Middle East

Israel suffered vast intelligence failure over Operation Al-Aqsa Storm: Security officials

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Israel suffered a colossal intelligence failure on October 7, when Palestinian resistance movements launched a surprise operation into the occupied territories, according to several Israeli security officials.

According to a Jerusalem Post report on Friday, Israeli security sources estimate that Hamas leaders Mohammad Deif and Yahya Sinwar were “aware of the close surveillance by the Israeli intelligence community” and used “covert methods to communicate messages.”

“No one understood this, no Aman (Israel’s military intelligence), not Shin Bet (security service), nor Mossad,” admitted a security official.

“Otherwise they wouldn’t have left the border unguarded, with no basic response from the ground air.”

The report has quoted another Israeli security official as saying it is likely that the “confidential details, instructions, and overall sentiment were reserved for face-to-face conversations or other means.”

“In retrospect, the intelligence community didn’t grasp this. Not the Intelligence Corps, not the Shin Bet, nor the Mossad. No one took it into account.”

Meanwhile, a new investigation has found that the Israeli regime expanded the army’s authorization for bombing “non-military targets” in the besieged Gaza Strip after failing to overcome the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.

The revelation was made in a joint investigation by Israeli outlets +972 Magazine and Local Call, which included interviews with multiple current and former Israeli intelligence officials on Thursday.

It indicated that lower expectations on limiting civilian targets were combined with the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to generate a wider range of targets, which was termed by one of the sources as a “mass assassination factory.”

The investigation also stressed that Israel’s failure to prevent the October 7 attacks by Hamas had led to a major overcompensation since then and a willingness to inflict massive collateral damage.

According to media reports, over 300 Palestinian families have lost 10 or more family members in Israeli bombings in the past two months — a number that is 15 times higher than the figure from what was previously Israel’s deadliest war on Gaza, in 2014.

Israel waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas-led Palestinian resistance groups carried out a surprise retaliatory attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, against the occupying entity over its incessant atrocities against Palestinians.

Tel Aviv also blocked water, food, and electricity to Gaza, plunging the coastal strip into a humanitarian crisis.

More than 15,000 Palestinians, including at least 6,150 children and 4,000 women, have been killed in the Israeli strikes.

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Iranian Navy unveils homegrown Chamrosh-4 VTOL drone, ROV

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Iranian homegrown vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drone, dubbed Chamrosh-4, is on display during an exhibition arranged by the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy in Tehran, Iran, on December 2, 2023. (Photo by IRNA)

The Islamic Republic of Iran Navy has unveiled a domestically developed and manufactured vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drone, alongside a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that can undertake a variety of marine operations autonomously.

The indigenous military achievements were put on display during an exhibition attended by Chief Commander of the Iranian Army, Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi, Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, and a number of high-ranking military figures and state officials in the capital Tehran on Saturday.

The VTOL drone, dubbed Chamrosh-4 and named after a bird in Persian mythology believed to live on the summit of Mount Alborz, enjoys cost-efficient technologies and can easily take off from and land vertically on the decks of all types of naval vessels, and carry out assigned missions.

Moreover, the remotely operated vehicle can detect, locate and destroy both anchored sleeping naval mines. The ROV reportedly has the ability to carry payloads to mines and clear them.

A homegrown Iranian remotely operated vehicle (ROV) is on display during an exhibition arranged by the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy in Tehran, Iran, on December 2, 2023. (Photo by IRNA)

During the exhibition, various seaborne weapons, anti-ship missile systems, sophisticated surveillance, telecommunications and electronic warfare systems, as well as domestically produced advanced parts were showcased.

Iranian military experts and engineers have in recent years made remarkable breakthroughs in manufacturing a broad range of indigenous equipment, making the armed forces self-sufficient.

Iranian officials have repeatedly underscored that the country will not hesitate to strengthen its military capabilities, including its missile power, which are entirely meant for defense, and that Iran’s defense capabilities will be never subject to negotiations.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution and the Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Armed Forces Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has repeatedly called for efforts to maintain and boost Iran’s defense capabilities, decrying enemies for questioning the country’s missile program.

