#4
The ruling al-Thani has provided a home to the Muslim Brotherhood for more than a half century. Why the USA chose to emplace a tactical air base in the country has never been explained (except for the fact that the al-Thani suborned the Clinton family, and found American politicians easy pickings).
#5
A quick internet search reveals no articles about this, which just may be an indictment of my search skills this early in the morning. Nonetheless, I am going to tag this RUMINT for the nonce.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
10/21/2025 8:27 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Thank you for finding that for us, European Conservative. X/Twitter definitely gets stories fastest, but they’re also a tad
excitable. Skepticism is necessary.
[X] Better check with Bibi before going further with this thing, guys — he’s not been keen on Turkey for quite some time. Besides, the first step — Hamas returning all the hostages within 72 hours of signing off on the peace agreement, dead as well as living — not only is not fulfilled, but blew right past the deadline. Nor has Hamas made any moves toward disarming, so unless y’all are feeling suicidal, you might want to seriously cool your jets.
Egypt to head 4,000-strong international force in Gaza, including troops from Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Indonesia; Cairo seeks UN backing but says Palestinians will still run Gaza — The National (UAE). pic.twitter.com/bqyn8gr6di
[IsraelTimes] ‘For the king to be here, it shows me that the UK is upset about this attack,’ says one community member of royal visit to Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in the Crumpsall district of Manchester where two worshipers were killed. Or, at least Charles is. Starmer? Not so much.
Jihad Al-Shamie, a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian descent, drove a car into pedestrians outside the synagogue earlier this month and attacked people with a knife before being shot dead by armed police.
Last week, three British right-wing extremists were jailed after they were convicted of planning to attack synagogues or mosques.
[IsraelTimes] After local British authorities’ ban of supporters sparked uproar, soccer club says even if decision reversed, it will decline any allocation for fans.
The police said they could not keep fans of the Israeli team safe.
President Trump said he would slash U.S. funding to Colombia because the country’s leader “does nothing to stop” drug production in the latest sign of friction between Washington and one of its closest allies in Latin America. https://t.co/9WD2aiiJBmpic.twitter.com/s6k06jFTjh
Colombia says it has recalled its ambassador to the US, after President Donald Trump threatened to cut off aid and called Colombian President Gustavo Petro an “illegal drug leader” https://t.co/QK1xyujewEpic.twitter.com/dg8psZu5vc
[IsraelTimes] Internal security warning urges caution after Foreign Ministry staffers added to groups from Iran, Pakistan; memo follows multiple instances of Tehran recruiting Israelis online
Israeli diplomats have been added to WhatsApp groups run 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... and other hostile nations, according to a Monday report that cited an internal security warning issued to Foreign Ministry staff.
The memo came after multiple instances of Israelis being recruited via social media to spy for Iran, and of Iran contacting Israelis for both intimidation and recruitment purposes, the Ynet news site reported.
"Recently, there have been reports of [diplomats] being added to WhatsApp groups, not through their contacts. These are groups that are opened and run by our adversaries from phone numbers from Iran, Pakistain, and more," read the warning.
"Therefore, it is necessary to be vigilant about the groups you join and are added to, and even change the settings so that you can only be added to the groups by contacts who are registered with you," the warning said.
Last month, the National Cyber Directorate said it was investigating a wave of reports from Israelis who received calls, apparently from Iran, with recorded Hebrew messages trying to recruit, threaten and intimidate them.
And in June, during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran, several Israeli political figures reported receiving threatening phone calls from Iran. The Islamic Theocratic Republic also reportedly hacked former justice minister Ayelet Shaked’s phone during that time.
Meanwhile,
...back at the pond, Gloria slowly backed away from the eight-foot bull frog. If the creature croaked she would surely be deafened... dozens of cases have come to light over the past two years of Iranian agents successfully recruiting Israelis into espionage schemes via social media, specifically the Telegram messaging app.
The Israelis are usually ordinary civilians contacted by Iranian intelligence officers online.
