[Breitbart] “This is a perfect example of why sanctuary policies make Americans less safe,” McLaughlin said. “We are calling on Charlotte sanctuary politicians to commit to turning this child rapist over to ICE, so he can never walk American streets again. Sanctuary politicians must stop releasing pedophiles and rapists into our neighborhoods.”
Au-delà des défections observées entre le #JNIM et l’#EIGS, la zone de #Boni est désormais marquée par une nouvelle dynamique : des combattants du #JNIM qui déserte pour rejoindre les mercenaires Russe #Wagner. 1/10 https://t.co/jkij6TsTiQ
…French acronym GSIM, it’s the merger of Ansar Dine, al Mourabitoun, and Al Qaeda in the Sahara. In the early 2020s, JNIM was reported to be the fastest-growing militant organization in the world. As of 2025, it is considered the most heavily armed militant group in the Sahel and one of the most powerful globally...
and EIGS,
…Islamic State in the Greater Sahara…
the Boni area is now marked by a new dynamic: JNIM fighters who are deserting to join the Russian mercenaries
Much better for their souls and the world that they earn their pelf dying for the glory of Putin in Ukraine mud than losing them in the fight for a caliphate that never will be.
NEW: The UN’s Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan says new evidence from El-Fasher indicates that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out a coordinated campaign targeting non-Arab communities, including the Zaghawa and Fur.
The RSF, formerly known as the Janjaweed ar up to their old tricks again…
NEW: The UN’s Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan says new evidence from El-Fasher indicates that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out a coordinated campaign targeting non-Arab communities, including the Zaghawa
…nomadic Black rather than Arab Muslim herders of sheep, cattle, and camels in northeastern Chad and western Sudan, including Darfur…
and Fur.
…the ethnic group of Darfur in Western Sudan, they are primarily sedentary farmers with cattle rather than nomadic cattle herders, Black Muslims rather than Arabs…
The report states that documented killings, sexual violence, siege tactics and destruction may constitute acts of genocide under international law, alongside war crimes and crimes against humanity.
[IsraelTimes] The UK is refusing to grant permission to the US to use British bases to strike Iran, according to The Times.
US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal of support for the UK plans to give up sovereignty over the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean — which includes the key Diego Garcia airfield — stems from the British refusal, reports the UK paper.
According to the report, US plans included the use of Diego Garcia and the RAF Fairford base in England, both of which can only be used to strike if the UK government agrees. British PM Keir Starmer is concerned the Iran strike might violate international law.
Last night, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Diego Garcia might be needed were Iran not to agree to a deal, “in order to eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous regime — an attack that would potentially be made on the United Kingdom, as well as other friendly countries.”
“Prime Minister Starmer should not lose control, for any reason, of Diego Garcia,” Trump stressed.
#1
...SHORT VERSION: Fairford is out - not even DJT or Pete Hegseth are going to try and fly sorties out of the UK proper if they say no.
But DG is another matter entirely. We will fly and operate out of there and anybody who tries to scream about it will be told to sit down, shut up, and color.
[Breitbart] Conservative President of Paraguay Santiago Peña on Thursday confirmed his participation at President Donald Trump’s upcoming “Shield of the Americas” Summit.
“Paraguay will be present at this important meeting, which will strengthen cooperation and joint efforts in favor of the security and stability of our nations,” Peña wrote on social media alongside a copy of the invitation.
Peña is among the first heads of state that has publicly confirmed his participation at the Summit, which will be hosted at Trump National Doral Miami on March 7. Further details of the upcoming event have not been publicly disclosed at press time.
Earlier this month, Argentine government sources told local outlets that President Trump had invited Javier Milei and other U.S.-friendly Latin American heads of state for an unnamed March 7 Summit on Florida. According to the reports, President Trump invited Bolivia’s Rodrigo Paz, El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele, Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa, and Honduras’s Nasry Asfura in addition to Peña and Milei.
The Costa Rican outlet The Tico Times reported on Thursday that outgoing President Rodrigo Chaves and conservative President-elect Laura Fernández also plan to attend the March 7 Summit. Chaves explained to reporters on Wednesday that “Shield of the Americas” is a U.S.-led initiative to “to shield Latin America from dangers such as narcotrafficking and targeted killings.”
“President Donald Trump invited a small group of Latin American colleagues to meet with him in Florida, at one of his hotels,” Chaves said, and detailed that about 12 to 13 counties are expected to participate.
