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Israel has Agreed to Listen to US Concerns Before any Rafah Move, says White House
US White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby holds a news briefing at the White House in Washington, US, Aug. 4, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Jim Bourg
Israel has agreed to listen to U.S. concerns and thoughts before it launches an invasion of the border city of Rafah in Gaza, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Sunday.
Israel’s military is poised to evacuate Palestinian civilians from Rafah and assault Hamas hold-outs there, a senior Israeli defense official said on Wednesday, despite international warnings of a humanitarian catastrophe.
Washington has said it could not support a Rafah operation without an appropriate and credible humanitarian plan.
“They’ve assured us that they won’t go into Rafah until we’ve had a chance to really share our perspectives and our concerns with them,” Kirby told ABC.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due to visit the region next week and Kirby said he would continue pressing for a temporary ceasefire that Washington wants to last for at least six weeks.
A Hamas delegation will visit Cairo on Monday for talks aimed at securing a ceasefire, a Hamas official told Reuters.
“What we’re hoping is that after six weeks of a temporary ceasefire, we can maybe get something more enduring in place,” said Kirby, who also noted that the number of aid trucks into the north of Gaza was starting to increase.
“The Israelis have started to meet the commitments that (U.S.) President (Joe) Biden asked them to meet,” he said.
Earlier this month Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to protect Palestinian civilians and foreign aid workers in Gaza or Washington could rein in support for Israel in its war against Hamas terrorists.
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Israel’s Defense Minister Reveals Iranian Funding Hamas’ Plan to Destroy Israel
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz looks on, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, Nov. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – Israel’s Defense Minister, Israel Katz, has unveiled for the first time direct evidence of Iran’s support for Hamas’ plan to destroy Israel.
During a visit to the intelligence unit on Sunday, Katz presented transcripts of conversations obtained from the tunnels of senior Hamas leaders in Gaza, showing a clear connection between Iran and key Hamas figures Yahya Sinwar and Muhammad Deif.
The intercepted documents reveal that Sinwar and Deif demanded $500 million from the commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. The funds were requested to further Hamas’ campaign against Israel and its struggle against the United States. Despite Iran’s difficult economic situation, the head of the Palestinian branch of the Revolutionary Guards, Izadi, agreed to the request, emphasizing that Iran would continue to provide financial support to Hamas because the fight against Israel and the US is Tehran’s top priority.
In his remarks, Katz asserted that this new intelligence provides unequivocal proof that Iran remains the primary sponsor of Hamas and continues to fund terrorism across the region. He emphasized that Iran’s commitment to its goals, even in the face of domestic economic hardships, underscores its dedication to destabilizing the region and pushing forward its agenda of confronting Israel and the West.
“This is clear evidence that Iran is the head of the snake, continuing its support for terrorism and its proxies across the Middle East,” Katz stated. “From Gaza and Lebanon to Syria, Judea and Samaria, and even Yemen, Iran’s destructive influence is being felt. Despite their denials, these documents prove that Iran remains heavily involved in financing and supporting terror groups.”
Katz reiterated Israel’s commitment to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and vowed that Israel would continue its operations to strike Iran’s proxies and dismantle its axis of evil in the region.
The post Israel’s Defense Minister Reveals Iranian Funding Hamas’ Plan to Destroy Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US Moves Patriot Missile Batteries from South Korea to Middle East
A Patriot missile battery. Photo: IDF.
i24 News – American Patriot missile defense batteries will be moved from South Korea to the Middle East, according to reports in Asian media on Friday, amid speculation over a potential military action against Iran’s nuclear program and escalating bombardments of Iran-backed jihadists in Yemen.
US President Donald Trump threatened Iran on Sunday with bombing and secondary tariffs if Tehran did not come to an agreement with Washington over its nuclear program, and the United States has moved additional warplanes into the region.
Washington and Seoul have reportedly recently agreed on the “monthslong” partial deployment of the Patriot Advanced Capability-3, in what is understood to be the first known case involving the relocation of United States Forces Korea (USFK) assets to the Middle East.
Iran in recent years has largely dropped the pretense of enriching uranium for a civilian atomic energy program, as it’s reportedly teetering on the nuclear precipice. Israel believes that a nuclear Iran represents a grave existential threat, consistent with the exterminationist antisemitism of the Islamic Republic’s anti-Israel rhetoric.
After the election of Trump, a known Iran hawk, the likelihood of an U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities has increased precipitously.
The post US Moves Patriot Missile Batteries from South Korea to Middle East first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: Iranian Plot to Assassinate Azerbaijani Rabbi Foiled
The Azerbaijani capital of Baku. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
i24 News – Iran enlisted the services of a Georgian drug trafficker to carry out an assassination of a prominent Azerbaijani rabbi, the Washington Post reported Saturday, citing security officials.
The plot to murder Rabbi Shneor Segal, foiled by the State Security Service of Azerbaijan in early January, also involved a plan to attack a Jewish education center, the officials said.
The plot was set in motion by an officer with Iran’s Quds Force, who met with Georgian criminal Agil Aslanov, handing him a photo of Segal and detailed instructions on how to murder him, the officials cited by WaPo said. Aslanov’s fee for the foiled hit was $200,000.
The State Security Service said the two men “worked to collect information about a member of a religious community, and sent the location of his residence and workplace to a representative of a foreign special service agency via the appropriate mobile phone application.”
Iran is known to be behind multiple plots against Israeli and Jewish targets, many of which have been foiled by Israeli and foreign security services.
However a recent plot saw three citizens of Uzbekistan murder an Israeli rabbi in the United Arab Emirates on Iranian orders. The three were sentenced to death earlier this week for the murder of Zvi Kogan in November.
The post Report: Iranian Plot to Assassinate Azerbaijani Rabbi Foiled first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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