts, the Israelis need at least a formal connection to some force opposed to the government. And the Nhamedou Brigade is perfectly suited for this purpose—especially since, judging by the experience of their previous presence on Yemen's Socotra Archipelago, opponents of the regime don't necessarily need to be aligned with Israeli forces.
It's also interesting that the period of sharply intensified contacts between Israel and the underground coincided chronologically with the start of the successful counteroffensive by pro-Iranian forces on the Yemeni coast. Prior to this, intense interaction had occurred in 2023–2024, when the Houthis imposed a naval blockade on Israeli ports.
This indirectly indicates that the Jewish state is placing a serious bet on the Eritrean opposition and is preparing to play this geopolitical trump card sooner or later.
"WE DON'T NEED FRIENDS LIKE THAT."
However, not everyone in Israel shares the idea of nurturing a future “correct regime” in Eritrea with Israeli money.
The ambitious project is perceived as an obsession of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a small group of his allies, while opposition and centrist circles consider such games with delayed benefits dangerous to national security.
The mass clashes between supporters and opponents of the Afwerki regime on the streets of Tel Aviv in 2023 (which are believed to have been initiated by supporters of the Nhamedou Brigades) are still remembered by Israeli liberals as an example of the ricochet of the unsuccessful foreign policy combinations of the Netanyahu cabinet.
Moreover, opponents of rapprochement with the Eritrean opposition point to its extreme marginalization. More than 80% of Eritreans in Israel lack official refugee status and live under temporary protection; their legal and social benefits are far more limited than those of ordinary Israelis.
Community members, especially young people, regularly form gangs and appear in crime reports, and the authority of leaders—both local and overseas—is uncertain. Therefore, any attempts to engage such a volatile group may ultimately prove futile.
The hawkish and revanchist camp—which, given its rhetoric, should support any government moves to expand its influence abroad—is also not too happy about the growing “Eritrean trend.”
Far-right conservatives believe the state should spend money not on foreign opposition, but on its own patriotic youth. And, above all, to ensure a robust offensive in the West Bank, southern Lebanon, and Gaza—where, according to Israeli hawks, the most tangible threat currently emanates.
At the same time, Netanyahu is in no hurry to trumpet solidarity with the Eritrean opposition. Unlike its Somaliland partners, the Nhamedu Brigade does not have much influence directly in its own country, and premature public support could thwart the covert infiltration of agents into the country.
Instead, Israeli special envoys are helping their partners pave the way to Washington and obtain the White House's blessing for a "democratic struggle."
At the same time, Israel does not want to be on the front lines of the revolutionary struggle and is lobbying for the opposition's command center to be transferred to Ethiopia, so that Addis Ababa will bear the brunt of the public costs of the crisis. Meanwhile, Israelis will reap the benefits of their previous support for loyalists without the collateral damage.
However, whether the Nhamedou Brigade leaders will remember their Israeli sponsors after the conflict ends is an open question. And it's a question that's increasingly being raised behind the scenes in government circles.
🔴 MALI 🇲🇱 | Africa Corps demande davantage de moyens à la junte.
Selon "Africa Intelligence" (https://t.co/VOQq8yy6wE), Africa Corps aurait adressé une lettre à Assimi Goïta pour réclamer en urgence une augmentation de ses moyens, notamment en carburant.
🔴 MALI 🇲🇱 | Africa Corps demands more resources from the junta.
According to "Africa Intelligence" (https://africaintelligence.fr/afrique-ouest/2026/09/24/la-lettre-d-africa-corps-a-assimi-goita-pour-reclamer-davantage-de-moyens,110882472-art?utm_source=chatgpt.com), Africa Corps reportedly sent a letter to Assimi Goïta urgently requesting an increase in its resources, particularly in fuel.
This request comes as Mali faces intense security pressures and difficulties along supply routes.
A further illustration of the logistical constraints confronting Malian forces and their Russian allies.
Slowly but surely, the Taiz-based Popular Resistance @YemenResistanc1, which played a key role in fighting the Houthis in 2014 and 2015, appears to be reemerging as an organized force on the battlefield.
Slowly but surely, the Taiz-based Popular Resistance @YemenResistanc1, which played a key role in fighting the Houthis in 2014 and 2015, appears to be reemerging as an organized force on the battlefield.
Videos released from the front show Popular Resistance fighters supporting Yemeni government forces around Jabal Qarfan, a strategic height overlooking Al-Wazi’iyah southwest of Taiz. Resistance claim their forces and the army secured the mountain and made additional gains around Al-Miyhal on the Al-Kadhah front and Jabal Qarfan on the Jardad front. Popular Resistance fighters also reportedly shot down a Houthi drone on the Al-Kadhah front.
The renewed mobilization is also becoming increasingly visible among local communities. Thousands reportedly attended the funeral today of Omar Adel Abdulmalik al-Sanawi, a Popular Resistance fighter killed Monday while supporting government forces in Taiz. Resistance leaders say five of their fighters have been killed and 13 wounded during the latest fighting.
[CBS News]
Washington — The U.S. Army Reserve is examining whether it can provide the military's Southern Command with police forces, medical personnel and other support units within the next four months, according to an internal Army message reviewed by CBS News.
Though the message makes no reference to Cuba, the request is for continued military planning aimed at Cuba, according to multiple U.S. officials who spoke to CBS News under condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
There is no indication in the document that any units have received deployment orders. But the planning comes as the Trump administration puts intense economic pressure on Cuba and urges the island nation to make political reforms.