President Santiago Peña was among the heads of state and representatives that participated in Thursday’s first formal meeting of the Board of Peace. Peña was among the first presidents to formally accept President Trump’s invitation to the international group in January.
Speaking at the meeting, Peña thanked President trump for bringing hope again.
“I think that, of the many things you [Trump] have achieved in the last 12 months as President of the U.S. I think the greatest thing — and I talk, I’m probably the youngest head of state here — is hope, President,” Peña said. “We have lost hope about solving problems for many, many decades.”
“A system that was broken, a system that was not able to bring solutions now we’re seeing that thanks to your leadership we’re solving the issues,” he continued.
Peña also met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday on the sidelines of the Board of Peace encounter in which Rubio expressed his gratitude for Paraguay’s continued support in the fight against narco-terrorism and strengthening security in the hemisphere.
“The Secretary thanked President Peña for his leadership in our region and reaffirmed the strong bilateral partnership between the United States and Paraguay. The Secretary commended continued progress on reforms to improve Paraguay’s investment climate for U.S. investors,” the State Department said in a statement.
[Breitbart] The French political and media establishment are complicit in the violence of the far-left, National Rally president Jordan Bardella said in response to the alleged Antifa mob killing of a 23-year-old conservative university student in Lyon last week.
At least 11 people have been arrested so far in connection with the death of Quentin Déranque, who was seen being beaten on the ground by alleged far-left activists on the sidelines of a protest at the Sciences Po university in Lyon last Thursday. Déranque suffered catastrophic brain injuries as a result and died in hospital on Saturday.
Among those arrested are two parliamentary assistants to MP Raphaël Arnault, the founder of the Young Guard Antifa cell in Lyon
..I had been assuming, but it’s nice to have it confirmed…
and a member of the far-left La France Insoumise (LFI/France in Rebellion) party of Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Multiple suspects are said to have been members of the Antifa cell, despite the government supposedly banning the group last year. Arnault and his two (now former) parliamentary assistants were all reportedly known to police and on extremist watch lists for their roles with Antifa, according to Le Figaro.
While much of the attention has been focused on Mélenchon’s party and their alleged connections to the killing, National Rally leader Jordan Bardella said on Wednesday that the Paris establishment is also to blame, accusing the mainstream media and Macronist politicians of failing to reckon with the dangers posed by the far-left.
“This is the result of a climate of violence, meticulously established for years by a segment of the left whose verbal excesses and strategy of perpetual chaos are now fuelling physical violence in our streets,” the MEP said,
“If the far left killed this weekend, it’s primarily because it benefits from media complicity and a certificate of immunity granted by the political class,” he said.
Bardella specifically pointed to former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who, alongside President Macron, entered into a controversial electoral pact with the leftist New Popular Front (NPF), which included the LFI, during the 2024 elections as a cynical ploy to prevent the National Rally from taking control of parliament. Bardella noted that campaign leaflets for the NPF included the logo of the Young Guard Antifa cell implicated in the killing of Quentin.
“The Macron supporters who called for voting for LFI in the most recent legislative elections all bear heavy responsibility. In dozens of constituencies, they deliberately opened the doors of the National Assembly to the worst thugs of the far left,” he said.
#2
Macron suck a dick and die you communist. France is beyond fucked thanks to you and your ilk. What is left of the French need to violently rise up or you all are done.
[IsraelTimes] The European Union hit back at Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s attorney, Yoram Sheftel, after he called the bloc “hostile” and accused it of trying to oust Levin and topple the government during a High Court hearing today on petitions related to Levin’s conduct filed by the Zulat Institute, an Israeli NGO that receives EU funding.
During the hearing, Sheftel stated that “The European Union is hostile. Italy, France, and Spain imposed an embargo in order to prevent us from achieving victory in a war for our survival,” adding that the Zulat Institute received “hundreds of thousands of shekels” in funding over the past three years from the EU, which he claimed reflected efforts by the bloc to oust Levin, and that Brussels “is acting to topple an elected government from power.”
In response, an EU spokesperson states that Sheftel’s claims regarding the EU “are entirely false, offensive and unacceptable.”
“The EU has never and will never attempt to bring down a democratically elected government. We expect these comments to be withdrawn immediately,” the statement continues. “We are proud of our support for civil society organizations across the world and in the region, including those promoting the democratic values that lie at the core of the EU’s relationship with the State of Israel, such as freedom of speech and the freedom to protest,” concludes the spokesperson.
