As NATO escalates its proxy war in Ukraine and inches closer to fighting directly with Russia, the Washington-led bloc is embracing mandatory military service. Many European members of NATO have expanded or reintroduced conscription as part of large-scale preparations for such a war, CNN reports. Already outpaced in terms of military industrial capacity by Russia, the alliance’s new battleplans will see an attempt to beef up weapons production and form 35-50 brigades of 3,000-7,000 battle ready troops. Outgoing NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has insisted, “Today, we have 500,000...
Netanyahu Avoids Europe Stopover En Route to US, Over ICC Arrest Concerns
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided against stopping over in Europe prior to his coming address to the US Congress over concerns regarding his arrest warrant application with the International Criminal Court (ICC), Israeli media reports. The ICC’s chief prosecutor is seeking warrants to put Netanyahu, along with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, on trial for war crimes committed in the besieged Gaza Strip. On Wednesday, Israel’s Reshet Bet radio station explained that the Israeli leader was considering a layover in a friendly European country, as there were discussions about...
US Provides $2 Billion Military Aid Package to Warsaw
Washington is providing its NATO ally Poland with a second $2 billion foreign military financing (FMF) package in less than a year, Breaking Defense reports. In recent weeks, Warsaw has given Kiev a green light to use Polish-provided weapons to strike the Russian mainland as well as signed a bilateral military pact with Ukraine, agreeing to shoot down some Russian missiles. A State Department official boasted to the outlet of how the two FMF loans are benefiting the US arms industry as well as strengthening the Washington-led bloc embroiled in its Ukraine proxy war with Moscow. “It’s...
Israel Approves Largest West Bank Settlement Expansion in Over Three Decades
As violence and ethnic cleansing surges throughout the occupied West Bank, the Israeli NGO Peace Now says Tel Aviv has approved the largest illegal settlement expansion in over three decades. Israel’s Supreme Planning Council will also review plans to advance the construction of more than 6,000 housing units across dozens of West Bank Jewish-only colonies. This comes as far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who holds a key position in the Defense Ministry acting as the West Bank’s de facto governor, is moving forward with plans to fully annex the occupied territory. According to a...
IDF Raids West Bank Town, Kills Palestinian Woman and Child
A Palestinian woman and 15-year-old boy were murdered during an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) raid in the northern West Bank town of Tulkarm on Monday, the Palestine Chronicle reported. This follows a series of Israeli attacks on the town’s Nur Shams refugee camp including a drone strike over the weekend which killed a Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander. According to local hospital sources speaking with Palestinian news agency Wafa, 47-year-old Nisreen Khaled Damiri and 15-year-old Muhammad Ali Sarhan were killed by Israeli fire during the Monday raid. The Palestinian Health Ministry said...
Pentagon Chief Speaks With Russian Counterpart, First Time in Over a Year
The Defense Department announced Secretary Lloyd Austin held a phone call with Andrei Belousov, his Russian counterpart, on Tuesday. Austin has not spoken with a Russian defense minister since his call with Belousov’s predecessor more than a year ago. Both sides acknowledged that the Pentagon chief initiated the contact. This appears to be an effort by Austin to ease tensions over the Ukraine proxy war. Following the firing of an American missile by Kiev’s forces which killed Russians in Crimea, Moscow has vowed a response. Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters about...
High Court Rules Ultra-Orthodox Men Are Subject to Draft, Threatening Netanyahu’s Coalition
Israel’s high court ruled that men in the ultra-Orthodox community are subject to conscription on Tuesday. The community, known as the Haredim, is politically powerful, subsidized by the citizenry, and until now had been unaffected by the mass mandatory enlistment. This is a heavily contentious issue as more than 600 Israeli soldiers have been killed and thousands more wounded in Gaza, and the ruling could spell trouble for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fragile ruling coalition. The court’s decree, which was unanimously supported by all nine justices, says “At the height of a difficult...
IDF Soldier Killed, 16 Injured During West Bank Refugee Camp Raid
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Thursday that 1 soldier was killed and 16 others wounded in roadside bomb explosions during an overnight raid on the northern West Bank’s Jenin refugee camp. Violence has surged under the Israeli occupation, as the IDF along with illegal settlers have killed over 550 Palestinians, including nearly 140 children, since the war on the besieged Gaza Strip began. The IDF claims it was carrying out the raid around midnight between Wednesday and Thursday in search of members of a Hamas network operating in the city of Jenin as well as the adjacent camp....