[Garowe] The al-Qaeda-linked group in Somalia; al-Shabaab ... al-Qaeda's tentacle in East Africa... , has resolved to punish civilians suspected of collaborating with the Somali National Army (SNA), following a series of setbacks in central and southern regions of the country for the last two years.
On Friday, the bully boyz carried out the public execution of two men accused of collaborating with Somali forces in a village near Janale, approximately 90 kilometers southwest of Mogadishu, witnesses said.
The killings took place in Busley Daoud, a locale firmly under al-Shabaab's influence, where Mohammed Abdulkhadir Ali, 21, and Mohamud Hassan Ali, 20, were rubbed out, witnesses added, noting the notorious conduct of the group.
Abdulkhadir Ali was accused by al-Shabaab of aiding forces in Marka, in the Lower Shabelle region, and Hassan Ali was said to have assisted government troops in Aden Yabaal, Middle Shabelle, a district recently liberated by the Somalia military, residents said.
It is not the first time the al-Shabaab group has executed those accused of collaborating with 'enemies' and the common allegations would be — that they work with foreign soldiers or government troops in various parts of the country.
The al-Shabaab bully boyz lost strategic towns across Somalia for the last two years after President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud declared total war against them. The Somali National Army in collaboration with the US Africa Command and the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) have jointly made the gains.
Besides military operations, the government of Somalia has immensely invested in tracking illegal checkpoints and blocking the group’s sources of finances, including illegal taxation — not excluding revocation of business permits of traders supporting them and closing bank accounts and mobile money transfer firms associated with the group.
But even with the gains, squabbles among the elites in the country have tremendously affected the spirit — including trigging the group’s resurgence due to much focus on political feuds.
Former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed voiced grave concerns about Somalia's situation during a presser in Mogadishu on Saturday, suggesting that the country is at risk of not even being able to conduct an indirect election, let alone a democratic one.
Opposition leaders, including Ahmed, have questioned "whether there will even be a handover of power," highlighting the deepening crisis in governance as the nation struggles with ongoing security issues and political discord.
But earlier, Somali Foreign Minister Ahmed Moalim Fiqi accused opposition leaders of being swayed by foreign entities in response to claims that government officials have been auctioning off public land in Mogadishu.
Fiqi also issued a stern warning to those critiquing President Hassan Sheikh's administration, stating, "If they don't stop tarnishing the image of this country, we will take action." Analysts believe these internal rifts could significantly deal a blow to the war against al-Shabaab.
[ShabelleMedia] The National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) has successfully apprehended two operatives linked to the al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... in separate operations, the agency confirmed today.
Keyse Farah Hassan, identified as a medical doctor, was captured in the Jilib district where he allegedly provided treatment to al-Shabaab fighters. In a parallel operation in Mogadishu, Kooshin Mohamud Ahmed was arrested. Ahmed is accused of managing the care for maimed and sick al-Shabaab members within the capital’s hospitals.
[SaharaReporters] At least 1545 persons have been killed and 971 others kidnapped across the country in October 2024, as reported by a security organization, the Beacon Security and Intelligence Limited (BSIL).
According to the security report from BSIL, this comes amid the rise of the new terror group, "Lakurawa" in the northwest region.
The October 2024 Nigeria Security Report of the organization highlights deteriorating security conditions, with a 51% rise in fatalities and 24.42% increase in abductions.
"We just published our October report. What it says is that the situation has really deteriorated," said Dr Kabir Adamu, BSIL’s CEO. "If it continues at this rate, perhaps we are likely to get more fatality in Nigeria."
Throughout October, 861 incidents were recorded, with 64.92% linked to security threats and 67.70% of fatalities being civilian deaths.
The North-East and North-West saw the most incidents, while the South-East experienced the fewest.
Dr Adamu stressed that poor socio-economic conditions, political instability, and climate change fuel insecurity.
"We have a very weak and ineffective security management system that has not been able to address the root causes and manifestation of insecurities in the country," he explained.
The report also noted Nigeria’s failure to implement its three main counter-terrorism laws effectively.
Dr Adamu emphasised the importance of these measures, which include securing borders and forming partnerships with neighbouring countries, stating, "Most Nigerians are not even aware of the existence of these documents."