The message does not identify how many troops would be needed in the Southern Command's region, which covers Central and South America, including the Caribbean. It also does not specify where the forces could be sent or what operation they would support.
The document reviewed by CBS News says Army Reserve headquarters is seeking feedback from subordinate commands on the possible availability of six types of formations that would fall under the authority of U.S. Southern Command. The units would "possibly [be] needed in 90-120 days," according to the message, which directs commands to provide feedback to Army Reserve headquarters by Sept. 25.
Among the units is a combat sustainment support battalion that specializes in coordinating logistics such as transportation, maintenance, fuel and supply needs, along with an engineer battalion. The document also seeks an expeditionary sustainment command that would oversee logistics across a theater of operations.
The document generated last week also calls for a medical brigade to command and coordinate medical units, as well as a forward resuscitative and surgical detachment to provide emergency surgery and trauma care closer to U.S. forces. Finally, the document seeks a military police brigade — these units typically oversee military police forces responsible for security, detention and other law enforcement missions.
A joint international operation between agents with U.S. ICE Homeland Security Investigations and Colombia’s National Police led to the arrest of five members of a cartel-connected human smuggling network. The cartel reportedly moved hundreds of migrants into the U.S. under the guise of a travel agency and abused the U.S. asylum system.
#3
It is hard to believe we used to govern Cuba. We were the ones who truly developed that island. To control Cuba is to control the Caribbean Sea and its vital trade routes—we once understood exactly what prime real estate looked like. We eradicated malaria, built the core infrastructure, and then simply allowed the communists to step in and strip the island from our sphere of sovereignty. Now, we are left with a communist regime right in our own hemisphere, operating directly in our backyard. This is a failure that should have been fixed decades ago.
[KhaamaPress] A group of U.S. Senate Democrats ...every time you hear the phrase white people, white supremacy,white anything but paint, you're listening to a Democrat. Ask him/her/it to reimagine something for you; they do that a lot, though not well. They can hear a dog whistle a mile or two away. They invented the spoils system and Tammany Hall, and inspired the addition of the word (Thomas) Nasty to the English language. They want to stop continental drift and repeal the law of unintended side effects... has introduced legislation seeking targeted sanctions against companies, individuals and other entities that facilitate the development of Israeli settlements in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank.
Senators Ruben Gallego of Arizona, Chris Coons
...Junior Senator from Delaware since 2010. He won a special election to succeed Ted Kaufman, who had been appointed to the seat when Joe Biden resigned to become Vice President. Previously, Coons was the county executive of New Castle County. Raised in Hockessin, Delaware, Coons was a frat boy at the Amherst College liberal mill. He received graduate degrees from Yale Divinity School and Yale Law School.... of Delaware, Elizabeth Being Native American has been part of my story since the day I was born Warren ...The Great White Squaw, Lizzie is the Dem Senatrix from Massachussetts. She traces her noble lineage all the way back to Big Chief Spouting Bull. She has high cheekbones that stretch all the way to the top of her head. It has been alleged that she speaks with forked tongue but she denies that. She had a DNA test to prove her lineage and it turns out she's colorless... of Massachusetts and Ron Wyden of Oregon introduced the bill on Wednesday, September 23. The legislation focuses on Israel’s E1 settlement project, an area east of Jerusalem that Paleostinian and international officials have warned could affect the territorial continuity of a future Paleostinian state.
Gallego said the measure sends a clear message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and reflects U.S. support for a two-state solution as a path toward long-term peace and security for Israelis and Paleostinians.
The legislation follows a broader campaign by Democratic senators against Israel’s planned expansion of settlements in the West Bank. On August 28, Gallego led 28 other Democratic senators in opposing tenders for the construction of 1,234 housing units in the E1 area. The senators said construction there could separate East Jerusalem from major Paleostinian population centers and make a contiguous Paleostinian state more difficult to establish.
According to the politicians, Israel had already approved more than 3,000 housing units in the E1 area, while tenders were subsequently opened for companies to bid on construction. Israeli officials have publicly discussed the political implications of settlement expansion for the prospects of a Paleostinian state.
The latest initiative comes amid growing disagreement in Washington over U.S. policy toward Israeli settlement expansion and the 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... . In August, 45 Democratic senators separately urged Netanyahu to address rising settler violence in the West Bank, including attacks involving U.S. citizens, and called for an end to further settlement expansion.
The U.S. Senate initiative also comes as several Western governments have adopted or considered measures targeting Israeli settlement activity. Britannia, La Belle France and Canada announced restrictions on imports from Israeli settlements earlier this month, while a group of European countries reiterated their support for a two-state solution and said settlement expansion undermines that objective.
The proposed U.S. sanctions would require further congressional action before becoming law. The measure is part of a broader effort by Democratic politicians to use economic and diplomatic pressure over Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank.
[KhaamaPress] Two Afghan nationals have entered the United States under a narrow exception to current immigration restrictions, according to AfghanEvac, an organization advocating for the relocation of Afghan allies and their families.
Shawn VanDiver, president and founder of AfghanEvac, said the two Afghans arrived safely in the United States on Tuesday, September 22, after completing the required relocation process under the exception.
The development comes amid continuing restrictions on the entry and visa issuance of Afghan nationals. AfghanEvac says a federal court ruling allows a limited category of Afghan family members to proceed under the I-730 follow-to-join process when the principal family member has already been granted asylum in the United States.
