Title is a reference to Resistance imagery about how Israeli soldiers will enter Gaza alive but leave it in coffins - the same is true for American soldiers in the Middle East if the regional war expands.
The image is of the Fattah-1 Iranian hypersonic ballistic missile, which its creators boast can overcome any missile defense system on the planet, has a range of 1400 kilometers (and thus Iran can strike Israel), and has a terminal impact velocity of Mach 13.
Dozens of American soldiers have been injured and 3 have been killed on a base in the Middle East. There has been confused reports about whether the attack was on Syrian territory or Jordan's - the Al-Tanf base is in Syria, but Tower-22 in Jordan is another base that helps supply Al-Tanf, and Tower-22 is the one that is alleged to have been hit. These is the first confirmed deaths of American troops since the conflict began, though it's not likely that this is actually the first deaths after hundreds of drone/missile strikes throughout the region on American bases, unless you think American soldiers are having extremely timely heart attacks just after a missile hits.
The attack is certainly impactful, though it does also have considerably symbolism. Courtesy of John Helmer:
The operational success of the strike for the attackers is strategic. Tower-22 is a logistics, supply, and rear guard post for the Al-Tanf base which US troops are operating thirty kilometres north across the border in Syria. The attack demonstrates that both Tower-22 and Al-Tanf, Jordan and Syria, are newly vulnerable to weapons which the US forces have failed to detect and neutralize. Just as significantly, the massive US airbase called Muwaffaq Salti, 230 kilometres west across Jordan, is also vulnerable now.
It indicates that Iran now possesses Russian expertise in countering American equipment:
“This is a significant accomplishment,” one of the sources said. “Was the bypassing of the US air defence system at Tower-22 pulled off with Russian assistance? US bases generally rely on the C-RAM [Counter Rocket, Artillery and Mortar] system. It was sent to Ukraine last year where the Russians have been learning to defeat it. What now of American EW [electronic warfare]? They’ve been doing a fair job of knocking drones down up to now. It seems a ‘coincidence’ that, not a week after the meetings in Moscow with Arabs and Iranians, we see this success. It’s a success the circumstances of which, we can be sure, Biden and Austin are not keen to advertise.”
I am putting my take on the table right now: I am 99% certain that the US won't attack Iran directly. I think we are still quite a while away from that being a possibility. Much more likely is that Iranian officials in Iraq or Syria will be hit by a retaliatory strike, as Israel has done recently. It is a significant escalation nonetheless. And it comes as Israel seems to be gearing up for a suicidal war with Hezbollah.
The Country of the Week is Iran! Feel free to chime in with books, essays, longform articles, even stories and anecdotes or rants. More detail here.
Updates continue to be AWOL - but I am cooking something. Hopefully.
The bulletins site is here!
The RSS feed is here.
Last week's thread is here.
Israel-Palestine Conflict
Sources on the fighting in Palestine against Israel. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:
UNRWA daily-ish reports on Israel's destruction and siege of Gaza and the West Bank.
English-language Palestinian Marxist-Leninist twitter account. Alt here.
English-language twitter account that collates news (and has automated posting when the person running it goes to sleep).
Arab-language twitter account with videos and images of fighting.
English-language (with some Arab retweets) Twitter account based in Lebanon. - Telegram is @IbnRiad.
English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis. - Telegram is @EyesOnSouth.
English-language Twitter account in the same group as the previous two. - Telegram here.
English-language PalestineResist telegram channel.
More telegram channels here for those interested.
Various sources that are covering the Ukraine conflict are also covering the one in Palestine, like Rybar.
Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Sources:
Defense Politics Asia's youtube channel and their map. Their youtube channel has substantially diminished in quality but the map is still useful.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section.
Understanding War and the Saker: reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war.
Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don't want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it's just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists' side.
Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.
Pro-Russian Telegram Channels:
Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.
https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR's former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR's forces. Russian language.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one.
https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.
https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster's telegram channel.
https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator.
https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps.
https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a 'propaganda tax', if you don't believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses.
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.
Pro-Ukraine Telegram Channels:
Almost every Western media outlet.
https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.
https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.
In an act of 'domicide', 'Israel' wholly destroyed 3 Gazan quarters
Al Mayadeen English (Source: The Guardian)
30 Jan 2024 15:09 🗄️
An investigation by The Guardian reveals the magnitude of Israeli destruction in Beit Hanoun, al-Zahra, and Khan Yunis.
General findings found that in the three focal neighborhoods of the investigation, at least 250 residential buildings, 17 schools and universities, and 16 mosques were leveled to the ground. The numbers prompted experts to label the genocide as a "domicide" as it not only forces Palestinians out of their homes or shelters but also makes it impossible for them to return to them.
