Iran’s leaders have repeatedly vowed to punish #Israel for an April 1 strike in #Syria that killed several snr Iranian commanders. Israel has put its military on alert, & #Biden said on Wed that #Iran was threatening a “significant” attack.
Gen #MichaelKurilla the American commander, will coordinate w/Israel on what is widely expected to be imminent retaliatory action by Iran & will also discuss the #war against #Hamas in #Gaza & #humanitarian#aid operations there….
Given its myriad other highly-publicised crimes in recent months, perhaps it is understandable that #Israel's deadly (#USA-backed) attack on a consulate of #Iran inside #Syria ten days ago didn't get an enormous amount of attention. This is a big deal. It was an open act of war between two of the most heavily armed nations in the region. Iranian retaliation in some form is very likely, which will undoubtedly be used by western governments and media as justification for further warmongering and escalation (or simply as a useful deflection from the ongoing #GazaGenocide).
If you're a fan of a rules-based international order, or simply hope for societal relationships based on things other than power and violence, notice who follows widely-agreed upon rules, who openly flouts them, and who promotes them when it suits but turns a blind eye when it doesn't.
How can we help those around us from falling prey to jingoistic manipulation that tries to scare us into granting a social licence for more imperial violence?
(If you think diplomatic conventions and international law are useless bunk because everything always ultimately comes down to violence, then I pity you your loneliness.)
"Opening trade war, Turkey imposes restrictions on Israel until Gaza ceasefire
Ankara’s trade ministry lists 54 items that will not be exported to Israel, which says it will draw up its own ‘extensive’ inventory of Turkish products it will ban"
Despite widespread agreement that neither country can be considered safe, Gerhard Karner says that the ban on forced returns should be reexamined "in the medium term"
"The IDF is supposed to protect aid workers. Aid agencies say the Israeli military has been attacking them for months.
“This pattern of attacks is either intentional or indicative of reckless incompetence,” top Doctors Without Borders official Christopher Lockyear said."
"Israel’s begrudging approach to humanitarian aid could cost it the war in Gaza
Netanyahu pressured into announcing new measures for Gazans in wake of deadly strike on WCK aid workers, but again Jerusalem is seen as doing too little, too late"
Following is a thread of quotes from #TheGlobalJigsaw latest episode on the #IRGC, #Quds force, #Basij militias - and th ideological blueprint for #Iran so called Axis of Resistance. Whole episode here:
He was already a notorious figure around the time of the Arab Spring and the outbreak of the #Syrian civil war.
In #Syria first it was #Soleimani 's role in ensuring that the #IRGC propped up the govt of Bashar al #Assad after the outbreak of civil war - he reportedly personally convinced the supreme leader, who he had a direct line to, to intervene in Syria on Assad's behalf. And then again, reportedly goes to #Moscow to convince #Putin to intervene in Syria on Assad’s behalf.
(cont.)
#Israel has said it has informed the families of 31 people held in the territory since 7 October that their relatives are dead. The news came as the Qatari prime minister said #Hamas had given a “generally positive” response to proposals for a deal trading a break in the fighting and release of #Palestinian prisoners for the return of more #hostages.