Browsed by
Category: War

Russian forces getting more access to Starlink satellite internet, threatening Ukraine’s military communications

Russian forces getting more access to Starlink satellite internet, threatening Ukraine’s military communications

RFE/RL reports: Russian troops in Ukraine increasingly have access to Starlink, the private satellite Internet network owned by Elon Musk that Ukraine’s military relies on heavily for battlefield communications. The findings from RFE/RL’s Russian Service corroborate earlier statements from Ukrainian military officials, underscoring how Kyiv’s ability to secure its command communications is potentially threatened. It comes as Ukrainian forces grapple with depleted weaponry and ammunition, and overall exhaustion, with Russian forces pressing localized offensives in several locations along the 1,200-kilometer…

Read More Read More

Biden’s new plan for the Middle East is more of the same

Biden’s new plan for the Middle East is more of the same

Matthew Duss writes: In the wake of the horrific Oct. 7 attacks, U.S. President Joe Biden and his administration have stressed that there can be no return to the pre-Oct. 7 status quo. “It also means that when this crisis is over, there has to be a vision of what comes next. And in our view, it has to be a two-state solution,” Biden said at an Oct. 25 press conference. Last month, the administration offered a preview of its…

Read More Read More

Ireland, Spain want EU to review Israel’s human rights compliance in Gaza

Ireland, Spain want EU to review Israel’s human rights compliance in Gaza

Reuters reports: The prime ministers of Spain and Ireland asked the European Commission on Wednesday to urgently review whether Israel is complying with its human rights obligations in Gaza. At least 1,200 Israelis were killed and around 250 were taken hostage in a raid by Hamas militants on southern Israel on Oct. 7, prompting Israel to retaliate. At least 28,576 Palestinians have since been killed in Israeli strikes, the health ministry in Gaza said on Wednesday. Palestinians jammed into their…

Read More Read More

Biden administration investigating Israel’s possible war crimes — despite public claims to the contrary

Biden administration investigating Israel’s possible war crimes — despite public claims to the contrary

HuffPost reports: A month ago, White House spokesperson John Kirby declared Washington was so confident in Israel’s U.S.-backed offensive in Gaza that the U.S. did not need to investigate its actions. “I’m not aware of any kind of formal assessment being done by the United States government to analyze the compliance with international law by our partner Israel,” Kirby told reporters on Jan. 4, as the Biden administration rallied to defend Israel against an International Court of Justice case arguing…

Read More Read More

Young Israelis block aid to Gaza while IDF soldiers stand and watch

Young Israelis block aid to Gaza while IDF soldiers stand and watch

The Washington Post reports: In Gaza, families are eating animal feed to survive. Ninety-three percent of the population of over 2 million faces “crisis levels of hunger,” a U.N.-backed consortium reported in late December. Hadas Kremer, a 17-year-old with curly blond hair from the Orthodox settlement of Otniel near Hebron, explains that Palestinians who are unhappy and hungry in Gaza should leave. Israel pays for them to exit, she says. In reality, the vast majority of Gazans have no way…

Read More Read More

Israel’s assault on Gaza is exposing the holes in everything liberal politicians claim to believe

Israel’s assault on Gaza is exposing the holes in everything liberal politicians claim to believe

Nesrine Malik writes: Something odd is happening. A sort of glitch or malfunction. Liberal politicians who refuse to call for a ceasefire in Gaza or halt support for Israel’s assault are no longer making sense, and increasingly seem as though they are going through a crisis. Garbled language and contradictory statements are becoming common among establishment figures. When Keir Starmer was asked if cutting off water and supplies are actions that fall within international law, he said on live radio…

Read More Read More

‘This war must end,’ Jordan’s King Abdullah insists after talks with Biden

‘This war must end,’ Jordan’s King Abdullah insists after talks with Biden

AFP reports: Jordan’s King Abdullah II appealed for a full ceasefire to end the war in Gaza after talks with Joe Biden, striking a discordant note with the US president who is seeking a shorter six-week pause to allow Israel time to defeat Hamas. Speaking at the White House with Abdullah by his side, Biden said civilians in the southern city of Rafah must be protected as Israel considers a ground incursion, while the Jordanian warned against any offensive at…

Read More Read More

Dutch court orders halt to export of F-35 jet parts to Israel

Dutch court orders halt to export of F-35 jet parts to Israel

Reuters reports: A Dutch appeals court on Monday ordered the government to block all exports of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel over concerns they were being used in violations of international law during Israel’s Gaza offensive. It said the state had to comply with the order within seven days and dismissed a request by government lawyers to suspend the order pending an appeal to the Supreme Court. The state has eight weeks to appeal against the decision. “It is…

