Two elements bring the Middle East alert back to a very high level: “Israel has ordered all military personnel on leave to return to the country immediately, even if they are on leave”, wrote the Israeli journalist Itai Blumenthal; news to which is added that of the commander of the Air Force Tomer Bar who has decided to freeze the granting of permits to Air Force crews and not to allow travel abroad until further notice.
Add to this element the issuing by Iran of a new NOTAM to close the airspace above Tehran from 11 to 14 August. The notice states that missile exercises will be held in the region.
On the night of 12 August, in Israel dedicated to Tisha BeAv, the authorities imagine the Iranian attack. The IDF wrote in a statement on August 12 that “Chief of Staff LTG Herzi Halevi held a situation assessment and approval of plans in various arenas, with the participation of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Chief of the Intelligence Directorate (J2), Chief of the Operations Directorate (J3), Commander of the Northern Command, Commander of the IDF Air Force, Commander of the Home Front Command and other commanders of the General Staff Forum. The Chief of Staff emphasized the continuation of a high level of readiness and efforts to prepare for the attack and defense.”
Meanwhile, on the night of August 11, eight locations in the Galilee were attacked by Hezbollah.
Politically, attempts at conciliation and negotiation for the release of the hostages continue. In addition, discussions continue over the Israeli attack on the school in Gaza where, according to Palestinian authorities, 100 people lost their lives. The IDF said it was an attack on Hamas, which uses schools as a shelter, but Hamas denied the claim. Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly condemned Israel’s recent attack on a school in Gaza. Egypt’s Al-Azhar University issued a statement condemning the Israeli military’s crime against refugees at Gaza’s Tabi’een school on Saturday, while also highlighting “the failure of the international community to counter Israel’s terrorist practices.”
UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine Francesca Albanese said: “Israel is committing genocide in Gaza with US and European weapons.” Iranian Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani discussed Israel’s actions in a phone call with Belgian Foreign Minister Haja Lahbib on Saturday evening.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a phone conversation with Netanyahu that “the time has come to agree on a deal to free the kidnapped and end the war.”
The Iraqi Islamic Resistance, an umbrella group of resistance movements, has warned against using the Arab country’s airspace to carry out attacks against neighboring Iran.
The US Ambassador to Cyprus Julie Davis Fisher said the LHD1 Wasp amphibious assault ship docked on the island on Thursday, carrying about 30 aircraft and helicopters, and is ready to, among other things, assist citizens in crisis regions.
The US intends to give Israel $3.5 billion in military spending, releasing the funds months after they were appropriated by Congress. The State Department told lawmakers that the Biden administration will release the funds as part of a larger $14.1 billion package approved in April. This funding allows Israel to purchase modern American weapons and military equipment. While the release of such funds typically takes time, the accelerated timing coincides with rising tensions between Iran and Hezbollah following Israel’s recent actions against Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.
Israel will not receive the weapons immediately; the funding supports the long-term procurement of systems currently in development and production. Additionally, the Pentagon can quickly deliver weapons to Israel from its stockpiles.
The aircraft carrier CVN 72 Abraham Lincoln seen alongside the Italian “aircraft carrier” Cavour in the Indo-Pacific region in recent days has been ordered to “accelerate” its transition to the Middle East and has sent SSGN 729 Georgia to the region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will host Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday.
Israel has evacuated four intelligence and security bases in Tel Aviv since August 10, according to a Saudi news channel. A former senior Mossad official told Maariv: “We thought Sinwar had reached the end of the road, but now it is clear that he is laughing at all of us. He has become stronger, contrary to all expectations.”
Axios journalist Barak Ravid cited two informed sources as saying: “The Israeli intelligence community believes that Iran has decided to attack Israel directly, and that the attack could take days.”
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant issued a statement saying: “On October 11, I wanted to attack Lebanon, the government did not approve, I do not recommend it now – it is an adventure.” Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee Member Ze’ev Elkin: “The worst thing is a war of attrition. If we do not make a decision on various fronts, we will sink into a war of attrition on several fronts, and that is what Iran wants.”
The IDF claims to have eliminated the head of Hamas’s general security apparatus in the southern Gaza Strip.
Iran’s threats to Israel are increasing. Ali Shamkhani, political advisor to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ali Khamenei, said that the groundwork has been laid for a severe response to the Israeli regime’s violation of Iran’s territorial integrity.
The spokesperson and deputy head of the public relations office of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Brigadier General Ali Mohammad Naeeni, said that the Israeli government assassinated Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh to drive a wedge between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. The deputy commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, General Ali Fadavi, says that the orders of the Supreme Leader of the Revolution Islamic “are clear and explicit about the punishment of occupation and the blood revenge of the martyr Ismail Haniyeh.”
