#Sudan#SITREP This week, at least five countries publicly denounced the UAE backed Rapid Support Forces (RSF) over attacks in Sudan. The United States condemned RSF strikes on @UN@WFP aid convoys and civilian targets. Saudi Arabia described RSF attacks on hospitals, civilians,… https://t.co/7gr5ku4asapic.twitter.com/sKttPV9EF7
#Sudan #SITREP This week, at least five countries publicly denounced the UAE backed Rapid Support Forces (RSF) over attacks in Sudan. The United States condemned RSF strikes on @UN aid convoys and civilian targets. Saudi Arabia described RSF attacks on hospitals, civilians, and humanitarian workers as criminal violations of international law. Türkiye condemned the targeting of displaced civilians and noncombatants. Egypt criticized attacks on aid convoys as grave violations of international law. Yemen also issued a formal condemnation of RSF violence against civilians and humanitarian infrastructure.
So far this week, the United Arab Emirates has not issued a direct public denunciation of the RSF. Instead, the UAE called for an immediate ceasefire, protection of civilians, and unhindered humanitarian access. Abu Dhabi condemned attacks on humanitarian operations, including the targeting of a @WFP_Sudan convoy, and said violence against aid workers is unacceptable. The UAE reiterated support for international peace efforts, welcomed a US backed initiative aimed at ending the war, and emphasized its humanitarian role, while avoiding naming the RSF and urging all parties to move toward a political process.
More at the link
Posted by: badanov ||
02/10/2026 00:00 ||
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القاعدة وداعش يفتتحان جبهة الطائرات المسيّرة في الساحل#Mali#Niger#NIGERIA#JNIM#ISGS تشير معطيات أمنية حديثة إلى تحوّل لافت في تكتيكات الجماعات المتطرفة في منطقة الساحل، مع شروع فصائل مرتبطة بـ تنظيم القاعدة وتنظيم الدولة الإسلامية في توسيع استخدام الطائرات المسيّرة التجارية،… pic.twitter.com/dfHbNGdUij
— عمر الأنصاري | Oumar Alansari (@Oumar_Alansari) February 9, 2026
Translated Text:
and ISIS open the drone front in the Sahel
#Mali #Niger #NIGERIA #JNIM #ISGS
Recent security data indicate a noticeable shift in the tactics of extremist groups in the Sahel region, with factions linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State organization beginning to expand their use of commercial drones, thereby opening what could be described as a “low-cost, high-impact war front from the sky.”
According to ACLED data, dozens of incidents involving the use or attempted use of drones by groups linked to Al-Qaeda have been recorded since 2023 in Mali and Burkina Faso, compared to a smaller number carried out by ISIS-affiliated branches, most of which were concentrated in Nigeria. These drones, which are smuggled into the region through cross-border smuggling networks, are primarily used for reconnaissance and surveillance, with only limited attempts recorded to arm them with rudimentary explosive devices.
BBC reports and analyses by security research centers confirm that this development does not yet amount to a full-fledged air war, but it represents a qualitative leap in the trajectory of the armed insurgency. It reflects the extremist groups’ efforts to compensate for their lack of air superiority through cheap and flexible tools, signaling a growing complexity in the security landscape of the Sahel and an increase in the cost of countering them in the coming period.
[BBC] Jihadist groups are increasingly carrying out drone strikes in West Africa, raising alarm that they are building the capacity to wage a "war from the skies".
A leading violence monitoring organisation, Acled, has recorded at least 69 drone strikes by an al-Qaeda affiliate in Burkina Faso and Mali since 2023, while two Islamic State (IS) affiliates have carried out around 20 - mostly in Nigeria, which has been battling numerous insurgent groups for almost 25 years.
The latest drone attack took place in Nigeria's north-eastern Borno state on 29 January, when jihadists carried out a two-pronged assault - with multiple armed drones and ground fighters - on a military base.
The military said nine of its soldiers were killed in the attack by the Islamic State of West Africa Province (Iswap) - identified by Acled as the "most prolific" IS African affiliate in "drone warfare".
The jihadists tended to carry out strikes with "commercially available, relatively inexpensive quadcopter [unmanned] drones" that were "rigged with explosives", while also using them for reconnaissance and surveillance missions in preparation for ground attacks, Acled senior Africa analyst Ladd Serwat told the BBC.
Despite the fact that Nigeria's government tightly controls the import of commercial and hobby drones and prohibits their use without official permission, the jihadists were able to obtain them through their smuggling networks across the region's porous borders, said a Nigeria-based senior researcher at the Good Governance Africa think-tank, Malik Samuel.
Taking a do over, because they’re embarrassed they got caught.
[IsraelTimes] Original verdict, which vindicated suspects for politically motivated burglary and violence, set a dangerous precedent, British lawmakers and Jewish organizations charge
After six British pro-Paleostinian activists were acquitted last week of aggravated burglary over a 2024 raid on Israeli defense firm Elbit’s factory, the Crown Prosecution Service said Saturday it will seek a retrial in the case, amid sharp criticism from politicians, police leaders and Jewish organizations.
