[IsraelTimes] No one has taken responsibility for project, but craft, trucks spotted nearby belong to companies from UAE, which opposes the rebels
A new airstrip is being built on a volcanic island in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... , satellite images show, likely the latest project by forces allied to those opposed to the country’s Iranian-backed Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... rebels.
The airstrip on Zuqar Island provides yet another link in a network of offshore bases in a region key to international shipping, where the Houthis have already attacked over 100 ships, sunk four vessels and killed at least nine mariners during the Israel-Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... war.
It could give a military force the ability to conduct aerial surveillance over the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the strategic, narrow, Bab el-Mandeb Strait connecting the two waterways off East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
Still, it remains unclear what would trigger the airstrip to be used for a military campaign. The United Arab Emirates, which has built other runways in the region, did not respond to requests for comment. Nor did Yemen’s anti-Houthi forces, divided by warring interests and unable to launch a coordinated assault against the rebels even after intense American and Israeli bombing campaigns that targeted them.
In recent months, the anti-Houthi forces have been able to interdict more cargo bound for the Houthis, something that having a presence on Zuqar could aid.
"The possibility of a new Yemeni offensive against the Houthis, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, can’t be ruled out, although I don’t see it as approaching," said Eleonora Ardemagni, an analyst at the Italian Institute for International Political Studies who has long studied Yemen.
"There’s a more important point in my view regarding the build-up in Zuqar: the countering of Houthis’ smuggling activities, with particular regard to weapons," she said.
A RUNWAY ON A STRATEGIC ISLAND
Satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named show the construction of a nearly 2,000-meter (6,560-foot) runway on Zuqar Island, which is some 90 kilometers (55 miles) southeast of the Houthi-held port city of Hodeida, a key shipping hub.
The images show work began in April to build out a dock on the island, then land clearing along the site of the runway. By late August, what appears to be asphalt was being laid across the runway. Images from October show the work continuing, with runway markings painted on in the middle of the month.
No one has claimed the construction. However,
a lie repeated often enough remains a lie... ship-tracking data analyzed by the AP show the Batsa, a Togolese-flagged bulk carrier registered to a Dubai-based maritime firm, spent nearly a week alongside the new dock at Zuqar Island after coming from Berbera in Somaliland ...Republic of Somaliland is an unrecognised sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, recognised internationally as a de jure part of Somalia. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden with approximately 5.7 million residents as of 2021. The capital and largest city is Hargeisa. The government regards itself as the successor state to British Somaliland, which united from 1960 to 1991 with the Trust Territory of Somaliland (the former Italian Somaliland) to form the Somali Republic. Under the Siad Barre regime, Somaliadestroyed ninety percent of Hargeisa Per international law, once you're in, you gotta stay in, no matter how bad it smells.... , the site of a DP World port. DP World declined to comment.
A Dubai-based maritime company, Saif Shipping and Marine Services, acknowledged receiving an order to deliver the asphalt likely used in the airstrip’s construction to the island on behalf of other UAE-based firms. Other Emirates-based maritime firms have been associated with other airstrip construction projects in Yemen that were later tied back to the UAE.
The UAE is believed to be behind multiple runway projects in recent years in Yemen. In Mocha on the Red Sea, a project to extend that city’s airport now allows it to land far larger aircraft. Local officials attributed that project to the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms, including Abu Dhabi and Dubai. There is also now a runway in nearby Dhubab.
Another runway is on Abd al-Kuri Island, in the Indian Ocean near the mouth of the Gulf of Aden. And in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait itself, another runway built by the UAE is on Mayun Island. An anti-Houthi secessionist force in Yemen known as the Southern Transitional Council, which has long been backed by the UAE, controls the island and has acknowledged the UAE’s role in building the airport.
