The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued on Thursday an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured) and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan applied for the warrants in May, claiming they are responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip. The ICC said it has reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Gallant bear criminal responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts. The court argued that there was “no justification” for restricting humanitarian aid and that Netanyahu and Galalnt’s conduct “deprived a significant portion of the civilian population in Gaza of their fundamental rights.” The court also noted that they had “measures available to them” to prevent these crimes but that they failed to employ them. The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for the leader of Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, accusing him of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes against Israel.
US rejects ICC’s arrest warrant for Netanyahu
The Biden administration “fundamentally” rejected on Thursday the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. A White House spokesperson told Barak Ravid, a global affairs correspondent for Axios, that Washington is currently talking about the “next steps.” “We remain deeply concerned by the Prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision. The United States has been clear that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over this matter,” the spokesperson remarked. Meanwhile, European officials stated that the ICC’s decision had nothing to do with politics and “has to be respected and implemented.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov blamed on Thursday the Biden administration for the recent escalation in the war with Ukraine, claiming that it “adds fuel to the fire of the Ukrainian conflict, preventing any dynamics toward its completion and using Ukraine as a tool in their hands in their war with the Russian Federation.” The United States allowed Ukraine to use long-range missiles to strike Russia last week, resulting in Ukraine firing US-made ATACMS missiles earlier this week. Peskov insisted that Russia “takes a responsible position” regarding nuclear weapons, making “maximum efforts” to prevent a nuclear conflict. He called on other nuclear states to act accordingly and refrain from “engaging in provocative actions.” NN: Trump will force a peace deal..
Zelensky says Putin using Ukraine as ‘training ground’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of using Ukraine as a “training ground” after Kiev announced this morning that an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was launched from the Russian territory for the first time since the war started. “Today, our crazy neighbor once again showed what he really is and how he despises dignity, freedom, and people’s lives in general,” Zelensky wrote on his Telegram Channel. “He [Putin] is so afraid that he is already using new missiles,” the Ukrainian president stressed, noting that an investigation into the missile launch is currently underway. “It is obvious that Putin is afraid when there is simply a normal life around him,” Zelensky added. Tensions between the two countries escalated further after Washington approved the use of US-made missiles by Kiev to strike targets within Russian territory. The Russian Ministry of Defense also shared today that it intercepted 2 British-French long-range missiles. NN: Of course all this happened after the crazy Ukrainians launched several US ballistic rockets deep into Russian territory and blew a amination dump
Some say Israel now has scope to attack Iran’s nuclear program
Others say Hezbollah’s strength is threatened by ongoing militia fighting
For years, Israelis were told that in the next war with Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia would fire thousands of rockets and missiles a day, overwhelming their air defenses, causing blackouts, death and destruction. Yet three months after Israel turned its military to the north, Hezbollah is firing barely 100 on the most intense days and appears vastly degraded as a military threat, driving it to accept US-brokered negotiations for a cease-fire unrelated to the war in Gaza. Along with the dismantling of the Palestinian militant group Hamas and two air strikes on Iran, Israel’s campaigns have shifted domestic perceptions of its position from one of acute vulnerability after the devastating attack from Gaza a year ago to one of decisive strength. “Israel is now on the verge of a strategic turning point, in a position where it has restored its military superiority over Iran and its proxies,” Professor Eitan Shamir of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University wrote in a research paper last month.
NB: Don’t screw with the Jew bastards because they will screw you to the Wall. Every war the Islamic savages have started in the past 70 years they have lost. And claimed human rights violations and looked for the UN to bail them out
For much of the world, Israel’s war on Hamas is about the unfathomable destruction of Gaza and the widespread killing of civilians there and in Lebanon. For Israel, it’s about reversing the feeling of weakness caused by the Hamas-perpetrated massacre in October 2023 and overcoming the Tehran-sponsored militias that surround it. Those militias, especially Hezbollah, are a main reason Israel long exercised caution in confronting Iran. The belief was that Iran had armed Hezbollah precisely so that, if Israel went after Iran, the Lebanese group would unleash its estimated 150,000 rockets and missiles on Israel in a weeks-long storm of destruction. “The fact that Israel hadn’t attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities was always connected to concerns about Hezbollah,” said Danny Citrinowicz, who used to oversee research on Iran inside the country’s military intelligence branch. Israel also worried about Iran’s capacity to fight back, but its October assault there with more than 100 warplanes appears to have stripped the Islamic Republic of a significant number of air defenses. That means Israel is far less afraid of Hezbollah’s missiles or of Iran’s capacity to defend itself, fundamentally altering its perception of the regional strategic picture and raising the possibility of a pre-emptive assault on Iran’s nuclear program. At a military ceremony last month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remarked that his ultimate goal is to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon, adding that now, “we can reach any place in Iran we need to.”
