🚨 BREAKING: A federal grand jury has just INDICTED Cal State Professor Jonathan Caravello after he threw a TEAR GAS canister at federal agents raiding a weed farm in California
A California professor was indicted for allegedly throwing a tear gas canister at federal agents during a massive raid on a cannabis farm in July that resulted in the arrest of more than 350 illegal immigrants.
Jonathan Caravello, a 37-year-old professor at California State University Channel Islands, was charged with one count of assault on a federal officer using a deadly or dangerous weapon, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California said in a news release on Wednesday.
On July 10, federal agents conducted a raid at Glass House Farms, a 160-acre marijuana farm, in Camarillo, a city in Ventura County, California. The agents encountered protesters who gathered at the entrance and used their bodies and vehicles to stop authorities from leaving the property, prosecutors said, citing court documents.
As the raid was taking place, violent clashes erupted between ICE agents and around 500 protesters, some of whom waved Mexican flags.
#2
Fish always goes bad from the head down. Once creatures like that replaced genuine scholars & scientists in Western academia, Western civilization was doomed.
[IsraelTimes] Anti-Israel movement accuses English rock group of ‘complicit silence’ over Gaza war, rails at guitarist for collaborating with Israeli artist.
The anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement on Wednesday called for a boycott of Radiohead after the British group announced its first tour in seven years, accusing the band of "silence" amid 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... and citing one of its members’ ties to Israeli artist Dudu Tassa.
"Last year, we got together to rehearse, just for the hell of it," drummer Philip Selway said on Instagram. "After a seven-year pause, it felt really good to play the songs again and reconnect with a musical identity that has become lodged deep inside all five of us."
Radiohead, which also comprises singer and main songwriter Thom Yorke, guitarists Jonny Greenwood and Ed O’Brien, and bass player Colin Greenwood, will play four dates each in Madrid, Bologna, London, Copenhagen, and Berlin.
But the announcement was met with a boycott call by BDS.
Fans can register to buy tickets for Radiohead’s tour from Friday.
Greenwood, who is married to Israeli artist Sharona Kata, has a long collaboration with Israeli musician Tassa. In May, the two canceled shows in the UK due to what they said were credible threats against the venues and audiences.
In response to criticism of its 2017 concert in Tel Aviv, Yorke called BDS protesters "offensive and patronizing."
Last October, a year following the October 7 Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... -led terror massacre that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza, Yorke clashed with an anti-Israel heckler before storming offstage at a concert in Melbourne, Australia.
Yorke was nearing the end of his solo show when a protester began yelling about the Jewish state.
Radiohead last performed in 2018, in support of its last album, 2016’s "A Moon Shaped Pool." It is unclear if the band is preparing a new release of original material, but earlier this month, it did announce a new live album, "Hail to the Thief — Live Recordings 2003-2009," arriving October 31.
In the years since their last live performance, the members of Radiohead have been busy. Yorke and Greenwood’s art rock spinoff project, The Smile, has released three albums. Colin Greenwood joined Nick Cave’s live band. O’Brien released his debut solo album, "Earth," in 2020, and in 2023, Selway released his third solo album, "Strange Dance."
[BBC] Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the US will "blow up" foreign crime groups if needed, possibly in collaboration with other countries.
"Now they're gonna help us find these people and blow them up, if that's what it takes," Rubio said during a visit to Ecuador.
He also announced the US will designate two of Ecuador's largest criminal gangs, Los Lobos and Los Choneros, as foreign terrorist organisations.
The comments come days after US forces carried out a strike on a boat in the Caribbean Sea. The White House says it killed 11 drug-traffickers, though it did not release their identities.
Late on Thursday, the defence department accused two Venezuelan military aircraft of flying near a US vessel in a "highly provocative move designed to interfere with our counter narco-terror operations". Venezuela is yet to respond to the claim.
Marco Rubio was asked whether smugglers coming from US allies, like Mexico and Ecuador, could face "unilateral execution" from US forces. He said "co-operative governments" would help identify smugglers.
"The president has said he wants to wage war on these groups because they've been waging war on us for 30 years and no-one has responded.
"But there's no need to do that in many cases with the friendly governments, because the friendly governments are going to help us."
The Ecuadorian and Mexican governments have not said they would assist with military strikes.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Two Venezuelan F-16 fighter jets flew over a US Navy destroyer in the southern Caribbean sea as a show of force on Thursday, the Department of Defense said.
The act was the latest instance of saber rattling between President Donald Trump and President Nicolás Maduro, and comes two days after Trump ordered an air strike on a Venezuelan cartel boat.
The US warship, called the Jason Dunham, did not engage with the Venezuelan aircraft, according to The New York Times.
In a statement on Thursday night, the Pentagon explained that the planes came from Maduro regime and that they were sent there to 'interfere with our counter narco-terror operations'.
'This highly provocative move was designed to interfere with our counter-narco-error operations,' the statement read.
