Latest news with #IsraelDefenseForces
Leaders
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Leaders
Irish Politician Describes Israel's Military Campaign in Gaza as ‘Barbaric'
A video went viral on social media showing Irish Politician Barry Andrews condemning Israel's war in Gaza and describing Netanyahu's campaign as 'barbaric'. Andrews noted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his war in Gaza was a battle against barbarism. However, the civilized world has concluded that Israel is the one who conducted a campaign of barbarism, acceding to Andrews. 'A majority of European countries have finally concluded that it is barbaric to use starvation as a weapon of war,' Andrews added. He also described the statement of Bezalel Smotrich, Israeli Minister of Finance, regarding ethnic cleansing in Gaza as 'barbaric'. @palestinegaza11357 ♬ son original – palestinegaza11357 Meanwhile, Andrews called 'Gideon's Chariots' operation as 'barbaric' and blatant violation of the international humanitarian law. 'But we cannot just focus on access for aid, we also have to make sure that violence has to come to an end,' he added. What hostage has ever been released as a result of a military action? And today we read that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) fired warning shots at French diplomats and others visiting the West Bank,' he said. 'If this is the way European diplomats are treated, imagine how Palestinians are treated in the West Bank,' the politician said. At the end of his speech, Andrews said that it was unavoidable to conclude that it was the IDF that was conducting a barbaric campaign. Since the beginning of Hamas-Israel War in Gaza in 2023, the Israeli strikes have killed more than 53,500 Palestinians and wounded more than 118,000, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Related Topics: Arab Ministers Condemn Israel's Ban on West Bank Visit Israel Plans to Build Jewish Israeli State in West Bank France May Toughen Stance on Israel Over Gaza Aid Blockage Short link : Post Views: 1
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Inside Israel's buffer zone in Syria
The Merkava main battle tank is parked as discreetly as possible behind the makeshift antenatal clinic, but its enormous turret still pokes out. Batal Ali, 25, does not seem fazed, however. Her mind is elsewhere. Nine months into her fourth pregnancy she has just been informed that the level of amniotic fluid around the baby is dangerously low. 'She needs to have a C-section and we're just working out which hospital to evacuate her to – probably Haifa,' says the chief physician. If this conversation were taking place just two miles to the west it would be unremarkable. But we are standing in Syria, part of Israel's controversial 150 square mile 'buffer zone' along its north-eastern border, which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) seized in December 2024 after the fall of Bashar al-Assad. To critics it was a cynical land grab, nothing short of an invasion. According to the Israelis, however, it is a vital defensive measure to safeguard their communities in the Golan Heights from marauding jihadis and ultimately to prevent another Oct 7-style massacre. Nine forward operating bases have now been built across the dramatic countryside between Mount Hermon and the Jordanian border. Machine gun-mounted Humvees bearing the flag of the front-line Golani Brigade, and more ponderous armoured personnel carriers, churn up the roads in clouds of dust while sentries watch from the hilltops. The soldiers are fully armed and body armoured at all times. In the words of one Israeli military official from the 210th Division, the communities here are 'fragmented, suspicious'. Tension radiates out of the hills. The official says that Hezbollah elements have been detected in the region. There are also Isis supporters in the more southern section of the border zone, he claims. Although he concedes that the IDF has detected no active plots for an incursion into the Israel-controlled Golan Heights, he says hatred of the Jewish state constitutes a perpetual threat. 'There are streams that run underground,' he says. 'It's not happening yet but it will happen.' Alongside the military presence, the Israelis are providing humanitarian assistance to the Syrian border communities – those who will accept it at least. By and large these are the Druze, the minority Arab sect of Islamic origin with strong links to Israel thanks to the roughly 150,000 who live there. The liberation of Syria from Assad's tyranny has been a troubling time for many of them, with reports of sectarian clashes and massacres at the hands of the Sunni majority. The new IDF field clinic near the village of Hader is, in part, designed to give the Druze access to advanced healthcare now that the road to Damascus, less than 40 miles away, is so dangerous for them. 'I would rather go to Haifa for the birth than take my chances going to Damascus,' says Batal, who is now sitting in the waiting room, a large khaki tent, with her husband. 'It isn't safe for us.' She is one of about 40 patients who will visit the clinic that day, a collection of temporary metal cabins and army tents in the lee of Mount Hermon that has been open now for nearly a month. There, the team can carry out essential diagnostic work, such as Batal's ultrasound, along with blood tests and X-rays. 'Anyone with an immediate threat to life we evacuate [to Israel],' says the chief physician, an IDF colonel who cannot be named. 