n this multipolar order, no single empire rules—yet every empire must hack, spy, and disrupt to survive. Algorithms are the new artillery, networks the new trenches, and cybersecurity the new iron shield. After all, who needs tanks when you can crash a currency with a line of code?
[Garowe] Heavy airstrikes were witnessed in central Somalia over the weekend, with the US Africa Command and the Somali National Army (SNA) working closely to eliminate Al-Shabaab militants who are working hard to topple the government.
The al-Shabaab group has intensified attacks in central and southern regions in Somalia, leading to the death of thousands of innocent people and members of the security forces who often witness raids in their camps.
According to sources, the airstrikes were carried out along the border between Somalia’s Galgaduud and Middle Shabelle regions — the notorious hideouts of the al-Shabaab group, which is accused of destabilising Somalia for the last two decades.
Sources said the strikes hit Hareera Culusow, an area under militant control, where witnesses reported explosions at known al Shabaab bases, adding that fighters, including senior commanders, had gathered at the site at the time of the attack.
Missiles targeted the hideouts, with the number of casualties remaining unclear — even though the region hosts hundreds of fighters. But military sources say dozens of fighters were killed.
There has been no immediate comment from Somalia’s federal government or its international security partners on who carried out the strikes or the extent of the damage. The US Africa Command is mostly responsible for the airstrikes against Al-Shabaab.
Last week, similar airstrikes were witnessed in Puntland state, where the US Africa Command is working closely with the regional troops in pursuing the ISIS remnants within the Cal-Miskaad mountains in the eastern parts of the Bari region.
“These lethal strikes demonstrate our resolve and commitment to ensuring Americans and our partners remain safe from the threat of global terrorism.” – Gen. Dagvin Anderson, Commander, U.S. Africa Command.
The al-Shabaab and ISIS militants have suffered heavy casualties in recent months, given the ongoing military operations targeting their bases. The government of Somalia believes that the country would be secured from these insurgency groups.
[ShabelleMedia] Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... forces have reported the killing of six jacket wallahs during recent festivities with ISIS bad boys, but the group’s attacks between August 25 and 27 resulted in the deaths of at least 23 Puntland soldiers.
The casualties came after a series of deadly attacks launched by ISIS against Puntland security forces, with the forces of Evil carrying out a suicide kaboom campaign targeting military positions.
Intelligence sources indicate that the ongoing joint operations between Puntland and US forces have been focusing on high-ranking ISIS leaders.
Among those targeted are ISIS deputy leader, Ciise Fahiye, and the global head of ISIS, Abdulqadir Muumin, who is believed to be hiding in the mountainous regions of Puntland.
Despite the significant losses inflicted on ISIS in early 2025, including crippling their military capabilities and finances, the terror group remains resilient and continues to carry out deadly assaults.
[ShabelleMedia] Somali National Army forces from the 14th October Battalion, specifically units 144 and 145, in coordination with 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... Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) allies, have conducted a planned joint operation targeting al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... turbans in villages surrounding Janaale in the Lower Shabelle region.
Lieutenant Colonel Mustaf Omar Calin "Eji-cadde," deputy commander of the 14th October Battalion and leader of the operation, confirmed that Somali forces and AUSSOM partners successfully dismantled al-Shabaab bases in several villages, including Kaaytooy, Mushaani, Majabto, Buulo-arundi, Beeraha Baay, Malable, and Siigaale around Janaale.
"The operation was carefully planned with the objective to eliminate al-Shabaab elements entrenched in these strategic villages," Lt. Col. Eji-cadde said. "Our national forces showed great courage and succeeded in destroying the murderous Moslem networks operating in the area."
[IsraelTimes] Late Sunday, British maritime security firm Ambrey said that a Liberia-flagged, Israeli-owned tanker had reported an explosion nearby, southwest of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port city of Yanbu.
A vessel reported “a splash in close proximity from an unknown projectile and heard a loud bang,” the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said, adding that the vessel’s crew were all safe and it was continuing to its next voyage.
In a later update, Ambrey said it assessed the vessel to be “aligned with” the targets of Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis’ profile, given that it was publicly Israeli-owned.
