Al Mayadeen – October 11, 2024
Meta permanently bans Al Mayadeen English Instagram account
The crackdown on narratives countering mainstream and Western media continues, slamming the notion of the freedom of the press.
Meta has disabled the account of Al Mayadeen English on Instagram for allegedly not following "our Community Guidelines."
"All your information will be permanently deleted," the decision stated.
"You cannot request another review of this decision," it asserted, meaning that no appeal can be made.
The move follows a similar one last October when the Al Mayadeen English account was shortly suspended on Instagram and later restored following an appeal.
At the time, neither a reason nor a prior notice was provided for the suspension.
It is worth noting that Al Mayadeen English's coverage follows journalistic standards and displays no graphic content that could have violated guidelines. It is also not the first time that Meta has taken such measures, as banning and blocking pro-Palestine and pro-Resistance accounts has become the norm for the multinational technology conglomerate.
Israel" and its supporters have sought on numerous occasions to remove opposing voices from the airwaves or the internet. Former Israeli Minister Ayelet Shaked boasted about how she worked closely with Facebook to censor Palestinian voices, with the Silicon Valley company agreeing to remove around 95% of the information she requested.
Despite all these attempts, Al Mayadeen English vows it will never be silenced.
Follow our new Instagram account: @mayadeenenglish using the following link: https://www.instagram.com/mayadeenenglish/.
Al Mayadeen English unpublished by FB, asserting pro-'Israel' bias
Last month, Meta unpublishedﾠ Al Mayadeen English's page following several previous attempts, citing alleged violations of community guidelines.
Facebook attempted to justify its decision by citing several posts that reported on the martyrs of an Israeli massacre in the Southern Suburb of Beirut, in which a number of Lebanese Resistance commanders were assassinated after "Israel" targeted a residential building, including commanders Ibrahim Aqil and Ahmad Wehbe, and dozens of civilians.
Al Mayadeen English's reporting follows strict journalistic guidelines and standards. It is possible that the decision could have been made by mentioning the names of the martyred commanders.
Though Al Mayadeen English is a news website with a number of social media platforms, it has been repeatedly subjected to shadow bans and restrictions in an attempt to suppress its content, which is pro-Palestine and pro-Resistance, highlighting the duality of Meta's position on the freedom of the press.
Below are the posts cited by Meta as "violations" of its guidelines.
Earlier in August, the Israeli occupation government approved a proposal by Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi to renew the ban on theﾠ Al Mayadeen Media Network. The decision included the seizure of its equipment and the blocking of its websites.
Israeli media reported that the minister of communications pursued a new government decision after obtaining a "professional opinion" from security agencies and receiving approval from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In response, our media network condemned the decision and considered it further evidence of the occupation's "inherent antagonism to journalism and its efforts to obscure reality."
Al Mayadeen considered "the occupation's insistence on banning a media outlet that is not under its control or the control of some of its allies and promoters, whether through intimidation or enticement, as a sign of weakness and fragility."
"It shows how angered and stressed the occupation is due to Al Mayadeen's commitment to its professional, humanitarian, and strategic media approach."
The network emphasized that labeling its correspondents in Palestinian 1948 occupied territories and the occupied West Bank as "terrorists" is, in itself, a form of terrorism. Al Mayadeen warned against "inflicting any harm on its journalists and asserted that it would not yield to any form of extortion or pressure, regardless of its impact or extent."
Al Mayadeen – October 11, 2024
Putin, Pezeshkian hail ‘strategic’ ties between Iran, Russia
Presidents Pezeshkian and Putin met on the sidelines of a regional conference in Ashgabat, discussing the development of strategic and economic ties.
On the sidelines of the International Forum in Turkmenistan's capital of Ashgabat on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian discussed that relations with Iran are a priority for Russia and that these relations are developing successfully.
Putin clarified that the positions of Tehran and Moscow regarding international developments are very close.
The Russian leader said that “Moscow and Tehran actively cooperate with each other in the international arena and often agree on their assessments of world events."
He was quoted in the media as saying “This year, we are witnessing an increase in the volume of trade between the two countries, and it's a good trend."