'We're trying not to replace the local doctors in the villages, that's a key humanitarian principle. But we'll tell them that, for example, on Thursday we'll have an orthopaedic clinic, on Monday we have our Obgyn specialist [obstetrician-gynaecologist], so they can tell their patients when to come.' Judging by the men's exuberant moustaches, distinctive dark clothes and short-sided white and light-blue hats, all the dozen or so patients waiting are Druze. The official confirms that the Sunni villages, by and large, want nothing to do with the Israelis, although the clinic will treat anyone who turns up. At first patients were presenting with war injuries, some months old, that had been left untreated. Now it's more likely to be everyday complaints. Once seen, each patient is handed a detailed discharge form written in Hebrew and English. In the past, this would have been a highly dangerous practice. During the early years of the Syrian civil war, when the IDF provided some medical care in this border region, they went to vast lengths to do so in secret, cutting the labels out of clothes they gave patients, aware that anyone known to have received Israeli help would be in grave danger. 'It's different now,' says the chief physician. 'Everyone knows we're here and we're helping them.' As well as assisting a community to which Israel has traditionally felt a strong sense of responsibility, the clinic at Hader serves their agenda by reminding the world of the sectarianism and continued violence east of the border, justifying their military takeover of the region and their wider scepticism of the new regime. Since Ahmed Al-Sharaa, a former jihadi with previous links to both al-Qaeda and Islamic State, swept to power in December 2024, Israel has been reminding anyone who will listen that you can't trust a 'terrorist in a suit'. They have continued their campaign of air strikes against former regime facilities and heavy weapons that could be used against Israel, and even bombed near the presidential palace recently as a 'warning' to the new leader not to allow attacks on the Druze. However, it is an argument they appear to be losing, as demonstrated by Donald Trump's decision in May to lift all sanctions to give Syria 'a chance of greatness'. Indeed, rather than fretting about his terrorist past, much more of a neo-conservative preoccupation than a Maga concern, Mr Trump praised Al-Sharaa as an 'attractive, tough guy'. There have even been suggestions of a Trump Tower in Damascus. On Thursday, the US's newly appointed envoy for Syria was in the capital as the Stars and Stripes were raised over the ambassador's residence for the first time since 2012. Meanwhile, seemingly ignored by its closest ally in Washington, Israel digs in, literally. It is digging a vast anti-tank defensive ditch along the border, with 30km now completed and another 30 to go. 'Mortal danger. Active military zone,' reads the sign on the border fence, topped with coils of vicious-looking barbed wire. That more or less sums up Israel's attitude to Syria at the moment, despite the great wave of hope across the Middle East unleashed by the fall of Assad. The day before The Telegraph visited, troops stationed on the Israel-occupied Golan side of the border conducted an exercise to see how fast they could reach certain Syrian villages in an emergency. And they say that while they have had some success in persuading villagers in the border zone to give up their weapons, few communities trust the situation enough to hand over all their guns. 'We don't want to occupy, we don't want to kill,' the official said. 'We just want to protect the border and protect our people.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
NBC News
11 hours ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Opposition to Gaza war grows among Israeli soldiers as strikes ramp up
TEL AVIV — Barely noticeable only a few months ago, opposition is growing about fresh Israeli operations in Gaza even among the country's military reservists, some of whom have publicly called out the government for what they say is an immoral and politically motivated decision to continue the war. 'I refuse to commit war crimes,' Yuval Ben Ari told NBC News earlier this month. 'The patriotic thing to do is to say no.' 'As an Israeli, as a human being, I'm calling the Israeli government to stop starving 2 million people,' he said, adding that he felt shame and guilt because 'people inside Gaza are starving to death.' As a reservist soldier, Ben Ari served two rotations inside Gaza, the first in the north of the enclave and the second in the south, and he is one of a growing number of former and current Israel Defense Forces personnel — including high-ranking commanders — who have voiced their concerns about the country's conduct in the war. This pushback has only grown after the Netanyahu government announced a major new operation dubbed 'Gideon's Chariot,' which began earlier this month. Over 12,000 current and former service members signed a series of letters since the collapse of the ceasefire in March calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government to end the war and declaring they will refuse to serve if it continues, according to Restart Israel, an activist group that tracks how many people oppose the government's actions. NBC News has approached the IDF for comment about the letters. In a statement to The Associated Press after one of the letters was released last month, the military said it should be 'above all political dispute.' Speaking in Israel's southern city of Sderot, which sits a few hundred yards from the Gaza border, meaning the ruins in Gaza are visible and the sound of explosions and aircraft overhead are omnipresent, Ben Ari said he convinced the IDF to let him re-enlist after the Hamas-led terror attack on Oct. 