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Veteran War Correspondent: Blast In Golan Heights Not From Hezbollah Rocket

By Ian DeMartino – Sputnik – 29.07.2024

On Saturday, an explosive fell onto a sports field in Majdal Shams in Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, killing 12 children. Israel blamed the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah. The group has denied the accusation.

Veteran war correspondent Elijah Magnier told Sputnik on Monday that what little information is available on the Golan Heights explosion that killed 12 Arab Druze Muslim children contradicts the official story offered by the Israeli government.

“First, [Israel has] refused any Western investigation by Israeli allies. So they don’t want anyone to investigate the type of rockets and/or the debris,” Magnier explained. “And the technical details of the explosions are very telling. The Falaq rocket that Hezbollah fires is a 50 kilogram explosive. Now, a warhead with such a quantity of explosive doesn’t leave the damage that was left by the explosion that happened in Golan Heights, [it would be] much bigger.”

Magnier, who has over 35 years of experience covering conflicts in Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Afghanistan and Yugoslavia, says that the evidence the Israelis have provided has been unconvincing.

“We have not seen any picture… of the guidance system, or any component that [we] need to understand what kind of rocket [or missile] that exploded in this place,” Magnier began. “They showed us two pieces with serial numbers that match the Falaq, but not on the same scene of the explosion. They’re completely different on a white plank. So, we don’t know where these pieces were taken from.”

“Normally, when the forensic team is on the scene, [they] take hundreds of photographs with every single piece before they touch anything. We haven’t seen all that, but we’ve seen a rush of accusing Hezbollah,” Magnier added.

“The diameter of the crater [from a Hezbollah Falaq rocket] can [be] between four to six meters and the depth can be… between 1.5 to 3 meters, which is not the case at all of the explosion we’ve seen,” Magnier described. “We’ve seen in this explosion only a small part of the fence [was] damaged and the other part of the fence is still intact. So, even the fragment of the explosion is different. The shrapnel is different.”

On Sunday, Israel bombed 12 settlements in Lebanon after saying that Hezbollah had crossed a “red line” in the attack. Hezbollah has vehemently denied it was involved. Magnier pointed out that they do not have a reason to attack Druze Muslims in Golan Heights, which is illegally occupied by Israel but still contains a large Muslim population.

“Hezbollah has thousands of civilian objectives [it could hit] that are close to the borders of Lebanon, and it can really destroy any village or any Israeli occupied city without the need to go to another village that is occupied by Druze Muslims who have [influence] in Syria and Lebanon and want to declare their support to the Palestinians,” argued Magnier, who added that Hezbollah has not been hitting civilian targets since it started shelling Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.

Magnier argued that a faulty Israeli air defense missile was a more likely culprit in the Golan Heights explosion.

“I can say that there are malfunctioning missiles and there are malfunctioning rockets that can fall anywhere and these incidents are very frequent, in particular with the Israeli interception missiles, where they say that only 60 to 65% reach their target and the others miss,” he said. “A strong possibility… an Israeli interception missile of the type Tamir… they carry around 10 to 15 kilograms of explosive and they have a very similar impact to what we’ve seen in the pictures provided on the ground by the people of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights.”

Magnier noted that the size of the crater matched what the Tamir could create and that there was still grass from the field around the crater, which would not happen with a larger Falaq rocket.

“Everything there indicates that we’re talking about a small-sized missile [and] not a big sized rocket of 50 kilograms.”

On Monday, US and Israeli media reported that an Israeli official said its response was still coming and that it would be “limited but significant” in order to avoid an all-out war.

“So, we understand that Netanyahu is really trying to avoid being involved in a war that he doesn’t know what the consequences would be. He can start, but he can’t end it,” concluded Magnier. “What is the ultimate objective [in attacking Hezbollah]? Destroy Lebanon? Destroy the airport? He will have his airport destroyed. Attack the Capital? He will have Tel Aviv destroyed. So this is where we see that things are not as smooth as the Israelis are trying to show.”

