Celebrations in Iran as it ‘concludes’ retaliatory attack on Israel
NewsFeed Iran says its first-ever direct attack on Israel was revenge for Israel’s targeting of Iranian personnel. Tehran says its retaliation has been ‘concluded’ but warns of a harsher response next time if Israel strikes again. Published On 14 Apr 202414 Apr 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Cyprus suspends asylum applications for Syrians as arrivals rise
More than 1,000 people have arrived in Cyprus on boats from Lebanon this month amid deepening tensions in the Middle East. Cyprus has suspended the processing of asylum applications from Syrians following a sharp increase in arrivals this month, authorities say. More than 1,000 people have arrived in Cyprus on boats from Lebanon this month amid deepening tensions in the Middle East. The exodus has triggered calls from Nicosia to its European Union partners to do more to assist Lebanon, as well as reconsider the status of war-torn Syria, which is at present considered unsafe to repatriate asylum seekers. “This is an emergency measure, it’s a difficult decision to protect the interests of Cyprus,” Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides told reporters on Sunday. Cyprus, the EU’s easternmost state and the closest to the Middle East, lies about 160km (100 miles) west of the shores of Lebanon or Syria. It recorded more than 2,000 arrivals by sea in the first three months this year, compared with just 78 over the same period in 2023. In practice, the measure means asylum seekers will be confined to two reception camps offering food and shelter, with no other benefit. Those who choose to leave those facilities will automatically forfeit any kind of benefit and will not be allowed to work, government sources said. Christodoulides visited Lebanon last week and is liaising with the European Commission on how Brussels could assist Beirut in halting the flows. Lebanon, coping with a crippling economic crisis since 2019, hosts some 805,000 Syrian refugees registered with the United Nations, of which 90 percent live in poverty, the UN agency says. Lebanese officials estimate the actual number is much higher, ranging between 1.5 and 2 million. Many have escaped the civil war in their country which entered its 14th year. Cypriot Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou last week visited Denmark, Czechia and Greece to drum up support for a push to get the EU to declare parts of Syria as safe. However, UN agencies, human rights groups, and Western governments maintain that Syria is not yet safe for repatriation. Adblock test (Why?)
Iran attacks Israel with over 300 drones, missiles: What you need to know
EXPLAINER Iran has launched a massive aerial attack on Israel, two weeks after a deadly strike on its consulate in Syria. Iran unleashed a barrage of missiles and drones on Saturday and during the early hours of Sunday, targeting Israel in retaliation for last week’s suspected Israeli strike on its consulate in Damascus that killed 13 people. Here is what happened, and what analysts say could happen next. What happened in Israel and when? Iran launched a massive aerial attack on Israel, two weeks after a suspected Israeli strike on its consulate in Syria. This marks the first-ever direct attack by Iran on Israeli territory from Iranian soil. Iran called the attack Operation True Promise. The attack began on Saturday night around 20:00 GMT. It lasted approximately five hours, according to US officials. During the attack, explosions were heard in cities across Israel, including Tel Aviv. The explosions were also heard in Jerusalem, and air raid sirens sounded in more than 720 locations as Israeli forces sought to shoot down the projectiles. Israel’s chief military spokesman, Daniel Hagari, said Iran’s attack involved more than 120 ballistic missiles, 170 drones, and more than 30 cruise missiles, according to a report by The Associated Press news agency. The Israeli military also said that the vast majority of the projectiles were intercepted outside the country’s borders, with help from the United States, the United Kingdom and France. Jordan also shot down some of the missiles aimed at Israel as they were flying through Jordanian airspace. Israel’s military added that a “small number of hits were identified”. In a base located in southern Israel, “minor damage occurred to the infrastructure”. A seven-year-old girl was also severely injured by missile fragments, while other patients sustained minor injuries and some were treated for anxiety. