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F-22 Jets Arrive in the Middle East to Signal US Support for Israel

Stealthy US Air Force F-22 Raptor jets have arrived in the Middle East in a show of force meant to deter Iran and its proxies from attacking Israel following the assassination of a top Hamas leader. US Central Command announced the arrival in a post on X but didn’t disclose how many jets have been deployed or exactly where they landed in the region. The F-22s send a powerful signal to Iran because “they can operate with impunity in Iranian airspace without Iran being aware,” according to retired Lieutenant General David Deptula.“They can perform not just air-to-air operations but can surreptitiously conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations and have the capacity to deliver bombs as well.”

This deployment of F-22s marks the first to the Middle East since June 2023, when the planes built by Lockheed Martin Corp. were sent in response to what officials said was more aggressive behavior by Russian aircraft. Earlier last year off the coast of South Carolina, an F-22 shot down a Chinese balloon, which the US said was used for high-altitude surveillance. The US has ordered more forces closer to Israel amid concerns that Iran will attack the country at any time in response to the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied it was responsible but its officials haven’t pushed back against the claim.

“This is the biggest crisis deployment of the F-22s” since they went operational in late 2005, according to Rebecca Grant, an airpower analyst with the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Virginia. “Deploying F-22s means this is serious and there’s a chance of big force packages operating in multiple locations and with allies.”

In addition to flying stealthy ground strikes against “Iranian militia or other targets, as needed,” Grant said, the jet’s data links allow it to coordinate with non-stealthy aircraft for attacks or defensive maneuvers. NN: This is the second deployment of F22 to the middle east in the past week. Which means they are preparing for something big

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Israel Strike on Gaza School claims Kills 100 Palestinians (human shields}…….Israeli army says Taba’een school death toll inflated

 

An Israeli strike on a school in Gaza City killed about 100 Palestinians during Saturday morning prayers, Hamas said. The Israel Defense Forces said the airstrike targeted Hamas militants operating from a command center embedded in the Al-Taba’een school, according to a Telegram post. The school was located adjacent to a mosque in Daraj Tuffah, which serves as a shelter for the residents of Gaza, the IDF said.

The center was as a hideout for Hamas commanders, it said. A Hamas command and control center embedded in the Al-Taba’een school” 

Local Gaza authorities said the dead included women and children who were sheltering in the school , (Human Shields for Hamas)  even as the IDF said precise weapons and various steps were taken to mitigate the risk to civilians. The attack is one of the deadliest in the Israel-Hamas war, and the high death toll from the strike is expected to hinder international attempts to resume cease-fire talks between the two sides. The US, Qatar and Egypt are calling for a new round of talks on Aug. 15, the latest attempt by the Biden administration to end the war in Gaza even as the region braces for an expected Iranian attack on Israel. Israel has said it will send a delegation, while Hamas has yet to respond. The three nations have been pressuring the two sides for months, urging both Israel and Hamas militants to halt fighting in the Gaza Strip that has killed roughly 40,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the coastal strip. Hamas, which attacked Israel on Oct. 7, is designated a terrorist group by the US and European Union. NN: Where do you think negotiations, with the cold blood mass murderer SIN WAR, will go from here. This animal needs killing.

Israeli army says Taba’een school death toll inflated

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported on Saturday that at least 20 terror operatives and senior commanders of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad were present at the al-Taba’een school in Gaza City during the deadly school strike, but denied over 100 Palestinian deaths. “According to a preliminary examination, the numbers published by the government media office in Gaza — which acts as a media arm of Hamas — are exaggerated and do not match the information available in the IDF, the precise munitions used, and the accuracy of the strike,” the IDF added. The military added, citing its intelligence, that the command room was based out of a prayer room in the al-Taba’een school, in Gaza City’s Daraj neighborhood.

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Russia Says Reinforcements Arrive to Fight Ukrainian Incursion

Russia dispatched military reinforcements to confront Ukrainian forces in an ongoing battle in its western Kursk region, the first foreign incursion on its territory since World War II. The Defense Ministry in Moscow said in a statement Saturday that tanks had arrived and “taken up firing positions” against the Ukrainian troops, whose surprise cross-border operation is the biggest assault on Russia since President Vladimir Putin ordered the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Earlier, the ministry said it was also deploying additional artillery and multiple-rocket launchers as the fighting entered a fifth day. Russian security services announced a “counter-terrorism” regime in Kursk and the neighboring Belgorod and Bryansk border regions on Saturday, which allows for restrictions on movement. The National Anti-Terrorism Committee said it was a response to Ukraine’s “unprecedented attempt to destabilize the situation” in Russia. Putin looked grim-faced at a regular meeting of his Security Council on Friday, though he offered no comment on the crisis that’s spiraling into the most serious wartime challenge to the Kremlin since last year’s short-lived mutiny by Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prighozin.