It was not immediately clear if the Houthis were involved, and the group did not provide immediate comment on the reported incident. UKMTO did not identify the party responsible, but said authorities were investigating.
Since 2023, the Houthis have also been attacking vessels in the Red Sea that they deem to be affiliated with Israel, also purportedly in support of Gaza.
[IsraelTimes] Yemeni security source says Iran-backed group arrested the humanitarian workers on ‘suspicion of collaborating with Israel’ after the Houthi prime minister was killed in a strike
The United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... said 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... ’s Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... s detained at least 11 workers on Sunday in raids on UN premises, which came after rebel authorities had made numerous arrests following Israel’s killing of their prime minister.
There has been no comment from Houthi authorities on the reported raids, but the Iran-backed group has previously arrested international aid workers.
He said that "at least 11 UN personnel were detained" and demanded that they be "immediately and unconditionally" released.
The United Nations envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said in a statement: "I strongly condemn the new wave of arbitrary detentions of UN personnel today in Sanaa and Hodeida... as well as the forced entry into UN premises and seizure of UN property."
He said that "at least 11 UN personnel were detained" and demanded that they be "immediately and unconditionally" released.
The Houthis were already detaining 23 UN personnel, some since 2021 and 2023, he added. In January, the Houthi rebels detained eight UN workers.
The Houthis claimed arrests made in June 2024 included "an American-Israeli spy network" operating under the cover of humanitarian organizations — allegations emphatically rejected by the UN.
Earlier on Sunday, the World Food Programme said one of its staff members were tossed into the calaboose in the rebel-held capital Sanaa.
It said it was "urgently seeking additional information" from the Houthi authorities, who seized the capital Sanaa in 2014 and now control large parts of Yemen.
A security source in Sanaa told AFP that seven WFP employees and three UNICEF workers were arrested on Sunday after their offices had been raided.
The WFP statement said that "the arbitrary detention of humanitarian staff is unacceptable. The safety and security of personnel is essential to carrying out life-saving humanitarian work."
Grundberg said the "arrests violate the fundamental obligation to respect and protect their (UN personnel) safety, dignity, and ability to carry out their essential work in Yemen."
A decade of civil war has plunged Yemen into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with more than half of the population relying on aid.
The arrests last year prompted the United Nations to limit its deployments and suspend activities in some regions of the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country.
’COWARDLY’ ATTACK
On Saturday, a Yemeni security source told AFP that Houthi authorities had arrested dozens of people in Sanaa and other areas "on suspicion of collaborating with Israel."
It came after Israel’s strike on Thursday that killed the Houthis’ prime minister, Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser al-Rahawi, along with other officials.
The Iran-backed group on Sunday vowed to intensify its attacks on Israel after the killing of Rahawi, the most senior Houthi official known to have died since the group began attacking Israel and maritime traffic in November 2023, a month after the October 7, 2023, Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... massacre in southern Israel, prompting retaliatory strikes by Israel.
A Sanaa resident, requesting anonymity for safety reasons, told AFP that striking a ministerial meeting was "cowardly and brutal," expressing dismay at some in Yemen "who celebrate this violence."
Ali, another resident of Sanaa who gave only his first name, denounced "a blatant attack... against our country’s illusory sovereignty."
A video posted online by a Yemeni comedian several hours after the announcement of Rahawi’s death has sparked uproar.
The comedian, Mohammed al-Adrei, who presents himself as an adviser to Yemen’s internationally recognised government that the Houthis oppose, filmed himself dancing to festive music in traditional clothes.
Writer Khaled al-Rowaishan responded on Facebook: "It is an absolute shame to celebrate the death of any Yemeni killed by Israeli missiles."
