Israeli Defence Forces (IDF)

Netanyahu is behind Iran war, not Trump – and that makes peace unlikely

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Original article by Paul Rogers republished from OpenDemocracy under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. 

Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu will block peace in Iran however he can | Ronen Zvulun / POOL / AFP via Getty Images

Israel’s strikes on Lebanon are a reminder that Netanyahu will do whatever he can to avoid a peace deal with Iran

Within hours of Donald Trump accepting a two-week ceasefire in Iran, walking back on his dire threat that “a whole civilisation will die”, Binyamin Netanyahu did his best to wreck any prospect of peace.

Israel launched an intense bombardment of Beirut and other Lebanese towns and cities, with 100 attacks in the first ten minutes. More than 300 people were killed and more than a thousand wounded, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) also carried out a series of strikes across Gaza, including a precisely targeted armed drone attack on the car of Al Jazeera journalist Mohammed Wishah, the 262nd journalist to be killed by Israel since October 2023.

These massacres serve as a reminder that it was Netanyahu, not Trump, who started the war on Iran and that he continues to pull the strings. For as long as that’s true, the prospects of a lasting peace deal are very low.

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Provided the Strait of Hormuz remains open, Trump can now claim victory – even if that claim is far from the truth – but Netanyahu could not.

Trump wanted to kill Ayatollah Khamenei and cripple the Iranian military, including its nuclear ambitions, so Iran could not threaten its neighbours, especially Israel. Of course, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has not been crippled, but the US president’s self-belief and capacity to lie mean he would likely get away with saying otherwise.

The Israeli PM, however, needed regime change and the irreversible end of theocratic rule. A win over Iran had to be complete, not least to ensure his success at Israel’s general election later in the year.

But the Iranian regime is still intact; the popular Iranian uprising against the theocracy that the US and Israel expected failed to materialise. As such, a peace deal at this point would be a disaster for Netanyahu. If his devastating IDF Lebanon assault fails, he no doubt has more tricks of persuasion up his sleeve.

The extent of Netanyahu’s control of the war agenda, both its origins and its conduct, has been both disguised by Trump’s bombastic attention-seeking and overshadowed by the actions of the IRGC, which has survived intense bombing and developed a clear strategy: attack the eyes and ears of US and Israeli systems.

As Kelly Grieco, a specialist at the Stimson Centre, a Washington-based foreign affairs think tank, puts it, the IRGC is systematically targeting three “distinct functional categories”: radar and communications infrastructure, aerial tankers and airborne early warning.

“Each is a critical enabler of US air operations,” Grieco told Defense News. “That’s not random. That’s a target set derived from an understanding of how US airpower functions and where it is most exposed. The pattern suggests deliberate doctrine, or something close enough to it, not opportunism.”

The IRGC indeed reports that its US targets have included the Bahrain HQ of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet – the US’s primary hub for coordinating its naval operations in the region – a $1.1bn early warning radar in Qatar, and two radar facilities at sites in the UAE. It also successfully attacked the US’s Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, destroying an E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control plane. Two weeks earlier, it hit and damaged five KC-135 Stratotanker refuelling aircraft at the same base.

It is essential to remember that the IRGC was founded in the immediate aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution and expanded in size and power during the Iran-Iraq War between 1980 and 1988, when as many as half a million young Iranians died resisting Saddam Hussein’s opportunistic invasion of Iran.

Back then, the IRGC managed to prevent Hussein from annexing Iran’s oil-rich Khuzestan province and gaining total control over the disputed Shatt al-Arab waterway. It has evolved into an ideological entity rooted in the defence of the revolution and is much stronger than Iran’s conventional armed forces.

The IRGC’s strength continues to lie in asymmetric defensive warfare. It has training, arsenals and weapons suited to survival and the wearing down of its much stronger opponents. The success of this approach against the US and Israel is clear, despite the thousands of Iranians killed or maimed and the billions of dollars of damage inflicted across the country.

Taking control of the Strait of Hormuz has been an obvious move, and even the repeated attacks on neighbouring states have a purpose. They may have shocked and angered leaders in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar, but they sent a clear message: we are facing an existential threat from the US and Israel, and you are either with us or against us.

