Israel In The News

• "Bloodbath as explosion kills more than 100 at Iranian ceremony marking military commander Qassem Soleimani's assassination: Footage shows bodies scattered in the street as Tehran condemns 'terror attack'"--Daily Mail. From the article:

    At least 103 people have been killed and 170 wounded after two explosions rocked a ceremony that was being held to mark the 2020 assassination of Iran's top commander Qassem Soleimani in a US drone attack.

    The first explosion was quickly followed by a second close to a cemetery in the southeastern city of Kerman where thousands had gathered to mark the four-year anniversary of Soleimani's killing.

    Harrowing video showed scores of bloodied victims lying on the floor as others stumbled away from the blast scene close to the Saheb al-Zaman Mosque where Soleimani is buried in what Iran has described as a 'terrorist attack'.

The article goes on to say that "there is no suggestion the attack was authored by Tel-Aviv. While Israel has carried out attacks in Iran over its nuclear programme, it has conducted targeted assassinations, not mass-casualty bombings." But that is not really true. The Israeli's government's precursor in British controlled Palestine carried out a mass bombing in the attack on the King David Hotel. Israel also resorted to mass bombings of Palestinian refugee camps in the 1980s. And it has certainly planned on carrying out mass bombings before, including a planned attack on a sports stadium in Beirut in the 1970s. Its letter bomb campaign against German scientists also injured innocent people. Finally, Israel has a history of using bombs to kill targets in Iran. I can't say who carried out the bombing--the article notes that "Sunni extremist groups, including Islamic State, have carried out large-scale attacks in the past that killed civilians in Shiite-majority Iran, though not in relatively peaceful Kerman--but to discount Israel just because it was a "mass bombing" is ignorant.

• "High-end sex ring in Boston and D.C. areas was 'honeypot' scheme by Russia, China, South Korea or even Israel - to ensnare US officials, intelligence experts believe"--Daily Mail. Note the presence on the list of two supposed allies: South Korea and Israel. The article notes that "[i]ntelligence experts are becoming increasingly convinced that six high end brothels in the suburbs of Boston and Washington, D.C. were set up by a foreign nation as an espionage 'honeytrap'." The brothels were operated by South Korean born U.S. citizens: Han Lee, Junmyung Lee, and James Lee (no family relation between the three). 

    Members of Congress, military officers, and national security contractors who 'possessed security clearances' were among the steady customers at the 'high-end brothels' run by the ring, prosecutors say. 

    The ring's clients, who paid rates of up to $600 an hour, included corporate executives, professors, lawyers, and scientists.

Also:

    Experts interviewed by DailyMail.com suspect the brothel scheme was a honeypot. 

    The twin locations where ring operators selected to set up shop is the first clue, a number of them said.

    As the country's political headquarters, Washington presents a target-rich environment for spies.

    In the affidavit, investigators identified six 'target locations' where the brothels were based, four in the Boston area ('Target Locations 4-7') and two in Virginia ('Target locations 8 and 9).  

    Two of the brothels operated from units in luxury apartment buildings in the Virginia suburbs outside the capital, which are each about a 15-minute drive from the White House, Congress, Pentagon and CIA. 

    The surrounding area is packed with national security giants such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing and General Dynamics.

    Boston, where the other four brothels operated, is a haven for defense contractors as well. 

    It's also home to top-tier universities such as Harvard and MIT that train government and military officials, and produce reports for the Pentagon and CIA.

The article also notes that "[b]efore clients could book a slot, first-time visitors were greeted with a verification page asking for personal data including their name, phone number and employer." The article gives a good explanation how similar honey-pot services work, so it is worth the read if you are interested in the intelligence gathering side of things.

• "'Two million' Palestinians 'wake up every morning with a desire to slaughter and rape Jews', Israel's finance minister declares as the nation 'prepares 'voluntary relocation' of Gazan residents to Congo'"--Daily Mail.  An excerpt:

    Israel's finance minister accused 'two million' Palestinians living in Gaza of having the 'desire to slaughter and rape Jews' as he defended the displacement of civilians in the coastal territory and his country's reported 'voluntary relocation' plans.

    Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right politician and head of the ultranationalist Religious Zionism party that is part of Israel's ruling coalition, said Israel should 'encourage' the territory's approximately 2.4 million Palestinians to relocate to other countries - with reports suggesting Israel has held talks with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

    He, along with fellow far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, also earlier called for the return of Jewish settlers to Gaza at the end of their country's on-going war against Hamas - in comments that were slammed by the US and other Western allies.

It adds that "[a]ccording to one report, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition is conducting secret talks with Democratic Republic of the Congo and other nations over them accepting thousands of immigrants from Gaza."