Ukraine Continues Incursion Into Russia’s Kursk Region

Source: Institute for the Study of WarNote: Map shows control areas and events as of August 8, 2024

Air defenses downed 26 drones overnight in the Kursk region and another six over the Yaroslavl region northeast of Moscow, the Defense Ministry said on Telegram. Russia said Friday that its forces used air strikes and artillery to stop Ukrainian troops pushing “deep into” its territory in Kursk. Authorities in Moscow declared a federal emergency in the region as thousands of people abandoned their homes to flee the fighting. While much of the situation on the battlefield remained unclear, Russian military bloggers reported Ukrainian advances as deep as 37 kilometers (23 miles) into the Kursk region. Video posted on social media appeared to show a column of at least a dozen Russian troop vehicles that had been destroyed in the Rylsk district. The footage couldn’t be independently verified. The Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom said Saturday that the Kursk atomic power plant near the city of Kurchatov was operating normally, according to the Tass news service. Fighting around the town of Sudzha, the site of a key transit point for the last remaining pipeline carrying Russian gas to Europe, helped push European natural gas prices to the highest level this year on fears of possible disruptions to supplies. Flows were reported to be continuing within the normal range. While the US doesn’t support “long-range attacks” into Russia, the intervention in Kursk is consistent with Washington’s policy on Ukraine’s use of American-supplied weapons, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters. “Ukraine is fighting a legitimate defensive war against an illegal aggression,” said Peter Stano, lead spokesperson for the EU’s foreign affairs and security policy. “In the framework of this legitimate right to defend itself Ukraine is entitled to hit the enemy wherever it finds necessary on its territory, but also on the territory of the enemy.” The spectacular operation in Kursk is a boost for Ukrainian army Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, who’s faced criticism over his leadership, Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Penta research institute in Kyiv, said in a Facebook post. “We have been waiting for something like this for a long time,” Fesenko said. NN: Little reported….. this may be a game changer, Watch the 10  minute video

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US to reportedly provide Israel $3.5B in arms, military equipment

The United States is set to provide Israel with $3.5 billion to spend on armaments and military equipment, CNN reported Friday, citing people familiar with the topic. The monetary aid comes months after Congress appropriated it to Tel Aviv, and it is part of the $14.1 billion supplemental funding bill for Israel that Congress passed in April, the sources added. The funding is essentially for Israel to buy advanced weapons systems and other equipment from the US through the Foreign Military Financing program, amid escalating tensions with Iran.

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Hamas official allegedly killed in drone strike in Lebanon

A Hamas official was eliminated after Israel reportedly launched a drone attack on Lebanon’s southern city of Sidon on Friday, AFP reported, citing unnamed sources. “An Israeli strike targeted a Hamas movement security official from the Ain al-Helweh [refugee] camp while he was inside his vehicle in the city of Sidon,” the source said. Additionally, an AFP correspondent claimed to have seen emergency personnel removing a carbonized body from the vehicle while soldiers cordoned off the area.

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US to lift ban on offensive weapons sales to Saudi Arabia

WASHINGTON, Aug 9 (Reuters) – The Biden administration has decided to lift a ban on U.S. sales of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday, reversing a three-year-old policy to pressure the kingdom to wind down the Yemen war.
The administration briefed Congress this week on its decision to lift the ban, a congressional aide said. One source said sales could resume as early as next week, while another said deliberations on timing were still under way. “The Saudis have met their end of the deal, and we are prepared to meet ours, returning these cases to regular order through appropriate congressional notification and consultation,” a senior Biden administration official said. Under U.S. law, major international weapons deals must be reviewed by members of Congress before they are made final. Democratic and Republican lawmakers have questioned the provision of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia in recent years, citing issues including the toll on civilians of its campaign in Yemen and a range of human rights concerns. But that opposition has softened amid turmoil in the Middle East following Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel and because of changes in the conduct of the campaign in Yemen. The threat level in the region has been heightened since late last month, with Iran and Lebanon’s powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah group vowing to retaliate against Israel after Hamas’ political chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran. The Biden administration also has been negotiating a defense pact and an agreement for civil nuclear cooperation with Riyadh as part of a broad deal that envisions Saudi Arabia normalizing ties with Israel, although that remains an elusive goal. Since March 2022 – when the Saudis and Houthis entered into a U.N.-led truce – there have not been any Saudi airstrikes in Yemen and cross-border fire from Yemen into the kingdom has largely stopped, the administration official said. Biden adopted the tougher stance on weapons sales to Saudi Arabia in 2021, citing the kingdom’s campaign against the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen, which has inflicted heavy civilian casualties. Yemen’s war is seen as one of several proxy battles between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The Houthis ousted a Saudi-backed government from Sanaa in late 2014 and have been at war against a Saudi-led military alliance since 2015, a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and left 80% of Yemen’s population dependent on humanitarian aid.

