Monday, June 16, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

UN: Israel shot and killed journalist on purpose

Published 15 March 2024
– By Editorial Staff
Relatives pay tribute to the slain journalist.
2 minute read

The Israeli military chose to shoot at “clearly identifiable journalists” when Reuters photographer Issam Abdallah was killed on the border with Lebanon last fall. This is according to an investigation by the UN peacekeeping mission UNIFIL.

However, it is still unclear why the Israeli military chose to kill the journalist and injure several others.

It was in October that an Israeli tank began firing on a group of journalists without warning – even though the reporters were “clearly identifiable” and no fighting was taking place at the time.

“The firing at civilians, in this instance clearly identifiable journalists, constitutes a violation of UNSCR 1701 (2006) and international law”, the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said in its report.

“It is assessed that there was no exchange of fire across the Blue Line at the time of the incident. The reason for the strikes on the journalists is not known”, it added.

In addition to Abdallah, who died, six other journalists were injured at the scene.

“Not intentionally shooting at civilians”

An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson soon claimed that the militant group Hezbollah had recently attacked them in the area – and responded with artillery and tank fire – leading to the journalist’s death.

– The IDF deplores any injury to uninvolved parties, and does not deliberately shoot at civilians, including journalists. The IDF considers the freedom of the press to be of utmost importance while clarifying that being in a war zone is dangerous, the spokesperson said.

Reuters management has called on Israel to clearly explain the attack on the journalists and hold those responsible accountable. But that has not happened. Nor has the IDF issued a public report on the incident.

Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have argued that the journalist’s murder should be considered a war crime.

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Report: Trump vetoed Israeli assassination plot against Iranian supreme leader

The escalation in the Middle East

Published today 12:12
– By Editorial Staff
Netanyahu refuses to confirm reports that plans to assassinate the ayatollah have been halted.
2 minute read

President Donald Trump has rejected an Israeli plan to kill Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This was stated by a senior US official familiar with the matter.

According to the official, Benjamin Netanyahu’s regime informed the Trump administration that it had developed a credible and well-planned strategy to eliminate Khamenei. But after receiving the information, the White House made it clear that Trump opposed Israeli forces carrying out the attack.

According to reports, the White House believed that such an attack would risk significantly escalating the conflict and destabilizing the entire region.

Killing Khamenei, who holds the highest political and religious power in Iran, could, according to the US, lead to an explosion of the conflict between Israel and Iran and risk drawing more actors into the conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to confirm the allegations in an interview with Fox News.

– But I can tell you, I think that we do what we need to do, we’ll do what we need to do. And I think the United States knows what is good for the United States, he said. However, Netanyahu’s spokesman Omer Dostri later claimed that the reports of plans to kill Khamenei were “fake”.

Threat of retaliation

On Sunday, Trump issued a sharp warning to Iran not to attack US targets in the Middle East.

“If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before”, he wrote on social media.

At the same time, he predicted that Israel and Iran would “soon” reach an agreement to end the escalating conflict. Trump referred to his previous efforts to reduce tensions between India and Pakistan and between Serbia and Kosovo.

Likewise, we will have PEACE, soon, between Israel and Iran!” he wrote.

“Not the US’s job”

Trump’s line has provoked mixed reactions in the US. Libertarian Senator Rand Paul praised the president for showing restraint and warned of the risk of more war and bloodshed.

It’s not the US’s job to be involved in this war, he said on NBC’s Meet the Press.

However, the neoconservative and very pro-Israeli Senator Lindsey Graham demanded that the US join Israel’s war as usual if diplomatic negotiations do not produce the desired results.

If that means providing bombs, provide bombs. If that means flying with Israel, fly with Israel, he said.

Tucker Carlson: “Let Israel fight its own wars”

Donald Trump's USA

Published today 7:21
– By Editorial Staff
Tucker Carlson urges Trump not to betray his voter base and not to sacrifice American lives for Israel.
3 minute read

Talk show host and opinion maker Tucker Carlson harshly criticized President Donald Trump’s stance on Iran on Friday, writing in a sharply critical commentary that the US should “drop Israel” and “let them fight their own wars”.

If Israel wants to wage this war, it has every right to do so. It is a sovereign country, and it can do as it pleases”, Carlson wrote in his newsletter, adding: “But not with America’s backing”.

Trump, for his part, has expressed support for Israel’s attacks, which he called “very successful”, and emphasized in an interview with Fox News that the US will defend Israel if Iran retaliates. He also warned that the situation “will only get worse” if Iran does not agree to a nuclear deal “before there is nothing left”.

In recent days, Carlson has argued that fears that Iran will soon acquire nuclear weapons are unfounded and said that a war with the Islamic republic would not only lead to “thousands” of American deaths in the Middle East, but also “amount to a profound betrayal” of Trump’s voter base and effectively “mean the end of his presidency”.

He repeated this in his newsletter, accusing Trump of “being complicit in the act of war” through “years of funding and sending weapons to Israel”. Direct US involvement in a war with Iran, Carlson said, “would be a middle finger in the faces of the millions of voters who cast their ballots in hopes of creating a government that would finally put the United States first”,

What happens next will define Donald Trump’s presidency”, he concluded.