The verdict cleared members of the now-banned group Paleostine Action in an attack on Israeli defense company Elbit Systems’ UK factory in Filton, near Bristol. Prosecutors said the raid caused roughly £1 million ($1.4 million) in damage and left a police officer with a fractured spine after she was struck with a sledgehammer.
In announcing the move, the CPS said it was reviewing the legal basis for a retrial but did not specify which of the six defendants — known as the "Filton 6" — could face fresh proceedings.
"Prosecutors are now considering the precise basis on which that retrial would proceed, including the form of the indictment, in accordance with CPS legal guidance," a CPS spokesperson said. The next hearing is scheduled for February 18.
The decision to seek a retrial followed a public backlash from British politicians and Jewish groups, charging that the verdict set a dangerous precedent.
After the jury gave its rulings last Wednesday, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp wrote to Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson urging him to seek a retrial, warning the verdict "risks giving the green light to mob violence in pursuit of a political objective."
Police leaders echoed those concerns. The Police Federation said it had "serious concerns" about officer safety, particularly after the jury failed to convict Samuel Corner of grievous bodily harm for allegedly striking a female officer with a sledgehammer as she knelt on the floor.
"UK policing is disappointed that the jury in this case could not reach verdicts in relation to an alleged serious assault against a police officer," said Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council.
Jewish organizations also condemned the outcome. The Board of Deputies of British Jews said it was "concerned by the troubling verdicts acquitting members of Paleostine Action," warning against "perverse justifications being used as a shield for criminality."
In an op-ed published in The Telegraph, former Jewish Chronicle editor Stephen Pollard charged that the acquittals "are telling British Jews they have no future here," and said the decision may be "the single most significant case in the history of Anglo-Jewry since 1945."
At the trial, prosecutors said the six defendants were part of a larger group that used a white former prison van to ram the factory gates before smashing equipment inside. Prosecutor Deanna Heer told jurors the group intended "to cause serious property damage and to use or threaten unlawful violence against anyone who stood in their way, if necessary with the use of weapons."
The defendants argued the attack was aimed at destroying weapons to halt what they described as Israel’s "genocide" 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... , following the Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... -led October 7, 2023, massacre and Israel’s subsequent military campaign. They insisted they did not intend to harm people, despite police bodycam footage shown at trial depicting Corner striking an officer with a sledgehammer.
After more than 36 hours of deliberations, the jury was unable to reach a guilty verdict against any of the six defendants.
Charlotte Head, 29, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Zainab Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31, were all acquitted of aggravated burglary.
Rajwani, Rogers and Devlin were found not guilty of violent mostly peaceful disorder, while the jury did not reach a verdict on that charge against Head, Corner and Kamio.
The jury could also not reach a verdict on an additional charge of criminal damage.
Corner had denied causing grievous bodily harm with intent to hit a female police sergeant with a sledgehammer. He testified that he only swung the sledgehammer at the police officer to protect one of his friends. The jury was unable to agree on a verdict on that count.
Britannia proscribed Paleostine Action as a terrorist organization last July, almost a year after the Elbit incident took place, making it a crime to be a member. Judge Jeremy Johnson had told the jury the ban was irrelevant to the criminal trial and they must consider the case "on the evidence, not on the basis of what you or anyone else thinks about Paleostine Action or the war in Gaza."
#1
Jews should leave EUrope, Australia and Canukistan. Hopefully, things in USA improve: neither a dhummicrat, nor J.D. Vance (I
"I'm so clever, nobody realizes I'm a closet anti-semite") will become next POTUS.
[Breitbart] The Venezuelan terrorist organization Tren de Aragua (TdA) is expanding dramatically in Mexico City and has become one of the leading criminal organizations in the Mexican capital city. TDA is one of several criminal organizations designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the U.S. government. The expansion in Mexico appears to be closely tied to the push by the U.S. government to track down its members and remove them from U.S. soil.
So they’re half backs? Got it.
A special report by Mexico’s Proceso Magazine shows that in a span of two years, TdA has gone from having a minimal presence in police intelligence reports to becoming one of the most violent and profitable organized crime groups controlling criminal enterprises in Mexico City.
If, in the process, they happen to kill vast numbers of other narco gangs, I won’t complain.
As Breitbart Texas reported, the TdA is a criminal organization from Venezuela that grew exponentially in recent years as a large number of its members migrated from there to the United States and set up operations in various metropolitan cities. The criminal organization focused on the drug trade, sex trafficking, and extorting the vulnerable migrant communities. They rapidly drew attention for their hyperviolent tactics and the impunity with which they operated in some U.S. cities.
The TdA became one of the priority targets of the Trump administration, which began targeting its members and removing them from the U.S. This rapid action appears to have triggered the crime syndicate’s move to Mexico City.
