Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !
Recent Appearances... Rantburg
Allam Badr 0ul-Din Chishti Allam Badr 0ul-Din Chishti Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan India-Pakistan 20030421  
Amro Badr Abouelmaati Amro Badr Abouelmaati al-Qaeda in North America Great White North 20040710 Link
Amro Badr Eldin Abou El-Maati Amro Badr Eldin Abou El-Maati al-Qaeda in North America Great White North 20040710 Link
Arshad Badroo Arshad Badroo Lashkar-e-Taiba India-Pakistan 20060715 Link
Badr Yousef Badr Yousef al-Qaeda Afghanistan Saudi Arrested Tough Guy 20030925  
    Arrested in Gardez. Those apprehended worked for Arab charities and after their arrests the charities all closed up operations. The charities affected by this operation are Al Kuwait, Madina and Jaddah International.
Badreddine al-Houthy Badreddine al-Houthy Faithful Youth Arabia Yemeni Big Shot 20050608  
  Badruddin Al-Houthi Faithful Youth Arabia Yemeni 20050712  
  Badreddine al-Houthy Faithful Youth Arabia Yemeni 20050623  
Badrodin Dalungan Badrodin Dalungan Moro Islamic Liberation Front Southeast Asia Filipino 20040425 Link
Badruddin Zelimkhan Aslanguereyev Badruddin Zelimkhan Aslanguereyev Chechnya Caucasus Chechen At Large Big Shot 20021110  
    representative of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria to Turkey, expelled after the Nord-Ost incident
Fuaz Badran Fuaz Badran Hamas Israel-Palestine Palestinian Deceased Controller 20020516  
    Leader of a Hamas cell involved with the bombing of the Netanya Hotel. Assassinated by IDF.
Hilal Hussein al-Badrani Hilal Hussein al-Badrani Ansar al-Sunna Iraq-Jordan 20050627  
Husam Ataf Ali Badran Husam Ataf Ali Badran Hamas Israel-Palestine 20020418  
Hussain Badr Eddin al-Houthi Hussain Badr Eddin al-Houthi Faithful Youth Arabia 20051201 Link
Hussain Badr al-Din al-Huthi Hussain Badr al-Din al-Huthi Faitfhu Youth Arabia 20040623 Link
Hussein Badr Eddin al-Huthi Hussein Badr Eddin al-Huthi Faithful Youth Arabia 20040625 Link
Hussein Badr al-Din al-Houthi Hussein Badr al-Din al-Houthi Faithful Youth Arabia 20051101 Link
Hussein Badraddin al-Houthi Hussein Badraddin al-Houthi Mirran Charitable Society Arabia 20050706  
Hussein Badradeen al-Houthi Hussein Badradeen al-Houthi Faithful Youth Arabia 20051206 Link
Hussein Badruddin Al-Houthi Hussein Badruddin Al-Houthi Faithful Youth Arabia 20040626 Link
Hussein Badruddin al-Houthi Hussein Badruddin al-Houthi Faithful Youth Arabia 20040711 Link
Mohamad Badr Ddin Akkad Mohamad Badr Ddin Akkad al-Qaeda Europe 20040401  
  Mohamad Badr Ddin Akkad Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group Europe 20040401  
Moussa Badran Moussa Badran al-Qaeda Africa: North 20050729  
Osama Badra Osama Badra Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Middle East 20021211  
Sabah Ali Badran Kahdum Sabah Ali Badran Kahdum Omer Brigade Iraq 20060718 Link
Sahid Badr Sahid Badr Students Islamic Movement of India India-Pakistan 20010928  
Youssef Badran Youssef Badran al-Qaeda Africa: North 20050726  

Arabia
Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim cargo ship they attacked Sunday has sunk; anti-Houthi Yemeni govt official says Houthis attacked 2nd ship in Red Sea Monday night, leaving 4 casualties
2025-07-08
[IsraelTimes] Assault on Greek-owned ship and subsequent Israeli strikes raise fears of regional escalation, with hostage deal hanging in balance and Iran weighing continued talks with US

A fat merchantman attacked by Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
’s Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
rebels sank in the Red Sea, the group said Monday, raising new concerns over safety in a waterway that is crucial to global shipping, as Israel targeted the rebels with Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s.

The Houthis attacked the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier Magic Seas with drones, missiles, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire on Sunday, forcing its crew of 22 to abandon the vessel.

The Magic Seas attack and subsequent Israeli airstrikes early Monday targeting the rebels raised fears of a renewed Houthi campaign against shipping that could again draw in US and Western forces to the area, particularly after US President Donald Trump
...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons...
’s administration targeted the rebels in a major airstrike campaign.

The ship attack comes at a sensitive moment in the Middle East, as a possible ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas
..always the voice of sweet reason...
war hangs in the balance, and as 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 Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
weighs whether to restart negotiations over its nuclear program, following American airstrikes targeting its most sensitive atomic sites during Israel’s war against the Islamic Theocratic RepublicPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Washington Sunday to meet with Trump.

SHIP ATTACK FORCES CREW TO ABANDON VESSEL
The attack on Magic Seas, a bulk carrier heading north to Egypt’s Suez Canal, happened about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Hodeida, Yemen, which is held by the Houthis.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, or UKMTO, first said that an armed security team on the vessel had returned fire against an initial attack of gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades, though the vessel later was struck by projectiles.

Ambrey, a private maritime security firm, said that Magic Seas also had been attacked by bomb-carrying drone boats, which could be a major escalation. It said that two drone boats struck the ship, while another two were destroyed by the armed guards on board.

UKMTO said the ship was taking on water and its crew had abandoned the vessel. They were rescued by a passing ship, it added.

A European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
anti-piracy patrol in the region, called Operation Atalanta, said that 22 mariners had been on board Magic Seas.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, the Houthis’ military front man, later claimed the attack and said the rebels used missiles and bomb-carrying drone boats to attack the ship.

"Our operations continue in targeting the depths of the Israeli entity in occupied Paleostine, as well as preventing Israeli maritime navigation in the Red and Arabian Seas... until the aggression on 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...
stops and the siege on it is lifted," Saree said.

The Magic Seas owners did not respond to a request for comment. Saree later said the vessel sank in the Red Sea.

FRESH HOUTHI ATTACKS AFTER ISRAELI STRIKES
Separately, on Monday afternoon, a drone launched by the Houthis in Yemen at Israel was shot down by the Israeli Air Force, the Israel Defense Forces said.

No sirens sounded, "according to protocol," the military added.

Hours later, a ballistic missile launched at Israel by the Houthis fell short outside the country’s borders, according to a military official.

The IDF identified the launch, but no sirens sounded in Israel because the missile did not pose a threat.

The two attacks came after the IDF overnight said it struck Houthi-held ports at Hodeida, Ras Isa, and Salif, as well as the Ras Kanatib power plant.

The IDF also said it struck Galaxy Leader, a vehicle-carrying vessel that the Houthis seized back in November 2023 when they began their attacks in the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war.

"Houthi forces installed a radar system on the ship and have been using it to track vessels in the international maritime arena to facilitate further terrorist activities," the IDF said.

On Monday evening, the IDF released footage showing the strike on the hijacked ship. The Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader was affiliated with an Israeli billionaire and had been operated by a Japanese firm, NYK Line.