The exception is narrow and does not generally reopen travel for Afghan Special Immigrant Visa applicants, refugees or people seeking admission through humanitarian parole. AfghanEvac has warned that reports suggesting the broader U.S. travel restrictions on Afghans have been lifted are inaccurate.
Under the current restrictions, most Afghan nationals remain subject to significant barriers to U.S. entry. AfghanEvac says a presidential proclamation that took effect in January 2026 removed the previous exemption for Afghan SIV holders, while a federal court has separately ordered the government to continue processing Afghan SIV applications.
The organization has continued to advocate for Afghan wartime allies, SIV applicants, refugees and their families, while documenting the impact of the U.S. immigration restrictions on Afghans waiting for relocation. AfghanEvac says more than 250,000 Afghans remain stranded across more than 90 countries under various pending or suspended pathways.
The arrival of the two Afghans highlights the limited pathways that remain available under U.S. immigration rules, while most Afghan applicants continue to face lengthy processing, travel restrictions or suspended relocation options.
[IsraelNationalNews] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the stage on Thursday to address the United Nations General Assembly.
As Netanyahu took the stage, the delegations of several countries left the hall, while others applauded. At the same time, chants of "Am Israel Chai" could be heard from the Israeli delegation.
Netanyahu opened his speech by addressing those who left the room: "If there are any other moral cowards, please do so now."
The Prime Minister then recounted his speech 14 years ago in which he held a drawing of a bomb and drew a red line on it. "I vowed to prevent Iran's murderous dictatorship from developing atomic bombs. Nuclear weapons that could threaten the entire world. That's exactly what I did."
Netanyahu said that destroying Iran's nuclear program was "very hard to do," but added that "for me, it was one of the easiest decisions I ever had to make as Prime Minister, because if we hadn't done it, we'd all be dead."
Netanyahu said that it was ironic that by defending itself, "Israel was also defending many of the countries that just left this hall. In fact, many of their leaders even thank us privately for taking out Iran's nukes. It's hard to imagine more mind-blowing hypocrisy, but that's exactly what it is."
He noted that this was not the first time Israel faced annihilation, harkening back to the Six-Day War, and noted that "we weren't then in Judea and Samaria, the historic heartland of the Jewish people. We weren't in Gaza. We weren't in the Golan Heights."
Netanyahu then took a moment to answer Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who had claimed that the Golan Heights was Syrian territory: "Oh, and Mr. al-Sharaa, Jews have been on the Golan Heights since the days of Moses; you can read it in the Bible."
Going back to the Six-Day War, Netanyahu clarified: "We weren't in any of these places; we were a tiny sliver of land. We still are. That is equal to about 1/3 of one percent of the landmass of the entire Arab world. Yet they accuse Israel, tiny Israel, of colonialism. Some colonialism."
Netanyahu highlighted the Irony of the identity of some of the nations accusing Israel of colonialism: "People in Britain, and in France. For G-d's sake, they invented the term. Their colonies embrace the entire globe. Colonialism - give us a break - another lie."
He recounted how, leading up to the Six-Day War, Israel was preparing for mass casualties. He added his personal story: how he, a high school student at the time, returned to Israel from the US just five days before the war. "Found a country in total blackout. Israel braced for impact."
Netanyahu said that he flew back to Israel to see his brother Yoni and shared that he went to visit him while he was stationed with his fellow Paratroopers preparing for war. During that meeting, Yoni told him: "We're going to win. We have no other choice."
The Prime Minister connected his brother's statements to the current situation. "At no time was this demonstrated more clearly than on October 7th, 2023, the darkest day in Israel's history." He went on to describe the Palestinian terrorists' atrocities in southern Israel on that day, and added: "There wasn't a single Israeli then in Gaza, not a civilian, not a soldier, not one. It didn't matter a bit. The Hamas terrorists committed the worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust."
"On that darkest of days, our enemies expected to collapse. Well, we didn't collapse. Instead, we rose and fought like lions!" he exclaimed.
The Prime Minister praised Israel's military capabilities during the war: "Do you know any other country the size of New Jersey capable of fighting a seven-front war?"
He listed the various terror groups that attempted to wipe Israel off the map and declared: "They failed. Because of collapsing, we delivered cripling blows to all of them. With our great American friends, we crushed Iran's army, navy, air force, and nuclear facilities."
"Israel hammered Hamas. We pummeled Hezbollah," Netanyahu stated, pulled out a pager from his pocket, and added: "Remember the beepers? We, I can tell you this: Hezbollah certainly remembers them."
He said that the remaining terrorists are trying to regroup and murder Jews, "And particularly they try to murder people in our historic homeland, in Judea and Samaria. Thousands of attempts per year, peaceful families driving along the roads. They shoot at pregnant women. They shoot at entire families."
Netanyahu criticized the international press for paying little attention to Arab violence against Jews and instead focusing on violence by Jewish rioters: "Of course, none of this is covered in the international press or social media. What they cover is a handful of juvenile delinquents, about 150 in number, who go, who throw stones, who chop down olive trees. Occasionally they lit some fires. I can't stand that. I won't stand for vigilantism. We're a country of law. So we put our Shin Bet on them. But that's what they call 'settler violence.' And the number of casualties a year, maybe two or three ... compared to the thousands of terrorist attacks against the peaceful settlers, honorable, law-abiding people."