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and around 250 were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Despite a leg injury, he said he felt he should join the army to protect his homeland. But during his first deployment in Gaza late last year, he said he quickly became disillusioned by the destruction he witnessed. Sent to southern Gaza when Israel resumed its military campaign in March, Ben Ari said he came to the realization that he could no longer serve in good conscience. So a week into his monthlong rotation, he said he asked his commander to be relieved of his duty and made his way to the border. As soon as he was back inside Israel, he wrote on social media, 'I will no longer wear this uniform under the current government.' While most of his friends and family applauded his stance, Ben Ari said, others called him a traitor and accused him of selfishness and abandoning the remaining hostages — criticism he said he expected. He later penned an anonymous article for Israel's highly respected Haaretz newspaper about his experiences. However, he is far from alone in expressing his disquiet after Israel shattered its ceasefire with Hamas in early March and imposed a blockade preventing food, fuel and medical supplies from entering Gaza, where Israeli attacks have killed more than 54,000 people since the current conflict began, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave. The IDF would not comment on the number of reservists it uses or the size of its overall forces. 'They are not saying, 'Stop the war because we are tired,'' Guy Poran, a retired Israeli air force pilot, said in an interview at his home in Tel Aviv earlier this month. 'They're saying this war is not legitimate.' Poran, 69, who helped initiate an anti-war letter signed by almost 1,200 current and former air force members, added that Netanyahu, who is currently on trial over allegations of bribery and fraud, 'is deeply in trouble, indicted with very serious criminal charges.' Netanyahu has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the string of corruption probes. Netanyahu's political survival lies in the hands of his partners 'on the extreme right,' Poran said, referring to ultranationalist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, both of whom have threatened to bring down the government if Israel agrees to a ceasefire with Hamas, while also calling for the total annihilation of the militant group and, more generally, the reoccupation and resettlement of Gaza by Israel. Israel, Poran added, is held 'hostage because of this blackmail.' NBC News has approached Netanyahu's office for comment. One of the letter's signatories, a major in the air force reserve, said they added their name because both the actions of the government and the way some ministers spoke freely about starving people in Gaza were not what you would see from 'a normal, moral government,' and they thought the ministers were 'losing it.' 'Somehow the military has to put a stop sign in front of them,' they added. Asked about concerns from some reservists that the war was being conducted for political purposes, the IDF did not respond directly. 'Reservists, who leave behind their families, daily routines, jobs, and studies to repeatedly stand in defense of the country's security and its citizens, are a central pillar of the IDF's strength,' it said in a statement. In a separate interview, a lieutenant colonel in the air force reserve objected to the resumption of military activities in Gaza over fears that Israeli forces 'will probably kill our own,' they said, referring to the 58 hostages who remain in captivity, although the majority are believed to be dead. 'This is a red line,' they said, adding that Netanyahu and his coalition were neglecting the hostages 'in order to preserve their own government.' NBC News agreed not to use their names because they feared for their safety and their jobs, although under Israeli law, employers must have a legitimate reason to fire someone and follow due process before terminating their employment. The army has nonetheless dismissed or threatened to dismiss service reservists who signed the letter, according to The Associated Press. Along with Poran and Ben Ari, both reservists spoke before Israel lifted its blockade on aid entering Gaza earlier this month, around three months after it began. The move was condemned by Ben-Gvir, who called it 'foolish' and 'morally wrong' in a Monday post on X. Smotrich and Israel's Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu have previously been criticized for similar statements. Poran said there was a growing feeling that 'it has become a revenge war, and that too many civilians are being killed, innocent, children, women, unnecessarily,' Poran said. 'Even the army says it cannot be a long-term solution' he added. 'If we occupy there, we have to take care of their food, of their health, of their school system, of their sewage. Who's going to do it?' 'You cannot just displace 2 million people,' Ben Ari said. 'It's inhuman.'
