Month: December 2023

Latest Developments

Global oil prices spiked on December 18 after BP announced that it is pausing traffic in the Red Sea due to “the deteriorating security situation for shipping.” This announcement came as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis attacked two commercial vessels in the Red Sea — the latest in a string of Houthi missile and drone attacks against ships in the area. The rise in oil prices will benefit Tehran, which is also raking in cash from U.S. sanctions waivers, including access to $10 billion previously held in escrow in Iraq.

highlights:
Established In: July 2016;

Key Members: Sayfuddin al-Tatari;

Operational Area: Latakia Governorate, Syria;

Size: 400;

Involved In: Bomb Attacks, Armed Attacks;

highlights:
Established In: 1999

Established By: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (death), Amir Mohammed Abdul Rahman al-Mawli al-Salbi (also known as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi);

Also Known As: Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Daesh, ISIS, ISIL

Country Of Origin: Iraq and Syria

Homs province: A member of ISIS and two members of the National Defence Forces were killed and three others sustained various injuries during armed clashes with machineguns between members of the National Defence Forces and ISIS members in Al-Sukhnah desert.

On December 4, the Iran-backed Palestinian terror group Hamas announced the establishment of a new terrorist group in Lebanon with the goal of “liberating Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.” In the past two months, Hamas terrorists in Lebanon have carried out rocket attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians in northern Israel.

L’armée israélienne a élaboré des plans pour envahir le Sud-Liban, ce qui risque d’aggraver encore le conflit au Moyen-Orient, selon le Times.

La publication note que les Forces de défense israéliennes (FDI) «veulent repousser les formations armées de l’organisation chiite Hezbollah jusqu’au fleuve Litani». Il s’agit d’une frontière d’une «importance symbolique pour les deux parties».

The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) invasion in Jenin Refugee Camp had been ongoing for 30hrs when they entered The Freedom Theatre just past 9am. Ransacking the offices and knocking down a wall, they then shot from inside the building.

Latest Developments

The Iran-backed Houthis attacked a commercial ship off the coast of Yemen on December 11. U.S. Central Command said that an anti-ship missile struck the tanker Strinda, which was transiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. “The Strinda reported damage causing a fire on board but no casualties at this time,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement. The attack comes in the wake of repeated Houthi threats to attack all ships that are bound for Israeli ports.

Latest Developments

Iran has been using Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus as a staging ground for terrorist attacks against Israelis and Jews, Mossad said on December 10. In a rare statement issued through Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, the intelligence service said it had helped Cypriot counterparts thwart an attack against Israelis and Jews on the island.

Latest Developments

The Iran-backed Houthis threatened on December 9 to target all ships heading to Israel via the Red Sea. “If Gaza does not receive the food and medicine it needs, all ships in the Red Sea bound for Israeli ports, regardless of their nationality, will become a target for our armed forces,” Houthi spokesperson Yahya Sare’e said on Saturday. The Houthis have increased attacks on ships in the last weeks and have carried out missile and drone attacks on Israel. The threat to target all ships bound for Israel marks a new escalation in tensions in the Red Sea. In addition, on December 10 a French naval warship shot down two Houthi drones in the Red Sea.