"What a distortion. It's an obsession. Leaders of countries seriously talk about that, and they say it with such importance: 'We can't stand settler violence.' You don't know what you're talking about!" he said.
Addressing French President Emanuelle Macron, who claimed that Hamas does not operate in Judea and Samaria, Netanyahu mentioned the murder of Eliyahu Shakron, a French citizen and father of six, in a shooting attack carried out by a Hamas terrorist on Sunday hours before Yom Kippur.
He also mentioned the ramming attack that wounded IDF reservist Neria Leiter, the son of Israel's Ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter. He read a social media post that Neria wrote before the attack: "We have no other country. It's a privilege to defend it."
The Prime Minister pledged to Neria and all of Israel's heroes: "Your sacrifice will not be in vain. We will continue to defend our state. We will continue to win, because we have no other choice!"
Netanyahu thanked President Donald Trump for joining the fight against Iran and assisting in bringing the hostage home from Gaza. He then commented on Israel's resolve: "Why are we winning? Yoni said it simply: 'We have no other choice!' Our goal never wavered: to win with unwavering resolve, unrelenting courage, because this is Israel - one nation, fighting for one future, left and right, young and old, religious and secular. Do we have our differences? Of course we do. Who doesn't? But in critical moments, we stand together because what unites us is so much stronger: our history, our values, our courage, the courage of our brave people who withstood 1,000 ballistic missiles that Iran rained down on our civilians."
The Israeli leader turned to what he called the country's war for truth. He claimed that "several foreign countries have spent untold billions to spread lies about my country. The first to do so was Qatar. Decades ago, it started massively funding American universities and toxic media outlets like Al Jazeera. They did the same in Europe."
"Their goal was clear: brainwash young minds to hate Israel, hate America, hate the West. This is the same Qatar that hosts the Hamas butchers of October 7th."
He then turned to Turkey, which he said has become a "superspreader of antisemitic lies." He called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a tyrant who hosted Hamas terror chiefs, murdered thousands of Kurdish civilians, denies the Armenian genocide, jails journalists and opposition leaders, illegally occupies northern Cyprus, and regularly transgresses against Greece. "Now he wants to take over Syria. That's not surprising, because he calls for Israel's destruction almost every single day. He says he is going to be the 'ruler of Jerusalem.' No sir, you won't. This is our country, our city, our eternal capital."
Netanyahu also took aim at allegations against Israel for its actions in Gaza. He described Israel's efforts to prevent civilian casualties and Hamas's efforts to maximize civilian casualties and said: "Accusing Israel of genocide is the greatest lie of the century."
Quoting John Spencer, he stated: "Israel has done more to prevent civilian casualties in war than any other military in history."
He added: "To all those that are spreading these lies about my country and about our brave soldiers, whether they sit in this hall or in the office of the antisemitic mayor of New York, I say this: Shame on you. Shame on you for distorting the facts. Shame on you for inverting victim and aggressor. Shame on you for spitting in the face of truth."
Netanyahu criticized New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani by name: "Mr. Mamdani, since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no longer feel safe in New York. They talk to me. They tell me: 'This isn't the city we remember. It changed so quickly.'"
"It's no wonder. You praise criminals convicted of supporting Hamas. You count as friends people like Hasan Piker, who said America deserved 9/11. Some friends you have. You invite into your home a Palestinian journalist who filmed Hamas terrorists beating and torturing Israeli hostages and later admitted that he refused to publish the videos in order to protect - you guessed it - the terrorists. Your wife liked a post praising the October 7th massacre. She liked another post saying Tel Aviv shouldn't exist. You refused to condemn any of that. You falsely and repeatedly accuse Israel of genocide.
"Mr Mamdani, you tried to stop me from coming here. You tried to silence me. Well, you can't silence me; you can't silence the truth."
Netanyahu exclaimed: "Here's a simple truth. Israel didn't commit genocide; Israel prevented genocide.That's exactly what Mr. Mamdani's Hamas buddies would have done to us had we not stopped them. They would have killed every last one of us."
He warned Mayor Mamdani that "the lies you and other antisemites spread about the Jews and the Jewish State have real consequences. In New York, Jews are threatened on the way to synagogue. Jews have been stabbed in the streets. Jews are demonized, targeted simply for being Jews."
"Jews have been murdered in Sydney, Manchester, Montreal, Boulder, Colorado. They've been attacked in Los Angeles, London, Paris, Berlin, Washington DC.
The antisemites of the world want to terrify our people. I have news for them. The days when Jews were defenseless victims, marched to the slaughter - those days are over," the Prime Minister proclaimed.
Courtesy of Clyde Thaviling6482:
In his UN General Assembly speech,Netanyahu described most West Bank settlers as peaceful and law-abiding, blaming around 150 young people for rare incidents like stone-throwing or tree-chopping.
[X] See new posts
Netanyahu Dismisses West Bank Settler Violence as Obsession at UN
Last updated
5 minutes ago
In his UN General Assembly speech, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described most West Bank settlers as peaceful and law-abiding, blaming a small group of about 150 juvenile delinquents for stone-throwing, tree-chopping, and occasional fires. He contrasted this with thousands of terrorist attacks on settlers and dismissed foreign criticism as misguided. A UN report this year cited dozens of Palestinians killed by settlers or soldiers, with at least 23 deaths linked to settler attacks, while social media reactions ranged from outrage citing human rights documentation to defenses of his focus on Israeli victims.