The TdA’s operation in Mexico focuses on sex trafficking and the use of Chinese precursors to manufacture pink cocaine and other designer drugs, Proceso reported. Basing their operations out of Mexico City, TDA has been able to establish a large-scale sex trafficking operation that feeds popular tourist destinations like Cancun and has also gone international by trafficking South American women into Europe.
In recent months, Mexican authorities have begun to crack down on TdA operations. The impact has been minuscule compared with the influence the organization has had in a short time. The rapid growth has already led to violent attacks in Mexico City, where the TdA has faced off against other local criminal organizations and established alliances of convenience with other crime groups and cartels.
That doesn’t sound like they’re killing enough other bad guys. Still, such people are quarrelsome, so we can still hope for a thinning of the herd.
Posted by: Skidmark ||
02/10/2026 10:04 ||
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#1
This was one of Mexico's most vehement arguments against repatriating their illegal aliens. They exported their violent mafias and don't want them back. Next TdA is going to overthrow the Zetas, I mean the former Mexican army troops who w trained how to do insurgency at Fort Bragg.
[RT] Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has condemned anti-Olympics protesters and saboteurs as “enemies of Italy,” following violent clashes in Milan and disruption to the national rail network over the weekend. The incidents occurred during the first full day of competition at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Games.
On Saturday, about 10,000 people marched in Milan to protest the Games, citing their environmental and economic impact. They also opposed the presence of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel who are assisting with security for American officials. The agency was involved in the fatal shootings of two US citizens in Minneapolis last month.
A small group of around 100 later broke away from the largely peaceful march and clashed with police, who used tear gas and water cannons to restore order.
Those would be the professional Black Bloc/Antifa cadres, embedded earlier in the day among the more peaceful useful idiot true believers — as predictable as a sunrise, if considerably less glorious.
In a statement posted on Instagram on Sunday, Meloni contrasted the work of volunteers with those behind the unrest.
“Then there are those who are enemies of Italy and Italians,” she wrote, referring to protesters and rail saboteurs, and expressing solidarity with police and workers “whose work will be undermined by these gangs of criminals.”
The Italian Transport Ministry has opened a terrorism investigation into the coordinated sabotage of railway lines near Bologna and Pesaro on Saturday where infrastructure was reportedly burned or cut, causing hours of delays for thousands of passengers. No one has claimed responsibility for the damage.
International Olympic Committee spokesperson Mark Adams stated that while peaceful protest is legitimate, “we draw a line at violence,” which “has no place at the Olympic Games.”
The clashes followed the approval of a new security decree by Meloni’s government, which allows police to detain individuals for up to 12 hours if there is reason to believe they may act to disrupt peaceful protests.
[PJMedia] A judge on Monday ruled in favor of the Trump administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as attacks on federal officers continue to spike.
The California laws against ICE officers being masked violate the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, according to the Feb. 9 court ruling. This will prevent increased doxing of immigration officers.
Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin announced the ruling on Monday afternoon in an X post. “BREAKING: Los Angeles based federal judge Christina Snyder (Clinton appointee) has blocked California from enforcing its law that requires ICE agents to unmask, arguing the law discriminates against the federal government by singling it out, and it violates the Supremacy Clause,” Melugin wrote.
Melugin linked to the official decision from the District Court for the Central District of California. The U.S. government was the plaintiff against Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Robert Bonta regarding SB 627, or the "No Secret Police Act," and SB 805, or the "No Vigilantes Act." As a side note, just ponder how disgustingly ironic it is that Newsom and Bonta are trying to protect illegal alien criminals and masked leftist domestic terrorists, but whining about masked federal immigration officers.
And of course there is a very excellent reason for the masks on ICE and Border Patrol, as death threats against ICE are up by 8,000% and assaults on them are up by 1,347%. Leftists are going out of their way to dox ICE agents and their families, and then carry out violent assaults on the officers or the hotels where they stay.
Drug trafficking, Distribution of child pornography, burglary, fraud, DUI, embezzlement, solicitation of a minor, human smuggling are all categorized as “non violent crimes.”
Like we said, ~70% of those illegal aliens arrested under @POTUS Trump and @Sec_Noem have pending…
[IsraelTimes] Under routine call-up orders, reservists to serve up to 55 days in 2026, military says; emergency situations could still require more service
[IsraelTimes] Muslim states, including allies and adversaries, call security cabinet decision illegal and a ‘dangerous escalation’; EU: It’s a ‘step in the wrong direction’
Given all that’s occurred since 10/7, what odds Israel will heed the world’s opprobrium?
The White House reiterated its opposition to Israel annexing the West Bank and stressed the importance of maintaining stability in the territory in a Monday statement responding to the security cabinet’s approval of a series of measures aimed at expanding Jerusalem’s grip in the areas Paleostinians hope will make up their future state.
