Vigilant News

Eternal Vigilance is the price of liberty.

Gaza

17 Judges at Hague Permit Genocide Proceedings Against Israel, Order Leaders to Limit Fatalities

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Friday marked the decision of the highest court of the United Nations to permit the prosecution of a genocide case against Israel in relation to its military operations in Gaza.

The charges were filed by South Africa, who petitioned the court to order Israel to cease its military offensive in Gaza. In October 2023, the territory-based militant organization Hamas launched an attack against Israel, prompting Israel to declare war on Hamas.

At the Hague, seventeen judges of the International Court of Justice rendered their verdict.

Without mandating a cease-fire, the court also urged Israel to attempt to limit casualties and destruction during the offensive. Additionally, the 17 judges ordered six so-called provisional measures to protect Palestinians in Gaza.

Are Joe Biden and the Neocons Leading the US into a Major War in the Middle East?
American officials told HuffPost that Biden cannot be reined in and that Israeli officials are "absolutely determined" to start a conflict in southern Lebanon.

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In light of the Israeli assault on Gaza, which has escalated tensions in the Middle East, US officials are cautioning that President Biden’s decisions may precipitate a major regional conflict.

US officials told HuffPost that the repercussions could be catastrophic should Israel incite a full-scale conflict in southern Lebanon. One official stated,  “Every scenario shows this would escalate into something terrible… whether in terms of counterterrorism or war with Iran.”

Many members of the Biden administration, according to the official, feared that unwavering US support for Israel might inspire Israeli authorities to expand their operations into Lebanon. Israel substantially worsened the situation last week when it executed a drone strike in Beirut, resulting in the demise of a high-ranking Hamas representative engaged in hostage negotiations.

“I’ve been trying to keep an avalanche from falling on Lebanon and so have a lot of people,” the US official said. “The problem is no one can rein in Biden, and if Biden has a policy, he’s the commander-in-chief ― we have to carry it out. That’s what it comes down to, very, very, very, unfortunately.”

According to another US official, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer are “hell-bent on seizing this moment to expand the war into southern Lebanon and deliver some mythical imagined death blow to Hezbollah.”

Although the United States dispatched Amos Hochstein, Biden’s Israeli-born energy envoy, in an effort to mediate a diplomatic resolution between Israel and Hezbollah, there has been no advancement thus far.

administration is formulating a response strategy for a “protracted regional conflict.” The Israeli offensive against Gaza is not limited to Lebanon; the United States and its allies have issued threats to target the Houthis in Yemen for their violations of commercial shipping connected to Israel in the Red Sea. Furthermore, the United States is already embroiled in a low-level conflict with Shia militias in Iraq and Syria, which has the potential to escalate significantly.

President Biden, rather than exerting pressure on Israel to cease its assault on Gaza and defuse tensions with Hezbollah, continues to offer Israel unwavering military and political support while opting for regional escalation. The officials who spoke with HuffPost reaffirmed that the Biden administration does not intend to impose any restrictions on Israeli military aid.

17 Anonymous Biden Staffers Claim Volunteers Quitting “In Droves” Over Israel Support

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A significant number of personnel affiliated with Joe Biden’s presidential campaign appear to be defecting due to the discontent expressed by leftists towards Biden’s endorsement of Israel’s endeavors to eradicate and eliminate the terrorist organization Hamas.

Staffers allegedly authored an open letter to Biden in which they reprimanded him for refusing to pursue a “cease fire” between Israel and Hamas. Seventeen of these staffers allegedly penned the letter critical of Biden’s alleged “in droves” departures from the Biden campaign.

The authors of a letter published on the website Medium and signed by “17 Biden for President Staffers” (who remain anonymous) criticize Biden for his support of the Jewish state. The letter reads, “Biden for President staff have witnessed volunteers abandon their positions en masse, and people who have consistently voted blue for decades are now uncertain about doing so once more, due to this conflict.”

“We write to you as the current staff of your re-election campaign. As we work to mobilize voters to cast their ballots for you in 2024, we must take a moment to acknowledge our tremendous grief, and the grief shared by countless other Americans, toward the violence occurring in Gaza,” the letter states.

“We joined this campaign because the values that you — and we — share are ones worth fighting for… Justice, empathy, and our belief in the dignity of human life is the backbone of not only the Democratic Party, but of the country. However, your administration’s response to Israel’s indiscriminate bombing in Gaza has been fundamentally antithetical to those values — and we believe it could cost you the 2024 election.”