The Houthis acknowledged the strikes, but offered no damage assessment from the attack. Saree, the Houthi front man, claimed the rebels’ air defense forces "effectively confronted" the Israelis, without offering evidence.

[X]

Yemeni official says Houthis behind second attack on Red Sea ship
[IsraelTimes] Moammar al-Eryani, the information minister for Yemen’s internationally recognized government that opposes the Houthis, says the rebel group is behind Monday night’s attack on maritime shipping in the Red Sea.

According to the private security firm Ambrey, the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned Eternity C had been heading north toward the Suez Canal when it came under fire by men in small boats and by bomb-carrying drones. The security guards on board opened fire in the attack.

“The vessel’s engines had reportedly been disabled and Ambrey observed that the vessel had started to drift,” the firm says.

There were no other immediate details on the attack, which is also acknowledged by the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, or UKMTO, center. The Houthis’ al-Masirah satellite news channel notes the attack, but the rebels have not claimed the assault.

The US military’s Central Command says it is aware of reports of the attack, but declines to comment further.

The attack occurs in the same area as Sunday’s assault on Magic Seas, another bulk carrier heading north to Egypt’s Suez Canal, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of the port of Hodeida, Yemen, which is held by the Houthis.

Two hurt, two more missing in second Houthi attack on Red Sea shipping
[IsraelTimes] Two crew members of a Greek-managed vessel have been wounded and two more are missing in a drone attack off Yemen, hours after the Iran-aligned Houthis claim an assault on another bulk carrier in the Red Sea that it claimed to have sunk.

The Liberia-flagged, Greek-operated bulk carrier Eternity C was attacked with sea drones and skiffs off the port of Hodeidah, its manager, Cosmoship Management, tells Reuters.

Two crew members are seriously wounded and two are missing, the company says, adding that armed security guards were on board.

The vessel’s bridge was hit, an official at Cosmoship says, adding that telecommunications are impacted and contacting the crew is hard.
Link


Arabia
Houthis claim hypersonic missile strike on Ben Gurion airport; early Monday a.m. 20 IDF fighter jets bounce Houthi rubble at 3 ports, power station in response
2025-07-07
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The Houthis from the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement attacked Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv using a hypersonic ballistic missile. This statement was made on July 6 by Houthi spokesman Yahya Saria.

"The Rocket Forces (...) carried out a military operation in which they struck the airport (...) using a Palestine-2 hypersonic ballistic missile, " Saria said in an interview with Al Masirah TV.
According to the IDF, the thing was headed for the Judean desert at 3:00 Sunday morning when the IDF shot it down. But at least this time the Houthis had it aimed at the right country. They don’t always…
He said the operation was successful
…it was successful for the IDF, yes. Not for the Houthis. Sorry.
and the airport's operations were temporarily suspended.
Also a no. Maybe next time…
The Israeli army, in turn, earlier reported the interception of a missile launched from Yemeni territory. Air raid sirens were sounded in several areas of the country.

Israel carries out strikes on Houthi-controlled power station, ports across Yemen
[IsraelTimes] IDF confirms that targets include ‘Galaxy Leader’ ship which was hijacked by Houthis in November 2023; Katz threatens that Iran-backed group will ‘continue to pay a heavy price’

Israel carried out extensive strikes on Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
targets in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
overnight between Sunday and Monday, shortly after it issued evacuation orders for several areas of the country.

The IDF confirmed early Monday morning that its Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s had targeted multiple Houthi terror targets in Yemen, including the ports of Hodeidah, Ras Isa and Salif, and the Ras Khatib power station.

The airstrikes also hit the "Galaxy Leader" vessel, which was hijacked by the Houthis in November 2023 and used for maritime surveillance and operational planning, the IDF said. The Houthis took the ship and its crew of 25 people — who hailed from from the Philippines, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Mexico — captive in November 2023, only freeing them in January 2025 after more than a year of holding them hostage. The IDF said that the Houthis "installed a radar system on the ship, and are using it to track vessels in international maritime space, in order to promote the Houthi terrorist regime’s activities."

According to the military, all the targets hit in the overnight strikes were used by the Iran-backed Houthi regime to transfer weapons and conduct terror activity against Israel and global shipping.

The IDF said the strikes come in response to repeated Houthi missile and drone attacks on Israeli territory and highlight the group’s ongoing use of civilian infrastructure for military purposes.

In a statement early Monday morning, Defense Minister Israel Katz repeated the threat he made following that missile attack, that "Yemen will be treated like Tehran," referencing the intensive Israeli strikes across 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 Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
during the recent 12-day conflict.

"Anyone who tries to harm Israel will be harmed, anyone who raises a hands against Israel will have it cut off," Katz added, saying that the IDF was "forcefully" striking a number of terror targets in Yemen. "The Houthis will continue to pay a heavy price for their actions."

The strikes came about half an hour after the IDF’s Arabic-language front man issued an "urgent" evacuation warning for the three Houthi-controlled ports and the power plant in Yemen.

The Houthi military spokesperson claimed following the attacks that Houthis’ air defenses confronted the Israeli attack "by using a large number of domestically produced surface-to-air missiles."
I believe them. But shooting off and hitting are two very different skills, and Allah clearly doesn’t want the Houthis to hit anything Israeli.
Residents told Rooters that the Israeli strikes on the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah put the main power station out of service, leaving the city in darkness. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported that Israel launched a series of strikes on Hodeidah. The campaign came hours after a ship was attacked off the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah and the ship’s crew abandoned it as it took on water. No one immediately grabbed credit for the attack, but security firm Ambrey said the vessel fits the typical profile of a Houthi target.
More from the Times of Israel:
The IDF says its strikes overnight on Houthi targets in Yemen were carried out by around 20 fighter jets, who dropped more than 50 munitions in the attack.
Practicing for the next thunder run over Iran?
Courtesy of Fred, a useful map:
[X]
Link


Iraq
Who is behind recent rocket, drone attacks in Kurdistan Region, disputed territories?
2025-07-03
Apparently I was wrong yesterday. Good to know.
[Rudaw] Iran-aligned groups have denied involvement in recent rocket and drone attacks targeting the Kurdistan Region and territories disputed between Baghdad and Erbil. Several of their leaders and affiliated politicians have publicly denied any involvement, blaming either 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) remnants or political scapegoating ahead of Iraq’s November elections.

A string of unclaimed drone and rocket attacks have hit the Kurdistan Region and several disputed territories between Erbil and Baghdad since the start of the week, with no group claiming responsibility. The incidents come amid heightened tensions and diminished air defense capabilities following the Iran-Israel conflict in June, which left much of Iraq’s radar infrastructure inoperable.

A source from Iraq’s defense ministry told Rudaw on condition of anonymity that the radar systems remain severely compromised.

"Out of three radars, two have been taken out of service during the Iran-Israel war. One was in Baghdad and the other in Nasiriyah. Now, only the western sector radar is working, and that's not enough to track these objects," the source said.

Intelligence units in the Defense Ministry and other security agencies have launched investigations, but the source warned that the lack of functioning radar is delaying tracking and response efforts.

The renewed drone activity follows a US-brokered ceasefire that ended a 12-day war between 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 Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
and Israel. During the conflict, numerous drones and missiles flew through Iraqi airspace, including the Kurdistan Region, where several drones fell or were intercepted, and a renewed series of similar incidents began again on Sunday.

