[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Secretary of State Marco Rubio says El Salvador's president has offered to accept deportees from the U.S. of all nationalities as well as violent criminals now imprisoned in the United States.
The breakthrough from Rubio came as President Trump secured border protection agreements from both Canada and Mexico following a whirlwind day that began with a cratering stock market and the threat of a trade war.
Rubio said President Nayib Bukele 'has agreed to the most unprecedented, extraordinary, extraordinary migratory agreement anywhere in the world.'
'He's also offered to do the same for dangerous criminals currently in custody and serving their sentence in the United States even though they're U.S. citizens or legal residents.'
Rubio was visiting El Salvador on Monday to press a friendly government to do more to meet Trump administration demands for a major crackdown on immigration amid turmoil in Washington over the status of the government's main foreign development agency.
'President Bukele agreed to take back all Salvadoran MS-13 gang members who are in the United States unlawfully. He also promised to accept and incarcerate violent illegal immigrants, including members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, but also criminal illegal migrants from any country,' State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement.
'And in an extraordinary gesture never before extended by any country, President Bukele offered to house in his jails dangerous American criminals, including U.S. citizens and legal residents,' Bruce added.
Bruce called it a 'tremendously successful meeting that will make both countries stronger, safer, and more prosperous.'
Rubio spoke in San Salvador shortly after a flurry of activity in Washington D.C. as Trump announced a 30-day pause on tit-for-tat tariffs with both Canada and Mexico.
Rubio also watched a U.S.-funded deportation flight with 43 migrants leave from Panama for Colombia.
That came a day after Rubio delivered a warning to Panama that unless the government moved immediately to reduce or eliminate China's presence at the Panama Canal, the U.S. would act to do so.
Migration, though, was the main issue of the day as it will be for the next stops on his five-nation Central American tour of Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic after Panama and El Salvador.
President Donald Trump's administration prioritizes stopping people from making the journey to the United States and has worked with regional countries to boost immigration enforcement on their borders as well as to accept deportees from the United States.
One idea that was floated was to negotiate what Rubio announced Monday night - a so-called 'safe third country' agreement with El Salvador that would allow for non-Salvadorean migrants in the U.S. to be deported to the nation.
Officials have suggested this might be an option for Venezuelan gang members convicted of crimes in the United States should Venezuela refuse to accept them.
Ahead of Rubio's announcement, Bukele said it was a broad agreement 'that does not have precedent in the history of the relationship, not just of the United States with El Salvador but rather I think in Latin America.'
Human rights activists have warned, however, that El Salvador lacks a consistent policy for the treatment of asylum seekers and refugees and that such an agreement might not be limited to violent criminals.
Manuel Flores, the secretary general of the leftist opposition party Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, criticized any such plan, saying it would signal that the region is Washington's 'backyard to dump the garbage.'
The deportation flight Rubio watched being loaded in Panama City was carrying migrants detained by Panamanian authorities after illegally crossing the Darien Gap from Colombia.
The State Department says such deportations send a message of deterrence.
The U.S. has provided Panama with financial assistance to the tune of almost $2.7 million in flights and tickets since an agreement was signed to fund them.
Rubio was on the tarmac for the departure of the flight, which was taking 32 men and 11 women back to Colombia.
It's unusual for a secretary of state to personally witness such a law enforcement operation, especially in front of cameras.
'Mass migration is one of the great tragedies in the modern era,' Rubio said, speaking afterward in a nearby building. 'It impacts countries throughout the world. We recognize that many of the people who seek mass migration are often victims and victimized along the way, and it´s not good for anyone.'
Monday's deportation flight came as Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) continued its infiltration of sprawling government agencies in an effort to eliminate wasteful spending. Musk gained a powerful new ally amid criticism and claims that members of DOGE were being threatened and harassed. Ed Martin, the US Attorney for the District of Columbia, reached out to the SpaceX CEO on Monday, vowing to take legal action against anyone who tries to sabotage the department's shakeup of the federal government. His support came after WIRED Magazine released the identifies of six software engineers that work for the new department - prompting online hate.
Trump has been threatening action against nations that will not accept flights of their nationals from the United States, and he briefly hit Colombia with penalties last week for initially refusing to accept two flights.
Panama has been more cooperative and has allowed flights of third-country deportees to land and sent migrants back before they reach the United States.
'This is an effective way to stem the flow of illegal migration, of mass migration, which is destructive and destabilizing,' Rubio said. 'And it would have been impossible to do without the strong partnership we have here with our friends and allies in Panama. And we're going to continue to do it.'