July 29, 2024 Posted by | False Flag Terrorism, Mainstream Media, Warmongering | , , , | 2 Comments

Iran condemns Canada, Australia, and New Zealand’s ‘dual approach’ on Israel

Press TV – July 29, 2024

Iran has condemned the “dual approach” taken by Canada, Australia, and New Zealand regarding the Islamic Republic’s military response to an Israeli airstrike on its diplomatic mission in Syria back in April.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kana’ni said on Monday that the selective application of international norms by these Western countries, along with their troubling support for the apartheid regime in Israel, does not contribute to easing tensions in the region.

Instead, he argued, this double-standard approach will further encourage the Israeli aggressor to commit more war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

In a joint statement on Friday, prime ministers of Australia, Canada and New Zealand called for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and warned about the risk of expanded conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.

They also criticized Iran for what they called “destabilizing actions” in the region

“We condemn Iran’s attack against Israel of April 13-14,” they said, referring to a barrage of missiles and drones that Iran launched towards the Israeli occupied territories in retaliation of an earlier airstrike on its diplomatic premises in Damascus that killed several Iranian military advisors, including two senior commanders.

Kana’ni pointed out that the baseless accusations made by Australia, New Zealand, and Canada are particularly concerning given that they keep supplying weapons to Israel, effectively making them complicit in the war crimes being committed against Palestinians in Gaza.

“By supporting the occupation of the Zionist regime in Palestine and disregarding the historical and legitimate right of the Palestinian people to determine their own destiny, they have undermined stability and security in the region,” he said.

Kanaani also highlighted the troubling track record of the three US allies elsewhere in the region, citing their direct and indirect involvement in aggressive wars against Iraq and Afghanistan.

He said Iran remains committed to the principles of the UN Charter and international law, but asserted that the country will strongly protect its national security and legitimate interests against any unlawful use of force.

July 29, 2024 Posted by | Progressive Hypocrite, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

Details emerge on Ukrainian plot to assassinate RT boss – media

RT | July 29, 2024

The Russian Investigative Committee has completed an investigation into an assassination plot targeting RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan, the Kommersant daily reported on Sunday.

Last July, Russian law enforcement said they had thwarted a Ukrainian plan to kill the journalist, involving a group of Russian neo-Nazis who were offered $16,600 as payment.

“Deepest gratitude to our law enforcement officers for their work from me and my family,” Simonyan wrote, reacting to the Kommersant report on her Telegram channel.

The SBU (Ukrainian security service) reportedly recruited individuals for the job from the Paragraph 88 neo-nazi group, after seeing videos of their beatings of foreign nationals from Central Asia, which they recorded and posted online.

The attackers did not know that their negotiations were monitored by Russian law enforcement, the report says. When several young people arrived at a meeting place to receive an advance payment and an assault rifle, they were detained by special forces.

More than ten people are involved in the criminal case, some of whom have confessed to separate attacks, but deny plotting an attempt on the life of Simonyan, Kommersant reported.

The defendants claimed they had wanted to get paid for the hit in advance, but did not receive any money when they went to retrieve an assault rifle from a cache prepared by the organizers.

The newspaper has named Mikhail Balashov and Yegor Savelyev as suspected organizers of the group. The two men have been charged with an assassination attempt for political reasons, illegal arms trafficking, incitement of hatred, as well as terrorism and extremism.

Back in April, the SBU – Kiev’s successor to the Soviet KGB – announced new criminal charges against Simonyan, accusing her of being a “propagandist” who is furthering “Russian narratives” and endangering Ukrainian sovereignty.

The agency also claims that Simonyan called for “mass killings of Ukrainian children” in December 2023. However, it failed to provide evidence of any such remark.

In an earlier post on social media, she said the Ukrainians would have a hard time justifying the murder of a journalist and a mother of several children – but that falsely accusing her of inciting violence would make an assassination “appear more palatable.”