In a speech to Parliament this month, he said Israel had damaged “a specific component” of Iran’s nuclear program. In part, he’s warning Iran not to attack Israel again, as it has done twice this year. But his comments are also part of a public — and bipartisan — debate over whether Israel should seize the moment as Donald Trump enters the White House to impair Iran’s nuclear program, setting back any weapons ambitions. Israel’s ability to carry out an effective attack without the massive bombs and fighter planes deployed by the US is a matter of debate. So is the question of how the US would react if Israel acted alone. The discussion is influenced by the success of its assault on Hezbollah in recent months, one in which almost the entire senior leadership was killed, pagers and walkie talkies exploded in the pockets of thousands of operatives, and repeated bombings took out missile storage facilities and launchers. The attacks have devastated swathes of southern Lebanon and the south Beirut suburbs, pummeling parts of villages into rubble and displacing 1.2 million residents. “Hezbollah has been seriously degraded and now they badly need the cessation of hostilities to save what is left,” said Sami Nader, head of Beirut’s Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs. “The balance of power has seriously tilted in favor of Israel.” To appreciate how surprising and sudden the reduction of the Hezbollah threat has been, it helps to know what the expectations were. Ever since the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, Israeli security experts have been warning about the growing missile arsenal funded by Iran.
A report from Reichman University’s International Institute for Counter-Terrorism last year, parts of which remain classified, is typical. The product of three years of work by 100 specialists, it asserts that if war broke out, Hezbollah could fire 2,500 to 3,000 rockets a day for three weeks. NB: WRONG….. WRONG…. SO WRONG1!
US-sponsored efforts at a cease-fire that would get Hezbollah away from the border, along with a strengthened multinational force and beefed up Lebanese military are under way. US envoy Amos Hochstein, who is in the region, says a deal is “within grasp,” although obstacles remain. There are also attempts to revive peace talks with Hamas, aimed at securing the return of the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza,
Crude gained over 1% on Thursday as markets reacted to a fresh escalation in the Russia-Ukraine war. Earlier this week, Ukraine launched its first long-range missiles onto Russian territory, which prompted Moscow to fire an intercontinental ballistic missile this morning. The latest developments could impact oil supply, with Russia being a major exporter. NB: bullshit!! their is nothing to see here. These missile attacks having been going on for years, Meanwhile, crude oil stockpiles in the United States increased by US oil inventories reportedly up by 4.8M barrels according to the API in the week ending November 15, according to the latest report. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for deliveries in December added 1.34% at 4:01 am ET and sold for $69.64 per barrel. Brent for settlements in January rose by 1.14% a minute later, going for $73.64 a barrel.
Israeli leadership is reportedly preparing for the formal annexation of the West Bank in the coming weeks, a move expected to eliminate the possibility of a two-state solution and reshape the political landscape of the region, a report by US journalist Seymour M. Hersh showed on Wednesday. Hersh said that “a well-informed Washington official” revealed to him this week that the annexation could happen within two weeks, a step that is expected to intensify tensions between Israel and the Arab world, while potentially reshaping the future of Gaza’s rebuilding efforts. The news comes as Israel continues to escalate military actions in Gaza, including forced evacuations of northern residents and further displacements to the south, amid harsh conditions such as food and water shortages. “[The annexation would happen] in the hope that the decisive step will end, once and for all, any talk of a two-state solution and will convince some in the skeptical Arab world to reconsider financing the planned reconstruction of Gaza,” the journalist said.