This story is a summary of posts on X and may evolve over time. Grok can make mistakes, verify its outputs.
[North Press] Around 80 countries called on Thursday for the urgent reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, warning that disruptions to navigation threaten global trade and energy security.
Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani read a joint statement at the United Nations, calling for the strait to be fully and urgently reopened and for vessels to be allowed to transit safely and without restrictions.
The statement said freedom of navigation through the strait must be guaranteed without unlawful tolls, conditions or burdens imposed on maritime traffic.
The signatories also condemned attacks by Iran and the Houthi group that they said threaten international navigation, maritime security and global trade.
The statement comes amid a sharp decline in vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key global energy route connecting the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman.
Posted by: badanov ||
09/25/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[29 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
is Hell. How is this one different than so many others?m Other than that Hamas booby trapped just about every building there with explosives and traps, and all the hospitals, schools, and mosques, and many of the homes, guarded entrances to the 300+ mile miles of multiple levels of war tunnels that had taken a billion dollars and two decades to build? Nobody else has done anything as extensive as oart of their war planning, so it isn’t surprising at thr level of destruction that resulted once Israel dropped a few bombs on it all — the secondaries were truly glorious.
[IsraelTimes] The UN Conference on Trade and Development identifies immediate priorities like transferring withheld Palestinian revenues and safeguarding the banking system for recovery
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... will need an estimated $71.5 billion to recover and reconstruct, according to a report published on Thursday by the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... Conference on Trade and Development, or UNCTAD.
The UN agency found that 92 percent of Gaza’s "economic establishments have been damaged or destroyed" since October 2023 and reported that the territory’s daily per capita GDP is $0.58 a day, while prices are 274 percent higher than they were in 2022.
"The collapse of the economy of Gaza is the world’s most severe economic crisis on record," said Pedro Manuel Moreno, acting secretary-general of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), speaking to news hounds in Geneva. "It has wiped out decades of development and generated an acute economic crisis for its people."
The report studied the deterioration of the economy since the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... began on October 7, 2023. The invasion of southern Israel by the terror organization that sparked the war killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
The war has killed more than 73,400 people in Gaza, including more than 1,330 since the October 2025 ceasefire, according to health officials linked to Hamas. The toll does not differentiate between combatants and civilians, but Israel believes the toll is largely accurate, with IDF officials estimating that two to three non-combatants were killed for every dead terror operative.
An October 2025 US-backed ceasefire halted major fighting in the shattered territory, but it failed to end strikes by the Israeli military, which it has said are meant to thwart attacks by Hamas and other Gaza terrorists.
Before October 7, "two out of three Gazooks were poor. Today, everyone in Gaza is multidimensionally poor," said Mutasim Elagraa, UNCTAD’s coordinator for assistance to the Paleostinians.
The report found that many sectors have remained far below their 2022 output levels, including agriculture and construction.
Because of severe job losses, more than 90 percent of Gaza’s working-age population is unemployed, according to the UN report.
An assessment by the World Bank, the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... and the United Nations estimated physical infrastructure damage in Gaza at $35.2 billion and economic and social losses at $22.7 billion as of early 2026.
Paleostinian authorities have also been calling attention to the impact of Israel’s actions in the West Bank.
During the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters on Thursday, 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....> delivered remarks in a pre-recorded video. He said, "Settlement expansion is accelerating, the West Bank is being fragmented... and settler terrorism is escalating under the protection of the occupation forces."
The UNCTAD report also included the tightening constraints on economic activity in the West Bank.
In April, Israel’s Finance Ministry, led by Bezalel Smotrich, confirmed that it has not released Paleostinian Authority tax revenues for a year. This came after PA Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said that the lack of transfers left the authority cash-strapped and unable to pay employees...and families of martyred or jailed boomers, et al.
Since 2019, Israel has deducted amounts from tax revenues that are equivalent to the Paleostinian Authority’s payments to security prisoners held by Israel and the families of those who carry out 'pay-for-slay' terror attacks targeting Israelis. Meanwhile,
...back at the desert island, Irene was indignant at the thought of doing such a thing without benefit of clergy... Ramallah has insisted it halted that policy last year.
Beginning in November 2023, following the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack and outbreak of the war in Gaza, Israel has transferred only partial funds, also deducting sums the PA had allocated to Gaza, including salaries for former PA employees and services such as electricity and water. The PA said at the time that it would refuse to accept partial transfers. free choice
According to a statement from the Finance Ministry, the remaining funds — beyond those allocated to Gaza — "have been frozen for about a year due to the minister’s policy not to transfer funds to the Paleostinian Authority in light of its actions against the State of Israel in the international arena and its support for incitement to terrorism." That seems very reasonable.
The report identified immediate priorities, including the transfer of withheld Paleostinian revenues and safeguarding the banking system.
[IsraelTimes] A former Israel Defense Forces front man and current national security expert identified the reason for a Paleostinian terrorist killing an Israeli father on Yom Kippur eve: He did it for the money.
Every Israeli has a bounty on his head to the extent that the Paleostinian Authority (PA) offers financial rewards to any Paleostinian who commits terrorism against Israelis, but especially for deadly terrorism. A Fatah front man tied to PA 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....> recently confirmed pay-for-slay is still very much in effect; it simply goes through a couple of extra steps now in order to make a pretense for Americans, because Americans promised to orchestrate a pricey rebuild of 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... if the PA claimed it was changing. Earlier this year, Abbas was whining that he needed more money from Israel to fund pay-for-slay. Apparently the Jews are supposed to pay for their own murder.
