Protests over immigration raids flare across US: LA Police use tear gas, horses to clear streets
Police fired tear gas at protesters in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday to clear streets of protesters. Protesters attempted to block the street using the barricades, but flash bangs and tear gas went off as police closed in. Protesters dispersed. Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Los Angeles on Saturday as part of coordinated nationwide demonstrations to protest the policies of the Trump administration in the nationwide "No Kings Day" demonstrations. Saturday's protests followed a week of tension in Los Angeles, where demonstrations over federal immigration raids resulted in U.S. President Donald Trump calling in National Guard troops and U.S. Marines to help keep the peace.
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Mint
29 minutes ago
- Mint
The Israel-Iran war is now a brutal test of staying power
IN TEL AVIV and Tehran rescue crews are looking for survivors in piles of rubble. The missile and air war that Israel and Iran have spent decades planning for has come, and it is spectacular and terrifying. Israeli officials say they need at least two weeks to degrade Iran's nuclear and missile capabilities. That means the struggle ahead is a test of staying power for both countries. Yet even then Israel may need America to deliver a knockout blow to Iran's deeply buried nuclear sites. For Israel, the coming days are all about momentum: if it maintains an aura of success it may be able to draw in President Donald Trump. But if the pace of damage to nuclear sites slows and casualties spiral, he may push to end the war before Israel has achieved its aims. A hasty ceasefire could leave Iran with a huge incentive to rush to restore its nuclear programme. Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes since the early hours of June 13th. Iran has responded with salvoes of ballistic missiles and drones, although only a handful have penetrated Israel's defence systems. Israel's official objective is 'removing an existential threat" from Iran's nuclear programme and ballistic missiles. It has prioritised striking Iranian headquarters, the homes of generals and missile-launchers, and achieving air dominance over Iran. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, has said the 'road to Tehran has been opened". Yet crucially the damage done to Iran's nuclear sites so far is limited. Three days into the war, only two main sites have been hit, in Natanz and Isfahan, along with some minor ones. Israeli analysts assess the IDF has at most hit a third of the nuclear programme, which would set it back by months, not years. Israel has yet to attack underground nuclear facilities, including the large uranium-enrichment plant in Fordow (though there have been Israeli strikes above ground at Fordow). Israeli officials say this will take place soon. But Israel may lack sufficiently powerful 'bunker-buster" bombs to totally destroy the subterranean enrichment plants. Another 10-20 days of bombardment will test the resilience of both societies. They have obvious things in common: a tradition of learning and science and being non-Arab nations in an often inhospitable Arab-dominated region. They were allies until Iran's Islamic revolution in 1979. Less well known is that their military strategies both reflect missile wars with Iraq. In the Iran-Iraq conflict of the 1980s the 'War of the Cities" saw Iraq launch Soviet Scuds at Tehran and other cities, eventually forcing Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran's then leader, to 'drink from the poisoned chalice" and sign a ceasefire agreement in 1988. Later, during the Gulf war in 1991 Iraq's leader, Saddam Hussein, ordered Scuds to be fired at Israel. Iran's large arsenal reflects this legacy: its home-grown industry was jump-started by Libya and North Korea and can build thousands of missiles each year. Iran also launched a nuclear programme, with uranium-enrichment plants built deep underground in bunkers in the 2000s. Israel, meanwhile, invested in its own missile-defence systems and acquired from America squadrons of fighters which were modified with additional fuel-tanks and electronic-warfare systems, enabling them to carry out long-range strikes. Israel required all new homes to have at least one room capable of serving also as a reinforced bomb-shelter. These respective arsenals are now being unleashed by each side with devastating consequences. Israel's staying power is partly a question of defending the homeland: in the first 48 hours of the war Iran launched around 300 missiles and 150 drones towards Israel. Most were intercepted by Israel, with help from American forces in the region. The handful that got through destroyed dozens of buildings, killing at least 14 people, and damaged Israel's main military headquarters, in Tel Aviv, and an oil refinery in Haifa, in the north. The physical damage is less bad than expected. The financial bill is huge: Israel's wars since