His trip comes amid a sweeping freeze in U.S. foreign assistance and stop-work orders that have shut down U.S.-funded programs targeting illegal migration and crime in Central American countries. The State Department said Sunday that Rubio had approved waivers for certain critical programs in countries he is visiting, but details of those were not immediately available.
While Rubio was out of the country, staffers of the U.S. Agency for International Development were instructed on Monday to stay out of the agency's Washington headquarters after billionaire Elon Musk announced Trump had agreed with him to shut the agency. Thousands of USAID employees already had been laid off and programs shut down.
Rubio told reporters in San Salvador that he was now the acting administrator of USAID but had delegated that authority so he would not be running its day-to-day operations. The change means that USAID is no longer an independent government agency as it had been for decades - although its new status will likely be challenged in court - and will be run out of the State Department by department officials. In his remarks, Rubio stressed that some and perhaps many USAID programs would continue in the new configuration but that the switch was necessary because the agency had become unaccountable to the executive branch and Congress.
On his weekend discussion with Panama's president on the Panama Canal, Rubio said he was hopeful that the Panamanians would heed his and Trump's warnings on China. Panamanians have bristled at Trump's insistence on retaking control of the American-built canal, which the U.S. turned over in 1999, although they have agreed to pull out of a Chinese infrastructure and development initiative.
'I understand that it´s a delicate issue in Panama,' Rubio told reporters in San Salvador. 'We don´t want to have a hostile and negative relationship with Panama,' he said. 'I don´t believe we do. And we had a frank and respectful conversation, and I hope it´ll yield fruits and result in the days to come.'
But back in Washington, Trump was less diplomatic, saying 'China's involved with the Panama Canal. They won´t be for long and that´s the way it has to be.'
'We either want it back, or we´re going to get something very strong, or we´re going to take it back,' Trump told reporters at the White House. 'And China will be dealt with.'
As he has in the past, Trump again criticized the Carter administration for having signed a 1970s treaty to cede control of the canal to Panama and said it was a pact that Panama has since 'totally violated.'
'They've agreed to certain things, but I´m not happy with it,' Trump said.
#5
Really; hell on earth to me would be something like trying to do my life and getting a phone call informing me my daughter had been gang raped and murdered.
*cough UK cough cough*
Must be why the BBC has been running hit pieces on El Salvador and Bukele for 4 years now.
So it sounds to me like they should start deporting themselves before they get nabbed.
[IsraelTimes] Senior terror group official Moussa Abu Marzouk also says Alexander Trufanov will be released ‘in the near future’ during first phase
Senior Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... official Moussa Abu Marzouk said on Monday that Maxim Herkin, kidnapped by Gazook bully boyz from the Nova festival on October 7, 2023, will be released as a priority in the second stage of the deal.
Abu Marzouk was in Moscow along with a senior Hamas delegation for negotiations at the Russian foreign ministry.
He also told Russian outlet Sputnik that hostage Alexander "Sasha" Trufanov, a dual Russian-Israeli national, will be released imminently.
"One of them, Trufanov, will definitely be released in the near future. He will be released despite the fact that he is a serviceperson, but it was decided to release him at the first stage of the deal," Abu Marzouk said.
Trufanov is a civilian and was kidnapped from his home, but Hamas classifies all male hostages under 50 as members of the military.
"This is our response to Russia’s position on the Paleostinian issue," Abu Marzouk said, referencing Moscow’s warm relations with Hamas and recognition of a Paleostinian state.
Russia has ties to all key players in the Middle East, including Israel, Iran, and Leb ...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects.... , as well as the Paleostinian Authority and Hamas.
Trufanov, 28, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz, alongside his mother, grandmother and girlfriend. His father was murdered. The rest of his family was released under a previous ceasefire deal in November 2023. He is on the list of the first 33 so-called "humanitarian hostages" to be released in the ongoing 42-day first stage of the current hostage-ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
Herkin, 35 when he was taken hostage, has a 3-year-old daughter and is the primary provider for his mother and 11-year-old brother.
He went to the Nova festival almost by chance, invited by friends at the last minute. It was the first time he had gone to a rave.
The second phase of the deal is expected to include the return of all the remaining living hostages — including men under the age of 50 and male soldiers — held by bully boyz in the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip, in exchange for a yet-to-be-determined number of Paleostinian security prisoners and a full Israeli withdrawal from the Strip.