July 29, 2024 Posted by | War Crimes | | 1 Comment

Russia reacts to Olympic ‘sabotage’ accusations

RT | July 29, 2024

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has dismissed reports of alleged Russian involvement in recent attacks on French infrastructure during the Olympic games as “unsubstantiated accusations” and “fakes”.

France’s high-speed train network was targeted early Friday by several “coordinated” arson attacks, according to the country’s transport minister. The sabotage paralyzed high-speed rail travel ahead of the Olympics opening ceremony.

“Low-quality media outlets, and even respected ones, have recently stopped at nothing to literally blame Russia for everything that is happening,” Peskov said, dismissing the accusations aimed at Moscow as “unsubstantiated fakes.”

He added that such reports without evidence do nothing for the reputation of the media outlets as supposedly “reliable sources of information.”

Last week, France’s minister of the interior said officials thwarted four credible planned attacks for the Olympics, including one that was allegedly tied to a Russian national.

According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, a 40-year-old Russian man was taken into custody three days before the opening of the Games. The incident raised fears of his alleged “intention to organize events likely to cause destabilization during the Olympic Games,” the office told NBC news.

Outgoing Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Monday that the profiles of those who may have been behind the Friday rail attack “resembled the ultra-left’s operating procedure,” but that “the question is if these people were manipulated by others or acted on their own behalf.”

On Monday, French authorities also reported that a number of fiber optic networks have been sabotaged across the country.

Meanwhile, Russian television channels and streaming services are not airing this year’s Olympic Games due to the IOC’s ruling on the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes. While initially banning their participation, the international body later ruled that a limited number of individuals from the two countries could take part in the Olympics under a neutral flag. Just 36 Russian athletes are thought to have been approved, but 20 have since refused to take part, citing humiliating conditions. ​

The Paris Summer Olympics is the first event in 40 years to be boycotted by Russia. Previously the USSR snubbed the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles citing “security concerns and chauvinistic sentiments and an anti-Soviet hysteria being whipped up in the United States.”

July 29, 2024 Posted by | Russophobia | , , | Leave a comment

UAE, Israel expand spy bases in Yemen’s Socotra under US-sponsorship: Report

The Cradle | July 29, 2024

The UAE has, since 7 October, stepped up work on joint Emirati-Israeli military and intelligence infrastructure on the Socotra Archipelago off the coast of Yemen, Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar reported on 29 July.

The UAE has sought to establish control over the strategic archipelago, and has, over the past few years, begun constructing – in coordination with Tel Aviv – military and intelligence sites on the islands of the Socotra Archipelago, including the Island of Socotra itself.

According to the Al-Akhbar report, other Gulf Arab countries are involved in Emirati-Israeli plans for the archipelago, which comes as part of “an alliance being established … under an American umbrella.”

“The archipelago, in addition to other Yemeni islands and ports, is a central point in [this alliance] … the formation of the aforementioned alliance has become more urgent for all its parties,” Al-Akhbar writes, adding that since the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on 7 October, “they accelerated the construction of its features, led by an Emirati-Israeli military base being built on Abd al-Kuri Island.”

Abd al-Kuri Island is the second largest island in the Archipelago after Socotra.

The “ultimate goal” of the project is “to link the armies and security services of Israel and the concerned Arab countries under the umbrella of US Central Command.”

The report adds that in late December last year, a UAE-flagged landing ship – designed for the deployment of military personnel and equipment – arrived at Socotra Island, remaining there until early January.

It then headed west towards Abd al-Kuri and anchored until 11 January, heading back to Socotra two days later. It then returned to the UAE on 18 January.

“It concealed its signal while stationed off the island’s shores, and remained this way until it reappeared again on 25 December in the Arabian Sea heading north, which suggested that it was carrying out suspicious activity at the time. Information indicates that the ship’s trips were intended to transport military supplies and specialized personnel supervising the development of an Emirati base.”

Following 7 October, a new pier and a helicopter landing pad were constructed on Abd al-Kuri, as well as an airstrip, which was revealed in satellite imagery released in March this year.