Iran could now continue the conflict with the US and Israel for weeks, if not months, if it so chooses. Despite the claims of the US president, the IRGC is not running out of missiles and armed drones – far from it.

CNN reports that around half of its missile launchers are still intact, as are thousands of one-way attack drones, while armed drones are being produced in backstreet workshops. Even Israel assesses that Iran still has more than 1,000 missiles capable of reaching it, while Hezbollah’s arsenal in Lebanon includes as many as 10,000 shorter-range rockets, according to military briefings cited by Israeli media last weekend.

Given all of this, can the peace talks succeed? Probably not, meaning the US may embark on a huge bombing campaign against the Iranian infrastructure and its very society, to the relief of Netanyahu.

There are still two avenues for hope, though. One is that Trump or the US public comes to realise that Netanyahu has been pulling the strings all along, which would undoubtedly dent the US president’s ego. The other is through the objection of external agents of influence; superpowers such as China or India could make clear that destroying Iranian society is not acceptable.

Extraordinarily, given its small size, the UK is also an external agent with specific influence. A sustained US bombing campaign of Iran requires the mass use of strategic air power – for the US Air Force, that must include the fleet of B-1B Lancer long-range bombers. Only 21 of those are reported to be “mission ready”, 15 of which are at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, each carrying more than 30 tons of a wide range of ordnance.

The loss of Fairford wouldn’t stop the war, but it would seriously hinder Trump’s plans. No other comparable European bases are available; only Fairford has the necessary and complex equipment to house the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber and the easy access to a huge munitions depot, which is located at the nearby RAF Welford. In any case, the UK is likely the only European state that would want a US air base like this right now.

A private word from Keir Starmer that the UK may follow Spain and others in closing its airspace to American war planes would have a direct impact. It would certainly help explain Starmer’s unexpected visit this week to the Middle East.

Original article by Paul Rogers republished from OpenDemocracy under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. 

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is defensively bombing Iraq in support of Israel's genocidal expansionism. He explains that while his bombs still kill people that they are especially called defensive for the gullible and to be harder to convict of war crimes.
Keir Starmer explains that UK is defensively bombing Iraq in support of Israel’s genocidal expansionism. He explains that while his bombs still kill people that they are especially called defensive for the gullible and to be harder to convict of war crimes.
Genocide denying former UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says that UK is suspending 30 of 350 arms licences to Israel. He also confirms the UK government's support for Israel's Gaza genocide and the UK government and military's active participation in genocide.
Genocide denying UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says that UK is suspending 30 of 350 arms licences to Israel. He also confirms the UK government’s support for Israel’s Gaza genocide and the UK government and military’s active participation in genocide.
Continue ReadingNetanyahu is behind Iran war, not Trump – and that makes peace unlikely

For the US and Israel, the Iran war is exposing an uncomfortable new world order

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Original article by Paul Rogers republished from OpenDemocracy under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence.

Is the US’s global economic dominance slipping away as a result of Trump’s gamble in Iran? | Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images

With Tehran closer to achieving its war aims than Washington or Tel Aviv, the global economic balance of power is shifting

After four weeks of the US-Israeli war on Iran, the conflict dynamics have become ever more complex. While none of the three main actors has achieved their aims, Iran has undoubtedly come closest, despite the gigantic clouds of hubris that have characterised Trumpian political output so far.

Ordinary Iranians have suffered appallingly – with towns and cities damaged, thousands killed and injured, food shortages and rigorous control of dissent – but there is little sign of leadership collapse. The heads of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will now be quietly confident in regime survival; those assassinated have been replaced, and the state remains functional.

For Donald Trump and Binyamin Netanyahu, the unexpected challenge in defeating Tehran is exposing an uncomfortable new reality: the global economic balance of power is shifting away from the North Atlantic to the Indo-Pacific.

Across the board, the IRGC’s decades of preparations have so far worked well against the immense combined military force of Israel and the US. Analysis suggests that most of Iran’s 200 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium-235 survived last year’s US attack and may be hidden in bunkers at Isfahan and at Pickaxe Mountain near Fordow. These hugely valuable stocks are close enough to “weapons-grade” enrichment, and are reportedly too deep to be destroyed by bunker-busting bombs – instead requiring very risky ground assaults.