TARGETING OF HOUTHI SHIPMENTS
Zuqar Island is a strategic location in the Red Sea. Eritrea ...is run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), with about the amounts of democracy and justice you'd expect from a party with that name. National elections have been periodically scheduled and cancelled; none have ever been held in the country. The president, Isaias Afewerki, has been in office since independence in 1993 and will probably die there of old age... captured the island in 1995 after battling Yemeni forces. An international court in 1998 placed the island formally into Yemen’s custody.
The island again found itself engulfed by war after the Houthis seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014 and began a march south, when the rebels took Zuqar.
Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... and the UAE entered the war in 2015 on behalf of the country’s exiled government, stopping the Houthi advance. They also beat back the Houthis from Zuqar, retaking the island, which has become a staging ground for naval forces loyal to Tariq Saleh, a nephew of Yemen’s late strongman leader former President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it. He was eventually tossed from office and the Hadi goverment installed. When the Houthis rebeled he and his multiple son thought he could claw back to power. Then he saw the way the land actually lay and struck out on his own, briefly, until the Houthis caught him at a checkpoint and murdered him. It was all very sad.... The younger Saleh, once allied to the Houthis before his uncle switched sides and the rebels killed him, has been backed by the UAE.
Since then, the front lines of the war have been static for years.
What changed was the Houthis’ taking their campaign globally with attacks on ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. That continued even after a weekslong campaign of intense Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s known as Operation Rough Rider launched by the United States and continued strikes by Israel, which appear to be getting closer to the Houthis’ top leadership despite the rebels’ penchant for secrecy.
"The Houthis, like any hard boy group, win by not losing," wrote Gregory D. Johnsen, a Yemen expert, in June. "It is how the group has survived and grown from each of its wars."
While a loose confederation of anti-Houthi groups exists, it remains fragmented and has not launched any attacks during the US airstrikes. But the growing network of air bases around Yemen comes as anti-Houthi forces have made several significant seizures of weapons, likely bound for the rebels — including one large haul that was praised by the US military’s Central Command.
"A likely Emirati airstrip in Zuqar could serve to improve surveillance and monitoring off the Hodeida coast to better support Yemeni forces in tackling smuggling," Ardemagni said.
#2
As I recall, the Ay-Peee took offense at the selective (fair) use of their reporting, so to avoid them sieving sites to find their nym, it was changed to that
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/22/2025 18:06 Comments ||
Top||
#3
IIRC, a few years back there was a a 'copyright troll' that was suing webpages for 'unauthorized use of intellectual property'. AP, among others, were also quick to steal use other people's work without attribution while threatening lawsuits if the reverse happened. The avoidance of mentioning the news service that must not be named is preemptive defense ...as well as sarcasm.
#4
Remember that tool who showed up in the pages a few weeks back, said he and his family firmly reject doing anything Japanese culture but wanted the community to recognize his muslim flair?
Follow up to the self-righteous table flipping we learnt about on Sunday.
[CollegeFix] KEY TAKEAWAYS
Derek Lopez, an Illinois State University graduate student and teaching assistant, was fired after flipping over a Turning Point USA table while justifying his actions by referencing Jesus.
The incident, captured on video, occurred as TPUSA promoted an event for political commentator Alex Stein.
Lopez faces charges of disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property, with the police indicating potential for additional charges as the case progresses.
WOW! As soon as the courts allow President Trump to send federal troops to Portland Oregon, the Antifa encampment outside of the ICE facility is suddenly being CLEANED UP.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Kamran Gasanov
[REGNUM] Turkey is outraged by the strengthening of the alliance between Israel, Greece, and Cyprus. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated that Israel's arms sales to Greece "destroy the balance of power" and threaten the stability of the Eastern Mediterranean. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear… Oh well.
Ankara is also outraged by Greece and Cyprus's blocking of its participation in the European Union's SAFE program for joint procurement and investment in defense projects.
At the rate he is going, a stroke is in President Erdogan’s future. It could not possibly be more deserved.
In addition to the Israeli threat, Erdogan risks losing influence in loyal Northern Cyprus.