“Americans don’t want to bomb Iran”

Republican Senator Rand Paul also expressed opposition to a possible war with Iran and directed criticism at the hawkish neoconservatives in Washington.

The American people overwhelmingly oppose our endless wars, and they showed that when they voted for Donald Trump in 2024″, Paul wrote on social media.

I urge President Trump to stay the course, keep putting America first, and avoid getting involved in another foreign war.”, he continued.

Republican figure Marjorie Taylor Greene also spoke out against US involvement, emphasizing on Twitter that “Americans don’t want to bomb Iran because the secular government of Israel says that Iran is on the verge of developing a nuclear bomb any day now”.

Greene added that she doesn’t even know any American voters who are thinking about Iran.

Promised to “end all wars”

After being sworn in for his second term in January, President Trump promised to “stop all wars” and be remembered as a “peacemaker and unifier”. But six months later, tensions in the Middle East are escalating sharply following Israel’s attack on Iran, increasing the risk of a regional conflict that could draw in US forces.

Trump’s support for the Israeli attacks is now testing his promise of peace and creating divisions within his voter base. Many right-wing politicians and commentators argue that unconditional support for Israel runs counter to the “America First” principles that got Trump elected in the first place.

– There’s a strong sense of betrayal and anger within much of the ‘America First’ base, said Swedish-Iranian Trita Parsi, vice president of the Quincy Institute, an American think tank focusing on diplomacy.

– They’ve grown increasingly skeptical of Israel and believe wars like this are what turn Republican presidencies into failures – and derail their domestic agendas.

Trump warns Iran: “The full might of the US will come down on you”

Donald Trump's USA

Published yesterday 14:15
– By Editorial Staff
If Iran attacks US targets, the US will respond with full force, according to Donald Trump.
2 minute read

On Sunday, US President Donald Trump warned Iran against attacking American interests and promised a powerful military response if it did so.

If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the US armed forces will come down on you at levels never seen before”, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

On Saturday, Israel continued its bombing campaign, attacking Iran’s defense ministry headquarters in Tehran and a natural gas processing facility linked to the South Pars gas field in Bushehr province.

Trump continued to claim that the US was not involved in Israel’s attacks but asserted that he could “easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel and end this conflict”

At the same time, Iran announced that it was suspending the sixth round of nuclear negotiations with Washington with immediate effect.

Trump claims he can easily end the conflict. Photo: facsimile/Truth Social

29 children killed by Israeli missile

At least four people were killed and over 100 injured in the Israeli coastal city of Bat Yam after an Iranian missile attack during the night, according to the city’s mayor on Sunday morning as rescue efforts were still ongoing.

Israel’s ambulance service reported that at least seven people were killed in the country during the night, including a 10-year-old boy and a woman in her 20s. Over 140 people were injured in several attacks.

In Tehran, an Israeli missile struck a high-rise building, killing at least 60 people, including 29 children, according to Iranian authorities. In an earlier attack near a home in northern Israel, three women were reported killed and ten others injured.

In response to the attacks, Tehran fired another volley of missiles at Israel. Iranian missiles reached Israeli airspace in an attack that, according to Israeli emergency services, killed four people in an apartment building in the Galilee region. Waves of Iranian attacks began on Saturday and continued through the night and into the early morning hours, but it remains unclear how many buildings were hit in total.

Reports: Israel desperate to drag US into war against Iran

The escalation in the Middle East

Published yesterday 13:49
– By Editorial Staff
So far, Donald Trump has chosen to distance himself from Israel's attacks on Iran.
2 minute read

Over the past 48 hours, Israel has asked the Trump administration to join the war against Iran in order to eliminate the country’s nuclear program. This has been reported by two Israeli officials.

Israel reportedly lacks the advanced bombs and heavy bombers needed to destroy Iran’s uranium enrichment facility in Fordow, which is built deep inside a mountain complex.

The US, on the other hand, has these resources available in the immediate area, but the Trump administration has so far publicly distanced itself from Israel’s operation, arguing that it would be illegitimate for Iran to retaliate by attacking US targets.

A direct US attack on Iran – even if limited to a single facility – would, according to analysts, definitely draw the US into the war.

Israel is determined to “eliminate” Iran’s nuclear program, and if the Fordow facility remains operational even after the ongoing bombing campaign, the operation will be considered at least a partial failure, according to analysts.

An Israeli official told Axios that the US may join the war and that President Trump, in a recent conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, even suggested that he would do so if deemed necessary.

“Cannot be prevented”

However, a White House spokesman denied these plans on Friday. Another US official confirmed on Saturday that Israel has urged the Trump administration to join the war, but said the administration is not currently considering it.

– Whatever happens today cannot be prevented, a senior official said on Saturday, referring to the Israeli bombings.

– But we have the ability to negotiate a successful peaceful resolution to this conflict if Iran is willing. The fastest way for Iran to accomplish peace is to give up its nuclear weapons program, he continued.

Israel’s ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, told Fox News on Friday that “the entire operation… really has to be completed with the elimination of Fordow”.

According to Israeli sources, the proposal for US participation in striking the Fordow facility has been discussed on several occasions with the US since the attacks began. An Israeli source says that the US is seriously considering this request and that Israel is now hoping for Trump’s approval.

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