The EU opens the Erasmus Program to North Africa and the Middle East in a "Pact for the Mediterranean" worth 42 billion euros to facilitate visa issuance, particularly for students from Morocco, Tunisia, and Egypt pic.twitter.com/MtAsVDGqDc
BREAKING - The man at the No Kings rally in Chicago who urged people to grab guns and shoot ICE agents has been identified as Moises Bernal, an employee of Wilbur Wright College in Chicago.
[IsraelTimes] Canada’s PM says his country’s recognition of Palestinian statehood stems from Israeli government’s ‘designs’ to ‘end any possibility of Palestinian state’
[BREITBART] Mohammed Nazzal, a bigwig with the Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... terrorist organization, defended his group's mass execution of Paleostinian civilians on Friday after President Donald Trump ...The man who was so stupid he beat fourteen professional politicians, a former tech CEO, and a brain surgeon for the Republican nomination in 2016, then beat The Smartest Woman in the World in the general election. Then he beat Kamala while dodging bullets... warned Hamas could face utter destruction for the murders.
Nazzal, a member of the Hamas Politburo, defended public executions as ''exceptional measures'' for dealing with ''criminals.'' He denied accusations that Hamas was simply rounding up and killing its adversaries to keep power 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... , even though the ceasefire deal stipulated that Hamas would play no role in postwar administration.
''This is a transitional phase. Civilly, there will be a technocratic administration as I said. On the ground, Hamas will be present,'' he said.
Nazzal also cast doubt on whether Hamas would disarm or not, as required by the Gaza ceasefire deal.
''I can't answer with a yes or no. Frankly, it depends on the nature of the project. The disarmament project you're talking about, what does it mean? To whom will the weapons be handed over?'' he said.
The Hamas leader insisted the group wanted to rebuild Gaza, rather than just using a truce to re-arm and replenish its numbers.
''The goal isn't to prepare for a future war,'' he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/21/2025 11:17 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1799 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
[IsraelTimes] Probe into Ra’anana couple Doria Achiel and Yuvda Israilov closed after three months without explanation; lawyer says police lacked sufficient evidence.
No doubt if they really did misbehave, the evidence will appear soon enough.
The Saftawi family in Gaza threatens those who killed their son, saying the killer is known. They warn that Hamas’s actions risk a civil war more dangerous than the Zionist war and call on Hamas to stop killing, mutilating and then begging for… pic.twitter.com/SgLlJuILwq
… then begging for forgiveness. They demand Hamas rein in the violent elements now, warning that if the crimes continue the consequences will be very serious for the Gaza cause and for Hamas’s own sons.
Hisham al-Saftawi was a former Fatah official. During the fighting the family participated in guarding aid, possibly meaning they were paid to provide security for humanitarian aid and resold it without giving Hamas their cut.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] Less than a week has passed since the signing of the "permanent peace" agreement between Israel and Palestinian Hamas, and both sides are already teetering on the brink of renewed fighting. This time, the Palestinian city of Rafah has become the flashpoint.
A battle broke out between Israelis and unidentified Palestinians near this settlement, which subsequently resulted in further bombing of the enclave.
However, behind the short-term escalation, there are signs of larger military-political work that the parties are carrying out to strengthen their positions “on the ground.”
SINGLE STRIKES
The controversial incident occurred on October 17, when a group of unidentified assailants fired at an Israeli engineering unit patrol near the border town of Rafah.
According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the attackers crossed the peace line (the so-called "Yellow Line") and used not only small arms but also anti-tank weapons, apparently attempting to damage specialized equipment and stop the destruction of underground utilities.
The Israelis returned fire, killing several attackers. A day later, they launched missile and air strikes on Rafah, Khan Yunis, Gaza, and several coastal settlements in the Palestinian enclave. They called the operation a "mirror response" to the escalation.
At the same time, Hamas continues to claim that it has nothing to do with the escalations, calling what happened “the machinations of renegades.”