October 2023 have cost around $85bn, but this was before the latest stage with Iran. An economist advising the government puts the direct costs of jet-fuel and munitions for the war against Iran at around $300m a day: 'This government is prepared to pay whatever price for the war in Iran, including depleting the reserves and putting Israel in debt for generations to come." Much now depends on Israel's capability to destroy Iranian missile-launchers before Israel's stockpiles of interceptor missiles are depleted. Iran, meanwhile, had 2,000 missiles capable of reaching Israel when the war began, according to Israeli intelligence. Many have now either been fired or destroyed by Israel, but the Iranians will almost certainly retain enough, stored underground, to keep landing blows on Israel each night. It is still possible Iran achieves a spectacular hit on Israel that either kills many civilians or destroys a strategic site. Yet the rate of attrition inside Iran will be worse, with the gradual destruction of most of its missile and nuclear infrastructure looming. It entered the war at a strategic disadvantage. Its proxy, Hizbullah, was crippled by Israeli strikes last September. Iran faces an economic crisis, making its leadership vulnerable to internal unrest. Israel has also bombed two civilian fuel plants, indicating it could push that wobbly economy over the brink. At a minimum Israel's leaders believe this pressure may force Iran's leaders to consider a deal with Mr Trump, in which it would be forced to dismantle what remains of its nuclear and missile programmes. To raise the temperature Israel is playing up the prospect of internal unrest in Iran that could endanger Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, and his inner circle and even the entire regime. While Israeli officials say regime change is not an objective, on June 13th Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, addressed the Iranian people, saying 'this is your opportunity to stand up" to a system 'which has oppressed you for almost 50 years". But these Israeli hopes for capitulation or regime change may not be realistic. 'The regime's survival is the utmost concern of the supreme leader," says Raz Zimmt, of Israel's National Institute for Strategic Studies. 'But at the same time, he sees Iran's nuclear capability, especially uranium enrichment, as a cornerstone of that survival. Having to choose between them is like choosing between two chalices of poison." Without capitulation or regime change in Iran, Israel's war makes sense only if it can set back the nuclear programme by years. 'Iran can't beat Israel, but Israel probably doesn't have the capabilities to entirely destroy Iran's nuclear programme either," says Amos Yadlin, former chief of Israel's military intelligence. Whether America, which does have the necessary bunker-busting bombs, will join the fight, is unclear. Speaking on June 15th Mr Trump sat on the fence: 'We're not involved in it. It's possible we could get involved. But we are not at this moment involved." Israel's war is going better than it expected. It could yet get American military help. But if it does not it will need another way to end the war it has started. As Mr Yadlin puts it, alongside the military campaign 'we also need a diplomatic exit-strategy, and Netanyahu hasn't been adept at devising one of those."
Mint
29 minutes ago
- Mint
Israel races to reshape the Middle East with few checks
A year ago, Israel was struggling—bogged down in Gaza, surrounded by Iranian-backed enemies and under pressure from Washington to stop the fighting. Now, it is reshaping the Middle East on its own terms and forcing the Trump administration to play catch-up as Israeli leaders ramp up attacks against Iran. The moves could upend global markets and remake geopolitics—and potentially draw the U.S. into a regional conflagration. With a series of daring intelligence operations and fierce military campaigns, Israel has effectively disabled Iranian allies Hamas and Hezbollah, while also prompting the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria. It is now taking the fight directly to Tehran. Israel used the cover of American diplomatic efforts to mount a surprise assault that goes far beyond targeting Iran's nuclear program, instead aiming to cripple the country's theocratic regime. The fight has also shoved American policy off the path President Trump laid out earlier this year. After long pushing for a peaceful, diplomatic solution to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons, he praised Israel's airstrikes and warned on social media, 'Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left." Trump, who had previously pledged to disentangle the U.S. from Middle Eastern conflicts, ordered U.S. warships and fighter jets to defend Israel from Iranian counterattacks. Any move by Iran to target American military installations or to choke Persian Gulf oil shipments could pull Washington in deeper. So far, the attack hasn't produced the broader conflict many feared. Iran has launched barrages of missiles at Israel in response, but to limited effect. Israel's leaders and security establishment are starting to talk about the possibility of a victory that could reshape the existing order. 