University of Michigan Student Government Impeaches Woke President
[HotAir] The Ann Arbor-based school’s Central Student Government voted 30 to 7 in favor of ousting President Alifa Chowdhury and Vice President Elias Atkinson — who are part of a pro-Palestine activist group called “Shut It Down” — for neglecting their responsibilities and actively trying to block funding for student groups on campus, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. The pair had reportedly refused to resign after calls from the rest of the CSG, which alleged that they both had also threatened physical harm against its members.
Jewish students at the University of Pittsburgh were slashed in the face by a Keffiyah-clad man. Another student wearing a Star of David was beaten by a mob. The response from the school’s DEI group? Delay the creation of an antisemitism committee due to “concern of its scope” pic.twitter.com/InKxsKlCoZ
Columbia SJP loses court challenge against suspension for policy violations
Columbia University’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter lost its lawsuit challenging a suspension imposed during the 2023–2024 school year for repeated violations of campus event policies.
In October, a new pro-Palestine student group formed at Columbia, claiming to refocus the movement’s priorities after perceived shifts in the original organization’s direction.
Iowa senators call upon FBI, DOJ to consider designating SJP groups as foreign agents
Senators Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley of Iowa have called upon the Department of Justice and the FBI to investigate campus organizations with links to Hamas.
On Oct. 8, the senators wrote to Attorney General Merck Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray about 'foreign-aligned influence' on college campuses from groups like the National Students for Justice in Palestine.
[IsraelTimes] Police have raided the Vancouver home of pro-Paleostinian activist Charlotte Kates, Canadian media outlets say, after she was released from custody.
The Vancouver Sun quotes police as saying Kates was arrested as part of an "ongoing hate crime investigation," after she led protesters at an April rally in a chant of "Long live October 7" and called the brutal Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... massacre "heroic and brave."
A local resident quoted by the National Post says a flash-bang grenade was used during the raid and that windows of the home were broken.
Kates is one of three directors for Samidoun, a pro-Paleostinian activist group that was banned from Germany in November for supporting terrorism, has been sanctioned by financial companies and, according to Israel, is linked to the terror group Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine.
The US State Department describes the group as "a sham charity that serves as an international fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine (PFLP) terrorist organization."
Kates and her husband, Paleostinian writer Khaled Barakat, are also banned from entering the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... .
#1
Rantburg is abetting a terrorist organization and now genocide state.!
All the members and posters are been catalogued for the last 10 years all IP Addresses are investigated.
ACA JOE
Aca Joe has the screen shots
MAGA will be great because Zionism is the problem
You will pay reparations!
Posted by: F Mulling ||
11/17/2024 0:21 Comments ||
Top||
#2
You are soooo funny, ACA Joe. You go ahead and try that, do.
Every day, in every way, they’re just as hapless as ever. But by Allah they feel good about helping the cause.
[IsraelTimes] The Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq takes responsibility for launching a drone this morning at Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat.
Sirens sounded in Eilat at 6 a.m. after the IDF says it identified a drone “from the east” heading toward Israel. The drone crashed before crossing into Israeli territory, according to the military.
[Rudaw] An Iraqi Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... killed at least four suspected members of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) in Kirkuk province on Saturday, the army said.
"In coordination with and through intensive follow-up by the Targeting Cell of the Joint Operations Command, an operation spanning two consecutive days tracked a terrorist unit consisting of four members in the Zaghaitoun Valley within the Kirkuk Operations Command sector," read a statement from the military’s Joint Operations Command.
"Based on this precise information, at 18:50 today, Saturday, the brave Air Hawks launched an F-16 airstrike on the hideout where the terrorist unit was located. With a precise and successful strike, the hideout was reduced to rubble over the heads of the terrorists," it added.
The operation in territories disputed between federal Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government is the latest in an ongoing effort to rid the country of ISIS cells in areas where a security vacuum allows them to operate.
Last week, in a similar operation, the Iraqi army announced it killed four suspected ISIS members in an airstrike in Kirkuk.
Over 100 ISIS members have been killed since the beginning of the year, the army said last month.
[IsraelTimes] Hundreds gather on Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square and a block away on Begin Road to demand the return of the hostages from 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 Hostages Square rally is dedicated to the children in captivity, ahead of International Children’s Day on Wednesday. There are currently two child hostages: Ariel Bibas, 5, and Kfir Bibas, 1. Their aunt, Ofri Bibas, is among this evening’s speakers.