Of course, the Rafah clash was not the first crisis in the final stage of the settlement. However, it was a unique case in which, in response to a localized escalation, Tel Aviv responded with a combined air and naval strike. Moreover, it deployed the same number of forces for this purpose that it had previously (in early October) used to contain Hezbollah's engineering activity in southern Lebanon.
It's worth noting that Israeli air strikes continued on October 19, this time targeting the enclave's central districts. According to IDF reports, "terrorist infrastructure facilities and weapons depots" were destroyed, as well as several tunnels.
Tel Aviv believes that such periodic raids should create a “cumulative effect” that will convince Hamas not only to negotiate, but also to quickly disarm.
PROXY REVENGE
It is possible that, under the guise of responding to "local aggression" in Gaza, Israel attempted to solve other operational problems—for example, to support its own loyalists who remained "alone" with Hamas after the signing of the peace agreement.
In addition to the Popular Forces, led by Bedouin Yasser Abu Shabab —the most prominent loyalist army vying for postwar control of the enclave—the Hellis and Dogmush clans (both active in the central part of the enclave), as well as the Al-Majaida clan (controlling parts of the southern districts), have taken up arms against Hamas. All of them seek support and protection from Tel Aviv.
And the Israelis really do have the motivation to “play on the edge” in order to protect their own creature.
After the withdrawal of Israeli troops behind the Yellow Line, Hamas quickly restored its mobilization resources, mobilizing approximately seven thousand fighters and returning to previously abandoned areas.
Moreover, the movement's leaders have appointed five new "governors" - all of whom belong to the "military wing" of Hamas (the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades), which foreshadows large-scale filtration measures and purges among the local population.
And the series of public reprisals against forces loyal to Israel, orchestrated by Hamas since its return to Gaza's cities, only strengthens this conviction.
Behind the reluctance to part with loyalists lies a cold calculation: the combined mobilization potential of Israel's Palestinian proxy forces is generally comparable to the current operational capabilities of Hamas.
Tel Aviv believes the local "armed opposition" is capable of fielding at least 6,500 motivated fighters, enough to "effectively deter" the enemy. There are still many in the General Staff who would like to shift responsibility for security in Gaza to local clans.
However, the weak point of this plan is the system's disunity: coordination among the "friends of Tel Aviv" remains poor. Each clan fights within its own "zone of control," and sometimes even clashes with others, vying for influence and control over critical infrastructure.
Moreover, there is a blood feud between some proxies (for example, the Popular Forces and the Dogmush clan) due to a series of politically motivated assassinations.
NETANYAHU'S GAME
While passions rage around Gaza, the Israeli government is quietly trying to “rewrite the history” of the still-unfinished conflict, shifting the focus to its own advantage.
In particular, the ruling coalition – at the instigation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – decided to rename the counter-terrorism operation “Iron Swords” to “The Renaissance War,” thereby emphasizing the fundamental importance of the fight against Hamas for Israeli society.
At the same time, the opposition and the journalistic community interpret the situation in their own way, calling the renamings "attempts to escape" responsibility for the failure of Israeli security forces at the initial stage of the conflict.
Netanyahu's inner circle has also been noted to be attempting to hijack the investigation into the root causes of the conflict. At the instigation of the ruling Likud party, work has begun on establishing a state commission in the Knesset, tentatively titled "Lessons of October 7." It is intended to audit government decisions of recent years and determine who is to blame for the protracted war with Hamas.
This move by the authorities has also irritated the opposition, as it effectively mirrors the proposals to establish an investigative commission. The only difference is that Netanyahu's opponents had demanded that this body be made completely independent to avoid behind-the-scenes pressure.
Either way, the escalation in Rafah has played into the hands of Netanyahu's inner circle: while the public, from liberals to hardened hawks, is distracted by discussions about the limits of a response to Hamas's rise, the prime minister has free rein to pursue domestic political "multi-move" schemes in other areas, including those aimed at bolstering his own political capital.
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.
[X]
...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 
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
