The US order to Israel to bomb Nasrallah's funeral and the PKK ceasefire with Turkey
+ Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi's latest speech and updates from Palestine
While Zelensky’s humiliation by US President Donald J. Trump and Vice-President J.D. Vance at the White House the other day caught everyone’s attention, a few events and revelations occurred around the Middle East.
The US order to Israel to bomb Nasrallah's funeral
First off, Al Mayadeen, citing the Israeli Channel 14, reported that, on the eve of the funeral of the late Hezbollah leaders Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Sayyed Hashem Safieddine, a well-known senior official from the Trump administration had sent a message to Israel, giving the green light for targeting high-ranking Hezbollah officials during the funeral procession.
However, in the end, Israeli officials decided not to carry out the attack, choosing instead to conduct “only” low-altitude flights over the funeral procession, allegedly because of concerns over reigniting the northern front.
It is also worth reporting that prof. David Miller, investigative researcher, broadcaster and Professor of Sociology in the Department of Social and Policy Sciences at the University of Bath, was detained and questioned for ~3.5 hours under the Terrorism Act at Heathrow Airport by 8 British counterterrorism officers, upon his return from Nasrallah’s and Safieddine’s funeral in Beirut (Lebanon), as reported in this Al Mayadeen article, which also covers the 5-hour detention and interrogation of Haz Al-Din, Executive Chairman of the American Communist Party, by the Department of Homeland Security, upon his return to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport after attending the same funeral. These are the umpteenth incidents, following the cases of:
Vanessa Beeley (in UK in December 2021in UK),
Kit Klarenberg (in UK on 17/05/2023),
Craig Murray (in UK on 16/10/2023),
Richard Medhurst (in UK on 24/08/2024),
Sarah Wilkinson (in UK on 29/08/2024),
Asa Winstanley (in UK 17/10/2024),
Ali Abunimah (in Switzerland on 25/01/2025)…
…and probably many more.
PKK ceasefire with Turkey
Moving on to the next big event that you may have missed over the last few days is the ceasefire that the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) announced yesterday, Saturday 1st March 2025, marking the end of the PKK’s ~40-year-long insurgency against Turkey and following a call by its jailed leader, Abdullah Öcalan (a.k.a. Apo), for disarmament, as reported by Al Mayadeen - on Thursday 27th February 2025, the pro-Kurdish DEM Party in Turkey had read a letter by Öcalan stating:
As in the case with any modern community and party whose existence has not been abolished by force, would voluntarily do, convene your congress and make a decision; all groups must lay their arms and the PKK must dissolve itself.
…as per Al Mayadeen, which also quoted the following statement by PKK:
In order to pave the way for the implementation of leader Apo's call for peace and democratic society, we are declaring a ceasefire effective from today [1st March 2025].
We, as the PKK, fully agree with the content of the call and state that, from our front, we will heed the necessities of the call and implement it.
Beyond this, issues like laying down arms being put into practice can only be realised under the practical leadership of Leader Apo.
However, it must be said that the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which control significant areas in northern Syria and is considered an extension of the PKK by the Turkish government, have stated that Öcalan’s call for disarmament does not apply to them. Nevertheless, the disbandment of PKK could weaken the political leverage of Kurdish groups in Syria and Turkey, since it “has been a symbolic and strategic force in Kurdish political movements”.
Speaking of Syria, Reuters and Al Mayadeen have reported that, fearing Turkish expansion in the country, Little Satan (a.k.a. Israel) is insisting on maintaining Russian military bases in Tartus and Latakia, while at the same time asking its big brother, Great Satan (a.k.a. the Outlaw US Empire), to keep Syria in a weakened and divided state. Apparently, Israeli officials lobbied their counterparts in recent meetings in Washington DC and in Israel, according to 3 US sources and another individual cited by Al Mayadeen. Aron Lund, a fellow at the US-based think tank Century International, was also quoted as saying:
Israel's big fear is that Turkey comes in and protects this new Syrian Islamist order, which then ends up being a base for Hamas and other militants.