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🇳🇱🇻🇪 BREAKING: The Royal Netherlands Navy intercepted speedboats carrying 318 kg of cocaine in the Caribbean — a major blow to Maduro & Cabello’s Cartel of the Suns. pic.twitter.com/72tdYfq4Yz
[IsraelTimes] March for Australia says immigration tearing apart social fabric, causing economic distress; protesters seen clashing with police, who reportedly use pepper spray
Thousands of Australians joined anti-immigration rallies across the country on Sunday, which the center-left government condemned, saying they sought to spread hate and were linked to neo-Nazi ...adherents of a philosophy that was seen even at the time as pure evil, which makes them either consciously purely evil, or attention-seeking ratbags. Pick one, or both.... s.
March for Australia rallies against immigration were held in Sydney and other state capitals and regional centers, according to the group’s website.
"Mass migration has torn at the bonds that held our communities together," the website says. The group posted on X on Saturday that the rallies aimed to do "what the mainstream politicians never have the courage to do: demand an end to mass immigration."
The group also says it is concerned about culture, wages, traffic, housing and water supply, environmental destruction, infrastructure, hospitals, crime and loss of community.
Australia — where one in two people is either born overseas or has a parent born overseas — has been grappling with a rise in right-wing extremism, including protests by neo-Nazis.
"We absolutely condemn the March for Australia rally that’s going on today. It is not about increasing social harmony," Murray Watt, a senior minister in the Labor government, told Sky News television, when asked about the rally in Sydney, the country’s most populous city.
"We don’t support rallies like this that are about spreading hate and that are about dividing our community," Watt said, asserting they were "organized and promoted" by neo-Nazi groups.
March for Australia organizers did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the neo-Nazi claims.
Laws banning the Nazi salute and the display or sale of symbols associated with terror groups came into effect in Australia this year in response to a string of antisemitic attacks on synagogues, buildings and cars since Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... ’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel in which some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were murdered and which sparked the Israel-Hamas war in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Australia has since said some of the local attacks were orchestrated by Iran.
COUNTER PROTESTERS EXPRESS ’DISGUST,’ ’ANGER’
Some 5,000 to 8,000 people, many draped in Australian flags, had assembled for the Sydney rally, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported. It was held near the course of the Sydney Marathon, where 35,000 runners pounded the streets on Sunday, finishing at the city’s Opera House.
Also nearby, a counter-rally by the Refugee Action Coalition, a community activist organization, took place.
"Our event shows the depth of disgust and anger about the far-right agenda of March For Australia," a coalition spokesperson said in a statement. Organizers said hundreds attended that event.
Police said hundreds of officers were deployed across Sydney in an operation that ended "with no significant incidents."
A large March for Australia rally was held in central Melbourne, the capital of Victoria state, according to aerial footage from the ABC, which reported that riot officers used pepper spray on demonstrators. Victoria Police did not confirm the report but said it would provide details on the protest later on Sunday.
Bob Katter, the leader of a small populist party, attended a March for Australia rally in Queensland, a party spokesperson said, three days after the veteran politician threatened a news hound for mentioning Katter’s Lebanese heritage at a presser when the topic of his attendance at a March for Australia event was being discussed.
Katter was "swarmed with hundreds of supporters" at the rally in Townsville, Brisbane’s Courier-Mail reported.
In Sydney, March for Australia protester Glenn Allchin said he wanted a "slowdown" in immigration.
"It’s about our country bursting at the seams and our government bringing more and more people in," Allchin told Rooters. "Our kids struggling to get homes, our hospitals — we have to wait seven hours — our roads, the lack of roads."
[IsraelTimes] Lyon mayor vows to locate and prosecute perpetrators, declares opposition to antisemitism and hatred; Israel accuses France of repeatedly failing to crack down on antisemitism
In a photo posted by Jewish community leaders, the inscription appeared to have been scratched into the black marble of a plaque on the monument with a sharp object.
“The vandalism of the Holocaust Memorial in Lyon is an intolerable act. I condemn it and express my full solidarity with memory associations, survivors and their descendants,” the city’s mayor, Gregory Doucet, wrote in a statement sent to AFP.
“The perpetrators will be sought and prosecuted. Lyon stands firm against hatred, antisemitism and racism,” Doucet added.
The monument in central Lyon was inaugurated in January 2025 to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp.
“The fact that this inscription was made on a Holocaust memorial clearly constitutes an antisemitic act,” a city hall official told AFP, adding that the municipality had quickly removed the inscription to restore the memorial.