'I have no doubt that your day of liberation from tyranny is closer than ever," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said addressing the Iranian people on Friday. 'And when that happens, Israelis and Iranians will renew the covenant between our two ancient nations. Together we'll bring a future of prosperity, peace and hope." Israel's emboldened agenda in the region comes as the U.S. increasingly focuses on domestic issues and geopolitical threats elsewhere. Trump has discarded decades of protocol and priorities in charting his own foreign policy approach to the Middle East. His forays into the region, while ambitious, have been fickle. Just before taking office, his intervention helped close a long elusive cease-fire deal in Gaza. But his attention to that conflict wavered after Ukraine and Iran heated up. He launched efforts to redevelop Gaza as a tourist destination and annihilate Yemen's Houthi militants, only to lose interest later. That has opened the door for a more single-minded leader like Netanyahu to forcefully implement his vision. Israel now faces the challenge of converting its victories into a more permanent removal of the threat from Iran, which has assembled a vast arsenal of missiles and lined up allies to fulfill its longtime pledge to eliminate the Jewish state. The immediate need is to make more progress on the goal of destroying Iran's nuclear program. Its military has spent days wiping out Iranian air defenses with airstrikes and covert operations, giving it the ability to attack virtually at will. But it has yet to do extensive damage to Iran's deeply buried and widely dispersed nuclear program. Israel said Friday it has inflicted significant damage by hitting the underground complex at Natanz, which includes a multilevel enrichment hall containing centrifuges, electrical rooms and additional support infrastructure. Cars leaving Tehran created a traffic jam on Sunday. Success will require taking out the hardened uranium enrichment facility at Fordow, which Israel has yet to attack in earnest, and destroying the stockpiles of enriched uranium stores that Iran may already have spread around the country. The risk is that a failure to cripple the program could lead Iran to accelerate its work on a bomb. 'Both Israel's and Iran's future is tied to whether Iran has a nuclear program at the end of this conflict," said Jonathan Panikoff, a former U.S. intelligence officer who is now at the Atlantic Council. 'If it does, Iran's ability to rebuild and project influence across the region will be very much intact. If it doesn't, it opens up a new day that we haven't seen in over two decades." By Sunday afternoon, Israel had hit more than 250 targets in 50 hours of nonstop attacks. So far, the Trump administration isn't reining it in. That's a significant shift from decades of U.S. foreign policy. As far back as the Suez Crisis in 1956, the U.S. has simultaneously supported Israel while hitting the brakes on its ambitions, hoping to keep conflicts from spiraling. The Biden administration put constant pressure on Netanyahu to lessen the intensity of attacks that could hurt civilians, end the war in Gaza and de-escalate with Hezbollah in the north. When Iran and Israel got into their first ever direct exchanges of fire last year, the administration urged Israel not to strike Iran's nuclear or energy sectors for fear of escalation. That pressure ultimately shaped Israel's response. This time, Trump has imposed few constraints on Israel's targeting. The president did ask Netanyahu repeatedly this year to hold off on military action to give nuclear talks headed by special envoy Steve Witkoff a chance to work. But he relented last week, when Netanyahu reminded him that his own two-month deadline for Iran to come to a deal had expired, according to officials familiar with the call between the two leaders. 'The greatest mistake the United States and its Western allies can make is forcing a premature end to this war," said Michael Oren, former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. The bigger constraint could come from within Israel. After 20 months of war, many have had enough. There's broad support for military action against Iran, but it comes after many civilian-soldiers have been called up multiple times, disrupting their jobs and families. As many as 20 hostages remain alive in Gaza, as well as dozens of still unrepatriated bodies. The malaise is compounded by deep political divisions over Netanyahu's leadership. Moves to remove political opponents from the military and security services, efforts to overhaul the judiciary and a failure to end the war in Gaza have split a population that was initially united around the goals of the war. 