On Begin Road, in front of the IDF headquarters, protesters call for an end to the war with Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... as part of a hostage deal. They set off smoke stacks and beat on drums, chanting: "They [the hostages] are running out of time — a deal is on the table!"
The deal is that the IDF lays down its arms and withdraws, getting nothing including the hostages, and giving Hamas all it has ever dreamed of, including the ability to rebuild for the promised next 10/7. What is wrong with you people?!
The rally on Begin Road is unaffiliated with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum and is frequented by families of captives who are more openly critical of the government.
Antifa by another name, funded by the usual Progressive billionaires intent on remaking Israel to their own specifications.
Before the rally, these families made a statement, pleading with US President-elect Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and whatever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th and 47th President of the United States... to help bring their loved ones.
Toward the end of the statement, a man wearing a shirt reading "Lions of the Right" played music from a loudspeaker and got in a shoving match with Natalie Zangauker, sister of hostage Matan Zangauker, according to footage shared by a Haaretz news hound. It was unclear if the man was apprehended.
Rallies were also held across the country in Rehovot, Haifa, Ra’anana, Jerusalem and elsewhere, demanding a deal.
Also on Saturday evening, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, one of the most vocal opponents of a hostage deal in government, told Channel 12 that the war in Gaza would not end until Hamas is “wiped out” and “no longer in existence,” but denied that this would prevent the hostages from ever returning home.
Asked why the government would not agree to a deal that would end the war in return for the release of all the hostages, Smotrich told Channel 12 that doing so “would mean [Hamas] retains control in Gaza.”
Smotrich, the head of the far-right Religious Zionism party, denied that this would mean the hostages would never return home, and stressed that the two goals of the war — to destroy Hamas and to bring home the hostages — must be accomplished. Only by accomplishing these goals, he explained, would Israel be able to ensure that there can be no repeat of October 7 and prove to its enemies that it has won.
[IsraelTimes] The firing of flares at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea constitutes only the latest "link in a chain of violent mostly peaceful and anarchistic actions, the purpose of which is to bring about the liquidation of the prime minister and the overthrow of the elected government by means of a violent mostly peaceful coup," claims Justice Minister Yariv Levin.
The Likud deputy premier charges such behavior has gone on for two years "under the auspices of the law enforcement authorities’ selective enforcement," which he accuses the High Court of Justice of having sanctioned.
"Since the establishment of the government, I have been fighting to fundamentally change things," including the composition of the Supreme Court, Levin continues, referring to the government’s since-halted judicial overhaul program, which he says must be revived.
"The time has come for all the members of the coalition, all the factions and all the members of the Knesset, to announce, as one man, their unequivocal support for the moves I led and were stopped, and for any other move necessary to change the situation," he says.
"The time has come to lend full support to rehabilitating the justice and law enforcement systems, and to put an end to anarchy, chaos, insubordination and attempts to harm the prime minister."
Remembering that flares are functionally small rockets, and can be used as offensive weapons, a fact that the Antifa types organizing the weekly protests against Bibi Netanyahu know very well — they’ve been trying to drive him out of Israel’s government for most of the past quarter century, more or less unsuccessfully.
[IsraelTimes] The Shin Bet and police say that a pair of flares fired at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea landed in the house’s yard.
No damage was caused and a joint statement from the security bodies stresses Netanyahu and his family weren’t home at the time.
Police and the Shin Bet also say they’ve opened an investigation and denounce “the grave incident, which marks a dangerous escalation.”
It’s long past time y’all arrested, tried, and imprisoned these people, who’ve been doing their best to violently overthrow the democratically elected government of which Bibi is the democratically elected head. Just because the Israeli deep state loathes him is no excuse to tolerate such behaviour.
Good. Now jail ‘em for it instead of the indulgence they expect.
Three people have been arrested in connection with the firing of flares at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea on Saturday night, the Israel Police say.
The investigation into the incident is being conducted by the Shin Bet and the Lahav 433 major crimes unit, the statement adds.
The three people arrested after a pair of flares were fired in the vicinity of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea are anti-government protesters, Hebrew-language media reports.
According to reports, one of those detained serves as a senior officer in the military reserves.
I vote for a drumhead court martial, so it’s probably just as well I’m not in charge.
Lawyer Gonen Ben Itzhak says the three have been prevented from meeting with an attorney.
