Al Mayadeen – November 8, 2024
Hezbollah rockets non-stop; increasing in number, range: Israeli media
Israeli Channel 12 reports that Hezbollah will retain its missile capabilities even after the current war ends.
Israeli Channel 12 reported on "immense anger" among settlers in northern occupied Palestine regarding statements made by Israeli military leaders about the possibility of their return to settlements amid ongoing rocket fire from Hezbollah.
The channel stated that "Hezbollah maintains its missile capabilities, which will remain even after the current war ends," adding, "It should be noted that even after this battle and the return of northern residents, the security and military institutions cannot guarantee that rockets will not be launched from Lebanon."
These comments came after the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon launched missile barrages this morning, targeting Haifa and its surroundings, reaching as far as central areas.
Channel 12 further clarified, "We are seeing continuous fire from Lebanon, with both the number and range of rockets increasing."
While officials at both the military and political levels in "Israel" claim that the extensive airstrikes launched by Israeli occupation aircraft since September have destroyed a large portion of Hezbollah's missile capabilities, the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon continues to refute these claims. They periodically deploy new types of precision missiles, targeting Israeli occupation military bases in northern occupied Palestine and as far as Tel Aviv, as clarified in the following operations, to name a few.
Hezbollah says targeted two Israeli Army bases near Haifa with high-end rockets
The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon - Hezbollah continues to carry out strategic operations against Israeli military positions in northern occupied Palestine and within the Israeli depth, achieving precise hits.
The Islamic Resistance commenced its Friday operations early at 12:00 am, targeting a grouping of Israeli soldiers in Jal al-Hammar, south of the southern Lebanese town of Odeisseh, with artillery shells, resulting in confirmed hits, according to a statement.
Later at 1:20 am, Hezbollah said its Resistance fighters launched a guided missile at an Israeli military bulldozer accompanied by infantry attempting to advance toward the Sari Heights in the northwest of the southern town of Kfar Kila.
The Lebanese group confirmed that the strike destroyed the bulldozer, resulting in fatalities and injuries among its crew, in addition to confirmed casualties within the accompanying forces.
As part of its ongoing Khaybar operations, under the call of "Labbayka ya Nasrallah" [Here we respond to your call, O' Nasrallah], the Islamic Resistance targeted at 8:00 am the Stella Maris naval base located in northwest Haifa with a high-end barrage of rockets.
According to a statement by Hezbollah, Stella Maris acts as a strategic base for maritime monitoring and surveillance along the northern coast.
Also within the scope of Khaybar operations, Hezbollah simultaneously targeted the Ramat David base and airport, southeast of Haifa, with a high-end rocket barrage.
At 9:00 am, and as part of the warning issued by the Islamic Resistance to several settlements in the north, Hezbollah said its fighters targeted the settlement of Kiryat Shmona with a rocket barrage.
At 12:50 pm, the Islamic Resistance said its fighters targeted a grouping of Israeli occupation forces in the Misgav Am settlement with a rocket barrage.
At 1:25 pm, Hezbollah fighters targeted another grouping in the Margaliot settlement with a rocket barrage.
The Islamic Resistance reiterated that its operations come "in support of our steadfast Palestinian people in Gaza and in solidarity with their honorable and courageous resistance, and in defense of Lebanon and its people."
In a related context, Al Mayadeen’s correspondent in southern Lebanon reported a rocket barrage launched from Lebanon toward the occupied Syrian Golan.
Meanwhile, Israeli media reported that Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets since early morning, reaching Haifa and south of al-Nasirah.
The reports mentioned that Hezbollah has launched numerous rockets since morning, along with an additional launch from Yemen toward the Dead Sea, adding, "It marks the beginning of a complicated week."
Israeli media further noted that 20 rockets were launched from Lebanon toward northern occupied Palestine in the latest barrage.
Sirens were activated in Akka, Haifa Bay, and Mount Carmel, as well as in the settlements of Kiryat Shmona, Manara, Margaliot in the al-Jalil Panhandle, and Zar'it in the western al-Jalil.
Sirens also sounded in Kela in northern Golan.
Additionally, the Israeli occupation military admitted Friday morning to the killing of one of its soldiers from injuries sustained in battles in southern Lebanon.
