What the Israelis, what the Israelis say....I'd even go so far as to say what the Israeli gov. apparatus says though realize a lot of the pop. is also gaslit.
So how soon until Netanyahu and some senior IDF leadership is ejected. IDF lookouts says they reported unusual Hamas activity along the border in the month leading up to the 10/7 attacks, but were ignored by superiors with one telling a soldier : "If you all bother us again with these things, you'll be court-martialed". IDF commanders ignored lookouts' warnings over Hamas massacre - report The lookouts warned that they had seen unusual actions taking place next to the border in the months leading up to October 7. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/a...medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark
We will see. There will be no pause or ceasefire in this war until hostages are released. Sadly Hamas may have killed the majority of the hostages according to some analysts. US says Israel hostage deal 'closer than ever' https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67478227 A deal to release hostages taken from Israel during Hamas's attacks last month is "closer than ever before", according to a senior US official. "We're hopeful... but there's still work to be done," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. At a separate event, US President Joe Biden also said he believed an agreement was nearing. An estimated 240 people were kidnapped in the 7 October Hamas attacks, during which 1,200 Israelis were killed. Since then, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza has said 13,000 people in Gaza have been killed in the territory in Israel's retaliatory campaign. Hints that a deal to secure the release of hostages may be nearing have been increasing in recent days - including from Qatar, which was instrumental in securing the release of four hostages last month. Now the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)'s president has travelled to Qatar - where hostage negotiations are being mediated and where the political leadership of Hamas is based. In a statement, the ICRC said its president, Mirjana Spoljaric, had travelled there in order to "advance humanitarian issues" related to the conflict. While the ICRC has stressed that it does not take part in direct negotiations leading to the release of hostages, it does help to facilitate releases once they have been agreed. So far, the group has facilitated the release of four hostages released by Hamas - a mother and daughter - who are US nationals - and two elderly Israeli women. "As a neutral humanitarian intermediary, we remain ready to facilitate any future release that the parties to the conflict agree to," the ICRC said. On Sunday, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said that only "very minor" practical and logistical obstacles remain in the way of securing a deal. The Israeli ambassador to the US - Michael Herzog - had also waded in, saying he was hopeful a deal for the release of a significant number of hostages would be reached "in the coming days". From talking to a figure familiar with the talks recently, the BBC understands that Israel and Hamas may be looking at some kind of phased release. This could include a small number of hostages being freed initially, alongside a ceasefire. If this holds, more people could be let go. Elsewhere, it has been suggested that part of the package could be the release of some Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, possibly women and minors. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far ruled out a halt to Israel's retaliatory attacks in Gaza, saying previously he would only consider a ceasefire when all hostages were released. Its operation, which involves air and artillery strikes as well as ground troops, aims to eliminate Hamas. More than 13,000 are thought to have died so far, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry. Last week Israel's military said it had found the bodies of two hostages - 65-year-old Yehudit Weiss and 19-year-old soldier Noa Marciano - in the Gaza Strip.
US has wrecked chances of peace in Middle East, Putin tells Brics summit Russian president blames US for Gaza conflict as he attempts to woo global south Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...peace-in-middle-east-putin-tells-brics-summit Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, told a crisis Brics meeting on Gaza as he attempted to woo leaders of the global south. The virtual meeting of 11 nations, convened by South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, came as Arab foreign ministers toured capitals to drum up support for a fresh UN security council resolution mandating Israel to introduce a full ceasefire and end what they say are breaches of international humanitarian law. The moves are the latest sign of a revolt brewing among global south nations about US double standards in refusing to do more to stop the Israeli bombardment of Gaza, which so far has claimed more than 13,000 civilian lives, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The UN security council last week made a call, not amounting to an instruction, for Israel to accept humanitarian pauses, but the Arab foreign ministers want a firmer resolution and are prepared to challenge the US not to use its veto to protect Israel. It was notable that the Arab foreign ministers, including those not allied to Iran, chose to travel first to China and Moscow to enlist their support. Putin told the Brics meeting that the US was undermining the chances of peace by trying to monopolise diplomacy in its own self-interest. He said that “the deaths of thousands of people, the mass displacement of civilians and the humanitarian catastrophe that has unfolded are deeply disturbing”. He added: “Due to the sabotage of UN efforts, more than one generation of Palestinians are being brought up with a sense of unfairness to their state while the Israeli people cannot fully guarantee their own security.” Putin accused the US of sidelining other members of the Middle East Quartet – a group seeking to navigate the Israeli-Palestinian peace process that also includes Russia, the UN, and the EU. Washington had attempted to “monopolise the role of the mediator” while blocking the efforts of other international actors, he said. “History has vividly demonstrated that attempts to single-handedly cut the Palestinian knot are not viable and counterproductive.” Other countries attending the meeting include Brazil, India, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, reflecting how the expanded Brics group is now a strong rival to the western G7 group of leading industrialised nations. The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, added his