RECENT DRONE AND ROCKET ATTACKS
On Tuesday, two explosive-laden drones were intercepted over Sulaimani province, with one crashing in the Tasluja area. No casualties were reported, according to local officials.

That same day, a drone struck the Darkar camp housing displaced Yazidis about 36 kilometers northwest of Duhok. The Kurdistan Region’s Directorate General of Counter Terrorism (CTD) said the drone was laden with explosives and caused material damage. Civil defense teams from Zakho reported that three cabins at the camp caught fire as a result of the crash. No injuries were reported.

In Kirkuk,
... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time...
Governor Rebwar Taha said three Katyusha rockets struck the city overnight. One hit a residential home, while two others landed between the civilian and military zones of Kirkuk International Airport. No fatalities were reported.

In Salahaddin province, three people were maimed on Sunday when a kaboom hit the Baiji oil refinery. While some media outlets claimed the site was targeted by 12 drones, Saif Muhannad, head of the Salahaddin provincial council’s media office, said only two drones were confirmed, and there is no evidence of a coordinated 12-drone attack.

"This isn’t the first time the base has been targeted, but there are some gangs that are dominant in that area," he said.

MILITIA GROUPS DENY INVOLVEMENT, BLAME ISIS
Mahdi al-Kaabi, a political committee member of Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, an Iran-aligned Iraqi militia group, denied responsibility for the recent attacks.

"We, as the Nujaba movement, are not participating in any way in these recent attacks carried out with missiles and drones," he told Rudaw, adding that there is coordination between the resistance groups and the Iraqi government to prevent military escalations.

Kaabi suggested the accusations against militias are politically motivated.

"Pointing fingers at us and other resistance front groups is somewhat related to the approaching elections," he said, referring to Iraq’s upcoming parliamentary vote set for November.

Mohammed al-Bayati, a senior Badr Organization official in Kirkuk, also denied involvement.

"Never do the Popular Mobilization Forces [PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi] and Badr attempt to carry out attacks in that manner, especially at this sensitive time," he said, suggesting that ISIS bad boys, who remain active in some regions, may be behind the attacks.

ISIS, which seized large parts of Iraq in 2014 before being territorially defeated in 2017, continues to carry out hit-and-run attacks from remote mountain and desert areas.

In Diyala, Turki al-Attabi, a member of the provincial council, said that no evidence has emerged linking the government-affiliated and Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) to any of the drone or rocket attacks. "If any necessary evidence is obtained, we will inform the public," he said.
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
IDF says missile fired by Houthis apparently downed; no reports of injuries
2025-06-28
Pay attention to US!!!!
[IsraelTimes] A ballistic missile launched at Israel by the Iran-backed Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
s in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
was likely intercepted by air defenses a short while ago, the military says.

The IDF says attempts were made to shoot down the missile, and they were apparently successful.

There are no reports of injuries or impacts.

Sirens had sounded in Beersheba, Dimona, Arad, and the surrounding area in southern Israel. Preceding the sirens by four minutes, an early warning was issued to residents, alerting civilians of the long-range missile attack via a push notification on their phones.
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Weakened Hamas faces rebel clans, doubts over Tehran’s backing after Israel-Iran war
2025-06-28
[IsraelTimes] Hamas needs a truce so it can address humanitarian crisis, quash growing dissent and regain control of Strip amid rise of Israeli-backed clan, sources close to the terror group say
Hamas misunderstands: the future of Gaza does not include them. Their choice is to be dead or to be gone — they need to decide which. The description of current conditions is useful, though.
Short of commanders, deprived of much of its tunnel network and unsure of support from its ally Iran, Hamas
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
is battling to survive 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...
in the face of rebellious local clans and relentless Israeli military pressure.

Hamas button men are operating autonomously under orders to hold out as long as possible, but the terror group is struggling to maintain its grip as Israel openly backs tribes opposing it, three sources close to Hamas said.

With a humanitarian crisis in Gaza intensifying international pressure for a ceasefire, Hamas badly needs a pause in the fighting, one of the people said.

Not only would a ceasefire offer respite to weary Gazooks, who are growing increasingly critical of Hamas, but it would also allow the terror group to crush rogue elements, including some clans and looters who have been stealing aid, the person said.

To counter the immediate threat, Hamas has sent some of its top operatives to kill one rebellious leader, Yasser Abu Shabaab, but so far he has remained beyond their reach in the Rafah area held by Israeli troops, according to two Hamas sources and two other sources familiar with the situation.

Rooters spoke to 16 sources, including people close to Hamas, Israeli security sources and diplomats who painted a picture of a severely weakened group, retaining some sway and operational capacity in Gaza despite its setbacks, but facing stiff challenges.

Hamas is still capable of landing blows: it killed seven Israeli soldiers in an attack in southern Gaza on Tuesday. But three diplomats in the Middle East said intelligence assessments showed it had lost its centralized command and control and was reduced to limited, surprise attacks.

Israel estimates that it has killed 20,000 button men in Gaza since the war there was sparked on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led Lions of Islam stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages. Another 1,600 Lions of Islam are thought to have been killed inside Israel during the onslaught.

Israeli security sources say Hamas is recruiting tens of thousands of thousands of impoverished, unemployed, displaced young men. One Israeli security source said the average age of Hamas button men was "getting lower by the day."

Hamas does not disclose how many of its operatives have been killed. According to the terror group’s health ministry, Israel has killed more than 56,000 Gazooks in the war, but the figure cannot be verified and does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The war has turned much of Gaza into rubble, and destroyed or rendered unusable hundreds of miles of tunnels that Hamas dug underneath the Strip to hold hostages, smuggle arms and hide from Israeli forces.

"They’re hiding because they are being instantly hit by planes but they appear here and there, organizing queues in front of bakeries, protecting aid trucks, or punishing criminals," said Essam, 57 a construction worker in Gaza City. "They’re not like before the war, but they exist."

Asked for comment for this story, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri
...a senior spokesman for Hamas. Zuhri gained notoriety in 2006 when he dropped his money belt containing somewhere between 640,000 and 900,000 euros, which was confiscated by Paleostinian security and customs officials at a routine border crossing from Egypt to Gaza. The news brought competing Hamas and Fatah forces to the crossing checkpoint for an epic face-making and hollering contest...
said the group was working for an agreement to end the war with Israel, but "surrender is not an option."

Hamas remained committed to negotiations and was "ready to release all prisoners at once," he said, referring to the hostages, but it wanted a permanent ceasefire and for Israel to withdraw from the Strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly rejected those conditions and vowed to keep fighting until Hamas is vanquished.

’IT DOESN’T LOOK GOOD’
With a US-brokered truce in the Iran-Israel war holding, attention has switched back to the possibility of a Gaza deal that might end the conflict and release the 50 remaining hostages.

One of the people close to Hamas told Rooters it would welcome a truce, even for a couple of months, to confront the local clans that are gaining influence.

But he said Netanyahu’s terms for ending the war — including Hamas leaders leaving Gaza — would amount to total defeat, and Hamas would never surrender. "We keep the faith, but in reality, it doesn’t look good," the source said.

Founded in 1987, Hamas has ruled Gaza with an iron fist since it violent mostly peacefully ousted forces loyal to Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase....>
, head of the secularist Fatah faction, the Islamist Hamas’s main rival.