Reports have increasingly indicated, however, that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seriously entertaining the possibility of resuming the war after the first phase of the deal, as the far-right members of his governing coalition have demanded, rather than continuing on to the second phase.
Another one bites the dust. Hopefully the new conservative government will start to bring both spending and uncontrolled Moslem colonists under control.
[IsraelTimes] Dutch-speaking conservative has vowed to crack down on immigration; pulls together five parties to form majority coalition after seven months of negotiations
Conservative Bart De Wever was sworn in Monday as Belgium’s new prime minister, after striking a hard-fought coalition deal that moves the country to the right.
Struck late Friday after seven months of tortuous negotiations, the agreement makes De Wever the first nationalist from Dutch-speaking Flanders to be named Belgian premier.
I’m shocked. Historically the Dutch speakers are the petit bourgeois small business owners, the farmers, hewers of wood and drawers of water — the yeoman peasants who keep the country running — while the French-speaking aristocracy are the governors and managers. This has not actually worked well since the 1990s, but it’s the way things have always been done. Hearty congratulations to the voters for actually overthrowing the usual order.
A law-and-order candidate whose coalition has already promised to crack down on irregular migration, De Wever’s rise to power reinforces a marked right-wing shift in European politics.
The 54-year-old, who in recent years has backed off on calls for Flanders to become an independent country, took the oath of office before King Philippe, in a ceremony at the royal palace in Brussels.
From there, he is to head straight to a gathering of EU leaders a few blocks away, for talks on defense and transatlantic relations.
“And now to work,” the incoming leader posted on social media X, alongside a photo of the swearing-in.
De Wever’s N-VA is part of the hard-right ECR group in the European Parliament, which also includes lawmakers from the parties of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Czech leader Petr Fiala.
“Our ECR group now has three prime ministers at the European Council table and participates in the government of seven countries,” French hard-right lawmaker Marion Marechal rejoiced on X.
Hard-right parties, often riding anti-immigrant sentiment, performed strongly in European Parliament elections last year, and have topped recent national and regional votes in Austria, Germany and the Netherlands.
60-HOUR MARATHON
Split between French- and Dutch-speaking communities and with a highly complex political system, Belgium has an unenviable record of painfully protracted coalition discussions — reaching 541 days back in 2010-2011.
This time around, five groups sought to forge a coalition after June elections that failed to produce a clear majority — with talks led by De Wever’s N-VA which claimed the most seats.
The new government brings together three parties from Dutch-speaking Flanders: the N-VA, the centrist Christian-Democrats and the leftist Vooruit (Onward).
And it includes two from French-speaking Wallonia: the centrist Les Engages and the center-right Reformist Movement.
Together, they hold an 81-seat majority in Belgium’s 150-seat parliament.
Coalition talks hit a wall during the summer over the issue of plugging the country’s budget deficit — estimated at 4.6 percent of gross domestic product in 2024, one of the highest in the European Union.
Belgium is one of seven EU countries facing disciplinary action for running a deficit above three percent of GDP, in violation of the bloc’s fiscal rules.
De Wever, the mayor of Antwerp since 2013, has pushed for cuts in social benefits and pension reforms that have already sparked opposition from labor unions.
He had threatened to throw in the towel if no coalition deal was reached Friday.
An agreement was struck with just hours to go after a 60-hour marathon session to iron out differences over an 800-page program.
But the gender makeup of the new government has raised some eyebrows, with 11 men and just four women.
De Wever’s N-VA was already part of a right-leaning ruling coalition between 2014 and 2018. He takes over from outgoing prime minister Alexander De Croo, whose seven-party coalition took an arduous 493 days to emerge back in 2019-2020. De Croo had stayed on as caretaker leader after the June elections.
#2
Canada promised 10,000 troops to patrol the border. Not clear if that's 10,000 additional or 10,000 total. They have 16,500 in their border patrol now. Active duty Canadian Army is 28,579. If it's 10,000 additional troops that's literally 1/3 of their available ground forces. Good thing they have zero committment elsewhere . . .
#3
Oh yeah - and the border is 5,500 miles long (not including the Canadian-Alaskan border). So that's roughly 1 warm body every 1/2 mile. Presuming they never need to sleep or rotate out. And that the logistical tail is excess to the 10,000 number. And of course presuming that the Canadians actually were to honor their word (which I doubt)
[IsraelTimes] Almog Meir Jan filed suit against People Media Project, employer of Abdallah Aljamal, a Hamas operative and journalist who held hostages in his home; judge says suit can be refiled
Rescued hostage Almog Meir Jan’s lawsuit against a US-based nonprofit that allegedly employed his captor was dismissed Friday by a federal judge in Seattle, Washington, who ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prove that the company was aware that its employee was a Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... operative.