"President Trump has clearly stated that he does not support Israel annexing the West Bank," read a statement attributed to a White House official sent to news hounds who asked for comment on the Sunday security cabinet decision.
"A stable West Bank keeps Israel secure and is in line with this administration’s goal to achieve peace in the region," the White House official added.
The statement did not directly condemn or even address the measures approved by Israel, which would appear to violate the Oslo Accords by expanding Jerusalem’s administrative powers in West Bank areas that are supposed to be under the Paleostinian Authority’s control.
Announced on Sunday by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defence Minister Israel Katz after being approved by the security cabinet, the measures include allowing Jewish Israelis to buy West Bank land directly and transfer authority over building permits for Jewish settlements in the Paleostinian city of Hebron — the West Bank’s largest — from the Paleostinian Authority to Israel.
In addition, the reform strengthens Israeli control over two major religious sites in the southern West Bank: Rachel’s Tomb near Bethlehem and the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron.
The Monday White House statement also did not mention whether the US has raised its concern over the security cabinet decision with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
It has issued similarly vague statements calling for stability in the West Bank before, in response to controversial decisions by Israel to expand settlements in the territory.
Upon his return to office, Trump indicated that he was mulling expressing his support for Israel annexing the West Bank.
But as Israel appeared to move toward the move, Arab allies of the US expressed their alarm, indicating it could risk their willingness to assist in the post-war management of 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... as it would all but foreclose any chance for a two-state solution.
In response, Trump announced in September that he would not "allow" Israel to annex the West Bank.
The next month, Israel’s Knesset nonetheless adopted a pair of symbolic resolutions expressing support for the move, infuriating the administration and US Vice President JD Vance in particular, as he was visiting the country at the time.
Israel has still continued advancing a slew of measures, which watchdogs say amount to de facto annexation. However,
Switzerland makes more than cheese... Jerusalem has avoided a formal move in that direction.
During Netanyahu’s last visit to the US with Trump in late January, Trump’s aides raised their concern over the situation in the West Bank, taking particular issue with unchecked settler violence, settlement expansion and Israel’s withholding of several billion dollars in Paleostinian Authority tax revenues, which has brought the Ramallah-based government to the brink of collapse, a US official told The Times of Israel then.
Trump, at the time, publicly acknowledged disagreements with Netanyahu regarding the West Bank but declined to elaborate, insisting that the premier will ultimately "do the right thing."
The two leaders are slated to meet again on Wednesday, but the focus of the sit-down is expected to be Iran. Gaza will still likely come as Trump seeks to advance his Gaza peace plan, and Washington has expressed concern that tensions in the West Bank risk upending the administration’s efforts to stabilize the Strip.
The US response to the Sunday cabinet decision came after a flood of international condemnations, which were far more direct in their disapproval of the West Bank measures. They included statements from much of the Arab and Moslem world, the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... and the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... .
A cute little map of the various lines at the link.
[IsraelTimes] Yellow Line was meant to be temporary, pending Hamas disarming; but with the terror group clinging to its weapons, the army is unlikely to withdraw, keeping the precarious stalemate in place
Nearly four months after 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... ceasefire took effect, the Paleostinian enclave remains divided nearly in half, with Israeli forces and Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... fighters separated by what is known as the Yellow Line, a temporary seam that may be on its way to hardening into a new de facto frontier.
The line, laid out in US President Donald Trump ...The cad! Twice caught beating wimmin!... ’s "Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict," was presented as a provisional security boundary during the initial phase of the 20-point peace framework, pending a full, phased Israeli withdrawal once specific conditions were met, including the disarmament of the Hamas terror group.
Last month, US special envoy Steve Witkoff announced the launch of phase two of the plan, describing it as the transition "from ceasefire to demilitarization, technocratic governance and reconstruction."
At the World Economic Forum in Davos days later, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who works closely with Witkoff, presented plans for a "New Gaza" in which the Strip’s demilitarization paved the way for an almost-complete Israeli withdrawal and the redevelopment the entire enclave into neat blocks of residential zones, industrial areas, parks, and even a seaport and airport.
Planners had considered plotting out a "free zone... and a Hamas zone," but had instead decided to build a vision for "catastrophic success," he said.
But for now, those ambitions — and even much more modest ones — remain largely theoretical.
Under the framework, Israel is prohibited from occupying Gaza, and the IDF is required to "withdraw based on standards, milestones, and timeframes linked to demilitarization that will be agreed upon" between the Israeli military, a prospective International Stabilization Force, the bodies overseeing Gaza’s transition via the Trump-controlled Board of Peace, and the United States.
"Practically, the IDF will progressively hand over the Gaza territory it occupies to the ISF according to an agreement they will make with the transitional authority until they are withdrawn completely from Gaza, save for a security perimeter presence that will remain until Gaza is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat," the plan outlines.