The Zulat Institute was founded by former Meretz leader Zehava Galon and focuses on issues related to governance, civil liberties, and minority rights through research, advocacy, and legal action. Today’s hearing concerned petitions requesting that the court order Levin to cooperate with Supreme Court President Isaac Amit in order to make much-needed judicial appointments and alleging that Levin’s reasons for not doing so are unwarranted and violate his public service obligations.
[JustTheNews] "Foreign principals should not dictate America’s immigration policy, and they should not encourage American citizens or guests of this country to obstruct law enforcement," Sen. Jim Banks said
Indiana GOP Sen. Jim Banks sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday, urging her to investigate foreign funding behind anti-ICE protests.
“I urge you to investigate foreign influence behind anti-ICE activism. Progressive groups across the country are organizing protests, economic boycotts, and school walkouts to oppose immigration enforcement,” Banks wrote. “In many cases, they are inciting the obstruction of federal law.”
"A national and coordinated anti-ICE network has activated in response to immigration enforcement by ICE and Border Patrol," he later added.
"In trainings, some anti-ICE groups encourage protestors to interfere with enforcement, to 'strike' law enforcement officers, and to forcefully remove arrestees from custody—tactics that, as organizers sometimes acknowledge, move beyond lawful protest. Obstructing federal law enforcement is a crime, as is harboring aliens known to be in the country illegally."
Banks noted instances where protesters assaulted federal officers, blocked and rammed vehicles, and stormed churches, arguing that the government “must identify who is behind this chaos before it tears the country apart.”
In the letter, Banks said, "Just last week, the State Department identified a network of progressive groups run by Neville Singham as a source of Chinese influence," adding that "Singham Network groups have led anti-ICE boycotts and school walkouts across the country, and have encouraged immigrant groups to protest ICE."
Also, "ICE resistance trainings with the stated purpose of 'interfering' with federal law enforcement have been sponsored in multiple cities by groups funded by Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss," Banks said.
"Foreign principals should not dictate America’s immigration policy, and they should not encourage American citizens or guests of this country to obstruct law enforcement. At a minimum, we should know who is funding anti-ICE activism, what influence those funders are wielding, and whether they are acting as agents of our adversaries," he added.
[PJMedia] Chelsea Manning ...formerly Bradley Manning before he decided to become a girl. He, or she or whatever it was, was a misfit Army intel analyst who decided to leak all the secrets he could lay hands on. Sentenced to 35 years in Leavenworth, he was sprung on an Obamapardon in 2017.... served as an Army intelligence analyst, arriving at a forward operating base east of Baghdad in October 2009. His high clearance gave him access to thousands of classified reports on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which made him grow bitter at what he saw.
Manning chose to break his oath and betray his fellow soldiers. On Jan. 10, 2010, he began copying files, burning the data on a CD labeled "Lady Gaga," and smuggling it out during leave.
Once home, he tried to hand the material to major newspapers, but when they showed no interest, he contacted WikiLeaks in February.
On Feb. 18, 2010, Manning sent WikiLeaks a diplomatic cable called "Reykjavik 13." Within hours, WikiLeaks posted the file, a small act that opened the floodgates. Weeks later, the Collateral Murder video arrived, followed by the Afghan and Iraq war logs.
Cablegate dumped over hundreds of thousands of diplomatic messages, with Manning handing over sensitive details on tactics, sources, and operations.
Those massive releases triggered real fury in Washington. Officials called the leaks a grave threat to national security. They warned that enemies now held a roadmap to American operations and that lives were in danger.
Diplomats rushed to repair broken trust with allies who read harsh private opinions about their leaders and policies. Some foreign governments turned cold and cut back on sharing intelligence. Troops and local informants faced sudden danger from the exposure of names and methods.
Informants who helped U.S. forces received death threats. Several went into hiding or relocated to safer areas. Soldiers on the ground reported higher risks because the enemy learned tactics and vulnerabilities straight from the files. Manning handed that information to WikiLeaks without a thought for the American lives or allied partners he put in jeopardy.
Manning started bragging about the downloads to hacker Adrian Lamo in May 2010. Lamo alerted the authorities, resulting in Manning's arrest.
In 2013, he was court-martialed, convicted of most charges, and sentenced to 35 years. Security officials said the punishment matched the scale of his betrayal.
Sixteen years later, the damage from Manning's betrayal still hits hard; the leaks handed enemies a roadmap to American tactics and operations. Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... fighters combed through the files and targeted locals who helped U.S. forces, putting informants in sudden danger. Many received death threats and had to move.
Diplomats scrambled as allies read the hard private assessments of their leaders, but foreign officials grew far more cautious about sharing secrets with American contacts. The leaks slowed intelligence, taking years to rebuild.