Read More Read More

Israel appears to be in breach of ICJ orders on Gaza, senior UN official says

Israel appears to be in breach of ICJ orders on Gaza, senior UN official says

The Guardian reports: Israel appears to be in breach of the orders issued a fortnight ago by the international court of justice requiring it to take immediate steps to protect Palestinians’ rights and cease all activities that could constitute genocide, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied territories, Francesca Albanese, has said. The Israeli government was given until 23 February to report to the ICJ on what it has done to comply with six orders the court issued, including one…

Read More Read More

Israel is bombing Rafah while Americans watch the Super Bowl

Israel is bombing Rafah while Americans watch the Super Bowl

The Israeli military is bombing Rafah, the most densely populated area in the world, while Americans watch the Super Bowl. This is intentional. This is genocide. We're demanding the world watching the #superbowl turn their eyes to #Rafah. #alleyesongaza #CeasefireNOW pic.twitter.com/IPRV6mqD3P — Jewish Voice for Peace (@jvplive) February 12, 2024 Biden tells Netanyahu “a military operation in Rafah should not proceed without a credible and executable plan for ensuring the safety” of 1+ million Gaza refugees sheltering there. Netanyahu’s response:…

Read More Read More

Message to Biden: ‘Stop sending us military aid! Send us peace aid!’

Message to Biden: ‘Stop sending us military aid! Send us peace aid!’

Maoz Inon, who lost both his parents on October 7th, is calling the US and Germany to stop their unconditional financial aid to Israel. His calling "Stop sending us military aid! Send us peace aid!". Join @maozinon by signing our petition to Biden: https://t.co/TDkIAT5yzv pic.twitter.com/YeeemIh98W — Voices Against War (@againstwarvoice) February 11, 2024 The Washington Post reports: White House aides say publicly that there has been no change in Biden’s strategy or message. But many of his allies contend that…

Read More Read More

NATO chief says Trump remarks may put U.S. and EU lives at risk

NATO chief says Trump remarks may put U.S. and EU lives at risk

The Guardian reports: The Nato chief, Jens Stoltenberg, has said any attack on the western military alliance would be met with a “united and forceful response”, after Donald Trump invited Russia to attack member countries that he perceived as not meeting their financial obligations. Stoltenberg said in a statement: “Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the US, and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk. I expect that…

Read More Read More

What the Israeli public doesn’t see

What the Israeli public doesn’t see

Jewish Currents reports: On January 29th, The Nightly News with Michal Rabinovitch—which airs on Israel’s public broadcaster, known as Kan—ran a series of stories that were broadly representative of the channel’s programming over the past few months. A story about diplomatic progress toward a prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas was followed by a report on the rockets launched into Israel’s interior from the Gazan city of Khan Younis; the segment included video from inside Hamas tunnels and footage captured…

Read More Read More

Is Joe Biden uniquely indifferent to Palestinian suffering?

Is Joe Biden uniquely indifferent to Palestinian suffering?

Yousef Munayyer writes: Last September, I found myself trying to understand something about President Biden’s behavior that just didn’t make sense to me. Why did it seem like he was bending over backward for Benjamin Netanyahu, even when Biden’s domestic political interests and America’s national interests were not being served by Netanyahu’s decisions? I concluded at the time that the only possible explanation was that Biden was personally being ideologically driven by a commitment to Zionism. All of this was…

Read More Read More

Under Gaza’s shadow, Syria faces a new welter of conflict

Under Gaza’s shadow, Syria faces a new welter of conflict

Paulo Pinheiro, Hanny Megally and Lynn Welchman write: The scale and ferocity of the conflict in Gaza and the unspeakable suffering of its civilians have rightly provoked the world’s outrage. But in Syria, a steep escalation of violence that has forced the flight of tens of thousands more people in what remains the world’s largest displacement crisis is taking place largely unnoticed outside the region. Syria, too, desperately needs a halt to the violence. But instead, the more than 12-year-long…

Read More Read More

IDF moves closer to Rafah offensive despite ‘bloodbath’ warning

IDF moves closer to Rafah offensive despite ‘bloodbath’ warning

The Guardian reports: Israel has moved closer to a full-scale ground offensive against the southern Gaza city of Rafah, as Benjamin Netayahu ordered military leaders to present a plan to evacuate civilians from the area. Despite warnings from a senior aid official that an assault on Rafah – where about 1.3 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering – would lead to a “bloodbath”, and the UN urging against forced mass displacement, Israel appeared determined to push ahead. “It is impossible to…

Read More Read More