Attention to the Unseen

U.S. Central Commanded tweeted on Sunday afternoon: U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces will begin implementing a blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports on April 13 at 10 a.m. ET, in accordance with the President’s proclamation. The blockade will be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. CENTCOM forces will not impede freedom of navigation for vessels…

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  A negative political and public reaction in Israel to the ceasefire with Iran, despite the respite it brings. No pause for Israel’s army, however, or its victims. Hundreds have been killed in Lebanon, with more dead in Gaza. Is Israel a society effectively on a permanent war footing? Presenter: Tom McRae Guests: Ilan Pappe – a historian and professor at Exeter University Gideon Levy – a columnist at Haaretz newspaper in Tel Aviv Haim Bresheeth – professor at the…

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CNN reports: US intelligence indicates that China is preparing to deliver new air defense systems to Iran within the next few weeks, according to three people familiar with recent intelligence assessments. It would be a provocative move considering Beijing said it helped broker the fragile ceasefire agreement that paused the war between Iran and the US earlier this week. President Donald Trump is also set to visit China early next month for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The intelligence also underscores how Iran may…

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The New York Times reports: Iran has been unable to open the Strait of Hormuz to more shipping traffic because it cannot locate all of the mines it laid in the waterway and lacks the capability to remove them, according to U.S. officials. The development is one reason Iran has not been able to quickly comply with the Trump administration’s admonitions to let more traffic pass through the strait. It is also potentially a complicating factor as Iranian negotiators and…

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  What is really going on in Lebanon? Less than 24 hours after Donald Trump announced a ceasefire with Iran, Israel launched a massive wave of airstrikes targeting Hezbollah across the country. Iran says Israel is violating the terms of the ceasefire – so could the peace talks set to be held tomorrow in Islamabad collapse before they’ve even started? And is this exactly what Israel wants? On this episode of the Fourcast, Krishnan Guru-Murthy was joined from Beirut by…

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Ghada Abdulfattah writes: Rubble is everywhere. In Gaza, there’s more than one kind. Towers that once held dozens of families have been reduced to hills: broken slabs stacked in layers, steel bars twisted through them like exposed nerves, concrete pancaked over furniture. Sometimes, the remains of a home lean at an angle, like the Tower of Pisa. Other buildings are hollowed out from below, the lower floors erased while the upper floors hang in a crooked pause, held up by…

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Illy Pe’ery writes: In October 2023, Gili was called up for reserve duty in the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit and assigned to the Northern Command. In the days following Hamas’ attacks, while public attention in Israel was fixed on the devastation in the south, Hezbollah began launching rockets and anti-tank missiles toward northern Israel. “We were working 12-hour shifts in an underground operations room, while soldiers in outposts were terrified, but we couldn’t convey that the north was on fire,” she…

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