US District Judge Tiffany Cartwright
…appointed by the Biden administration at the end of 2023, she is said to be one of the youngest judges on the federal bench…
did, however, allow Meir Jan to refile the suit, giving him the chance to amend his claim to provide evidence to prove the allegations against the defendant.
Meir Jan filed the suit in July 2024 against People Media Project,
..a name that DOGE, or perhaps Secretary of State Marco Rubio, should be interested in…
a United States-based nonprofit that has ties to the journalist who held him captive.
Meir Jan, 22, was held by Abdallah Aljamal, a front man for the Hamas-run labor ministry 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... who has contributed to several news outlets in the past, and who was a correspondent for the Paleostine Chronicle, which is run by the nonprofit.
Meir Jan, along with hostages Shlomi Ziv, 40, and Andrey Kozlov, 27, was rescued from Aljamal’s home in central Gaza’s Nuseirat on June 8 of last year. Hostage Noa Argamani, 26, who was held some 180 meters (200 yards) away, was also rescued. Despite their buoyant appearance upon their return, the four were said to have faced harsh conditions in captivity.
The four were kidnapped from the Nova music festival in the forest outside Kibbutz Re’im near the Gaza border on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led bandidossnuffies stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages. Three-hundred and sixty people were killed in the Nova massacre.
Aljamal, his wife Fatma and father Ahmad Aljamal were all killed during the hostage rescue mission. The family’s children survived.
The family was said to be known to have ties to Hamas, but residents told The Wall Street Journal at the time they were unaware that hostages were being held at the Aljamals’ family home.
Meir Jan’s lawsuit alleged: "Under the leadership of Defendants [editor-in-chief] Ramzy Baroud and [People Media Project governor] John Harvey, Defendant Paleostine Chronicle employed Hamas Operative Aljamal and offered him its US platform to write and disseminate Hamas propaganda, ultimately subsidized, through its status as a tax-exempt charitable organization, by US taxpayers."
The lawsuit was submitted to Washington state’s Western District court.
After review of the suit, Judge Cartwright determined that since Meir Jan’s "complaint does not allege actual knowledge, his compensation allegations must be dismissed."
The judge added that nowhere in Meir Jan’s lawsuit does he allege that the "defendants gave Aljamal money for the purpose of committing terrorism or aiding Hamas."
"Instead, he seeks to hold them liable for compensating Aljamal for writing articles, because Aljamal used that money to enable Jan’s imprisonment." she added.
However,
alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... under court precedent, the judge granted Meir Jan an opportunity to amend his complaint if he can find additional evidence to prove the allegations against the defendant.
Meir Jan’s lawsuit followed others filed by victims of October 7 in US courts. On July 1, 2024, October 7 victims sued Iran, 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... and Syria, seeking at least $4 billion in damages from the countries for aiding and abetting Hamas’s terror onslaught. A week before, victims sued for $1 billion in damages from UNRWA, the United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... aid agency for Paleostinian refugees, accusing it of funneling money into Hamas’s coffers and letting the terror group use the agency’s facilities.
Israel has said that numerous Hamas operatives were posing as journalists in Gaza.
Trump has doubled the number of troops now stationed at the southern border
500 Marines also landed in Guantanamo Bay over the weekend
President Donald Trump's Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth went to the southern border on Monday for his first official trip in his new role.
The former Fox News host traveled with border czar Tom Homan to meet with troops deployed there to prevent illegal crossings.
The number of troops stationed at the southern border has doubled since Trump directed the Pentagon to take 'full operational control' of the ongoing crisis.
Plans are to send a total of 10,000 troops to the border, but so far approximately 2,600 Marines and Army soldiers have deployed since Hegseth began implementing Trump's directive last week.
Additionally, 500 Marines arrived at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba on Sunday.
It will be used to house and hold illegal immigrants being deported from the U.S. until repatriation operations can take place.
'It was an honor to meet the troops engaged in securing our southern border,' Hegseth wrote in a post to X along with a video of him shaking hands with forces in Texas.
Hegseth and Homan spoke with those at Army Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas on Monday as more troops prepare to deploy.