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Harris leads Trump by five points in new Ipsos poll

Vice President Kamala Harris is ahead of former President Donald Trump by five points, a new Ipsos poll showed on Thursday. The survey, conducted from August 2 to 7, shows Harris at 42% support compared to Trump’s 37%, with 4% backing independent candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. The previous poll from July 22-23 had Harris leading Trump 37% to 34%. The Ipsos poll, conducted online with 2,045 US adults and a margin of error of around three percentage points, indicates Harris has gained momentum since entering the race on July 21. President Joe Biden endorsed Harris after suspending his campaign following a poor debate performance on June 27. Harris also leads Trump 42% to 40% in the seven battleground states that were closely contested in 2020: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. NN: If Mssssss Harris wins we are DOOMED!!

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Hamas names Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of the Oct. 7 attacks, as its new leader in show of defiance

BEIRUT (AP) — Hamas named Yahya Sinwar, its top official in Gaza who masterminded the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, as its new leader in a dramatic sign of the power of the Palestinian militant group’s hardline wing after his predecessor was killed in a presumed Israeli strike in Iran. The selection of Sinwar, a secretive figure close to Iran who worked for years to build up Hamas’ military strength, was a defiant signal that the group is prepared to keep fighting after 10 months of destruction from Israel’s campaign in Gaza and after the assassination of Sinwar’s predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh. It is also likely to provoke Israel, which has put him at the top of its kill list after the Oct. 7 attack, in which militants killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and took about 250 as hostages.

The announcement comes at a volatile moment. Fears are high of an escalation into a wider regional war, with Iran vowing revenge against Israel over Haniyeh’s killing and Lebanon’s Hezbollah threatening to retaliate over Israel’s killing of one of its top commanders in an airstrike in Beirut last week. American, Egyptian and Qatari mediators are trying to salvage negotiations over a cease-fire and hostage release deal in Gaza, shaken by Haniyeh’s killing.

Hamas said in a statement it named Sinwar as the new head of its political bureau to replace Haniyeh, who was killed in a blast that Iran and Hamas blamed on Israel. Israel has not confirmed or denied responsibility. Also last week, Israel said it had confirmed the death of the head of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, in a July airstrike in Gaza. Hamas has not confirmed his death.

In reaction to the appointment, Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television, “There is only one place for Yahya Sinwar, and it is beside Mohammed Deif and the rest of the October 7th terrorists. That is the only place we’re preparing and intending for him.”

Israel’s killings of multiple senior officials in Hamas over recent months left Sinwar as the most prominent figure in the group. His selection signals that the leadership on the ground in Gaza — particularly the armed wing known as the Qassam Brigades — has taken over from the leadership in exile, which has traditionally maintained the position of the overall leadership to navigate relations with foreign allies and diplomacy. Hamas’ allies Iran and Hezbollah issued statements praising Sinwar’s appointment. As Hamas’ leader inside Gaza since 2017, Sinwar rarely appeared in public but kept an iron grip on Hamas’ rule over the territory. Close to Deif and Qassam Brigades, he worked to build up the group’s military capabilities. In one of his few appearances, Sinwar ended a public speech in Gaza by inviting Israel to assassinate him, proclaiming, “I will walk back home after this meeting.” He then did so, shaking hands and taking selfies with people in the streets. NN: Sin War needs to go get his virgins. He needs to hurry before they run out.

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These are the most ‘serious,’ ‘dangerous’ challenges US has faced in decades