“This expansion allows for the accommodation of larger American military cargo aircraft and strategic bombers, such as the American C-5M Super Galaxy and B-1 bombers that were recently used in retaliatory attacks in Syria and Iraq. New housing and buildings were also built,” according to the report.

This is not the first report indicating Washington’s involvement in the militarization of the Socotra Archipelago. Sky News Arabia reported in March that Washington is looking to establish a presence in Socotra in response to Ansarallah and the Yemeni Armed Forces’ pro-Palestine operations.

An in-depth investigation released by The Cradle in March 2023 details the Emirati–Israeli presence on the Socotra archipelago.

The Al-Akhbar report comes as the forces of Yemen’s Sanaa government – which are aligned with Ansarallah – have been vowing a response to the recent Israeli strikes on the western Yemeni port of Hodeidah, which was carried out in response to a deadly Yemeni drone attack on Tel Aviv.

Sanaa has imposed a blockade on all shipping heading to Israeli ports in support of the people and resistance in Gaza, and has vowed not to stop until the genocidal war against Palestinians in the strip comes to an end.

It has also targeted the Israeli port city of Eilat with dozens of drones and missiles since the start of the war.

The Yemeni army has also been attacking US and UK warships in response to the violent bombing campaign that Washington and London began against Yemen in January. US-UK airstrikes have since failed to deter Yemen’s operations.

July 29, 2024 Posted by | Illegal Occupation, Militarism, Wars for Israel | , , , , | Leave a comment

Israel blowing up of drinking water reservoir ‘crime against humanity’: Rafah municipality

MEMO | July 29, 2024

The municipality of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip condemned, on Monday, the Israeli army’s bombing of a drinking water reservoir in the Tal Al-Sultan neighbourhood as a grave violation of humanitarian norms, Anadolu Agency reports.

“The Israeli soldiers’ detonation of the main water reservoir in Tal Al-Sultan is a crime against humanity and perpetuates a policy of collective punishment,” Ahmed Soufi, the Mayor of Rafah, said in a statement.

The incident has raised alarm about the worsening water crisis in the area.

“The destruction of the water reservoir will exacerbate the crisis in the city, and we urge involved international entities to intervene and halt the Israeli occupation’s crimes,” the Mayor said.

Earlier on Monday, the Israeli army acknowledged that their soldiers were responsible for the bombing of the water reservoir in Tal Al-Sultan. According to the Israeli daily, Haaretz, an investigation into the incident has been initiated.

One of the soldiers posted a video of the explosion on social media with the caption “Destruction of the Tel Sultan water reservoir in honour of Shabbat,” the daily said.

In recent days, activists circulated a video on social media showing an Israeli soldier planting an explosive device at the main water reservoir in Tal Al-Sultan, followed by the detonation.

Local institutions and municipalities in Gaza have repeatedly accused the Israeli military of deliberately destroying water networks, wells and desalination plants, exacerbating the drinking water crisis.

Also, fuel restrictions imposed by Israel have further hindered the operation of remaining desalination facilities in the region.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since a 7 October, 2023 attack by Hamas.

More than 39,360 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 90,900 injured, according to local health authorities.

Over nine months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on 6 May.

July 29, 2024 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

Did an Israeli Iron Dome missile cause the Majdal Shams massacre?

By Ali Halawi | Al Mayadeen | July 28, 2024

The Majdal Shams strike resulted in the tragic loss of 12 lives, all natives of the occupied Golan. What insights can we recover from the evidence gathered following yesterday’s incident?

Israeli regime authorities claimed on Saturday afternoon that Hezbollah launched a rocket at the occupied town of Majdal Shams, killing twelve civilians, including 10 children, in the process.

The Israeli military command even specified the type of rocket artillery shell used in the alleged attack, which it claimed was the Falaq-1 rocket.

On the other hand, the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon – Hezbollah fully denied any involvement and responsibility for a deadly strike on the village in the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan.

