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9 employees ‘may have been involved’ in October 7 Hamas attack against Israel: UN

By
IFP Media Wire
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“We have sufficient information in order to take the actions that we’re taking – which is to say, the termination of these nine individuals,” UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Monday.

Haq added the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) will need to evaluate any further steps to “fully corroborate”.

Haq was speaking after the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) completed its investigation into the allegations earlier this year by Israel that a total of 19 UNRWA employees were involved in the attack.

“OIOS made findings in relation to each of the 19 UNRWA staff members alleged to have been involved in the attacks,” Haq said.

“In one case, no evidence was obtained by OIOS to support the allegations of the staff member’s involvement, while in nine other cases, the evidence obtained by OIOS was insufficient to support the staff member’s involvement,” he added.

Haq stated all the nine individuals who the investigation concluded may have been involved were men.

He did not give details of what they may have done, but said: “For us, any participation in the attacks is a tremendous betrayal of the sort of work that we are supposed to be doing on behalf of the Palestinian people.”

Haq added that “OIOS was not able to independently authenticate most of the information provided to it that was in the hands of the Israeli authorities”.

“That is information that remains in the custody of Israel.”

In response to the UN announcement, Israel’s military announced UNRWA had hit a “new level of low”.

“Your ‘relief’ agency has officially stooped to a new level of low, and it is time that the world sees your true face,” Lieutenant-Colonel Nadav Shoshani, the military’s international spokesperson, posted on X.

UNRWA employs 32,000 people across its area of operations, 13,000 of them in the Gaza Strip.

Following the Israeli allegations, many governments, including top donor the United States, abruptly suspended funding to the agency, threatening its efforts to deliver aid in Gaza. Several countries have since resumed payments.

The Hamas’s October 7 attack killed nearly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and almost 250 others were taken captives, according to Israeli officials. Since then, Israel’s military campaign has killed at least 39,600 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry.

UNRWA, which has provided essential aid for Palestinians since 1949, has long been targeted by Israel.

Several US soldiers injured in rocket attack on military base in Iraq

By
IFP Media Wire
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US forces in Iraq

The attack struck Al-Asad Airbase in western Iraq, the official said, adding they were “conducting a postattack damage assessment” and would share more information when it is available.

It wasn’t immediately clear who was behind the attack. Al-Asad has come under sporadic fire by Iraqi armed groups in the past. It was also attacked by Iranian ballistic missiles in January 2020, following the American drone assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, the anti-terror icon, in Baghdad.

The flare-up in Iraq comes as the US and Israel are bracing for an Iranian attack. Iran has blamed Israel for the assassination of top Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh while he was in Tehran last week, and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has vowed revenge. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack, though it rarely acknowledges covert operations in countries it is not at direct war with.

Israeli forces last week also claimed responsibility for a strike against the top Hezbollah military leader, Fuad Shukr, who was the right-hand man to the Lebanese group’s leader, Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah.

The Iranian-backed Hezbollah has been firing daily at Israel over the border since the war in the Gaza Strip began nearly 10 months ago. But after the deaths of Haniyeh and Shukr, a larger retaliation from Hezbollah and Iran is spurring fears across the Middle East.

Washington has moved the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group to the Middle East, along with additional ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers and a fighter squadron, to prepare for any Iranian and Hezbollah attack.

Ukraine claims West too fearful of escalation with Russia

By
IFP Media Wire
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Volodymyr Zelensky

Kiev has long been pressuring its Western backers to become more involved in the conflict with Moscow and start shooting down Russian drones and missiles over Ukrainian territory. However, its efforts have been rebuffed by foreign powers reluctant to engage in a direct military confrontation with Russia.

“[Western nations] are always concerned about possible escalation. We are fighting against that. We will work on it,” Zelensky told journalists. The government in Kiev is considering “technical possibilities for neighboring nations to use military aircraft against missiles that strike Ukraine” after flying in the general direction of NATO countries, he added.

Zelensky has been calling for the establishment of a no-fly zone over Ukraine since the outbreak of hostilities with Russia in February 2022. Military experts pointed out that any realistic enforcement of Kiev’s wish would require NATO members to attack Russian planes in the air and at airfields inside Russia.

