Palestine

‘Syria is Gaza on steroids’: Israeli minister says war with Damascus is ‘absolute certainty’

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Israel Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli. [Shahar Azran/Getty Images]

“Syria is Gaza on steroids, and that is the next war, with absolute certainty”, said Amichai Chikli Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister. “There is no avoiding it.” 

Chikli’s remarks come as Israel is already waging military campaigns across multiple fronts in the region, including Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Iran, while carrying out attacks elsewhere in the Middle East. Israeli leaders have themselves described the conflict as a war on seven fronts

The remarks are not the first time Chikli has openly threatened war against Damascus. In June, he said Israel would wage war on Syria “sooner or later”, claiming that Syria and Turkiye posed a greater challenge to Israel than Iran. “We will wage war on Syria, sooner or later, because it and Turkiye are far more worrying than Iran,” Chikli said at the time.  

Chikli’s latest threat comes as Israeli forces already occupy Syrian territory and carry out repeated incursions into the country. Following the fall of Bashar Al-Assad’s government in December 2024, Israel declared the 1974 Disengagement Agreement void, moved into the UN-monitored buffer zone adjoining the occupied Syrian Golan Heights and established military positions deeper inside southern Syria. 

Israeli operations have continued despite the new Syrian leadership repeatedly signalling that it does not seek war with Israel. Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa has called for Israeli forces to return to the positions they held before Assad’s fall, while Israel has demanded a demilitarised zone extending through much of southern Syria.  

READ: Katz says Israel to remain in ‘security zones’ in Lebanon, Syria, & Gaza

Only days before Chikli’s comments, Israeli troops again entered Quneitra province, erected checkpoints and searched civilians and vehicles. Israeli forces have conducted repeated raids, searches, arrests and artillery attacks across southern Syria in recent months. On Friday, Syrian state media reported that Israeli forces opened fire towards civilian homes in the Daraa countryside, forcing some residents to flee.  

The declaration that another war is an “absolute certainty” comes as Israel’s aggression has expanded across multiple fronts. Israel continues to control territory illegally in Palestine, has seized a swathe of southern Lebanon following its latest war with Hezbollah and occupies additional Syrian land beyond the Golan Heights. Israel also launched a major war against Iran alongside the US earlier this year.  

In Lebanon, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said this week that Israeli troops would remain in what Israel calls a “security zone” until Hezbollah is disarmed, ordering the army to prepare for an “extended presence”. Washington responded that a permanent Israeli military presence in southern Lebanon would contradict commitments made under the US-backed agreement with Beirut.  

Israel’s increasingly aggressive regional posture is widely seen as a contributing factor in the reordering of security relations across the Middle East. Last week, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan signed the landmark Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, under which an armed attack against one of the three countries will be regarded as an attack against all.  

The pact brings together three of the Muslim world’s most consequential military powers: NATO member Turkiye, nuclear-armed Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, the region’s largest Arab economy. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has compared its collective-defence provision to NATO’s Article 5, under which an attack against one member is treated as an attack against all.  

READ: Israeli army opens fire on civilian areas in Daraa, southern Syria: State TV

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UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham admits to blatently lying and engaging in deception to become leader of the UK Labour Party and Prime Minister.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham admits to blatently lying and engaging in deception to become leader of the UK Labour Party and Prime Minister.
Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it's fun to kill everyone ... unless he gets distracted or falls asleep.
Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it’s fun to kill everyone … unless he gets distracted or falls asleep.
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up

Continue Reading‘Syria is Gaza on steroids’: Israeli minister says war with Damascus is ‘absolute certainty’

Egypt presses Israel to reopen Rafah crossing for goods: Report

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Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing wait to cross into the Gaza Strip early on October 15, 2025, after Israel said it would allow the crossing to reopen for humanitarian aid to enter from Egypt into the Palestinian territory. [STR/AFP via Getty Images]

Egypt is pressing for the reopening of the Rafah border crossing with Gaza to allow goods into the enclave, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported Wednesday, Anadolu reports.

