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Forums - Politics Discussion - Israel-Hamas war, Gaza genocide

SvennoJ 1 day ago

‘A nightmare’: Lebanese Americans anxious, angry as Israel attacks homeland

Ali Dabaja says Lebanese Americans have been struggling for the past 12 months with “work-life-genocide” balance as tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.

But now, with the Israeli military unleashing its firepower on Lebanon over the past week, the community is at a “boiling point”.

Israel’s large-scale bombing campaign in Lebanon has hit close to home for Dabaja, a Detroit-area physician. His cousin, Batoul Dabaja-Saad, was killed along with her husband and three children in an Israeli air strike on their home in the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil.

“There is disbelief. There is anger, and there is the feeling of loss – tremendous loss,” Dabaja told Al Jazeera.


Pro-Palestinian protesters rally outside Netanyahu’s hotel in New York

As we reported yesterday, crowds of pro-Palestinian protesters took to the streets of New York rebuking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is in the city for the UN General Assembly.

The protests continued late last night, where demonstrators gathered outside his hotel chanting against his actions in Gaza.

Netanyahu is scheduled to address the UNGA later today.



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SvennoJ 1 day ago

More displacement, fuel crisis in Lebanon’s Bekaa as Israeli attacks continue

Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) is reporting that Israeli forces bombed two towns near the city of Baalbek in the eastern Bekaa Valley, causing large fires to break out.

The agency said the first attack at 2am local time on Friday (23:00 GMT) “broke a cautious calm that lasted throughout” Thursday and hit a two-storey building in the town of Duris. The attack caused damage to the building and set fire to a vehicle in its garage.

The second assault destroyed a building that contained a pharmacy, an antiques shop, a carpet shop and two empty apartments, causing a large fire that took four hours to extinguish.

There was no immediate report of casualties.

NNA said supermarkets in the area closed due to the attacks, resulting in a fuel crisis and a shortage of essential supplies.

Baalbek city is also witnessing internal displacement, although many people are staying in their homes despite the danger, it added. The attacks in the Bekaa Valley followed a “series of violent raids” in southern Lebanon, including the city of Nabatieh, as well as air attacks on the town of Joya near the city of Tyre.


A view shows part of the Roman ruins of Baalbek, Lebanon, on January 5


Iraqi armed group claims third attack on Israel

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq has claimed a third attack on Israel, saying it launched drones at a target in the occupied Golan Heights.

Earlier, the umbrella group of Iran-backed militias said it fired a missile “at a vital target” in the occupied territories and deployed drones at another target in the Golan Heights.

The group added that it “confirms the continuation of operations in pounding the strongholds of the enemies at an escalating pace”.

There was no immediate comment from Israel. Late on Thursday night, the Israeli military said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen.


Houthi official promises more attacks on Israel after foiled missile assault on Tel Aviv

Ali al-Qahoum, a member of the Houthis’ political bureau, made the pledge in a post on social media after Israel’s military announced intercepting a missile fired from Yemen that targeted the Israeli city.

“The major, strategic, effective and influential Yemeni operations are continuing in their fifth phase,” al-Qahoum wrote on X. “The Yemeni support front will not stop unless the aggression and siege on Gaza stop,” he wrote.

A spokesman for the Houthis’ armed forces said the group will issue a statement shortly.

Houthis have previously launched drones and missiles towards Eilat, a southern Israeli port city. The group has also carried out attacks on Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea since November in what it says is a campaign of solidarity with Palestinians and against Israel’s continuing war on Gaza.


Israel keeping up air pressure in southern Lebanon

In the last 30 minutes, we’ve heard fighter jets coming over us and Israeli air strikes in the far distance. We’ve also heard what sounded like outgoing rocket fire from Lebanese territory into Israeli territory.

[There have been] 1,600 strikes along this entire contested border in the last 24 hours. That’s what Israel’s army is saying the current tally is and they’re keeping up the pressure. Hezbollah says that at least 300 rockets have been launched at military targets on the other side of the border.

The Israeli strategy seems to be clear: no ceasefire and keep up the pressure on Hezbollah.



SvennoJ 1 day ago

Air raid sirens, air defence systems activated in Haifa

Israeli Army Radio is reporting that airborne attack warning systems have been activated in Israel’s major northern city this morning.

Israel Hayom, a local newspaper, says that a number of rockets were fired towards Haifa and its surrounding areas, while video footage published by Israel’s public broadcaster shows air defence systems intercepting targets over the skies of the city.