In testimony at Manning’s hearing on Monday, Patrick Kennedy, the State Department’s under secretary of management, said that in 2011 the department had conducted a draft assessment of the damage Manning caused, but never finalized the report. Kennedy also said a department-wide assessment was never done and that there was no indication there would be because, he said, "the damage continues to roll on."
The main impact of the leaks, he said, has been a "chilling effect" on foreign officials’ willingness to talk as freely with U.S. diplomats as they had before, according to a transcript of the testimony provided by the Press Freedom Foundation.
The leaks forced government agencies to pour massive resources into insider threat programs. The military and intelligence began monitoring their own personnel with more advanced tools. Low-level analysts now face constant scrutiny because one traitor showed how easy it was to steal and dump huge troves of data.
When the judge, Col. Denise Lind, asked for more details on how widespread the effect was, Kennedy said there were a "relatively small number of people actually expressing it," but added that these "feelings" began around 2010 and persist today.
It is "impossible to know what someone is not sharing with you, and that is, in itself, I believe, a risk to national security," he added.
That chilling effect still lingers across the entire system.
The initial official response was that the release of State Department cables — internal communications between officials with candid assessments of international situations and even individual leaders’ personalities — would be so debilitating to foreign relations that repair would take decades.
In reality, the cables were more embarrassing than destructive. A political uproar met the news that the U.S. and its purported ally Pakistain were working at cross-purposes: American forces were trying to fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda, while Pakistain was trying to offer them protection and even weapons. But overall, it didn’t significantly increase the existing tensions in American-Pak relations. Other foreign officials may have become more wary of sharing information with Americans, but over time, new people enter key posts, the leak is forgotten, and business continues as it has always done.
In January 2017, former President Barack Obama I inhaled. That was the point... highlighted his terrible judgment by commuting most of Manning's 35-year sentence. Obama allowed the convicted traitor to walk free after only seven years behind bars.
His weak decision told every future leaker they might get a break if the political winds were correctly aligned. Barry put his own legacy ahead of keeping the nation safe.
Today, Manning lives in Brooklyn, working as a speaker and security consultant, cashing in on his treason with paid gigs where he lectures on privacy and AI ethics. The man defied federal courts by refusing to testify and was sent back to prison.
Manning shows zero remorse while continuing to push radical causes, while American troops and taxpayers bear the long-term costs in lost lives, strained alliances, and higher risks.
A single disloyal soldier with a CD cracked open vaults and walked away with a slap on the wrist.
Sixteen years on, his actions are still kneecapping the nation he swore to defend.
#1
Who would hire this POS?
OR, did "it" get the usual Liberal Socialist Democrat $$mega Book deal for screwing over the USA?
Side Question.
If deaths can be shown to have occurred because of ITS treasonous acts. Can it be charged for those despite Obama pardoning a fellow LGBT?
And now they expect the Israelis and Zios to be grateful for being accepted as just as human as everyone else instead of innately evil — after the group accepted it as a legitimate concern.
[IsraelTimes] Irish, Spanish and Greek affiliates of International Federation of Social Workers had demanded Israeli social workers abstain from mandatory military service to remain
An international federation of social workers has voted not to expel the Israeli Union of Social Workers following weeks of debate and opposition from Jewish groups over their potential ban.
"After careful deliberation, IFSW members voted against this motion," the National Association of Social Workers, the US affiliate of the International Federation of Social Workers, said in a statement.
The vote to suspend or expel the Israeli union on Wednesday would have required 75% of the union’s 67 voting member nations to vote for the measures. Out of 50 member unions that voted on Wednesday, 16 were in favor and 34 against expelling the Israeli union, while 27 voted in favor and 23 voted against suspending it.
The vote stemmed from a complaint issued by the Irish, Spanish and Greek affiliates of the federation, who accused the Israeli union of failing to seek an exemption from mandatory military service for its members.
The chair of the Israel Union of Social Workers, Inbal Hermoni, welcomed the outcome of the vote in a statement shared with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
"We succeeded in conveying that the Israel Union of Social Workers is committed to peace and dialogue as a means of resolution, and that it reflects the political complexity and polarization of Israeli society in which it operates," said Hermoni. "We welcome the confidence placed in us to continue being part of the global social work community, and we hope for a just peace for all residents of the region."
Wednesday’s decision marked the end of weeks of internal debate within the federation, during which the proposed expulsion drew mounting scrutiny from the Israeli union and Jewish groups who warned that the measure would single out Israeli and Jewish professionals for discriminatory treatment.