Al Mayadeen – November 8, 2024
Resistance fighters destroy Merkava tank on 399th day of war on Gaza
Palestinian Resistance fighters confronted Israeli occupation forces across several axes in the northern Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian Resistance in the Gaza Strip continues to confront Israeli occupation forces in the northern Gaza Strip, following 399 days of the Israeli genocidal war on Palestinians.
Al-Qassam Brigades said that its fighters fired a tandem rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) at an Israeli armored personnel carrier (APC) in the eastern section of the Jabalia refugee camp.
Al-Qassam fighters and fighters from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) also fired mortar shells at Israeli occupation forces positioned to the east of the Shujaiya neighborhood in Gaza City.
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades also fired heavy-caliber mortar shells at Israeli occupation forces positioned in the eastern section of the Jabalia refugee camp.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad's (PIJ) al-Quds Brigades also reported that its fighters destroyed an Israeli Merkava tank in the center of the Jabalia refugee camp, using an explosively formed penetrator (EFP).
The Brigades' mortar units also shelled Israeli occupation forces positioned in the Netzarim Axis, which splits the northern Gaza Strip from the rest of the besieged territory.
Another journalist killed by Israeli forces in Gaza
Israeli forces have killed yet another Palestinian journalist in the Gaza Strip as the regime pushes on with its onslaught on the territory.
On Friday, Gaza’s Government Media Office said the journalist was a local radio broadcaster
.
Khaled Abu Zir’s death raised the number of journalists and media workers killed by Israel in Gaza to 184 since October 2023.
The media office called on the international community to hold the regime to account for its crimes against Palestinians, especially journalists.
Last week, Israel killed two journalists. Photojournalist Bilal Rajab was killed when an Israeli airstrike targeted a group of people near the popular Firas Market in the center of Gaza City.
The Israeli army killed Palestinian journalist Baraa Ali Daghish during an airstrike on a house north of the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian Journalists Protection Center (PJPC) said on Saturday that the Israeli war on the besieged territory has been the deadliest for members of the press than any other conflict over the past eight decades.
The PJPC also said that “the killing has become the main weapon to silence journalists in Gaza.”
The United Nations Secretary-General Antony Guterres slammed the killing of journalists by Israel as unacceptable.
Guterres called for their protection from the genocide that the regime is perpetrating in the blockaded coastal sliver.
He noted that journalists in Gaza have been “killed at a level unseen in any conflict.”
Journalists operating in the Palestinian territory are faced with increased dangers as they report on the conflict amidst Israeli ground assaults and airstrikes, disrupted communications, supply shortages, and power outages.
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/11/08/736876/Another-journalist-killed-by-Israeli-forces-in-Gaza
What will Trump do about the Middle East crisis?
By Robert Inlakesh
As speculation spreads regarding how Donald Trump’s second administration will impact global politics, the most clarity we have is regarding his policies towards West Asia (also commonly referred to as the Middle East). While all indications point to a very similar regional strategy as his predecessor, Joe Biden, there are a few differences to watch out for.
While much of the world braces for a second Trump presidency, due to the American president’s seemingly unpredictable nature, his first term in office informs much of what he is likely to do in West Asia.
To begin with, Trump’s support for Israel is ironclad, but how he will affect the ongoing wars that the Israelis are waging in Gaza and Lebanon has been a topic of much debate. While he criticized Biden on the campaign trail as having been “too tough” on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there have also been reports that Trump informed the Israeli premier that he wants the war over by January.
While the Republican Party leader had attacked Vice President Kamala Harris as being weak on the issue of Israeli security, he didn’t ever explain how this was the case and then when speaking at events in Michigan – home to many Arab and Muslim voters – spoke about ending the war in Gaza. Therefore, all this mixed rhetoric should be taken merely as campaign propaganda.
The top financial backer of the Trump 2024 campaign is a woman named Miriam Adelson, Israel’s richest billionaire, who donated $100 million with the understanding that Donald Trump would permit Israel to annex the illegally occupied West Bank. In 2016, the Trump campaign was bankrolled by Miriam Adelson and her now deceased husband Sheldon Adelson, who backed the Republican president on the condition that he move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to West Jerusalem, a promise that he fulfilled in 2018.