There has been no comment from Hezbollah on this attack as of yet, but we will keep you updated as information comes in.


Family of 9 killed in Lebanon’s Shebaa

The nine family members were killed overnight in the southeastern town when an Israeli air raid hit the three-storey house they were in, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.

The town’s mayor says four of those victims were children, according to Reuters news agency.

“The women and children [killed] figure is rising rapidly,” reports Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan from southern Lebanon.


Hezbollah claims first attack on Israel today

On Telegram, the group says that it fired Fadi-1 missiles at the Israeli town of Kiryat Ata, which borders Haifa. Earlier, we reported that Israeli air raid sirens and air defence systems were activated in Haifa.

For its part, the Israeli army said the launch of about 10 projectiles was detected over the Bay of Haifa, some of which were intercepted. Others fell in open areas, the army said, reporting no casualties.


Approaching Israeli air strikes force Lebanese hospitals to close

We’re being told by the [UN] World Health Organization that 37 out of 317 government-run hospitals have had to close. Most of those hospitals are in this contested border area with Israel.

We spoke to the director of Bint Jbeil Hospital. He said they had to shut down because the air strikes were simply coming too close.

These hospitals may have remained open, but everyone is looking at the pictures coming out of Gaza. Everybody’s looking at the fact that Israel regularly hits hospitals – that has shifted the decision-making. The hospitals may have well stayed open – they’ve certainly stayed open during all of this escalation – but now they’re shutting down and it’s likely to be because of what Israel has done in Gaza. There’s simply no trust.


Beirut volunteers care for displaced fleeing Israeli bombing

Josephine Abou Abdo, one of the founders of non-profit organisation Nation Station, prepares meals with volunteers to be distributed for people displaced due to Israeli bombardment, in Beirut, Lebanon.




Lebanese minister addresses compensation delays for displaced families

Lebanon’s social affairs minister has given a press briefing in Beirut addressing delays in cash payments for displaced families.

The minister, Hector Hajjar, apologised for payment delays but said more than 150,000 affected families would receive compensation by October 15. Hajjar also encouraged citizens to make donations that can go to shelters, such as mattresses, covers, pillows and blankets.



SvennoJ 1 day ago

Five soldiers killed in Israeli strike on Syria-Lebanon border

Five Syrian soldiers have been killed overnight in an Israeli strike on the Syria-Lebanon border, SANA has reported. According to the Syrian news agency, one person has also been wounded.

Israel has not claimed the attack. On Thursday, the Israeli army had claimed a separate strike on the Syria-Lebanon crossing, which it said was carried out to prevent the transfer of weapons to Hezbollah.


Hezbollah claims rocket attacks on Tiberias

The Lebanese group said it fired two rounds of missile salvoes at the northeastern Israeli city. In a post on Telegram, Hezbollah said the strikes were retaliation for Israel’s “barbaric” attacks on Lebanese “villages and civilians”.

The attacks on Tiberias injured at least one person, who was hit by falling shrapnel, according to medics cited by local newspaper The Times of Israel.


Philippines ready to evacuate thousands of its citizens from Lebanon by sea:

If Israel invades Lebanon, the Philippines plans to immediately evacuate 11,000 of its citizens who are based there, according to the country’s Department of Foreign Affairs. “A ground invasion will lead to mandatory repatriation,” said Foreign Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega, adding that thousands would be evacuated by sea.

Manila had already urged its citizens to depart Lebanon, but most did not heed the call, according to Filipino diplomats cited by AFP news agency. Millions of Filipinos work overseas – with large numbers concentrated in the Middle East – due to limited job opportunities at home. About 90 percent of those working in Lebanon are women who work as domestic labourers.


Israeli strikes level home, building in Nabatieh, Tyre: Reports

Israeli air raids have hit several areas of southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh, with one strike levelling a building near the National Evangelical School, reports Lebanon’s National News Agency. A separate Israeli strike targeted a home in the southern town of Aitit in Tyre district, completely destroying it, according to Lebanon’s an-Nahar news outlet.

As we’ve been reporting, Israel’s military has continued pounding southern Lebanon, claiming to target Hezbollah infrastructure in the area.


Aftermath of Israeli attack on Lebanon’s Nabatieh

Footage shared by Lebanese media, verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking unit, shows smoke rising in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh following an Israeli strike. The city, about 70km (43 miles) south of Beirut, has been hit by a wave of Israeli attacks in recent days.