On Tuesday, 12 prominent Jewish organizations, including Hadassah, the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Federations of North America sent a letter to the American and Canadian members of the international federation calling on them to voice their opposition.
#1
Sweartogod, at first glance I thought they were talking about Socialist Workers of the World, and I was amazed they had an international organization that met somewhere.
[IsraelTimes] A United Nations report finds that the killing last June of 12 Palestinian staff associated with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation by armed men, including possible summary executions, may amount to war crimes by Hamas.
Hamas has declined to comment on the shootings.
The report raises concerns about the use of civilians as human shields to prevent Israeli attacks, something Israel has long accused Hamas of doing and that the terror group has denied, and outlined unnecessary or disproportionate use of force by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.
The holding of and mistreatment of hostages taken in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack may amount to war crimes and potentially other atrocity crimes, the report says. It cites allegations of torture, beating and deprivation of food.
“There must also be accountability for serious violations of international law, including possible international crimes, by Hamas and its armed wing, Al Qassam Brigades as well as other Palestinian armed groups,” the report says of the terror group.
The same UN report says Israel’s actions “raise concerns over ethnic cleansing” in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The report says the GHF, the controversial Israeli- and US-backed system for aid distribution that operated last year, “failed utterly” to deliver humanitarian aid at the scale required, violating Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law.
Kazakhstan and four other countries have promised to send troops to Gaza Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Morocco, Albania, and the self-proclaimed Kosovo have pledged to send troops to the Gaza Strip to participate in the International Security Force (ISF). This was announced on February 19 by ISF Commander, US Army Major General Jasper Jeffers, during the first meeting of the Peace Council.
"The first five countries to send troops to serve in the International Security Force are Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, and Albania. Two countries—Egypt and Jordan—have committed to training police," he said.
A total of 12,000 police officers and 20,000 military personnel are planned. Israel will also deploy security forces in the southern part of the Palestinian enclave. They are expected to gradually expand the number of sectors they control, Jeffers said.
The event was broadcast on the White House YouTube channel.
[IsraelTimes] Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Albania agree to contribute to Gaza security force; Top official: Project hinges on disarmament of Hamas, which will soon be presented with proposal
US President Donald Trump ...They hit him with slander, they impeached him twice. Nancy Pelosi tore up his State of the Union address on national TV. They stole an election and put his adherents in jail. They vilified him. They couldn't crucify him, so they shot him. Still, they can't keep him down... on Thursday announced pledges of some $17 billion for emergency relief and the reconstruction 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... , at the inaugural meeting in Washington of his Board of Peace.
The number was larger than previewed, with Trump revealing during the event’s opening remarks that $10 billion would come from the US alone and that Middle Eastern countries and others would tack on an additional $7 billion.
Large sums have been pledged by countries to rebuild the Gaza Strip after previous wars, though, and much of it was never actually delivered.
Regardless, the pledges provided the Trump administration with a much-needed boost to its efforts advancing the second phase of its 20-point Gaza peace plan, which envisions replacing Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... with a transitional technocratic government overseen by the Board of Peace and effectively rebuilding the entire Strip after a US-brokered ceasefire in October ended two years of devastating war.
In addition to the financial pledges, Trump revealed that five countries — Indonesia, Morocco, Albania, Kosovo and Kazakhstan — agreed to contribute thousands of personnel to the International Stabilization Force, which is supposed to gradually replace Israeli troops in Gaza.
Israel, however, has declared it will not further withdraw from Gaza until Hamas is disarmed, and has even indicated that might still not be enough for it to pull soldiers out of the Strip.
Trump reiterated in his lengthy opening remarks that Hamas will "be harshly met" if the terrorist group does not agree to give up its weapons.
Speaking shortly after the US president, the Board of Peace’s High Representative for Gaza Nickolay Mladenov said the mediating countries — the US, Egypt, Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund... — have agreed on a framework for the decommissioning of weapons, which would soon be presented to the armed Gaza-based factions for negotiation.
Given that the countries that expressed willingness to contribute to the ISF have conditioned their participation on limiting the force’s tasks to more modest tasks such as patrolling the border and securing humanitarian aid, a no less important body to Trump’s plan will be the yet-to-be-established Paleostinian police.
Shortly before Thursday’s event, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) — tasked with replacing Hamas in governing the Strip — published a job posting on its website for Paleostinians interested in serving on the Gaza police force.
