WAR Regional conflict brewing in the Mediterranean

jward

passin' thru
hmm.



Pegasus Intel
@Pegasus_Intel


#Breaking: The Royal Jordanian Air Force #RJAF and the Israeli Air Force #IAF are scheduled to hold an emergency joint military exercise that simulates a response to any rocket, missile, or drone launched by Hezbollah #Lebanon (1/2).
This comes in line with the recent #IAF interception of 3 drones belonging to Hezbollah and the unsuccessful early warning detection of Hezbollah's infiltration of Israeli waters (2/2)
 

Heliobas Disciple

TB Fanatic
hmm.

Pegasus Intel
@Pegasus_Intel


#Breaking: The Royal Jordanian Air Force #RJAF and the Israeli Air Force #IAF are scheduled to hold an emergency joint military exercise that simulates a response to any rocket, missile, or drone launched by Hezbollah #Lebanon (1/2).
This comes in line with the recent #IAF interception of 3 drones belonging to Hezbollah and the unsuccessful early warning detection of Hezbollah's infiltration of Israeli waters (2/2)

Jordan and Israel doing military drills together? Is this a first or did I miss something in the last few months/years?

PS - that question is not rhetorical, I really am curious about this.

HD
 

danielboon

TB Fanatic
Lapid warns Hezbollah as Macron says Lebanon stability is important
by Naharnet Newsdesk 2 hours ago





W460

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Tuesday accused Hezbollah of “jeopardizing stability in the region” and warned that Israel “will not stand idly by in the face of any attacks,” three days after the Iran-backed party launched three drones towards the Karish offshore gas field.
“We will not turn a blind eye to Iran's arming of Hezbollah with missiles and drones,” Lapid added at a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron following talks at the Elysee.
"Hezbollah is a terrorist organization threatening Israel," he said, adding that Hezbollah was "trying to attack us with Iranian rockets."
Macron for his part called for “avoiding any activities that jeopardize the negotiations” between Lebanon and Israel over the demarcation of their maritime border.
“Lebanon's stability is key to the stability of the region,” Macron stressed.
Lebanon rejects Israel's claim that the Karish gas field lies within its territorial waters.
Israel and Lebanon resumed indirect negotiations on their maritime border in 2020 and the Karish site is marked as Israeli on previous United Nations maps. The U.S.-backed talks stalled after Lebanon demand said that the U.N. maps must be modified.
"We will ask France to intervene to secure the negotiations that we want to lead until the end of the gas issues," an Israeli official told journalists traveling with Lapid.
"The Lebanon issue is essential and Lapid will come back to the Israeli position, according to which Hezbollah is first and foremost a threat to the future of Lebanon," said the Israeli official, who requested anonymity.
France is a key supporter of Lebanon, a former French protectorate, and Macron has unsuccessfully tried to broker a solution to Lebanon's political crisis.
Israel and Lebanon remain technically at war but agreed to indirect talks aimed at delineating their maritime border to allow both sides to boost gas exploration.
 

jward

passin' thru
Hezbollah used Iranian drones against the Karish gas field - Gantz
The IDF shot down three UAVs launched by Hezbollah toward the Karish gas field on Saturday.
By ANNA AHRONHEIM
Published: JULY 7, 2022 12:01

Updated: JULY 7, 2022 18:55
Email Twitter Facebook fb-messenger
 Iran's Army chief, Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi and Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri visit an underground site with drones at an undisclosed location in Iran, in this handout image obtained on May 28, 2022. (photo credit: IRANIAN ARMY/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)

Iran's Army chief, Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi and Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri visit an underground site with drones at an undisclosed location in Iran, in this handout image obtained on May 28, 2022.
(photo credit: IRANIAN ARMY/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)



The drones that Hezbollah launched toward the Karish gas rig last week were Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Defense Minister Benny Gantz confirmed.

“Hezbollah used UAVs made in Iran in their operation against the Karish,” he said in a briefing to military reporters. “It should be said that Hezbollah carries out missions for Iran, and its weapons are weapons made in Iran whether it is manufactured there or the knowledge acquired by them.”

The IDF shot down three UAVs launched on Saturday by Hezbollah toward the Karish rig, which is situated within Israel’s economic waters but disputed by Lebanon.