FORMATION OF AN ANTI-TURKISH COALITION IN THE MEDITERRANEAN
In 2019–2020, a strong coalition against Turkey emerged in the Mediterranean region. Countries dissatisfied with Ankara's claims to gas fields around Cyprus formed an alliance, which included Cyprus itself, friendly Greece, and Israel. The alliance planned to export gas to Europe, bypassing Turkey via the EastMed pipeline, irritating Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
He made it clear that gas from the Mediterranean to the Old World could only be transported through Turkey.
Why?
Erdogan wanted to transform his country into a global gas hub, integrating supply chains from Russia (Turkish Stream), Azerbaijan (TANAP-TAP), and the Middle East.
Despite all his swanning around, he is still not the first neo-Ottoman sultan, with all the power and influence that state contains.
Egypt, the UAE, France, and, to some extent, the United States then joined the coalition of dissatisfied parties. Each of these countries was experiencing growing difficulties in its relations with Turkey.
So he does not have President Trump bewitched, bamboozled, and wrapped around his little finger? Good to know.
A conflict with Cyprus has simmered for half a century over the island's Turks' desire for independence, a desire Erdoğan increasingly supported. While Ankara previously considered the possibility of two peoples coexisting in a single state, since 2023 it has been insisting on a two-state solution, calling on the international community to recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
Erdoğan is attempting to grant the TRNC international legitimacy. At the 2022 summit of the Organization of Turkic States in Samarkand, he secured observer status for it.
Yes, but does anyone but Turkey regard the Organization of Turkic States?
In 2020, Turkey sent the Oruc Reis research vessel to the northern shores of Cyprus in search of the coveted gas. In addition to Greece and Israel, this also raised concerns in Egypt. Authorities there feared Turkey's growing influence in neighboring Libya, which was torn apart by civil war. Egypt received support from the United Arab Emirates (which had normalized relations with Israel) and President Emmanuel Macron's France. Another stumbling block between Turkey and Egypt and the UAE was Qatar, which at one point had fallen out with all of its Arab neighbors and enjoyed Erdogan's support.
Thus, the many contradictions in the region led to the formation of a very diverse coalition around Cyprus, comprising Greece, Israel, Egypt, the UAE and France, opposing Erdogan’s expansionist policy in the Eastern Mediterranean.
"ZERO PROBLEMS WITH NEIGHBORS"
Much water has flowed under the bridge since then, and tensions have eased. During the final year of Erdoğan's previous term, and especially with the start of his new term, when Hakan Fidan was appointed Foreign Minister, Turkey began to return to a policy of "zero problems with neighbors."
Following the historic handshake between Erdoğan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi at the World Cup in Qatar, Ankara and Cairo fully restored diplomatic relations by July 2023. Following the outbreak of the Gaza war, both sides coordinated their efforts to support the Palestinian enclave.
That same month, the Turkish president embarked on a tour of the Persian Gulf and reached an agreement with Saudi Arabia and the UAE on multi-billion dollar investments in Turkey's crisis-stricken economy and the sale of Bayraktar drones.
They even managed to make peace with the more hostile Greece. In December of that year, Erdogan made a historic visit to Athens.
The easing of the Franco-Turkish standoff is particularly noteworthy. Since Trump's rise to power, Europeans have warmed up to the Turkish leadership. Macron and Erdogan no longer accuse each other of "brain death."
A similar success could have been achieved in relations with Israel, whose President Isaac Herzog visited Ankara in March 2022. However, the bloody massacre has taken the confrontation between Turkey and Israel to a whole new level.
If in 2009–2010, when Erdogan clashed with Shimon Peres at the Davos Forum, and the Israelis attacked the Freedom Flotilla (Turkish ships carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza), countries limited themselves to notes of protest and statements, now Ankara has imposed an embargo and threatened to launch a military operation against Israel.
Israeli intelligence agency Mossad now considers Turkey one of the main threats to Israel. Following the change of power in Damascus, with pro-Turkish forces clashing with Israel in the Golan Heights, and the weakening of Iran and its proxies, the specter of a neo-Ottoman threat is looming large over Israel.