Mladenov said that thousands of people applied within hours, and NCAG Chief Commissioner Ali Shaath said in his remarks at the event that the goal was to deploy 5,000 police within 60 days. Those officers will be trained in Egypt and Jordan after being vetted by Israel, and the force will eventually grow to 12,000.
"We will help Gaza. We will straighten it out. We’ll make it successful," Trump said, holding up a document with pledges before the disco beats of his adopted theme song "YMCA" came on the speakers at the end of the event.
The base is meant for the International Stabilization Force, the multinational force intended to oversee Gaza’s postwar development under US President Donald Trump’s plan for the Strip.
Plans for the base were detailed in contracting records of the Board of Peace, the British publication reports. The Board of Peace, chaired by Trump and meant to supervise the development of postwar Gaza, is about to hold its first meeting in Washington, DC.
The base is eventually to include a shooting range, bunkers and a warehouse for military equipment. It will be surrounded by barbed wire and 26 guard towers, the Guardian reports.
It will be located in a flat area of southern Gaza.
The construction process is said to include a search for tunnels and includes a protocol if bodies are found in the area.
In November, the White House flatly denied a report that the US was planning to establish a large military base in Israel near the Gaza border for use by international forces that would operate inside the Strip to maintain the ceasefire there.
[IsraelTime] Germany’s military has “temporarily” moved some troops out of Erbil in northern Iraq because of “escalating tensions in the Middle East,” a German Defense Ministry spokesman tells AFP.
Dozens of German soldiers have been relocated away from the base in Erbil, capital of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region.
“Only the personnel necessary to maintain the operational capability of the camp in Erbil remain on site,” the spokesman says.
The spokesman does not specify the source of the tensions. But US President Donald Trump has ordered a major buildup of US warships, aircraft and other weaponry in the region and threatened action against Iran.
German troops are deployed to Erbil as part of an international mission to train local Iraqi forces.
The spokesman says the German redeployment away from Erbil was “closely coordinated with our multinational partners.”
[IsraelTimes] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells an IDF graduation ceremony for officer cadets that Israeli security policy now eschews the notion of “containing” threats, indicating, instead, that Israel now actively confronts threats beyond its borders.
“If you don’t come to the jungle, the jungle comes to you,” he also notes.
The two sets of comments signal that Israel under Netanyahu has shifted to a more aggressive orientation in the wake of the Hamas-led invasion and massacre on October 7, 2023.
“There is no more containment of threats. There is no more Mabam,” the prime minister says, using the Hebrew acronym for the “campaign between wars.”
The “Mabam” military concept guided IDF operations, notably in Syria and Lebanon, for the decade before October 7, 2023. Netanyahu was in office for all but 18 months of that period.
In 2013, Israel understood that the civil war in Syria offered an opportunity. The fraying Syrian army meant that Israel enjoyed unprecedented freedom of action in the country to fight against Iranian entrenchment and Hezbollah’s military buildup, without committing ground troops and entering deeper conflict. The IDF effort that emerged from that understanding was called Mabam.
Netanyahu also says that there is no more concept of the “villa in the jungle, in which you hide from the predators over the walls. If you don’t come to the jungle, the jungle comes to you.”
The “villa in the jungle” phrase is said to have originated with Ehud Barak, who gave a 1996 speech as foreign minister to Jewish communal leaders in St. Louis, saying, “The dreams and aspirations of many in the Arab world have not changed. We still live in a modern and prosperous villa in the middle of the jungle, a place where different laws prevail. No hope for those who cannot defend themselves and no mercy for the weak.”
[IsraelTimes] Terror group seeks to be part of postwar government and police, IDF tells PM; inside source says US-backed technocrat panel ‘may have key to the car, but it’s a Hamas car’
Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... is cementing its hold over 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... by placing loyalists in key government roles, collecting taxes and paying salaries, according to an Israeli military assessment seen by Rooters and sources in the Paleostinian enclave.
Hamas’s continuing influence over key Gaza power structures has fueled widespread skepticism about the prospects of US President Donald Trump ...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party... ’s peace plan, which requires the terror group to give up its weapons in exchange for an Israeli military withdrawal from the territory.
Trump’s international Board of Peace, which is meant to supervise Gaza’s transitional governance, is holding its inaugural meeting in Washington on Thursday.
"Hamas is advancing steps on the ground meant to preserve its influence and grip in the Gaza Strip ’from the bottom up’ by means of integrating its supporters in government offices, security apparatuses and local authorities," the military said in a document presented to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in late January.