“As your staff, we believe it is both a moral and electoral imperative for you to publicly call for a cessation of violence,” the letter claims. “Complicity in the death of over 20,000 Palestinians, 8,200 of whom are children, simply cannot be justified.”

The letter then makes five additional demands, including that Biden cease all military assistance to Israel and caution against escalating the situation in Gaza.

The purported 17 staffers’ letter is not the first in which Biden’s Middle East policies have been publicly criticized by alleged insiders.

Needless to say, this turmoil and unrest inside Biden’s own regime is a very bad sign for the president’s re-election campaign.

Lindsay Graham Wants US to Blow Portions of Iran ‘Off the Map’
Chickenhawk senator: US should target IRGC bases and oil fields

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In response to Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has urged the United States to strike Iran, stating that Iranian oil fields and bases should be blown “off the map.”

The famously neoconservative senator asserted that the Houthis would not exist in the absence of Iran. On the contrary, the Houthis, previously referred to as Ansar Allah, are an indigenous group of Zaydi Shia Muslims. Prior to 1962, Zaydi Shia Imams governed the region of north Yemen that is now under the control of the Houthis for approximately a millennium.

“Without Iran there are no Houthis,” Graham told Fox & Friends on Wednesday. “The Houthis are completely backed by Iran. I have been saying for six months now…hit Iran. They have oil fields out in the open, they have the Revolutionary Guard headquarters you can see from space. Blow it off the map.”

Commercial vessels with ties to Israel have been the target of Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, and the group has vowed to continue until Israel lifts its siege on Gaza. In response, the United States initiated a military operation; however, it refrained from specifically targeting the Houthis, an action that would have entailed an aerial bombardment of Yemen.

Graham criticized the Biden administration for jeopardizing a peace agreement in Yemen by failing to attack the Houthis. “We’re fighting the Houthis. We beat the Germans and the Japanese. We should be able to beat the Houthis. Secretary Austin and the Biden administration’s failing our troops in the field,” he said.

Graham, a notorious warhawk, has been an ardent supporter of Israel’s slaughter in Gaza, having previously stated that the number of civilians Israel can murder is “limitless.” Furthermore, he characterized the state of affairs in Gaza as a “religious war” and advocated for the total destruction of the city.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Netanyahu Declines to Engage in Discussions of Post-War Strategies for Gaza with Security Chiefs
The Israeli leader has expressed his goal of a continuous Israeli military presence in Gaza without a predetermined expiration date.

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Israeli media sources indicate that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declined pleas from his senior military and intelligence officers to engage in discussions over potential strategies for the Gaza Strip at the conclusion of a conflict.

According to a report from Israel’s Channel 12, Netanyahu declined three distinct appeals made by the leaders of Mossad, Shin Bet, and the Israeli Defense Forces. “Time is running out and decisions need to be made already about how to act with regard to all the relevant actors inside and outside the Gaza Strip. The Americans want explanations,” an anonymously Israeli security source said.

Netanyahu’s office stated that he had directed his senior aides to make preparations for initial discussions regarding the matter. Netanyahu’s rejection to engage in conversation about the subject coincides with Ron Dermer, Netanyahu’s minister for strategic affairs, being in Washington and scheduled to meet with senior US officials to discuss the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

The United States and Israel hold divergent perspectives on the future of Gaza after the conflict. The Biden administration advocates for a rejuvenated Palestinian Authority to assume control, whilst Netanyahu has openly dismissed this proposition. The Israeli leader has often expressed his aim for an indefinite Israeli military presence in Gaza.

There is also a significant divergence between the United States and Israel about Israel’s ongoing military activities in Gaza. US authorities have recommended that Israel conclude the ongoing phase of the war, characterized by frequent airstrikes and ground operations, and instead adopt a more focused strategy targeting the leadership of Hamas.

Netanyahu and other Israeli authorities have declared that military activities in Gaza are intensifying and have committed to a prolonged duration of the offensive. According to data from Gaza’s Health Ministry, the ongoing Israeli operation, supported by the United States, has resulted in the death of more than 21,000 Palestinians, including over 8,000 children. It is important to note that these figures are considered to be a conservative estimate.

Netanyahu is motivated to persist with the offensive because his political future is at risk as a result of intelligence shortcomings that allowed the October 7 Hamas assault on southern Israel to occur. The Israeli leader has faced significant backlash for his approach of supporting Hamas in order to hinder the establishment of a Palestinian state. According to polling data, a significant proportion of Israelis are in favor of Netanyahu stepping down following the conclusion of the conflict.