When is the American government going to admit that nothing will ever change in Gaza and stop spending huge amounts of money rebuilding jihadis’ homes? Think of all the Israelis still rebuilding and the persecuted Christians in other countries seeing Western aid going only to bandidosbully boyz in Gaza, Judea, and Samaria.
What is the difference between Israelis and Paleostinians? As soon as the Paleostinian terrorist attacked, Netanel Shukrun — who had taken his 16-year-old son to a spring near Neve Tzuf for Yom Kippur cleansing — warned his son to save himself. Shukrun died, but his son Yoav survived. And the most horrible part is that the Paleostinian just picked random Jewish strangers to kill so his family would get pay-for-slay.
“Pay for Slay” by the Palestinian Authority is still in full effect, paying Palestinians for killing Jews. The murderer of father of six Nathaniel Shukrun admitted he wanted to get out of debt and instead of just killing himself, he went for killing a Jew. Tks @AriellaNoveckpic.twitter.com/ocreToxP2Y
This is the reality that Israelis have to face every day, especially in Judea and Samaria, which Moslems are desperate to recolonize and which Western wokies deceptively refer to as the West Bank. Israeli fathers take care of their children by saving them from death. Paleostinian fathers recruit their kids into terrorist groups or kill Israelis to get terrorist rewards.
Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad recruit Palestinian children into terrorism.
They groom them for terror. Arm them. Train them. Turn minors into child soldiers.
This is Palestinian terrorism exploiting Palestinian children.
The Gazooks do not build anything. I have been to PA-controlled towns in "the West Bank," and they are filled with heaps of trash, covered in antisemitic and anti-American graffiti, and filled with decaying buildings. I even saw the greenhouses that Israel gifted to the Paleostinians, which the latter destroyed because they came from Jews. The only major industry in Gaza and among Paleostinians in Judea and Samaria is terrorism.
And that is the way the Paleostinians want it. Yasser Arafat invented the "Paleostinian people" in the 1960s specifically for the purpose of recolonizing Israel from its ancient native owners, the Jews. The Moslems have never gotten over the Jews reclaiming Israel, which is why so many Moslem countries from 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... to 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... to 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... are involved in terrorism against Israel. Some bandidosbully boyz killed Jews for the money. Others do it for the 70 virgins they think they will get in Moslem paradise. But in every case, Islam’s explicit encouragement of jihad and the PA’s pay-for-slay fuel the deadly terror.
[IsraelTimes] Military investigation finds troops unprepared for a broad surprise attack of 60-80 terrorists, as 18 soldiers killed, 22 wounded in hours of fighting for Paga outpost
On the morning of October 7, 2023, between 60 and 80 Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... snuffies overran the military’s Paga post on the border with 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, killing or wounding nearly all of the troops stationed there and abducting the bodies of two, which allowed nearby communities to also fall to the invaders with calamitous consequences.
The Paga post is located just west of the border community of Be’eri, one of the hardest-hit communities during the October 7 onslaught. Officially, the Paga post is named "Magen Be’eri," or in English, Defender of Be’eri, a mission it failed to fulfill during the attack.
During the attack on the Paga post and a nearby tank position, of the some 40-50 troops stationed there, 18 soldiers and commanders were killed, and 22 soldiers were maimed.
Among the dead were 14 Golani soldiers: Cpt. Dekel Swissa, Sgt. Lior Azizov, Sgt. Roei Peri, Sgt. Itamar Cohen, Staff Sgt. Tomer Barak, Sgt. Habib Kiean, Staff Sgt. Idan Raz, Sgt. Ido Binenstock, Staff Sgt. Shalev Baranes, Staff Sgt. Yakir Levi, Staff Sgt. Itay Glisko, Staff Sgt. Haim Meir Eden, Staff Sgt. Itamar Ben Yehuda and Staff Sgt. Dolev Amouyal; three 7th Armored Brigade soldiers: Staff Sgt. Shay Levinson, Sgt. Ariel Eliyahu, Sgt. Ofir Testa; and a tracker from the Gaza Division: Sgt. Maj. Muhammad el-Atrash.
The bodies of el-Atrash and Levinson were kidnapped to the Gaza Strip and later returned and recovered.
On Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces published its probe into the attack on the post, which found, as in other investigations, that the military "failed to fulfill its defensive mission" and did not prevent the area "from falling into enemy hands, including the infiltration of snuffies into Be’eri and the capture of Paga outpost."
The Sherlocks said that the outcome of the battle at the Paga post "reflects the systemic failure to prepare for a broad surprise attack and to fulfill the responsibility to defend the sector against such an attack."
The findings published Tuesday are the latest in a series of detailed investigations into some 40 battles and massacres that took place during Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, when about 5,600 Paleostinian snuffies stormed across the border, killed some 1,200 people, and took 251 hostages into Gaza.
The probe, carried out by Col. Ori Ron — Israel’s defense attaché to Brazil — and approved by former IDF chief of staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, covered all aspects of the fighting at the Paga post and the surrounding area. The IDF said the Sherlocks visited the scene and reviewed every possible source of information.
It was unclear why the probe’s release to the public was delayed by many months.