And again: “We stand by you with all our strength”, an Iranian cleric told Nasrallah. A senior Iranian cleric wrote to Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah to reaffirm the unwavering support of the Iranian clergy and seminaries to the resistance front.
Haniyeh’s assassination is a case of illegal extrajudicial execution, said Kazem Gharibabadi, Secretary General of the Iranian High Council for Human Rights, stressed that the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, is a typical case of illegal extrajudicial execution.
Finally, among the acts of intimidation, Iranian television published a video of the last days of the CVN 71 Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier in the Strait of Hormuz. The program envisages that it can be sunk using two Abu Mahdi-type cruise missiles. The warships accompanying it require only one missile. The Iranian TV reported State.
Hamas has called for the implementation of the provisions agreed in previous negotiations instead of starting new talks on a ceasefire in Gaza. It is also learned that Colombian police have arrested Mehdi Aqil, one of Hezbollah’s financiers.
New British-American attack on the port city of Hodeidah in Yemen. According to Yemeni sources, Saudi drones have bombed the area of Al-Ghor in the border district of Ghamr.
And now a look at the comparison – Israel – Hamas – Hezbollah. Updated at 15:45 on August 12.
Israeli artillery shelling hits the outskirts of the city of Naqoura, south of Lebanon.
In response, the Resistance hit the Al-Samaqa site in the Lebanese hills of Kfar Shuba with artillery shells.
The Lebanese resistance Hezbollah has fired dozens of rockets in retaliatory attacks against Israeli military positions in northern Israeli territories. Hezbollah says it used Katyusha rockets to hit the new headquarters of the Israeli 146th Division in Ga’aton in response to the shelling of residential areas in Lebanon, particularly in areas around Maarab.
On August 12, air defense works in northern Israel in Kiryat Shmona. Israel Hayom says Hezbollah’s rocket attacks on Monday morning targeted eight towns located west of the Galilee.
Al-Qassam Brigades Claim Responsibility for Jordan Valley Operation: “Izz al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, claimed responsibility for the shooting attack in the Jordan Valley in the northern West Bank, which killed an Israeli soldier.”
Al-Qassam Brigades statement: “We claim responsibility for the shooting and killing of an Israeli soldier near the “Mehola” settlement in the northern Jordan Valley.” “Al-Qassam fighters in the West Bank were capable of conducting a zero-range firing operation on Sunday afternoon, 06 Safar 1446 AH – corresponding to 11 August 2024 AD; targeting the vehicle of Zionist soldier “Yonatan Deutsch”, 23, near the “Mehola” settlement in the northern Jordan Valley, killing him instantly”.
Al-Aqsa Brigades: “Our fighters destroyed the enemy command headquarters and vehicle positions in the “Netzarim” axis with heavy-caliber mortar fire”. Palestinian sources reported 5 dead and a number of wounded as Israel struck near the Badr Mosque in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City. Dead and wounded following the shelling of a civilian car on Salah al-Din Street, east of Khan Yunis.
Al-Qassam managed to hit an Israeli soldier with a “Ghoul” rifle in the Swedish village in the Tal Al-Sultan neighborhood, west of Rafah city, southern Gaza Strip.
IDF in a statement reported: “Joint announcement of IDF and ISA: Confirmed the identities of 31 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists eliminated so far in the attack on the Al-Taba’ee school military facility. Following intelligence research conducted by the IDF and ISA, the names of 12 more terrorists eliminated in last Saturday’s (10.8.24) attack on the Al-Taba’een school military facility have been revealed.” The school, according to Hamas, was not engaged in attack operations or hosting Hamas and allied fighters.
The situation in the West Bank is worsening. “The Brigades emphasize that their fighters in the West Bank, who have renewed their loyalty to the leader of the Hamas movement, brother Mujahid Yahya Sinwar “Abu Ibrahim,” will continue to pull the trigger and chase the occupier at every intersection and alley as long as he sits on our land.”
28 resistance operations in the West Bank in the past 24 hours; 5 shootings and armed clashes; Detonation of 4 explosive devices; Two operations of throwing Molotov cocktails and firecrackers; Countering a settler attack: Destruction of two settler vehicles and damage to a military vehicle.
Finally, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades: they claim “the attack on an Israeli force targeted at the Al-Taiya crossing, west of the city of Tulkarem, in the occupied West Bank, in a joint operation with the Al-Quds Brigades”.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
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