Considering the recent developments with the PKK, Israeli fears are understandable. Now that the terrorism threat from PKK in Turkey is gone, if the SDF also decides to abide by Öcalan’s call for disarmament, then Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan could decide to take over Syria and point towards Palestine, to recreate the Ottoman Empire, his wet dream.
In the meantime, Al Mayadeen has reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Security Minister, Israel Katz, instructed the Israel “Defense” Forces to Jaramana, in the Syrian capital Damascus' suburbs, after claiming that…
Jaramana was under attack by the Syrian regime's forces.
We will not allow the terroristic Islamic extremist regime in Syria to harm the Druze community. If it were harmed, then we will harm it [the regime] back.
We are committed to our Druze brothers in Israel to do everything in our power to prevent harm to their Druze brethren in Syria, and we will take all necessary steps to ensure their security.
So spoke Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi
Finally, it is worth reporting on the latest speech that Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the leader of the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement, gave last Friday, 28th February 2025, on the advent of the holy month of Ramadan. Here you can find a short summary by Al Mayadeen, whereas Saba has provided a longer one, from which the following highlights are taken:
It has been customary to speak on the last Friday of the month of Sha'ban over the past years to draw attention to the month of Ramadan, and to prepare mentally and psychologically to approach the blessed month with due attention and not be affected by the usual routine.
There is a big difference between entering the month of Ramadan in a routine and entering it in a state of mental and psychological readiness, and this Friday is the last day of Sha'aban, so the start of the holy month of Ramadan from tomorrow, Saturday.
There is still a great importance for man to push himself with advice, reminders and good exhortation to take advantage of this opportunity, in light of the corrupt satanic war against this nation with the aim of keeping it from taking advantage of such great opportunities.
If we do not accept these opportunities and do not invest in them and benefit from them, they will pass by us and we will lose them. You have an opportunity in the month of Ramadan to win that God will write you success in the rest of your life, survive His torment and be one of the people of Paradise.
Guarding the tongue is one of the most important things a person needs in the month of Ramadan because many sins come through it, which are dangerous, frustrate the acceptance of deeds, and man needs to close his eyes to what is not permissible to look at, all human senses and wounds are guarded and protected from sins.
The gain from fasting is very important, it is a gain for us, but God is rich in us, our deeds, and man is keen by nature to save himself, and the great danger to man is the violation of God's directives and instructions that protect him, and every instruction from God in his command, prohibition, guidance and light is for what is good for man, and the violation behind it is evil.
In the face of the U.S.-Israeli enemy, the nation has come up with very stupid and naïve options, such as the option of silence and surrender to defend itself from danger.
In the month of Ramadan, wages are doubled to seventy times in the minimum, but with Laylat al-Qadr, the multiplication is very large and reaches tens of thousands, and a person can travel a distance and make a leap in the month of Ramadan equal to a whole lifetime, and this is a great opportunity, and man in the month of Ramadan needs to have specific concerns such as turning to Allah, repentance, getting rid of sins, accounting for oneself, and making a firm decision to invest time and beware of wasting it.
Prayer is very important in the month of Ramadan and one of the greatest seasons for prayer, and we should pay more attention to charity in the month of Ramadan, as it is the month of compassion, and charity is one of the greatest karbat to Allah Almighty.
Attention should be paid to praying at night, as it is one of the great offerings, as well as reviving mosques for those who are not on the fronts, because worship in mosques has a greater value and a greater reward.
We are in one of the most dangerous stages, and the enemies are targeting us with satanic warfare to mislead us and with hard military warfare to destroy our nation.
We, as the Yemeni people, moved in the framework of supporting the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance to confront the Zionist enemy. We as the Yemeni people moved in the framework of supporting the Mujahideen in Palestine and Lebanon to confront the Israeli enemy in one of the most important rounds in the battle of “Al-Aqsa Flood”.
