The likelihood of a fresh Turkish ground offensive in northern Syria appears to weaken after the unprecedented shooting down of a Turkish drone by the United States.
A suicide attack outside of Turkey’s national security directorate headquarters has become the latest justification for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s plan to create a 30-kilometer-deep (18 miles) “safe zone” along the country’s borders with Syria and Iraq to keep armed Kurdish groups away.
In the early hours of 7 October, Hamas launched what it called Operation al-Aqsa Deluge, a multi-pronged attack on Israel, including Israeli border towns ringing the Gaza Strip. Thousands of rockets rained down on areas in Israel in the first few hours. These gave cover to Hamas militants, who sent armed drones to hit parts of Israel’s electronic border alarm system, broke through Israeli military posts and the security fence around Gaza, or flew over the barrier in motorised hang gliders, penetrating urban areas and killing or kidnapping Israelis, many of them civilians, including children and elderly people. Some militants tried to infiltrate Israel by sea.
A lack of state and industry accountability has turned the ocean into the world’s biggest transnational crime scene.
The ocean is central to global illicit trade. Criminal networks plunder marine resources, scour shipping lanes for vessels to hijack, and traverse coastal state waters and the high seas to move commodities to distant destinations.
With contacts aimed at promoting possible normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia in the background, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi attacked Israel and warned against the normalization process. The Supreme Leader of Iran once again referred to Israel as a “cancer” and declared that normalizing relations with it would be a gamble on a losing horse. The Iranian president stated that the liberation of Jerusalem was a top priority for the Muslim nation and that normalizing relations with Israel would be a setback for any government in the Muslim world.
The following is the full text of the speech by Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Hamas Political Bureau, on the first day of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, 7 October, 2023, as reported by Al-Jazeera:
In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
In hindsight, the drivers of Hamas’s startlingly well-planned, land-sea-air attack on Israel on Saturday were in plain sight.
The operation reflects a pattern of four wars and regular outbreaks of violence between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza since 2005, when Israel withdrew its military posts and forcibly removed 9,000 Israeli settlers from the territory.
There will be only one winner in the war that has broken out between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. And it is neither Israel nor Hamas.
In an operation coined “the Al-Aqsa Storm,” Hamas, whose formal name is the Islamic Resistance Movement, fired thousands of rockets into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters infiltrated Israel by land, sea and air. Hundreds of Israelis have been killed, more than 2,000 injured, and many taken hostage.
Last Friday, Israeli newspapers were filled with stories about the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, also called the October War. In 1973, the country had nearly been defeated by co-ordinated surprise attacks from its Arab neighbors. Never again, people thought.
Almost 50 years ago to the day, Israel had failed to anticipate the outbreak of the 1973 Yom Kippur war – a shock attack on its borders by a coalition of Arab states.
Now, it appears the country’s intelligence apparatuses have fallen victim to a false sense of security once again.
On the morning of October 7, 2023, hundreds of armed Hamas terrorist operatives breached the border security fence and began pouring into Israel from the Gaza Strip, driving pickup trucks and motorcycle, on foot and using motorized hang gliders, heading towards IDF bases and the Israeli villages surrounding Gaza. To cover the invasion, massive rocket barrages were fired at south and central Israel. As of this writing, IDF forces are still battling terrorists in several towns and villages near the Gaza Strip and the rocket attacks continue.
The IDF declared a state of preparedness for war. A few hours after the invasion began, IDF aircraft started attacking Hamas terrorist targets and symbols of the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip
Apparently Hamas’ military-terrorist wing had been planning “Operation al-Aqsa Storm” for several months but very few people knew about it and they successfully kept it secret. According to Hamas spokesmen, the operation was intended to “convey a message to Israel” regarding Jews going to pray on the Temple Mount. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist operatives joined Hamas in invading Israel.
So far, Hamas calls for operatives in Judea and Samaria to join the attack have been unsuccessful. However, there was considerable glee in Judea and Samaria, expressed by support marches of armed operatives, distribution of pastries to passersby in the streets and chants of encouragement for the terrorists invading from the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Authority (PA) is focusing efforts at the “diplomatic” level and making preparations to help the Gazans.
In the northern arena, Hezbollah operatives fired mortar shells at Mount Dov; the IDF responded with artillery fire. The Arab world expressed support for Hamas. The United States condemned the Hamas attack and gave its full support to Israel, as did other Western countries.
