January 20: Donald Trump's inauguration
into his second term as a US President.
Next to come on February 23:
The German Federal Election.
A US fascist pandemic finally
crossed the Atlantic, now going
to haunt a major player of the
European Union.
A hostage & prisoner swap between
Hamas & Israel is going to be signed
within the next hours according to an
Egyptian source on January 14, 2025
Postcard from Ghaza
Amid Trump's warnings of "hell on earth", the ceasefire and hostage exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel is gaining increasing momentum to ensure its implementation before the inauguration of the US president-elect on January 20, while thousands of Palestinian families await the return of their relatives from occupation prisons and enjoy temporary peace.
..........
تحديات أمام صفقة تبادل الأسرى
فيما يواجه اتفاق الهدنة في غزة تحدياً من السياسة الداخلية لإسرائيل، ذلك أن وزير المالية اليميني المتطرف بتسلئيل سموتريتش، يعارض صفقة تبادل الأسرة علناً باعتبارها «كارثة»، ويجادل على إطلاق سراح من وصفهم بـ«الإرهابيين» قائلاً إن إسرائيل لابد أن «تحتل وتطهر» قطاع غزة بالكامل بدلاً من ذلك.
ولكن لدى إسرائيل أسبابها الخاصة للتعاون مع قيادة الرئيس الأمريكي دونالد ترامب في تسريع التوصل إلى اتفاق، فهي تريد مساعدته في متابعة سير العلاقات الدبلوماسية مع المملكة العربية السعودية ودعمه لهجوم محتمل على البرنامج النووي الإيراني.
يأتي ذلك تزامنًا مع الاحتجاجات الواسعة أمام البرلمان الإسرائيلي أو ما يعرف بـ«الكنيست» وذلك لمطالبة حكومة الاحتلال بالإفراج عن جميع الرهائن المتبقين في غزة قبل أن تقتلهم الصواريخ والقنابل العنقودية المستخدمة في قصف غزة منذ 15 شهرًا.
Challenges to the prisoner exchange deal:
The Gaza truce deal faces a challenge from Israel's domestic politics: Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich publicly opposes the prisoner swap deal as a "disaster" and argues for the release of what he calls "terrorists," saying Israel should instead "occupy and cleanse" the entire Gaza Strip.
But Israel has its own reasons to cooperate with U.S. President Donald Trump's leadership in accelerating an agreement: It wants to help him pursue diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia and support a possible attack on Iran's nuclear program.
This coincides with widespread protests in front of the Israeli parliament, or what is known as the "Knesset", to demand that the occupation government release all the remaining hostages in Gaza before they are killed by rockets and cluster bombs used in the bombing of Gaza for 15 months. [Date of Publication: January 14, 2025]
____________________________________________________________
Hamas and its allies still hold 94 of the 251 hostages taken from Israel, including at least 34 of whom are dead, according to the Israeli government.
Israel believes that most of the 33 hostages to be released in the first phase of the deal are alive, a senior Israeli official told reporters on Monday, but the bodies of dead captives will also likely be among those released. The first phase would take place over an initial 42-day ceasefire.
The senior Israeli official said the parties appear to be on the verge of an agreement and that Israel is prepared to immediately implement the deal once it has been inked. [CNN, January 15, 2025]
And when it is said to them,
“Don't make corruption [disaster*] on earth”,
they say,
“Indeed, we are reformers [the righteous*]”.
[Holy Quran 2:11, dedicated to the Jews,
* generally used German translation.
Cultural difference refines a translation !]
_____________________________
Breaking on December 31 Advance notice of strikes (above)
& announcement of results (right)
Joint operations are carried out in
cooperation with an Iraqui group.
Israeli sources usually report
intercepted Yemeni missiles
or unspecified minor damage.
Above: A Chinese site quoting "i24NEWS"
Below: The contradicting site from Russia
Chinese & Arabic version on the right =>
[俄罗斯媒体 January 4, 2025]
<= باللغة العربية
________________________
أسقطتها الجمهورية اليمنية 18 طائرة الأمريكية بدون طيار في أجوائها حتى 2025
The Republic of Yemen shot down
18 American (MQ9) drones in its
airspace until 2025.
[Yemeni News Center, January 6]
Iran & Russia
إيـــران و روســيــا
January 20: Projected signing of a Strategic Defense Deal & Armament Treaty between Iran & Russia on Iranian soil.
The complicated agreement is reportedly comprising several secret items and will allow Iran to purchase Russia's
state-of-the-art missiles and fighter jets in order to enhance its military capabilities. This agreement is considered as
a 'bloc building' achievement between both nations and was originally proposed by the chairman of Russia's Parliamentary Defense Committee. [Iranian & Russian media, December 11/23, 2024]
Iran, Yemen & Israel
إيـــران و الـيـمـن و إسـرائـيـل
Israeli officials: Striking Iran directly is enough to stop the Houthis
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue targeting anyone who tries to harm the State of Israel, amid growing calls from Israeli officials to launch direct strikes against Iran in response to the ongoing attacks carried out by the Tehran-backed Houthi group on Tel Aviv. [iranintl.com, December 24, 2024]
Israel's international news station "i24NEWS" exclusively revealed on January 2nd what the US intelligence agency discovered: Since the Yemeni rebel organization "Youth Movement" began launching attacks on Red Sea ships, it has established a complex arms supply chain with China, with Beijing secretly providing weapons in exchange for ships flying the Chinese flag being able to safely pass through the Red Sea.
