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TheProle

TheProle's Journal
TheProle's Journal
October 27, 2023

Hamas feelings hurt by fair-weather terrorist friends

Hamas official calls for stronger intervention by regional allies in its war with Israel

BEIRUT (AP) — A senior Hamas official told The Associated Press on Thursday that the Palestinian militant group had expected stronger intervention from Hezbollah in its war with Israel, in a rare public appeal to its allies in the region.

Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas’ decision-making political bureau, said in an interview that “we need more” from allies, including Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, in light of an Israeli air campaign that Palestinian health officials say has killed more than 7,000 people, mostly civilians, in the besieged Gaza Strip.

https://apnews.com/article/hamas-ghazi-hamad-israel-gaza-hezbollah-iran-ee10f09cf1ffe34ab68cff7987b49f53

October 27, 2023

Phillips to primary Biden

Rep. Dean Phillips will challenge Biden in Democratic presidential race: "This is an election about the future"

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dean-phillips-biden-presidential-primary-challenge/

October 26, 2023

Hamas Armed Wing Says 'Almost 50' Israeli Hostages Killed In Raids

Hamas's armed wing said Thursday that "almost 50" Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip since the October 7 attacks have been killed in Israeli bombing raids on the Palestinian territory.

" (Ezzedine) Al-Qassam Brigades estimates that the number of Zionist prisoners who were killed in the Gaza Strip as a result of Zionist strikes and massacres has reached almost 50," the group said in a statement issued on its Telegram channel.

AFP was not immediately able to verify the claim. Israel launched a massive air and artillery bombardment of Gaza after Hamas carried out the brutal attacks on southern Israel.

Earlier, the Israeli army said 224 people were abducted by militants during the attack that left 1,400 people, mostly civilians, dead.


https://www.barrons.com/news/hamas-armed-wing-says-almost-50-israeli-hostages-killed-since-bombardment-began-25a01c40
October 25, 2023

Hollywood Stars and Executives Thank President Biden for Leadership, Call for Release of All Hamas Hostages

A dizzying amount of A-list Hollywood actors, comedians and entertainment executives signed an open letter to President Joe Biden on Monday, calling for the release of all hostages taken by terrorist group Hamas.

Amy Schumer, Sacha Baron Cohen, Chris Rock, Gwyneth Paltrow, Katy Perry, Bradley Cooper, Justin Timberlake and more were among the highly visible figures to sign the note, launching a formal campaign called #NoHostageLeftBehind. The note stands in response to events following the Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel at the hands of the extremist group, and its release of four hostages in recent days.


https://variety.com/2023/film/news/hamas-hostages-hollywood-stars-open-letter-biden-1235765726/

The letter:

Dear President Biden,

We are heartened by Friday’s release of the two American hostages, Judith Ranaanand her daughter Natalie Ranaan and by today’s release of two Israelis, Nurit Cooperand Yocheved Lifshitz, whose husbands remain in captivity.

But our relief is tempered by our overwhelming concern that 220 innocent people, including 30 children, remain captive by terrorists, threatened with torture and death. They were taken by Hamas in the savage massacre of October 7, where over 1,400 Israelis were slaughtered — women raped, families burned alive, and infants beheaded.

Thank you for your unshakable moral conviction, leadership, and support for the Jewish people, who have been terrorized by Hamas since the group’s founding over 35 years ago, and for the Palestinians, who have also been terrorized, oppressed, and victimized by Hamas for the last 17 years that the group has been governing Gaza.

We all want the same thing: Freedom for Israelis and Palestinians to live side by side in peace. Freedom from the brutal violence spread by Hamas. And most urgently, in this moment, freedom for the hostages.

We urge everyone to not rest until all hostages are released. No hostage can be left behind. Whether American, Argentinian, Australian, Azerbaijani, Brazilian, British, Canadian, Chilean, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Eritrean, Filipino, French, German, Indian, Israeli, Italian, Kazakh, Mexican, Panamanian, Paraguayan, Peruvian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, South African, Spanish, Sri Lankan, Thai, Ukrainian, Uzbekistani or otherwise, we need to bring them home.
October 24, 2023

Macron proposes international coalition against Hamas

French President Emmanuel Macron calls for the international coalition fighting the Islamic State group to be expanded to also fight Hamas after the October 7 assault on Israel.

Macron, speaking after talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, said that countries fighting ISIS “should also fight against Hamas.”

The French leader stressed there must be a “decisive relaunch” of the Palestinian peace process following the Hamas atrocities and Israel’s declaration of war against the terror group.


https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/macron-proposes-international-coalition-against-hamas/
October 24, 2023

A DU Israel/Gaza Poll

People have expressed their views extensively in other threads, but this is not that.

Simply put, have your views on the Israel/Palestine situation shifted in any significant way since the recent Hamas attack and its fallout?

October 22, 2023

Taliban says plans to formally join China's Belt and Road Initiative

BEIJING, Oct 19 (Reuters) - The Taliban administration wants to formally join Chinese President Xi Jinping's huge 'Belt and Road' infrastructure initiative and will send a technical team to China for talks, Afghanistan's acting commerce minister said on Thursday.

Beijing has sought to develop its ties with the Taliban-run government since it took over in 2021, even though no other foreign government has recognised the administration
.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taliban-says-plans-formally-join-chinas-belt-road-initiative-2023-10-19/?utm_source=reddit.com
October 20, 2023

[Confirmed] Possible Release of American Hostages from Gaza

Updated with Reuters report:

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/hamas-releases-two-us-hostages-for-humanitarian-reasons-response-qatari-efforts-2023-10-20/

CAIRO, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Hamas' armed wing the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades has released two U.S. hostages - a mother and her daughter - "for humanitarian reasons" in response to Qatari mediation efforts, its spokesman Abu Ubaida said in a statement on Friday.

Abu Ubaida said they released the citizens "for humanitarian reasons, and to prove to the American people and the world that the claims made by (President Joe) Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless."



From BBC:

Reports on release of two US hostages

Israeli media are reporting the release of two American citizens held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.

There's been no confirmation of this. We're waiting to hear from US and Israeli officials.

The US state department will soon hold its daily press briefing in Washington. We'll be following that live.
October 20, 2023

China's nuclear arsenal on track to double by 2030, Pentagon reports

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-s-nuclear-arsenal-on-track-to-double-by-2030-pentagon-reports/ar-AA1ix2i5

China has developed an arsenal of more than 500 operational nuclear warheads and is set to double that number by the end of the decade, exceeding previous Pentagon estimates, according to a Defense Department report.

The figures, released in an unclassified public report to Congress on Thursday, are part of a broad assessment of China’s military goals and developments in the past year, and highlight the rapid advances in Beijing’s multi-decade plan to build a nuclear weapons arsenal that rivals that of the United States.

“What they’re doing now, if you compare it to what they were doing about a decade ago, it really far exceeds that in terms of scale and complexity,” said a senior U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity under terms set by the Pentagon.

“They’re expanding and investing in their land, sea and air base nuclear delivery platforms, as well as the infrastructure that’s required to support this major expansion of their nuclear forces,” the official said.

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