One of the three UAVs was shot down by an F-16, and the other two were downed by the naval Barak 1 Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missile system on the INS Eilat, marking the first time the system was used against aerial threats.

The military also confirmed that another drone launched by the Lebanese terror group was downed June 29. The drone was intercepted “at a great distance from the maritime border” within Lebanon’s exclusive economic zone.

 London-based Energean's drill ship begins drilling at the Karish natural gas field offshore Israel in the east Mediterranean May 9, 2022. Picture taken May 9, 2022.  (credit: REUTERS/Ari Rabinovitch)
zoom-image-icon.svg
London-based Energean's drill ship begins drilling at the Karish natural gas field offshore Israel in the east Mediterranean May 9, 2022. Picture taken May 9, 2022. (credit: REUTERS/Ari Rabinovitch)
According to the ALMA Research Center, Hezbollah has about 2,000 unmanned aerial vehicles, many of them advanced UAVs from Iran and others manufactured independently by the group.

The Israel Air Force has admitted that identifying and intercepting hostile drones is challenging, and considers drones to be one of the top five threats facing the country. The defense establishment is also concerned about the damage to the IAF’s aerial superiority over Lebanon due to Hezbollah’s long-range missiles and air defense systems.

The Lebanese response
Lebanon slammed Hezbollah for the launching of the drones, which was done without the government’s consent.Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib issued a joint statement on Monday stating that Hezbollah’s launch of the drones “is unacceptable and endangers the country for no reason.”


Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah has threatened to use force to prevent the Karish gas rig from producing natural gas, which is expected to start in several weeks.

Israel sees the rig as a strategic asset several kilometers south of the area over which negotiations are being conducted, and has warned that it will defend it.

In addition to being officially at war, Lebanon and Israel have an unresolved maritime border dispute over a triangular area of sea of around 860 sq. km., It extends along several blocks for exploratory offshore drilling for which Lebanon has put in a tender.

US energy envoy Amos Hochstein is expected to join US President Joe Biden on his visit to Israel and Saudi Arabia next week, and will hold meetings regarding the dispute.

On Wednesday Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun said that negotiations regarding the maritime border demarcations between Lebanon and Israel would be “finalized soon” with a “solution that would satisfy everyone.”
“Border demarcation is making progress and we will soon finalize it”
Michel Aoun

“Border demarcation is making progress and we will soon finalize it,” Aoun was quoted as saying in an interview by Lebanon’s Naharnet news site.

“Border demarcation is making progress, and we will soon finalize it. I believe finalizing it will not take a long time,” and that the agreement “will definitely be in everyone’s interest. We are demarcating a border, and the two parties must be satisfied with the solution when we reach it, or else it wouldn’t be a solution, but rather hegemony by one party over the other.”
 

jward

passin' thru
dear lord- sure hope that "they" didn't assassinate Abe as a prequel to those "white domestic terrorists" taking out Biden.
...sure have been giving signs that they're ready to jettison him, and that might solve as many problems as it created :eek:








Israel Radar
@IsraelRadar_com



Massive security planned for Biden visit to Israel next week: president arriving with hundreds of aides & secret service agents, 6 military helicopters, 80 cars including armored vehicles; Israel to deploy thousands of police officers (via @IsraelHayomHeb)
 

jward

passin' thru
More boom-booms expected, or does this shift gears, and either way, will the noise be heard or lost in the larger cacophony

Israel Radar
@IsraelRadar_com



Israel believes Iran has enough enriched uranium to build nuclear bombs; Israeli covert action to focus on weaponization program & military industry (via@N12News )



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Iran nuclear breakout time is zero, ex-military intel chief @Hayman Tamir says; IAEA will not know in real-time if Tehran shifts to 90% enrichment, he warns (but will Israel know…?)
 

danielboon

TB Fanatic
Biden’s Fist Bump Fiasco Muddles Bid to Avoid MBS Handshake
  • US president bumped fists with Lapid, shook Netanyahu’s hand
  • Biden set to meet later in trip with Saudi crown prince
President Joe Biden, center, arrives on Air Force One at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, on July 13.