Hyderabad

Thalassemia prevention programme conducted at TSCS Hyderabad

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The programme featured a presentation on the complications of β-Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Anemia Heart disease by Dr. Farmakis

Updated On – 04:18 PM, Sat – 2 December 23


Thalassemia prevention programme conducted at TSCS Hyderabad

Dr. Dimitrios along with TSCS team.

Hyderabad: Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Society (TSCS) Hyderabad hosted a Thalassemia prevention programme by Dr. Dimitrios Farmakis, Associate Professor at the University of Cyprus Medical School, Greece, here on Saturday.

The programme featured a presentation on the complications of β-Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Anemia Heart disease by Dr. Farmakis. They also had a panel discussion encompassing various critical aspects.

“I am happy to be a part of this incredible moment, where all the expertise has gathered to discuss the eradication of Thalassemia. TSCS is doing great work which is highly appreciated and the team here should reach their goal to eradicate thalassemia. We will definitely help to take preventive measures to make Thalassemia free country,” he said.

Dr. Dimitrios Farmakis said he would recommend the Thalassemia International Federation (TIF) to join hands with TSCS so that together they can do miracles in Thalassemia prevention.

Middle East

Israel uses doctors as 'human shields' in raids on Gaza hospitals: Report

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Palestinian doctors in the Gaza Strip have said in a report that they were detained, interrogated and used as “human shields” during Israel’s violent raids on hospitals and medical facilities in the besieged territory.

Several doctors and surgeons were cited in a report by the UK-based news website Middle East Eye on Friday that the occupying regime’s forces used them as “hostages” when they invaded the al-Shifa Hospital during the weeks-long Israeli siege and bombardment of the largest medical complex in Gaza.

The doctors said the Israeli troops detained Mohammed Abu Silmiya, head of al-Shifa Hospital, along with more than 20 other medical personnel from Gaza.

Silmiya was reported to have been in custody and interrogated twice by Israeli officers inside the al-Shifa Hospital.

Marwan Abu Saada, head of the surgery department at al-Shifa Hospital, said, “For several days, Israeli aircraft kept bombing different buildings and departments of the hospital. Quadcopters were shooting directly at people, including patients and displaced persons. People were killed inside the hospita.”

“They besieged the hospital for five days before they stormed its departments. They kept us [in certain areas] and threatened us [with getting targeted]. When they stormed the ground stores, they used us [doctors] as human shields to enter and search them. They found the technical maintenance employees there and interrogated them, before they detained them.”

He added that the Israeli forces took several doctors with them while moving from one department to another and searching the different offices and rooms of al-Shifa Hospital.

“We felt that we were hostages, used to [protect] Israeli soldiers. They took me and Dr Abu Silmiya and interrogated us. They did not use violence with me or Dr. Abu Silmiya. But they interrogated Dr. Abu Silmiya twice,” Abu Saada continued.

The doctor said Israeli forces questioned him and Abu Silmiya about the presence of any members of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas or hostages in the hospital’s offices or if there was any activity being conducted by Hamas in al-Shifa.

“We said no because we have never seen any Hamas members there. They besieged us in the hospital for five days, and on the eve of the truce, I returned home, and patients and some medical staff members were evacuated to the south,” Abu Saada said.

Fadel Naim, a doctor who had witnessed the Israeli attacks, was cited by the Middle East Eye as saying that Israeli forces interrogated the doctors to gain information about the Palestinian resistance groups.

“Many doctors and healthcare professionals have been interrogated and detained,” Naim said.

“Every Palestinian is subject to detention, but they detain doctors in particular thinking that they would get information that might prove their allegations about the resistance. They interrogate them to get information and details about other people.”

Naim added that since the beginning of the Israeli attacks on Gaza, he had witnessed or heard of many doctors getting killed or wounded.

