Israel‘s parliament has expelled a prominent left-wing Jewish MP over his support for South Africa‘s case against Israel in the International Court of Justice.
Ofer Kassif, the only Jewish MP for the left-wing Hadash party, will be suspended for six month after accusing Israel of committign war crimes in Gaza.
In a statement broadcast on Iranian state television, the Iranian Armed Forces Communications Center said, “We inform the brave and honorable Iranian people that hostile Zionist aircraft, in a blatant violation of international law, used airspace provided by the American terrorist army in Iraq early this morning to launch multiple long-range, air-launched missiles from 100 kilometers away from the Iranian border.” The statement was followed by calls to Iran’s media and experts to rely solely on official sources amid circulating rumors.
The missiles, reportedly fitted with warheads one-fifth the size of Iranian ballistic warheads, targeted radar systems in the provinces of Ilam, Khuzestan, and areas near Tehran, the statement noted.
“Thanks to timely intervention by Iran’s air defense, the damage was limited; several radar systems sustained minor damage, with some already repaired and others undergoing restoration.”
Am Rande der anstehenden NATO-Verteidigungsministerkonferenz werden Südkorea, Japan, Australien und Neuseeland ihr erstes Treffen abhalten.
Das Treffen zwischen den sogenannten IP4-Staaten, Ländern im Indopazifik, findet am Donnerstag im NATO-Hauptquartier in Brüssel statt.
Laut Berichten ist dies das erste Mal, dass sich die vier Länder ohne andere NATO-Mitgliedsstaaten treffen.
Bei dem Treffen wird voraussichtlich über Möglichkeiten zur Vertiefung der Zusammenarbeit mit der NATO diskutiert.
Two U.S. officials told Axios that during a call on Friday White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told Israel‘s minister for strategic affairs Ron Dermer that the U.S. expects „clarity and transparency“ from Israel about its plans to retaliate against Iran because it will have implications for U.S. forces and interests in the region.
– Call was ‚direct and very productive,‘ White House says
– Defence chief Gallant says retaliation to be ‚surprising‘
– Israel‘s UN envoy: ‚It will be painful for the Iranian regime‘
In an interview with the CBS television network aired on Monday night, the Democratic presidential candidate said Iran is the “obvious” answer when asked about the country she considers to be the US’s “greatest adversary”.
“Iran has American blood on their hands – this attack on Israel, 200 ballistic missiles,” she said. “What we need to do [is] to ensure that Iran never achieves the ability to be a nuclear power. That is one of my highest priorities.”
The resolution urged Israel to „comply with international law and withdraw its military forces, immediately cease all new settlement activity, evacuate all settlers from occupied land, and dismantle parts of the separation wall it constructed inside the occupied West Bank“. It also demanded Israel return land and other assets it has seized since 1967.
Apart from the US, Argentina, Hungary and Paraguay also voted against the resolution. Other opposers were: Oceania‘s Palau, Micronesia, Nauru, Fiji, Tonga, Tuvalu and Papua New Guinea, East Africa‘s Malawi and Europe‘s Czechia.
Czechia’s Explanation of Vote on the UN resolution regarding the advisory opinion of the ICJ on the legal consequences arising from Israel’s policies and practices in OPT, including East Jerusalem, and from the illegality of Israel’s continued presence in OPT. Stated by Ambassador to the United Nations, Jakub Kulhánek, on September 18, 2024
Mr. President,
Allow me to begin by reiterating Czechia‘s unwavering support for the people of the West Bank and Gaza in their pursuit of political aspirations for their own future statehood.
My country also stands ready to support any meaningful efforts to end violence in the region.
However, for these efforts to succeed, they must be the result of direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, as this offers the only viable path to lasting security and peace for all.
MOSCOW, September 10. /TASS/. At least 14 drones were shot down by air defense forces during an attempt to attack Moscow and the Moscow Region. A 46-year-old woman died in Ramenskoye, while earlier information about the death of a 9-year-old child was not confirmed. Several people were injured.