Israel has inflicted unprecedented damage on Hamas since the October 7 onslaught, killing most of the terror group’s top commanders, including its leader, Yahya Sinwar, in October.

Yezid Sayigh, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, said he believed Hamas was simply trying to survive. That was not just a physical challenge of holding out militarily, he said, but above all a political one.

"They face being eliminated on the ground in Gaza if the war doesn’t stop, but they also face being erased from any governing formula that ends the war in Gaza [if such a thing can be found]," he wrote in response to Rooters’ questions.

Paleostinian tribes have emerged as part of Israel’s strategy to counter Hamas. Netanyahu has said publicly that Israel has been arming clans that oppose Hamas, but has not said which.

One of the most prominent challenges has come from Abu Shabaab, a Paleostinian Bedouin based in the Rafah area, which is under IDF control. Hamas wants Abu Shabaab captured, dead or alive, accusing him of collaboration with Israel and planning attacks on the terror group, three Hamas sources told Rooters.

Abu Shabaab controls eastern Rafah and his group is believed to have freedom of movement in the wider Rafah area.

Images on Abu Shabaab’s Facebook page show the group’s button men organizing the entry of aid trucks from the Kerem Shalom crossing. Israel has accused Hamas of hijacking aid deliveries, hoarding supplies and selling them at exorbitant prices.

Announcements by Abu Shabaab’s group indicate that it is trying to build an independent administration in the area, though the group denies trying to become a governing authority. The group has called on people from Rafah who are now in other areas of Gaza to return, promising food and shelter.

In response to Rooters’ questions, Abu Shabaab’s group denied getting support from Israel or contacts with the Israeli army, describing itself as a popular force protecting humanitarian aid from looting by escorting aid trucks. It accused Hamas of violence and muzzling dissent.

A Hamas security official said the Paleostinian security services would "strike with an iron fist to uproot the gangs of the collaborator Yasser Abu Shabaab," saying Hamas would show no mercy or hesitation and accusing Abu Shabaab of being part of "an effort to create chaos and lawlessness."

Not all of Gaza’s clans are at odds with Hamas, however.

On Thursday, a tribal alliance said its men had protected aid trucks from looters in northern Gaza. Sources close to Hamas said the group had approved of the alliance’s involvement.

Israel said Hamas button men had in fact commandeered the trucks, which both the clans and the terror group denied.

IRAN UNCERTAINTY
Paleostinian analyst Akram Attallah said the emergence of Abu Shabaab was a result of the weakness of Hamas, though he expected him to fail ultimately because Paleostinians broadly reject any hint of collaboration with Israel.

Nevertheless, regardless of how small Abu Shabaab’s group is, the fact that Hamas has an enemy from the same culture was dangerous, he said. "It remains a threat until it is dealt with."

The IDF’s 12-day bombing campaign against Iran, which began early on June 13, has added to the uncertainties facing Hamas. Tehran’s backing for Hamas played a big part in the terror group’s ability to shoot missiles deep into Israel.

According to Israel, the sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites, and ballistic missile program was necessary to prevent the Islamic Theocratic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the Jewish state.

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 Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
retaliated by firing drones and deadly ballistic missile attacks at Israel, causing heavy damage.

While both Iran and Israel have claimed victory, Netanyahu on Sunday indicated the Israeli campaign against Tehran had further strengthened his hand in Gaza, saying it would "help us expedite our victory and the release of all our hostages."

US President Donald Trump
...The cad! Twice caught beating wimmin!...
said on Wednesday that great progress was being made on Gaza, adding that the strike on Iran would help get the hostages released.

A Paleostinian official close to Hamas said the group was weighing the risk of diminished Iranian backing, anticipating "the impact will be on the shape of funding and the expertise Iran used to give to the resistance and Hamas."

One target of Israel’s campaign in Iran was a Revolutionary Guards officer who oversaw coordination with Hamas, which is part of the so-called Axis of Resistance®, a regional network of Iran-backed terror proxies that also includes Leb
...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration....
’s Hamas and Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
’s Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
rebels.

Israel announced the death of the general, Saeed Izadi, on Saturday, saying he had been the driving force behind the Iran-Hamas axis and instrumental in planning the October 7 onslaught.

Hamas extended condolences to Iran on Thursday, calling Izadi a friend who was directly responsible for ties with "the leadership of the Paleostinian resistance."

A source from an Iran-backed group in the region said Izadi helped develop Hamas capabilities, including how to carry out complex attacks, including rocket launches, infiltration operations, and drones.

Asked about how the Israeli campaign against Iran might affect its support for Hamas, Abu Zuhri said Iran was a large and powerful country that would not be defeated.
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Cost of damages from Iran war forecast at double October 7 and ensuing attacks
2025-06-26
[IsraelTimes] In numbers released ahead of ceasefire announcement, Tax Authority official predicts claims will likely reach NIS 5 billion as Israel picks up pieces from powerful missile strikes

The cost of property damages from Iranian missile and drone attacks on Israel over the past 12 days is estimated to be around double the sum of claims stemming from the October 7 attack and all 615 days since, the head of the Tax Authority’s compensation department said Monday.

The likely NIS 5 billion ($1.47 billion) price tag calculated by Amir Dahan underlined the destructive power of the few Iranian missiles to make it through Israel’s air defense shield, carrying massive warheads that reduced whole apartment buildings to rubble and sent out blast waves that shattered windows and caused other damage over a wide area.

"These are figures we have never seen for direct property damage," Dahan told the Knesset Finance Committee on Monday.

According to Dahan, damage claims resulting from ballistic missile attacks 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 Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
had already reached NIS 4.5 billion ($1.32 billion) as of Monday and were expected to climb by another NIS 500 million. By comparison, Israeli property owners had incurred some NIS 2.5 billion ($735 million) in damage resulting from the October 7 attack and since, including months of heavy fighting in the north.

Some 40,000 property claims over the war have already been filed, a figure that Dahan predicted would likely reach 50,000 or more, including claims from factories still assessing the extent of damage. It was not clear if the forecast was based on a longer timeline for the war, which appeared to end abruptly Tuesday morning following a US-brokered ceasefire.

Despite the higher cost, the number was less than the 70,000 claims filed for damages between October 7, 2023, and June 12, 2025, including by those harmed by attacks from Hamas
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
, Hezbollah in Leb
...home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade....
and the Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
s in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
According to Israeli figures, Iran fired over 550 ballistic missiles at Israel during the war, though only 31 ballistic missile impacts were reported in populated areas. A single drone also hit a home in Beit She’an, out of around 1,000 launched by Tehran. Shrapnel from missiles and interceptors also caused scattered damage.

Direct hits from Iran on the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot and the Bazan oil refinery in Haifa were particularly destructive, Dahan said, without providing specific values.

Of 38,700 claims filed before the rocket barrage Tuesday morning, which destroyed a building in Beersheba and killed four people, some 31,000 claims were made for damage to buildings, 3,700 for vehicle damage, and 4,000 for other property, including furniture and appliances, according to the Tax Authority.

These included some 25,000 claims made in Tel Aviv, 10,800 in Ashkelon, 2,600 in Haifa and Acre, and 94 in Jerusalem, among other districts, according to incomplete Tax Authority data.

