Hamas launches war on Israel

[Exocet25fr]

Israel bombs Gaza food distribution point, kills four children


An Israeli drone attack on a food distribution point and a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza has killed at least five people, including four children.

At least three medics have been wounded in a drone attack on the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya town, the fifth by Israel’s military on the medical facility in recent weeks.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveb...whelm-hospital

[Jimbuna]

Gazans displaced by war now face a new threat: winter
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpqdr0591qro

[Exocet25fr]

Israel hits Gaza hospital water tanks, kills 48 Palestinians in a day


Gaza’s Ministry of Health says Israeli attacks on the enclave killed 48 Palestinians and wounded 201 in the latest 24-hour reporting period.

Israeli forces have again bombed the so-called “safe zone” in Gaza’s al-Mawasi, killing at least 21 people and wounding dozens more, according to Atif al-Hout, the director of the Nasser Hospital in nearby Khan Younis.

Our correspondents say women and children were INCINERATED in the attack!!

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveb...i-camp-in-gaza

[Dargo]

The Assad regime is done. Syrian rebels have invaded the town of Hama, in northwestern Syria. Verified videos show them driving through the town and detainees released from a prison. The government army confirmed it had withdrawn from the town. The offensive is led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Syrian National Army (SNA) part, a group supported by Turkey and other terror groups. They have gained much ground on the government army in recent times. Presumably, the rebels want to move after Hama towards Homs, some 40 kilometers south.

Assad's army says there was heavy fighting outside the city last night, killing several soldiers. According to the army, rebels carried out suicide attacks to get through defenses. The troops claim they retreated outside Hama to regroup. The capture of Hama is another sign that the government army is incapable of stopping the rebels. The rebels said they were advancing towards the center. Hours later, the army surprised by announcing that it had decided to withdraw to positions outside the city after heavy fighting. According to the army, by doing so, it wanted to avoid many casualties among the population in bloody street battles. Yeah, sure. Hama is an important hub in the country because it connects northern Syria with the south of the country. The government was in control of the city. A resident of the city said that since Wednesday, the internet had been shut down and streets were cleared. If Hama and Homs fall result is that Assad army cannot be supplied anymore all hope on Russia sending reinforcements are futile and still no word or seen Assad back from Moscow.

Apart from Homs, the area west of Hama on the Mediterranean Sea may also come under rebel control. Russia has a naval base here, near the port city of Tartus. The Russians also use an airbase there to attack the rebels. US news site Naval News reported on Tuesday that the Russians would already be preparing to leave the naval base if the rebel offensive is not stopped. According to Naval News, one of the six naval ships in Tartus has already left the port. The naval base is important to Moscow, as it allows the Russians to operate from the Mediterranean.

HTS emerged from Syria's al-Qaida terror movement and other militant groups. The group is considered a terror group by the United Nations and the US, among others. HTS engaged in violent resistance with attacks early in the Syrian civil war. The group is led by Abu Mohammad al-Jolani. Goals include toppling President Assad's regime and ousting Iranian militias supporting Assad. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham means ‘Organization for the Liberation of the Levant’. Levant is a name for Syria, Lebanon and other countries in the Middle East.

[mapuc]

If these rebels take control over Syria it will go from bad to worse for the citizens in the country.

Markus

[Dargo]

Originally Posted by mapuc

If these rebels take control over Syria it will go from bad to worse for the citizens in the country.

Markus

Yes, but there is also another faction. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is a Kurdish-led self-proclaimed coalition of U.S.-backed ethnic militias and rebel groups, and serves as the official military wing of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). I hope they can advance on the East Southern front if I had to those as civilian I would like to live under their rule they have a very democratic character. They have after Aleppo was taken evacuated Christian, Kurdish and Islamic civilians to prevent a massacre.

[Jimbuna]

Israel says body of hostage Itay Svirsky recovered from Gaza

The Israeli military says the body of an Israeli hostage held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip has been recovered in a joint operation with the Shin Bet security service.

A statement said Itay Svirsky, 38, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be'eri during Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, was “murdered in captivity by his captors”.

Hamas said in January that Svirsky and another hostage, Yossi Sharabi, 53, had been killed by Israeli air strikes.