The Pentagon is already said to be moving weapons and personnel suited to this task towards the warzone, including 2,000 troops from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division trained “to parachute into hostile or contested territory to secure key territory and airfields”, but the IRGC has likely widely dispersed its stockpile to mitigate this risk.

Similarly, Tehran has long prepared for a confrontation over the Strait of Hormuz, including amassing a fleet of more than 1,000 fast attack craft, thousands of mines, numerous shore-based anti-ship missiles able to range widely over the Gulf, swarms of drones to saturate anti-missile defences and crewless armed subsurface craft.

The IRGC remains in control and able to fire the ballistic and cruise missiles and armed drones it has aimed variously at Israel and other nearby states in the region. Even if barely one in 20 gets through, that would be enough, symbolism being so important. Take last weekend’s Iranian attack on the Israeli city of Dimona, just five miles from the symbolically important and closely protected Shimon Perez Nuclear Research Centre, the heart of Israel’s own nuclear weapons research and development programme.

To complicate matters further for the US and Israel, Tehran is in the process of acquiring stocks of the Chinese anti-ship missiles that Beijing claims are the most effective weapon of its kind, the 180-mile-range surface-hugging CM-302. China knows all too well that the missile’s use in a successful Iranian attack on a US Navy destroyer, cruiser or even an aircraft carrier would transform its export potential for at least a decade.

If its survival becomes seriously threatened, Iran could force the long-term closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the destruction of desalination plants and the termination of oil and gas output in the region. Ask why they are hitting otherwise friendly states, and the IRGC will have a ready reply: ‘friendly’ can no longer mean allying in any way with the Americans. It will view the choice as between Muslim Iran and the bully in Washington with its Zionist ally.

That analysis may seem over the top, but anything less is dangerously missing the point.

The US and Israel have got it badly wrong, particularly as the Israeli Defence Force is also struggling on its “second front” in southern Lebanon, where it hoped to occupy and then depopulate the area to terminate Hezbollah as a functioning paramilitary movement. Hezbollah’s vigorous resistance may be one reason for the IDF’s controversial use of white phosphorus artillery shells, and also its practice of flattening entire villages with bulldozers.

Trying to understand what is likely to happen next is hugely complicated, but as I said last week, by far the most sensible action Trump can now take is to declare victory and withdraw, get his forces out of the way as quickly as possible and warn Netanyahu not to make trouble.

Will the US president do so? Highly unlikely, except for just one factor that most analysts are missing. He might be forced to.

The oil-rich Gulf states, especially Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, are immensely wealthy. In terms of sovereign wealth funds alone, we are talking about over $4trn, and there are many other investment strengths to play with. Add a friendly China, and you get nearly twice that.

How that plays out in terms of withdrawal of investments and other multiple private pressures on Washington and Wall Street is not clear, but a new reality is unfolding. The US may still be the world’s leading military power, at least for now – but in this crisis, that’s less relevant than ever.

Original article by Paul Rogers republished from OpenDemocracy under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence.

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Straight of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don't need people to join wars after they've already won. He's challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Straight of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don’t need people to join wars after they’ve already won. He’s challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes' concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country's economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
Continue ReadingFor the US and Israel, the Iran war is exposing an uncomfortable new world order

MBDA: Labour’s arms manufacturer knee-deep in Gazan blood

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/mbda-labours-arms-manufacturer-knee-deep-gazan-blood

 Defence Secretary John Healey (third left) and his French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu (second left) view a long-range air-launched Storm Shadow cruise missile, during a visit to MDBA in Hertfordshire, July 9, 2025

MBDA’s Alabama factory makes components for Boeing’s GBU-39 bombs used to kill civilians in Gaza. Its profits flow through Stevenage to Paris — and it is one of the British government’s favourite firms, reveals SOLOMON HUGHES

LAST MONTH, a Guardian report revealed that pan-European missile maker MBDA manufactures a key component for one of the bombs the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) are raining on Gaza.

