Month: April 2024

Hamas Can’t be Defeated – Israeli Officers Admit

Israeli army officers believe that they can’t defeat Hamas and Israel’s war on HAMAS will have to last till 2026 and possibly 2027.

Ismail Haniyeh, senior Hamas leader and former prime minister of the Palestinian Authority (2006–07) and of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip (2007–14). Screen shot is from Al Jazeera broadcast of his statement on Dec 13, 2023

Despite the massive destruction of Gaza by the Israeli army and the terrible killings of civilians, the Palestinian resistance movement led by Hamas’ Izz Al Din Al Qassam Brigades and Saraya Al Quds of Islamic Jihad still remain a formidable force in the Gaza Strip.

Defining Jihadism

There is no need, therefore, to abandon the terms jihadism and jihadist out of political correctness or fear of offending Muslims. When appropriately defined, those terms are helpful in grasping the terrorist and insurgent threats and challenges posed by al-Qa’ida, the Islamic State and similar groups — far more so than khawarij, a term that does not have immediately clear meaning for wider audiences, is historically inaccurate, and sounds like a sneaky effort to cloud a very real threat.

What Is Hezbollah?

Military experience gained from fighting in Syria’s civil war and decades of clashes with Israel has strengthened the Iran-backed group, but politically, its clout among Lebanon’s populace may be waning.

Summary

  • Hezbollah wields significant power in Lebanon, where it operates as both a Shiite Muslim political party and militant group.
  • It opposes Israel and Western powers operating in the Middle East, and it functions as a proxy of Iran, its largest benefactor.
  • The group has faced unprecedented scrutiny from the Lebanese public amid the country’s political and economic crisis.

L’éventualité d’une guerre mondiale est-elle réelle ?

Une guerre atomique est possible. La paix du monde est suspendue au doigté des États-Unis que les «nationalistes intégraux» ukrainiens et les «sionistes révisionnistes» israéliens font chanter. Si Washington ne livre pas des armes pour massacrer les Russes et les Gazaouis, ils n’hésiteront pas à lancer l’armageddon.

The Open-Air Prison for ISIS Supporters—and Victims

Since the Islamic State fell, tens of thousands of people—many of them children—have been herded into Al-Hol, a giant fenced-in camp in Syria, and effectively given life sentences.

The dead turned up everywhere. Two decapitated corpses in a cesspit. The remains of a woman with a pierced skull. A child with a bullet hole in his temple. Men clustering around a ditch suggested the worst, as did women running at full speed through the dirt. With each grim discovery, Jihan Omar renewed a promise to herself: she had to find a way out.

A Havana Syndrome Cover-Up?

Have Russian operatives used devastating directed-energy weapons against U.S. diplomats and spies posted around the world? A year after the question was supposedly put to rest by a U.S. intelligence assessment finding no involvement of a foreign adversary, new reports point to a possible intelligence-community cover-up.

Spain 1939, Ukraine 2024?

Those who believe that the United States and Europe should liquidate their commitment to Ukraine might do well to remember the fate of the Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War.

A small country on the edge of Europe faces a ruthless attack. It staves off the initial assault. With the help of a major outside power, it defends itself with some success. It attracts support from international celebrities and the media. Idealistic foreign volunteers join the fight. However, the small nation’s great power patron eventually loses interest, and the flow of desperately needed arms dries up. The country succumbs, its story cherished by those who believed in its cause. But over time, the price of walking away from the fight becomes clear as Europe enters a new era of conflict.

Who was Syria’s Al-Nusra founder Abu Maria Al-Qahtani?

Abu Maria Al-Qahtani was the founder of Al-Nusra Front, one of the key groups in Syria’s war, and was killed in bombing on Thursday.

As a leading military commander in the revolt against the Syrian regime and Islamic State group, Abu Maria Al-Qahtani, who was killed on Thursday, was a divisive figure within the Islamist wing of the insurgency.

Northern Kosovo: Asserting Sovereignty amid Divided Loyalties

Tensions are rising in Kosovo’s restive Serb-majority north, as Pristina enforces its writ against the backdrop of continuing disputes with Belgrade. The parties and outside supporters should first work on defusing the short-term risk of violence and then look for ways to foster lasting stability.

What’s new? A clash between police and Serb paramilitaries has given Kosovo impetus to fully integrate its rebellious northern region, pushing out the remaining Serbian institutions on which the population relies. An EU-brokered deal to normalise relations between Pristina and Belgrade, while granting Kosovo Serbs a degree of self-government, is stalled.