Militants were armed with a #USA-made 🇺🇸 M24 SWS sniper rifle, M16A4 assault rifles, M4A1 carbines and AKM / Type 56 rifles. pic.twitter.com/IE7zeDyu8y
[ALESTIKLAL] Amid mounting pressure from Washington on Baghdad to disband the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), several figures and factions have announced their withdrawal from the predominantly Shiite militia for various reasons, raising questions over whether this marks the beginning of the group’s unraveling.
The PMF was formed in 2014 in response to the territorial advances 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.... , which at the time controlled roughly a third of Iraq. Its creation followed a "defensive jihad" fatwa issued by Iraq’s highest Shiite holy man, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, in Najaf.
Some 70 mainly Iran-aligned Shiite militias were integrated into the PMF, which Western governments often accuse of serving as Tehran’s proxy in Iraq.
With its mission ostensibly completed following the defeat of the Islamic State, calls for its dissolution have resurfaced.
REPEATED WITHDRAWALS
In the wake of what it described as a "fissure," the Kata’ib Hezbollah militia announced on August 4, 2025 that it was withdrawing from the areas encircling Baghdad and handing over all its equipment and positions to the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), noting that the move was intended to pre-empt attempts at smear campaigns and reputational attacks.
The announcement followed armed festivities on July 27, 2025 between security forces and members of the PMF’s 45th and 46th brigades, both affiliated with Kata’ib Hezbollah.
The festivities were triggered by the replacement of the director-general of a department in Baghdad’s Ministry of Agriculture, previously aligned with Kata’ib Hezbollah under the leadership of Abu Hussein (Mohsen Mohamdawi), with a figure linked to the militia Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, headed by Qais al-Khazali.
Iraq’s Security Media Cell issued a statement announcing that security forces had arrested 14 suspects.
Upon verifying their identities, authorities confirmed that the detainees belonged to the two brigades of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) previously mentioned, and they were referred to the judiciary for legal proceedings.
For the first time, the government explicitly named Kata’ib Hezbollah. In a statement released on August 10, 2025, it said, "The armed elements responsible for this breach belong to the Iraqi Hezbollah formation and are affiliated with the 45th and 46th brigades of the Popular Mobilization Forces."
The office of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani announced the dismissal of the commanders of the two brigades over their involvement in the attack on the Ministry of Agriculture site in Baghdad, which included the use of weapons against security personnel and resulted in fatalities and injuries, some of them civilians.
In a further development, senior Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) figure Shaker Mahmoud al-Tamimi, known as "Abu Turab," announced his permanent withdrawal from the group, vowing never to return.
He cited his intention to run in the parliamentary elections scheduled for November 11, 2025 as the reason for his departure.
In an early August television interview, al-Tamimi stated that he had left the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) permanently and "will never return."
He warned that certain actors were exploiting the name of the group, "which has been harmed from both inside and outside," while promising to reveal all relevant facts in the coming days.
Al-Tamimi, known as "Abu Turab" and affiliated with the Badr militia led by Hadi al-Amiri, confirmed that al-Amiri would be their candidate for prime minister in the post-election period.
He also indicated that he would not hesitate to seek a ministerial position in the next Iraqi government.
Al-Tamimi’s withdrawal from the military formation to contest elections marks an unprecedented move.
Until now, the head of the PMF, Faleh al-Fayyad, has remained in office despite leading the political movement Ata’a, participating in every election since 2014, and maintaining parliamentary representation.
ROLE EXCHANGE
On the motivations behind the recent withdrawals and their possible link to U.S. pressure, Iraqi affairs researcher Hamid al-Obaidi suggested that "even if Kata’ib Hezbollah announces its withdrawal, there is nothing to prove it, because the Popular Mobilization Forces are entirely under their control. The chief of staff, Abd al-Aziz Malluh Mirjirash al-Muhammadawi (Abu Fadak), is one of their most prominent leaders."
Al-Obaidi added to al-Estiklal that "the individuals arrested by the government and said to belong to Kata’ib Hezbollah within the PMF were not shown clearly; their faces were blurred."