SvennoJ 1 day ago

Israel’s Gallant says attacks against Hezbollah will intensify

Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant says the military will keep targeting Lebanon’s Hezbollah armed group until northern Israel is safe again.

“We are hitting Hezbollah very hard over the past year and in particular over the past few weeks,” he said during a visit to the northern town of Safad, according to The Times of Israel newspaper.

“We will continue and increase this effort – we plan to bring security to the towns in the north and to safely return home those who evacuated,” Gallant added.


Israel killed 25 people in Lebanon since dawn: Minister

Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad has said 25 people have been killed since the morning in Israeli strikes on Lebanon.

Speaking alongside Lebanon’s health minister, the head of the Lebanese Doctors Syndicate, Youssef Bakhash, has told reporters that more than 5,000 injured people had been admitted to hospitals.

Bakhash added that Rafik Hariri University Hospital and the Baabda Governmental Hospital would become specialised centres and be equipped to treat war injuries and provide psychological support.

A hotline for these centres was set up, with the number 8186 0087.


Lebanon’s Tyre region, Bekaa Valley face Israeli aerial assaults

Over the past few hours, there have been several Israeli air strikes, both here in the Tyre region and towards the Bekaa Valley, including in the Lebanese towns of Karak and Shmestar.

Hezbollah also launched several rocket barrages towards Israel.

The picture today reflects more escalation and there is likely to be more violence in the coming hours.

The main issue now is how a ground invasion might happen. During the 2006 war, Hezbollah was able to stop such an invasion with fewer fighters and weapons. Now, there are reports that the Israelis will be looking to control some of the strategic hills in southern Lebanon.


Houthis claim to have targeted Israel’s Tel Aviv, Ashkelon

Yemen’s Houthi rebels say they have fired a ballistic missile towards southern Tel Aviv and launched a drone at the coastal city of Ashkelon. In a statement, the group pledged to continue its attacks on Israel until its “aggression on Lebanon and Gaza stops”.


Israeli army claims strike destroy Hezbollah launchers

We’ve been reporting today on two rocket attacks claimed by the Lebanese group on the Israeli city of Tiberias. The Israeli army now says that its warplanes carried out strikes on the area of Hadda in southern Lebanon, where it claims the Hezbollah rocket launchers used to hit Tibeias were based.

In addition, the army said it carried out strikes on the city of Sidon and on the area of Nabatia.

One Israeli was reported wounded by falling shrapnel during Hezbollah’s attack on Tiberias, while moments ago Lebanon’s health minister said that 25 people had been killed by Israeli strikes on Lebanon since midnight.


Israeli troops deploy to Lebanon border



Israeli troops are being deployed to northern Israel in what may be preparations for a military incursion into Lebanon. Israel’s top military commander Herzi Halevi on Wednesday told soldiers stationed there to prepare for a “possible” ground invasion.

Some analysts have cautioned that Israel appears to lack a clear strategy and could be sending troops “for show”, in a bid to bring Hezbollah to agree to its requests.



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SvennoJ 1 day ago

Hope fades for temporary Israeli-Lebanese ceasefire bid

The Israelis are seeing the ongoing attacks on Lebanon as the victory against Hezbollah, which is why we’ve had this political back-and-forth when it comes to this potential temporary ceasefire.

At first, the information leaks were indicating that the Israelis were onboard. The moment there was a huge political backlash from within Netanyahu’s government, he backtracked.

Now, the US officials are expressing a lot of frustration and doubt on something that they say Israelis were initially onboard.

The message is that the Israeli military campaign is going to continue until the Israelis say they are going to be able to return 60,000 evacuees to the north of the country.


Politicians in northern Israel oppose US-French truce proposal: Report

David Azulai, Israel’s Metula Regional Council chairman, has been quoted by Israeli media as saying that the US-French ceasefire proposal will ensure “the next October 7”, referring to the attack on southern Israel by the Palestinian fighters last year.

The politician in northern Israel also said that the Israeli government would be responsible for the consequences if the 21-day truce deal is sealed, pausing hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

Azulai said that recent days have highlighted Hezbollah’s capabilities and that “this government of [Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu” must “remove the threat” to avoid another “October 7 next year”.

Amir Sofer, the Upper Galilee Regional Council’s chairman, was quoted by Israeli media as saying that while “there is a time for negotiations, this is not the time”.