U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) briefed the two men on their operations at the border during their meeting in Texas on Monday.
'Our service members are mission-ready and hard at work,' Hegseth said after the meeting.
Members of the Marines and Army are tasked with helping in detection and evasion efforts at the border.
They are also carrying out deportation flights of migrants being repatriated with their countries of origin.
#2
Fuming military women need to understand where they are working, and why. Anyone in uniform who is spending $50+ for fancy hands on the job is in the wrong business.
Some Gray Hats, are doing some poking around activities. They are seeing discussions on where a large illegal group of women, teens and kids may be force or conned into storming the southern border point. With a goal to cause a major incident.
Which is likely being done to disrupt the Trump MAGA agenda, by causing a wave of racial unrest here in the USA.
#5
The border guards need then to think in terms of breaking up or channeling a charge, right? Shotguns with rock salt, paint guns, firehoses — particularly effective in winter — Israeli skunk water, caltrops…I’m sure our people can be very creative.
In the meantime, Texas has been floating those thingies in the river and adding more sections to the border fence.
Also, let Mexico know the government will be held responsible for allowing a charge to happen, with all the Trumpian horrors that would entail.
#8
The border guards need then to think in terms of breaking up or channeling a charge, right?
Swarms of robotic stinging insects carrying fentanyl tipped darts. Or grab a commercial agricultural spray drone loaded with the crowd control agent of your choice.
#11
The cartels have been very successful in fighting and / or subverting the Mexican authorities. They expect that to work here and under Biden et al it did. Now might be a different story, but we'll see how much overt and covert help they get from Dems in Congress and NGOs.
The LRAD’s siren is one of its main deterrents. It is specially designed to be weighted to transmit sound loaded in the frequency range where human hearing is most sensitive, roughly 2,000–4,000 Hertz. This design simultaneously ensures maximum discomfort for the target subject and maximum efficiency of the device itself.
[IsraelTimes] After reports that the Palestinian Authority is involved in running the Rafah Crossing from Egypt into Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman issues a denial while acknowledging a minor PA role at the key site.
“The Palestinian Authority does not operate the Rafah Crossing, despite the narrative it is trying to create,” writes Omer Dostri on X.
Netanyahu has consistently pledged that Israel would retain control over the site.
“Nothing has changed in the management of civilian affairs in Gaza since the beginning of the war, including at the Rafah Crossing,” Dostri continues.
“The only involvement of the PA is the PA stamp on passports, which according to the international arrangement only allows Gazans to leave for other countries or to be absorbed into them.”
Ynet reported that nine PA police officers are back at the crossing, managing the site alongside Egyptian and European officials.
A 2005 agreement between Israel and the PA stipulates that Rafah Crossing would be controlled by the PA under EU supervision.
After a January report in a Saudi outlet that Israel would allow the PA to manage the crossing under international supervision, the PMO issued a similar statement, noting that “non-Hamas Gazans” provide technical management of the crossing with international oversight, and the PA provides the stamp on passports allowing Gazans to exit the Strip.
[IsraelTimes] US President Donald Trump’s administration has asked congressional leaders to approve new transfers of roughly $1 billion worth of bombs and other military hardware to Israel, the Wall Street Journal reports
The planned weapons sales include 4,700 1,000-pound bombs, worth more than $700 million, and armored bulldozers, built by Caterpillar CAT.N, worth more than $300 million, the report adds, citing sources.
[IsraelTimes] Palestinian Authority says 70 killed this year, claims goal is ‘displacing residents’; IDF says it has killed over 50 terror operatives in the northern West Bank in recent days
The office of 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....> on Monday denounced an Israeli military operation in the West Bank as "ethnic cleansing," with the PA health ministry saying Israeli forces killed 70 people in the territory this year.
It came a day after the Israel Defense Forces said that it has killed over 50 Paleostinian terror operatives in the northern West Bank since launching a major counterterrorism offensive nearly two weeks ago.
In a statement, front man Nabil Abu Rudeineh said the Paleostinian presidency "condemned the occupation authorities’ expansion of their comprehensive war on our Paleostinian people in the West Bank to implement their plans aimed at displacing citizens and ethnic cleansing."
Later, the Paleostinian health ministry in Ramallah said there had been "70 deaders in the West Bank since the beginning of this year," with 10 children, one woman and two elderly people among the dead.
The ministry told AFP that they were "killed by the Israeli occupation."