This, he argued, "raises serious doubts that they could be released at any moment, since such discretion is not applied to everyone detained on security or terrorism-related cases."
Iraqi political analyst Wael Hazem argued that "the U.S. has essentially bargained with the Shiite Coordination Framework: either hand over weapons and disband the militias, or risk losing power. Any rational actor within the framework will weigh retaining political influence against giving up arms."
Hazem told local al-Fallujah television that "in the coming days, we are likely to hear that many factions will announce withdrawals from the Popular Mobilization Forces, citing disagreements with the prime minister, and claiming loyalty to the state while surrendering their weapons to it."
"Other armed factions have quietly withdrawn without making announcements and are moving to participate in the political process through the upcoming parliamentary elections," Hazem added.
From a broader perspective, former MP and Iraqi politician Mithal al-Alusi argued that claims of a split within the ruling Shiite Coordination Framework over disarmament are inaccurate.
He stressed that the position remains unified due to "shared leadership, loyalty, and subordination," as well as an internal "distribution of roles."
Local news agency Shafaq News quoted al-Alusi on August 10, 2025, saying, "The Iraqi government, under al-Sudani, is trying to convince the U.S. administration that it is serious about controlling uncontrolled weapons and dismantling illegal militias, but Washington still considers these arms as Iranian and executing terrorist missions."
"The Coordination Framework and al-Sudani are attempting to present themselves as a reliable political ally to the United States in Iraq," noting that "the U.S. position, supported by the UK, does not tolerate any direct or indirect Iranian influence within the country."
"Washington regards the presence of uncontrolled weapons as a means for 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... to impose its will on Iraq’s political process. It believes that successive prime ministers were selected with Iranian consent, but that era is over. The next phase must see the formation of a government with a parliamentary majority, free from foreign interference," al-Alusi added.
[Ynet] Hamas eliminated the head of the Abu Samra clan in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza Strip. This is according to reports from the Strip. Abu Samatra, who was one of the prominent opponents of Hamas's continued rule in Gaza, was assassinated by gunfire near his home.
Fine them the cost to replace the things, including the cost of rush delivery, plus the cost of police time.
[IsraelTimes] Police arrest 2 protesters, one of them a 17-year-old boy, at Tel Aviv demonstration calling on high schoolers to strike on first day of classes
Dozens of teenage protesters blocked traffic on Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway and set fire to classroom desks Sunday morning, demanding a general strike ahead of the start of the academic year.
Demonstrators held a banner reading: "We will not learn to live with this. Strike now!" as smoke billowed from the three burning desks, bringing most cars to a halt on the highway.
Police arrested two protesters, a 17-year-old boy and a 35-year-old woman, on suspicion of disorderly conduct. They were freed in the afternoon from the cop shoppe on the condition that they steer clear of unlawful protests for the next two weeks.
Officers also detained around 20 high school demonstrators during the protest, releasing them on the spot after taking down their details, said lawyer Gonen Ben-Yitzhak, who does pro bono work for detained anti-government activists.
The protest was held a day before the start of the new academic year, which students from dozens of high schools across the country have pledged to boycott, refusing to return to classes Monday morning in light of the continuation of the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... war and the government’s perceived foot-dragging in hostage negotiations.
"We are not willing to learn to live in a world in which the hostages are murdered in Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... tunnels and the Israeli government does not even bother to discuss the deal on the table, and therefore we will not allow the school year to begin as usual," the students said in a statement.
"Today we are high school students, but in a year or two we will all be in [military] uniform," the teens continued. "We want, and need, to know that when we go to the front, our country will stand behind us and uphold the moral and ethical contract on which we were educated."
According to Haaretz, students from 45 high schools across the country have vowed to strike on the first day of classes.
One of the founders of the movement, 12th grader Hanoch Cohen, told Haaretz that the initiative gained massive traction after he announced with friends that they would boycott the first day of classes at their school in the Hefer Valley Regional Council.