“Many of our colleagues were directly killed. Every day, we hear the name of another doctor who was killed. Many of the doctors who were once our students were also killed or detained,” he said.

Israel waged its war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas launched an operation against the occupied territories on that day in response to the Israeli regime’s decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.

Tel Aviv also blocked water, food, and electricity to Gaza, plunging the coastal strip into a humanitarian crisis.

More than 15,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed in the Israeli strikes.

Sports

Iran wins four gold medals at World Taekwondo Para-Grand Prix

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Five taekwondo practitioners represented Iran at the event which brought 71 participants from 22 states together.

Maryam Abdollahpoor (-47kg) won a gold medal by defeating her opponents from Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Peru.

Also, Mehdi Poorrahnama (-70kg), Alireza Bakht (-80kg), and Hamed Haghshenas (+80kg) each gained a gold medal for Iran in the sporting event.

Abdollahpoor, Poorrahnama, Bakht, and Haghshenas qualified for the Paris Paralympics by receiving gold medals.

Saeid Sadeghianpour (-63kg) was eliminated from the tournament after loss to his Brazilian rival 45-47.

The Manchester 2023 World Taekwondo Grand Prix Final will be taking place at the Manchester Regional Arena in England from Friday 1st December to Sunday 3rd December. Day 1, Friday 1st December, will see the 2023 World Para Taekwondo Grand Prix Final taking place.

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Top News

"Once Rohit Is Back…": Ganguly's Straightforward Advice For 2024 T20 WC

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Impressed with his captaincy at the ODI World Cup, former captain Sourav Ganguly on Friday threw his weight behind Rohit Sharma, saying he should lead India at least till the T20 World Cup in June next year. Rohit, who led India to the ODI World Cup final at home, and Virat Kohli has taken a “break” for the white-ball leg of the upcoming South Africa series beginning on December 10. Talking to reporters, Ganguly said the duo deserved this rest so that they come back “fresh” for the hectic calendar ahead. “Once Rohit is back playing all formats, he should be the captain of India, because he has done so well in the World Cup,” said the former BCCI president, who was named the Dabur Chyawanprash’s brand ambassador for East India, during a program.

“You saw in the World Cup how well they played. They are absolutely integral and an important part of Indian cricket.” Interestingly, both Rohit and Kohli haven’t played a T20I since the semifinals against England in the 2022 T20 World Cup and the BCCI was not clear whether the duo should be in India’s scheme of things for the T20 global showpiece in six months’ time.

After the 2022 T20 World Cup, Hardik Pandya was named India’s T20 captain but following his injury during the ODI World Cup, Suryakumar Yadav is leading the team in the ongoing five-T20 series against Australia.

“World Cups are different than a bilateral series because the pressures are different. They have been exceptional this World Cup and hopefully six-seven months down the line in the West Indies they will be again at their best,” Ganguly said.

“He’s (Rohit) a leader. I expect and I presume that he will continue as captain till the T20 World Cup in 2024.” The duo will be back for the two-Test series in South Africa beginning with the Boxing Day Test in Centurion.

“Very rightfully, they have taken a break because there is so much cricket all the time. I cannot imagine that you played a World Cup final on the 19th and in three days’ time you’re playing a T20I series against the same team,” Ganguly said.

“It is not easy to pick yourselves up, especially with the pressures and demands of the World Cup. I’m happy that they have got a break.”They will come back fresh for Tests — there’re five Tests against England — there’s IPL, and then the T20 World Cup, so it’s non-stop cricket. Hopefully they’ll come back fresh and keep performing.”

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Topics mentioned in this article

Middle East

Humans of Gaza: Yara and Viola, members of Gaza’s Christian community

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By Humaira Ahad

With Christmas around the corner, Yara and Viola, cousins and members of the Amash family, would have been busy decorating their houses, buying clothes for their children and gifts for their extended family and Muslim neighbors.

After all, Christmas is a much-anticipated festive occasion for the oldest Christian community in the world, living in the besieged Gaza Strip.