This however is being contradicted on a Russian military site in Chinese which was published on January 4. The Russian site came with two logical arguments that could easily be accepted. Furthermore, the Chinese-Houthi 'weapons deal' should essentially comprise spare parts for missile construction and a guidance system that could be regarded as dual-use products.
Maybe, all the fuss is because home-made Houthi missiles might be better than Israel expected. As to China's government, it keeps silent up to now .....
The successful downing of MQ-9 drones by Yemeni Air Defenses demonstrates significant advancements in Yemen's Air Defense systems, which are critical strategic assets for any nation. Some Yemeni official stressed that his country has effectively engaged in a strategic battle against some of the world's most powerful nations, represented by the US, Britain, and their ally Israel.
Meanwhile, military expert Brigadier General Aziz Rashid stated that the American adversary lacks precise intelligence in its current confrontation with Yemeni Armed Forces. He attributed this to Yemen’s successful neutralization of all advanced US reconnaissance and surveillance drones.
Political analyst Al-Suweiti pointed out that the repeated downing of MQ-9 drones in Yemen has tarnished the reputation of these drones and their manufacturer. This has led to a sharp decline in the global demand for these drones, as countries like India reconsider purchasing them in light of their repeated failures against Yemen’s locally made air defense systems.
[Yemeni News Center, January 6, 2025]
Liberation of Assad's prisoners.
مكتل 7 جنود إسرائيليين في لبنان و غزة
و سلاح الجو
يهاجم أكثر من 150 هدفا عسكريا في سوريا
7 Israeli soldiers killed in Lebanon and Ghaza
& the Air Force attacks more than 150 military
targets in Syria. [Al-Ghad TV, December 09]
اسرائيل تلتهم الأراضي السورية
"Israel Devouring Syrian Territory"
Syria Today
ســوريــا الــيــوم
The pictures on the left are a reminder
of the situation, fugitives from war-torn
Syria have been suffering from. Camps in
neighbouring Jordan are holding 120.000
Syrian fugitives altogether. I passed the
smaller camp near Al-Azraq in the middle
of a desert which cares for about 40.000
people. In the frame of what currently
happens in Syria, an aggravation of the
situation cannot be excluded, because
not all Syrians like to be liberated by an
army of Islamist rebels .....
December 7: Assad's Last Day in Syria
"Prison Inside - Infernal Sednaya"
Timeline of Syria under Assad Family
Assad allegedly fled. Situation in Damascus is unclear.
Rumours are being spread in social media
that Assad might have been on board of a
'Mahan Air' A-340 on his way to Tehran or
Moscow from Shayrat airbase. Later Russia
confirmed Assad's arrival in Moscow and
granted him asylum for 'human reasons'. [December 8]
While Western media are already in contact
with Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the leader of
Syria's rebel army HTS, a former regional
ally to Al-Qaeda, Israeli & US air force
allegedly targeted members of the Islamic
state IS in an air raid today. [December 9]
A recently appeared map of the border
region between Israel and Syria is
showing that Israel annexed strategic
positions like Mount Hermon from where
Damascus is in reach of Israeli artillery.
Latest: Recent satellite photos show the
Russian pier in Tartus is idle and that
Russia's Khmeimim air base near Latakia
has apparently been evacuated. [Haaretz]
After Israel launched more than 300 air
strikes, sources told Al Arabiya that
Israel's Navy shelled the Syrian fleet
in Al-Bayda & Latakia to prevent arming
of the rebel factions.” [December 10]
Victory Celebrations on Ummayad Square in Damascus on December 13
The probability of Kurdish
autonomy in parts of Syria
[Deutsche Welle, Dec. 13]
رويترز: مصرف سوريا المركزي يحتفظ
بـ26 طنا من احتياطي الذهب
ولا تخفي إسرائيل رغبتها في تغيير الجغرافيا السورية وإسقاط نتائج اتفاقيات «سايكس - بيكو» التي رسمت حدود سوريا الحالية، لتصبح أربع دول: واحدة لأتباع تركيا في الشمال، وأخرى للأكراد، وثالثة للدروز، والبقية دولة دمشق الضعيفة. وفي هذه الحالة تقتطع إسرائيل كل مرتفعات الجولان، لتطل من علٍ على الدولتين المجاورتين؛ دولة الدروز ودولة دمشق، وتقطع دابر التأثير الإيراني، وتحد من التأثير التركي - الشرق الأوسط
US Justice Department has charged Samir Ousman Alsheikh, 72, who has been in the US since 2020, with torturing detainees in the "Punishment Wing" of Damascus Central Prison (Adra Prison) which he previously ran in 2005-2008. A US prosecutor alleged that Al-Sheikh, now living in Lexington, S Carolina, had “lied about his crimes to obtain a US green card”, which permits residency in the US.