"Requests came to us from students all over the country," he told the outlet, claiming that over the span of five days, some 500 people joined the youth protest movement’s first WhatsApp group.
Meanwhile,
...back at the palazzo, Count Guido had been cornered by the banditti... the National Students and Youth Council, which represents students before the government, came out against the strike and instead urged a less drastic form of protest — pausing for 50 minutes on the first day of classes.
"We believe that after six years of instability, not to open this year as well is not the solution," said council front man Yuval Degani. She argued that striking for a single day "won’t have the effect we desire."
[IsraelTimes] High school students at dozens of schools are striking on the first day of the academic year in a demand for a hostage deal.
The students are refusing to return to classes in light of the continuation of the Gaza war and the government’s perceived foot-dragging in ceasefire deal negotiations.
Yesterday, dozens of teenage protesters blocked traffic on Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway and set fire to classroom desks, demanding a general strike ahead of the start of the academic year.
Police arrested two protesters, a 17-year-old boy and a 35-year-old woman, on suspicion of disorderly conduct. Around 20 others were detained on the scene and later released.
[IsraelTimes] Damari says she shouted ‘screams of joy’ when she heard the news, says Hazem Naim ‘was the commander of our captors, a very, very evil person’
Israel recently killed one of the Hamas terrorists who held British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari captive in Gaza, according to a Sunday report.
Channel 12 named the terroris Hazem Naim, but did not provide further details, including when the strike was carried out.
Damari said she shouted “screams of joy” when she heard the news.
“He was responsible for me and [fellow freed captive] Romi [Gonen] for around eight months,” Damari told the Channel 12 news network. “He was the commander of our captors, a very, very evil person.”
Thanking the IDF for its tireless efforts, Damari added: “People will never understand what that monster was to me and to Romi.” She noted that, at the same time, she was “scared to death” for her friends who are still held hostage, including twins Ziv and Gali Berman.
In July, the Israel Defense Forces announced that the previous month, it killed a different Hamas terrorist who held Damari in his home.
Nasr Ali Quneita, who was targeted in Gaza City on June 19, was said by the IDF to be a member of Hamas’s military intelligence unit in the Sheikh Radwan Battalion, known in the IDF as the al-Furqan Battalion, and that he invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, and held Damari hostage in his home at the start of the war.
At the time, Damari responded to her captor’s death, writing on social media: “This is what the face of evil looks like. A face I will never forget. I’m so glad he is no longer [in] our world.”
Damari was kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza during the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023. She was abducted alongside Ziv Berman, her neighbor, who rushed over to her home to make sure she was safe. Invading terrorists shot Damari in her left hand, and another bullet was lodged in her right leg after fatally hitting her dog Choocha in the head.
Ziv Berman and his twin brother, Gali Berman, are still held hostage in Gaza.
Damari was released in January 2025 as part of a hostage release and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are still holding 48 hostages, including 47 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023. They include the bodies of at least 26 confirmed dead by the IDF. Twenty are believed to be alive and there are grave concerns for the well-being of two others, Israeli officials have said. Hamas is also holding the body of an IDF soldier killed in Gaza in 2014.
Hamas-run health authorities say IDF kills 18 as Gaza City offensive continues
[IsraelTimes] Hamas-run health authorities say IDF gunfire and strikes killed at least 18 people on Sunday, including 13 who tried to get food from near an aid site in the central Gaza Strip, and at least two in a house in Gaza City.
The IDF pounded the suburbs of Gaza City overnight from the air and ground, destroying homes and driving residents out of the area. It is also reported to have killed Abu Obeida, the spokesman for Hamas’s military wing.
The IDF spokesperson’s office said they were reviewing the reports. The figures were not verified.
Residents of Sheikh Radwan, one of the largest neighborhoods of Gaza City, said the territory had been under Israeli tank shelling and airstrikes throughout Saturday and on Sunday, forcing families to seek shelter in the western parts of the city.
The IDF has gradually escalated its operations around Gaza City over the past three weeks and is planning to conquer the city. On Friday it ended temporary pauses in the area that had allowed for aid deliveries, designating it a “dangerous combat zone.”