A roughly sketched map released alongside the plan marked the Yellow Line that Israeli troops retreated to once the ceasefire took hold in October, which left 47% of the enclave in the hands of Hamas. A Red Line included in the map marks the area where troops would be expected to pull back to once the ISF deploys, expanding the area outside IDF control to roughly two-thirds of the Strip.
Even in a full withdrawal scenario, Israel would still retain an approximately one-kilometer- (0.6 mile-) wide buffer zone along Gaza’s perimeter, including the Philadelphi Route on the Egyptian border, which Israel says has long served as a major smuggling corridor.
Yet, so far, only one of the plan’s benchmarks has been fulfilled: the return of all hostages held in Gaza, completed last week with the recovery of the remains of Ran Gvili.
Hamas, however, remains armed and firmly in control of most areas west of the Yellow Line.
"As long as our enemies inside Gaza are still... planning to regain their power... we are doomed to carry on staying with ground forces surrounding Gaza," Orit Miller-Katav, a researcher at Ariel University’s Institute for Middle Eastern and Asian Studies, told The Times of Israel.
Meanwhile,
...back at the desert island, Bert climbed the cocoanut tree, looking for ships. He saw none. He looked in the other direction and saw Irene, vigorously scrubbing her backside... the ISF has struggled to materialize. In December, The Wall Street Journal reported that the US State Department had formally approached more than 70 countries to contribute troops, funding or logistical support. While 19 reportedly expressed some willingness to assist, any actual deployment appears far off, with many governments reluctant to commit forces absent a clear mandate and security framework.
Israel has also repeatedly voiced strong opposition to allowing countries such as The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund... and Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... — both of which have expressed interest in participating and sending ground troops into Gaza — to take part in the force, further complicating efforts to assemble an international contingent.
And even if the ISF forms, analysts have questioned whether it would be willing or able to forcibly dismantle Hamas’s military infrastructure — a task Israel increasingly suggests could take years. A senior Israeli official said last week that while the IDF could deprive Hamas of its weapons, the process would be lengthy.
"We really don’t know what’s going on in [the Hamas-controlled section] of Gaza," Hillel Frisch, professor emeritus at Bar-Ilan University and former senior researcher at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, said.
"We have to assume that what is happening there is very similar to what happened in Gaza for the last [two decades] or even before that," he said, referring to Hamas’s rule in the Strip since it seized power in 2007 — years in which the group developed extensive terror infrastructure, including its vast tunnel network, and steadily built up its weapons arsenal ahead of the shock October 7, 2023, attack.
That possibility underscores why Israel remains unwilling to retreat further without clear evidence of Hamas’s disarmament.
At a presser following Gvili’s return last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted Israel was "focusing on completing the two remaining missions: dismantling Hamas’s weapons and demilitarizing Gaza of arms and tunnels."
Israel will maintain security control "from the Jordan River to the sea," including in Gaza, he added, making clear that withdrawal, in Israel’s view, cannot proceed in parallel with Hamas’s continued rule.
’NEW BORDER’
Even with fighting officially halted, the ceasefire boundary has become a frequent source of friction. Alleged violations are reported almost daily, as Israeli forces target armed suspects — and at times unarmed civilians — who cross into Israeli-controlled areas.
Israeli strikes over the weekend reportedly killed 32 Gazooks, with the army saying the attacks were in response to a ceasefire violation in which Hamas button men emerged from a tunnel in the southern Gazook city of Rafah, which is outside the Yellow Line.
At the same time, Israel has been accused of quietly shifting the line deeper into Hamas-controlled territory by moving the concrete barriers that mark it — allegations the IDF denies.
The evolving reality along the line has brought renewed attention to what its future may be — whether it is merely a temporary ceasefire marker or a more lasting military boundary.
During a visit to the Strip in December, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir appeared to signal the latter.
"We will not allow Hamas to reestablish itself. We control large parts of the Gaza Strip and stand along [strategic] lines," Zamir said during a tour of Beit Hanoun and Jabalia.
"The Yellow Line is a new border line, a forward defensive line for the communities and an offensive line," he added.
COLORING INSIDE THE LINES
Miller-Katav said the debate over the Yellow Line reflects a broader historical pattern: interim security lines can take on political weight when the conditions meant to dissolve them fail to materialize.
Israel has seen temporary demarcations endure before. The Green Line, drawn as a 1949 armistice line and never intended as a permanent border, became the default framework for Israel’s engagement with territory beyond it when no final settlement emerged.
But the Yellow Line differs from the Green Line in key ways. The latter represents the rough contour of a future border but as of now in practice is often rendered invisible by Israel’s presence on both sides of it.
"We were on both sides of the Green Line [in 1967]. This is not true of the Yellow Line today," said Frisch.
Rather than mark a political or administrative division, the Yellow Line is an actual deployment boundary deep inside non-Israeli territory, beyond which lies an armed hostile force, making it somewhat more akin to the demarcation between the West Bank’s Area A and the rest of that territory.