'The cartel running Venezuela is strongly advised not to pursue any further effort to obstruct, deter or interfere with counternarcotics and counterterrorism operations carried out by the US military.'
What remains unclear is if this was a response to the Trump administration targeting the cartel boat. Trump said the strike on Tuesday killed 11 Tren de Aragua drug runners.
The Dunham, the ship that was flown over, is part of a small collection of warships and surveillance planes that have been amassed as part of the Pentagon's counternarcotics operation.
#1
In a statement on Thursday night, the Pentagon explained that the planes came from Maduro regime and that they were sent there to 'interfere with our counter narco-terror operations'.
Please, for the uninformed, someone explain how Venezuela acquired M-16 fighters.
#2
They bought 'em 42 years ago when they were still on our side. They're all A models with one or two 2-seat Bs; and time has not been kind to them. By fighter standards the Vipers are pretty easy to maintain but a couple decades of embargoes and shoestring operations haven't done them any favors. Their actual capability should be judged thusly: they bought 24, lost two in accidents, and could put one up go go 'Boo!" at the United States Navy.
#5
I did a UNITAS cruise in the early 90’s. We operated with the Venezuelan navy at the time. I suspect that a call to On-Star could probably turn those planes into submarines without shots fired.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/05/2025 15:02 Comments ||
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[IsraelTimes] Last month Australia accused Tehran of directing antisemitic arson attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.
Iran has downgraded diplomatic ties with Australia, its foreign ministry said on Thursday, a week after Australia expelled the Iranian ambassador over accusations that Tehran directed two antisemitic arson attacks in the cities of Sydney and Melbourne. "Oh Noes!"
“According to diplomatic law and in response to Australia’s action, the Islamic Republic has also reciprocally reduced the level of Australia’s diplomatic presence in Iran,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said, adding that Canberra’s ambassador had left Iran.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said last week that operations at the Iranian embassy in Tehran were suspended and all Australian diplomats were safe in a third country.
Canberra’s decision to expel the Iranian ambassador, its first such move since World War II, was the latest example of a Western government accusing Iran of carrying out hostile covert activities on foreign soil.
The Islamic Republic has denied the Australian accusations.
“The accusation of antisemitism against Iran is ridiculous and baseless,” Baghaei said, adding that Tehran does not welcome the deterioration in bilateral relations with Canberra.
Iranian officials said Tehran’s embassy in Canberra was continuing to provide consular services.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
09/05/2025 00:00 ||
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#1
Such a loss...
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
09/05/2025 7:35 Comments ||
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Do they have a functional elected government yet? I’ve lost track.
[IsraelTimes] Channel 12 also reported Thursday that after Belgium declared Smotrich and Ben Gvir personae non gratae, Brussels began working to extend the ban across all 29 European states that are members of the Schengen Agreement.
The Schengen framework abolished internal border checks, enabling free movement within Europe. But it also requires enforcement against those barred from entry. A senior Belgian Foreign Ministry official told the network that Belgium intends to push for Smotrich and Ben Gvir to be denied entry throughout the entire Schengen zone.
While the final decision would still rest with each border officer, Belgium aims to see the ban applied consistently across all the countries, the report continued.
Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot unveiled the ban on the "two bully boy Israeli ministers" on Tuesday, alongside his announcement that Belgium will recognize a Paleostinian state at the United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... General Assembly later this month, adding that sanctions will be imposed on the Israeli government.
The Netherlands and Norway have already barred the two Israeli ministers.
[IsraelTimes] Participants warn that anti-Israel protesters interfering in race pose threat to all competitors after demonstrators cause cyclist to crash, prevent declaration of stage 11 winner.
The integrity of the entire race has been threatened by anti-Israel protesters who have repeatedly interfered in the competition, members of the peloton say.
Pro-Palestinian protesters on Wednesday disrupted stage 11 of the annual road race, leading judges not to award a winner for the 157.4km (98-mile) stretch of the race, which began and ended in Bilbao.
“Due to some incidents at the finish line, we have decided to take the time at three kilometers before the line,” the race director announced on Radio Vuelta. “We won’t have a stage winner. We will give the points for the mountain classification and the intermediate sprint, but not on the finish line.”
The disruption came a day after pro-Palestinian protesters stormed the track during stage 10, causing a member of Belgium’s Intermarché-Wanty team to crash and fall.
Video footage shared on X showed Simone Petilli hit the ground as protesters chanting pro-Palestinian slogans ran onto the road; police tried to restrain them.
Last week, during stage 5, around 10 protesters ran out onto the road with banners and Palestine flags in an attempt to slow down the Israeli team. In a video circulating on social media, three people can be seen holding a banner with the inscription “Neutrality is complicity. Boycott Israel” in Catalan while flanked by Palestinian flags, before being removed by race officials.