The Paga post probe was aimed at drawing specific operational conclusions for the military. It did not examine the wider picture of the military’s perception of Gaza and Hamas in recent years, which has been covered in separate, larger investigations into the IDF’s intelligence and defenses.
The investigation found that at the tactical level, the company of troops stationed at the Paga post "was not adequately prepared for the mission," including in terms of combat equipment and the post’s defensive infrastructure.
At the time, the Paga post was manned by a company of troops of the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion, along with a tank platoon from the 7th Armored Brigade at an adjacent position, and a tracker — el-Atrash, whose body was kidnapped.
During their deployment ahead of October 7, the troops at the Paga post primarily dealt with Hamas-staged violent mostly peaceful riots along the border fence. "This reality affected their state of mind and the training and drills system, which did not correspond to the scenario of a simultaneous surprise attack throughout the entire sector," the Sherlocks noted.
However,
Switzerland makes more than cheese... despite the lack of preparedness and "an operational reality that was complex to the point of being impossible," the probe found that "there were displays of heroism and independent actions worthy of note at the level of junior commanders and soldiers."
The probe found that because the outpost was overrun, snuffies were then able to infiltrate Be’eri, where 101 civilians and 31 security personnel were killed, and 30 residents and two other civilians were taken hostage.
Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s in the area during the battle at Paga "were not effective due to gaps in coordination with the ground forces," the probe found.
The deaths of commanders during the battle, including the outpost commander, heavily affected the decisions made by troops and the manner in which the battle was managed. The company commander was unable to reach the post because junctions and roads en route were blocked by the fighting.
TIMELINE OF THE ATTACK
Amid Hamas’s initial barrage of rockets on southern Israel at 6:29 a.m., snuffies breached the border fence and advanced toward the Paga post.
Troops at the post entered protected areas, while forces from the adjacent tank position began advancing to the fence to block the terrorists.
At the same time, commanders searched for el-Atrash, who served as a tracker in the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade, but were unable to locate him. It was not until June 2024 that the IDF determined he had been killed later in the morning while battling Hamas snuffies in the area and his body was kidnapped to Gaza.
A minute by minute timeline of that first day can be seen at the link.
The Jews who care about what happens in Israel have not forgotten, Seeking Cure, nor become complacent. It just becomes really, really tiresome reminding a world that mostly never cared to begin with — or wishes the attack had achieved its goal of conquest and eradication — that for us the fight is yet again existential, and letting Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran continue being able to fight is not an option.
I am reminded of the very interesting classroom discussion I endured in freshman biology class, when one of my classmates announced that he’d learnt in Sunday school that Jews do not love others like real people do. The teacher, who was not Jewish, just smiled oddly and listened while I disagreed.
One of the boy’s churchmates quietly told me after class that they’d not been taught any such thing, but she didn’t speak up when it mattered. Nobody spoke up, not even the Israeli boy at the next lab table.
[IsraelTimes] INS Drakon reaches Israel after 8,000-km voyage from Germany, as military seeks to boost capabilities amid growing maritime threats
The Israeli Navy plans to multiply its naval fleet in the coming years to contend with a maritime arms race in the region and new threats at sea, The Times of Israel learned on Wednesday.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir announced in March 2025 that the relatively modest-sized Israeli Navy would become a "long-range strategic arm [of the military], with defensive and offensive capabilities."
On Thursday, the Israeli Navy is set to recieve its sixth submarine, INS "Drakon" — or Dragon — following a 3,792-nautical mile (around 8,000 km) voyage of nearly a month from Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems’ shipyard in Kiel, Germany, and after around 12 years of planning, construction, and testing.
Navy officials said that the delivery of the INS Drakon was delayed by several months because Denmark and Norway prevented German contractor TKMS from conducting tests of the submarine in their deep waters, or using their ports in between tests. Instead, TKMS had to take INS Drakon further out into the North Sea, in international waters, to conduct the tests, and sail all the way back to Germany each time.
The move by Denmark and Norway also threatens to delay future projects by TKMS of naval vessels for Israel, the officials said.
On Thursday, the Navy will hold a ceremony at the Haifa Naval Base to receive the Dolphin 2-class submarine, coming in at 74 meters long and weighing a whopping 2,600 tons — the largest and heaviest submarine yet in Israel’s service.
The military has said that INS Drakon is to be equipped with "innovative and advanced technologies that place Israel at the forefront of global military technology and will enhance the Israeli Navy’s operational flexibility for years to come." The submarine, equipped with air-independent propulsion, enables its crew to operate for long periods at a time underwater without needing to surface for air, providing significant levels of stealth, according to military officials.
The installation of the Israeli systems inside the new submarine is expected to take two to three months, and only months later will it be declared operational, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
The submarine’s originally proposed name was Dakar, after an Israeli submarine that sank in 1968. Dragon is meant to be a compromise after some of the families of the fallen sailors from the original Dakar protested the proposal to recycle the name.
"Dakar" will instead be reserved for the name of the overall class of the Navy’s future submarines, which are set to replace the Navy’s three aging first-generation Dolphin-class vessels, in service since around 2000.
The first of three Dakar-class submarines is scheduled for delivery in 2031. The Dakar submarines are expected to be significantly larger than the INS Drakon, at 84 meters long and 3,800 tons.