While Israel has military control of most of the West Bank, Paleostinian population centers are technically under the PA’s security forces and often home to entrenched terror operations, making IDF incursions more fraught.
In Gaza, the Yellow Line separates a Hamas-free and largely depopulated territory where the IDF has free rein on one side, from a densely populated area still under Hamas’s guns on the other; any future Israeli move beyond the line would carry heavy operational and political consequences, according to Frisch.
"The cost of penetrating Gaza is totally different from [the West Bank]," he said.
THE COST OF HOLDING THE LINE
There are also dangers that come with keeping troops inside Gaza, even if only on the eastern side of the Yellow Line, said Miller-Katav.
"I think the government wishes to withdraw from [the Yellow Line]. No one wants to keep the army staying alert within this territory," she said.
Marked only by a string of large yellow concrete bollards, on the ground the Yellow Line is unfenced and freely traversable aside from the physical presence of troops. Friction along the seam is ever-present.
Soldiers have been attacked on multiple occasions and dozens of Gazooks have been shot and killed when approaching the line, which in many places cuts through dense urban landscapes, including alongside rubble-strewn residential buildings.
The IDF currently has two divisions deployed to the Strip, amounting to tens of thousands of troops. Should the situation stabilize and soldiers pull back to the buffer zone, the move would reduce the deployment to a single division, as it was pre-October 7, albeit with more personnel.
Aside from keeping troops in relative danger, the extra deployments carry a manpower cost for the already stretched army, which has forced many reservists to put families and careers on hold for extended periods. The toll has gone beyond personal: reservists account for an estimated 20% of Israel’s tech workforce, widely seen as the backbone of the economy, amplifying the broader economic impact of a prolonged deployment.
The financial burden is also significant. According to the Institute for National Security Studies, maintaining a full long-term military occupation of the Gaza Strip would cost an estimated NIS 25 billion ($8.1 billion) annually, though maintaining a deployment along the current lines would presumably cost less.
There is also a human toll. Since troops pulled back to the Yellow Line, four soldiers have been killed in attacks.
Even so, experts cautioned that withdrawal remains unrealistic so long as Hamas remains intact.
"Whatever happened within the Gaza Strip is totally under [Hamas’s] responsibility," Miller-Katav stressed, referring to the widespread destruction and humanitarian crisis after more than two years of war. "Therefore, leaving it to be rebuilt [by] those who created this situation in the first place is a critical mistake."
Somewhat paradoxically, though, it seems that any hope of leaving the Strip for good hinges on Israel returning to the whole of the enclave and relaunching the war.
GO BIG TO GO HOME
According to Frisch, the central challenge moving forward is "how to get rid of Hamas."
Contrary to the US push for a multinational force to ensure Hamas’s disarmament, Frisch argued that the IDF is the only actor capable of carrying out that mission.
"If anyone needs proof of that, you can just [look to] the 12,000-man UN force... in Leb ...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects.... since 2006," he said, in reference to the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which was tasked with monitoring the ceasefire after the Second Lebanon War and preventing Hezbollah from reestablishing an armed presence near the border.
Instead, Frisch said, the UN force "did nothing. Forty-six countries [contributed to UNIFIL], and it didn’t prevent a movement of one single Hezbollah terrorist."
Nearly two decades after the Second Lebanon War, Hezbollah remains a central test case for the limits of international monitoring missions. On October 8, 2023, the terror group joined Hamas in launching rocket fire into Israeli territory, triggering the evacuation of some 60,000 residents from northern communities and exposing the extent to which UNIFIL had failed its mission.
Israel launched a 2024 ground operation in southern Lebanon to significantly degrade Hezbollah’s capabilities, and has attempted to avoid repeating history since, keeping troops deployed in limited numbers at strategic points along the border inside Lebanon and continuing to carry out strikes on members of the terror group, which it says is once again working to rehabilitate its military infrastructure and rebuild its strength.
While Israel is seen as the only one capable or willing to disarm Hamas to a level that would pave the way for a full IDF retreat from the territory, Frisch noted that it is constrained by the need for a green light from Trump — a scenario he views as unlikely.
The Soufan Center, a nonprofit think tank, has argued that the administration’s recent push to advance phase two of the Gaza peace plan was intended to "reassure Israel of the US commitment to the plan and pre-empt Israeli consideration of restarting combat against Hamas."
With Hamas in power and no realistic prospect for removing it to Jerusalem’s satisfaction, Frisch predicted that the Yellow Line would remain a de facto border in Gaza for the foreseeable future.
Frisch echoed the point, arguing that Gaza’s future hinges above all on who governs it.
"Gaza has tremendous potential," he said, "but it all depends on who rules."
US special envoy Steve Witkoff announces the launch of phase two of President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for ending the Gaza war.
Witkoff says in a statement that this new phase will consist of "moving from ceasefire to demilitarization, technocratic governance and reconstruction."