A[IsraelTimes] Israeli chess players set to take part in an international tournament in Spain next week have been told they may not compete under Israel’s national flag and are allowed to participate only under the flag of the International Chess Federation (FIDE).
Hebrew media outlets report that the organizers of the Open Sestao Basque Country competition next week have sent a letter to the seven Israelis set to participate, claiming the decision was made due to “reasons beyond our control.”
“This step was agreed upon by both the chief arbiter of the competition and the Spanish Chess Federation,” the letter reportedly says. “The FIDE flag will appear both on the official draw lists and on the players’ posters.”
Israeli players have called on the FIDE to intervene, reports say.
The letter comes as a major cycling competition in Spain, the Vuelta a España, is being overrun by anti-Israel protesters interfering in the event, threatening the operations of the entire race.
An Israeli team, Israel–Premier Tech, has faced calls to withdraw from the competition, including from the event’s organizers. But the team has declared it “remains committed to racing on.”
[IsraelTimes] FM Sa’ar tells counterpart Israel wants good ties with France but move to recognize Palestine harms Israeli interests; Netanyahu warns Jerusalem can also take unilateral steps.
[IsraelTimes] Istanbul governor cites ‘intense calls’ to cancel performance by Enrico Macias, who has given shows in country for 60 years, over his pro-Israel stance
Turkish authorities have banned a concert of Enrico Macias, a French singer of Algerian-Jewish origin, after calls for protest over his pro-Israeli stance.
The Istanbul governor’s office late on Wednesday said that Macias’s performance scheduled for Friday evening in the city has been banned “after intense calls for protests against the concert.”
Not actual protests, of course, merely calls for protests.
Such protests would place protesters “in an unjust position legally, and cause grievances,” the office said in a statement.
Any protests around the concert venue in Istanbul’s Sisli district on Friday were also banned by the governor.
The 86-year-old singer told AFP that he has performed in Turkey for 60 years and is “deeply surprised and saddened not to be able to see my audience, with whom I have always shared values of peace and fraternity.”
There are about 14,000 Jews remaining in Turkey, compared to the 280,000 descendants of those who moved to Israel since the 1920s.
#3
Our small community here in southwest Kansas is hiring two deputies. Kind of a change of pace for city policemen, but it does have its benefits such as little crime, few illegal immigrants, and community supports.
#4
I think we see why Chinese are targets for the knockout game. It's not just that they can't effectively fight back, they're often pricks as well.
Posted by: Regular joe ||
09/05/2025 13:15 Comments ||
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#5
Let me get this straight for the record in the civil service hearing that follows the dismissal of a career officer-you are terminating the officer for his failure to obstruct federal law enforcement?
#6
^ My advice for the knockout game would be to not mistake Philipinos for Chinese. I've seen a tiny Philipino go right to work on a guy twice his size with sap gloves in SF"s SOMA district. It was quite something to watch
[Rudaw] The Iraqi government has not invited the Kurdish administration in northeast Syria (Rojava) for a key conference in New York regarding the fate of thousands of individuals held by Rojava authorities for their ties with 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), a Kurdish official told Rudaw English on Wednesday.
Iraq plans to hold the conference on September 26 on the sidelines of the United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... General Assembly. The aim of the event is to accelerate the repatriation of ISIS-linked individuals from the notorious al-Hol camp in Rojava’s Hasaka city,
Sheikhmous Ahmed, who oversees all internally displaced persons (IDP) and refugee camps in Rojava, told Rudaw English on Wednesday that they welcome the move by Iraq but expressed his disappointment for Baghdad's failure to invite the Kurdish administration in Syria to the event.
"Officials from the Autonomous Administration [Rojava] should have been invited as they are related to this issue but, unfortunately, we have not received any official invitation from the Iraqi government or UN," Ahmed said.
Iraq has repatriated its nationals in groups, bringing them to al-Jada camp south of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , where they go through a rehabilitation program before reintegrating into the community. Baghdad has set a goal of repatriating all Iraqi citizens from camps in Rojava by 2027.
Baghdad repatriated around 800 nationals from al-Hol camp last week, and Ahmed said the Iraqi authorities are preparing for the return for another 1,000 nationals in the coming days.
The camp has a population of 27,488 people (7,770 families), mostly women and kiddies with alleged ties with ISIS. The number includes 15,233 Syrians (4,200 families), and 5,854 Iraqis (1,655) families. The rest are from numerous countries around the world, according to the latest figure Ahmed’s office provided to Rudaw English.
Iraq has invited many countries to attend the conference.
The Rojava official said Baghdad aims to minimize the number of its nationals in the camp before the conference, noting that some Iraqis are reluctant to return out of fear of reprisals by militia groups or because they are wanted by the government.
Al-Hol camp is infamous for its squalid conditions and has been branded a breeding ground for terrorism. Rojava security forces on Wednesday announced that they thwarted a mass escape from the camp on Tuesday, adding that 56 people were arrested while trying to escape.