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Saturday that the US also intercepted “dozens” of missiles and drones launched at Israel from Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Where exactly did the attacks take place? During the attack, Israel’s military ordered residents in the northern Israeli-occupied Golan Heights – near the Syrian and Lebanese borders – and in the southern cities of Nevatim, Dimona and Eilat to remain near bomb shelters. Nevatim is the site of an Israeli airbase, while Dimona has a nuclear reactor on the outskirts. Eilat is Israel’s southern Red Sea port, which has suffered from a sharp decline in operations because of repeated attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on ships passing through the waterway. Why did Iran attack Israel? Iran’s attack is a retaliation for a suspected Israeli strike that killed an Iranian military commander, Major-General Mohammad Reza Zahed, in Damascus on April 1. He was killed along with six other Iranian nationals, including another general. At least six Syrian citizens were also killed. “It seems that Iranian leaders are determined to take action, but also [be] seen to take action,” David Des Roches, an associate professor at the National Defense University in Washington, DC, told Al Jazeera. “What that indicates to me is that there are considerations of pride and prestige that are divorced from strategy and tactical utility that may indicate a more dangerous era than we thought,” he added. Hezbollah, a Lebanese armed group backed by Iran, and the Israeli military have been trading attacks across the Lebanon-Israel border since October 8, the day after the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel and Israel’s brutal retaliation on the besieged Gaza Strip. Since then, more than 330 people in Lebanon have been killed in Israeli attacks, including at least 66 civilians. Hezbollah attacks have killed at least 18 people on the Israeli side, 12 soldiers and six civilians. On Saturday, Iranian state media announced that the the country’s armed forced had seized an Israel-linked container ship near the Strait of Hormuz. What is the Israeli government saying? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country “will win”, in a tweet after the attacks. Earlier, he spoke to the nation, stating that the military was prepared for any scenario. “Citizens of Israel, in recent years, and especially in recent weeks, Israel has been preparing for a direct attack by Iran,” Netanyahu said. “Our defensive systems are deployed; we are ready for any scenario, both defensively and offensively. The State of Israel is strong. The [Israeli army] is strong. The public is strong.” He also thanked his allies, including the US and UK, for “standing alongside” Israel. “We have determined a clear principle: Whoever harms us, we will harm them. We will defend ourselves against any threat and will do so level-headedly and with determination,” he added. After the attack was over, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that the attack had been “blocked”. “The Iranian attack was blocked in the most impressive way, together with our partners, the Americans and others… The entire world saw today who is Iran – a country of terror,” Gallant added. What is the Iranian government saying? Iran warned Israel of any response. The Iranian armed forces chief of staff, Major-General Mohammad Bagheri, told state TV that if Israel retaliates, Iran’s response would be “much larger” than the overnight bombardment, according to a Reuters report. Iran also warned Washington that backing Israeli retaliation would lead to the targeting of US bases. Earlier, Iran’s mission to the UN cited the UN Charter provision for self-defence, under Article 51, and said that the country considered “the matter … concluded”, its permanent mission at the United Nations said on X. “The matter can be deemed concluded. However, should the Israeli regime make another mistake, Iran’s response will be considerably more severe. It is a conflict between Iran and the rogue Israeli regime, from which the US MUST STAY AWAY!” President Ebrahim Raisi issued a statement hailing the “brave men” of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who “taught a lesson to the Zionist regime”. Conducted on the strength of Article 51 of the UN Charter pertaining to legitimate defense, Iran’s military action was in response to the Zionist regime’s
Germany to send new missiles to Ukraine as army struggles on eastern front
Germany says it will hand over Patriot air defence system and missiles, while Russia claims capture of another village. Germany will deliver a United States-made Patriot air defence system and air defence missiles to Ukraine at a “critical time” as Kyiv struggles to defend its energy system from Russian bombardment, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. More than two years into its full-scale invasion, Russia has staged three massive air attacks on power stations and substations in recent weeks, prompting Kyiv to issue desperate appeals for supplies of high-end air defences. “I am grateful to the chancellor for the decision to supply another, additional Patriot system to Ukraine, as well as missiles for the existing air defence systems,” Zelenskyy said after speaking by telephone with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday. He described their conversation as “important, productive” and said: “I call on all other leaders of partner states to follow this example.” Germany will hand over the Patriot system immediately and it will be in addition to air defence systems that were already delivered and planned, the German defence ministry said in a post on X. An April 10 German government summary of arms and military equipment transfers to Ukraine included two Patriot systems on a list of air