Video posted to social media by a reporter from the Kan public broadcaster apparently showed that the flares were fired into the air above the premier’s home, rather than toward it. One of the flares appeared to misfunction, and fell to the ground while still lit.
A senior military officer ought to know that weapons don’t always perform as intended, and ought to be clever enough to take precautions, whether engaged in treason or mere insubordination.
[IsraelTimes] Army says 10 gunmen killed in strike in Jabalia; medics say strike targeting Hamas kills at least 10 at school in Gaza City; IDF intercepts two rockets fired from Strip at Sderot
The Israeli military struck multiple targets throughout northern 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... on Saturday as it continued its offensive against terror groups in the area.
On Saturday evening the IDF said that a cell of around 10 button men were killed in a dronezap in Jabalia earlier in the day. The IDF said the terror operatives had been spotted by troops of the 414th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit, who called in the strike, adding that no soldiers were hurt in the incident.
Separately, Israeli fighter jets struck a group of Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... operatives at a former school in Gaza City’s Shati camp, the military announced.
According to health officials and media reports in Gaza, the strike on the Abu Assi School, which was serving as a shelter for displaced Paleostinians, killed at least 10 people and maimed around 20 others. The IDF said that the Hamas operatives had set up a command center within the former UN-run school, and were using it to plan "imminent" attacks against troops operating in Gaza. To mitigate civilian harm, the IDF said it used a precision munition, aerial surveillance, and other intelligence.
"The Hamas terror organization systematically violates international law, brutally exploiting civilian institutions and the population as human shields for terror activity," the IDF said, adding that it will continue to operate against terror operatives who use civilian sites.
Earlier on Saturday, in a relatively rare occurrence 13 months into the war against Hamas in Gaza, rocket sirens sounded in the southern town of Sderot and several other communities near the Gaza Strip. The military later said that two rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza and both were intercepted.
According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, at least 30 people were killed by Israeli strikes across the enclave on Saturday, bringing the total people killed in Gaza during the war to 43,799, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
Israel says it has killed some 18,000 combatants in battle as of November and another 1,000 bully boyz inside Israel on October 7.
Israel has consistently said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
[HotAir] Remember when Israel agreed to US terms to avoid nuclear sites while retaliating for Iran's massive ballistic missile attack? It turns out that the Iranians' attempts to play cute with the IAEA gave Israel an opening to destroy a key research facility -- and leave the Iranians unable to complain about it.
When the Iranians first began pursuing nuclear weapons, much of that work took place at a facility in Parchin. After their program got exposed, the Iranians shuttered Parchin and moved that work into more defensible locations. The Iranians have insisted ever since that Parchin no longer played an active role in nuclear research, but that turned out to be a lie, Axios reports. And both the US and Israel knew it:
Israeli and U.S. intelligence began detecting research activity at Parchin earlier this year, including Iranian scientists conducting computer modeling, metallurgy and explosive research that could be used for nuclear weapons.
Flashback: Last June, the White House officials privately warned the Iranians in direct conversations about the suspicious research activities, Axios reported.
The U.S. hoped the warning would make the Iranians stop their nuclear activity, but they continued, the officials said.
The concern over the Taleghan 2 facility at Parchin hit levels so high in US intelligence that they stopped reporting that they had no evidence of Iranian nuclear-weapons development. So when it came time to craft the response to the October 1 missile attacks, the Israelis had a golden opportunity to end that threat, or at least severely curtail it, without violating the agreement with the US. In any other administration, this would have had the blessing of the US, and perhaps it did:
President Biden asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to attack the Iranian nuclear facilities in order not to trigger a war with Iran, U.S. officials said.
But Taleghan 2 was not part of Iran's declared nuclear program so the Iranians wouldn't be able to acknowledge the significance of the attack without admitting they violated the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Now the Iranians can't complain about this target, not unless it wants to admit to pursuing nuclear weapons. The realization of this loss could explain why the Iranians went from shrugging off the Israeli retaliation to threats of a counter-retaliation strike almost immediately. 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... still insists that it will counter-retaliate at some point, in fact, although the outcome of the election in the US might have them thinking twice about it.
There's another reason for second thoughts, though:
"The strike was a not so subtle message that the Israelis have significant insight into the Iranian system even when it comes to things that were kept top secret and known to a very small group of people in the Iranian government," a U.S. official said.
