Waiting for the Axis of Resistance...
...to retaliate against Israel for recent assassinations in Lebanon and Iran.
Last Sunday, 4th August 2024, the Secretary of State of the Outlaw US Empire, Antony Blinken, said that he was expecting Iran and Hezbollah to launch their retaliation attack against Israel within 24-48 hours, as reported by Al Mayadeen in this article. Well… it’s almost Wednesday (at least here in Europe) and still nothing has happened. I suppose the US intelligence has failed miserably this time and I am pretty sure that Iran and Hezbollah are in no rush to avenge the murders of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Fuad Shukr in Beirut, respectively. After all, “revenge is a dish best served cold” and keeping your foes on their toes will stress them out! Netanyahu may even decide to launch “pre-emptive” strikes, as reported by the Times of Israel yesterday (5th August 2024), thus worsening further his position in the eyes of the Rest of the World.
By the way, yesterday the same Blinken urged all parties in the Middle East to do their part to avoid escalation, as reported by Al Mayadeen here. Really? And what has the Outlaw US Empire done to avoid escalation? Has it done anything to stop Israel launching targeted strikes to kill Hamas political leader and negotiator in Israel and a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon? Ah, yes… it was giving Netanyahu 58 standing ovations in a 1-hour long speech at the Congress (see tweet below)…. and probably helping Netanyahu planning these killings, while he was in Washington DC!
In the meantime, the Outlaw US Empire and Cyprus (which is not part of NATO!) have begun joint military drills, including air defense exercises, in Nicosia, the Cypriot capital, as reported by Al Mayadeen and Cyprus Mail. With the current situation in the East Med and the Middle East, this does not bode well for Cyprus!
On the other side, the Secretary of the National Security Council of the Russian Federation, Sergei Shoigu, flew to Tehran to meet the new Iranian President, Masoud Pezeshkian, as reported by Al Mayadeen and also by former CIA analyst, Larry C. Johnson, who wrote the following in his latest blog post:
Shoigu, in his new role as a national security adviser to Putin, most likely was in Tehran to discuss Iran’s plans for retaliation, to share intelligence and reaffirm Russia’s de facto agreement to assist Iran if it is attacked by a combination of Israeli and US combat air and missiles. I would not be surprised to learn that Russia has provided Iran with some S-400 missile defense systems.
I would also add that Shoigu was in Tehran also to finalize and sign the Strategic Alliance Treaty between Russia and Iran, which was put on hold because of President Ebrahim Raisi’s death.
While in Iran, it is also worth reporting the following statement that Nasser Kanaani, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, released yesterday (source: The Guardian):
No one has the right to doubt Iran’s legal right to punish the Zionist regime.
Meanwhile, “Ali al-Qahoum, a top official of Yemen's ruling Houthi Ansarullah movement, has said that Iran will not be alone in its retaliatory response to the assassination of Hamas Political Chief Ismail Haniyeh”, as reported by IRNA (Islamic Republic News Agency) a couple of days ago, thus confirming once more that, when Iran launches it retaliation against Israel, it will be supported by all of its allies in the region. It is also worth noting that Houthis have restarted their attacks on ships in the Gulf of Aden after a 2-week pause since the Israeli strike against the Kathib power station in Hodeidah (Yemen), as reported in this AP article.
And the Islamic Resistance in Iraq is not sitting idle either: as reported by Al Mayadeen, yesterday it launched new attacks against US bases in Iraq, injuring several US personnel.
Also, it has been reported in another Al Mayadeen article, citing the Israeli business newspaper TheMarker, that the port of Haifa, which account for 75% of Israel’s food import, could become a primary target in an full-blown war between Hezbollah and Israel: if the Haifa seaport was targeted and severely hit by Hezbollah, Israel may experience a famine not dissimilar to the one the Zionists are imposing on the Palestinians. “He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword!”
Speaking of Hezbollah, today its Secretary-General, Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, has given a speech, of which I report a few excerpts, as presented in Al Mayadeen Short News (but, if you are interested, you can find a summary in this article):
The West Bank is being bombed by the air force and drones, and the project there is to expand settlements and displace Palestinians towards Jordan and officially annex it.
The real project of Netanyahu and his allies is to make Jordan an alternative homeland for the Palestinians.
Israeli factories in the north can be destroyed in one hour.
We may respond alone or as part of a collective response from the Axis.
The last statement is quite interesting, especially in light of aforementioned Ali al-Qahoum’s words, but I still believe that all parties of the Axis of Resistance will launch a coordinated attack against Israel.
It is also worth reporting from the Israeli side, so that you know how low the Zionist can get. In fact, according to Israeli Channel 13, Netanyahu has decided on new terms regarding the hostage exchange: all Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails and deemed dangerous by Israel will have to be exiled to Turkey or Qatar; they will not be allowed to return to the Gaza Strip or the West Bank otherwise no deal will be made. This means that, after burning any chance of a ceasefire agreement by killing the Hamas political leader with whom he was negotiating, Netanyahu has decided to burn the hostage agreements too. So as to leave even the Israeli hostages in the hands of Hamas and with this excuse continue the genocide!
As if the above was not enough, here is what the Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said at a conference in Yad Binyamin hosted by the Israel Hayom outlet, as reported by The Times of Israel:
We are bringing in aid [in Gaza] because there is no choice.
We can’t, in the current global reality, manage a war. Nobody will let us cause 2 million civilians to die of hunger even though it might be justified and moral until our hostages are returned. Humanitarian in exchange for humanitarian is morally justified, but what can we do? We live today in a certain reality, we need international legitimacy for this war.
Re-read the part in bold. In practice, he implied that blocking humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip is “justified and moral” even if it causes the death for starvation of 2 million civilians!
To say that allowing two million Palestinians to starve to death in the Gaza Strip is “justified and moral” is one of the worst things we have heard in human history. But the real problem is not just that they say it, it is that they do it on a daily basis convinced that they have every right to do so because they are “the chosen people”.
In these words there is everything: racism and supremacism. In one word: Nazism!
P.S.: While finishing writing this article, Al Mayadeen is reporting the following:
CNN reported citing two US officials that the US is beginning to witness Iran's preparations for a retaliation strike on 'Israel,' after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
[…]
Multiple US officials told CNN that they expect Iran to retaliate in the coming days, perhaps within the next few hours, however, they struggle "to gauge when the response will come and what form it will take."
The American broadcaster claimed that Iran had already moved some of its military assets, needed for such an attack, in April, when it responded to an Israeli strike on its embassy in Syria.
According to two US officials, this makes it more difficult for American intelligence to predict Tehran's actions. This has created divisions among US national security officials, who have contradicting views on the aspects of the anticipated military response.
We will see if anything happens in the next few hours or days, but, to be honest, I would not hold my breath! - I stand my ground and repeat what I wrote at the beginning of this article:
I suppose the US intelligence has failed miserably this time and I am pretty sure that Iran and Hezbollah are in no rush
P.P.S.: Just before pressing the “Publish” button I have received the news that Hamas has officially announced the selection of Yahya Sinwar as the new head of its political bureau, taking the place of the late Ismail Haniyeh, killed by Israel in Iran.
Sinwar is the most popular and one of the most influential men within Hamas. He was the mastermind of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation on 7th October 2023. Now his appointment tells us many things: he is certainly one of the most extremist hawks and little inclined to negotiations, unlike his predecessor Haniyeh. Hence, this appointment may benefit Israel more than the Palestinians, unfortunately!
For more info on Yahya Sinwar I refer you to this article by Quds News Network.
Does Blinken roam graveyards at night? He’s definitely a creature of the crypt🥶