defence supplies already delivered, making this the third from Germany. Zelenskyy said last week that Ukraine needed 25 US-made Patriot air defence systems to protect the country from Russian attacks. After the outbreak of the Ukraine war in 2022, Germany dropped a traditionally pacifist stance and has become Ukraine’s second-biggest supplier of military aid, after the US. As well as Patriots, Berlin has supplied a wide array of other armaments, ranging from artillery to armoured fighting vehicles. Pressure on eastern front On the front lines, “the situation on the eastern front has deteriorated significantly in recent days”, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskii, said in a statement on Saturday. This comes as Russia claimed the capture of a village near the industrial town of Avdiivka that it captured in mid-February. Russia’s defence ministry announced its troops had “liberated” the village of Pervomaiske in the Donetsk region, about 11km (seven miles) west of largely destroyed Avdiivka. Ukraine has not confirmed the loss. Its army said on Friday that it had repelled attacks on the village. On his Telegram channel, Syrskii wrote of “a significant intensification of the enemy’s offensive after the presidential elections in Russia” last month. The commander-in-chief, who took over in February after Zelenskyy fired his popular predecessor General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, added decisions were being taken “to strengthen the most problematic defence areas with electronic warfare and air defence”. Russia says 10 killed in attack by Ukraine Meanwhile, in the southern Zaporizhia region, a local Kremlin-installed official blamed Ukraine on Saturday for a shelling that killed 10 people, including children. The Tokmak municipal administration reported on Telegram that the shelling struck three apartment blocks on Friday evening. Five people were pulled alive from the rubble and 13 were hospitalised, according to the regional head, Yevhen Balitsky. The town fell to Russia at the start of the invasion. Ukrainian authorities in Zaporizhia said Russia had attacked the region more than 400 times over the last day, including from planes. Ukraine has also said the situation around the eastern front-line city of Chasiv Yar is “difficult and tense” with the area under “constant fire”. Chasiv Yar lies 20km (12 miles) west of the town of Bakhmut, which was flattened by months of artillery fire before it was captured by Moscow last May. Russia is recently securing new territorial gains and trying to press onward against Ukrainian units hobbled by delays in the supply of Western military aid. Adblock test (Why?)
Iran launches air attack on Israel, with drones ‘hours’ away
US and Israel confirm that an aerial attack on Israeli territory is under way as Jordan and Iraq close their airspace. Iran has launched dozens of drones and missiles at Israel, the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) confirmed, after Israel said Tehran had begun attacks. The IRGC said on Saturday that it had released the drones and missiles under the operation “True Promise”, adding that the move was part of the punishment for “Israeli crimes”. Israel said the drones would take several hours before reaching its airspace. The strikes come nearly two weeks after an Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria killed seven IRGC members. “We launched an operation using drones and missiles in response to the Zionist entity’s crime of targeting the Iranian consulate in Syria,” the IRGC said in a statement. “The operation was carried out with dozens of missiles and drones to strike specific targets in the occupied territories.” Speaking in televised address on Saturday, Israel’s army’s spokesman, Daniel Hagari, said: “Iran launched UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] from its territory towards the territory of the state of Israel. “This is a severe and dangerous escalation. Our defensive and offensive capabilities are at the highest level of readiness ahead of this large-scale attack from Iran.” An ambulance is parked outside the Iranian embassy in Damascus after an Israeli strike on April 1, 2024 [File: Firas Makdesi/Reuters] High alert Israel has been on heightened alert since its strike on Damascus on April 1, even though it did not comment on that attack. Iran pledged revenge and a retaliatory attack had been expected. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that Israel was prepared for a “direct attack from Iran”. Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant said Israel was “closely monitoring a planned attack” against it by Iran and its allies in the region. United States President Joe Biden, who on Friday warned Iran against attacking Israel after saying such a scenario appeared imminent, has pledged to stand with Israel against Iran, the White House said. US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement that Biden is regularly updated by his national security team and is in constant communication with Israeli officials, US partners and allies. Syria also put on high alert its Russian-made Pantsir ground-to-air defence systems around the capital Damascus and major bases in the event of an Israeli strike, army sources told the Reuters news agency. Meanwhile, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Israel announced they had temporarily closed their airspace. ‘A country waiting’ A retired Israeli general, Amos Yadlin, told the country’s Channel 12 news that the Iranian drones were equipped with 20 kg (44 pounds) of explosives each. Israel’s military said sirens would sound in any threatened areas and that its defences were poised to deal with them. “We know that planes are patrolling in the skies above [Israel], we know that Benjamin Netanyahu is meeting with his war cabinets, his security cabinets this evening,” said Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem. “This is a country… waiting for those drones to arrive,” he added. Challands said that although Haggari did not confirm how long it would take, “it will have to go through several countries’ airspace … They could take about nine hours to arrive”. Israel’s war on Gaza, now in its seventh month, has driven up tensions in the region, spreading to fronts with Lebanon and Syria and drawing long-range fire at Israeli targets from as far away as Yemen and Iraq. Earlier on Saturday, Iranian armed forces seized a container ship linked to Israel near the Strait of Hormuz. Adblock test (Why?)
How high is the risk of conflict between Iran and Israel?
Tehran promises a response to Israeli attack on its consulate in Syria. Iran is threatening retaliation for the Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria that killed seven people at the start of April. The United States is talking up the possibility of an imminent attack by Tehran and promising to defend Israel. So how dangerous is the situation? And what’s the risk of a wider conflict? Presenter: James Bays Guests: Hassan Ahmadian – Professor of Middle East and North Africa studies at the University of Tehran Trita Parsi – Executive vice president at the Quincy Institute, a US think tank in Washington, DC Carne Ross – Founder of the Independent Diplomat advisory group Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 779
As the war enters its 779th day, these are the main developments. Here is the situation on Saturday, April 13, 2024. Fighting The commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskii, said the situation on the eastern front “has deteriorated significantly in recent days” in the face of a heightened Russian offensive. Ukraine has said the situation around the eastern front-line city of Chasiv Yar is “difficult and tense” with the area under “constant fire”. It lies 20km (12 miles) west of Bakhmut, which was flattened by months of artillery fire before it was captured by Russia last May. Six people, including a child, have been killed after Ukrainian troops shelled Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia, a southern region of Ukraine. Vladimir Rogov, a Russia-installed official, said 20 people were injured in the strike. Politics and diplomacy An aborted 2022 peace deal between Russia and Ukraine could be the basis for new negotiations but there is no sign that Kyiv is ready for talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that Russia and Ukraine were on the verge of agreeing to a deal to end hostilities at talks in Istanbul in April 2022, but that Ukraine backed away from it once Russian troops fell back from near the Ukrainian capital. The United States and the United Kingdom have imposed new sanctions prohibiting metal-trading exchanges from accepting new aluminium, copper and nickel produced by Russia, which is one of the world’s major producers of such minerals. The US has accused China of backing Russia’s war effort in Ukraine by helping Moscow in its biggest military buildup since the Soviet era, providing drone and missile technology, satellite imagery and machine tools. Unnamed senior US officials said US President Joe Biden reportedly raised the issue during his recent phone call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Prosecutors in Belgium are investigating suspected Russian interference in the upcoming European Parliament elections with the goal of affecting Ukraine policy, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has said. Russia has summoned French Ambassador Pierre Levy over French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne’s “unacceptable” comments on the Kremlin. Sejourne was quoted as saying this week that France had no interest in talking to the Kremlin, a few days after a telephone conversation between the two nations’ defence ministers ended in an argument. Military Ukrainian fighter pilots likely to fly US F-16 aircraft are receiving their initial training with France’s air force, French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu told the newspaper Ouest-France. Other countries including the Netherlands, Denmark and Romania are seeking to help Ukraine train its F-16 pilots after the United States gave the go-ahead. Russia’s Ministry of Defence says Moscow had conducted a successful test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile at the Kapustin Yar rocket launch complex in the southern Astrakhan region. Adblock test (Why?)