President Joe Biden, center, arrives on Air Force One at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, on July 13.
Photographer: Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg
By
Jordan Fabian and
Justin Sink
July 13, 2022 at 9:54 AM EDTUpdated onJuly 13, 2022 at 11:52 AM EDT



A glowing orb, a back-slapping embrace, a formal handshake, or a cool, Covid-appropriate fist bump? For all the talk of oil, the most pressing decision for President Joe Biden this week could come down to choosing the appropriate greeting when he meets the Saudi leader he vowed to snub.
It’s a decision that just got more complicated after Biden was caught in an extended handshake with Israel’s former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and then couldn’t seem to stop shaking hands of other Israeli officials during a visit to Yad Vashem, Israel’s memorial to the Holocaust.
Biden wasn’t supposed to shake hands with any foreign leader during his first Middle East trip. It’s a precaution aides said was meant to protect him from Covid-19 -- but one that would conveniently help avoid a handshake with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the second leg of his tour.
It started off well, with Biden cautiously -- if awkwardly -- fist-bumping the Israel premier and several other officials after stepping off Air Force One in Tel Aviv. Then, after speeches, came the quick handshake with recently-resigned premier Naftali Bennett followed by the fulsome overture from Netanyahu.
That’ll make it awkward to fist bump Prince Mohammed, widely known as MBS, without causing potential offense. The world will be watching the body language almost as closely as the statements and whatever photo emerges could haunt Biden the rest of his presidency.
Biden entered office vowing to turn Saudi Arabia into a “pariah” over the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist and government critic Jamal Khashoggi.
The decision was made to warm relations after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent gasoline prices soaring, putting domestic pressure on Biden. But the US administration has been at pains to reset the relationship without creating a photo op that could haunt him in an election year.
When former President Donald Trump made his inaugural visit to the Middle East, he was pictured standing with the Saudi king and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi around a glowing orb at the opening of a terrorism conference.
US President Trump in Saudi Arabia

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud and US President Donald Trump place their hands on an illuminated globe in Riyadh in 2017.

The unfortunate snap spawned a deluge of memes since immortalized on social media.


With the Saudi leg of the trip set to last no more than a day, opportunities for PR slip-ups of that magnitude could be limited.
The president is scheduled to meet with King Salman, Prince Mohammed and other members of the Saudi leadership on Friday in Jeddah after departing Israel. The White House has avoided saying whether the president will have any one-on-one interactions with MBS.
So far, there’s no joint press conference planned, potentially dodging any photos that could make the two leaders appear too friendly, like this image of Prince Mohammed sharing a joke with Russian Vladimir Putin weeks after the Khashoggi killing hit global headlines.
ARGENTINA-G20-SUMMIT

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Buenos Aires, on November 30, 2018.
(Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty Images)
Biden, who has called himself a “tactile politician,” has done little to avoid handshakes even before his four-day trip.
He was seen embracing lawmakers during a congressional picnic on the South Lawn of the White House on Tuesday shortly before departing for Israel. He also spent more than an hour working a rope line during a trip to Cleveland last week, putting his arms around and taking photos with supporters.
It’s hard to say how he might respond if confronted with Prince Mohammed’s outstretched hand.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre would not answer directly when asked if the new guidelines around handshakes were a deliberate effort to avoid a photograph of Biden shaking hands with Prince Mohammed.
“We are saying that we’re going to try to minimize contact as much as possible. But also there are precautions that we are taking because this is up to his doctor,” she told reporters.
 

jward

passin' thru







EndGameWW3
@EndGameWW3



Update: CNN: Saudi Arabia is expected to announce this week the opening of its airspace to commercial flights to and from Israel, as well as to allow Israel's Muslim minority to participate in the Hajj with direct charter flights. Travel to Saudi Arabia.
 

Housecarl

On TB every waking moment
EndGameWW3
@EndGameWW3

·
7m

Update: Israel/America...
Quote Tweet






Fny0BEyI_mini.jpg


Jason Brodsky

@JasonMBrodsky
· 5h
#BREAKING: The Jerusalem Joint Declaration has been released. Two key paragraphs below, with the U.S. pledge to never allow #Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon and to "use *all* elements of its national power to ensure that outcome." The Jerusalem U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership Joint Declaration | The White House
View attachment 350495

Things are about to get "bright and loud".

There's a very small window for an Israeli strike to be put into both Iran's nuclear program and all its strike capability where a true nuclear weapon reply isn't probable (WMDs of lesser potency are potentially in play as it now sits anyways).

I would be surprised if a preemptive strike with the kitchen sink doesn't happen before this November.
 
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