voice to the call for a ceasefire in Gaza, telling the summit: “All parties in the conflicts should immediately cease fire and hostilities, stop all violence and attacks targeting civilians, and release civilian detainees to avoid more loss of lives and suffering.” Xi said: “The root cause of the Palestinian-Israeli situation is the fact that the right of the Palestinian people to statehood, their right to existence, and their right of return have long been ignored.” However, the eventual joint statement was relatively mild and called only for Israel to comply with international humanitarian law and accept “full, immediate, safe, unhindered and sustained humanitarian access”. It also warned Israel not to attempt to displace Palestinans from Gaza. The Biden administration has been repeatedly told, including by its own diplomats, that it risks losing the support of the global south nations. Many of them accuse the US of double standards in condemning Russian war crimes in Ukraine while remaining largely silent on Israel’s actions in Gaza. Opening the Brics meeting, Ramaphosa accused Israel of committing war crimes that were tantamount to genocide and collective punishment. “The collective punishment of Palestinian civilians through the unlawful use of force by Israel is a war crime,” Ramaphosa said. “The deliberate denial of medicine, fuel, food and water to the residents of Gaza is tantamount to genocide.” Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, called on the security council to adopt a binding resolution in the UN general assembly to stop attacks on Gaza and to label Israel as a terrorist regime and its army as a terrorist organisation. He called for the US to be held to account and urged the world to recognise the right of Palestinians to self-defence, a phrase that would absolve Hamas for its October attacks on Israel. Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince, criticised the killing of innocent civilians and the destruction of health facilities and places of worship. The Indian prime minister, Narenda Modi, did not attend. The Brics meeting comes before a virtual meeting on Wednesday of the wider G20 group of nations, convened by India, that will be attended by Putin. The delegation of Arab diplomats is being led by a group appointed by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, including the foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Palestine and the secretary general of the Arab League. They visited the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, in Beijing on Monday, before travelling to Moscow to meet the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov. The delegation is expected also to visit France and the UK this week. The Egyptian foreign ministry said the diplomats had “drafted a new resolution to be submitted to the security council by the Arab and Islamic groups, to deal with existing obstacles and imbalances of humanitarian aid entry to Gaza”. Egypt’s foreign ministry said it remained convinced that the “continued bombing targeting displaced people in the south had a clear objective, and that was to force Gaza’s residents to leave the strip. Egypt has clearly declared its utter rejection of any attempt to enforce displacement of Palestinians.”
Yup. White House says intel shows Wagner Group preparing to arm ‘Hezbollah or Iran’ National Security Council spokesman also says US considering redesignating Yemen’s Houthis as a terrorist organization following its hijacking of Israeli-linked ship, missile fire By Jacob Magid and AFP 21 Nov 2023 https://www.timesofisrael.com/white...ner-group-preparing-to-arm-hezbollah-or-iran/ A person holds a picture of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah during the funeral of a Hezbollah member who was killed in southern Lebanon in cross-border fire with Israeli troops, during his funeral in a south Beirut suburb, on November 6, 2023. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP) White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Tuesday that the US has identified an uptick in cooperation between Iran and Russia against Israel. “Our information further indicates that [the] Wagner [Group], at the direction of the Russian government, was preparing to provide an air defense capability to either Hezbollah or Iran,” Kirby told reporters during a briefing. The Wall Street Journal, quoting unidentified US officials, said earlier this month that the Wagner Group was preparing to supply the Pantsir-S1, a Russian self-propelled anti-aircraft gun and missile system known as SA-22 by NATO. Wagner, which is funded by the Kremlin, has been brought back into line after a failed mutiny in June that presented the biggest threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s two-decade rule. “We are certainly prepared to use our counterterrorism sanctions authorities against Russian individuals or entities that might make these destabilizing transfers,” Kirby said. He added that Iran was “considering providing Russia with ballistic missiles now for use in Ukraine in return for that support.” A portrait of the late head of the Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin is set at an informal street memorial for Wagner Group members killed in a plane crash, near the Kremlin, Moscow, Russia, August 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko) Washington has been warning of deepening military relations between Moscow and Tehran — a burgeoning relationship that Kirby described as “obviously harmful to Ukraine, certainly harmful to Iran’s neighbors, quite frankly harmful to the international community.”........
There will be no pause in fighting in Gaza and Israel or hostage release before Friday, Israel said, amid fluid talks on a deal with Hamas. The new information underscored the fluidity of the negotiations between Israel and Hamas, which are being mediated by Qatar. Wednesday, November 22, 2023 6:41 PM ET https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/11/22/world/israel-hamas-hostage-gaza-war
Yah, I had a chuckle the other day about 'hostage release.' You'd think the West & media were of the opinion you're dealing with Israel & Hamas who were rational thinkers. First thing I thought when I heard about imminent hostage relief - "it's just another load of tosh". Middle East, the seat of bullshit artists, been like that for thousands of years but the West lap it up. Everyone loves bullshit.
Proverbs 24:17: Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles. Proverbs 25:21-22: If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you. Proverbs 16:7: When a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Proverbs 20:22: Do not say, “I will repay evil”; wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you.