News & views related to the war on and in Palestine …

Of interest:

IDF presents Oct. 7 probe to Kibbutz Be'eri: 'We failed to protect you' – Haaretz

The probe revealed that more than two tank shells were fired at a house in the Kibbutz, The source added, where Hamas terrorists were barricaded with hostages. According to the source, the investigation focused on the decisions of mid-level field commanders but does not clarify the extent of the senior command's responsibility.

Only an anti-fascist front can save us from the abyss – 972mag
Israeli society will emerge from this war more violent, nationalist, and militaristic than ever. The work of curbing its worst impulses must start now.

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News & views related to the conflict in Ukraine …

News & views (not related to the wars in Ukraine and Palestine) …

New & views related to the war in Palestine …

Of interest:

‘I’m bored, so I shoot’: The Israeli army’s approval of free-for-all violence in Gaza – 972 magazine
Israeli soldiers describe the near-total absence of firing regulations in the Gaza war, with troops shooting as they please, setting homes ablaze, and leaving corpses on the streets — all with their commanders’ permission.

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News & views related to the war in Ukraine …

Of interest:

Interview: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on his visit to Putin – (video, 40 min)

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News & views (not related to the wars in Ukraine and Palestine) …

Some bits of news from the health front:

In a previous update on my health I wrote:

The physically drain the (larger than expected) procedure took on me has been much stronger (… "it always is" …) than I had anticipated. The intellectual drain, in consequence of the physical one, was even worse. My current task is to rebuild both strengths. This will take months.

The last weeks have established this. The process of healing is extremely slow. The lack of physical power has direct effects on my intellectual capacities. It is difficult to concentrate and hard to read longer pieces. Writing and editing is painfully slow and exhausting.

Local health insurance entitles, and recommends, to take an additional three weeks leave of convalescence which is essentially a long and lazy stay in a specialized hotel/clinic with individualized physical training …

Those three weeks of rehabilitation training will start tomorrow. I was told that I will have network access in that place. Tomorrow morning I will shut down the comments until I have verified that it is indeed possible to access the blog and to patrol the comments.

I plan to continue to post open threads but, until I am better, I will likely write only a few short pieces.

Please bear with me …

News & views related to the war in Palestine …

Of interest:

IDF Ordered Hannibal Directive on October 7 to Prevent Hamas Taking Soldiers Captive (archived) – Haaretz
'There was crazy hysteria, and decisions started being made without verified information': Documents and testimonies obtained by Haaretz reveal the Hannibal operational order, which directs the use of force to prevent soldiers being taken into captivity, was employed at three army facilities infiltrated by Hamas, potentially endangering civilians as well

Communication networks could not keep up with the flow of information, as was the case for soldiers sending these reports. However, the message conveyed at 11:22 A.M. across the Gaza Division network was understood by everyone. "Not a single vehicle can return to Gaza" was the order.

At this point, the IDF was not aware of the extent of kidnapping along the Gaza border, but it did know that many people were involved. Thus, it was entirely clear what that message meant, and what the fate of some of the kidnapped people would be.
… One case in which it is known that civilians were hit, a case that received wide coverage, took place in the house of Pessi Cohen at Kibbutz Be'eri. 14 hostages were held in the house as the IDF attacked it, with 13 of them killed.

I guestimate that at least half of the 1,200 Zionist casualties were killed by their own army.

Does 'Israel' want war? – Al Mayadeen
A time of imponderables has arrived. War never proceeds according to plan.
by Alastair Crooke

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News & views related to the war in Ukraine …

Of interest:

In Ukraine, Killings of Surrendering Russians Divide an American-Led Unit (archived) – New York Times
A German medic said he was so troubled that he confronted his commander. Others boasted about killings in a group chat.

Caspar Grosse, a German medic in that unit, said he saw the soldier plead for medical attention in a mix of broken English and Russian. It was dusk. A team member looked for bandages.

That is when, Mr. Grosse said, a fellow soldier hobbled over and fired his weapon into the Russian soldier’s torso. He slumped, still breathing. Another soldier fired — “just shot him in the head,” Mr. Grosse recalled in an interview.

Mr. Grosse said he was so upset by the episode that he confronted his commander. He said he spoke to The New York Times after what he regarded as unwarranted killings continued.
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In a second episode, a Chosen member lobbed a grenade at and killed a surrendering Russian soldier who had his hands raised, video footage reviewed by The Times shows.
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In a third episode, Chosen members boasted in a group chat about killing Russian prisoners of war during a mission in October, text messages show. …

News & views not related to the wars In Ukraine and Palestine …

The Tories have lost the election in Britain.

Labour, under Keir Stamer, did not win the election. It received less votes than it had received under Jeremy Corbyn in 2017 and 2019.

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The turnout was low. The overwhelming voter sentiment was 'anything but Tory'. There was no enthusiasms for Labour and Stamer's program.

Labour, under Corbyn, had been a real worker party with socialist tendencies.

The deep state, with the help of the Israeli embassy, had launched a media campaign against Labour alleging that it was hiding anti-semitic tendencies. Corbyn made the huge mistake of not fighting back against it. In the end he was kicked out despite Labour's healthy election results.

Jeremy Corby, no longer in Labour, has been reelected. So have been five MPs who campaigned on a pro-Gaza position.

Stamer is a controversial figure. He seems to have been placed in his position by the deep state. His previous position was the Chief of the Crown Prosecution Service. He had a major role in indicting and incarcerating Julian Assange. 

After being installed he has moved Labour to the right. It is now occupying a pro-capitalism center-right position:

“What Keir has done is taken all the left out of the Labour Party,” billionaire businessman John Caudwell, previously a big Tory donor, told the BBC. “He’s come out with a brilliant set of values and principles and ways of growing Britain in complete alignment with my views as a commercial capitalist.”

The Labour Party highlighted his endorsement.

Stamer will hurt the British public more than the Tory did under Sunak.

There will soon be an uproar against him.

I do note expect him to survive for long.

News & views related to the war in Ukraine …

News & views related to the war in Palestine …

Of interest:

IAF attack helicopter pilots recount operations on October 7 in detail – Ynetnews

One of them had a trailer attached to a tractor carrying nine hostages from the kibbutz toward Gaza. I don’t know what the pilot could see from the air, but he opened fire at the tractor and hit the terrorists, but one of the hostages, Efrat Katz, was hit and killed by the fire.
… This order continues. “Enemy forces must not be allowed to retreat into Gazan territory and any such attempt must be stopped at any cost.” Another part of the order reads: “There must be no passage into Israeli territory and citizens must not be allowed to enter the area in the Gaza Strip.” Did this constitute a hint at the Hannibal Directive, i.e. the possibility of also hitting hostages?

Ilan Pappé – The Collapse of Zionism – NLR
We are witnessing a historical process – or, more accurately, the beginnings of one – that is likely to culminate in the downfall of Zionism. And, if my diagnosis is correct, then we are also entering a particularly dangerous conjuncture. For once Israel realizes the magnitude of the crisis, it will unleash ferocious and uninhibited force to try to contain it, as did the South African apartheid regime during its final days.

An Annihilation Discourse Has Taken Over Israel (archived) – Haaretz
Calls for Israel to launch a nuclear attack on Iran by historian Benny Morris and many others, including those on the left, is the continuation of a strategy of vengeance that would destroy everything. We must take to the streets and protest, while we still can

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News & views related with the war in Ukraine …

News & views (not related to the wars in Ukraine and Palestine) …