Author: Mideast discourse

The US appears to be repeating the mistakes of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria With the US and its allies pledging unprecedented levels of military support to Ukraine, a recent CBS News report suggested that only around 30% of the weapons sent by the West actually make it to the front lines. The report adds to ongoing rumors of waste, corruption, and black market profiteering. The US has approved more than $54 billion of economic and military aid to Ukraine since February, while the UK has committed nearly $3 billion in military aid alone, and the EU has spent another $2.5…

The al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Jihad, and other factions in the Gaza Strip have launched more than 780 rockets at Israel since the beginning of Operation Breaking Dawn, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced on August 7. According to the IDF, 270 rockets that were headed to populated areas were intercepted by the Iron Dome, with a near 97% success rate for the system. The IDF claimed that 180 rockets fell short in Gaza. A day earlier, Israel blamed a strike on the city of Jabalia that killed nine people, including four children, to a malfunctioning rocket that…

President Biden traveled to Rehoboth Beach in Delaware on Sunday, following his COVID-19 isolation. This is the first time the president has left the White House in 18 days and the first time he has seen first lady Jill Biden since July 20, according to the White House. “I’m feeling good,” the president told reporters as he prepared to board Marine One on Sunday. The president tested negative for the second time on Sunday morning, Biden’s doctor, Kevin O’Connor, wrote in a letter. The president tested negative on Saturday after seven straight days of testing positive from a “rebound” COVID case, the White House said.The…

La France Insoumise MP Clémentine Autain criticizes the French Foreign Ministry after it condemned the firing of rockets into “Israeli territory.” La France Insoumise MP Clémentine Autain harshly criticized the French government’s position on the recent Israeli aggression on Gaza, which she considered outrageous. According to Autain, “Israel” launched the most dramatic attack since 2021, and there are Palestinian deaths, while France is satisfied with a statement that equates the Israelis with the Palestinians. She slammed in a tweet the French government’s position on the Israeli aggression on Gaza as “scandalous”. France had reiterated its unconditional adherence to the security…

On August 7, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) destroyed a vehicle of the al-Qaeda-affiliated Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) near the town of Hakoura in the western part of the Greater Idlib region with an anti-tank guided missile. The strike killed three Syrian militants who were reportedly members of the TIP’s local division, which is known as Ansar al-Turkistan. The TIP, which is made up mainly of Chinese Uyghurs, maintains a large presence in the western part of Greater Idlib. The al-Ghab Plains in the northwestern Hama countryside, the town of Jisr al-Shughur in the western Idlib countryside, and the Kabani…

A depot housing Western-supplied ammunition has been destroyed in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed The Russian military has taken out a depot in southern Ukraine that stored NATO-supplied ammunition, the Defense Ministry claimed on Sunday. “In the Voznesensk area of the Nikolaev region an arsenal that stored 45,000 tons of ammunition recently supplied to the Ukrainian Armed Forces by NATO countries has been destroyed,” the ministry stated, adding that Russian forces eliminated five other ammo depots. Meanwhile, the Russian army conducted strikes on the deployment point of units of Ukraine’s 72nd mechanized brigade at an agricultural facility in the Donetsk…

Al-Hadath TV said earlier that Egypt is in talks with the Israeli and Palestinian sides on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip A ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will come in force from 20:00 local time on Sunday, August 7, Reuters said on Sunday, citing a Palestinian official. It said earlier that Israel has accepted a proposal on establishing a ceasefire suggested by Egypt, which is acting as a mediatory. Al-Hadath TV said earlier in the day that Egypt is in talks with the Israeli and Palestinian sides on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. According to Al-Jazeera TV, Egypt…

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) today urgently called on all parties to refrain from targeting civilians and work towards an immediate ceasefire, following Israel’s assault on Gaza that began on Friday. At least 31 Palestinians have been killed since the escalation of hostilities, including a five-year-old girl killed in an Israeli airstrike on Khan Younis, southern Gaza. “Every single escalation of violence in Gaza comes at the cost of ordinary people, who pay the highest price for military actions. We urge all parties to protect civilians by all means, put an end to hostilities and work towards an immediate ceasefire,”…

China’s largest-ever military exercises surrounding Taiwan were drawing to a close on Sunday following a controversial visit last week to the self-ruled island by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Beijing has raged at the trip by Pelosi -the second in the line of succession to the US presidency- ripping up a series of talks and cooperation agreements with Washington, most notably on climate change and defense. It has also deployed fighter jets, warships and ballistic missiles around Taiwan in what analysts have described as practice for a blockade and ultimate invasion of the island. Those exercises were set to end…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Gaza is separated from Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank by Israeli territory, and yet the current Israeli attack on Gaza, and the deaths, injuries and destruction of homes is directly connected to Jenin, the center of Palestinian resistance. On Friday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) carried out a long range assassination of Tayseer Jabari, a leader in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement (PIJ).  He was killed when his home was attacked by Israeli missiles fired at the high-rise residential building Palestine Tower in Gaza.  At least 10 people were killed along with…