“By contrast, Israel insists on limiting the entry of goods to the Kerem Shalom crossing, which is under its control,” the broadcaster said.

Israel’s security establishment and political leadership have informed the US and Nikolay Mladenov, the high representative of the Peace Council, of their unified position “not to allow the entry of goods into the Gaza Strip except through the Kerem Shalom crossing,” the broadcaster said, citing an unnamed Israeli source.

On Feb. 2, Israel reopened the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, which it has occupied since May 2024, on a limited basis and under tight restrictions.

Following a closure of nearly 20 days after the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran on Feb. 28, Israel reopened the crossing on March 19 under the previous operating mechanism and with strict restrictions.

READ: Hamas threatens withdrawal from Gaza understandings amid continued Israeli air strikes

The crossing currently operates on a limited basis for pedestrians only. Dozens of patients, wounded Palestinians and other humanitarian cases are intermittently allowed to leave under tight Israeli monitoring and restrictions.

Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza are still awaiting permission to travel for medical treatment.

Egypt had not officially commented on the Israeli broadcaster’s report as of 0930GMT.

Before Israel’s genocide in Gaza, hundreds of Palestinians traveled daily through Rafah to Egypt, while hundreds of others returned to the enclave. The crossing was operated by Gaza’s Interior Ministry and Egyptian authorities without Israeli intervention.

Since the start of Israel’s genocide in Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023, around 73,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 173,000 injured, while nearly 90% of the enclave’s civilian infrastructure has been destroyed.

READ: Egyptian foreign minister, Board of Peace envoy discuss next phase of Gaza ceasefire

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Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up

Continue ReadingEgypt presses Israel to reopen Rafah crossing for goods: Report

Burnham must end Starmer’s criminalisation of peaceful protest

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https://greens.scot/news/burnham-must-end-starmer-s-criminalisation-of-peaceful-protest

Palestine flag
Palestine flag

Solidarity with Palestine should never be a crime.

Andy Burnham must urgently dismantle the authoritarian assault on protest rights created by Keir Starmer’s government, the Scottish Greens have said.

The call follows reports that over 100 people outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court were arrested after peacefully expressing opposition to the genocide in Gaza.

It comes less than a week after far-right demonstrators in Glasgow performed Nazi salutes and became involved in violence and intimidation, where 15 arrests were made.

Scottish Greens justice spokesperson Maggie Chapman MSP said: 

“There is something profoundly wrong when people peacefully opposing genocide are immediately surrounded, detained and treated like terrorists, while men performing Nazi salutes during violent far-right disorder can walk away and wait to see whether the police eventually knock on their doors.

“People holding signs and expressing an opinion were arrested en masse. Meanwhile, self-declared Nazis were seemingly allowed to perform fascist salutes in public, intimidate people and cause fear and alarm, and then leave the scene.

“The law must be enforced consistently and proportionately. It cannot be used as an authoritarian weapon against peaceful campaigners while organised fascist thugs spread hatred and intimidation on our streets.

“Keir Starmer did his part in creating this shameful mess by abusing terrorism legislation to criminalise conscience, solidarity and peaceful dissent.”

Maggie added: 

“Protest is not terrorism, and opposing genocide is not a crime.

“This will be one of Andy Burnham’s earliest and most important tests as Prime Minister. He must decide whether he will defend Starmer’s authoritarian legacy or begin undoing it.

“His government should end the prosecutions of peaceful protesters and undertake an urgent review of how counter-terrorism and public-order laws are being used against political dissent.”

https://greens.scot/news/burnham-must-end-starmer-s-criminalisation-of-peaceful-protest

Continue ReadingBurnham must end Starmer’s criminalisation of peaceful protest

DRAFT: Terrorism UK:: Terrorism is defined as attempting to influence the government. It follows that political activists engaging in the democratic process are terrorists

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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. New Labour UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham continues Labour party policy of active support and complicity in Israel's genocide.
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. New Labour UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham continues Labour party policy of active support and complicity in Israel’s genocide.