The arrival of the INS Drakon comes as the Navy is seeking to massively increase its fleet in the coming years, after detecting that other countries bordering the Mediterranean — both allies and nations with strained ties — have significantly larger navies than Israel. The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund... , for example, currently has 14 active submarines and is expected to increase that number to 18 in the coming years, while neighboring Greece has nine.
In addition, the military has understood that it must have a stronger Navy to contend with new threats at sea, following developments in the past few years, and especially in recent months, in the straits of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb, where 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 the Iran-backed Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... s have prevented freedom of movement in the Gulf and Red Sea, harming major shipping routes.
Navy officials said they fear the same harm to freedom of navigation and shipping could occur elsewhere, including in the Mediterranean.
To contend with those threats, in the next three to four years, the Navy is set to receive the first of five Reshef-class corvettes. These are due to replace the two oldest models of Israel’s Sa’ar 4.5-class missile boats, set to be retired after four decades. In practice, this means that the Navy is increasing the number of small missile boats in its fleet.
[NY Post] The US military has been deploying lasers in the Strait of Hormuz to knock out regime hardware, taking out "drones and incoming cruise missiles at a much lower cost than using more expensive kinetic weapons like missiles," the Department of War recently confirmed.
Good job, guys! Cheaper and more effective is the sweet spot.
"We can very specifically track and target drones and put the spot exactly where we want it, [in order] to disable its sensors or kill [i.e. explode] the drone itself," Mark Neice, president of Directed Energy Consultants, which works with the military, told The Post.
Somewhat surprisingly, the laser weapons are operated by soldiers using reconfigured Xbox game console controllers. "The video games industry figured out what the best controller was and now the US military is saying, ’Well, why reinvent the wheel with a specialized control system where you can just use an Xbox controller or something really similar to do the job?'"
Why indeed?
For recent advancements in laser technology, we can partly thank Mexican drug cartels. The Joint Task Force Southern Border has been testing the tech by shooting down drug-dealer drones sent from Mexico, with at least 11 downed so far.
*Snicker* We saw the first reports. They were very satisfying.
"In June, Pete Hegseth attended a laser weapons demonstration at White Sands [Missile Range in Southern New Mexico]," said Keller. "Secretary Hegseth was able to take over a controller and shoot down a drone with, I think, a couple minutes of training."
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/25/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[61 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
effective against drones - yes
effective against missiles - not that much
what I'd like to see is lasers mounted on small drones hovering over Iran knocking out launchers, IRGC officers and other slow moving targets
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
09/25/2026 9:22 Comments ||
Top||
Sez you. But that’s now the way to win friends and influence people.
[IsraelTimes] Ahead of his UN speech, Syrian leader stresses IDF must withdraw to 1974 demarcation lines in order to forge an initial security pact before any peace talks can take place.
Dream on, buddy. But don’t expect your dreams to become reality — Israel doesn’t do land for peace anymore. That ship has sailed, and both you and Bashir al Assad missed it, he by choice and you by timing.
Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa said Tuesday that an Israeli withdrawal from a self-declared security zone in Syrian territory is a necessary first step before talks can be held on reaching agreements between the two countries, while also indicating that "lasting peace" can be achieved.
Hours before his scheduled Wednesday morning speech at the UN General Assembly, Sharaa was asked during an appearance in New York City whether he can envision his country having diplomatic relations with Israel, and whether Damascus is demanding the return of the Golan Heights as a precondition to establishing ties.
Sharaa noted to the Atlantic Council that the countries already held direct talks in the past year, and said Israel must first withdraw from areas in southern Syria it occupied after the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.
"Then we get into discussions on security arrangements. If those arrangements succeed, then we can get into lasting peace," he continued, according to a translation of his remarks provided by the Atlantic Council. "The Golan Heights is Syrian territory under recognition of the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... ... So there is no discussion."
There is, he said, currently a "historic moment that can be useful for all parties."
Sharaa was later asked whether he understands the concerns of Israelis after the October 7, 2023, terror onslaught by Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... , and what message he has for the Israeli public.
"I understand what happened on October 7 for some of the innocent people, but at the same time, it’s not possible that all policies are based on an incident that happened," he said. "At the same time, we need to understand what happened 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... , and more than 70,000 people have been killed there."
"It’s not appropriate that what happened on October 7 set the policy for Syria," added Sharaa, who led a jihadist group formerly affiliated with the terror group al-Qaeda before taking power. "Israel needs to change its policy because it is creating problems around it."
"I believe the problem is with Israel, not with Syria."
Israel, which initially blasted Sharaa as a terrorist but now holds direct talks with his administration, has described its operations in Syria as necessary to prevent terror groups from invading northern Israel as Hamas did in the south, from Gaza, on October 7, 2023, in an attack that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and triggered a war in the Gaza Strip.
Sharaa is in New York for the UN General Assembly and is scheduled to be the first speaker in the Wednesday morning session.
Earlier this year, Sharaa said during an interview that his country was working toward a security agreement with Israel, which he said could eventually pave the way for comprehensive peace between the two neighbors.
Israeli troops entered a UN-patrolled buffer zone after the collapse of Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... ’s government in December 2024, a move Israel described as temporary and necessary to secure its border during the political transition.
Israel has since carried out hundreds of strikes on Syrian military infrastructure and seized new positions deeper into Syria. The Syrian government and the United Nations have said the deployment violates Syrian illusory sovereignty and a 1974 disengagement agreement that followed the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
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.
...every time you hear the phrase 
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
...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...
..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,...
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the 
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
