1). “Israel’s Genocide in Gaza at Fever Pitch & Potential for Regional War w/ Ali Abunimah & Rania Khalek”, Oct 16, 2023, Rania Khalek hosts a special live episode of Dispatches with Ali Abunimah, executive director of the The Electronic Intifada, Rania Khalek Dispatches, duration of video 1:32:29, at < https://www.youtube.com/watch?
2). “About 2,000 U.S. troops told to prepare for deployment in response to Israel-Hamas war: The troops wouldn't necessarily go to Israel or Gaza but would likely arrive in a nearby country, a defense official told NBC News”, Oct 16, 2023, Courtney Kube and Mosheh Gains, NBC News, at < https://www.nbcnews.com/news/
3). “2,000 US troops on notice to deploy as Israel-Hamas war intensifies”, Oct 16, 2023, Jon Simkins, Military Times, at <https://www.militarytimes.
Introduction by dmorista : The blizzard of Pro-Israeli propaganda continues to fill the airwaves and other media in U.S. and other nations of The West. Ali Abunimah presents a very different view. Clearly the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist far-right pro-Settler advisors (such as Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, and National Security Advisor and Netanyahu confidant Tzachi Hanegbi ), see the current situation as a golden opportunity to permanently push large numbers of Palestinians out of Israel permanently. Egypt and the other Arab countries surrounding Israel are very staunch in their refusal to take any significant numbers of Palestinian refugees from the current war. The leaders of those countries all know that the Israelis want to push out 1 or 2 million Palestinians and never let them back into Israel again.
In the interview Abunimah and Khalek discuss the article published by Seymour Hersh at his substack site on October 14, “THE PLAN TO WIPE OUT HAMAS”. Hersh discussed the plan to use regular bombing and artillery shelling to drive the population of Gaza to the border with Egypt. Also, according to Hersh, the IDF plans to then use a major bombing campaign using large numbers of American supplied “Bunker Buster Bombs” to try to kill off and flush out the Hamas leadership that is sheltering in tunnels and bunkers under Gaza City and in other locations in Gaza. The full Hersh article is behind a paywall and I have not read it.
Khalek and Abunimah also discuss violence and intimidation aimed at Palestinians around Israel. Khalek recalled a previous time when far-right Israelis would go into mixed Arab and Jewish neighborhoods, particularly in Jerusalem, and mark the Arab houses with the threat, sometimes carried out, of returning and attacking the homes to drive the Palestinian residents out. During this current period Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir purchased 10,000 assault rifles and distributed them to settlers in the Occupied West Bank.
Finally there are the disturbing reports that 2,000 American Troops had been mobilized and were preparing to go to the Middle East to support the Operations by the Israeli forces. The original article about the possible deployment appeared in the Wall Street Journal under the title, "U.S. Picks Troops to Prepare for Potential Deployment to Middle East", written by NancyYoussef. I cannot find it in the databases I have access to; but the online version, blocked by the WSJ paywall, notes that it was updated on Oct 16, 2023. The NBC article notes that:
"The troops are not being sent anywhere yet, nor would they necessarily go to Israel or Gaza. If they were deployed, they would go to a nearby country to be prepared to support Israel in the war against Hamas, the official said.
"These who received the orders were already on 96-hour prepare-to-deploy status, which has now been shortened to 24 hours."
Abunimah noted in the interview that the U.S. had moved its cache of 155 mm artillery shells out of Israel and to Ukraine. This reflects one of the weaknesses of the U.S. Empire, that is now a largely deindustrialized society. It is necessary to move limited supplies and armaments around, and there is not enough to provide to both Ukraine and Israel. We can assume that Israel will get priority. This is a particularly dangerous time. The U.S. Navy had already moved a task force centered on the U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford, its newest and largest Aircraft Carrier to the waters of the Eastern Mediterranean. The U.S.S. Dwight D. Eisenhower, and its accompanying warships is now on its way to the area. The Israelis, particularly Benjamin Netanyahu have made no secret of their desire to provoke the U.S. into an attack on Iran. Failing that, the Israelis might settle for massive logistical support (weapons and in-flight refueling capabilities) that would enable their own airforce to launch strikes on Iran. The U.S. military high command and uniform opposition by the U.S. populace have, so far, kept such a hare-brained scheme from being launched. But the pressure from domestic Zionists and Israeli envoys is more powerful than ever before. The U.S. media system has spent years portraying Iran as an evil force (always studiously ignoring the role of the U.S. and U.K. in creating the current Iranian government, by the 1953 Coup in Iran that eventually led to replacement of the Shah by the Islamic State).
