Further risk of escalation, yet who is behind these bombings. Iran has already made up its mind regardless :/

Iranian president warns Israel will "pay a heavy price" after deadly explosions at memorial ceremony in Iran

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi blamed Israel for twin explosions that killed more than 100 people during a memorial ceremony in southeastern Iran on Wednesday. "I warn the Zionist regime: Do not doubt that you will pay a heavy price for this crime and the crimes you have committed," Raisi said in a televised speech. Raisi, who is the head of the Iranian government, warned that Israel's punishment will be "regrettable and severe."

The Israeli military told CNN it had "no comment" on the explosions in Iran. No group has claimed responsibility for the blasts which Iran has called a "terror attack."

US State Department spokesperson Matt Miller told reporters Wednesday that the US does not "have any independent information" about the explosions, and that the State Department has “no reason to believe that Israel was involved.”

Some background: The blasts, at least one of which was caused by a bomb, according to Iranian state TV, came on the fourth anniversary of the death of military commander Qasem Soleimani.

The first explosion was 2,300 feet (700 meters) from Soleimani’s grave, and the second was 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) away as pilgrims visited the site, Iranian media said.

Soleimani was killed by a US airstrike ordered by former President Donald Trump at Baghdad International Airport four years ago Wednesday.

US national security adviser spoke with Israeli minister about efforts to release hostages, White House says

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke with Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer on Tuesday to discuss Israeli military operations and efforts to secure the release of the remaining hostages, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said.

The call comes ahead of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s scheduled trip to the Middle East later this week for discussions with Israeli officials on the next phase of the war.  “They discussed ongoing Israeli military operations and ongoing efforts to see if we can secure the release of the remaining hostages," Kirby said.

He added that the "United States remains focused on working with a range of partners to help Israel defend itself to surge humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza, and of course, to defend our national security interests in the region. That most certainly includes protecting the free flow of international commerce in the Red Sea."

Of course, nothing about the ongoing raids in the West Bank or a (temporary) ceasefire. Just there to "defend our national security interests in the region"

UN Security Council members call for an end to Houthi raids

Freedom of navigation > Freedom of people. So far it's the US that has escalated it to sinking Houthi boats and killing 10. To get the world to act, endanger 'free' trade. A ceasefire in Gaza would also stop these attacks, but it's easier to form a Red Sea Coalition fleet to kill Houthis.

https://maritime-executive.com/article/new-red-sea-security-coalition-includes-10-secret-members

People killed after intense artillery strikes near Khan Younis hospital, humanitarian group says

Does CNN ever get a response? They never mention in their updates...



Lebanon trying to avert escalation

Lebanese government working to convince Hezbollah not to wage war against Israel, foreign minister says

A glimmer of hope

Water has been restored to some parts of central Gaza, municipality says



Water has been restored to parts of central Gaza, according to the municipality of Deir al Balah.

It said that in conjunction with the Palestinian Water Authority and other municipalities, it had been able to repair the Makrut water line. The line, which is a critical source of clean water for many neighborhoods in central Gaza, had been out of service for several days. The lack of water pumping had resulted “in the overflow of sewage in the streets,” the municipality said.

The Makrut line is one of several that have been used to supply Gaza with water from Israel. UN agencies and NGOs have warned that the lack of clean water in many areas of Gaza risks spreading skin diseases and other illnesses such as diarrhea.

Water alone is not enough though

‘Time is running out’ to save children in Gaza from malnutrition, says UNICEF head

Many children already face severe acute malnutrition in Gaza. As the threat of famine intensifies, hundreds of thousands more young children could soon be severely malnourished, with some at risk of death. We cannot allow that to happen.

Time is running out.

Many children already face severe acute malnutrition in Gaza.

As the threat of famine intensifies, hundreds of thousands more young children could soon be severely malnourished, with some at risk of death.

We cannot allow that to happen. pic.twitter.com/VC0ENaukuH

— Catherine Russell (@unicefchief) January 3, 2024

ICJ confirms details of public hearings on ‘provisional measures’

Yup, and Israel is not going to take this lightly and I am sure they'll take every measure to make this kind of reputational damage a non-starter. I have never understood those who cheer for censorship in the name of protecting the public from misinformation, we must not create tools and laws that will only be used at a large scale to hide the truth, we must ensure conflicts like this have a chance of being covered by journalists on twitter, substack etc. 