Rojava and US officials have repeatedly urged countries to repatriate their nationals, but some governments remain reluctant over fear of holy warrior ideology spreading at home.
Australia’s ruling Liberal-National Coalition has slammed Canberra for its plan to repatriate a dozen ISIS brides from Syria. They are expected to be sent back to New South Wales and Victoria, reported Sky News Australia on Wednesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/05/2025 00:00 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Hamas releases a video showing the hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal together with another hostage.
Unusually, Gilboa-Dalal is seen in part of the footage above ground, inside a car. In the video, he refers to being held captive for 22 months, which could indicate that the footage was filmed recently.
The family of the second hostage has asked for him not to be identified, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. The families have not given consent for the video itself to be published.
Gilboa-Dalal was last seen in a video in February, during a ceasefire, when Hamas forced him and another captive, Evyatar David, to watch the release of other hostages.
Boats from Tunisia joined the flotilla to Gaza in the Mediterranean today. The Israeli Minister of National Security announced that once the boats violate the blockade, they will be confiscated and put to use by the Israeli police. pic.twitter.com/vFZeFthUjA
Nelson Mandela’s grandson — a supporter of the Hamas terror group — says Palestinians’ lives are worse than anything Black South Africans experienced under apartheid, and urges the global community to come to their aid. Mandela is joining a group of 10 South African activists in the Global Sumud Flotilla.
Mandla Mandela, 51, speaks ahead of boarding a flight to Tunisia to join a flotilla of pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel activists aiming to deliver food and humanitarian supplies to Gaza.
Last year, Mandela said the UK government denied him an entry visa because of his support for the Hamas terror organization.
The letter from the UK Home Office denying him entry pointed out several of Mandela’s posts on Instagram in which he voiced his support for Hamas, including one showing him with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in an explosion in Tehran last July.
It also noted that Mandela attended Haniyeh’s funeral, having met him twice earlier in the year, and posted a photo of himself with a senior Hamas leader, Khaled Mashaal.
[IsraelTimes] Israeli TV publishes blood-stained sketch listing code names of the Oct. 7 architect’s apparent hiding places before he was killed last year
A drawing outlining a map of Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... tunnels under part of Rafah was reportedly found in the pocket of Yahya Sinwar,
…remember him? He used to be somebody…
the Paleostinian terrorgroup’s chief, when he was killed in the southern 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... city last year.
The bloodstained, hand-drawn map, published Wednesday by Channel 12 news, shows a grid-like sketch of the tunnel network below the city’s western Tel Sultan neighborhood in southern Gaza. It also lists places where Sinwar apparently hid, along with code names for the different hideouts.
Sinwar, the principal architect of the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel, evaded Israeli troops for more than a year after the attack.
The Israel Defense Forces said he managed to escape from his hometown of Khan Younis shortly before being captured by the Israeli military in early 2024.
He was killed in mid-October of that year by troops who happened upon him and other Hamas operatives in Rafah, and his identity was verified through DNA testing. The IDF subsequently released footage of his final moments in which he can be seen trying to fight off a drone after fleeing from Israeli forces, before being killed.
The crumpled document published by Channel 12, believed to have been drawn by Sinwar, appeared to display a rudimentary map of the tunnel network in Tel Sultan, where he had hidden before being forced above ground. Several locations on the map have names, including "The Old Camp," "The Western Camp," "The First," and "The Last."
The network reported that as the IDF destroyed tunnels in Rafah and Tel Sultan, Sinwar was forced aboveground, leading to his death. Parts of the map had apparent bloodstains.
Destroying Hamas’s extensive Gaza tunnel network has been a prime Israeli objective in the war. The terror group has used the subterranean system, built over the course of years, to hide its leaders and operatives from IDF troops, and to imprison Israeli hostages.
After Sinwar’s death, he was succeeded by his brother Mohammed, who was killed by the IDF this year. The IDF has assassinated numerous senior Hamas officials in Gaza and abroad since October 7, with the terror group now run by a council of leaders.
[IsraelTimes] 60-year-old reservist denies setting trash bins alight in Jerusalem, which destroyed a car and forced neighbors to evacuate
A 60-year-old man arrested on suspicion of setting fire to several trash bins during a hostage protest in Jerusalem will remain in detention for another five days, police announced Thursday morning.
Officers brought Amos Doron, a resident of Ramat Gan and lieutenant colonel in the reserves,
What is it about lieutenant colonels getting caught misbehaving today?
to the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court, where he was ordered to remain in police custody until September 8.
Doron was arrested the day before over fires started near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in the upscale Rehavia neighborhood, which destroyed a car and forced residents to evacuate their homes.
Police presented the presiding judge with footage of Doron at the scene of the incident, claiming he was in disguise when he set the fire, according to the Kan public broadcaster.