Forbes
a day ago
- General
- Forbes
What An Israeli Strike On Iran's Nuclear Sites Might Look Like
A view of an F-15 fighter jet being prepared ahead of Israeli army's attack on Iran, on October 26, ... More 2024 in Israel. (Photo by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images) Israel is reportedly planning to launch long-range strikes against Iran's nuclear program if the current nuclear talks with the United States collapse. Such a move could have grave ramifications for the stability of the region, which experienced two Iranian and Israeli attacks and counterattacks in 2024. U.S. intelligence suggests that Israel is actively preparing for a potential strike on Iranian nuclear sites amid ongoing negotiations between Tehran and the Trump administration over a new nuclear deal, CNN reported on May 20. The following day, Axios reported that any Israeli attack would not 'be a one-off, but a military campaign lasting at least a week.' Unsurprisingly, Iran condemned the possibility of an Israeli attack. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that Tehran would view Washington as a 'participant' in any Israeli attack. The Trump administration and the Arab Gulf states are against any attack, favoring negotiations. President Donald Trump confirmed Wednesday that he had conveyed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that an Israeli strike on Iran 'would be very inappropriate to do right now because we're very close to a solution.' Furthermore, Saudi Arabia warned Iran last month to take Trump's openness to negotiate over the issue seriously since it might avert an otherwise inevitable Israeli attack. Iran insists that a deal must preserve its right to continue uranium enrichment, the main obstacle in the way of a new deal. Whether an Israeli strike transpires in the coming days and weeks is anybody's guess. If it does, it's questionable how much damage Israel could do without direct American support. 'Any Israeli campaign on Iran without the U.S. support will face severe limitations given the long distance between the two countries, even though the IDF is known for its ingenuity and might surprise us all,' Arash Azizi, a visiting fellow at Boston U and author of 'The Shadow Commander: Soleimani, the US, and Iran's Global Ambitions,' told me. 'But even if Israel attacks with U.S. support, it can only cause so much damage,' he said. 'The work can pick up and continue. It's all about what settlement is to follow the attacks.' On October 26, 2024, Israel unleashed a large-scale wave of airstrikes against Iranian air defenses and missile production facilities without losing any aircraft. Those four hours of strikes seemingly inflicted significant damage on Iran's strategic air defenses, especially its long-range, Russian-built S-300 air defense missile systems. Israeli jets and drones used Syrian and Iraqi airspace to mount the attack, which likely included significant numbers of standoff munitions, including air-launched ballistic missiles. 'Iran's air defense will certainly be overwhelmed by a week-long Israeli campaign,' Azizi said. 'Also to the point, Iran's lack of a proper air force will limit its ability to defend the country.' Iran's air force is antiquated, consisting mainly of third- and fourth-generation F-4 Phantom and F-14 Tomcat fighters inherited from the pre-1979 regime of the American-allied Shah, as well as some Soviet-made MiG-29A Fulcrums acquired in the early 1990s. Tehran has yet to receive the fourth-generation Su-35 Flankers it ordered from Russia earlier in this decade. Conversely, Israel has a much larger and more modern air force, the only one in the region to operate the fifth-generation American F-35 Lighting II stealth strike fighter. Iran's nuclear facilities are scattered across the country. Undoubtedly, the program's two most important sites are the Natanz Enrichment Complex and the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant. 'Israel will look at all of Iran's enrichment facilities and other nuclear facilities, but the main targets are Fordow and Natanz,' Recent open-source analysis reveals that Iranian air defenses around Natanz are significantly weaker than previously expected. Nevertheless, there are likely limits to the damage that Israeli F-35I stealth jets attacking Natanz and Fordow could do to these respective sites since they are buried underground and have recently been fortified. Destroying such sites would require enormous bunker-buster munitions that Israel lacks and heavy strategic bombers, which Israel also lacks, to carry them. The U.S. Air Force's B-2 Spirit stealth bomber is currently the only aircraft certified to carry the 30,000-pound GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator. Six of these were recently deployed on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean within striking range of Iran's nuclear sites. However, they have since been withdrawn and replaced with older, non-stealthy B-52s after Trump wrapped up the U.S. air campaign against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen and pursued negotiations with Tehran. It's unclear if Israel would simply repeatedly strike Natanz and Fordow to render them at least temporarily unusable. It's conceivable it might use its F-35s to destroy any air defenses and clear a path for F-15s and F-16s to carry out bombing runs. It is also conceivable that it has an entirely different plan altogether. On September 8, 2024, Israel launched Operation Many Ways, a commando raid against an Iranian missile production facility built beneath a mountain near Masyaf in northwest Syria. Covered by airstrikes, Shaldag commandos were helicoptered to the site, which they promptly raided and destroyed with explosives planted inside that detonated as they flew away. It's unclear if Israel would attempt something similar against Natanz and Fordow, especially considering the much greater distance involved. 