Pezeshkian hopes to finalize 'strategic partnership' agreement with Russia
On the other hand, Pezeshkian stressed that Iranﾒs relationship with Russia is ﾓsincere and strategicﾔ, adding that economic and cultural relations are developing.
He added, “The growing process of cooperation between Iran and Russia should be accelerated according to the will of the supreme leaders of the two countries and the need to strengthen these relations.”
Iran and Russia, Pezeshkian said, have good complementary capacities that they can use to help each other.
“Our positions in the world are much closer to each other than other countries,” he added.
Pezeshkian touched on a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement between Iran and Russia, aiming to speed up the signing of the strategic cooperation document.
“I hope we will finalize this agreement during the BRICS summit” in the Russian city of Kazan this month, he added.
Pezeshkian also touched on the developments in the region, including the Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian and Lebanese people.
He said, “The Zionist regime does not respect any international legal and humanitarian framework, and the situation in the region is critical,” adding that Western countries are not willing to continue "on a peaceful footing."
Al Mayadeen – October 11, 2024
Hezbollah drones strike Israeli Air Force command base in Haifa
The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon persists in its efforts to target Israeli occupation sites and settlements in northern occupied Palestine in defense of Lebanon and Gaza.
The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon - Hezbollah - continues confronting Israeli forces across all combat axes in the Lebanese South, thwarting their infiltration attempts and directly targeting their military assets, in defense of Lebanon and its people, and in support of the people of Gaza and their Resistance.
Hezbollah's fighters carried out several operations on October 11, 2024, with more expected:
Operation Overview
- At 7:20 a.m., Hezbollah fighters struck technical equipment placed on a lever in the al-Ibad military base with a guided missile, confirming a direct hit.
- At 8:30 a.m., Hezbollah fighters targeted Israeli soldier gatherings in Zeluvun, north occupied Haifa, with a rocket barrage.
- At 8:30 a.m., Hezbollah fighters launched an aerial attack against the Israeli Air Defense Commad Base in Kiryat Eliezer in occupied Haifa, deploying a swarm of attack drones.
- At 9:30 a.m., Hezbollah fighters targeted Israeli soldier positions and gatherings in the Yiftach base and its vicinity using a significant rocket salvo.
- At 10:50 a.m., Hezbollah fighters targeted Israeli soldier gatherings in the Kfar Szold settlement with a large rocket salvo.
- At 2:25 p.m., Hezbollah fighters targeted Israeli soldier gatherings in the Ya'ara settlement with a rocket salvo.
- The group's operations come amid the ongoing and escalating Israeli aggression across Lebanon, especially the country's southern and eastern regions, as well as Beirut's Southern Suburb, which has so far killed more than 1,200 people and displaced over a million since September 23.
On Thursday night, the Israeli occupation launched an airstrike on one of the most crowded neighborhoods in Beirut, al-Nuwairi, in what marked the third attack on a neighborhood within the capital, following previous attacks on the Cola and Bashoura areas.
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, the aggression led to the martyrdom of 22 people and the injury of 117 others, highlighting the severe human toll. An entire displaced family was martyred in the attack.
20 Israeli soldiers injured within 24 hours on border with Lebanon
Israeli media reported Thursday that 22 Israeli soldiers were injured in 24 hours, 20 of them on the Lebanese border and two in the Gaza Strip.
The Ziv Medical Center in occupied Safad confirmed that it had received seven injured soldiers from battles with Hezbollah at the northern border with Lebanon.
Israeli media mentioned that four injuries were reported following the shelling that targeted the Karmiel area in Central al-Jalil, while an Israeli helicopter was directly hit in the Mays al-Jabal area while attempting to evacuate injuries, forcing Israeli ambulances to flee the scene of the incident.
Early Thursday morning, the Israeli occupation military admitted to the killing of one of its soldiers and the injury of another in ongoing battles at the Lebanese border.
The military announced that the soldier was from the 228th Brigade and that another soldier from the 5030th Battalion was seriously wounded in the same incident and was transferred to the hospital.