Doron reportedly denied the allegations. No, no! Certainly not! against him but admitted that he was in Jerusalem at the time the fire started, stating he traveled to the capital for personal matters unrelated to the protest movement.
At around the same time as the blaze in Rehavia, another masked activist set fire to a pile of tires near the Prime Minister’s Office in the capital’s Givat Ram neighborhood.
Police arrested an 83-year-old man on suspicion of causing the blazes, but released him to house arrest after searching his home and finding no incriminating evidence.
No injuries were reported in either incident.
Meanwhile,
...back at the saw mill, Scarface Al had tied Little Nell to the log and was about to turn on the buzz saw... another protester arrested Wednesday, who allegedly lit a smoke bomb atop the National Library after climbing on the building’s roof, was ordered held in jug until Thursday evening.
Police, who sought to keep the demonstrator in detention for another six days, announced their intention to appeal the ruling.
The suspect went up to the roof with 12 other protesters, who were released hours after their arrest.
The group hung massive banners from the library building denouncing Netanyahu and accusing him of abandoning the hostages due to the government’s perceived foot-dragging in negotiations for the captives’ release.
More details about the misbehaviour from the Times of Israel here.
#1
Reservist whose car was burned by leftist activists refuses donations Yoav Bar-Shai, whose car was burned by leftist activists demonstrating near the Prime Minister's residence, says he opposes the demonstrations, urges donations to be redirected to help injured soldiers with rehab.
[IsraelTimes] Employees are invited for a ‘drink,’ whereupon they receive partial salaries; source in terror group says senior members get paid secretly ‘so as not to be exposed to strikes’ by Israel
One of thousands of public servants 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... ’s Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... -run government, Karim, a public works ministry employee, received what seemed like an ordinary message on his phone: an invitation "for a coffee."
The text gave a time for a meeting near a school sheltering displaced people amid the wreckage and rubble of nearly two years of war between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip, which was triggered on October 7, 2023, when the Paleostinian terror group led a devastating invasion of southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
Karim, who, like others interviewed by AFP, asked to use a pseudonym, explained how he went to the meeting in July terrified of a possible Israeli attack, but found "an employee I knew waiting for me."
He "gave me 1,000 shekels ($298)," the 39-year-old said, adding that that was only part of his pre-war salary of 2,900 shekels.
The war has destroyed public infrastructure and put most Hamas babus government employees out of work, but testimonies gathered by AFP from civil servants confirm Hamas is still paying some salaries, at least in part and with delays.
Israel has dealt a series of body blows to Hamas and its institutions over the past two years, decimating the terror group that seized total control of Gaza from the West Bank-based Paleostinian Authority in a deadly 2007 coup.
Residents in Gaza explained they try to avoid being close to people linked to Hamas or its fighters, for fear of the Israeli military locating and targeting them with strikes that often kill or injure those around them.
According to witnesses, the army has repeatedly targeted people sent by Hamas to deliver salaries.
’ESCAPED DEATH’
Alaa, a teacher at a public school in Gaza City, last received a salary in June.
The mother of five had received a text message asking her to go to a school sheltering displaced people in northern Gaza.
When she arrived, "the school had just been bombed and the employee in charge of distributing salaries had fled. Thank God I was late, I escaped death."
She had to return to the area the next day to receive her salary, she said.
The Israeli army regularly carries out strikes on schools, where displaced people shelter, accusing fighters from Hamas and other terror groups of using them as bases and command posts despite the danger such use poses to noncombatants.
Before the war, Hamas’s government employed an estimated 40,000 people, drawing from revenue from customs duties and taxes to run public services.
From 2021 until the start of the war in Gaza in 2023, 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... pledged $360 million in annual funding to the Paleostinian territory, at Israel’s request, which included salaries of civil servants such as doctors and teachers. Doha has denied providing financial aid to Hamas.
Hamas officials had claimed, before the war in Gaza, to have received financial support from Iran, though the Islamic Theocratic Republic has never confirmed providing funds.
According to an official familiar with the matter in Gaza who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, Hamas obtained cash mainly through smuggling via tunnels dug near the border or by sea, despite Israel’s blockade.
In February 2024, the Israeli army released videos of safes and bags containing large sums of money (in shekels, US dollars and Jordanian dinars) that it said it had discovered in tunnels under Gaza, along with documents it claimed proved cash transfers from 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 Hamas.
Jamil, 43, an accountant at a government institution, told AFP Hamas "stored hundreds of millions of dollars in tunnels or safe places for difficult times such as war," without providing further details.
Israel has also long claimed that significant portions of the humanitarian aid entering Gaza were diverted by the terror group and sold on the black market for inflated prices or handed to loyalists.
The remarks about Hamas payments matched those in a similar previous report by the BBC.
’MAFIA’
The Israeli military has hit Hamas’s infrastructure and targeted financial leaders like Ismail Barhoum, who was killed in March in an Israeli strike.