For those evacuated from homes damaged by rockets, about 11,000 people have been placed in hotels, and an estimated 4,000 have gone to live with friends and relatives, according to the Federation of Local Authorities.

Owners of properties rendered unusable due to damage from the war will not be liable for property taxes, the Interior Ministry ruled last week.

Israel’s funds for property reparations stood at NIS 9 billion ($2.64 billion) before the start of Israel’s preemptive attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities on June 13, Dahan said. It currently has claims on the table of NIS 6 billion ($1.76 billion) from the Iran attack, including NIS 1.5 billion ($440 million) in outstanding claims from October 7 and ensuing fighting.

The Tax Authority has 130 teams of appraisers charged with visiting every site filing a claim, ideally on the day the claim is filed, Dahan said. A new computerized system will allow claimants to upload photos of their damages to receive up to NIS 30,000 ($8,815) within 72 hours, he noted.

Regarding damages to the contents of a home, Israeli law provides that owners can be compensated up to a certain value for different objects. For example, families can be compensated up to NIS 25,187 ($7,400) for damaged furniture and up to NIS 30,914 ($9,084) for electronics and appliances. The Tax Authority offers insurance for higher payouts, at a premium of 0.3 percent of the additional value.

While only 600 Israelis had signed up for this additional coverage before the war, more than 50,000 have joined since the beginning of the Rising Lion operation, according to a report in the Hebrew daily Calcalist.

COMPENSATION FOR BUSINESSES
Economic damage from the war has extended far beyond missile damage, with businesses and schools closed due to restrictions on gatherings.

On Monday, Israel’s Finance Ministry revealed a plan to compensate those affected financially, including grants for businesses and furloughed workers.

Businesses bringing in less than NIS 300,000 ($86,000) a year will be eligible for a fixed business continuity grant "depending on the level of damage to the business," while businesses earning NIS 300,000 to NIS 400 million will be eligible for the reimbursement of 7%-22% of their expenses, "depending on the rate of damage to business turnover, as well as a refund of 75% of salary expenses in relation to the level of damage."

Businesses with an annual turnover of NIS 300,000 to NIS 100 million ($28 million) will have compensation capped at NIS 600,000 ($172,000).

Employees placed on unpaid leave due to the cessation of economic activity during the war will receive payments from the National Insurance Institute and will not be forced to use any of their accrued vacation days.
Link


Arabia
Houthi military chief was at khat-chewing party when targeted in Israeli strike – report
2025-06-20
[IsraelTimes] Muhammad Al-Ghamari reportedly seriously hurt in assassination attempt, was initially said to have been meeting other Houthi leaders

Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
military chief of staff Muhammad al-Ghamari was at a khat-leaf-chewing gathering when an Israeli strike targeted him over the weekend, Hebrew media reported Wednesday.

While some Hebrew media reports initially said Saturday that al-Ghamari was believed to have been meeting with other Houthi leaders at the time of the strike, the Kan public broadcaster reported Wednesday evening that he was attending a social gathering for taking the drug.

Kan reported that the defense establishment received word that the Houthi military chief had been seriously injured in the strike and the attempted liquidation had ultimately failed.

The IDF did not comment on the report.

While khat is illegal in several countries — including Germany, La Belle France, the Netherlands, the US, and Canada — it is frequently used around the Middle East, including in Israel by the country’s Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
ite and Æthiopian communities.

Khat leaves contain two amphetamines, cathinone and cathine. Among the positive effects are a sense of euphoria, increased alertness, and relief from fatigue. However,
man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them...
they also present several health risks, including depression, irritability, increased blood pressure and heart rate, loss of appetite, and insomnia.

It is considered a "drug of abuse" by the World Health Organization.

According to the Ynet news site, the Houthis set up roadblocks in the area after the incident, and ambulances were called.

It cited a source in Yemen as saying that al-Ghamari, trained in Iran, had coordinated between the Houthis and Iran, and overseen the Houthis’ missile program.

Since March 18, when the IDF resumed its offensive against Hamas
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
in 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...
Strip, the Houthis in Yemen have launched some 50 ballistic missiles and at least a dozen drones at Israel.
Related:
Muhammad al-Ghamari 04/22/2023 Yemeni military leadership vows that Yemen's domestic wealth will be protected

Link


Arabia
Israel strikes Hodeidah port, threatens naval, air blockade
2025-06-12
More on this story from yesterday.
[GEO.TV] Israel stepped up pressure on Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
's Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
s on Tuesday, deploying its navy to hit targets in the Red Sea port of Hodeidah and threatening the Iran-aligned movement with a naval and air blockade if attacks on Israel persist.

Houthi-run Al Masirah TV said Israel carried out two strikes on the docks of Al Hodeidah port. The Israeli army said in a statement that the navy struck Houthi targets, adding that the port is used by the group to transfer weapons.

There were no immediate reports of casualties. Israel has been hitting Houthi targets with air strikes in a military campaign launched after the country severely weakened Iran's other Middle East partners.

The Israeli military on Monday urged the evacuation of the Houthi-controlled ports of Ras Isa, Hodeidah and Salif.

"We warned the Houthi terror organization that if they continue to fire toward Israel, they will face a powerful response and will be subjected to a naval and aerial blockade", Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement on X.
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
IDF shoots down Yemen missile; multiple interceptors launched as it breaks up
2025-06-11
[IsraelTimes] Houthis take responsibility for attack, claiming to target Ben Gurion Airport, hours after Israeli Navy bombs Hodeida port

A ballistic missile launched at Israel by the Iran-backed Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
s in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
was intercepted by air defenses on Tuesday evening, the Israeli military said, in what has become an almost daily occurrence.

The missile attack came hours after Israeli Navy corvettes struck the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeida, in response to the Iran-backed group’s repeated attacks on Israel.

The missile fired at Israel on Tuesday broke up into multiple parts after being hit by an interceptor, leading the Israeli Air Force to launch additional interceptors to shoot down the fragments, a military official told The Times of Israel.

At least seven interceptors were seen launched.

In the past, intact warheads from partially intercepted Houthi missiles have fallen to the ground and caused harm.

The Iran-backed Houthis took responsibility for the attack, claiming to have launched two ballistic missiles at Ben Gurion Airport in central Israel. The second missile apparently fell short or broke up in the air, as several Houthi projectiles have in recent weeks.

The attack triggered sirens shortly before 8 p.m. across central Israel, the Jerusalem area, southern West Bank settlements, and some areas in southern Israel. Preceding the sirens by two minutes, an early warning was issued to residents, alerting civilians of the long-range missile attack via a push notification on their phones.

The Israel Defense Forces issued a statement on the incoming attack some five minutes before sirens sounded.

There were no reports of injuries in the attack. Debris from the intercepted missile or the interceptors landed near Jerusalem and in the West Bank, causing no major damage.

On Tuesday morning, in its first-ever strike on Yemen, the Israeli Navy destroyed infrastructure at the port of Hodeida with two guided missiles launched from advanced Sa’ar 6-class corvettes hundreds of kilometers away.