Earlier, the military said an investigation had concluded that the most plausible explanation for the deaths of six other hostages found dead in a tunnel in Gaza in August was that they were shot by Hamas "close" to the time of an Israeli air strike.

Troops recovered the bodies of Yagev Buchshtab, 35, Alexander Dancyg, 76, Avraham Munder, 79, Yoram Metzger, 80, Chaim Peri, 79, and Nadav Popplewell, a 51-year-old British-Israeli dual national, along with those of six Hamas fighters, in the southern Khan Younis area.

The military said it was “highly probable" the hostages' deaths were related to a February strike on a nearby underground site that targeted Hamas commanders.

Pathologists found indications of gunshots on the hostages’ bodies, while no gunshot wounds were found on the fighters' bodies, it added.

Due to the extended time that had passed "it was not possible to determine with complete certainty the precise cause of death of the hostages or the exact timing of the gunfire”, according to the military.

“According to the most plausible scenario, the terrorists shot the hostages close to the time of the strike,” it said. “However, it is also possible that the hostages were shot by other terrorists post-mortem; it is even possible that the hostages were killed prior to the strike in the area.”

An Israeli military official told reporters that the military believed the six Hamas fighters were “were killed from secondary effects of our strike", like lack of oxygen.

The military also stressed that it had "no information”, at the time of the strike that the hostages were in the underground site that was targeted or its vicinity.

“Had such information been available, the strike would not have been carried out,” it said, noting that it was preceded by the required planning and approval process.

There was no immediate comment from Hamas.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdjgevlv839o

[mapuc]

Originally Posted by Dargo

Yes, but there is also another faction. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is a Kurdish-led self-proclaimed coalition of U.S.-backed ethnic militias and rebel groups, and serves as the official military wing of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). I hope they can advance on the East Southern front if I had to those as civilian I would like to live under their rule they have a very democratic character. They have after Aleppo was taken evacuated Christian, Kurdish and Islamic civilians to prevent a massacre.

You're right I forgot all about these SDF forces.

I foresee a second civil war in Syria after Assad's exit. Which will be between SDF and these rebels.

Markus

[Dargo]

Originally Posted by mapuc

You're right I forgot all about these SDF forces.

I foresee a second civil war in Syria after Assad's exit. Which will be between SDF and these rebels.

Markus

They are already being attacked by the Turkish backed SNA glad the SDF is backed by the US they already have attacked militia from Iraq to prevent them to attack the SDF.

[mapuc]

Been wondering. Didn't we have a Syria thread ?
Seem to recall it.

Markus

[Dargo]

Originally Posted by mapuc

Been wondering. Didn't we have a Syria thread ?
Seem to recall it.

Markus

Do not know, but it is all related to the geo politic is all connected with October 7, 2023, all with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by mapuc

Been wondering. Didn't we have a Syria thread ?
Seem to recall it.

Markus

The last post in the latest Syria thread was Nov 2022 so we may as well do as Dargo suggests and carry on.

[Jimbuna]

[Dargo]

MAP UPDATE: The situation in Syria as of 05/12/2024.

Homs also connects Damascus to the western heartland of the Alevis, the Muslim minority to which Assad belongs. For all these reasons, Homs will be hard-fought. It seems that Hama has been given up relatively easily by the government army to better protect Homs. If Iran can deliver substantially more reinforcements to ally Assad. The regime in Tehran has every interest in keeping the Syrian president in power. For example, to enable land supplies from Iran to Lebanon, where the pro-Iranian movement Hezbollah has been weakened by the war with Israel. But the advance is not without risks. On the one hand, just south of Hama, the regime still has the so-called ‘Tiger troops’, an elite unit of the Syrian army that is more loyal and better armed than divisions made up of conscripts. On the other hand, the rebels are at risk from their own success: if they spread their forces over too large an area, they become vulnerable to counterattacks in places they have already captured. The latter risk is now in play east of Aleppo, where the SDF's predominantly Kurdish militants are approaching a rebel-held military airfield. That air base is on a major access road to Aleppo.

[Catfish]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

A leader should know what to demand, just like a good captain. You should never demand anything when you know there will be no obeying.