Any Lebanon invasion would be quick, says Israeli security official

An Israeli security official has told AFP news agency that any Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon would be executed as quickly as possible. “We will try to do it as short as we can,” AFP quoted the official as saying. “I think that we are preparing that every day, and for sure that is inside our toolbox.”

The statement comes after top Israeli officials seemed to dismiss global calls for a ceasefire, even after meeting with US officials on a potential truce.



only777 1 day ago
SvennoJ said:

Moving the discussion here from the US Politics thread.

This war sadly looks to still keep going for months with the repercussions likely lasting for generations, while the threat of escalation to a full scale regional war comes closer day by day.

Timeline:
- 1800s Rise of anti-semitism in Europe
- 1897 Zionism created
- 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement
- 1917 Balfour declaration
- 1933 Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party come to power, start of the Holocaust
- 1938 Kristallnacht, series of pogroms against the Jewish population in Germany and recently incorporated territories
- 1941 - 1945 Holocaust becomes the genocide of 6 million Jews (as well as about 500 thousand from other minorities)
- 1947 UN Partition Plan for Palestine
- 1948 Nakba displacement of 750 thousand Palestinian Arabs (50% of the population at the time)
- 1967 6 day war second exodus of Palestinians, estimated at half a million
- 1967 Following the 6 day war Neo-Zionism appears, a right wing nationalistic interpretation of Zionism fully supporting Settler Colonialism
- 1973 Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War
- 1982 Israel invasion of Lebanon
- 1987 Mass uprising, First Intifada, Hamas creation
- 1993 Oslo Accords and the fallout
- 2000 Camp David summit followed by the Second Intifada
- 2005 Ceasefire and withdrawal of military forces from Gaza
- 2007 Hamas takes control of Gaza, Fatah-Hamas conflict, Israel imposes blockade
- 2008 Operation Cast Lead, the war on Gaza and the fallout
- 2012 8 Day assault on Gaza
- 2014 50 Day Gaza war Operation Protective Edge leading to 2251 casualties (including 551 children and 299 women)
- 2018 Border protests, 190 killed 28 thousand wounded
- 2019 Operation Black Belt
- 2021 Completion of Gaza-Israel barrier, clashes over Al Aqsa Mosque
- 2022 Netanyahu comes back in power while under corruption charges, deadliest year since 2014
- 2023 Israel turns 75 in May, Operation Shield and Arrow follows, Countdown to Genocide, what led up to the October 7 attacks

Hold on.

What about the previous 3000 years?

Really this history begins here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_diaspora

733 BC, the first time people tried to remove the Jews from their homeland and begun the never ending fight for who actually owned the land.

----------------------

Anyone that thinks this Jewish-Muslim war is only 200 years old, doesn't know what they are talking about.

----------------------

My take is that there are not good guys and bad guys here.  Just arseholes.

Sometimes the Jews have the upperhand, sometimes the Muslims have the upperhand.  Depends on which centry you are looking at.



Sony want to make money by selling art, Nintendo want to make money by selling fun, Microsoft want to make money.

SvennoJ 1 day ago

At least 50 children killed in two days in Lebanon: UNICEF

The UN agency for children says the Israeli air attacks on Lebanon in recent days have already killed more children per day than the 2006 war, which lasted for 33 days and killed about 1,200 people.

“The average number of children killed per day in Lebanon this week is more than double the number of children killed per day during the country’s devastating 2006 conflict,” UNICEF said.

An estimated 400 children, or about 12 children per day, were killed then compared with 50 children killed in a span of two days, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.


Lebanon facing ‘deadliest period in generation’: UN

The UN humanitarian coordinator in Lebanon has warned that the country is facing bloodshed not seen in decades, and that the crisis could deteriorate even further.

“The recent escalations in Lebanon are nothing short of catastrophic,” said humanitarian coordinator Imran Riza. “We are witnessing the deadliest period in Lebanon in a generation, and many express their fear that this is just the beginning.”

As we reported earlier, Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed at least 25 people since dawn today, while forcing more people from southern Lebanon to flee their homes.

There are now 446 schools, universities and institutes that have turned into shelters for displaced people, according to an updated list from Lebanon’s National Committee for Coordination of Disaster and Crisis Response Operations.


People displaced by conflict from southern Lebanon wait outside a temporary reception shelter in the northern city of Tripoli, on September 25


Casualties in Lebanon ‘way beyond’ expectations: WHO official

Earlier, we shared an updated injury toll from Youssef Bakhash, head of the Lebanese Doctors Syndicate, who reported that 5,000 people are currently hospitalised.