A number of Israeli rabbis, journalists and experts believe that Israeli aircraft should have bombed Turkey instead of Qatar in September.
Even despite Trump's peace efforts, which culminated in the Sharm el-Sheikh summit, Turkish-Israeli hostility has not gone away. This was evidenced by Erdoğan turning his plane back over the Mediterranean Sea when he learned of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to attend a peace conference in Egypt.
NETANYAHU TAKES REVENGE IN CYPRUS
As a result, by the end of 2025, Netanyahu found himself virtually alone against Erdogan. And he decided to act.
Israel has begun actively supplying military products to Cyprus.
The EU island nation, according to Cyprus Mail, wants to accelerate its transition to Western weapons standards and abandon "outdated" Russian systems: Cyprus aims to create a joint defense architecture with NATO. Cyprus has long wanted to join NATO, but has been unable to do so precisely because of the frozen conflict. They are considering aerial surveillance, automated command and control (ACS), and cybersecurity as key areas for technological transition. Cyprus is modernizing its air bases and updating its helicopter fleet.
Israel made a significant contribution to the modernization of the Cypriot armed forces by approving the sale of Barak MX air defense systems. The Barak MX, capable of tracking and intercepting Turkish aircraft at a range of up to 35 km, could tip the balance of power in Greece's favor.
The importance of these systems is demonstrated by Turkey's harsh response, which calls the deliveries a "direct security threat." Back in September, the Daily Sabah newspaper, citing the Turkish Ministry of Defense, wrote that Cyprus's purchase of the Barak MX would undermine peace on the island.
A number of Turkish military experts view military-technical cooperation between Cyprus and Israel as part of the Netanyahu government's broader strategy.
The author of the "Blue Homeland" concept (a strategy to return Ottoman Empire influence to Turkey in the Mediterranean and Black Seas), Admiral Cihat Yayci, believes that Israel intends to surround Turkey with enemies.
Viewing the presence of Turkish drones and bases in Northern Cyprus as a security threat, Israel is projecting its power onto the island. According to Yaycı, the Israelis have purchased 25 hectares of strategic land, maintain a military presence at the Paphos base, and are gathering information against Turkey and the TRNC.
Israel also has an ideological justification for such activity.
On 1917 maps, Cyprus, like the Turkish cities of Mersin and Akkuyu, are marked as part of the "Promised Land," the admiral asserts.
…blatant taqiyya…
Moreover, in his opinion, the tripartite alliance of Israel, Greece, and Cyprus is supported by France, the United States, and Great Britain.
The good admiral has a fertile imagination.
In addition to supporting Cyprus, Israel is also actively arming Greece.
True.
Two years ago, the Israelis decided to supply the Greeks with Spike guided anti-tank missiles.
Athens is currently seeking $700 million in PULS multiple launch rocket systems with EXTRA long-range projectiles and Predator Hawk tactical ballistic missiles, but according to the newspaper Kathimerini, the deal has been delayed due to the situation in the Gaza Strip. If the ceasefire is extended, military-technical cooperation between Israel and Greece could intensify.
While Turkey's normalization of relations with Israel has failed,
…because Turkey alternates outreach with abuse, and then sends yet another Gaza flotilla…
progress with Greece has so far stalled, both due to Erdogan's rejection of the "unified Cyprus" concept and the Greeks' fear that they will prove weaker than a rapidly militarizing Ankara.
And Athens began to harm its dangerous neighbor through diplomacy.
In particular, in 2022, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis asked US President Joe Biden not to sell F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, after which Erdoğan declared that for him, "no one named Mitsotakis exists anymore." Greece and Cyprus, as members of the European Union, are blocking Turkey's participation in the EU's SAFE (Security Action for Europe) joint procurement and investment program for defense projects.
On October 19, Hakan Fidan lashed out at both Israel and Greece.
The Turkish minister accused Israel of supplying modern weapons to "overly aggressive" Greece, and Athens of blocking Ankara's application to participate in the SAFE program.