It was the 11th Israeli strike on the Houthis since the start of the conflict, with the previous 10 all having been carried out by the Air Force.
Link


Arabia
Al-Qaeda’s Yemen chief threatens Trump, Musk over Gaza war: ‘There are no red lines’
2025-06-08
[IsraelTimes] Saad bin Atef al-Awlaki, who has $6 million US bounty on head, calls for lone-wolf assassinations of Egyptian, Jordanian, and Gulf leaders due to war

The leader of al-Qaeda’s Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
branch has threatened both US President Donald Trump
...The cad! Twice caught beating wimmin!...
and billionaire Elon Musk over the Israel-Hamas
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
war in 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...
Strip, in his first video message since taking over the group last year.

The half-hour video message by Saad bin Atef al-Awlaki, which spread online early Saturday via supporters of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
...the latest incarnation of various Qaeda and Qaeda-allied groups, including the now-defunct Aden-Abyan Islamic Army that boomed the USS Cole in 2000...>
, also included calls for lone-wolf bully boyz to assassinate leaders in Egypt, Jordan, and the Gulf Arab states over the war, which has decimated Gaza.
Interesting. They must be particularly upset in Egypt, where they’ve tried so hard to balance their brotherly Moslem duty to Hamas with their dislike of Jewish Israel despite the billions of lovely American dollars the ostensible peace brings in.
The video of al-Awlaki’s speech showed images of Trump and Musk, as well as US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio
...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration...
, and Secretary of State Pete Hegseth. It also included images of logos of Musk’s businesses, including the electric carmaker Tesla.

"There are no red lines after what happened and is happening to our people in Gaza," al-Awlaki said. "Reciprocity is legitimate."

BRANCH LONG THOUGHT MOST DANGEROUS
Though believed to have been weakened in recent years due to infighting and suspected US dronezaps killing its leaders, the group known by the acronym AQAP had been considered the most dangerous branch of al-Qaeda still operating after the 2011 killing by US Navy SEALs of founder the late Osama bin Laden
...... who is now beyond all cares and woe......
, who criminal masterminded the September 11, 2001, attacks.

In 2022, a US dronezap in Afghanistan killed bin Laden’s successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri
...Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area assuming he's not dead like Mullah Omar. He lost major face when he ordered the nascent Islamic State to cease and desist and merge with the orthodox al-Qaeda spring, al-Nusra...>
, who also helped plot 9/11. The September 11 attacks began decades of war by the US in Afghanistan and Iraq, and fomented the rise of the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group.

Al-Awlaki already has a $6 million US bounty on his head, as Washington says he "has publicly called for attacks against the United States and its allies." He replaced AQAP leader Khalid al-Batarfi, whose death was announced by the group in 2024.

A FOCUS OF THE HOUTHIS AS WELL
AQAP seizing onto the Israel-Hamas war follows the efforts of Yemen’s Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
rebels to do the same. The Iranian-backed group has launched missile attacks on Israel and targeted commercial vessels moving through the Red Sea corridor, as well as American warships.

The Trump administration launched an intense campaign of strikes on the Houthis, which only ended before the president’s recent trip to the Middle East.

The Houthis’ international profile rose as the group remains mired in Yemen’s long-stalemated war. al-Awlaki may be betting on the same for his group, which UN experts have estimated has between 3,000 and 4,000 active fighters and passive members. The group raises money by robbing banks and money exchange shops, as well as smuggling weapons, counterfeiting currencies, and ransom operations, according to the UN.

The Shiite Zaydi Houthis have previously denied working with AQAP, a Sunni Death Eater group. However,
if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well...
AQAP targeting of the Houthis has dropped in recent years, while the bully boyz keep attacking Saudi-led coalition forces, who have battled the Houthis.

"As the Houthis gain popularity as leaders of the ’Arab and Moslem world’s resistance’ against Israel, al-Awlaki seeks to challenge their dominance by presenting himself as equally concerned about the situation in Gaza," said Mohammed al-Basha, a Yemeni expert at the Basha Report risk advisory firm.

"For a national security and foreign policy community increasingly disengaged from Yemen, this video is a clear reminder: Yemen still matters."
Related:
Saad bin Atef al-Awlaki 03/11/2024 AQAP announces the death of its emir Khalid Batarfi
Saad bin Atef al-Awlaki 08/18/2016 Air Strikes Target al Qaeda in Yemen, Troops Capture Aden District
Saad bin Atef al-Awlaki 04/01/2016 Air Strikes Target al Qaeda in Yemen, Troops Capture Aden District

Related:
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula: 2025-04-16 Former al-Qaeda commander and HTS associate launches new movement in Hadhramaut Valley
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula: 2025-02-16 Two prominent Al-Qaeda figures killed in Saudi-occupied Yemen
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula: 2025-01-15 New study reveals million dollar business in human trafficking of African refugees to Yemen
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran orders thousands of tons of ballistic missile ingredients from China - WSJ
2025-06-06
[Jpost] Sources estimated that if delivered, the materials could produce around 800 missiles.

Iran has ordered thousands of tons of ballistic missile ingredients from China as part of an effort to rebuild its military capabilities while navigating ongoing nuclear talks with the United States, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Thursday, citing sources familiar with the transactions.

The shipments, which are expected to reach Iran in the coming months, include ammonium perchlorate, a key component in the solid propellant used for ballistic missiles. Sources indicated that these materials could potentially fuel hundreds of missiles.

Some of the ammonium perchlorate is expected to be sent to militias aligned with Iran, including the Houthis in Yemen, one of the sources revealed. This move aligns with Iran’s broader strategy to strengthen its regional influence and rebuild its missile arsenal while continuing to negotiate with the Trump administration over the future of its nuclear program.

Iran has been expanding its stockpiles of uranium enriched to just below weapons-grade levels, despite calls from the US to curb its nuclear activities. At the same time, Iran has made it clear that it has no intention of negotiating limits on its missile program, a point that has remained a major sticking point in international discussions.

According to sources, the order for the missile ingredients was placed in recent months by an Iranian entity, Pishgaman Tejarat Rafi Novin Co.. The material was sourced from Hong Kong-based Lion Commodities Holdings Ltd., a company that did not respond to requests for comment. The Iranian mission to the United Nations also declined to comment on the matter.

In a statement, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson denied knowledge of the deal, asserting that China has “always exercised strict control over dual-use items in accordance with China’s export control laws and regulations and its international obligations.”

PART OF REBUILDING IRAN’S 'AXIS OF RESISTANCE'
The shipment of ammonium perchlorate is part of Iran’s broader efforts to rebuild its so-called "Axis of Resistance" network, which includes a number of terror proxies across the region.

These groups have faced significant setbacks over recent years, as well as the ongoing war. These setbacks include Israeli strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon and the assassination of key leaders such as Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, former Hezbollah secretary general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and multiple Hamas leaders.

While US and Israeli strikes have damaged the Houthis' capabilities in Yemen, they continue to periodically launch missiles at Israel.

Beyond supporting regional militias, Iran has also reportedly transferred ballistic missiles to Shia militia groups in Iraq, which have previously targeted both US and Israeli forces in the region.

EARLIER SHIPMENTS OF MISSILE INGREDIENTS
Earlier this year, Iranian ships docked in China to load over 1,000 tons of sodium perchlorate, a precursor for ammonium perchlorate. The material was delivered to Iranian ports in mid-February and late March, according to shipping trackers. This quantity of sodium perchlorate is said to be enough to fuel around 260 short-range missiles.