Genocide in Gaza: Enabled by AI, powered by Big Tech
Artificial intelligence has unleashed terror in the killing fields of Gaza. The algorithms that Big Tech designed – and the genocide they assisted. The Listening Post explores how Israel’s killing campaign of Palestinians has relied on artificial intelligence to choose its targets. A dystopian nightmare serves as a marketing campaign for technology flawed by design, and deepens the global digital divide. Contributors:Sophia Goodfriend – Researcher, Duke UniversityMona Shtaya – Digital rights scholarMatthew Mahmoudi – Researcher, Amnesty TechSebastian Ben Daniel – Journalist, +972 Magazine On our radar: Nicaragua put Germany in the dock at the International Court of Justice, accusing it of facilitating genocide in Gaza. Germany is the second largest weapons supplier to Israel. Meenakshi Ravi dissects the reaction from Berlin and the German media to the case. Truth to power in wartime Ukraine Three years into Ukraine’s war with Russia, journalists are feeling the pressure. Where once investigative outlet Bihus.info was relied on to expose Russian war crimes, they’re now undergoing Soviet-style surveillance by security services for exposing corruption in Ukraine. Featuring:Yaroslav Yurchyshyn – Ukrainian Member of Parliament and chair, Freedom of Speech CommitteeNatalia Ligachova – Editor-in-Chief, Detector MediaMaria Zemlyanska – Investigative journalist, Bihus.InfoDenys Bihus – Founder, Bihus.Info Adblock test (Why?)
Israel’s war on Gaza: List of key events, day 190
Fears of a wider regional conflict intensify as the Israel military and Lebanon’s Hezbollah escalate attacks. Here’s how things stand on Saturday, April 13, 2024: Bombardments and fighting Dozens of Israeli air strikes have hit central Gaza, including in the area of Deir el-Balah, with several casualties reported. Israel’s military said its aircraft struck more than 60 targets in Gaza over the previous day. Authorities in the enclave said at least 25 people were taken to hospital after a house was hit. Five Palestinians have been killed and more than 30 injured overnight after the Israeli army bombed a residential building in the Zarqa area of central Gaza City, according to Gaza civil defence. Five Palestinians were injured overnight in an Israeli settlers’ attack in a village northeast of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, a day after an attack killed a 25-year-old Palestinian man and injured 25 people. (Al Jazeera) Politics and diplomacy Ireland, Spain and other countries are getting “much closer” to recognising a Palestinian state, Irish prime minister Simon Harris said as he met his Spanish counterpart, Pedro Sanchez. The comments came just hours after Norway announced during a visit by Sanchez that it, too, was ready to recognise a Palestinian state. Senior Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal has promised to “break the enemy soon”, as he attended an event to mourn members of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s family killed in an Israeli air strike. Referring to the six-month-old war, Meshaal said, “This is not the final round” in the path to a free Palestine. Regional tensions Lebanon’s Hezbollah said it fired “dozens of rockets” at Israeli artillery positions in response to the Israeli military’s strikes in southern Lebanon, in one of its largest assaults since the start of the war on Gaza. The Israeli army said “approximately 40 launches were identified crossing from Lebanese territory”, but there were no reports of casualties. In response, the Israeli army said it hit a Hezbollah military compound in southern Lebanon. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said a vessel has been seized by “regional authorities” 50 nautical miles (92km) northeast of the United Arab Emirates’s Fujairah. UKMTO did not say which authorities it was referring to. The commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) navy had warned this week that Israel’s presence in the UAE was viewed as a threat by Iran, adding that it could close the Strait of Hormuz if necessary. Iranian state media reported that the IRGC’s navy had detained the container ship. The United States has moved warships into position to protect not only Israel but its own forces in the Middle East amid growing concern that Iran might launch a direct attack on Israel in response to an attack on its consulate in Syria, according to The Wall Street Journal. Italy’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani has spoken by telephone with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian, urging restraint amid fears of an attack on Israel from Tehran. He said the world “cannot risk escalation” and urged all regional actors to “show responsibility”. Australian airline Qantas has announced it would redirect its long-haul flights between Perth and London to avoid Iran’s airspace amid soaring Middle East tensions. Earlier, German airline Lufthansa said its planes would no longer use Iranian airspace as it extended a suspension on flights to and from Tehran. Adblock test (Why?)