This brings the Israeli military's acknowledged death toll to 12 soldiers since the start of its announced ground incursion in southern Lebanon, although the Islamic Resistance's Operations Room confirmed that the occupation forces have suffered at least 35 fatalities and 200 injuries, including elite officers and soldiers.
Anadolu Agency – October 11, 2024
At least 10 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza Strip
Israel continues air and ground operations across Palestinian enclave
At least 10 Palestinians, including a woman and child, were killed and several others injured early Friday in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, medical sources and eyewitnesses said.
A medical source at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah confirmed to Anadolu that a woman was killed and others including a child were injured, after Israeli warplanes bombed a home in central Gaza.
In another attack in Deir al-Balah, a young man and a child were killed, and several others injured, after an Israeli drone targeted the home of the Baraka family, a Palestinian paramedic said.
Four Palestinians were killed and eight others injured due to Israeli artillery shelling that targeted homes in the Al-Faluja area of the northern Gaza Strip, paramedics told Anadolu.
In the Maghazi refugee camp, also in central Gaza, an Israeli drone struck a gathering of civilians, killing two Palestinians and injuring two more, according to a medical source.
Four Palestinians were also injured in a drone strike on a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp, a statement from Al-Awda Hospital said.
In the northern Gaza Strip, a Palestinian was killed and others injured after Israeli forces bombed a home in the Safatwi neighborhood, a medical source at the Baptist Hospital reported.
Israeli artillery also targeted areas northeast of the Bureij and Nuseirat refugee camps, while naval forces opened fire and launched shells at the sea off Nuseirat.
In the town of Maghazi, Israeli forces demolished several homes, causing plumes of smoke to rise into the sky. Similar demolitions were reported west of Jabalia camp.
For the past six days, the Israeli army has continued its ground offensive in Jabalia, as well as the towns of Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, imposing a complete siege.
Israel has killed more than 42,000 people since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks.
India Today – October 11, 2024
Iran warns Gulf nations against helping Israel, says 'will respond accordingly'
Amid the escalating threat of the Middle East conflict expanding with Israel planning an offensive against Iran, Tehran warned Gulf Arab nations against allowing their airspace or military bases to be used in such an attack. A senior Iranian official stated that any assistance to Israel would be unacceptable and would draw a response.
"Iran made it clear that any action by a Persian Gulf country against Tehran, whether through the use of airspace or military bases, will be regarded by Tehran as an action taken by the entire group, and Tehran will respond accordingly," the senior Iranian official told news agency Reuters.
Iran's warning came amid reports that Tehran had cautioned Gulf nations, stating that if 'Israeli supporters' intervene directly in the conflict, their regional interests would be targeted. Gulf Arab nations fear that Iran may strike their oil facilities if they align with Israel in the ongoing conflict.
"The message emphasised the need for regional unity against Israel and the importance of securing stability. It also made clear that any assistance to Israel, such as allowing the use of a regional country's airspace for actions against Iran, is unacceptable," the Iranian official stressed.
On October 1, Iran launched a barrage of around 200 rocketsﾠat Israel, most of which were intercepted and destroyed by Israeli defence systems. This was in response to the killing of the Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and Israel's military actions in Lebanon and Gaza. According to reports, Israel is preparing to retaliate, with some suggesting that oil facilities in Iran could be targeted as part of a broader offensive.
In light of the escalating threat, Gulf states have urged the United States to prevent Israel from targeting Iran's oil facilities. Citing top sources in Arab nations, Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar have also refused to allow Israel to use their airspace for any attack on Iran and have communicated this stance to Washington.
Last week, the Gulf Arab states, which met in Doha, sought to reassure Iran of their neutrality and urged Tehran to de-escalate. "The Gulf states think it's unlikely that Iran will strike their oil facilities, but the Iranians are dropping hints they might from unofficial sources. It's a tool the Iranians have against the US and the global economy," Ali Shihabi, a top Saudi commentator said earlier.
Meanwhile, Israel continued its assault on Lebanon, intensifying attacks against the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. In the latest major strike, 22 people were killed and dozens injured in Lebanon.