"Phase two establishes a transitional technocratic Paleostinian administration in Gaza — the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) — and begins the full demilitarization and reconstruction of Gaza, primarily the disarmament of all unauthorized personnel," Witkoff says.
"The US expects Hamas to comply fully with its obligations, including the immediate return of the final deceased hostage. Failure to do so will bring serious consequences," the US envoy adds.
"Importantly, phase one delivered historic humanitarian aid, maintained the ceasefire, returned all living hostages and the remains of 27 of the 28 deceased hostages," Witkoff says, thanking fellow mediators Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar "for their indispensable mediation efforts that made all progress to date possible."
Israel pushed back on transitioning to phase two before Hamas had given up its weapons and returned the body of Ran Gvili. Top US officials told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his Mar-a-Lago meetings last month that Washington is committed to those two goals, but doesn’t want to condition the commencement of phase two on either, a US official and two sources familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel last week.
Notably, Witkoff’s announcement does not include the unveiling of the Board of Peace, which is supposed to be made up of world leaders who will oversee the NCAG. The US had initially planned to reveal the Board of Peace’s members last month but has struggled to rally international support around its plan amid heavy skepticism that Hamas will agree to disarm or that Israel will agree to further withdraw from the Strip and allow for its reconstruction.
While Witkoff’s statement speaks of demilitarization, no agreement has been reached yet on how that will be executed.
The US has been in talks with Mideast mediators Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, which have assured Washington that Hamas will agree to a gradual disarmament plan that would begin with the terror group giving up its heavy weaponry and the launch of a "buy-back" program for lighter weapons, according to the US official and two Arab diplomats, who said the goal is to begin implementing the program in the coming weeks.
It is not clear whether this framework will be sufficient for Israel, and Hamas officials have publicly asserted that the organization will only agree to give up its weapons in a negotiated process that results in the establishment of a Paleostinian state. For its part, the US has claimed that Hamas agreed to disarm during a meeting between brass hats from each side hours before phase one of the ceasefire was inked in October.
That deal has barely held in the nearly three months since, with mutual allegations of violations and over 400 Paleostinians killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.
While aid has increased significantly during this period, humanitarian groups say Israeli restrictions have hampered their efforts to serve the people of Gaza, where hundreds of thousands are displaced in often flimsy tents at the peak of winter.
#1
It won't end until Arab "Civilization" is crushed. Fortunately, Israel have the means, the will, and international situation develops in desired direction.
[IsraelTimes] PM set to give Trump latest intel; Tehran’s atomic chief floats downblending near-weapons-grade nuclear material in exchange for sanctions relief; Khamenei calls for national ‘resolve’
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... stepped up its continuing crackdown on dissent on Monday, arresting more people while holding the door open to Washington for further nuclear negotiations.
The arrests — including that of Javad Emam, the spokesperson for the country’s main reformist coalition — came after Iranian and US officials held talks in Oman that both sides painted as positive. And they came on the eve of a visit to Washington by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, where he will reportedly brief US President Donald Trump ...His ancestors didn't own any slaves... about Israeli intelligence on Iran.
Weeks after repressing a wave of protests with a deadly crackdown in which many thousands were reported killed, following one of the greatest challenges to the regime’s authority since it came to power in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Tehran has taken a two-track approach.
It is rounding up and jailing perceived critics, while at the same time pursuing a potential diplomatic opening with the Trump administration. On Monday, it floated possible concessions on its stockpile of enriched uranium.
After heaping more jail time on Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, Iran on Monday arrested Hossein Karroubi, the son of prominent dissident Mehdi Karroubi. A spokesperson for the Reformist Front coalition told local media on Monday that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had arrested the group’s front man Emam.
Emam was one of at least five Reformist Front figures to be detained, alongside several activists and filmmakers for co-signing a protest statement.
Iran’s government has claimed that the protests were "riots" fueled by its chief adversaries, Israel and the United States. It has threatened to attack Israel and US targets if Trump follows through on his threats to attack Iran over the crackdown and over its nuclear program.
On Monday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...> called for "resolve" ahead of the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution this week.
Since the revolution, "foreign powers have always sought to restore the previous situation," Khamenei said in a televised address, referring to the period when Iran was under the rule of Shah Reza Pahlavi and dependent on the United States.
"National power is less about missiles and aircraft and more about the will and steadfastness of the people," he said, adding: "Show it again and frustrate the enemy."
Alongside this defiance, Iran has signaled it could come to some kind of deal to dial back its nuclear program to avoid further conflict with Washington.
The official IRNA news agency reported that Iranian atomic agency chief Mohammad Eslami had said that Tehran could dilute its highly enriched uranium in return for sanctions relief.
"In response to a question about the possibility of diluting 60 percent enriched uranium," IRNA reported, Eslami "said this depends on whether all sanctions would be lifted in return."