The Turks are using every excuse to put pressure on Greek Cyprus. Fidan, seizing the opportunity, decided to accuse Nicosia of hypocrisy in its handling of the suffering of Gazans. He claimed that the Israeli aircraft bombing Gaza originated from Cyprus, among other sources.
Recently, Ersin Tatar, President of the unrecognized TRNC, also addressed the Israeli presence. Commenting on news of agreements regarding Israel's military presence in ports and airfields in Greek Cyprus and joint maneuvers with the Cypriot army, he accused Tel Aviv of making a "dangerous mistake."
LOSS OF NORTHERN CYPRUS?
Along with Israel's strengthening alliance with the two Greek states, Türkiye recently suffered another blow. This time in Cyprus.
Following the October 19 presidential elections in the TRNC, the pro-Erdoğan incumbent leader, Tatar, lost to Tufan Erhürman by a significant margin (35.8% to 62.7%). The latter, unlike Tatar, is considered a supporter of a peaceful disengagement from the Greek Cypriots and is even close to being a supporter of the unification of the two parts of Cyprus.
Erhürman represents the Republican Turkish Party of Northern Cyprus, a sister party to the Kemalist Republican People's Party (CHP) of Turkey.
The reaction of his allies and political opponents reveals what these election results really mean for Erdogan.
Opposition CHP leader Özgür Özel noted that the Turks of Cyprus have finally chosen democracy and responded to politicians in Turkey who interfere in the internal affairs of the TRNC and use the island for their own interests.
On the other side of the aisle, Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), called on the parliament of Northern Cyprus on the day the election results were announced to urgently pass a resolution rejecting the vote results, rejecting the federalization of Cyprus, and annexing its northern part to Turkey. He considers the elections "insufficiently representative."
"The scale of the problem is a matter of honor, security, and survival. After Düzce's 81st province, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus must become the 82nd," Bahçeli remarked two days later.
The changes in Northern Cyprus's leadership are unlikely to please Erdoğan. President Erhürman's preference for a federal model for Cyprus runs counter to the Turkish leader's efforts to secure international recognition for the TRNC.
The rapprochement between the Turkish and Greek parts of Cyprus could undermine the prestige of the Turkish president, who does not even control his own “backyard”.
However, Erdogan is trying to remain calm.
Along with the opposition, he also congratulated Erhürman on his victory and promised to continue supporting the TRNC. For his part, the new president of Northern Cyprus is in no rush to show any zeal, stating that negotiations with the Greeks on Cypriot unification will resume only after consultations with the Turkish government.
***
Thus, it can be noted that the geopolitical confrontation between Israel and Turkey not only persists but is also expanding. Greece and Cyprus have become natural allies of Netanyahu.
To increase pressure on Turkey, the Israeli prime minister also needs to win Trump over. How? By accusing Hamas of violating the deal and resuming military action in Gaza with the White House's green light.
In parallel, Netanyahu will continue his offensive policy towards Syria, supporting the Druze and Kurds who are opposing al-Sharaa and Turkey.
As for Northern Cyprus, without direct leverage, Netanyahu can only hope for a rapprochement between the two parts of the island and a split between the new president of Turkish Cyprus and Ankara.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Some US allies in the Middle East are prepared to "introduce large forces" into the Gaza Strip if Hamas violates peace agreements. This was stated by US President Donald Trump on October 21.
"They expressed their readiness, at my request, to enter Gaza with large forces and 'deal with Hamas' if it continues to behave badly," he wrote on the social network Truth Social.
At the same time, the White House chief urged allies to "take their time" and maintain hope for the agreement's implementation, giving the movement a chance to "do the right thing." He warned that if the agreement collapses, "the end of Hamas will be swift, furious, and merciless." The American leader also thanked allies, including Indonesia, for their support of US initiatives.