'Pain, exhaustion, and uncertainty define Israeli society right now," Oren wrote this weekend on X, 'and we'll have to hold out for who knows how long." Despite the weariness, there is an understanding that the conflict with Iran is the one that matters most, said Yohanan Plesner, president of the Jerusalem-based Israel Democracy Institute. A survey by his institute in April found that more than half of Jewish Israelis supported an attack on Iran, even without American support, compared with about a third who opposed one. Palestinians ran for cover after an Israeli strike on the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in Gaza on Sunday. Israelis have known for decades that Iran was building up its nuclear capabilities and funding a 'ring of fire" around Israel via regional allies like Hezbollah, Yemen's Houthis and Hamas, whose attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, lighted the fuse on the past two years of conflict. The country tried for years to manage those threats without triggering a war. It killed key figures and disrupted supply chains—a tactic it called mowing the grass—and hoped its military superiority would be a deterrent. When that failed on Oct. 7, it went to war methodically, taking down Hamas and then Hezbollah. Both militias collapsed quickly without the heavy Israeli casualties or wider escalation that critics of military action had feared. The successes solidified the idea in the security establishment that Israel can't just live with threats, including ones as potentially dangerous to confront as Iran, which Israel sees as the root of its security problems. 'It's a big event with potential far reaching implications in terms of Israeli psyche and regional politics," Plesner said of the war. 'It's not just another round of violence in the Middle East," he said. 'Iran is the last enemy standing." Israel's effort with Iran is different from the George W. Bush administration's idealistic effort to implant democracy in the Middle East by bringing down Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. Damage in central Israel after a missile attack by Iran on Sunday. Israel would be pleased to see Iran's government fall, but it shouldn't be the goal, Plesner said. Instead, Israel needs to focus on turning its military achievement into a diplomatic one, he said. That worked in the fight with Hezbollah. Israel set the limited goal of weakening the militia and pushing it back from its border with Lebanon. After a two-month campaign, Hezbollah was forced to stop firing at Israel and pull back. So far, it has stayed out of Israel's fight with Iran. Gaza is the opposite case. Israel has been criticized since early in the war for setting out to destroy Hamas while failing to settle on a plan for governing the enclave once it has been defeated. The result is an expanding military campaign 20 months into a war that has leveled much of Gaza and left more than 55,000 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza health officials, who don't say how many were combatants. Israel has wiped out most of Hamas's military leaders and thousands of fighters, but the group remains the dominant force in the enclave, and there is no end in sight. Israelis are losing confidence in the aims of that war, and a peace movement has emerged calling for it to end. International support for Israel has waned amid the widespread destruction in Gaza and images of starving children. Criticism ratcheted up recently as Israel ramped up its military campaign and launched a new aid program that has distributed only limited amounts of food after a long blockade, deepening Israel's isolation in a way that could have diplomatic repercussions for years. Danny Citrinowicz, an Iran expert at the Tel Aviv based Institute for National Security Studies, said the enthusiasm in Israel over the early successes in Iran could turn as well if Iran manages to keep bombarding cities with missiles and force the country to keep its airspace shut. 'There's a euphoria in Israel, but we have to be very cautious," he said. Israel's military victories are also pushing back diplomatic gains that could enhance its security over the longer term. The country was on the cusp of a deal to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia before the Oct. 7 attacks, which would have realigned the Middle East overnight. Hamas targeted its attacks to disrupt that agreement, but the continued war is making it impossible for Saudi Arabia to get back on board. 'It is plausible that Gulf states might say they're going to normalize once the war is over, because Israel's the strongest country in the region," said Daniel Shapiro, a former senior Pentagon official and a fellow at the Atlantic Council. 