That might have the Iranians thinking veeeerrrrrry carefully about escalation, too. Not only will the incoming US administration be much less likely to hold Israel back on target selection, they have to wonder what other targets Israel has in mind. They have already sussed out the activity at Parchin, which can't have been too big of a surprise after the American warning about it earlier in the year. The Israelis also penetrated the IRGC's security in successfully assassinating Ismail Haniyeh ...became Prime Minister of Gaza after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank... in Tehran this summer. Without American pressure to avoid truly escalatory blows, Israel might just start hitting places where Iranian leadership hides out, as well as IRGC command and control functions.
At least this answers questions that arose after the retaliatory attack, when some of us scratched our heads over targeting selection. The real threats to Israel in Iran are the nuclear weapons and the leadership, so it didn't make sense to leave both untouched with this opportunity. The Iranians know the Israelis did attack and damage the former, and now have to decide whether to provoke Israeli into seriously attacking the latter.
[IsraelTimes] The IDF has seen a decrease in the number of rockets fired by Hezbollah at Israel in the past week, down to under 100 a day on average, compared with 150-200 a day last month and in the months before that.
Today, Hezbollah has fired at least 25 rockets at the north. Yesterday, the terror group launched 50, and the day before that it launched 55.
The major exception was on Monday, when Hezbollah launched 190 rockets at Israel, as the terror group commemorated its martyrs’ day.
The military assesses that Hezbollah is struggling to carry out major barrages, as most of its rocket stockpiles have been targeted and dozens of its commanders have been killed. Before the war, the IDF had assessed that Hezbollah would fire thousands of rockets per day in an escalation.
[IsraelTimes] 5 hurt running for shelter in city; in Lebanon, IDF chief vows to ‘hit Hezbollah very, very hard’; Israeli troops said to reach deepest point in Lebanon since ground op began
A soldier was killed in fighting in southern Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... , the military announced on Saturday, as Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi vowed to continue battling Hezbollah until displaced residents from the north can return home, and troops reportedly reached their deepest point so far in Lebanon.
Meanwhile,
...back at the abandoned silver mine, a triangular dorsal fin appeared in the water. Then another... Hezbollah continued to launch drones and rocket barrages at northern Israel, including heavy fire toward Haifa, where there were several impacts.
Sgt. Ori Nisanovich, 21, of the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion, from Jerusalem, was killed fighting on Friday, the IDF said. According to an initial IDF probe, Nisanovich was killed during an exchange of fire with a Hezbollah gunman in a building in a southern Lebanon village. The operative was killed in the shootout. Nisanovich’s death brings the IDF’s toll in the ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon and during operations on the border to 44.
Saturday saw multiple barrages of dozens of rockets fired at the Western Galilee and Haifa Bay areas.
On Saturday evening, a barrage of 10 rockets was fired at Haifa, with several intercepted but others impacted areas of the city, including one that caused heavy damage to a synagogue building. Five people were hurt while running for shelter throughout the city, said first responders.
Earlier in the day sirens wailed several times in the northern city of Nahariya, due to hostile drone infiltrations. The IDF said four drones were intercepted throughout the day, with shrapnel from one hitting an apartment in the city. Slight damage was caused, but there were no injuries.
Near the city of Tamra, a rocket struck a farm building, causing heavy damage and killing several animals inside, police said. No people were maimed in the attack.
Following a fresh assessment amid the ground operation in southern Lebanon, the IDF announced on Saturday evening that it had imposed a new closed military zone on the Lebanon border, in the areas of Metula and Kfar Yuval. The order prohibits civilians from areas where the Israeli military is operating, including in Israel across the border from Lebanese villages where fighting may be taking place. It will remain in effect until Sunday night.
Lebanese state media reported that IDF troops reached the deepest point in Lebanon since the army started its incursion over the border six weeks ago, before ostensibly pulling back early Saturday after fierce battles with Hezbollah.
The state-run National News Agency reported that Israeli troops temporarily captured a strategic hill in the southern Lebanese village of Shama, about five kilometers (3 miles) from the border early Saturday, before later being pushed back. The outlet claimed soldiers detonated several buildings including a shrine before they withdrew.
None of the claims could be immediately verified.
The military said in a statement that its troops "continue their limited, localized, and targeted operational activity in southern Lebanon." The military did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Lebanese media reports.