The new order for ammonium perchlorate, which was placed months before President Trump’s proposed nuclear talks with Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in early March, could supply Iran with enough material to produce approximately 800 missiles, one official estimated.

In response to Iran’s missile activities, the US Treasury Department sanctioned six individuals and six entities from both Iran and China on April 29 for their involvement in procuring ballistic missile propellant ingredients.

Two weeks later, the Treasury expanded these sanctions to include additional Chinese and Hong Kong entities. The US Department of the Treasury also added sodium perchlorate to the list of materials it believes are being used in Iran’s military, nuclear, or ballistic missile programs.

Iran’s reliance on foreign material for missile production is due, in part, to domestic production bottlenecks. Fabian Hinz, a military analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, noted that Iran’s defense industry struggles to meet its needs without the continued importation of missile propellant materials.

The storage and handling of these materials, however, come with significant risks. A deadly explosion at the Shahid Rajaee port in April, which killed dozens, was reportedly caused by the mishandling of explosive materials by a unit of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Some of the sodium perchlorate imported earlier this year was lost in that explosion, an official confirmed.

“These substances are a major fire and explosive hazard,” said Hinz. “Iran’s defense industrial complex does not have a strong track record in ensuring safety standards.”
Not just perchlorates, and not just Iran. It was ammonium nitrate sent with brotherly Moslem affection from Iran to Hezbollah that destroyed the Port of Beirut and a good chunk of the nearby city.
The Times of Israel adds:
​Much of the material will reportedly remain in 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 Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
as the country works to repair missile production plants that were damaged in October, when Israel responded to Iran’s second-ever direct attack some six months after an earlier missile-and-dronezap. Israel’s October strike destroyed about a dozen so-called planetary mixers, which serve to blend ballistic missile ingredients, the Journal said.

A report earlier this week said Iran is also working to revive its air defense system after Israel’s successive attacks on it.

An earlier Chinese shipment of missile fuel material has been linked to a blast in a southern Iranian port that state media said killed at least 18 people and maimed hundreds. That shipment, which Iran has not acknowledged, contained enough ammonium perchlorate precursor to produce 260 short-range missiles, the Journal said, attributing the blast to mishandling by a unit from the Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for Iran’s enrichment capabilities and nuclear facilities to be fully dismantled. US intelligence has assessed that Israel will attack the nuclear facilities this year.

However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by...
Israel has assured the White House that it won’t launch an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities unless Trump signals that the ongoing negotiations with Tehran have failed, Axios reported Thursday, citing two Israeli officials familiar with the matter. One official said it could take several months before that happened, and Iran would try to prevent the talks from collapsing.

During a visit last week by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Mosssd
...sees all, knows all, gets 'em all in the end...
Director David Barnea and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, Israeli officials reassured the White House that Israel would not surprise the US by unilaterally striking Iran, the report said. An Israeli official quoted by the news site said, "We calmed the Americans and told them there is no logic in launching an attack if a good diplomatic solution can be found. This is why we are going to give it a chance and wait with any military action until it is clear that negotiations have been exhausted and [White House envoy to the Middle East] Steve Witkoff has given up."

Though the IDF is constantly training for a strike on Iran, separate preparations for strikes on the Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
s have been misread by the US and other countries as a sign of an imminent Israeli attack on Iran, according to a senior Israeli official cited by Axios.

The report added that Iranian and US negotiators are not expected to hold talks this weekend, despite reporting earlier this week that a sixth round could take place in the Middle East.
Related:
Ammonium perchlorate 11/16/2022 US Navy: 70 tons of missile fuel fromc>Iran to Yemen seized

Related:
Perchlorate 04/29/2025 Port Explosion: Israel Silent, Iranians Thirsty for Revenge
Perchlorate 04/28/2025 Day 3: Death toll from Iranian port blast rises to 40, MP blames Israel
Perchlorate 04/26/2025 WATCH: Explosion rocks Iran's Bandar Abbas port near IRGC base, 195 516 700+ injured, 5 dead — was it mis-stored missile fuel?

Related:
Port of Beirut: 2022-04-23 Report accuses Iran of sending port blast nitrates to Beirut
Port of Beirut: 2021-12-18 U.S. Says Hizbullah Govt. Role Impeding Action on Hizbullah-Linked 'Terrorist Incidents'
Port of Beirut: 2021-12-16 Khalil to File New Lawsuit as Bitar Looks into Russian Satellite Images
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
GHF resumes Gaza aid distribution after temporarily closing sites to boost security
2025-06-06
[IsraelTimes] New distribution point opens in Tel Sultan area of Rafah after over 24 hours of closures; videos, eyewitnesses said to bolster claims IDF behind recent deadly fire near aid centers

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...
Humanitarian Foundation resumed operations near Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighborhood on Thursday afternoon, a front man for the organization said, after it shut down aid distribution for over 24 hours to work out security issues, prompted by three straight days of mass casualty incidents.

After Wednesday’s shutdown stretched unexpectedly into Thursday morning, an Arabic-language message was published in the early afternoon, informing Gazooks that a new aid distribution site had opened in the Saudi neighborhood of Tel Sultan.

The center is located in one of the large school complexes in the center of the neighborhood, a GHF spokesperson told The Times of Israel.

The new site is intended to replace another location in the so-called Swedish Village area on Gaza’s far southern coast, which was permanently shuttered on Thursday, after just a few days of operations.

Images shared by GHF showed Gazooks picking up food from the Swedish Village distribution site ahead of its closure.

The scenes near the unfinished Kuwaiti hospital along the Egyptian border showed some disorder as civilians opened boxes and filled bags to carry, but the area appeared to be relatively uncrowded.

A video clip shared by the group showed a staffer with a camera photographing about a dozen smiling and waving Gazooks.

GHF said 18,240 boxes of food were delivered at the Tel Sultan "Swedish Village" site, and 6,720 were picked up at the new site in the nearby Saudi neighborhood.

The foundation says that food in all of those boxes amounts to roughly 1.5 million meals. The products are largely dry foods, though, which require cooking equipment or community kitchens in order to prepare.

The new location in the Tel Sultan area was opened after a brief shutdown of all GHF aid centers, implemented to give time for the US and Israel-backed organization to carry out logistical work needed to accommodate larger crowds.

The closure was also intended to give the IDF time to prepare safer access routes to the sites, a GHF spokesperson said, following days of mass-casualty incidents across the various GHF locations.

The initial mass casualty event came on Sunday as hundreds of Gazooks made their way to an Israeli and US-backed aid distribution compound in Rafah — the only one open that day, amid the partial easing of a more than two-month blockade on aid into the Strip.

Hamas
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
-controlled health authorities in the war-torn enclave reported that 31 people had been killed and nearly 200 had been maimed in the pre-dawn shooting near the distribution center in Rafah, for which the IDF largely denied responsibility.

The corpse count could not be verified, nor were the subsequent Hamas-issued tolls of three killed on Monday and 27 killed on Tuesday in similar incidents.

CLAIMS OF IDF RESPONSIBILITY FOR DEADLY FIRE
The IDF has acknowledged firing warning shots at Paleostinians headed to the distribution site before it was open or who approached it from outside the designated safe route. The military said that its fire hit an unspecified number of people, but did not acknowledge killing anybody.