[Al-Jazeera, December 13]
The Kurdish Administration led by YPG(*) raises the Syrian revolution flag over its institutions, as adopted by demonstrators & protesters since the outbreak of the revolution in 2011. The green field symbolizes the Islamic Caliphate, while the white field symbolizes the Umayyad Caliphate and the black one symbolizes the Abbasid Caliphate. Three red stars represent the cities of Damascus (southwest), Aleppo (northwest) and Deir ez-Zor (east). Even though YPG is opposed to the Islamic State IS, the presentation of their flag for propaganda use is still forbidden in my country (therefore no photo).
The People's Defense Units YPG(*), also called the People's Protection Units, is a socialist US-backed Kurdish militant group in Syria and a primary component of the Syrian Democratic Forces SDF. You might remember them fighting IS during the siege of Kobane (Turkish border).
[Zaman Al-Wasl, December 13
Syrian opposition news, Homs]
An estimated 1.1 million people, most of them women and children, have been displaced across Syria since fighting between Assad forces and opposition groups began to escalate on November 27, the UN Office OCHA said.
640.000 people fled the Aleppo governorate, 334.000 fled Idlib, and 136.000 fled from Hama. Meanwhile, 438.000 displaced people have arrived in Idlib from other areas, 170.000 in Hama and 123.000 in rural Damascus.
More than 400,000 people are now staying in 240 collective shelters in north-eastern Syria. Nearly 700,000 people in Aleppo, Idlib, Homs and Hama have been provided with human aid.
[Al-Jazeera, December 13]
One year ago, in 2023, a BBC broadcast uncovered the fundament of Syria's economy: Manufacturing of an amphetamine known as Captagon and its regional narcotraffic. Since December 15, the subject is on the agenda of global media again as lots of Captagon pills have been found after Assad and his family were driven out of Syria. Basher Assad's brother is known to be behind the drug business. He managed smuggling Captagon, hidden in electrical appliance, to his rich Gulf customers and elsewhere. Therefore, today's breaking news are nothing to be surprised of: Reuters: The Central Bank of Syria maintains 26 tons of gold reserves. [Al-Jazeera, December 16]
Breaking: Russia is transferring advanced weaponry from Syria to Libya, thereby creating another hotspot of potential conflict between Russia and NATO.
[Al-Jazeera, December 18]
On Dec. 19, Libyan Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dabaiba expressed fears that his North African country could become an "arena" of conflict between countries, following reports of Russian weapons being transferred from Syria after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad.
Dabaiba told a news conference: "There are concerns (...) We cannot accept Libya being an international arena where the interests of small and large countries intersect."
Libya is struggling to recover from years of conflict following the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that led to the overthrow of dictator Muammar Gaddafi. .....
Dabaiba stressed that "no one has a iota of patriotism who wants to be bought by a foreign power intending to impose its hegemony and authority on the country and the people." .....
While Dabaiba did not confirm the arms transfers, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosto said Moscow was transferring resources from its Syria's naval base Tartus to Libya.
Libya remains divided between an internationally recognized government based in the capital Tripoli and a rival government in the eastern town of Benghazi backed by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
Russian forces have reportedly been moving military equipment from the Tartus naval base and Syria's Hmeimim air base to Benghazi where authorities have received Russian support for years. [Rai al-Youm, published by a former editor of Palestinian Al-Quds Al-Arabi, London, December 19]
Israel does not hide its desire to change the Syrian geography and overturn the results of the Sykes-Picot agreements [1916] that drew Syria's current borders to four states: one for Turkey's followers in the north, another for the Kurds, a third for the Druze, and the rest for the weak state of Damascus. In this case, Israel cuts off all of the Golan Heights, overlooking the two neighboring states, the Druze state and the state of Damascus, cutting off Iranian influence, and limiting Turkish influence. [Middle East, December 20]
The Commander of the Military Operations Department in Aleppo, Abdul Qader Tahan, met with Reverend Dr. Harutyun Sulaimian, head of the Armenian Protestant community in Syria, at the headquarters of the community’s presidency in Aleppo, in the presence of Apostolic Vicar of the Latin Community in Syria, Bishop Hanna Jalof. [Syrian TV journalist, December 24]
First comment on Assad's probable fate,
quoted from Al-Mansour, anchorman of
Qatar's Al-Jazeera TV, on his private
X-account after the fall of Hama to the
rebels and their quick approach of Homs.
Al-Mansour wrote on December 7:
Welcome to - Blueprint Magazine 2025 -,
a revival of my old multilingual journal of
culture, politics and science, originally
founded in 1997 as an electronic medium
on the basis of an earlier printed edition.
'Early Bird' can offer reliable statistics
as a tool for the administrator to ensure
efficiency in his creation of new content.