Among those hospitalised, 777 were injured in last week’s pager and walkie-talkie blasts, with 152 in critical condition, according to Margaret Harris, spokeswoman for the World Health Organization (WHO).

“That means they’re not leaving the hospital for quite some time, and so every day of bombing and blasts fills up beds that can’t be unfilled,” Harris said.

While aid agencies and hospitals, with the support of the WHO, prepared for potential mass-casualty events in Lebanon, those scenarios did not anticipate anywhere near the numbers they are seeing, Harris added.

“It was way beyond anything that normal planning, even for a horrific event like this, would have expected”, she said.


People donate blood for those who were injured by their exploded handheld pagers, at a Red Cross centre, in the southern city of Sidon, Lebanon, September 17


Air raids reported in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley

While hostilities are most intense in southern Lebanon, Israeli air raids have also been reported in the Bekaa Valley, in the eastern part of the country. Al Jazeera correspondents said a raid hit the road that links the Bekaa Valley to Homs around the town of Rasm el-Hadath.

The state-run NNA agency also reported a violent air raid on the town of Nabi Aila, in the centre of the Bekaa Valley.



SvennoJ 1 day ago
only777 said:
SvennoJ said:

Moving the discussion here from the US Politics thread.

This war sadly looks to still keep going for months with the repercussions likely lasting for generations, while the threat of escalation to a full scale regional war comes closer day by day.

Timeline:
- 1800s Rise of anti-semitism in Europe
- 1897 Zionism created
- 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement
- 1917 Balfour declaration
- 1933 Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party come to power, start of the Holocaust
- 1938 Kristallnacht, series of pogroms against the Jewish population in Germany and recently incorporated territories
- 1941 - 1945 Holocaust becomes the genocide of 6 million Jews (as well as about 500 thousand from other minorities)
- 1947 UN Partition Plan for Palestine
- 1948 Nakba displacement of 750 thousand Palestinian Arabs (50% of the population at the time)
- 1967 6 day war second exodus of Palestinians, estimated at half a million
- 1967 Following the 6 day war Neo-Zionism appears, a right wing nationalistic interpretation of Zionism fully supporting Settler Colonialism
- 1973 Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War
- 1982 Israel invasion of Lebanon
- 1987 Mass uprising, First Intifada, Hamas creation
- 1993 Oslo Accords and the fallout
- 2000 Camp David summit followed by the Second Intifada
- 2005 Ceasefire and withdrawal of military forces from Gaza
- 2007 Hamas takes control of Gaza, Fatah-Hamas conflict, Israel imposes blockade
- 2008 Operation Cast Lead, the war on Gaza and the fallout
- 2012 8 Day assault on Gaza
- 2014 50 Day Gaza war Operation Protective Edge leading to 2251 casualties (including 551 children and 299 women)
- 2018 Border protests, 190 killed 28 thousand wounded
- 2019 Operation Black Belt
- 2021 Completion of Gaza-Israel barrier, clashes over Al Aqsa Mosque
- 2022 Netanyahu comes back in power while under corruption charges, deadliest year since 2014
- 2023 Israel turns 75 in May, Operation Shield and Arrow follows, Countdown to Genocide, what led up to the October 7 attacks

Hold on.

What about the previous 3000 years?

Really this history begins here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_diaspora

733 BC, the first time people tried to remove the Jews from their homeland and begun the never ending fight for who actually owned the land.

----------------------

Anyone that thinks this Jewish-Muslim war is only 200 years old, doesn't know what they are talking about.

----------------------

My take is that there are not good guys and bad guys here.  Just arseholes.

Sometimes the Jews have the upperhand, sometimes the Muslims have the upperhand.  Depends on which centry you are looking at.

Watch this speech




There are a lot of arseholes on both sides, yet the reality is over 15,000 innocent children slaughtered, 17,000 orphaned, the rest traumatized.

We live in 2024 now, post WW2, in a world that had accepted Humanitarian and International law. Israel is currently destroying both and bringing us back to the ages of barbarism.


It's not a Jewish-Muslim war, it's a Zionist war for control of all land in Greater Israel. Zionism is not 3,000 years old, established by Theodor Herzl in 1897.

Before the Zionist migration movement began Jews and Muslim were living together in the area. Zionists decided the Muslims needed to go to create an ethnocentric state, exclusively for Jews. That's what led to where we are now.



LegitHyperbole 1 day ago

Holy balls.