So where does the truth lie?

A brief analysis of the impact site and the video capturing the moment of the strike dismantles the Israeli narrative, bolstering Hezbollah’s account.

A few points must be made clear before analyzing the moment of the strike on Majdal Shams and the aftermath caused by the explosion.

First, Israeli officials said the Israeli occupation forces were able to identify the shell used in the attack as the Falaq-1 rocket, reportedly confirming their suspicions.

The Falaq-1 rocket is a rocket artillery shell with the following specifications:

  • 240 mm caliber
  • 1320 mm length
  • Estimated 10 km range
  • Maximum flight ceiling of 3.5 km
  • 50 kg high explosive warhead
  • Solid-propellant rocket

Second, high-explosive warheads usually contain a mixture of explosives alongside components that would act as shrapnel propelled by the pressure caused by the aforementioned explosives. Following the moment of impact with the surface, a crater should be formed.

The size of this crater varies according to several factors, which include the mass of the explosives, the pressure generated by the warhead into the ground, and the surface’s composition, among other elements.

Third, the Falaq rocket exhausts the solid propellant less than two seconds after being fired.

Israeli Iron Dome interceptors record multiple failures since October
Another important nuance that would aid Hezbollah’s denial of involvement is the failure of Iron Dome interceptors, Tamir surface-to-air missiles, on several occasions in the past months.

This includes a crash of an Iron Dome interceptor in Tel Aviv in early December 2023 and a fire caused by an Israeli interceptor in occupied al-Jalil following a failed interception of a Hezbollah drone on July 25, 2024.

There are many such incidents, with some being captured live on camera, including an event in which an Israeli Tamir missile struck a hospital in Tel Aviv on November 6, 2023.

Several technical issues related to an Iron Dome battery could result in a catastrophic interception failure. These issues include a malfunctioning engagement radar, a faulty radar seeker, a defective self-detonation sensor, and a compromised motor, among other potential problems. The most dangerous of these are faults in self-detonating sensors, which leave operators unable to destroy rogue surface-to-air missiles.

Did an Israeli Tamir missile impact Majdal Shams?

It is highly probable that faults in a surface-to-air missile fired from an Iron Dome launcher just behind Majdal Shams caused the grave massacre.

Majdal Shams, which is among the towns and cities occupied by “Israel” in 1967, hosts a vast majority of Arab Syrian Druze and a minority of Israeli settlers. The town and other similar demographics, where natives are significantly represented, have not come under the direct fire of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon since October 8, 2023.

Although the Resistance has launched highly precise weapons such as an anti-tank guided missile and drones at Israeli military positions in towns such as Arab al-Aramshe, it never fired unguided rocket artillery weapons at these towns.

Specifically, Majdal Shams has never come under an attack by Hezbollah, throughout the nearly 300 days of intense confrontations near the Lebanese-Palestinian border.

The Resistance has also not been shy of taking responsibility for mishaps in the past, such as an incident in the 2006 war on Lebanon when a rocket launched by Hezbollah fighters impacted a home in occupied al-Nasirah.

The attack took place on July 19, 2006, and the Secretary-General of Hezbollah Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah took the nearest opportunity amid the ongoing war to apologize to the family.

“To the family that was hit in al-Nasirah — on my behalf and my brothers’, I apologize to this family,” he said.

“Some events like that happen. In any event, those who were killed in al-Nasirah, we consider them martyrs for Palestine and martyrs for the nation. I pay my condolences to them.”

A corresponding crater

As for evidence collected from the impact site, the crater formed by the projectile is around 2 meters wide and a few centimeters deep. This indicates that the warhead that detonated in the area is far less than 50 kg and closer to the 10 kg range.

In comparison, a crater formed by a Falaq-1 rocket in Kiryat Shmona ripped through cement and caused extensive damage to nearby infrastructure as seen in this video.

The Falaq-1 rocket is among Hezbollah’s heaviest rocket artillery shells that can be fired from multiple rocket launchers and which can cause extensive damage to targets.