'I think Israel can certainly plan on commando raids in Iran,' Azizi said. 'It has a very impressive intelligence penetration in Iran, has focused on the country for decades, and carried out countless operations on Iranian soil.' 'It is likely to achieve impressive results by such measures.' Iran would undoubtedly seek retaliation for any significant Israeli strike against its nuclear program. It hasn't yet retaliated for the October 26 strikes, which were Israel's retaliation for a large-scale Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israel. 'Iran will likely retaliate by attacking Israeli soil directly and significantly,' Azizi said. 'This will be its major move.' However, it's unclear whether Tehran would risk striking American bases in the region, especially in the Gulf states with which it is currently on good terms and which refuse to allow the U.S. to use their territories for any strike against Iran. Iran previously launched a ballistic missile strike on an Iraqi airbase hosting U.S. troops in January 2020 following the assassination of Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike ordered by Trump near the end of his first term. 'Whether Iran will also attack the U.S. bases or not, and whether this will be done directly or via Iraqi militia attacks with plausible deniability, depends on what kind of communication goes on between Iran and the U.S. prior to and during the attack and how much support, if any, the U.S. gives Israel in the attack on Iran,' Azizi said.
Egypt Independent
a day ago
- Politics
- Egypt Independent
Israel accepts new US proposal for ceasefire with Hamas, says Israeli official
Hamas wants the humanitarian assistance to be carried out through the United Nations channels. And lastly, they want the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to pull back to the positions that they held on March 2 this year, before Israel re-launched its military operations Another person familiar with the Hamas counterproposal confirmed the three points. According to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the hostage families earlier in the day that he had accepted Witkoff's proposal. During her briefing on Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that 'special envoy Witkoff and the President submitted a ceasefire proposal to Hamas that Israel backed and supported' and that discussions are ongoing. 'We hope that a cease fire in Gaza will take place so we can return all of the hostages home and that's been a priority for this administration from the beginning,' Leavitt added. 'We want to stop this' The senior Hamas official told CNN that they responded to Witkoff's proposal via Palestinian-American interlocutor Bishara Bahbah, who has been in direct discussions with Hamas negotiators in Doha. The Hamas official said that two days ago, they discussed the Hamas terms with Bahbah, which were sent to Witkoff. Then, the official said, after Witkoff met with Israeli official Ron Dermer in Washington this week, 'everything changed 100%.' 'We were shocked because we were told 2-3 times from Bishara [Bahbah] he approved the framework and had no problem,' said the senior Hamas official, calling the latest Witkoff proposal an 'Israeli paper.' 'We are ready to return all the hostages in one day, just we want a guarantee that war will not come again after that,' the official said. 'Now in this paper we didn't find it,' the Hamas official said. 'They want to continue the war, we want to stop this,' he added. Naim, a member of Hamas' political bureau, wrote on Facebook that a proposal had been agreed upon with Witkoff last week and that the latest framework comes from Israel and it 'means perpetuating the occupation and continuing the killing and famine.' After this latest proposal, Hamas is ready to release half of the remaining 20 living hostages, which the first Hamas official called a 'big risk' because there's no guarantee Israel will respect the agreement. 'We know that Witkoff is a strong man he can do something. He's the only one who can impact Israel,' the official said The same official said the Trump administration reneged on terms following the release of Israeli-American Edan Alexander, including a thanks to Hamas from President Trump and humanitarian aid that didn't immediately start flowing back into Gaza. 'Hamas is very, very interested to reach an agreement to end the war and return the hostages,' said the official. Earlier on Thursday, Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalal Smotrich said accepting the proposal would be 'sheer madness,' writing on social media that he 'will not allow such a thing to happen. Period.' But Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the proposal 'publicly and immediately.' He said he would support the government, even if its far-right members abandoned it.