There are historical lessons to be had here on different issues, despite the tragedies that continue to unfold, Palestinians' only consolation is the truth is out, Just read the original post again, the BBC report is a disgrace, and we shouldn't go back to a time where only them can report on wars like this one.

I am also glad war crimes against them have led to genocide Biden support to dwindle among the voters. I am glad the nickname and the word "genocide" is taking hold regardless of its accuracy, what a shame the American left doesn't have a single candidate to challenge him. I also hope in the future, our politicians haemorrhage support and gets a bad rep for tragedies they’re directly or indirectly responsible for, why the hell is Tony Blair still a liberals darling is beyond me, and it’s unfortunate how under reported the massacres in Yemen are. I truly hope this changes. 

Watch Biden’s spokesman getting upset over the term genocide but has nothing meaningful to say about the fact that they're arming murderous maniac and sending them money unconditionally: 

No body is double checking if what's happening in Russia is a genocide or not, no body is double checking if Putin is a war criminal or not. By every metric the USA is using to judge these issues, ultra-far right Netanyahu and his party shouldn't be an exception. 

Here is another take on the matter and how accurate the definition may apply. 

Plenty of countries support Russia. Its just interests and the west has an interest in keeping things the way they are. Since the fall of Israël means there would be another vassal Iran state. Also isn't the West itself a master of genocide. The shit we pulled in Afghanistan was nothing short of it.

War is war and war without genocide is impossible. Israël is not going to stop and since the west has to many interests in the region they will not stop supporting Israel. They might make a public statement renouncing it, but the next fleet of weapons is most likely on its way.

Unfortunately, this conflict is based on the clashing of religious paradigms, and it will never be solved peacefully unless one party is wiped out completely. At this point, it is all but impossible to make ultimate justifications for either party for any meaningful resolution. Too much has happened and for too long. Generations of people have been locked in, and the reasons don't even really matter to them anymore.
However, consider this. There are some 50 Islamic countries in the world, should the Jewish people not be allowed to have even one? And why is it that even Palestine's Muslim neighbors are not willing to take Palestinians in in this dire situation? Seems weird, unless there is a very good reason.

My definition of genocide is intent to wipe a people from the face of the earth. What you've presented is a broader definition of genocide than the one that resides in my head.  By these broader criteria was Hamas somehow not committing genocide on the 7th of October?  If I am not mistaken isn't Israel surrounded by peoples that have genocidal intent for the Jewish people and their state (the type of genocide that even fits my old school definition of genocide)? 

Edit - I FEEL as if the definition of Genocide is being stretched here to push an agenda just like the current definition of Racism, Nazi, Communist, ect has been stretched to serve various agendas. They use the shock value of the words to attempt, often successfully, to elicit an emotional response not a logical one.

Bolded: And this is why we need a 2-state solution like, 4 decades ago.

Seriously, they should have started implementing this right after the Yom Kippur war, not after Israel started sending settlers to the west bank.

Italic: apart from Egypt, those countries have a rather small population and none of them have any significant infrastructure in place to take in migrants. They take in what they can, but there's simply too many of them for all those countries:

For instance, Jordan has just over 11 million inhabitants, out of which over 2.4 millions are Palestinian refugees. That's already almost one in four inhabitants.

Syria is still in a state of civil war - even though it's a frozen stalemate right now with no fighting - with masses of internally displaced people, there is simply no space for any additional refugees from other countries.

Most people living in south Lebanon are already Palestinians or of Palestinian origin, hence why the Hezbollah is headquartered and so strong there. The country pretty much went bankrupt in 2019 and covid, the Beirut port explosion (where most of it's good got shipped in and out of the country), the Russian invasion of Ukraine (Lebanon got most of it's grains and food from Ukraine) and US sanktions against the Hezbollah not helping matters for any meaningful recovery. In short, they are in no state to take in any refugees right now.

Finally, Egypt has an acute lack of drinking water already and is thus unwilling to take more in than they can supply water for. Also, Egypt may look large, but most is just desert and the vast majority of the population is living along the nile with a population density close to the one in Gaza already, so there's not exactly much space for more refugees, especially since they took in half a million Syrian and Sudanese refugees already.