India still wants me dead but Khalistan Referendum will continue: Pannun
WASHINTON - 
The American Khalistani separatist leader targeted in a foiled assassination plot planned by India said that intelligence agents in New Delhi still want him dead and said that the Biden administration’s “quiet diplomacy” has failed to deter Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government from engaging in transnational repression of Sikhs. “The risk has increased,” Gurpatwant Singh Pannun said in an interview to Bloomberg at his office in New York. “The Modi regime has not faced any consequences. They have not been held accountable. Why would they stop?” The founder of pro-Khalistan Sikhs for Justice — which advocates for a Sikh nation known as Khalistan to be carved out of India’s Punjab state — said resolved to continue his work for “independence of Punjab from the Indian occupation”. He spoke to Bloomberg ahead of Khalistan Referendum voting in Auckland New Zealand on 17 November. The New York based attorney said: “India’s attempts to kill me will not stop me from continuing Khalistan Referendum voting till either India will kill me or I will see the independence.”
Bloomberg said that Pannun’s murder plot case first disrupted US-India ties late last year when the US Justice Department unsealed a superseding indictment in the Southern District of New York alleging that Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national working for Indian intelligence RAW, was recruited by an Indian government employee working for RAW — known as “CC-1” — to have Pannun killed as part of a broader plan to assassinate overseas activists. At the time, 
Pannun’s group was organizing unofficial Khalistan referendums among Indian diaspora communities. Months earlier in Canada, a Sikh separatist called Hardeep Singh Nijjar — a long-time associate of Pannun’s — was killed in a shooting that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau blamed on India. But the US assassination plot on Pannun was foiled, according to the indictment, when an Indian national, operating under the Indian agent’s direction, inadvertently hired an undercover US agent posing as a potential hit-man. Bloomberg said the case has been embarrassing for the Biden administration, which has continued to court Modi in an effort to counterbalance China. “The question that this episode raises is whether we really are on the same page with this Indian government, and the extent to which an inclination to want to achieve a broader strategic end is maybe leading us to overlook the actually very transactional nature of the relationship,” said Daniel Markey, a former State Department official who’s now at the US Institute of Peace. Pannun, who worked at a Wall Street bank before turning to human rights law, now has five security guards to protect him and search the bags of even his close friends and associates, the publication said.
“I can continue to fight for the liberation of Punjab only if I stay alive,” he said.
“You are doing a peaceful and democratic referendum, you are sitting at a place — and India has the resources and the proxies and the weapons and the money to kill you. You have to make sure that you survive and you continue the campaign.” In a recent twist, Pannun filed a civil case in the US seeking restitution against senior Indian officials he alleges are responsible for the assassination attempt. Those allegations are “unsubstantiated” and “unwarranted,” Misri, the foreign secretary, said. In Canada, which saw India expel dozens of diplomats after Trudeau accused India, the government is holding firm on its accusation that India was behind the killing of Nijjar. “That’s the ultimate breach of our country’s sovereignty,” Foreign Minister Melanie Joly told Bloomberg in an interview on Sept. 30. “That can’t happen again.”
Pannun, who was born in Amritsar, India, came to the US as a student. He made the new allegations that his life was still at risk after Sikh separatists in California had their truck “sprayed with bullets,” his group said.
The publication said that new attack is reviving concerns among US lawmakers after the original assassination plot prompted some Democratic senators to call on Secretary of State Antony Blinken to mount a strong diplomatic response “no matter the perpetrator.”
Senator Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, said it was crucial to investigate the California incident and to “send a strong message deterring potential future efforts to undermine the values of free speech and protest that we as a nation hold dear.”
Senior Biden administration officials, including White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, have raised Pannun’s case with Modi’s government. Sullivan said in July that the issue “is sensitive, it is something we are working through,” but that the US effort “has been effective, in my view, mostly because it is taking place behind closed doors.”
Pannun, however, says that “quiet diplomacy” hasn’t worked “in the last 15 months” and that “it will not work in the next three years.” He also the Biden administration was handling his case differently because of its desire to have a strategic relationship with New Delhi.
“Had it been Iran, had it been China, had it been Russia — would the administration’s response be the same?” he asked.