Hamas says it is ready to hand over administration of the enclave to a US-backed committee of Paleostinian technocrats headed by Ali Shaath, a former Paleostinian Authority official in the West Bank. But it says Israel has not yet allowed committee members to enter Gaza to assume their responsibilities.
Netanyahu did not respond to Rooters’ questions about Hamas’s control over Gaza. An Israeli government official, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered... , dismissed any notion of a future role for the group as "twisted fantasy," saying, "Hamas is finished as a governing authority in the Gaza Strip."
The Israeli military declined to comment on Hamas’s assertions.
Israeli military officials say Hamas, which refuses to disarm, has been taking advantage of an October ceasefire to reassert control in areas vacated by Israeli troops. Israel still holds over half of Gaza, but nearly all its 2 million people are in Hamas-held areas.
Rooters could not determine the full scope of Hamas’s appointments and attempts to replenish its coffers.
NEW GOVERNORS
Hamas has named five district governors, all of them with links to its armed al-Qassam Brigades, according to two Paleostinian sources with direct knowledge of its operations. It has also replaced bigwigs in Gaza’s economy and interior ministries, which manage taxation and security, the sources said.
And a new deputy health minister was shown touring Gaza hospitals in a ministry video released this month.
"Shaath may have the key to the car, and he may even be allowed to drive, but it is a Hamas car," one of the sources told Rooters.
Israel’s military appears to have reached a similar conclusion.
"Looking ahead, without Hamas disarmament and under the auspices of the technocrat committee, Hamas will succeed, in our view, to preserve influence and control in the Gaza Strip," it said in its assessment, which was first reported by Channel 13 news.
Ismail al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas-controlled government’s media office, denied these were new appointments, saying temporary replacements had been found for posts left vacant during the war to "prevent any administrative vacuum" and ensure residents receive vital services while negotiations continue over next steps in the grinding of the peace processor.
The US State Department and Shaath’s National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A source close to the 15-member NCAG said it was aware of Hamas’s actions and was not happy about them.
Hamas is looking to incorporate 10,000 of its coppers in the new force, Rooters reported in January. They include hundreds of members of its powerful internal security service, which has merged with the police, two sources in Gaza said.
Hamas did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this assertion.
Asked whether Israel would raise concerns about Hamas’s entrenchment in Gaza at Thursday’s meeting, Netanyahu’s office did not comment.
Israel has said repeatedly it opposes any role for Hamas in Gaza after it attacked southern Israel in October 2023, killing more than 1,200 people. Israel’s air and ground assault on the enclave has killed more than 72,000 people, according to the Hamas-run Paleostinian health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
One of the stated goals of Israel’s campaign was "dismantling Hamas governing capabilities" in Gaza.
The terror group seized control of the territory in a brief civil war with its political rival, Fatah, in 2007. Since then, appointments to government ministries and municipal offices there have been decided by Hamas’s political wing. It also set up its own civil service, which employs tens of thousands of people.
At least 14 of Gaza’s 17 ministries are now operating, compared with five at the height of the war, according to the Israeli military document. At least 13 of its 25 municipalities have also resumed operations, it says.
Hamas’s Thawabta said "this relative recovery" was not a product of "political considerations."
"The organizational measures taken during the past period were necessary to prevent the collapse of the service system and do not conflict with any future arrangements agreed upon," he said in a statement to Rooters.
According to the two sources, Hamas appointed the five governors, along with four mayors, to replace people killed or dismissed during the war. The selection of people with ties to its armed wing for the governors’ roles was to crack down on armed gangs, they said, adding some had received weapons and financing from Israel.
Netanyahu acknowledged Israeli backing for anti-Hamas clans in June, though Israel has provided few details.
TAXES ON SMUGGLED ITEMS
Since a violent mostly peaceful campaign against its domestic opponents in the first weeks of the truce, Hamas has focused on maintaining public order and collecting taxes in its side of the Yellow Line that demarcates Israeli- and Hamas-controlled areas, according to Israeli military officials and Gaza sources.
"There is no opposition to Hamas within the Yellow Line now, and it is taking over all economic aspects of daily life," an Israeli military official told Rooters.
Mustafa Ibrahim, a political commentator in Gaza, said looting and robbery had stopped.
"Hamas is trying to organize markets and streets through the traffic police," Ibrahim said. "Police stations have reopened... The tax department and economy ministry are working and collecting."
Hamas collects taxes mainly from the private sector, the military document says. They include fees levied on Gaza merchants bringing in smuggled goods, such as cigarettes, batteries, solar panels, and mobile phones, according to three other sources, including a merchant.