  • Iran and Hezbollah have vowed revenge for assassinations
  • Military, hospitals on high alert
  • Residents told to stay near protected areas
(Reuters) – Israel’s ambulance service has stocked blood supplies in a fortified underground center, factories have moved out hazardous materials and municipal authorities are checking bomb shelters and water supplies as the country waits for a threatened attack from Iran and its proxies. Israel has been fortifying its home front for months and many preparations have been in place since the start of the war in Gaza last October, when thousands of Hamas-led gunmen carried out a devastating cross-border attack on Israeli communities. But the urgency has risen sharply over the past 10 days as a relatively contained conflict with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in southern Lebanon has threatened to spiral into an all-out regional war. “I know that the citizens of Israel are on alert, and I ask of you one thing – keep patient and cool,”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday while meeting new army recruits. “We are prepared for both defense and attack, we are striking our enemies and are also determined to defend ourselves,” he said. Israel now finds itself facing the threat of a multifront war, confronting a clutch of militant movements – Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis in Yemen, all backed and funded by its longstanding enemy Iran.
An attack is expected in the coming days following vows from Iran and Hezbollah to retaliate for the assassinations last week of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut. After months of alarm and an attack by hundreds of Iranian missiles in April that was thwarted by Israel’s air defences and the help of international allies, Israelis have become used to the crisis. Tens of thousands of people were evacuated from northern areas in range of Hezbollah rockets at the start of the war and many border areas now have a ghostly, abandoned air. But a prolonged bombardment from Hezbollah’s rocket arsenal could reach deeper into the country to sensitive targets like the port city of Haifa in northern Israel, which is well in range. The city’s Rambam Hospital has been on alert since last October and has readied its three-floor, fortified underground facility to treat patients. “We’re waiting to see what happens,” said David Ratner, a hospital spokesperson. The military is on high alert and last weekend it augmented its nationwide system of air raid sirens and broadcast alerts to include real-time text messages to be sent to residents in targeted areas. Many local councils have advised residents to reduce non-essential activity, stay near protected areas and avoid large gatherings. In Haifa, public bomb shelters have been equipped with digital systems so they can be unlocked remotely during an attack, said Yair Zilberman, director of the city’s security and emergency services department. They are also being equipped with generators. A number of underground parking lots have been approved as makeshift shelters with enough space for thousands of residents if needed, Zilberman said. In the city of Ramla in central Israel, national ambulance service Magen David Adom (MDA) has been collecting blood donations in a subterranean service center, shielded with extra-thick concrete walls, blast doors and airlocks. “We’ve got the threats from Iran, we’ve got threats from Hezbollah,” said MDA’s Aryeh Myers. “Massive rocket attacks, massive threats to the state of Israel and we want to make sure that we are ready for anything.” Last Thursday, the Environmental Protection Ministry held a situational assessment to decide how best to protect factories with inventories that could be dangerous if targeted in a missile strike, or how to deal with an attack on a building that contains asbestos. The military said the Home Front Command keeps in constant contact with factories and local authorities to maintain a “complete picture of the inventory levels of hazardous materials”. The Bazan Group, which operates in Haifa one of the largest oil refineries in the eastern Mediterranean, told Reuters it was “working to maintain energy security and the continuity of fuel supply to the economy.” Mass cash withdrawals are another scenario for which authorities are preparing. “The stock of banknotes and coins in the Bank of Israel and the banking system will, according to every visible forecast, be sufficient,” the Bank of Israel said.  NN: As the Shekel  plunges in value.
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CENTCOM chief back in Israel amid fears of Iran, Hezbollah attack

US Air Force F-22 Raptors arrived in the Middle East on Thursday as the Pentagon gears up to fend off an anticipated retaliatory attack by Iran and its proxies against Israel for the assassination of a top Hamas leader in Tehran last week.

WASHINGTON — The top commander of US military forces in the Middle East, Army Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, returned to Israel on Thursday to meet with defense officials ahead of an expected multifront attack by Iran and various militias it has armed throughout the region.

The visit marked Kurilla’s second to Israel in just three days as he toured US-aligned capitals in the region to coordinate air and maritime defense ahead of the anticipated attack. Axios first reported his latest stop.

Iran’s leadership has vowed to respond to the killing of Hamas’ late political leader Ismail Haniyeh in an explosion at an IRGC guest house in Tehran last week.

The Biden administration has rallied international pressure in the hope of dissuading Iran’s leaders from authorizing a major retaliation for Haniyeh’s killing, which Western and Arab officials fear could spiral into a wider regional war. To support that effort, the Pentagon has rushed additional forces to the region, including an additional aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, Navy destroyers capable of downing ballistic missiles and an undisclosed number of highly advanced F-22 fighter aircraft.

The F-22s arrived in-region on Thursday, US CENTCOM said in a statement. Another aircraft carrier already in theater, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, forward deployed F/A-18 aircraft ahead of the arrival of the F-22s.

Those assets join at least a dozen other US and allied warships, as well as fighter aircraft already in the Mediterranean and Gulf waterways. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin late last week also authorized the readying of land-based ballistic missile interception systems for potential deployment. “Everything that we’re doing is defensive in nature,” Pentagon deputy spokesperson Sabrina Singh said on Thursday of the new deployments. Singh declined to say whether that might change if US troops in the region come under attack. Singh called the F-22s an “invaluable” asset for the situation. “I think it sends a very powerful message of deterrence,” she added. US officials have warned Iran’s leadership of potentially devastating economic consequences for their country and instability for its incoming government should they authorize a major retaliation against Israel that triggers escalation, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.