“They are crawling into the heart of the city where hundreds of thousands are sheltering, from the east, north, and south, while bombing those areas from the air and ground to scare people to leave,” said Rezik Salah, a father of two, from Sheikh Radwan.
#BreakingNews Reuters: Israeli Security Minister says Abu Ubaida, Hamas’s military spokesman, has been killed in Gaza. - No independent confirmation yet, and Hamas has not commented. pic.twitter.com/mh68HrQzGX
Israel declared on Sunday that notorious Hamas spokesman Hudayfa Samir Abdallah al-Kahlout, alias Abu Obeida, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip a day earlier.
The Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet initially said only that the Saturday strike had targeted a senior Hamas operative. Still, reports quickly identified the operative as the infamous terror group spokesman, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the identification at the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.
The outcome of the strike was initially unclear. Unnamed Israeli security sources had expressed cautious optimism as to Abu Obeida’s fate until Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed Sunday that the strike had been successful.
In a post on X, Katz wrote that the longtime spokesman “was sent to meet all the eliminated members of the axis of evil from Iran, Gaza, Lebanon, and Yemen at the bottom of hell.”
“Soon, as the campaign over Gaza intensifies,” he promised, “he will meet many more of his partners in crime there — Hamas murderers and rapists.”
Shortly after Katz’s remarks, the IDF issued a statement confirming that Abu Obeida, whom it called “the face of the terrorist organization,” had indeed been the target of Saturday’s strike.
“The operation was conducted jointly from the Shin Bet’s operations war room, in cooperation with the Southern Command, and was made possible thanks to prior intelligence gathered by the Shin Bet and Military Intelligence, which pointed to the hideout where the terrorist was located,” the IDF statement said.
The military said that for the past decade, Abu Obeida “was responsible for the propaganda apparatus of Hamas’s military wing. In this role, he oversaw spokesperson operations across brigades and battalions, coordinated between political media elements and the military wing, and was the senior figure setting propaganda policy.”
Hamas’s propaganda wing, said the IDF, “was responsible for distributing the atrocities of the October 7 massacre using footage captured by Hamas terrorists.”
Abu Obeida’s outfit also spread videos throughout the Arab world seeking to incite acts of terror and distributed videos of hostages in Gaza, the military added.
In separate remarks, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said the hit on Abu Obeida was the latest in “a series of significant IDF strikes in Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, and other areas.”
“This is not the end,” he chief said at a situational assessment in the Northern Command, where the IDF said he reviewed intelligence and discussed operational plans for the continuation of the Gaza campaign.
“The bulk of Hamas’s ruling leadership that remains is abroad, and we will reach them too,” Zamir added, and reiterated that the IDF was “acting offensively, with initiative and operational superiority across all arenas and at all times.”
Earlier on Sunday, Netanyahu had said at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting that Israel had not yet been able to confirm if Abu Obeida had been killed.
“The Shin Bet and the IDF struck the Hamas spokesman, the spokesman of the murderous evil organization, Abu Obeida,” he said.
“We still don’t know the final outcome — I hope he is no longer with us — but I notice there’s no one to speak about this from Hamas’s side,” the premier quipped. “So, the coming hours and days will tell.”
Abu Obeida had been the spokesman of Hamas’s military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, since 2004. He rose to prominence in 2006 when he announced the kidnapping of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.
The always-masked Abu Obeida has since been the face of the terror group’s higher-profile statements and its psychological warfare.
Abu Obeida’s last statement was issued on Friday evening, warning Israel that its planned offensive to conquer Gaza City would subject hostages in the area to the “same risks” as the terror group’s fighters.
In light of the assassination of the Hamas spokesman, coupled with the strikes that killed the prime minister of the Houthi-led government, Ahmed Ghaleb al-Rahwi, in Yemen last week, the cabinet was reported to have gathered for its weekly meeting in a secure alternative location out of fear of retaliatory attacks.
At the meeting, Netanyahu said that the IDF “has already begun implementing” a recent cabinet decision “to defeat Hamas and bring back all of our hostages.” Those goals have long been the stated aims of the war in Gaza, but Netanyahu seemed to be referencing the decision to move ahead with the conquest of Gaza City by the IDF.