Israel has "bombed Hamas-owned banks, places where money was stored, and assassinated financial system officials, but that didn’t stop the process," he said.
According to a Hamas source who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, bigwigs receive their salaries in secret, where they live, in displacement camps or schools turned shelters, "so as not to be exposed to strikes," seemingly confirming Israel’s claim that Hamas uses the civilian population as human shields.
Jamil explained that the salary payment process is "very complex," changing according to the security situation.
Hamas "is keen to pay part of the salaries as soon as the funds are available," he added.
But officials interviewed by AFP complain their wages are not enough to meet basic needs, in a territory where the UN declared famine last month.
Others complained that only civil servants who are members of Hamas get paid.
Massoud, an officer in the Hamas police force, said he recently received a message on his wife’s phone inviting him to "have tea."
His wife was pleasantly surprised, grateful that his salary had arrived.
But the money "is not enough to eat, and we are hungry," he told AFP.
"We’re with the resistance," he said of Hamas, but added the terror group should have been "prepared for such hellish times."
Abdallah, 38, a teacher, last received his salary (950 shekels) in July, stretching it, like most Gazooks who still manage an income, to feed 20 extended family members after his three brothers were killed near aid distribution sites.
"I said goodbye to my wife and children without telling them I was going to get my salary."
This way of being paid is "painful, it’s like you’re working for the mafia."
Those who think them heroes will still blame the Jooooooos.
[IsraelTimes] Gazan school principal accuses terror group of killing his son at an aid site.
Hamas-linked social media channels on Thursday shared video of the terror group’s members beating Palestinian merchants who refused to take cash, as the Israel Defense Forces moved ahead with its plan to conquer Gaza City.
Social media accounts affiliated with Hamas published footage showing men identified as members of the terror group beating a number of people in Gaza with clubs.
According to the social media accounts, the victims of the violence were merchants in Khan Younis, in the southern Strip, who had refused to accept cash payments.
The Gazan economy is facing a mounting crisis due to the banks remaining closed and the deteriorating condition of physical money.
Hamas is apparently attempting to keep the economy moving by insisting that vendors accept currency, no matter its condition, rather than resort to bartering or other arrangements.
On September 1, Hamas’s Khan Younis police issued a statement instructing merchants to accept all types of banknotes and coins, whether new or worn, so long as they are not counterfeit.
Hamas, which ruled Gaza for almost two decades before its October 7, 2023, invasion of Israel started the ongoing war, has not been replaced as the de facto civil authority in the Strip, though the IDF now controls some three quarters of the enclave.
IDF SHARES CLIP OF GAZAN PRINCIPAL SAYING HAMAS KILLED HIS SON
The IDF’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), meanwhile, published new footage in which a former Gaza school principal could be seen launching a scathing verbal attack on Hamas leadership, accusing the terror group of murdering his son and other workers at aid distribution centers in Khan Younis.
In the video, the man, identified as Sa’ad al-Mihsal, says that his son Osama, who worked at the distribution centers, was among 12 young men killed by Hamas operatives in a recent incident.
“An incident in which 12 young men are killed — to what Islam do those murderers and criminals belong?” he asks, adding, “To the leadership outside Gaza, to the faction leaders who negotiate prisoner exchanges in return for cartons of aid — the blood of our sons takes priority, the blood of our sons is what you must look into first.”
He further accuses Hamas of plundering resources and abandoning residents, saying, “Our honor has been violated, our children’s money has been looted and stolen.”
Al-Mihsal recalls the joy he and other Gazans felt when they “saw those hostages return in good health, with beauty and clothing,” but says that faith in the group has since collapsed. It was unclear whether he was referring to hostages taken by terror groups and released in deals, or using the term to refer to Palestinian prisoners released by Israel in under the deals.
“To what Islam do we belong?” he demands in the video.
COGAT chief Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian said the testimony in the clip exposes Hamas’s true face.
Addressing Gazans directly, Alian said, “The terrorist organization Hamas is your enemy. It steals your resources, spreads lies, and tramples on your rights… It is not protecting the Gaza Strip, but rather destroying it and you from within.”
The IDF released an audio recording Wednesday in which a Gaza City resident could be heard telling a COGAT officer that Hamas was actively preventing civilians from evacuating south ahead of the IDF’s planned offensive to conquer Gaza City.
[IsraelTimes] Emirati envoy Lana Nusseibeh appeals directly to Israelis in Times of Israel interview, as Netanyahu and his ministers weigh controversial response to Western recognition of Palestine
[IsraelTimes] Rocket streaking skyward causes worry in central areas, as some mistake it for a missile interceptor; initial assessment shows satellite performing as planned
The "Ofek 19" satellite successfully launched into space late Tuesday, and initial tests showed it was performing as planned, the Defense Ministry, in collaboration with the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Aerospace Industries, announced.