While it appears as if Israel will struggle to immediately annex the West Bank due to the current circumstances on the ground, it will likely be an annexation of around 60% of the occupied territory, constituting what is known as Area C. If Trump permits his Israeli allies to go through with this, it will completely destroy any hope for a “Two-State solution.”
When it comes to the conflict in Gaza, assuming that the war continues into Trump's term in office, there’s very little different that his administration is likely to do, other than allowing Israel to completely cut off all aid from entering the Palestinian territory. In the event that Trump’s government allows the severing of all aid, which is only trickling in at this point anyway and doesnﾒt meet the required needs of Gazaﾒs population, then this would amount to the implementation of a full-scale genocide of 2 million people. It is more likely however, that Trump’s policy will be the same as Biden’s in this regard.
Biden’s regional policy was modeled on Trump’s
While Joe Biden took office with promises of ending the war in Yemen, taking a tougher stance against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, and returning to the Iran Nuclear Deal, he failed on all accounts.
Instead, the Biden administration continued the maximum pressure sanctions campaign against the Islamic Republic of Iran, even adding to the existing list of measures, as the Vienna-based negotiations to revive the Nuclear Deal faltered. Biden then followed through on a withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, which was already negotiated between the Taliban and the Trump administration before he took office.
As for ending the war in Yemen, the Biden administration failed to achieve anything on that front and, after initially taking Ansarallah [the Houthis] off of its list of terrorist groups, eventually decided to return the movement, which leads the Sana’a-based government, to the list. The temporary ceasefire between Riyadh and Sana’a was mediated by the United Nations and not the US government.
On top of this, instead of taking a tougher stance on Saudi Arabia, the Biden administration ended up making Riyadh the most important pillar in its overall West Asia strategy. Staking all his cards on a normalization agreement between the Saudis and Israelis, Biden sought to pave the way to the India-Middle East-Europe Trade Corridor, a project which he proudly announced during the G20 Summit in New Delhi in September 2023.
This vision for the region, which Netanyahu also outlined in September of 2023, in his UN general assembly address, was birthed by Donald Trump’s first administration with a series of normalization agreements between Israel and Arab nations. All Joe Biden had done was continue this policy and seek to bring all the Arab states together with the Israelis to form an “Arab NATO.”
Just like the former Trump administration, the Biden presidency sidelined the Palestinians and sought to look past them, assuming that they were only a minor factor in regional affairs. This kind of shortsighted and greedy policymaking is what led to the dramatic collapse of Washington’s entire West Asia strategy on October 7, when Hamas launched its surprise attack against Israel.
How aggressive Trump will choose to be with Iran is still an open question. Will he pursue the same policies as during his last term in office and take the same stances as Biden, or will he choose to launch a major war in an attempt to topple the government in Tehran? At this point it seems unlikely, looking at this using a realist framework, that any US administration would launch such an unwinnable and costly conflict. This is especially the case with Trump seeking to focus on improving the American economy.
It is clear that Trump has a more cordial working relationship with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which could pave the way to easier deals on that front, yet it is unclear how the American strategy for the region can even proceed while Israel continues its multi-front war.
The million-dollar question here is how Israel will handle a post-war setting, because this will greatly shape the way Washington implements its strategies. If the Israelis are battered by Iran and Hezbollah, after refusing to de-escalate and pursue diplomacy, we could be looking at a severely weakened regime that will be forced into making major concessions to the Palestinian people, or could even collapse.
On the other hand, if the Israelis somehow manage to end the war through some kind of freak diplomatic shift, then the vision of an Israeli-Arab alliance could be worked on by the incoming Trump administration. Regardless, there are no indications that Trump will pursue a different strategy than his predecessor on many levels. It will likely be more of the same, perhaps with some rather aggressively pro-Israeli moves in between. The worst possible outcome would be a war with Iran.
Robert Inlakesh is a political analyst, journalist and documentary filmmaker currently based in London, UK. He has reported from and lived in the Palestinian territories and currently works with Quds News. Director of ‘Steal of the Century: Trump's Palestine-Israel Catastrophe’.