Turning to last week’s strike on the Houthi political leadership, Netanyahu said that “in every one of his speeches, [Houthi leader Abdul-Malik] al-Houthi promises he will strike Israel, that he will destroy Israel. That’s written on their flag.”
“That promise will not be fulfilled,” he promised. “But our promise — to strike the terror regime with increased force — is being fulfilled. And how is it being fulfilled. In a deadly blow, the IDF eliminated most of the Houthi government and additional military officials.”
He said that Israel will continue working to assassinate senior Houthi officials: “This is only the beginning of the campaign targeting senior officials in Sanaa. We will reach all of them.”
Netanyahu also boasted that the Western and Arab coalitions that have attacked the Houthis in the past were unable to achieve what Israel has, and said that ever since the 12-day war with Iran in June, Israel has been “striking the remaining parts of the axis systematically — day after day, front after front.”
[IsraelTimes] A Palestinian source tells Sky News Arabia, broadcasting from the UAE, that after the reported Israeli assassination of Abu Obeida, the spokesman for Hamas’s military wing, fighters from the terror group sealed off the bombed area, keeping residents away, so that they could recover the bodies of those killed in the strike.
The source adds that the apartment targeted in the attack yesterday had been rented by Abu Obeida and his family only a few days earlier, and that his wife and children were inside the apartment with him at the time of the strike.
The report does not mention whether Abu Obeida’s entire family was killed, but footage of the destruction and the number of casualties reported yesterday indicate that it is likely.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/01/2025 00:00 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Lebanese state media reports Israeli jets fired a ‘large number of missiles’; residents of northern Israel report hearing the explosions from dozens of miles away
Israeli Air Force jets carried out a series of large-scale Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s against Hezbollah underground bunkers in southern Leb ...The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... on Sunday morning, the IDF announced
The IDF said it struck the terror group’s "military infrastructure, including underground infrastructure" where the military had identified Hezbollah activity in the Beaufort Ridge area of the Nabatiyeh Governate.
"The existence of the sites and the activity within them constitute a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon" that were reached in November, ending a period of open conflict, the military added.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported intense strikes in the wooded area of Ali al-Taher, where forest fires were later declared, and in al-Debsha, where serious damage was recorded.
According to NNA, jets fired "a large number of missiles," with images showing thick columns of smoke rising into the sky.
Residents of northern Israel reportedly heard the impacts of the strikes from dozens of miles away.
The strikes came as the Lebanese government pledged to take steps to disarm Hezbollah, which has effectively controlled southern Lebanon for decades. Hezbollah has vowed not to surrender its weapons.
The Lebanese government is expected on Sunday to come up with a plan to convince Hezbollah to disarm, US envoy Tom Barrack said Tuesday.
Hezbollah began launching near-daily attacks on Israel border towns on October 8, 2023 — a day after fellow Iran-backed terror group Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... invaded southern Israel, sparking the war in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... .Hezbollah’s rocket attacks displaced some 60,000 residents of northern Israel. In a bid to make it safe for them to return home, Israel in September stepped up operations in Lebanon, leading to two months of open warfare that ended with the November truce.
Israeli troops have remained stationed in several points in southern Lebanon following a ceasefire with Hezbollah in November 2024. The IDF says it carries out strikes in response to violations of the ceasefire.
[IsraelTimes] IDF forces destroyed a building last night being used by the Hezbollah terror group in the town of Ayta ash Shab in southern Lebanon, the military says in a statement.
According to the IDF, the building was also the home of a Hezbollah operative, Muhammad Husayn Qasim, who was killed about a week ago after troops identified him working to rebuild Hezbollah infrastructure in the area.
The military says the operative was targeted at a “significant” site for the terror group.
The IDF says the terrorist was acting in violation of the ceasefire agreement reached in November between Israel and Lebanon.
The Lebanese government agreed last month to move ahead with a US-backed plan for the Lebanese army to disarm Hezbollah, although the terror group has vowed to resist.
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.
... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