The satellite, which will be used for military reconnaissance, was launched at 10:30 p.m. from Palmachim airbase in central Israel.
In an update Wednesday morning, the Defense Ministry said the spacecraft successfully entered orbit, began transmitting data, and passed a series of initial tests.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the successful launch served not only as a technological milestone but also as a warning to Israel’s adversaries.
"The launch of the ’Ofek-19’ satellite yesterday is an achievement of the highest global standard... it is also a message to all our enemies, wherever they may be — we are watching you at all times and in all circumstances," he wrote on X.
Katz also extended an invitation to regional powers to cooperate with Israel in harnessing such capabilities "for a better shared future for us all," while stressing that Israel will continue to invest heavily in space and satellite programs to strengthen its security edge.
The launch of the Ofek 19 spy satellite from Palmachim air base, September 2, 2025. (Defense Ministry)
The launch reportedly caused brief panic in Tel Aviv and central Israel, where residents mistook the satellite for an interceptor missile. In videos posted online, passersby could be heard wondering what the rocket launch was.
Over the past two years, amid the ongoing 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, Iran-backed terror groups throughout the region have fired hundreds of ballistic missiles and rockets at Israel, most of which have been intercepted by air defense systems.
The Defense Ministry said a "Shavit" launcher lofted the satellite into space, where it entered the planned orbit.
"Ofek-19" is a synthetic aperture radar observation satellite with advanced capabilities, designed to provide high-resolution imaging for intelligence and surveillance purposes.
Engineers from the Defense Ministry’s Space Department and IAI’s Space Division were continuing a series of pre-planned checks before the satellite enters full operational service in the near future. Responsibility for operating it will then be transferred to the IDF’s Unit 9900, which specializes in VISINT, or visual intelligence.
"Ofek-19" follows "Ofek-13," which was launched in March 2023, continuing Israel’s efforts to maintain advanced space-based observation capabilities, the ministry noted.
[IsraelTimes] Experts consulted by wire service divided on purpose of major construction project, assessing it could be for new heavy water reactor or for assembling alleged nuclear weapons
Construction work has intensified on a major new structure at a facility key to Israel’s long-suspected atomic weapons program, according to satellite images analyzed by experts. They told the News Agency that Dare Not be Named it could be a new reactor or a facility to assemble nuclear arms — but secrecy shrouding the program makes it difficult to know for sure.
The work at the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center near the city of Dimona will renew questions about Israel’s widely believed status as the Mideast’s only nuclear-armed state.
Seven experts who examined the images all said they believed the construction was related to Israel’s long-suspected nuclear weapons program, given its proximity to the reactor at Dimona, where no civilian power plant exists. However,
it was a brave man who first ate an oyster... they were split on what the new construction could be.
Three said the location and size of the area under construction and the fact that it appeared to have multiple floors meant the most likely explanation for the work was the construction of a new heavy water reactor. Such reactors can produce plutonium and another material key to building nuclear weapons.
The other four acknowledged it could be a heavy water reactor, but also suggested the work could be related to a new facility for assembling nuclear weapons. They declined to be definitive, given the construction was still in an early stage.
"It’s probably a reactor — that judgement is circumstantial but that’s the nature of these things," said Jeffrey Lewis, an expert at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, who based his assessment on the images and Dimona’s history. "It’s very hard to imagine it is anything else."
Israel does not confirm or deny having atomic weapons, and its government did not respond to requests for comment. The White House, which is Israel’s staunchest ally, also did not respond to requests for comment.
CONSTRUCTION UNDERWAY FOR YEARS
The News Agency that Dare Not be Named first reported on excavations at the facility, some 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of Jerusalem, in 2021. Then, satellite images only showed workers digging a hole some 150 meters (165 yards) long and 60 meters (65 yards) wide near the site’s original heavy water reactor.
Images taken July 5 by Planet Labs PBC show intensified construction at the site of the dig. Thick concrete retaining walls seem to be laid at the site, which appears to have multiple floors underground. Cranes loom overhead.
There’s no containment dome or other features typically associated with a heavy water reactor now visible at the site. However,
it was a brave man who first ate an oyster... one could be added later or a reactor could be designed without one.
Dimona’s current heavy water reactor, which came online in the 1960s, has been operating far longer than most reactors of the same era. That suggests it will need to be replaced or retrofitted soon.
"It’s tall, which you would expect, because the reactor core is going to be pretty tall," Lewis said. "Based on the location, size and general lack of construction there, it’s more likely a reactor than anything."
Edwin Lyman, a nuclear expert at the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Union of Concerned Scientists, also said the new construction could be a box-shaped reactor that doesn’t have a visible containment dome, though he acknowledged the lack of transparency made it difficult to be certain.
Israel "doesn’t allow any international inspections or verification of what it’s doing, which forces the public to speculate," said Lyman.
