Middle East

Assassination of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders is a Gamble for Benjamin Netanyahu that buys him Time but risks wider Wars

By Scott Lucas, University College Dublin | – (The Conversation) – The missile that struck a building in southern Beirut on Tuesday, killing Hezbollah’s senior military commander Fuad Shukr, had been widely anticipated. Three days earlier, a Hezbollah rocket – which had no doubt missed its military target in northern Israel – struck a football […]

Featured

Turkey’s Erdogan denounces killing of Haniyeh, blocks Israel at NATO, Boycotts it, and threatens Intervention

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The only Middle Eastern country that has taken significant political and administrative actions to protest Israeli war crimes is Turkey. President Tayyip Erdogan denounced the assassination of Hamas Politburo head Ismail Haniyeh at “X,” writing, “I vehemently denounce and anathematize (lanetliyorum) the perfidious assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the […]

Iran

Iran vows “Harsh” Response to Haniyeh’s Killing, But how Likely is all-out War with Israel?

The Conversation

Ali Mamouri, Deakin University | – (The Conversation) – Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has vowed to inflict “harsh punishment” on Israel in retaliation for the assassination of the top Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran. Haniyeh’s killing is a critical escalation in the already volatile and increasingly hostile region. But the severity […]

Featured

Did Netanyahu Rub Out Hamas’ Haniyeh to counter the Rise of Kamala Harris and Demands he negotiate with… Haniyeh?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Israel’s assassination of Hamas civilian Politburo head Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran was a crime, and we all know from police procedurals that the investigator has to look for “means, motive and opportunity.” The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu certainly had the means and the opportunity. It has assassinated […]

Islam-hatred

US Data Shows Continued Surge in Hate Against Muslims, Palestinians

Common Dreams

By Jessica Corbett | – ( Commondreams.org ) – A spike in “relentless” Islamophobia across the United States that began in October with Israel’s U.S.-backed attack on the Gaza Strip continued through the first half of this year, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group said Tuesday. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) […]

Haredim

Israel’s Military starts drafting Ultra-Orthodox Jews, but will they Dodge the Draft on Religious Principle?

The Conversation

By Michael Brenner, American University | – (The Conversation) – In late July 2024, the Israeli military sent out the first 1,000 conscription notices to ultra-Orthodox Jewish men, following a unanimous Supreme Court ruling that the government must stop exempting them. But will these Haredim, as the ultra-Orthodox are called in Israel, actually join the […]

Featured

The Olympics banned Russia for Occupying Ukraine, but not Israel, which Occupies Palestinians and has Killed 39K

Mohammed Samaana

Belfast (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Nagham Abu Samrah was 24 years old Palestinian karate champion from Gaza. She had the potential to participate in the 2024 Paris Olympic games. Unfortunately, an Israeli attack on her home killed her sister and left her seriously wounded . Unconscionably, Israeli authorities delayed her permission to leave […]

Featured

Civil War in Israeli Army, Parliament as MPs detain Soldiers for Gang Rape of Palestinian Prisoners at Vault of Horrors

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Israeli newspaper Arab 48 reports that on Monday, military police raided the Sde Teiman detention center where Palestinian prisoners are being held, detaining 9 Israel soldiers suspected of gang raping and severely sexually torturing detainees. One further suspect was not apprehended. The soldiers belong to the Force 100 unit, […]

Israel/ Palestine

War Crime: Israelis Circulating Degrading Sexualized Photos of Palestinian Prisoners

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (Jerusalem) – Israeli forces have been publishing degrading photographs and videos of detained Palestinians, including children, a form of inhumane treatment and an outrage on their personal dignity that amount to war crimes, Human Rights Watch said today. In many cases, detainees were stripped of their clothing, sometimes fully, then photographed or […]