Over the next two weeks, US military personnel will integrate representatives from partner countries, NGOs, international organizations and the private sector to the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC), the commander of US forces in the Mideast announced, after the center in southern Israel was unveiled Tuesday by visiting US Vice President JD Vance amid a fragile ceasefire 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 CMCC is designed to support stabilization efforts. US military personnel will not deploy into Gaza but will instead help facilitate the flow of humanitarian, logistical, and security assistance from international counterparts into Gaza," said a statement from US Central Command, or CENTCOM.
"The CMCC will also monitor implementation of the ceasefire agreement, featuring an operations floor that allows staff to assess real-time developments in Gaza," the statement added.
Approximately 200 US military personnel were dispatched to establish the ceasefire coordination center, which is also hosting troops from Britannia, Canada, Germany, Denmark and Jordan.
"Bringing together stakeholders who share the goal of successful stabilization in Gaza is essential for a peaceful transition," said CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper, who accompanied Vance on his visit to the center in Kiryat Gat.
Despite the presence of the foreign soldiers, the CMCC’s composition, role, chain of command, legal status and other issues have yet to be agreed on, and it is not yet clear which countries will agree to send troops into Gaza to ensure lasting calm on the ground as part of a UN-mandated international stabilization force.
The future of the Gaza Strip’s governance also remains murky. US President Donald Trump ...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US... ’s peace proposal, which the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release agreement has been presented as the first stage of, calls for Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... to be disarmed and the Strip demilitarized and handed over to a transitional, "technocratic" government.
According to Israel’s Kan public broadcaster reported, Hamas has handpicked half of the members of the Paleostinian technocratic committee that will manage postwar Gaza, though a senior Arab diplomat denied the unsourced report.
The senior Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel that the committee has not been finalized yet, as the Trump administration prioritizes the establishment of the international stabilization frce.
Those assembling the technocratic committee recognize that including names that Hamas will vehemently oppose increases the chances that the terror group will play a spoiler role. However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... the idea that Hamas will be able to hand-pick the members of the committee is "blatantly false," the Arab diplomat said.
Meanwhile,
...back at the pie fight, Bella opened her mouth at precisely the wrong moment... US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, a key broker of the ceasefire deal, vowed that no reconstruction funds for the territory will go into areas under Hamas’ control.
"No reconstruction funds will be going into areas that Hamas still controls," Kushner said while visiting the ceasefire center alongside Vance, adding that discussions are ongoing as to how to begin reconstruction in areas controlled by the Israeli military in the Strip. Israel currently controls a little more than half of Gaza.
"There are considerations happening now in the area that the IDF controls," Kushner said. He touted a vision of a "new Gaza" that can be built "to give the Paleostinians living in Gaza a place to go, a place to get jobs, a place to live."
IDF believes Hamas replenishing ranks with lower quality recruits
Also Tuesday, fresh Israeli military assessments found that Hamas still has some 20,000 members in its military wing.
According to the IDF, before the terror group’s October 7, 2023, attack, Hamas had some 30,000 fighters in the Gaza Strip, split into five regional brigades, 24 battalions, and some 140 companies.
These units have been systematically dismantled by the military over the 24 months of fighting in Gaza, though some, in the central Gaza Strip, were largely untouched.
While the IDF said it has killed over 22,000 terror operatives in Gaza during the war, Hamas has managed to recruit new fighters, according to the military. The military assessed, however, that the new recruits are of a much lower quality and have not undergone any significant training.
The army last year stated that Hamas had been defeated "militarily" across Gaza, and is now effectively a guerrilla terror group.
Also, according to the IDF’s assessments, Hamas is still believed to possess hundreds of rockets, mostly short-range but including some that could reach central Israel. Hamas also has access to thousands of small arms, the IDF believes.
Additionally, the IDF previously estimated that it had destroyed just 25% of Hamas’s tunnels across the entire Strip since the beginning of the war. However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... the military argued that the main focus has been on Hamas’s attack tunnels and those used as command centers or for weapons manufacturing — the vast majority of which have been destroyed — rather than on the numerous tunnels that Hamas uses to move around the Strip, especially in areas where ground troops never operated.