While details about Dimona remain closely held secrets in Israel, a whistleblower in the 1980s released details and photos of the facility that led experts to conclude that Israel had produced dozens of nuclear warheads.
"If it’s a heavy water reactor, they’re seeking to maintain the capability to produce spent fuel that they then can process to separate plutonium for more nuclear weapons," said Daryl G. Kimball, the executive director of the Washington-based Arms Control Association. "Or they are building a facility to maintain their arsenal or build additional warheads."
ISRAEL’S PROGRAM IS THOUGHT TO RELY ON BYPRODUCTS OF A HEAVY WATER REACTOR
Israel, like India and Pakistain, is believed to rely on a heavy water reactor to make its nuclear weapons. The reactors can be used for scientific purposes, but plutonium — which causes the nuclear chain reaction needed in an atomic bomb — is a byproduct of the process. Tritium is another byproduct and can be used to boost the explosive yield of warheads.
Given the secrecy of Israel’s program, it remains difficult to estimate just how many nuclear weapons it possesses. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists in 2022 put the number at around 90 warheads.
Obtaining more tritium to replace decaying material may be the reason for the construction at Dimona, as Lyman noted it decays 5 percent each year.
"If they’re building a new production reactor," he said, "it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re looking to expand the plutonium they have, but to manufacture tritium."
ISRAEL HAS A POLICY OF NUCLEAR AMBIGUITY
Israel is believed to have begun building the nuclear site in the desert in the late 1950s after facing several wars with its Arab neighbors surrounding its founding in 1948 in the wake of the Holocaust.
Its policy of nuclear ambiguity is thought to have helped deter its enemies. It is among nine countries confirmed or believed to have atomic weapons and among just four that have never joined the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, a landmark international accord meant to stop the spread of nuclear arms. That means the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations ...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly... ’ nuclear watchdog, has no right to conduct inspections of Dimona.
Asked about the construction, the Vienna-based IAEA reiterated that Israel "is not obligated to provide information about other nuclear facilities in the country" outside of its Soreq research reactor.
[Rudaw] Syrian government and state-affiliated forces were behind the "extrajudicial" and "deliberate" killings of 46 Druze men and women in mid-July’s deadly sectarian violence in the southern Suwayda province, Amnesty International said on Tuesday, demanding accountability.
Clashes broke out on July 13 between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin tribes in Suwayda. The conflict escalated with the involvement of Syrian government forces before a US-brokered ceasefire was announced on July 19.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported in late August that the corpse count from the Suwayda violence had surpassed 2,000, including "789 civilians summarily executed" by Syrian government forces. The monitor has reported near-daily ceasefire violations since mid-June.
"The Syrian government must hold members of government security and military forces and members of affiliated forces accountable for the extrajudicial executions of Druze men and women in Suwayda," Amnesty said, adding that verified testimonies revealed "46 Druze men and women deliberately and unlawfully killed."
It said that "executions took place in a public square, residential homes, a school, a hospital, and a ceremonial hall."
Amnesty also revealed that its findings include "verified videos of gunnies in security and military uniforms, some bearing official insignia, executing unarmed people."
Syrian authorities in July formed an investigative committee to probe the Suwayda violence, and the body is expected to deliver its findings within three months.
"The horrific human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... violations in Suwayda are yet another grim reminder of the deadly consequences of impunity for sectarian-based killings in Syria, which has emboldened government and affiliated forces to kill without fear of accountability," said Diana Seeman, Amnesty’s Syria researcher.
She urged the authorities in Damascus to "promptly, independently, impartially, and transparently investigate these executions and hold perpetrators accountable in fair proceedings."
The rights group also documented "at least four gunnies" in military uniforms that "wore a black patch bearing the Islamic declaration of faith, a symbol closely associated with 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)" working alongside state security forces.
ISIS has not grabbed credit for the attacks in Suwayda.
"Instead of fearing justice, men in military and security uniforms, and men affiliated with them, filmed themselves executing people in Suwayda. An independent and impartial investigation is crucial to identify perpetrators, hold them accountable and address impunity," said Seeman.
Humanitarian and health conditions have severely deteriorated in the Druze-majority province, the International Committee of the Red Thingy (ICRC) told Rudaw late August. Residents face shortages of food, medicine, and basic services.
Continued insecurity and road closures have hindered the delivery of aid from the UN, the Syrian Arab Red Islamic Thingy, and other humanitarian organizations.
Amid the Suwayda violence, Israel conducted Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s targeting Syrian military and government sites.
Israel’s stated reason for the strikes - which included the bombing of a Syrian defense ministry building in Damascus - was to protect the Druze community, citing deep cultural and familial ties between Israeli and Syrian Druze.
[IsraelTimes] A tour of the former hub of Syrian Jewry reveals a dim domestic view in stark contrast to that of the community’s diaspora, who see glimmers of hope in the new post-war government.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
09/05/2025 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
...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 
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
...