In his third speech as Hezbollah leader, Naim Qassem says the terror group will attack the center of Tel Aviv in response to the killing of its media relations chief Mohammed Afif in an Israeli strike on a building in central Beirut on Sunday. The strike was carried out in the Ras al-Naba’a neighborhood in the central part of the Lebanese capital, and not in the Hezbollah stronghold in the southern suburbs. Israel must pay a “heavy price” for the assassination, Qassem says. The post Hezbollah leader vows to target central Tel Aviv after media chief killed in Beirut strike appeared first on The Times of Israel
U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) increased by 0.5 million barrels from the previous week. At 430.3 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 4% below the five year average for this time of year. Total motor gasoline
inventories increased by 2.1 million barrels from last week and are about 4% below the five year average for this time of year U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged 16.2 million barrels per day during the week ending November 15, 2024, which was 281 thousand barrels per day less than the previous week’s average. Refineries operated at 90.2% of their operable capacity last week. Gasoline production
decreased last week, averaging 9.3 million barrels per day. Distillate fuel production decreased last week, averaging 4.8 million barrels per day. U.S. crude oil imports averaged 7.7 million barrels per day last week, increased by 1.2 million barrels per day from the previous week. Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 6.6 million barrels per day, 2.7% more than the same four-week period last year. Total motor gasoline imports (including both finished gasoline and gasoline blending components) last week averaged 374 thousand barrels per day, and distillate fuel imports averaged 123 thousand
barrels per day. Both finished gasoline and blending components inventories increased last week. Distillate fuel inventories decreased by 0.1 million barrels last week and are about 4% below the five year average for this time of year. Propane/propylene inventories decreased by 0.7 million barrels from last week and are 10% above the five year average for this time of year. Total commercial petroleum inventories increased by 3.0 million barrels last week. Total products supplied over the last four-week period averaged 20.7 million barrels a day, up by
1.2% from the same period last year. Over the past four weeks, motor gasoline product supplied averaged 8.9 million barrels a day, up by 0.5% from the same period last year. Distillate fuel product supplied averaged 3.8 million barrels a day over the past four weeks, down by 6.4%
from the same period last year. Jet fuel product supplied was down 1.3% compared with the same four-week period last year
BEIRUT (AP) — A United States envoy said an agreement to end the Israel-Hezbollah war is “within our grasp” after talks in Lebanon on Tuesday. However, there was no such optimism in the Gaza Strip, where the looting of nearly 100 aid trucks by armed men worsened an already severe food crisis. Amos Hochstein, the Biden administration’s pointman on Israel and Lebanon, arrived as Hezbollah’s allies in the Lebanese government said the militant group had responded positively to the proposal, which would entail both its fighters and Israeli ground forces withdrawing from a U.N. buffer zone in southern Lebanon. The buffer zone would be policed by thousands of additional U.N. peacekeepers and Lebanese troops. Israel has called for a stronger enforcement mechanism, potentially including the ability to conduct military operations against any Hezbollah threats, something Lebanon is likely to oppose. An Israeli airstrike on Tuesday hit a Lebanese army base in the southern town of Sarafand, killing three soldiers, the army said – the second deadly strike on Lebanese soldiers in as many days. The Israeli military did not immediately comment. At least 41 soldiers have been killed by Israeli bombardment the past month, according to the Lebanese army. Hochstein said he held “very constructive talks” with Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah who is mediating on the group’s behalf. “Specifically today, we have continued to significantly narrow the gaps,” the envoy told reporters after the two-hour meeting. “It’s ultimately the decisions of the parties to reach a conclusion to this conflict. … It is now within our grasp.” Berri said the “situation is good in principle,” although some technical details remain unresolved. The Lebanese side was waiting to hear the results of Hochstein’s talks with Israeli officials, he told the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.
Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel the day after the Hamas attack in what it said was solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas, a fellow Iran-backed militant group. Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes, and all-out war erupted in September.
Israeli bombardment has killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon and wounded almost 15,000, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. It also displaced nearly 1.2 million, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population. On the Israeli side, 87 soldiers and 50 civilians have been killed by rockets, drones and missiles, and tens of thousands of Israelis have been evacuated from homes near the border. NN: A deal will be done….
Iran has agreed to stop producing uranium enriched close to the level required for nuclear weapons, a sign the Islamic Republic may be ready to resolve a standoff with the West over its atomic activities. Monitors from the International Atomic Energy Agency said Tuesday that Iran has begun implementing measures “aimed at stopping the increase of its stockpile,” according to a 12-page report seen by Bloomberg News. The Islamic Republic’s engineers have already taken the first steps necessary to cap output, the IAEA wrote. Iran’s commitment followed discussions between IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian this month in Tehran. While the IAEA still needs to finalize investigations into past Iranian activities, a cap on Iran’s stockpile “would be important” to start rebuilding trust, Grossi wrote in the report. Iran began enriching uranium at up to 60 percent levels in 2021. That material could quickly be upgraded to the 90 percent level typically used in nuclear weapons, prompting concern across Europe and the U.S. The IAEA’s safeguards report is the last before US President-Elect Donald Trump takes office in January, and speculation has been rife about how his administration will address relations with Iran. During his first term that ended in 2021, Trump withdrew the US from an international agreement that capped Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief, imposing a policy on the Islamic Republic dubbed “maximum pressure.”