The effects of the fall of UAV fragments in the area of Zhukovsky airport are being eliminated.
Moscow and Kyiv have both sought to buy and develop new drones, deploy them in innovative ways, and seek new ways to destroy them – from using shotguns to advanced electronic jamming systems.
Both sides have turned cheap commercial drones into deadly weapons while ramping up their own production and assembly to attack targets including tanks and energy infrastructure such as refineries and airfields.
Demoralized by the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, Palestinian American Samia Assed found in Vice President Kamala Harris’ ascension — and her running mate pick — “a little ray of hope.”
That hope, she said, shattered during last month’s Democratic National Convention, where a request for a Palestinian American speaker was denied and listening to Harris left her feeling like the Democratic presidential nominee will continue the U.S. policies that have outraged many in the anti-war camp.
The Israeli Likud Party Knesset Member Revital Gotliv requested the death sentence or life imprisonment for Yuli Novak, the executive director of the Israeli rights group B’Tselem, for what she labeled as “the suspected serious crime of assistance to the enemy in war,” the Anadolu news agency reported.
Gotliv reportedly made her request in a letter addressed to the Israeli Chief Police Commissioner Daniel Levy, in which she demanded the detention and interrogation of Novak.
The move followed a speech delivered by Novak on September 4 at the United Nations Security Council.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s sister and human rights activist Kerry Kennedy joins CNN’s Kaitlan Collins and shares her reaction to her brother announcing that he is suspending his campaign and endorsing former President Donald Trump.
Multiple fights broke out in dueling protests between Israel and Palestine protesters.
Fireworks, tear gas and fights broke out just after 10:50 p.m. Tuesday night and continued early Wednesday morning as around 100 pro-Israel counter-protesters attempted to seize the barricade around and storm the ongoing Palestine solidarity encampment in Dickson Plaza.
The chaos comes as Chancellor Gene Block faces criticism for improper handling of the encampment and the same day the university deemed the encampment to be unlawful, threatening students inside with suspension and expulsion. Security and UCPD both retreated as pro-Israel counter-protesters and other groups attacked protesters in the encampment – led by Students for Justice in Palestine and UC Divest Coalition at UCLA – that followed similar ones across the country.
Just before midnight, a large group of counterdemonstrators, wearing black outfits and white masks, arrived on campus and tried to tear down the barricades surrounding the encampment. Campers, some holding lumber and wearing goggles and helmets, rallied to defend the encampment’s perimeter.
Kiesewetter sprach sich auch dafür aus, „extremistische Bereiche“ in den Blick zu nehmen. Konkret nannte er „AfD-Sympathisanten, die sich Russland freiwillig andienen“ sowie deutsche Kämpfer bei russischen Söldner-Truppen oder anderen russischen Kampftruppen, die nach Deutschland zurückkehrten.
2- What was the legal basis for Iran‘s attack?
Article 51 of the UN Charter states that „nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security.“ This article recognizes the right of countries to defend themselves against armed attacks.
3- Is Iran‘s attack on Israel the beginning of a war?
In its attack, Iran used its less advanced weaponry in relatively low quantity. It also made sure that no infrastructure or civilian sites were hit during the operation. Iranian military leaders have explicitly explained that they are not looking for a war and that the attack was meant to send a message to Israel.
The Middle East was plunged into uncharted waters after Iran launched scores of missiles toward Israel late Saturday. Israel‘s military said „99%” of the more than 300 projectiles were intercepted by Israel and its partners.
Asked by the Barents Observer, the Joint Headquarters near Bodø, however, confirms that the planes were inside Norwegian airspace before flying out over international airspace in the Barents Sea.
“The activity included both Norwegian and international airspace,” says spokesperson Reidar Flasnes.
“We cannot detail the activity,” Flasnes says and points to the United States as in charge of Sunday’s flights. He adds that the flights are “approved by Norway’s Ministry of Defense.”