I mentioned a short time ago that I needed to write a piece on terrorism. This is the first published draft, it may well change.

I decided to publish a piece on terrorism while Anne Widdicombe murder featured prominently in the UK press. Anne Widdicombe was a well-known UK politician who like many Reform politicians had transferred her allegiances from the Conservative Party to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party plc. An intolerant bigot, it’s unclear whether she was immigration and justice spokesperson for the Reform party plc when she was violently murdered by a 28 year old man repeatedly wielding a hammer.

The London Metropolitan Police lead on terrorism policing in the UK. An alleged possible terrorism connection allowed the transfer of the investigation from the regional Devon and Cornwall Police force to the Metropolitan police.

Normal people understand terrorism as being about using bombs to kill people indiscriminately. This is actually very difficult to do because – I suggest that by definition you have to be divorced from normal life, mentally ill to do this – and what we find instead is that nutters attack and kill people using knives, etc.

Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical magazine 'Private Eye'.
Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical magazine ‘Private Eye’.

In UK, terrorism is defined as attempting to influence the government. It follows that political activists engaging in the democratic process are terrorists – including myself wanting government action addressing climate change, disagreeing with fossil fuel exploitation in the North Sea, objecting to and wanting and end to UK’s complicity in Israel’s genocide for colonial expansion. I have a long history of UK police treating me as a suspected terrorist and interfering in my life for my actions as a political activist.

But this is selective of course. Super rich proprietors of newspapers Rupert Murdoch, Lord Rothermere, etc not only attempt to influence the government but no way are these cnuts regarded as terrorists when they are the de-facto the weilders of power. These are cnuts who support Israel’s genocide and deride climate activists as eco-zealots, etc.

As I said earlier, people understand that terrorism is about people indiscriminately killing the public using bombs. This is what Israel is doing with the UK government complicit in it’s actions. This intolerant Fascist government instead accuses people damaging arms factories complicit in genocide, painting military planes, painting banks or retired vicars and other pensioners holding signs with words banned by the government of terrorism.

Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.

Continue ReadingDRAFT: Terrorism UK:: Terrorism is defined as attempting to influence the government. It follows that political activists engaging in the democratic process are terrorists

Yemen’s Houthis claim ballistic missile attack on Saudi oil tanker

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Yemen’s Houthi group shows the firing of the so-called surface-to-surface ‘hypersonic ballistic missile’ at an unrevealed site in Yemen on September 16, 2024 [Houthi Media Center via Getty Images]

Yemen’s Houthi group claimed Tuesday that it targeted the Saudi oil tanker NCC GHAZAL with ballistic missiles, forcing the vessel to turn back, Anadolu reports.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement on US social media platform X that the tanker had violated what the group describes as its maritime ban on Saudi-linked shipping.

He claimed the vessel ignored repeated warnings before being targeted with multiple ballistic missiles, without identifying where the attack took place.

According to Saree, the attack forced the tanker to reverse course and return in the direction from which it had come.

READ: Yemen’s Houthis announce deaths of 9 fighters amid escalating clashes with gov’t forces

The claim could not be independently verified, and there was no immediate comment from Saudi authorities or the vessel’s operator.

The Houthis announced on July 20 what they called a maritime navigation ban on Saudi Arabia, claiming it was in response to what they describe as a Saudi blockade on areas under their control in Yemen.

Last week, the group also claimed to have targeted two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea with ballistic missiles and drones, alleging the attacks caused fires aboard the vessels. Saudi authorities have vowed to take necessary measures to protect their vessels.

READ: Saudi Arabia calls on Iraq to prevent its territory from being used for attacks

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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/. New UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham is pursuing the same policy of active support of and denial of genocide by Israel.
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/. New UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham is pursuing the same policy of active support of and denial of genocide by 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 ReadingYemen’s Houthis claim ballistic missile attack on Saudi oil tanker