The idea of a less ambitious shield over Western Ukraine was floated last month, as Kiev signed a bilateral security deal with Warsaw and ramped up its lobbying efforts ahead of a NATO leaders’ summit in the US.

The Polish government indicated it was willing to answer the Ukrainian call, provided that NATO approved, although other nations, including the US, objected. Washington said it believed that supplying more air defense systems to Ukraine to operate on its own was the best way to counter Russian barrages.

Zelensky spoke to the press after confirming that sponsors had delivered US-designed F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. Media reports have suggested that the new Ukrainian capability is too small-scale to become a gamechanger on the front line. It would likely be used to intercept cruise missiles delivering long-range strikes instead, defense experts have suggested.

Moscow has been targeting Ukrainian military assets as well as some key infrastructure sites, such as power stations, which it considers crucial for Kiev’s war effort. According to Russian officials, the conflict is a US-led proxy war in which Ukrainian troops serve as “cannon fodder” for Western geostrategic interests.

On Saturday, Zelensky stated Kiev wants to attack targets deep inside Russia, a type of operation for which Ukraine is not allowed to use donated Western weapons and relies on domestically produced kamikaze drones instead.

Iran’s top military official describes ties with Moscow, strategic, deep-rooted

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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General Bagheri also said at his meeting with the visiting Russian official in Tehran that the US knows too well that the world is no longer monopolar and that Tehran welcomes three-way cooperation between Iran, Russia and China.

Shoigu also said at the meeting that Russia is ready to cooperate with Iran on regional issues.

Shoigu who arrived in Tehran on Monday, has met with Ali Akbar Ahmadian, top Iranian security official where the two sides discussed the latest developments following the Israeli assassination of the Hamas leader in Tehran.

Huge fire shuts economic zone in northeast Iran

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Iran Firefighters

Taybad’s Deputy Governor Mohammad Reza Rezaee said firefighters were dispatched to the area to put it out.

He added that a number of vehicles were burned by the blaze.

Rezaee also said the smoke caused by the fire in the economic zone can be seen up to a radius of 18 kilometers, and in order to prevent it from spreading to the border customs areas of Dowqarun, the place is being evacuated.

He added that vehicles headed for the Dowqarun border road are not allowed to enter until further notice.

Nearly half of Hamas’ battalions in north, central Gaza rebuilt fighting power: Report

By
IFP Media Wire
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Hamas

The research, covering the Palestinian group’s activity until July, finds that while Israel inflicted heavy damage on Hamas, “its units have managed to reconstitute and shift to guerrilla tactics in areas of Gaza declared ‘cleared’ by the Israeli military”, CNN journalist Allegra Goodwin posted on X.

Hamas is likely to continue regrouping and reorganising, as Israel lacks a long-term military plan and a ceasefire does not appear to be in sight, Goodwin added.

In late May, US intelligence sources told Politico only 30 to 35 percent of Hamas fighters have been killed after months of Israel’s military operations against the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip.

According to Politico, the majority of fighters who were members of the Palestinian movement prior to the October 7 attack are still alive.

In addition, around 65 percent of Hamas’ tunnel infrastructure remains intact, Politico’s sources stated, and thousands of new members are said to have been recruited to the group in recent months.

The report came as Washington has become increasingly concerned about the viability of Israel’s stated aim of destroying the Palestinian group.

Iranian Acting FM to foreign ambassadors: Haniyeh assassination part of genocide of Palestinians 

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-

He then called on the guests to observe a minute of silence to pay respects to humanity and the right of the Palestinian people to decide their fate.

Bagheri however noted that this is the only silence which is permissible in the face of oppression, crime and occupation.

The acting foreign minister added that appeasement and indifference to such heinous acts and injustice is a moral failure and will increase evil acts.

Bagheri said it’s a duty of all countries to not remain silent toward the worst crimes that have remained from the previous century, that is, occupation and bloody colonization of Palestine and the genocide of the Palestinian people.

“For 8 decades now, a nation has been subjected to continuous destruction; its land has been usurped by force, and what is left is under siege”, the acting foreign minister added.

Bagheri also said the shameful tragedy that has been unfolding in occupied Palestine for the last 10 months is not only the product of the cruelty and arrogance of an apartheid occupying entity, but also the result of the sense of impunity on part of criminals who, in any case, rely on the unbridled support of the US and several other western countries.