“It is an early olive branch but also a signal that Iran is willing to negotiate over its nuclear program,” said Vali Nasr, a former senior advisor to the US State Department and professor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. “It is directed at the U.S., since change in Washington will decide the next chapter in Iran’s relations with the West.”
Under President Joe Biden, Iran has become increasingly embroiled in conflict with US ally Israel. The two countries have twice exchanged direct fire this year, including last month, while Tehran-backed militant groups have been battling Israel in both Lebanon and Gaza. IAEA monitors said Iran has held back from feeding uranium into new lines of advanced centrifuges at its Fordow enrichment facility, built into the side of a mountain, which Israel has threatened to attack. Speaking after meeting Grossi last week, Pezeshkian said Iran wants to resolve “ambiguities and alleged doubts about our country’s peaceful nuclear activities,” according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.
Iran still has enough fuel on hand to produce a handful of warheads, the IAEA said, giving it room to maneuver should its leadership make a political decision to move forward with nuclear armament.
Inspectors have lost “continuity of knowledge” over key parts of the country’s nuclear work, which would need to be restored as part of a broader deal to control and oversee activities, they said. The IAEA’s 35-member board of governors is scheduled to convene in the Austrian capital of Vienna on Wednesday to discuss Iran’s nuclear work. NN: This genie will be tough to put back in the bottle. I say bomb the shit out of their nuclear sights
Kremlin may be open to freeze current front line, Reuters says
Zelenskiy earlier said his country won’t concede on territory
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov ensured on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to restart negotiations on the Ukrainian conflict with international leaders, including United States President-elect Donald Trump. “The president has indeed repeatedly – or rather, constantly – stated that he is ready for contacts and negotiations,” Peskov said at a press briefing. However, he stressed that a ‘freeze’ of the conflict along the existing frontlines is not an option for Moscow, adding that Russia is committed to achieving its “special military operation” goals. Furthermore, the spokesperson reiterated that the outgoing US President Joe Biden’s administration is determined to fuel the conflict in Ukraine, stressing that it is doing everything to continue the war.
Russia said it was ready to talk with US President-elect Donald Trump about a potential cease-fire with Ukraine, stoking speculation about how the conflict will eventually end even as it has intensified on all fronts.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Tuesday his country wouldn’t make concessions on sovereignty or territory. Zelenskiy’s own formula for peace is based on obtaining a clear path to North Atlantic Treaty Organization membership and security guarantees for protection until it joins.
Reuters reported that Putin may agree to discuss a carve-up of four regions in Ukraine — Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson — that Russia annexed in 2022, but doesn’t fully control. The Russian leader has declared them to be “forever” part of his country, although only about 77% of the four regions are under the Kremlin’s control, according to Bloomberg calculations based on open-source data. Russia may also be ready to pull out its forces from small slices of territory it holds in Kharkiv and Mykolaiv regions, according to two of the officials cited in the report. Vladimir Putin has said any cease-fire talks must take account of “realities” on the ground
Source: Institute for the Study of War and AEI’s Critical Threats Project With Trump set to take office in two months, both sides have been seeking to strengthen their hands ahead of what could be a period of hard negotiations.
Trump has vowed to end the war quickly, without saying how. His return to the White House also raises the prospect of a sharp cut in US aid to Ukraine, he could also threaten to bolster support to Kyiv to try to pressure Russia into a deal. There are conversations happening in both Kyiv and Moscow to prepare for the shift coming in Washington. Russia has intensified its bombing of Ukraine in recent days. The US embassy in Kyiv closed Wednesday due to what it said was “specific information of a potential significant air attack on November 20.” Russia on Sunday launched one of its largest missile and drone strikes since the start of the war, hitting energy infrastructure and other targets across Ukraine. Putin still insists on Ukraine abandoning its ambitions to join NATO and a ban on the alliance’s troops being stationed on Ukrainian soil, but he’s ready to discuss security guarantees for the neighboring state, according to the Reuters report. Outgoing US President Joe Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to use ATACMS missiles inside Russia could complicate and delay any settlement, Reuters cited two of the people as saying. On Tuesday, Putin signed a decree lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons, just days after Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to carry out strikes deep inside Russia with US-supplied long-range missiles. Moscow on Tuesday said Ukraine used US-made ATACMS to strike Russian territory for the first time.