We constantly monitor the situation in Gaza and note the extent to which the Israeli enemy is evading full compliance with the agreement.
The enemy's evasion of the withdrawal from the Rafah axis is a serious violation of the agreement and a reversal of the enemy's commitments with American encouragement and support.
The Israeli enemy's evasion of withdrawal from the Rafah axis constitutes a clear and explicit violation of previous agreements between the Israeli enemy and Egypt.
If our nation takes the right stance, it will deter the Americans and Israelis.
Trump spoke brazenly about displacing the people of Gaza and controlling and owning it with all insolence, and he wanted to confiscate the entire agreement and previously set Saturday in one of the weeks that had passed as a deadline for the removal of all Israeli prisoners without completing the agreement or exchanging prisoners, and threatened war, but this did not happen and the matter is not what he wanted. We were ready for military intervention if Trump opened a war at that stage.
We were ready for military intervention if Trump opened a war at that stage, and in front of the level of American and Israeli arrogance, tyranny, aggression, criminality and insolence, we must be well aware of our responsibility and always be in a state of full readiness to move at any time
We move from the general perspective, within the framework of our major responsibilities as one nation, and we do not look from the perspective of fragmentation that we do not care about what is happening there , every threat and danger to the Palestinian people is a threat to the rest of the nation.
God granted us a great position in supporting Al-Aqsa flood battle, but it is within the framework of a round that has not yet ended, we will remain ready, continue, and one of the greatest gains of piety, its fruits and manifestations of commitment to piety is the spirit of jihad, movement in the way of God to confront tyranny, criminality, any tyranny is greater and shameless than the Israeli and American tyranny.
Updates from Palestine
Finally, it is worth mentioning that yesterday the 42-day-long 1st phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came officially to an end; however, as reported by Al Mayadeen, the Israeli government decided to extend it unilaterally, allegedly accepting a proposal from the Trump administration, until 19th April 2025, thus extending through the holy month of Ramadan and Passover, while at the same time evading talks regarding the 2nd phase, talks which should have started on day 16 of the 1st phase. This morning, Mahmoud Mardawi, a senior Hamas official, reacted with the following statement:
This continued manipulation will not bring the captives back to their families; on the contrary, it will prolong their suffering and put their lives at risk unless pressure is exerted on the occupation to honour its commitments.
The only path forward is the full implementation of the agreement, starting with the second phase, which includes negotiations for a permanent ceasefire, a full withdrawal, reconstruction, and then the release of prisoners as part of a mutually agreed-upon deal.
This is what we insist on, and we will not back down.
In another statement, cited by Al Mayadeen this morning, following Israeli decision to halt all humanitarian aid to Gaza and the closing of passages “until further notice”, Hamas added (emphasis mine):
Netanyahu's decision to halt humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip is a cheap act of blackmail, a war crime, and a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement and prisoner exchange.
Netanyahu's statement regarding the extension of the first phase is a blatant attempt to evade the agreement and avoid entering negotiations for the second phase.
As if the decision to stop the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza was not enough, this evening Al Mayadeen has reported in its Short News that “‘Israel’ is considering cutting electricity off of the Gaza Strip”, while in a separate article it has covered the news that the Israeli government “approved a bill authorizing the military to call up an additional 400,000 reserve soldiers”. It really does not bode well for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip!
On a very final note, after Trump and Vance and scolded Zelensky on Friday for “playing with the lives of millions of people [and] with World War III” (see my previous article), yesterday US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the US government is expediting the delivery of ~4 $ billion in military assistance to Little Satan, stating that Great Satan…
will continue to use all available tools to fulfill America’s long-standing commitment to Israel’s security, including means to counter security threats.
…as reported by Al Mayaden - see also the latest article by Caitlin Johnstone in the link below.
'...take over Syria and point towards Palestine, to recreate the Ottoman Empire...'
Damn all these imperialist agendas, whether it's the US, Israel or Turkey. It's just an endless cycle of greed and violence!