Bagheri noted that what has made matters worse and has emboldened the Zionist regime is the indifference imposed on the international community.

He said the genocidal project in Gaza is continuing at several levels including the slaughter of women and children and the imposition of a food and drug siege on Gaza.

Iran’s response to Haniyeh assassination definite: Spokesman

By
IFP Media Wire
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Iran has the “unquestionable right” to protect its national sovereignty and territorial integrity, Kanaani stressed.

Highlighting the necessary political and legal actions taken by Iran following the assassination of Haniyeh, the spokesman stressed that nobody is allowed to cast doubt on Iran’s legitimate right to retaliate and create deterrence.

“We believe that Iran is entitled to punish the aggressor within the framework of international law… Iran will definitely and decisively take serious and deterrent measures by exercising its inherent right on the basis of international principles to ensure its security.”

Deploring the international organizations’ failure to stand against the Zionist regime’s crimes, Kanaani noted that Iran does not seek an escalation of tensions, but intends to ensure stability.

“Iran believes that stability will be achieved with the punishment of the aggressor,” he added.

The diplomat also stated that the ministerial council of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation is going to convene in Jeddah on Wednesday at the behest of Iran to discuss the aspects of the martyrdom of Haniyeh.

The Israeli regime assassinated the head of the political bureau of Hamas in Tehran in the early hours of July 31.

Haniyeh, who was in Tehran to attend the new Iranian president’s swearing-in ceremony, was martyred in a special residence after being hit by an aerial projectile.

Blinken tells G7 that Iran, Hezbollah may attack Israel within hours

By
IFP Media Wire
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Antony Blinken

According to a report from Axios: “Secretary of State Tony Blinken told his counterparts from the G7 countries on Sunday that an attack by Iran and Hezbollah against Israel could start as early as Monday.”

“Blinken convened the conference call to coordinate with close US allies and try to generate last-minute diplomatic pressure on Iran and Hezbollah to minimize their retaliation as much as possible,” the website stated.

“He stressed that limiting the impact of their strikes is the best chance to prevent all-out war,” it added.

“Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah have vowed to respond to the assassinations by Israel of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.”

Axios reported citing its sources that “Blinken stressed that the United States believes Iran and Hezbollah will both retaliate”.

“Blinken said the US doesn’t know the exact timing of the attacks but stressed it could start as early as the next 24-48 hours – meaning as early as Monday,” according to the website.

Tension has escalated between Hezbollah and Israel since Tel Aviv assassinated senior military commander Fouad Shukr in an airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburb on Tuesday.

Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh was also assassinated in Tehran the following day, in an attack blamed on Israel although Tel Aviv has not confirmed or denied its responsibility.

Hamas and Iran have vowed to retaliate for Haniyeh’s assassination, while Hezbollah has pledged to respond to Shukr’s killing.

Iran refuses to mitigate its response to assassination of Haniyeh: Report

By
IFP Media Wire
-

According to the sources, the United States and Arab countries tried to talk Iran into mitigating its position but the Iranian leaders are determined to respond, even if their actions will trigger a war.

Earlier, US deputy national security adviser Jon Finer has stated that the United States thinks that risks for Tel Aviv are high and is ready to help Israel defend itself “should it come under attack again”.

“The overall goal is to turn the temperature down in the region, deter and defend against those attacks, and avoid regional conflict, which has been our goal really since October 7,” Finer said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

He added, “We are in a moment that appears to be of heightened threat.”

On Friday, the Pentagon revealed it was shifting an aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, along with its destroyer escorts, from the Pacific to the Middle East. The United States also was transferring ballistic air defense units, similar to its moves in April when it expected (correctly) that Iran would launch missiles and drones at Israel.

The situation in West Asia has escalated dramatically after the killing of Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah armed wing commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut. Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah have placed responsibility on Israel and warned about their response.

Hamas and Iran have vowed to retaliate for Haniyeh’s assassination, while Hezbollah has pledged to respond to Shukr’s killing.

NBC News has reported that Tel Aviv was bracing for a potential multi-day attack from Iran and Hezbollah in the wake of the assassination of Haniyeh and Shukr last week, citing an Israeli official.

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