„On March 24, 2024, Russian airspace control capabilities spotted an aerial target over the Barents Sea approaching the state border of the Russian Federation. A MiG-31 fighter jet from air defense quick reaction alert forces was scrambled to identify the aerial target and prevent it from violating Russia’s state border,“ the ministry said. „The fighter’s crew identified the aerial targets as a pair of B-1B strategic bombers of the US Air Force, it said.
A copy of the new draft resolution, obtained by Al Jazeera, reads: “The Security Council determines the imperative of an immediate and sustained ceasefire to protect civilians on all sides, allow for the delivery of essential humanitarian assistance, and alleviate humanitarian suffering and towards that end unequivocally supports ongoing international diplomatic efforts to secure such a ceasefire in connection with the release of all remaining hostages.” (…)
No vote has yet been scheduled on this text.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday the U.S. has submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council that calls „for an immediate ceasefire“ in Gaza that‘s „tied to the release“ of hostages held by Hamas.
„We didn‘t have troops there (at the Finnish border), now they will be there. There were no systems of destruction there, now they will appear,“ he said.
The Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion said they conducted a string of raids into the Belgorod region in May and June 2023, claiming to have taken temporary control of several settlements after breaking through a border checkpoint.
In March last year, Russia launched a wave of retaliatory missile strikes on Ukraine after it said a sabotage group killed civilians in the Bryansk border region.
France has opted not to endorse South Africa‘s genocide case against „Israel“ at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), AFP reported citing the recently inaugurated French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne: who claimed that accusing „Israel“ of genocide is „immoral“.
“I think it disenfranchises voters,” said Jeremy Loew, a longtime defense lawyer in Colorado Springs who described himself as a progressive who had never voted for Mr. Trump. “Our whole system is built around people running for office and letting the voters decide.”
“We can’t just kick people off the ballot because they have been accused of something,” he added.
Its deputy representative at the UN, Robert Wood, said it was „divorced from reality“ and „would have not moved the needle forward on the ground“.
That was in spite of warnings from the World Health Organization that civilisation was collapsing in Gaza.
(25.09.2023)
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday 1,500 troops would withdraw by the end of the year, dealing a huge blow to French influence and counter-insurgency operations in the Sahel region.
Der JCS kritisierte, dass die fortgesetzten Starts ballistischer Raketen durch Nordkorea schwerwiegende Provokationen darstellten, die den Frieden und die Stabilität auf der koreanischen Halbinsel und auch in der internationalen Gemeinschaft untergrüben. Man verurteile diese als eindeutigen Verstoß gegen Resolutionen des UN-Sicherheitsrats und fordere einen sofortigen Stopp, hieß es.
The voting for Russian-installed legislatures in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions has already begun and concludes Sunday. It has been denounced by Kyiv and the West.
“It constitutes a flagrant violation of international law, which Russia continues to disregard,” the Council of Europe, the continent’s foremost human rights body, said this week.
(Jan 13, 2021)
Campbell, the top U.S. diplomat for Asia under Democratic President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is considered an architect of their “pivot to Asia” strategy, a vaunted but so far still limited rebalancing of resources to the region.
The deliberate cherry picking of allies and partners is the brainchild, insiders tell me, of Biden’s key Asia policy czar, Kurt Campbell. It is likely to continue, as Campbell has pointed out in a discussion earlier this year at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
(Fri August 18, 2023)
Abdel-Fatau Musah, the Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace & Security of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) bloc, said that military forces are “ready to go anytime the order is given” for military intervention in Niger.
“The D-day is also decided, which we are not going to disclose,” Musah told journalists after the two-day meeting of West African defense chiefs in the Ghanaian capital of Accra.
A group of 11 countries was due to begin training Ukrainian pilots on the aircraft this month in Denmark, with the Danish acting Defense Minister Troels Poulsen saying last month that his country hoped to see “results” from the training in early 2024.