"Israel" defends its unrestrained attacks on Gaza by blaming the whole situation on Hamas. It claims that Hamas infiltrates civilian areas, domestic homes, and complexes, something that has been repeatedly refuted, which "authorizes" the bombing of the entirety of the Strip.
On January 17, another study of satellite images obtained by Corey Scher of the City University of New York and Jamon Van Den Hoek of Oregon State University showed that 50 to 62 percent of all buildings in Gaza have been destroyed.
The Guardian's investigation focuses on three Gazan towns: Beit Hanoun, al-Zahra, and Khan Yunis.
Beit Hanoun
Beit Hanoun is a town to the northeast of Gaza and was home to 50,000 Palestinians before "Israel" demolished it.
Beit Hanoun was also surrounded by agricultural land used for produce, but satellite images showed that those have been obliterated as well, making them a significant part of the 39% of agricultural lands in north Gaza that "Israel" destroyed.
An entire neighborhood, consisting of 150 residential buildings has been pulverized. This includes the Balsam Hospital and local schools, including a United Nations one, while the main hospital, Beit Hanoun Hospital, was severely damaged.
Moreover, the local cemetery was razed by bulldozers, and one of the oldest mosques, Umm al-Nasr, dating back to 1239, was also damaged.
Al-Zahra
Al-Zahra was home to 5,000 Palestinians before the genocide and was regarded as one of Gaza's wealthiest neighborhoods. Within its northern infrastructure were universities, tower blocks, and a large wastewater treatment plant. "Israel" destroyed everything and forged new bulldozed roads over the ravaged ones for the transportation of IOF soldiers.
In its east is al-Mughraqa neighborhood, which has seen relentless Israeli bombardment that left nothing but a visible crater where a building once stood.
The Turkish Palestinian Friendship Hospital stood in al-Zahra as well, but several of its departments had been bombed, and the roads leading to it are riddled with large holes where Israeli bombs exploded.
Al-Zahra's three universities were also targeted by "Israel". Al-Israa University was detonated by "Israel" in documented deliberation.
Over 3,000 Palestinian civilians resided in the tower blocks of al-Zahra, all of which were decimated to the ground.
Khan Younis
Khan Yunis is Gaza's main city and was sold as a "safe zone" by the IOF, who encouraged Palestinian civilians to evacuate there for safety but ambushed and bombed them and the town.
Among the destroyed infrastructure were residential buildings, schools, sports compounds, mosques, pharmacies, kindergartens, agricultural fields, and greenhouses. To be specific, over 100 greenhouses were bombed, leaving only large craters behind.
Khan Yunis also had a refugee camp that sheltered at least 41,000 people back in 2017 after they were forcibly expelled from their homes. The camp was also targeted by the IOF, resulting in damage to UN shelters and schools, as well as its hospital.
What is domicide?
By definition, domicide is “the planned, deliberate destruction of someone's home, causing suffering to the dweller."
Scholars have opted to use this word when describing the Israeli conduct in Gaza, saying the forced displacement of Palestinians and the bombing of different infrastructure, which renders most neighborhoods and towns uninhabitable, not just buildings and homes, is a direct consequence of the practice of "domicide".
What "Israel" has been doing is a full-blown attack on Gaza to rid it of its rightful residents, either by killing them or by forcing them to evacuate to nearby countries, such as Egypt.
The scale of destruction adds to the fact. Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the UN special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, said, "Gaza’s destruction is far worse in terms of the scale, ferocity and impact when compared to Ukraine, Syria or other conflicts."
Ammar Azzouz, a research fellow at the University of Oxford and author of a book on domicide, also said, “Domicide’s impact unfolds with time. Its pain spreads not only across those who lost their homes in Gaza but also for those whose homes remain intact as their wider infrastructure has been targeted.”
He also pointed out how The Guardian's investigation and the footage obtained show the weaponization of Gaza's architecture and infrastructure by "Israel" to create unsuitable and uninhabitable spaces, as well as its heritage sites to erase its identity.
Other scholars mentioned how the destruction of these towns and cities kills any sense of life, which might push people away.
Marin Coward, professor of international politics at Queen Mary University of London, said, "If you can’t shop or learn, you can’t form a sense of belonging or call a place home."
He then added, “The destruction of homes plays a key role in both the displacement – communities cannot return if they have no home to return to – and the destruction of communities, as homes are destroyed and families displaced so all the things that make a community cohesive are destroyed and they are scattered to many different places.”