The figures showed 38 people killed in Jenin and 15 in Tubas in the north of the West Bank. One was killed in East Jerusalem, it said.
The IDF launched a major offensive, dubbed Operation Iron Wall, in the West Bank on January 21 aimed at rooting out Paleostinian terror groups from the Jenin area, which has long been a hotbed of terrorism.
On Sunday it said so far over 35 button men were killed by troops during operations in Jenin, Tulkarem, and the Tamun area, while another 15 were killed in dronezaps.
The IDF has acknowledged mistakenly killing several civilians during the operation, including a toddler.
More than 100 wanted Paleostinians have been detained, and troops have seized some 40 weapons and neutralized over 80 bombs during the operation, according to the IDF.
"We demand the intervention of the US administration before it is too late, to stop the ongoing Israeli aggression against our people and our land," Rudeineh told the Paleostinian official news agency WAFA in a statement coinciding with a visit by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington.
During his visit, on Monday, Netanyahu was expected to begin talks on the second phase of the truce with Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... 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... The next stage is expected to cover the release of the remaining hostages held by terror groups in Gaza, and include discussions on a more permanent end to the war, which was started by Hamas on October 7, 2023, when it led thousands of Death Eaters in an invasion of southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251.
Since October 7, 2023, troops have arrested some 6,000 wanted Paleostinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,350 affiliated with Hamas.
According to the Paleostinian Authority health ministry, more than 858 West Bank Paleostinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were button men killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops or Death Eaters carrying out attacks.
During the same period, 46 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another eight members of the security forces were killed in festivities with terror operatives in the West Bank.
Throughout the war in Gaza, the IDF has carried out more than 100 Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s in the West Bank, using drones, attack helicopters, and fighter jets.
[IsraelTimes] PA estimates $6.5 billion needed for short-term housing; Egyptian sources say heavy machinery to clear rubble set to enter this week
With fighting in the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip paused due to a hostage-ceasefire deal, the enclave’s residents are appealing for billions of dollars in emergency aid — from heavy machinery to clear rubble to tents and trailers to house people made homeless by 15 months of war between Israel and the Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... terror group.
One official from the West Bank-based Paleostinian Authority estimated immediate funding needs of $6.5 billion for temporary housing for Gaza’s population of more than two million, even before the huge task of long-term reconstruction begins.
US special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff estimated last week that rebuilding could take 10-15 years. But before that, Gazooks will have to live somewhere.
Hamas, the terror group that long served as the de facto government of the Strip and has moved quickly to reassert its control since the ceasefire went into effect last month, says Gaza has immediate needs for 200,000 tents and 60,000 trailers.
In addition, it says there is urgent need for heavy digging equipment to begin clearing millions of tons of rubble left by the war, both to clear ground for housing and to recover more than 10,000 bodies estimated to be buried there.
Two Egyptian sources said heavy machinery was waiting at the border crossing and was due to be sent into Gaza starting Tuesday.
World Food Programme official Antoine Renard said Gaza’s food imports had surged since the ceasefire began and were already at two or three times the previous monthly levels.
’DUAL USE’ GOODS FACE IMPEDIMENTS
But he said there were still impediments to importing medical and shelter equipment, which would be vital to sustain the population but which Israel considers to have potential "dual use" — civilian and military.
"This is a reminder to you that many of the items that are dual use need also to enter into Gaza like medical and also tents," he told bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:dotted;border-bottom-color:gray;' title='reporter'>news hounds in Geneva.
More than half a million people who fled northern Gaza have returned home, many with nothing more than what they could carry with them on foot. Many were confronted by an unrecognizable wasteland of rubble where their houses once stood.
"I came back to Gaza City to find my house in ruins, with no place else to stay, no tents, no caravans, and not even a place we can rent as most of the city was destroyed," said Gaza businessman Imad Turk, who said his house and wood factory in Gaza City were destroyed by Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s during the war.
"We don’t know when the reconstruction will begin, we don’t know if the truce will hold, we don’t want to be forgotten by the world," Turk told Rooters via a chat app.
Countries from Egypt and 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 Jordan, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... and China have expressed readiness to help, but Paleostinian officials blame Israel for delays.
There was no immediate response from the Israeli military to a request for comment.
#1
My response to GAZA.
You allowed a terrorist group to interlaced itself with your population, to launch this latest genocidal war.
It has been made clear, too many Gazans, were either outright supporters, or kept quiet and covered HAMAS' infiltration and ARMED build up into the area allowing HAMAS to stage its Oct. 7th massacre.
