The International Court of Justice on January 26, 2024, ordered Israel to prevent possible genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. But the court did not call for a ceasefire, as South Africa had requested. The United Nations’ highest court, based in The Hague, Netherlands, also declined to toss out South Africa’s case against Israel alleging genocide. […]

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The fighting continues between the Israel Defense Forces and Hamas militants in and around Gaza. The death tolls continue to rise, but where do the weapons keep coming from? The Israeli government estimates that Hamas’s surprise attack on October 7, 2023, killed 1,200 people in Israel. Since then, both sides have fired missiles and rockets, […]

The post Where do Israel and Hamas get their weapons? appeared first on Asia Times.

Two weeks ago, Sayyed Razi Mousavi was a ghost on the internet. He left no mark on search engines or in coverage of Iran’s military and the Middle East. But in the Syrian capital Damascus, Mousavi’s 30-year presence was an open secret. He had been the right-hand man of General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of […]

The post Will Israeli assassinations spark a wider war? appeared first on Asia Times.

The United States and Israel are at odds over how the Gaza War should be conducted and what should ultimately define a victory over Hamas, a reflection of the two allies’ and their respective leaders’ divergent short-term needs and longer-term goals. US President Joe Biden, who is campaigning for reelection at what is expected to […]

The post Why Netanyahu is ignoring Biden’s calls and pleas appeared first on Asia Times.

After the surprise Hamas terrorist attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, many observers were puzzled about how Israel could have been caught completely off-guard. We were among those puzzled, and proposed three possible reasons: New revelations from recent media coverage have shed additional light on what happened, which mostly confirm […]

The post The roots and depths of Israel’s Hamas intel failure appeared first on Asia Times.

While Israel focuses on hostage rescue in Gaza and, eventually, on destroying Hamas, its main ally, the United States, is working to fashion a post-war peace solution that will support its own broader goals. Washington fears that the Gaza war has placed a significant obstacle to one of President Joe Biden’s major foreign policy projects: […]

The post Gaza war an irritant to Biden’s bigger China plan appeared first on Asia Times.

BANGKOK – Buddhist-majority Thailand gained the release of at least 19 Thai hostages from Hamas, the most foreigners freed as of Wednesday, after Bangkok boldly began direct negotiations with the Palestinian militant group’s representatives in Iran nearly two months ago. How did Thailand succeed while many of the other foreign hostages have still not been […]

The post Why Hamas releases Thai hostages before others appeared first on Asia Times.

After a long overnight deliberation, the Israeli government approved a hostage release deal and ceasefire today (November 22) with Hamas. The main details of the agreement, brokered by Qatar, will include the gradual release of 50 to 80 Israeli women and children held in the Gaza Strip. That’s only a fraction of the 240 hostages […]

The post Ceasefire, hostage deal signals likely end of Netanyahu appeared first on Asia Times.

The Israeli military said on November 15, 2023, that it had found weapons and a Hamas command center at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, after sending troops into the medical facility. Shifa has become the epicenter of Israel’s ground invasion into Gaza, as the Israeli military says that Hamas has strategically placed its fighters and […]

The post Hamas not the first to use human shields to wage war appeared first on Asia Times.

The armed wing of Hamas, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, has an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 fighters. Israel’s careful and casualty-averse campaign in Northern Gaza can’t kill all of them. It doesn’t have to. In a 2016 study, I showed that even the most fanatical fighting forces crumble after 30% are dead. The 30% rule […]

The post Israel is winning and will prevail in Gaza war appeared first on Asia Times.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to bar the Palestine Authority, which now governs parts of the West Bank, from administering the Gaza Strip after the war on Hamas ends is aimed at sinking a revived “two-state solution” peace plan to end the Middle East’s longest-running conflict.  Formulated back in 1991 and favored by Israel’s […]

The post Where Biden and Netanyahu don’t see eye to eye appeared first on Asia Times.

Hamas may have devised a devious aqueous trap for invading Israeli forces, waiting for the opportune moment to strike as the Gaza war enters a dangerous new underground phase. Last month, ETV Bharat reported that Hamas is planning to use its tunnel-fighting prowess to counter and frustrate Israel’s ground offensive in the Gaza Strip’s northern […]

The post Hamas may turn the sea into a tunnel war weapon appeared first on Asia Times.

US President Joe Biden gave a televised speech Thursday night, providing a verbal tour of his thoughts on both the Hamas-Israel war and Russia’s attack on Ukraine. His speech vividly described the horrors visited on civilian victims of both conflicts when Hamas invaded Israel from the Gaza Strip and Russian President Vladimir Putin made war […]

The post Biden hitches Israel aid to less popular Ukraine war support appeared first on Asia Times.

Israel contested Hamas accusations that an Israeli missile struck the grounds of a hospital in the Gaza Strip, an attack that killed hundreds of Palestinians and undercut US President Joe Biden’s shuttle diplomacy meant to emphasize support for Israel and persuade Arab countries he also aims to help Palestinians. The nighttime explosion in a parking […]

The post Biden leaves Israel in more turmoil than he found it appeared first on Asia Times.

On October 21, 1973, during the Yom Kippur War, Henry Kissinger flew to Moscow. I remember his arrival there very well because I was with the US embassy’s Charge d’Affaires Adolph Dubs in his office in Moscow when Kissinger went directly to the Kremlin.  Dubs was not invited or briefed. (Dubs later became US Ambassador […]

The post Will US, Russia prevent or goad a wider Gaza war? appeared first on Asia Times.

Because of its unique national security challenges, Israel has a long history of developing highly effective, state-of-the-art defense technologies and capabilities. A prime example of Israeli military strength is the Iron Dome air defense system, which has been widely touted as the world’s best defense against missiles and rockets. However, on October 7, 2023, Israel […]

The post How Hamas overwhelmed Israel’s Iron Dome appeared first on Asia Times.