What are you suggesting? 5.3 million Palestinians pack up and leave from Gaza and the West Bank? That's about the same population as Slovakia, Finland or Norway. Should Europe take them in as Smotrich suggests? And living together does work, 20% of the Isreali population are Arabs. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-know-about-arab-citizens-israel That's the maximum percentage Israel allows, hence the apartheid regime to prevent that percentage getting bigger.

The reasons very much matter. The ongoing oppression, apartheid and religious Settler movement is what keeps driving this conflict. Every time borders are set, Israel pushes them further back. The USA has allowed the radicalization of the Israeli government. Many Jewish people rather live in peace and want to see an end to the oppression and apartheid as well.

There are 167 Democratic countries in the world, Israel is just one of them. Can't Jews pick another place to live... 7.2 million Jews in Israel vs combined some 8 million Arab Muslims in Israel, West Bank and Gaza combined. Why are Palestinians not allowed to have a place to live? Why should Muslims not be allowed to visit their holy place (Al Aqsa) in East Jerusalem?


There's clearly a one sided push to ethnically cleanse the indigenous population from the lands of Israel and Palestine in the name of Neo-Zionism.

Why would neighboring countries take in 8 million people. People who have their own culture and thousand years of history (which is systematically being destroyed in Gaza atm) Why doesn't Europe take in all the Ukrainians, let Russia have Ukraine, problem solved? Europe has 50 countries, can't Russia just have 'their' land back? (Ukraine was part of Russia from the late 1700s to 1991) Seems weird European neighbors don't just want to take in the Ukrainians and get this war over with...

Why doesn't the USA take in the 7.2 million Jews from Israel, problem also solved right? There are about 7.6 million Jews in the USA, seems like a good party? With only 3.4 million Muslims in the USA, welcoming Jews in the USA seems like a better fit than moving the Palestinians to Europe as Smotrich suggests...

Nah, nobody is leaving. Would you if someone comes along and says, my religion wants me to live in your house / on your land? And if you live in the US or Canada, Australia, the indigenous population has a far more recent claim on 'your' property than Zionists.

There is plenty room for people to live together in the region. But it will only work without oppression and equal rights for everyone. Yes there will still be radical elements, just like there are in any other country. Yet most of the world has 'solved' these conflicts and learned to live together. Northern Ireland for example.

What is needed is for people to talk to each other. Language is a big barrier. Jews need to be taught Arabic in school, Palestinians need to be taught Hebrew in school. As well as each other's history. Without understanding there can be no peace and it will always remain 'us and them'. I live in a bilingual country, it's not a problem. We're not going to war with the French and while Quebec has its separatist movement, most people want to stick together. (It came close though in 1995) Things would be very different though if Ontario was playing land grab with Quebec, carve up Quebec in controlled regions, dehumanize French Canadians, build a wall around Quebec to control what goes in and out including the people, and not give French speaking Canadians the same rights. Ehh France can take them back cause French people are all the same?

Palestinians have their own identity, their own history, they have a right to self government and a place to live. The UN has made that clear many times. There is one side that's not listening and chooses to live in perpetual fear, lashing out, unwilling to let go of the past. A traumatized population dealing with the trauma of the holocaust in ways that will never heal the wounds. And in the process creating another whole population with similar wounds since 1948.

Talk and live instead of Might is right.

And the question becomes; what do we need these allies for? What do we get in return of supporting genocides and cheer for the deaths of million civilians across the region? 

The fact is, these horrible allies have been bitch slapping Biden at every turn. Belkin goes there to get humiliated by every body. MBS atrocities in Yemen were allowed in the name of "but they're our ally, but the necessary evil, but we need their oil", blah blah blah. Russia hits and what do these ally do to save us from inflation and spiking prices? Cut oil, invite Russia to OPEC (now OPEC+) and flatten our economic growth and push countries like Germany into recession. They side with China, Russia as well as Iran. Amazing. 

What does Biden get from supporting Netanyahu? nothing, unless a higher possibly of defeat in the elections is a plus. 

The hawkish right doesn't care about what happens as a result of war and the apologetic left keeps pretending there is an "end game" and a good reason we don't just let what happens, but also a good reason to support it. Please. 

When I hear about this war I always think of the song the "times are changing" by bob dylan in my head.