On the other hand, the crater seen in Majdal Shams could be more closely attributed to a Tamir missile.

The possibility that Hezbollah used a smaller caliber munition to conduct the attack is improbable, as it was Israeli authorities who claimed that the munition used in the attack was a Falaq-1 rocket.

Large flames produced by liquid propellant

Another aspect to examine is the relatively large amount of combustion that occurred as a result of the impact on the football field.

High-explosive warheads generally do not produce large fireballs upon detonation. Instead, they create a powerful blast wave and intense fragmentation. The explosion of an HE warhead primarily generates heat, shock waves, and shrapnel rather than a visible fireball. A large-sized and visible fireball is typically associated with the combustion of fuel, such as that found in rocket engines or fuel tanks.

As seen in this footage, the projectile produced a large fireball.

A Tamir missile launched from a nearby position is likely to contain a substantial amount of fuel, as the air defense rocket was designed to fly for around 70 km. This means that the majority of the fuel meant for the missile’s flight after take-off detonated and produced the fireball seen in the video.

Despite Israeli assertions of a Hezbollah attack using a Falaq-1 rocket, substantial analysis points towards a malfunctioning Israeli Tamir interceptor missile as the more plausible cause of the explosion. The discrepancies in crater size, the nature of the explosion, and Hezbollah’s historical targeting patterns all support this alternative explanation. The true story behind the Majdal Shams explosion remains shrouded, but the evidence presented here offers a compelling case for reconsidering the initial narrative.

July 29, 2024 Posted by | Deception, False Flag Terrorism | , | Leave a comment

‘Netanyahu prevents 150 sick Gaza children from seeking treatment abroad’

Press TV – July 29, 2024

A new report released by Israeli media says the regime’s prime minister has prevented more than 100 sick Gazan children from seeking medical treatment abroad.

The Sunday report by Israel’s Kan public broadcaster said Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to prevent about 150 sick and wounded Palestinian children from leaving Gaza for the United Arab Emirates to receive treatment.

The Kan report said the Palestinian kids were ready to be flown out to the United Arab Emirates on Monday afternoon.

The new development came after the Israeli premier had earlier opposed the establishment of a field hospital in the southern part of the occupied territories for the treatment of Gazan children whose health condition was deteriorating amid the regime’s genocidal war on the besieged territory.

Physicians for Human Rights, which is a US-based non-profit human rights nongovernmental organization, says Israel has consistently failed to fulfill its obligations in this regard in in previous experiences.

While plans had been made for 250 sick and wounded Palestinians to depart Gaza for the UAE during the current week, Palestinian sources in Gaza said those in need of treatment are at least 100 times this number, noting that there are at least 25,000 patients who need to travel abroad.

They added that the number of sick and wounded people who have left the blockaded Palestinian territory since the beginning of the Israeli aggression does not exceed 5,000.

Physicians for Human Rights and a number of other human rights organizations have filed a petition, demanding that patients and wounded people facing life-threatening conditions be allowed to leave Gaza to receive the necessary treatment.

July 29, 2024 Posted by | Subjugation - Torture, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

INTERVIEW: Basil Valentine & Prof. Glenn Diesen – EU Childishly Boycotts Budapest

21Wire | July 26, 2024

TNT Radio guest host Basil Valentine speaks with Professor and political scientist Glenn Diesen, to discuss the EU’s unprecedented efforts to punish Hungary, one of its members, for entertaining diplomatic talks with the Russian Federation. They talk about Western diplomacy and how it is no longer about appeasement but about schooling peers and near-peer enemies on compliance. They touch upon the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban’s strong relationship with former U.S. President Trump who if elected, will favour negotiation with the Russians to bring an end to the Russo-Ukrainian conflict to avoid WWIII and a possible nuclear holocaust.

More from Glenn:
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July 29, 2024 Posted by | Militarism, Video | , , , , | Leave a comment