Ireland, Spain, Norway moving closer to recognising a Palestinian state
Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez says declarations on Palestine will be made “when the conditions are appropriate”. Ireland and Norway are both moving closer to recognising Palestinian statehood, leaders of the two countries expressed separately after meetings with Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who also champions the move. Ireland wants to recognise Palestine soon, but in a coordinated action with Spain and more European nations, the country’s Prime Minister Simon Harris said after meeting Sanchez in Dublin on Friday. Earlier in the day, Sanchez travelled to Oslo, where Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said his country also “stands ready” to recognise Palestine together with “like-minded countries”. Sanchez said Spain wants to recognise Palestine “as soon as possible”, leveraging the move as a way to gain momentum for a definitive peace process. The current efforts come as the mounting deaths, starvation and infrastructure damage in the besieged Gaza Strip due to Israel’s war have resulted in growing international criticism. Within Europe, the concerns about Israel’s war on Gaza have also led to shifting positions – including more nations considering the possibility of recognising Palestine. Last month, Spain and Ireland, long champions of Palestinian rights, announced alongside Malta and Slovenia that they would jointly work towards the recognition of a Palestinian state. They said they were “ready to recognise Palestine” in a move that would happen when “the circumstances are right”. On Friday, after meeting Sanchez, Harris said, “Let me this evening say our assessment is that that point is coming much closer and we would like to move together in doing so.” “The people of Palestine have long sought the dignity of their own country and sovereignty – a home that like Ireland and Spain can take its place amongst the nations of the Earth.” Sanchez said that willing countries would make their declarations “when the conditions are appropriate” and that they would support the new Palestinian state becoming “a full member of the United Nations”. The Spanish leader has repeatedly angered Israel with his outspoken comments since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, while Harris has already drawn a rebuke from the Israeli government this week. Israel told the four European Union countries that committed to moving towards Palestinian recognition that their initiative would amount to a “prize for terrorism” that would reduce the chances of a negotiated resolution to the generations-old conflict. Norway ‘stands ready’ “Norway stands ready to recognise the state of Palestine,” Norwegian Prime Minister Store, whose country is a part of the Schengen zone but not the EU, told a joint news conference with Sanchez earlier on Friday. “We have not set a firm timetable,” he added, saying a decision on Palestine’s recognition would need to be taken in close coordination with “like-minded countries”. In November, Norway’s parliament adopted a government proposal for the country to be prepared to recognise an independent Palestinian state. Norway also hosted Israeli-Palestinian peace talks at the beginning of the 1990s, which led to the Oslo Accords. Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 33,600 Palestinians and injured more than 76,000 others since October 7. A Hamas attack on southern Israel before the war killed about 1,100 people there. In all, 139 out of 193 UN member states recognise Palestine as a state. Adblock test (Why?)