Hamas has earned hundreds of millions of shekels by taxing smuggled cigarettes since the war began, according to an Israeli indictment filed this month against a suspected smuggling ring, which included Israeli reservists serving in Gaza.
Hamas has also continued to pay salaries to public servants and fighters, which average around NIS 1,500 (around $500) a month, according to at least four Hamas sources.
"Every moment of delay in allowing the technocratic committee to enter the Gaza Strip leads to the imposition of a de facto reality," said Reham Owda, a Paleostinian political analyst, "increasing the administrative and security control of the Hamas government in Gaza."
[IsraelTimes] Discussions on Gaza’s future must begin with a total halt to Israeli “aggression,” the Hamas terror group says, after US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace met yesterday for the first time.
“Any political process or any arrangement under discussion concerning the Gaza Strip and the future of our Palestinian people must start with the total halt of aggression, the lifting of the blockade, and the guarantee of our people’s legitimate national rights, first and foremost their right to freedom and self-determination,” Hamas says in a statement.
Israel currently controls just over half of the Gaza Strip, in accordance with a US-brokered ceasefire deal. Since the truce went into effect, Israel has accused Hamas of frequently violating it, and terror operatives have killed four Israeli soldiers. Israel has responded with airstrikes, targeting Hamas sites and operatives, which have killed hundreds.
[IsraelTimes] Thousands of West Bank Palestinians have crossed Israeli checkpoints into Jerusalem this morning for Friday Ramadan prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on the Temple Mount.
Israel said that it would cap the number of Palestinian worshipers from the West Bank attending the weekly prayers at 10,000.
Like last year, only males aged 55 and up, women 50 and up, and children 12 and below when accompanied by a first-degree relative will be permitted to attend prayers at Al‑Aqsa. The restrictions apply only to the 10,000 Palestinians traveling from the West Bank, and not to Muslim Arab Israelis.
COGAT chief Maj. Gen. Yoram Halevy, Civil Administration head Brig. Gen. Hisham Ibrahim, Jerusalem District police chief Deputy Commissioner Avshalom Peled, and Border Police chief Deputy Commissioner Brik Yitzhak are holding an assessment at the Qalandiya checkpoint, where some 2,000 Palestinians have crossed this morning, according to Israeli authorities.
#1
In the eastern Ga. area this week. We are seeing an unusual number of C5/C17 flying at night. An, some are flying low enough to rattle windows.
Side Note:
Given the number of Muslim communities that have popped up in this area over the last 20 years, I am sure it is well passed along info for the other side also.
#4
Super Hose if you really want to screw Iran and send the population into starvation, there are only two oil/gas terminal ports. One just inside the gulf and the other new one in the Gulf of Aden. All oil is exported through these and refined gasoline imported through them.
If they go, Iran stops and starves.
#7
The issue is the Revolutionary Guard can launch attacks against tanker traffic like the Houthi unless you take all the ports. If you attack, you have to do regime change or Hormuz will be shut down. I’ve had my fill of regime change but I don’t see any way around it.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/20/2026 12:54 Comments ||
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#8
I suspect President is up against a hard deadline from Israel. Fix it now or the IDF will likely take out Tehran in a nuclear fireball.
#9
I don’t think that’s the hold-up. I suspect that Israel has the only assets internal to Iran that are action oriented. I think the explosions that are currently happening at bases etc are coordinated Israeli actions.
Nobody will be nuking anyone. The Iranian people don’t need to be nuked. They’re hostages. There just needs to be enough US assets in place to keep things from spilling into Ormuz when the decapitation strikes hit.
Praying Mantis was very effective but it was also limited and intended to be proportional. Regime change was not the goal of that operation.
My expectation is that the regime will book it soon, but they won’t be taking the low level Revolutionary Guard folks along. Those troops will be well armed deadenders. Their bosses will be in Russia or China or some other place. The Iranian people have no guns.
Once the regime started hosing down their citizens with crew served weapons our hands got tied. It’s either regime change or we watch a reboot of the Killing Fields of Cambodia. I can’t see Trump letting that happen.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/20/2026 14:50 Comments ||
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#10
Occupy Chabahar!
/Irish Rage Boy
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/20/2026 18:27 Comments ||
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#11
LOL
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/20/2026 23:51 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...formerly Bradley Manning before he decided to become a girl. He, or she or whatever it was, was a misfit Army intel analyst who decided to leak all the secrets he could lay hands on. Sentenced to 35 years in Leavenworth, he was sprung on an Obamapardon in 2017....
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
