Mao Zedong, the founder of the People’s Republic of China, was said to have observed “the guerrilla must swim in the people as the fish swims in the sea”.
It is a lesson known to terrorists and revolutionaries from the IRA to the Taliban and is likely to explain the apparent absence of many Hamas fighters in Gaza.
On the day after Abu ‘Obaidah, the spokesperson for Hamas’ Al-Qassam Islamic Brigade, mentioned the death of the 19-year-old Israeli soldier, “originally from Morocco” as she had described herself in an earlier video clip, I was chatting with my sister, who happened to be in Morocco, and naturally asked her what the news outlets there were saying about Abu ‘Obaidah’s broadcast. She had just been reading the local newspaper (Al Akhbar) and told me with consternation that news about the war on Gaza was buried on page 12 of the newspaper.
On November 17, 2023, Palestinian sources reported that Hamas official Ahmad Bahr was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza.[1] Bahr, 76, was a member of Hamas’s political bureau and former deputy chairman of the Palestinian Legislative Council. Khaled Abu Hilal, the Secretary-General of the Palestinian Freedom Movement, was separately reportedly killed in an airstrike.[2]
In recent weeks, the world public has been confronted with the brutal war between Israel and Hamas. The international community, despite its great power and massive protests against the war in Gaza, has turned into a mere bystander allowing the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to slowly but surely implement the scorched earth policy and turn the Gaza Strip into rubble and ashes.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah had fired 1,000 munitions at Israel since October 7 when the Israel-Hamas war broke out in Gaza, and warned that Tehran was increasing its attacks against Israel.
Un grand nombre de soldats israéliens ont été tués à Beit Hanoun alors que plus loin, à Sdérot les sirènes d’alarme ont retenti suite à l’explosion d’un drone israélien abattu par le Hezbollah.
Ce samedi 18 novembre, les combattants de la Résistance palestinienne ont tué de nombreux soldats israéliens dans la ville de Beit Hanoun, a rapporté le correspondant de la chaîne Al-Mayadeen à Gaza.
Ces derniers jours, trois camps militaires ont été ciblés par la Coordination des mouvements de l’Azawad (CMA) et par le Groupe de soutien à l’islam et aux musulmans (GSIM).
L’armée malienne a rapporté l’attaque de trois de ses postes dans le nord, l’ouest et le centre du pays depuis le mercredi 27 septembre. Les séparatistes de la Coordination des mouvements de l’Azawad (CMA), alliance de groupes armés à dominante touarègue, et les jihadistes du Groupe de soutien à l’islam et aux musulmans (GSIM), affilié à Al-Qaïda, ont revendiqué chacun leur côté la prise temporaire de deux d’entre eux.
Au terme d’une réunion des chefs sécuritaires nationaux, décision a été prise d’envoyer un convoi de 119 véhicules dans cette ville contrôlée par la Coordination des mouvements de l’Azawad.
Un important convoi de l’armée malienne s’est mis en mouvement ce lundi 2 octobre à Gao en direction de la région stratégique de Kidal (nord), bastion de la rébellion touarègue, selon deux responsables sécuritaires sous le couvert de l’anonymat. « Dans le cadre du réaménagement de notre dispositif dans le Nord, nous avons commencé le redéploiement de nos forces dans la région nord-est de Kidal », a indiqué une source militaire malienne à l’AFP.
L’état-major malien a affirmé que ses soldats ont « pris position » mardi 14 novembre dans ce bastion de la rébellion dominante touarègue.
Le 14 novembre, l’armée malienne a dit avoir pris position dans Kidal, bastion des séparatistes et enjeu majeur de souveraineté pour l’État malien. « Les FAMa (forces armées maliennes) ont pris position dans la ville de Kidal ce mardi », a dit l’état-major sur les réseaux sociaux. « Aujourd’hui, nos forces armées et de sécurité se sont emparées de Kidal », a déclaré le colonel Assimi Goïta dans un message lu au cours d’un flash spécial à la télévision d’État.
The abundance at a camp for former Boko Haram members contrasts sharply with the extreme poverty and hunger widespread among internally displaced people in North East Nigeria.
After over a decade of waging war in the name of religion, Abubakar* has (apparently) dropped his gun and thirst for blood. He joined the terror group Boko Haram as a teenager and has known only violence his adult life, but now he wishes to settle for a quiet life of trading with his wife and child. He is shocked by how well the Nigerian authorities have treated him, he says. At the transit rehabilitation centre known as Hajj Camp in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, he gets a roof over his head, a mattress to lay on at night, a monthly cash allowance, and enough foodstuff for him and his family. The food supply is so generous that sometimes when they cook, they eat to their fill and leave remains. They then gather the leftovers, spread them in the sun to dry, and a day or two later sell them to someone who collects similar items from other former terrorists at the camp. Abubakar imagines that this material ends up with a farmer who will feed it to his livestock to fatten them.