In photos from last Christmas, the two young women could be seen posing in front of festive lights, not knowing it would be their last Christmas.

Yara and Viola were killed after the Israeli regime warplanes pounded St. Porphyrios Orthodox Church in northern Gaza, where they had taken refuge amid the indiscriminate bombings on the territory.

On the evening of October 19, hundreds of Christians and Muslims were inside the church when an airstrike razed down part of it, crushing at least 18 people to death. 

Yara and Viola happened to be the cousins of Justin Amash, a former Palestinian-American congressman who expressed his loss over losing family members in a poignant post on X.

“I was really worried about this. With great sadness, I have now confirmed that several of my relatives … were killed at Saint Porphyrius Orthodox Church in Gaza, where they had been sheltering, when part of the complex was destroyed as the result of an Israeli airstrike,” he wrote.

The two women, members of the Palestinian Christian community in Gaza, had thought of fleeing to the south like many of their neighbors after Israel started bombing the besieged strip.

But they had no acquaintances there, so they decided to stay in the north despite the deadly blitz. The two young women believed that the third-oldest church in the world was a safe sanctuary.

However, little did they realize there was no safe place in Gaza, the world’s largest concentration camp, which has now been turned into a big cemetery since October 7.

The church authority that runs Saint Porphyrius, the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, said many of those inside at the time of the Israeli airstrike on October 19 were women and children.

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem denounced the attack and said attacking a church as a military target when it is “providing shelter to innocent citizens is a war crime that cannot be ignored”.

The bodies of those killed, including four small children, were wrapped in white sheets and laid out in the church courtyard the next day for a mass funeral and burial.

According to Archbishop Tiberias Alexios of the Greek Orthodox Church, the bombs also struck the buildings adjacent to St. Porphyrios, where the church offices, monastery, and meeting hall were located.

The buildings collapsed from the damage, burying many of the 400 people sheltering inside.

Saint Porphyrius is situated less than 300 meters from the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital where nearly 500 people were killed when Israel launched a deadly airstrike on the medical complex on October 17.

“My heart died with my children that evening. All my children were killed: Majid, 11, Julie, 12, and Suhail, 14. I have nothing left. I should have died with my children,” Ramez al-Souri, who lost his three children and ten other relatives in the attack, said.

“We left our homes and came to stay at the church because we thought we would be protected here. We have nowhere else to go… The church was full of peaceful people, only peaceful people… There is nowhere safe in Gaza during this war. Bombardment’s everywhere, day and night. Every day, more and more civilians are killed. We pray for peace, but our hearts are broken.”

The Christian community of Palestine has also been at the receiving end of the occupying entity’s aggression. Several assaults on churches have been reported in the past two months.

With only 800 to 1,000 Christians remaining in Gaza, the community is staring at the possible extinction, warn human rights advocates.

Sports

Iran’s Vafaei cruises into semifinals at UK Snooker C'ship

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Vafaei had defeated English snooker player Shaun Murphy 6-4, and Matthew Selt 6-1 to reach to the quarterfinal.

In the quarterfinal, Vafaei defeated Zhang Anda from China 6-4 to reach to the semifinals.

In the semifinals, Iran’s snooker player will face another English snooker player Ronnie O’Sullivan.

The 2023 UK Championship is a professional snooker tournament that is taking place from 25 November to 3 December 2023 at the York Barbican in York, England.

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India

Flight services from Hyderabad to Gondia launched on Saturday

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IndiGo airlines has launched flight services connecting Hyderabad to Gondia with inaugural flight 6E 7534

Updated On – 04:09 PM, Sat – 2 December 23


IndiGo launches Hyderabad-Gondia flight from GMR Hyderabad Intl Airport


Hyderabad: IndiGo airlines has launched flight services connecting Hyderabad to Gondia with inaugural flight 6E 7534 from GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd. (GHAIL) here on Friday.