At the same time, it said that Hamas’s claims of dozens killed and maimed were "exaggerated." In an international press briefing, a government front man claimed that reports of IDF troops firing at civilians near aid sites were "based on Hamas propaganda."

Eyewitness accounts, video testimony, and expert analysis cited by separate US and Israeli news outlets on Thursday bolstered claims that Israeli forces had indeed shot at Gazook civilians seeking aid near Rafah.

According to the analyses published Thursday, the IDF was potentially firing in an apparent attempt at crowd control, which experts said was a recipe for disaster given the masses of people involved. However,
a lie repeated often enough remains a lie...
some eyewitnesses quoted in the reports claimed the military was intentionally shooting to kill.

A CNN
...formerly the Cable News Network, now who know what it might stand for...
investigation cited more than a dozen eyewitnesses, including some who were maimed amid the incident, who said Israeli troops "shot at crowds in volleys of gunfire that occurred sporadically through the early hours of Sunday morning."

The report noted that GHF had said Israeli forces were operating in the same area during the same period.

The shooting took place around half a mile from the aid distribution site in Rafah’s Tel al-Sultan neighborhood, the report said. The shooting’s location, where hundreds of Paleostinians had gathered, was confirmed via CNN’s geolocation of videos from the scene.

None of the videos definitively showed who fired the shots.

However,
a lie repeated often enough remains a lie...
the CNN report cited weapons experts who said the rate of gunfire, as well as photos of retrieved bullets, were consistent with tank-mounted machine guns used by the IDF, and inconsistent with weapons used by Hamas. Multiple people also told CNN they saw gunfire coming from Israeli tanks in the area.

A separate report by Haaretz also cited eyewitness accounts and video pointing to Israel having carried out the shooting. The outlet quoted an unnamed military official as saying that senior officers sought to lay down fire as a way to direct Gazooks away from the military position and toward the aid site.

"The intention was to direct the population via fire," the officer was quoted as saying. "The army treated this like a regular situation of suspects entering a combat zone, but it’s impossible to direct a population at scales this large with fire if you want them to feel safe getting to areas you have opened."

The military initially denied any role in Sunday’s shooting, although military sources were said to have acknowledged it in private. On Tuesday, however, the IDF confirmed that Israeli troops had indeed fired shots in the area, and said that they were warning shots intended for suspects about a kilometer away.

The IDF did not respond to the CNN report on Thursday, nor did it respond to the Haaretz report.

Although the number of dead and maimed in the incident could not be verified, the International Committee of the Red Thingy reported that its field hospital was overwhelmed on Sunday as a result of the shooting, calling it the "highest number of weapon-maimed in a single incident" since it opened the field hospital a year ago.

Doctors at nearby Nasser Hospital, which also absorbed some of the maimed, shared with CNN photos of the bullets taken from the bodies of patients killed in the incident. They were consistent with the type of ammunition used by Israeli weapons, including the FN MAG.

Dr. Ahmad Abou-Sweid, an Australian working at Nasser, told CNN, "There was a heavy proportion of head-targeted injuries from bullet wounds."

Meanwhile,
...back at the saloon, Butch got the bill for the damage caused by the fist fight, the mirror broken in the shootout, and drinks for everyone......
Gazooks who spoke to Haaretz rejected the claim that there were armed Paleostinians in the area who may have been responsible for the shooting, rather than the IDF.

One local, identified only by the Hebrew initial Aleph, called the claim "baseless."

"There were no button men. There were planes, artillery and drones. The people who were there were innocent civilians who came to receive a share of the aid," Aleph said.

"What I saw there is hard to digest — fire for long minutes, in all directions," they continued. "There was a machine gun on a crane and I saw it firing as if it were a robot, and that’s in addition to the drones."

"The shooting came from all sides, as though the people who came to the compound were planning an invasion, and not hungry people who wanted food."

Another eyewitness dismissed suggestions that the first was a failed attempt
...Curses! Foiled again!...
at crowd control, telling CNN that he had witnessed the deliberate targeting of civilians.

"I have seen a lot of soldiers in this war. When they want to clear an area or warn you, they shoot around you. But yesterday, they were shooting to kill us," said Mohammad Abu Rezeq, who was shot in the stomach.

While the IDF has not directly responded to the allegations laid out by CNN and Haaretz, it appeared to try and rebuff them in an indirect manner.

On Thursday afternoon, the military published an audio recording that it said was of a conversation between a Gazook man and an officer from the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, in which he claimed that Hamas is the one who opened fire on Paleostinians near the Rafah aid distribution site.

"The people who fired were Hamas terrorists," the Gazook man says, according to a translation provided by the IDF.

"They don’t want the people to receive aid, they want to foil the plan so that the aid will go to them, allowing them to steal it. They’ve gone completely bankrupt," the man said.

AID DELIVERY DIFFICULTIES CONTINUE
Even with the reopened distribution centers, problems continued to plague aid delivery efforts on Thursday, after a labor union representing Gazook truck drivers said it was going on strike, halting aid deliveries within the Strip.

The Private Transport Association said it was calling the strike in response to an incident on Wednesday in which a convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid was attacked by button men in central Gaza.

The union said button men had shot and killed several drivers in the Deir al-Balah area, and had maimed and kidnapped several others.

Israel has said that hundreds of trucks packed with food, medicine and other assistance were awaiting transport from the Kerem Shalom crossing to warehouses run by the UN and other humanitarian groups throughout Gaza.

The union’s ties to Hamas are also hazy, as before the war, most unions in Gaza were affiliated with the terror group.

STRIKE TARGETS GAZA CITY HOSPITAL
The IDF’s military offensive continued across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, with operations including an Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
at a hospital in Gaza City.

The military said that the strike at the al-Ma’amadani Hospital targeted a Paleostinian Islamic Jihad
...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah...
command center in the medical center’s courtyard.

The Hamas-run health ministry claimed, however, that the strike had hit a press compound and killed three people.

Reports named one victim as Ismail Badr, a cameraman for the Islamic Jihad-affiliated Paleostine Today channel. A second journalist, Suleiman Hajaj, was also killed, according to reports.

The IDF said the compound was being used by Islamic Jihad operatives to plan and carry out attacks on troops and Israeli civilians.

As always, it said it took steps to minimize civilian harm, including by using a precision munition, aerial surveillance, and other intelligence.

Elsewhere in the Strip, Nasser Hospital said it had received the bodies of 10 Paleostinians killed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis overnight.

COGAT says 92 aid trucks entered Gaza Thursday

[IsraelTimes] The Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) announces that 92 humanitarian aid trucks carrying flour and food entered the Gaza Strip today.

Israel resumed aid deliveries to Gaza on May 19, after a pause since March 2. Since then, 1,289 trucks have entered the Strip.

Some of the truckloads have been taken to the new aid distribution sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The contents of many of the trucks that entered Gaza in recent weeks are still awaiting collection on the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom crossing.

The aid underwent an inspection first by Israeli authorities before entering Gaza via the crossing.
Related:
GHF: 2025-06-04 Key US consulting firm withdraws from American- and Israeli-backed Gaza aid agency
GHF: 2025-06-04 Seeking to bolster security after repeated shootings, GHF says sites closed Wednesday
GHF: 2025-06-04 IDF rejects ‘exaggerated’ Hamas claims of people killed by troops near Gaza aid site
Link



Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More