Then Gazans assisted or kept quiet regarding the hidden hostages, children even. Civilians, not military. That were being repeatedly beaten, raped, and some murdered outright. Yes even children.
So Gazans, don't look to the civilized world for help. Look to HAMAS and its financial funder, Iran, to fund any clean-up. Or better yet, migrate to Iran.
Pronouncements catching up to long-known reality… that CIA 2003 Nation Report thingy that lied to hobble President George W. Bush’s actions in the WoT and Israel’s thereafter, if I have the right label for it.
[IsraelTimes] Tehran has not chosen to break out toward nukes, but is secretly examining shortcuts to a weapon should it make that decision, The New York Times reports
New American intelligence indicates that a covert team of Iranian scientists is exploring ways to quickly develop a nuclear weapon if the country’s leadership decides to pursue one, The New York Times
...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... reports.
New intelligence? How very interesting. Is that new as in this week or new as in sometime after 2003? Who shared this information with the New York Times reporter, pray tell, and did he/she have permission from the new management to do so, or is this one of those leak thingies that’s going to lead to somebody or somebodies losing their clearance, their employment, and possibly their freedom? Oh, and has the unnamed source gone on any dates lately? James O’Keefe’s OMG and Project Veritas are only two of the many conservative New Media news orgs, undercover and otherwise, on the prowl for major scoops nowadays.
The report says the information points 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... seeking a shortcut to a bomb that would enable them to convert their uranium stocks into a weapon within months rather than years, if necessary, though a decision to race toward a bomb has not been made.
The paper says the intel was gathered in the final months of the Biden administration and shared with the new administration of Donald Trump ...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US... It notes that with Iran’s regional power weakened by the blows to its proxy forces in the region and its failure to significantly hit Israel with its missile barrages, Tehran is anxious to find new ways to deter a strike by Israel or the US.
Concerns have grown among Iran’s top decision-makers that US President Donald Trump might in his second term empower Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to strike Iran’s nuclear sites while further tightening US sanctions on its oil industry.
Last month, UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said Iran was "pressing the gas pedal" on its enrichment of uranium to near weapons grade.
Grossi said Iran had informed the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency that it would "dramatically" accelerate the enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, closer to the roughly 90% of weapons-grade.
Western powers called the step a serious escalation and said there was no civil justification for enriching to that level, and that no other country had done so without producing nuclear weapons. Iran, which frequently threatens to destroy Israel, has said its program is entirely peaceful and it has the right to enrich uranium to any level it wants.
Taqqiya.
However,
nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits... US intelligence agencies and the IAEA say Iran had an organized military nuclear program up until 2003, and continued to develop its nuclear program beyond civilian necessity. Israel contends that the Islamic Theocratic Republic never truly abandoned its nuclear weapons program.
Contend is precisely the wrong word here. Proved using Iran’s own warehouse archive of documents liberated almost a decade ago under Iran Revolutionary Guard noses starts to approach the level of Israeli documentation for the claim. This kind of thing makes the CIA look unwise, defensive, and spiteful. Ditto for the New York Times, but nobody expects anything else from them.
According to an ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency yardstick, about 42 kilograms (93 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60% is enough in principle, if enriched further, for one nuclear bomb. Grossi said Iran currently had about 200 kilograms of uranium enriched to up to 60%.
Tehran’s foreign minister told Al Jazeera TV last week that Iran will respond immediately and decisively if its nuclear sites are attacked, which would lead to an "all-out war in the region."
Israel and the US launching a military attack on Iranian nuclear facilities would be "one of the biggest historical mistakes the US could make," Abbas Araghchi said.
#1
Keep in mind IRAN already has the ability to, if it has not done so already, to build a radiological dispersal device, aka Dirty Bomb.
Eg. Pop a small hand carried computer bag, or even purse size dirty bomb dispersed from a roof of some tall building. Depending on the radioactive isotope power used and its 1/2 life, the area could become a mass uninhabitable site for generations. Because cleanup would be next to impossible.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] Having established himself in power, the head of the transitional government of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, made his first foreign visit. Saudi Arabia was chosen as the destination of the “debut trip”, which was supposed to emphasize the interest of the new authorities in maintaining close ties with the leading powers of the Arab world.
However, in practice, Damascus remains strongly oriented towards Turkey, and attempts to balance between the interests of Ankara and the leading Arab powers could cost the country's new authorities dearly in the long term.