The push on the ground came as Israeli warplanes pounded Beirut’s southern suburbs as well as several other areas in southern Lebanon, including the port city of Tyre. The IDF said on Saturday evening that it had carried out four waves of Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s throughout the day on Hezbollah targets in the terror group’s southern Beirut stronghold, including command centers.
In the past week, the IDF says it struck some 50 Hezbollah sites in Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs. Before the strikes were carried out it issued evacuation warnings to civilians in the area.
The military also confirmed that it had carried out strikes against Hezbollah targets in Tyre on Saturday.
According to the military, the sites hit by fighter jets included command centers, weapon depots, buildings used by Hezbollah, and numerous other assets belonging to the terror group. Many of the sites belonged to Hezbollah’s Aziz regional division, responsible for rocket fire on Israel from the western sector of southern Lebanon.
The military announced several waves of strikes on Saturday targeting Hezbollah assets, and at least nine individual airstrikes were reported by Rooters. After one of the strikes, a plume of smoke could be seen rising over the buildings in the area, in unverified footage posted to social media.
Lebanon’s NNA said "the enemy" carried out three air raids, including one near Haret Hreik.
"The first strike near Haret Hreik destroyed buildings and caused damage in the area," it said.
It later reported a separate raid by "enemy aircraft" in the neighborhood of Chiyah.
In southern Lebanon, Israel carried out several strikes on Friday night and early Saturday, according to NNA. The outlet said a strike in Tyre "targeted the ’ruins district,’ resulting in the destruction of two buildings and damage to other surrounding buildings."
Airstrikes killed a medic in the town of Borj Rahal in the Tyre District, and strikes on an emergency response team in the southern town of Kfar Tebnit killed one medic and injured four others while two medics were missing, the Lebanese health ministry said.
On Friday, the UN observer force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, said a 155mm live artillery shell hit its headquarters in Shama.
"The shell did not detonate and Italian bomb disposal experts swiftly secured the area, removed the ordnance and conducted a controlled detonation," UNIFIL said, adding that no one was injured and only minor damages were incurred to the base’s gym.
UNIFIL personnel were in shelters during the strike.
"We strongly remind all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and properties. Deliberate attacks on peacekeepers are a grave violation of international humanitarian laws and of the UN Security Council Resolution 1701," UNIFIL added.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani spoke with his Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa’ar and protested the attacks against its personnel and UNIFIL infrastructure, an Italian statement said, while adding that Israel will investigate the incident.
CEASEFIRE PROPOSAL
Amid optimism for a ceasefire deal to end the conflict in Lebanon, the Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat reported Saturday that a written proposal from the US received by Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri
...perennial Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians... does not include freedom of movement for IDF troops in Lebanon.
No freedom of movement for the IDF? It seems the US State Department does not want a ceasefire accepted by both parties before President Trump is sworn into office. Now we know whom to blame for more dead Hezbullies, Syrians, and Iranians — and the human shields forced to surround them.
Lebanon will reply to the US offer “very soon” with its reservations, according to the report from the London-based paper.
Berri, a Hezbollah ally who often serves as a conduit for diplomacy, was quoted as stressing, “There can be no undermining of our sovereignty.”
He reportedly met with US Ambassador Lisa Johnson last week to receive Washington’s first written proposal in at least several weeks.
The Axios news site reported Friday that Israel is demanding a side letter from the US that includes guarantees from Washington that Israel will be allowed to take military action in Lebanon against Hezbollah if the terror group tries to re-establish its military presence along the border.
According to Asharq, Berri also voiced opposition to the idea of forming a committee to implement UN Resolution 1701, which ended the last round of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, claiming that UNIFIL can do the job.
Except that UNIFIL has demonstrated that, for whatever reason, they won’t do the job, which answers the question of whether they should be trusted to do the job.
The UN agency failed to enforce the resolution since 2006, allowing Hezbollah to build up a heavy armed presence along the border.
Israel has portrayed its offensive in southern Lebanon as essentially stepping in and doing UNIFIL’s job for it.
[IsraelTimes] Hezbollah fired some 80 rockets from Lebanon that crossed into Israel today, according to an IDF tally. In the past week, the IDF has seen a decrease in the number of rockets fired by Hezbollah.
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.
... al-Qaeda's tentacle in East Africa...
... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
...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 
...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