About 2,000 U.S. troops told to prepare for deployment in response to Israel-Hamas war
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About 2,000 U.S. troops have been put on prepare-to-deploy orders for possible support to Israel, according to a defense official.
The troops are not being sent anywhere yet, nor would they necessarily go to Israel or Gaza. If they were deployed, they would go to a nearby country to be prepared to support Israel in the war against Hamas, the official said.
These who received the orders were already on 96-hour prepare-to-deploy status, which has now been shortened to 24 hours.
Those being deployed would include service members with a variety of capabilities and specialties, including providing medical support and handling explosives.
The Defense Department has also already deployed the U.S.S. Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group to the eastern Mediterranean Sea, where it will join the U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford in a show of support for Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces have massed military personnel and equipment at the Gaza border, preparing to expand a retaliatory aerial attack with what it said would be “an integrated and coordinated attack from the air, sea and land.”
Hamas, which rules Gaza, carried out the worst terrorist attack in Israel in decades just over a week ago. The assault included targeting children and taking hostages.
Since then, more than 2,800 people have been killed and 10,859 have been injured in Gaza. In Israel, 1,400 people have been killed and 3,900 have been wounded.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday was in Tel Aviv, where he was met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war Cabinet in the Defense Ministry for more than seven-and-a-half hours, into early Tuesday local time. During the meeting, there were two rounds of air raids and orders to shelter in place.
Navy offering up to $100K in EOD officer retention bonuses
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Approximately 2,000 U.S. troops have been ordered to be ready to deploy in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Pentagon officials announced Tuesday.
The “prepare to deploy” order by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “increases DoD’s ability to respond quickly to the evolving security environment in the Middle East,” Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said in a release Tuesday. “No decisions have been made to deploy any forces at this time. The Secretary will continue to assess our force posture and remain in close contact with allies and partners.”
If preparations do lead to a deployment, U.S. personnel from various units based across the Middle East and Europe are expected to assume support roles. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on the potential deployment.
The Pentagon did not specify how many troops, if any, would be deployed inside Israel’s borders or whether personnel would occupy locations outside the country. Direct involvement in combat by U.S. infantry is not expected at this time, according to the WSJ.
Austin’s orders come as droves of Palestinians continue to flee south from the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected Israeli ground invasion, one aimed at eliminating Hamas in retaliation for the group’s Oct. 7 attack in Israel that killed 1,400 people, the majority of whom were civilians.
Numerous aid groups, meanwhile, continue to warn that the impending invasion could compound what is quickly becoming a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, a densely populated strip of land between Israel and Egypt that is home approximately 2.3 million people.
The attack by Hamas, a militant group that has been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and European Union, kicked off the bloodiest conflict between Palestine and Israel since the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. More than 4,000 people have now died in the conflict, with the Gaza Health Ministry claiming 2,750 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 wounded.
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In addition to the 1,400 Israelis killed in the attack, at least 199 others, including children and elderly citizens, were captured by Hamas and taken as hostages into Gaza, Israeli officials have reported.
With support from U.S. Navy warships and air assets, Israeli forces have been amassing along Gaza’s border and drilling for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group. A week of blistering airstrikes in Gaza by Israeli aircraft have demolished entire neighborhoods, but have failed to prevent further rocket attacks into Israel by Hamas.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has renewed pledges of American support for Israel in its war against Hamas, and discussed U.S. efforts with the U.N. and others to provide hostage rescue assistance as well as humanitarian aid for civilians.
The White House announced Monday that President Joe Biden is expected to travel to Israel on Wednesday “to demonstrate his steadfast support for Israel in the face of Hamas’s brutal terrorist attack and to consult on next steps.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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