The report, based on a thorough joint work between the Guardian, French investigative group Disclose and Dutch journalism organisation called Follow The Money, showed how this top European weapons maker is deeply implicated in the widespread killing of civilians.

One extra point I want to add to their investigation is that MBDA is one of the British government’s favourite firms, with multiple links to Team Starmer. This shows how Labour’s close embrace of the arms industry compromises its stance on Gaza.

The July Guardian investigation showed MBDA makes the “wings” for Boeing’s GBU-39 bomb, which unfold after launch so the bomb can be guided to target. Since 2023 the US has actively promoted the IDF’s use of GBU-39’s, arguing this smaller 250-pound munition causes less “collateral damage” than bigger bombs. But by dropping many of these smaller bombs exported from the US, often on “soft” targets, the IDF have killed many civilians.

The distinctive GBU-39 “wings” are often found in the wreckage of these deadly attacks. The investigation pointed out that while this is a smaller bomb, it is very deadly when used against people as “in an enclosed space, it creates a lethal fireball.”

For example, a GBU-39 was used in the attack on the Fahmi al-Jarjawi school in Gaza City in May. This killed 36 people, half of them children, and is memorable because of much-watched footage of one of the children, five-year-old Hanin al-Wadie, stumbling around in the flames. Wadie survived, although with extremely serious burns.

…

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/mbda-labours-arms-manufacturer-knee-deep-gazan-blood

Article continues with a discussion of Health Secretary Wes Streeting inviting  US General Stanley McChrystal and a former 22 SAS Squadron Commander to give advice on NHS reform.

Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza's hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel's Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don't do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
Vote Labour for Genocide.
Vote Labour for Genocide.
Continue ReadingMBDA: Labour’s arms manufacturer knee-deep in Gazan blood

Israel kills Al Jazeera news team near Shifa Hospital in Gaza

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This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 

Palestinians carry the body of Gaza correspondent for Qatar-based Al Jazeera television Anas al-Sharif, who was killed in an attack by the Israeli army on a journalists’ tent near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza Strip on August 11, 2025. [Ayman Majed Harb Alhisi – Anadolu Agency]

Israeli forces killed an Al Jazeera news team near al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Sunday evening. The team’s tent was struck by Israeli warplanes, resulting in the deaths of five journalists and their driver.

The journalists killed included correspondents Anas Al Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh, camera operators Ibrahim Zaher and Moamen Aliwa, and their driver Mohammed Noufal. 

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) acknowledged the strike and claimed Anas Al Sharif was a Hamas cell leader responsible for rocket attacks. Human rights organisations and press freedom groups—such as the United Nations and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)—denounced the claim as unsubstantiated. Al Jazeera rejected the allegations, calling the attack an attempt to silence its reporting.

Al Jazeera described the strike as “yet another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom” ahead of a possible occupation of Gaza. The network and press freedom advocates warned that targeting media workers threatens press safety in conflict zones and diminishes independent coverage. 

READ: Around 260 journalists denounce Israeli restrictions ‘silencing independent observation’

Anas Al Sharif, aged 28, was especially known for his courageous frontline reporting from northern Gaza. He was seen as a “voice” for the hungry and bereaved in the Gaza Strip, especially with the intensification of the Israeli siege on the Strip.   

Journalists Al-Sharif and Qureiqa were keen to convey the voice of civilians and the hungry in the Gaza Strip to the world and expose the crimes of the occupation.

Al-Sharif had been subjected to continuous and repeated incitement from Israeli officials and electronic media.

Days before his death, he warned of intense bombardments and emphasised the suffering of civilians in Gaza.

Al Jazeera called on the international community and all relevant organisations to “take decisive measures to halt this ongoing genocide and end the deliberate targeting of journalists”.

Since the conflict began on 7 October 2023, more than 200 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza, according to Al Jazeera and Gaza authorities. 

READ: 8 European countries ‘strongly condemn’ Israeli plans to occupy Gaza

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 

Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza's hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA
Vote Labour for Genocide.
Vote Labour for Genocide.
Continue ReadingIsrael kills Al Jazeera news team near Shifa Hospital in Gaza