[IsraelTimes] British defense minister says contingent will play an ‘anchor role’ in joint US-led Gaza stabilization task force based at new Civil Military Coordination Center
A small contingent of British military planning officers has been sent to Israel to join a task force led by the United States to support stabilization efforts in Gazoo, the UK defense ministry said.
Mediators of the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal — the United States, 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... — stepped up their efforts this week to stabilize the early stages of the truce between Israel and Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... and to push forward 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... ’s 20-point ceasefire plan.
A US-backed stabilization force, based at a compound called the Civil Military Coordination Center, or CMCC, is meant to ensure security in Gaza. Its composition, role, chain of command, legal status and other issues are yet to be agreed.
The US has agreed to provide up to 200 troops to support the force without being deployed in Gaza itself. US officials have said they are also speaking to Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... and Azerbaijan to contribute.
A UK ministry of defense spokesperson said in a statement that a "small number of UK planning officers" had been embedded in the CMCC, including a two-star deputy commander.
The spokesperson said the deployment was intended to ensure the UK remained integrated into US-led planning efforts for post-conflict stability in Gaza.
"The UK continues to work with international partners to support the Gaza ceasefire to see where the UK can best contribute to the grinding of the peace processor," the spokesperson added.
British media reported that Defense Minister John Healey said on Monday that Britannia had "specialist experience and skills that we have offered to contribute," adding that while the UK would not lead the effort, it would play its part.
Healey said the deployment was made in response to a request from the United States, and that Britannia will play an "anchor role."
"We can contribute to monitoring the ceasefire," Healey said at an event in central London on Monday.
[IsraelTimes] Government says move will allow for closer engagement with new Syrian leadership, including by working together to remove vestiges of Assad’s chemical weapons program
The UK on Tuesday removed Syria’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... (HTS) from its list of banned terrorist organizations, after the group ousted Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators... last December and took control of the government.
The move comes after the United States announced in July it would revoke HTS’s terrorist designation.
HTS was proscribed by the UK in 2017 over its former links to al-Qaeda.
"The government’s decision to remove Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) from the list of proscribed terrorist organizations will mean closer engagement with the new Syrian government," the British foreign and interior ministries said in a joint statement.
Last December, an armed coalition led by HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa overthrew Syrian president Bashir al-Assad, ending half a century of brutal rule by the latter’s family.
The UK government said the removal order, which has been laid in parliament, will also help it work with Syria to "eliminate the Assad regime’s chemical weapons
...have not been used since WWI except for in Iraq, by the late, unlamented Saddam Hussein and in Syria, but really, honest, not by the Syrian government. And in Germany in WWII, but that was against civilians. Lots of them, just one of many reasons Hitler's also late and unlamented... program."
HTS, previously known as al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... Front, was formerly the branch of al-Qaeda in Syria, but it broke ties with the jihadist group in 2016 and sought to soften its image.
As of 2017, HTS claimed control of swathes of the province of Idlib, in Syria’s northwest, and went on to develop a civil administration in the area, amid accusations of brutal abuses against dissenters.
In January, after ousting Assad, the new authorities announced the dissolution of all armed factions, with some groups, including HTS, being integrated into bodies such as the country’s new police force.
The interim government has thawed diplomatic relations with several other countries, with Sharaa — now interim president — holding talks with US President Donald Trump ...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons... and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in recent months.
Britannia’s then-foreign minister David Lammy met Sharaa on a visit to Syria in July, where he announced the re-establishment of full diplomatic relations more than a decade after cutting ties.
In 2011, Britannia was among the first countries to acknowledge rebel groups as the official Syrian government after Bashir al-Assad’s crushing of pro-democracy protests plunged the country into civil war.
In 2018, the UK joined US air strikes on Syria’s chemical weapons in response to a suspected poison gas attack by Assad’s forces.
It announced it was lifting sanctions on Syria’s interior and defense ministries in April, as well as against various media groups and intelligence agencies.
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.
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