The daily flight will depart from Hyderabad at 10:35 am and arrive in Gondia at 12:35 pm. The addition of Gondia, also known as the Rice City, to IndiGo‘s network signifies the airline’s ongoing expansion and underscores its growth, connecting 54 domestic destinations to Hyderabad and 14 international destinations, a press release said.

Top News

"Track, Hunt, Kill": How Israel Plans To Destroy Hamas Leaders After War

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'Track, Hunt, Kill': How Israel Plans To Destroy Hamas Leaders After War

Former Mossad Director Efraim Halevy has raised concerns about the operations, WSJ claims.

New Delhi:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly wants to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor Golda Meir and authorise an ‘Operation Wrath of God’-like mission — kill Israel’s enemies across countries, spanning continents — once its campaign in Gaza winds down.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, Netanyahu has instructed Israel’s intelligence agency, the Mossad, to streamline a plan to execute this task. Mossad is reportedly drawing up plans to neutralise high-value targets in Turkey, Lebanon and Qatar – the latter in particular as its capital plays host to a Hamas office. 

Hamas’s political office was “opened in Qatar in 2012 in coordination with the United States government, following a US request to open a communication channel”, news agency AFP quoted a Qatari official in October. 

The Targets 

Former Mossad Director Efraim Halevy has raised concerns about the operations, WSJ claims, warning that such actions could have unintended consequences and further destabilise the region. Halevy said eliminating Hamas targets across the globe would not necessarily eliminate threats to Israel.

“Pursuing Hamas on a worldwide scale and trying to systematically remove all its leaders from this world is a desire to exact revenge, not a desire to achieve a strategic aim,” Halevy was quoted as saying by WSJ.

Some of the big names that may feature in Mossad’s kill list are Ismail Haniyeh, Mohammed Deif, Yahya Sinwar and Khaled Mashal. 

Ismail Haniyeh

Haniyeh, 60, is a politician who is a former Palestinian prime minister. He was elected as the head of Hamas’ political bureau in 2017.  In 2006, while serving as the Palestinian PM, Haniyeh was the subject of an assassination plot using a poison-filled letter. 

Haniyeh lives in voluntary exile, splitting his time between Qatar and Turkey. 

Mohammed Deif

Deif heads Hamas’ military wing, the Ezzdine al-Qassam Brigades, and is Israel’s public enemy number one. Israeli authorities have tried to assassinate him at least six times, as per reports. He has also been on the US list of “international terrorists” since 2015.

The audio message at the start of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, dubbed the “Al-Aqsa Flood”, carried Deif’s voice. His current whereabouts are unknown but Israel believes he is fighting alongside Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip.

Yahya Sinwar

Sinwar, 61, is a former commander of the Ezzdine al-Qassam Brigades and was elected in 2017 as head of Hamas in Gaza. He has spent 23 years in Israeli jails before his release in 2011 in a prisoner exchange involving French-Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who was held captive by Hamas.

Some of the Israeli hostages taken to Gaza have spoken about encountering Sinwar during their captivity. 

Khaled Mashal

Mashal is a founding member of Hamas Politburo and was the chairman until 2017. His current whereabouts are believed to be in Qatar.

Mashal was at the centre of a sensational assassination attempt in Jordan in 1997 when Mossad agents, posing as Canadian tourists, sprayed a deadly toxin into one of his ears. The Mossad kill-team was captured and Mashal fell into a coma.

US President Bill Clinton had to intervene and the then Mossad chief Danny Yatom had to fly to Amman with an antidote. 

‘What Justice Demands’

Yoav Gallant. the Israeli defence minister, has mugshots of hundreds of Hams fighters and commanders on a poster that hangs on a wall of his Tel Aviv office. 

“They are living on borrowed time,” Gallant said last week, as quoted by Reuters. 

WSJ claims that some Israeli officials wanted to commence the killing campaign not long after the October 7 attacks. According to the WSJ, a retired Israeli general called Amos Yadlin said a targetted killing campaign “is what justice demands”.