"SANCTION" CONCESSIONS
The Syrian delegation was personally received in Riyadh by the Crown Prince (and de facto leader) of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman. He introduced the members of the Saudi cabinet to al-Sharaa and also met with the appointees that the Syrian leader had brought with him.
Official Riyadh does not talk much about the details of government meetings, limiting itself to catchy phrases about well-being, prosperity and good neighborliness. However, even from the photo reports accompanying the notes, it is noticeable that the new Syrian leader was treated with the attention of all key figures in the kingdom.
The Saudis are determined in their attitude towards Damascus: after the sharp rapprochement between Syria and Qatar (one of the kingdom’s political and economic opponents), Riyadh is looking for ways to strengthen its influence on the new Syrian authorities.
And one of the instruments, according to the Saudi authorities, should be mediation in the "peaceful reintegration" of Syria into the world economy. The Syrian authorities managed (not without the help of the Saudis) to obtain some concessions from the European Union.
Now the new Damascus expects that a similar approach will work in relation to the US. Although Washington allowed for the easing of restrictions in early 2025, it has not yet made a final decision. The mediation and intercession of Saudi Arabia should move the matter forward.
On the other hand, Riyadh is unlikely to push too hard on this issue when interacting with the Donald Trump administration. There is a high probability that the White House will consider it appropriate to put forward as a counter-condition the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. The kingdom is not ready for such a trade-off at the moment.
Just as it is not prepared to support the military ambitions of the new Syrian authorities with weapons in hand – at least until Damascus finds itself in the Saudis’ orbit of influence.
TURKISH INTEREST
The more active communication between the Syrian authorities and Arab countries and the decrease in the frequency of diplomatic contacts between Ankara and Damascus at first glance look like a spat. Especially in the context of the fact that the dates of al-Sharaa's major visit to Turkey have already been postponed several times. Representatives of the Arab intelligentsia, who are following the first steps of the new Syrian regime, are vying with each other to claim that it has made a very clear choice between the Arab and Turkic worlds.
However, in practice, Turkey is hardly worried about the postponed high-level visit: the Syrian transitional government is almost entirely made up of Turkish protégés or is not hostile towards official Ankara. It is not worth expecting that al-Sharaa will try to change the balance of power and thereby weaken his own position in the hierarchy.
Especially considering that one of the public promises of the new Syrian president was to ensure the territorial integrity of the country and fight against “dubious paramilitary forces,” and not everyone shares his sentiments.
For example, the Syrian Kurds (the self-proclaimed Rojava Autonomy) do not recognize the authority of the new government and demand significant concessions from it; they refuse to disarm and integrate into the renewed armed forces until they receive ironclad guarantees from Damascus that their previous rights and freedoms will be respected.
Considering that a significant portion of the politicians in al-Sharaa’s entourage are extremely militant towards the Kurds, the new authorities will clearly need proven allies in the fight against the “Kurdish freebooters.”
And Türkiye is quite capable of taking advantage of the situation by strengthening its military presence under the plausible pretext of helping Syrian government forces. Discussions on a deal (so far behind the scenes) between Ankara and Damascus are already underway.
IN THE ROLE OF A CATCH-UP
Turkish authorities ignored al-Sharaa's trip to Riyadh, dodging provocative questions from the press.
And there is nothing unexpected in this. Turkey's overly active tug-of-war of the "diplomatic blanket" is fraught with the assertion of Syria's foreign policy image as a Turkish satellite, rather than as an independent Middle Eastern player.
Ankara is not interested in this - it is much more profitable for them to get an independent and strong Arab ally that has weight in the Arab world and is capable of equally promoting both the pan-Arab and Turkic agendas.
The Turkish-Qatari military-political alliance was formed according to a similar scheme. After 2017, Doha was weakened by the economic and political blockade from its neighbors, and Ankara's support largely allowed Qatar not to lose influence in the Middle East.
"New Damascus" is trying to repeat this path and even conducts business with the Arab world relatively successfully. However, unlike Qatar, which remained an influential player even during the blockade, Syria is still more of a "catch-up" player and is forced to adapt to the Saudi and Turkish "general lines", constantly monitoring the balance of interests.
An excessive tilt to either side will automatically mean a decline in relations with the other partner, which, given the difficult situation in Syria itself, risks becoming a major problem in the long term.
Posted by: badanov ||
02/04/2025 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
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Top|| File under: Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (al-Nusra)
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.
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
..always the voice of sweet reason...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
...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 