'But pockets of resentment, ideological fervor and aggression will find expression over time. The war in Gaza will have a long tail…I don't think Israel is thinking that it's going to turn the region into the European Union." Israeli history is full of spectacular military achievements that the country struggled to turn into political successes, Citrinowicz said. Israel's quick advance on Beirut in 1982 turned into a quagmire that kept forces there until 2000. Its victory over Arab armies in 1967 was nearly followed by defeat when it was surprised by those foes in 1973. The main challenge for Netanyahu, he said, will be turning the tactical accomplishments in Iran into a broader strategic success. Iran is weakened, but it remains a large and stubborn adversary. Israeli officials and Trump are hoping it can be brought to the negotiating table in a weakened state, but it could refuse. Nuclear targets like the Fordow enrichment facility are hardened, buried deep and difficult to take out from the air. Hitting targets like oil terminals and fields can cause economic pain but aren't connected to Israel's war goals, Citrinowicz said. Israel faces a long campaign without a clear way out, he said. 'Israel needs to think hard about how it's closing this war now," he said. 'I think people should ask the question of exit strategy before we start the war." Write to Shayndi Raice at and Michael R. Gordon at
Time of India
35 minutes ago
- Time of India
US deportation drive: Trump orders US agencies to expand efforts, 'get the job done'; crack down on illegal immigrants in 'sanctuary cities'
US President Donald Trump has ordered federal immigration officials to prioritise deportations in Democratic-led cities following widespread protests in Los Angeles and other major urban centers against his administration's immigration policies. In a post on Truth Social, Trump urged ICE agents "to do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History." He emphasized that to accomplish this, officials "must expand efforts to detain and deport Illegal Aliens in America's largest Cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, where Millions upon Millions of Illegal Aliens reside." This announcement follows weeks of intensified enforcement and remarks from Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff and chief architect of Trump's immigration strategy, who stated that ICE officers would aim for at least 3,000 arrests per day—an increase from approximately 650 daily arrests during the first five months of Trump's second term. Simultaneously, the administration has instructed immigration agents to pause arrests at farms, restaurants, and hotels after Trump expressed concern about the negative effects of aggressive enforcement on these industries, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter who requested anonymity. Trump's post In his post, Trump said: "Our Nation's ICE Officers have shown incredible strength, determination, and courage as they facilitate a very important mission, the largest Mass Deportation Operation of Illegal Aliens in History. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Trading CFD dengan Teknologi dan Kecepatan Lebih Baik IC Markets Mendaftar Undo Every day, the Brave Men and Women of ICE are subjected to violence, harassment, and even threats from Radical Democrat Politicians, but nothing will stop us from executing our mission, and fulfilling our Mandate to the American People. ICE Officers are herewith ordered, by notice of this TRUTH, to do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History." "In order to achieve this, we must expand efforts to detain and deport Illegal Aliens in America's largest Cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, where Millions upon Millions of Illegal Aliens reside. These, and other such Cities, are the core of the Democrat Power Center, where they use Illegal Aliens to expand their Voter Base, cheat in Elections, and grow the Welfare State, robbing good paying Jobs and Benefits from Hardworking American Citizens. These Radical Left Democrats are sick of mind, hate our Country, and actually want to destroy our Inner Cities — And they are doing a good job of it! There is something wrong with them. That is why they believe in Open Borders, Transgender for Everybody, and Men playing in Women's Sports — And that is why I want ICE, Border Patrol, and our Great and Patriotic Law Enforcement Officers, to FOCUS on our crime ridden and deadly Inner Cities, and those places where Sanctuary Cities play such a big role. You don't hear about Sanctuary Cities in our Heartland!" "I want our Brave ICE Officers to know that REAL Americans are cheering you on every day. The American People want our Cities, Schools, and Communities to be SAFE and FREE from Illegal Alien Crime, Conflict, and Chaos. That's why I have directed my entire Administration to put every resource possible behind this effort, and reverse the tide of Mass Destruction Migration that has turned once Idyllic Towns into scenes of Third World Dystopia. Our Federal Government will continue to be focused on the REMIGRATION of Aliens to the places from where they came, and preventing the admission of ANYONE who undermines the domestic tranquility of the United States." "To ICE, FBI, DEA, ATF, the Patriots at Pentagon and the State Department, you have my unwavering support. Now go, GET THE JOB DONE! DJT."