Washington has demanded Iran relinquish its stockpile — estimated last year by the UN nuclear agency at more than 440 kilograms (970 pounds) — of uranium enriched to up to 60% fissile purity, a small step away from the 90% that is considered weapons grade.
Diluting or "downblending" uranium means mixing it with other substances to reduce the enrichment level, so the final product does not exceed a given enrichment threshold — and thus extending the amount of time it would take Iran to create sufficient nuclear material for a bomb.
Iran has consistently denied seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. However,
the man who has no enemies isn't anybody and has never done anything... it enriched uranium to levels that have no peaceful application, obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities, and expanded its ballistic missile capabilities. Before the 12-day war between the countries last June, Israel said Iran had recently taken steps toward weaponization.
At the talks in Oman last week, the US and Iran agreed to discuss Tehran’s nuclear program, though Washington and Israel also want to put Iran’s ballistic missiles and its support for proxy terror groups in the region on the agenda. Iran has rejected this.
On Monday, Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu decided to move his meeting with US President Donald Trump to this week in order to deliver an in-person briefing on Israel’s latest intelligence regarding Iran.
According to the news outlet, which cited a source close to the premier, Netanyahu will deliver the same briefing to Trump that he gave US special envoy Steve Witkoff when he visited Israel last week.
He is choosing to deliver it himself to ensure Trump receives all the information accurately, the report says. The briefing will cover the Islamic Theocratic Republic’s nuclear and missile programs, as well as its support for proxies, and the suppression of protesters during the recent demonstrations.
Ali Larijani, a close adviser to Khamenei and secretary of Iran’s national security council, will visit Oman on Tuesday following the US-Iranian talks there, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
"During this trip, [Larijani] will meet with high-ranking officials of the Sultanate of Oman and discuss the latest regional and international developments and bilateral cooperation at various levels," Tasnim said.
The date and venue of the next round of talks have yet to be announced. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that a new round of talks would be "an appropriate opportunity for a fair and balanced resolution of this case," and that a desired outcome could be reached if the US avoids maximalist positions and respects its commitments.
Iran would continue to demand the lifting of sanctions and insist on its nuclear rights, including enrichment, he said.
Iran and the US held five rounds of talks last year on curbing Tehran’s nuclear program, with the process breaking down mainly due to disputes over uranium enrichment inside Iran. The US then struck Iranian nuclear facilities at the end of the Israel-Iran war.
Since Trump struck Iran’s facilities, Tehran has said it has halted enrichment activity.
Iran still holds "deep distrust" for the United States despite agreeing to return to the talks, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned on Monday.
"We are looking for serious negotiations to achieve a result, provided the other side shows the same seriousness and is also ready for constructive negotiations," the minister said.
"Unfortunately, a deep mistrust persists due to the behavior of the United States in recent years," he said, addressing ambassadors at a diplomatic gathering in Tehran.
Trump previously warned Iran not to kill protesters. But more recently, the United States has not given any sign that the continuing crackdown on Iran’s domestic critics is of significant concern to it in the talks.
The arrest of Reformist Front front man Emam followed those on Sunday of three other figures, including Azar Mansouri, who has led the coalition since 2023. Another reformist politician was arrested on Monday.
The reformist camp largely backed Pezeshkian in the 2024 presidential election.
Separately, Hussein Karroubi was also picked up. Karroubi’s father, Mehdi Karroubi, was a figure in the 2009 Green movement protests and has largely been under house arrest ever since.
The authorities in Iran have acknowledged that 3,117 people were killed in the protests, and published a list of 2,986 names, most of whom they say were members of the security forces and innocent bystanders.
International organizations have put the toll far higher. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) says it has verified 6,961 deaths, mostly protesters, and has another 11,630 cases under investigation. It has also counted more than 51,000 arrests.
NEW: High resolution satellite imagery taken yesterday shows the extent to which Iran has covered the tunnel entrances at the Esfahan nuclear complex with soil. The middle and southern entrances are unrecognizable and fully covered in soil. The northernmost tunnel entrance which… pic.twitter.com/baYI2zCuN0
🎥 KURDISH FORCES RELEASE VIDEO THREATENING IRGC FORCES
A Kurdish armed group has released a new video claiming past successes against ISIS, Hashd militias, and the IRGC in locations including Hawija, Pirde, Ilam, Kermashan, and Lorestan, while warning it is preparing to expel… pic.twitter.com/rif8l1Til0
🎥 KURDISH FORCES RELEASE VIDEO THREATENING IRGC FORCES
A Kurdish armed group has released a new video claiming past successes against ISIS, Hashd militias, and the IRGC in locations including Hawija, Pirde, Ilam, Kermashan, and Lorestan, while warning it is preparing to expel Iranian forces from Kurdish areas.
The video reflects a growing effort by Kurdish fighters to shape the narrative internationally, using media and messaging to draw attention to their struggle against Iran.
Posted by: badanov ||
02/10/2026 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.
..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,...
...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 
