Tag: Tel Aviv

  • Israel knew about Hamas’ October 7 attack, claims New York Times

    Israel knew about Hamas’ October 7 attack, claims New York Times

    A recent report by The New York Times published on November 30 reveals that a blueprint containing the details of the October 7 attack by Hamas was in the knowledge of Israeli officials, however, they dismissed it as aspirational.

    Ronen Bergman and Adam Goldman, both stationed in Tel Aviv, claim to have reviewed the classified 40-page document, code-named ‘Jericho Wall’ by the Israeli authorities.

    The Times team, who reviewed the translated document, stated that it does not point out the exact date for the attack but lays out the detailed methodical assault designed to invade the Israeli region around Gaza. “Hamas followed the blueprint with shocking precision,” reports The New York Times.

    The document was circulated among top intelligence officials in Israel more than a year ago but they deemed it beyond Hamas’ capabilities. The Times team sheds light on the doubtful approach of the Israeli intelligence. “It is not yet possible to determine whether the plan has been fully accepted and how it will be manifested,” read a military assessment reviewed by The Times.

    However, it is not confirmed if Prime Minister Netanyahu saw the document or not.

    The research also explains that a colonel in the Gaza division brushed off the warning made by an analyst who claimed that Hamas conducted military exercises as per the content of Jericho Wall, according to encrypted emails viewed by The Times.

    The article goes on to explain the glaring similarities between the attack by Hamas and the intelligence report of the Jericho Wall.

    While the October seven attack has been dubbed the deadliest attack in Israel’s history and the Israeli military has accepted that they failed to protect their state, it has netizens wondering if the Israeli authorities deliberately let it happen to have an excuse to attack Gaza.

    However, there are some criticising the government of Israel for putting the life of so many at risk and benefitting from the situation to the fullest.

    White House Correspondent for ABC News has informed on Twitter that a senior official at the White House has denied to have any knowledge about the Jericho Wall document.

  • ‘I grieve with you and stand with you’; British PM visits Israel

    ‘I grieve with you and stand with you’; British PM visits Israel

    British prime minister Rishi Sunak landed in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Thursday morning to meet his counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu and President Herzog.

    He wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “I am in Israel, a nation in grief. I grieve with you and stand with you against the evil that is terrorism. Today, and always.”

    During his meeting with Herzog, he said that it is vital to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza, stating, “Palestinians are victims of what Hamas has done. It’s important that we continue to provide humanitarian access,”

    He, nonetheless, stressed on his full support to Israel to “defend” itself, “to bring security back” in the country to its people, and “to ensure the safe return of the hostages that have been taken”.

    As per reports of the meeting by Al Jazeera, “The Prime Minister and President Herzog stressed the imperative need to avoid further escalation of violence in the region. They agreed to continue working together to that end.”

    Later, PM Netanyahu, during his meeting with his British counterpart, said Hamas’ attack on October 7 was carried out to “destroy Israel’s regional peace moves in the region”.

    PM Sunak stated that the UK will provide increased aid to the region.

    “I’m proud to stand here with you in Israel’s darkest hour. As your friend, we will stand with you in solidarity, we will stand with your people, and we also want you to win,” Sunak said.

    In a short press conference, PM Netanyahu said, “This is not merely our battle, it’s the battle of the entire civilised war, the battle of Israel, the battle of moderate Arab countries, the battle of the free world, the battle for the future,

    “We have two forces – one is an axis of evil run by Iran and supported by Hezbollah, Hamas and others that want to bring back the Middle East to the Middle Ages … to the age of war and slavery.

    “The other forces [are those] of progress and humanity who want to push for a world of peace and prosperity.”

    PM Rishi Sunak will depart for Saudi Arabia today to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

  • Zulfi Bukhari to send defamation notice to Bilawal Bhutto

    Zulfi Bukhari to send defamation notice to Bilawal Bhutto

    Former Special Assistant to Prime Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Zulfi Bukhari says he has decided to move ahead with defamation proceedings against Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari after consulting with his legal team.

    Bhukari tweeted, “His [Bilawal Bhutto’s] poor understanding about most things again made him blurt out things fed to him, provoking issues he knows nothing about.”

    Bilawal Bhutto had recently called on the government to bring “all the facts” about Bukhari’s alleged visit to Israel before the public.

    Speaking to reporters in the parliament, Bilawal Bhutto said it would be “very easy” for the government to make public the flight manifest and flight path of the airplane that allegedly carried Bukhari to Israel during those dates.

    “If the [airplane] did not pick up Zulfi Bukhari, then who was taken on board” he asked, adding that he felt “something is fishy.”

    After Bilawal Bhutto’s statement, Zulfi Bukhari shared a clip of Bilawal’s speech and asked: “Someone who called Jews ‘brothers’ is now asking me to answer rumours.”

    Earlier this week, an Israeli publication alleged that Bukhari paid a secret visit to Tel Aviv as a messenger of Pakistani leader, a claim that was instantly denied by the government and personally by Bukhari.

  • PM Imran’s adviser ‘secretly visited’ Israel with offer to start diplomatic ties, foreign media claims

    PM Imran’s adviser ‘secretly visited’ Israel with offer to start diplomatic ties, foreign media claims

    An adviser of Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Tel Aviv in November on his British passport to relay an official message that proposed normalisation of ties between Pakistan and Israel in return for its support “to halt down Pakistan’s current cold situation with the Arab countries as well as to support it in many international issues”, claimed foreign media reports.

    According to a global think-tank director, the visit took place in the last week of Nov. “The PM’s adviser [sent to Israel] lives in the UK and has also close relations with the Trump administration.”

    According to the report, the unnamed adviser was welcomed by the Israeli officials at the airport as the visit was approved by the US. The adviser was escorted to the “foreign ministry of Israel where he met several political officials and diplomats and delivered the message of the Pakistani PM”, the reports claimed.

    “He stayed a few days in Israel where he met with the director of Israeli intelligence Mossad Yossi Cohen and delivered a secret message of Pakistan army chief,” it went on to claim.

    According to the reports that cite unnamed Israeli sources, Pakistan has sought the support of Israel to “halt down the current cold situation with the Arab countries as well as to support it in many international issues such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as well as Indian lobbying against Pakistan”.

    “In return, Pak would start political ties at a slow place due to the fear of religious bloc within the country,” they claimed, adding that the offer was welcomed by the state of Israel.

    Meanwhile, the Foreign Office has not responded to these reports yet. However, the FO has many times rejected the reports pertaining to the normalisation of ties with Israel as baseless.

    Last month, the prime minister had told a journalist on TV that some Muslim states and the US were putting pressure on Pakistan to recognise Israel.

  • ‘Israeli PM secretly visited Saudi Arabia, met crown prince’

    Israeli media reported Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Saudi Arabia for a clandestine meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which would mark the first known encounter between senior Israeli and Saudi officials.

    Hebrew-language media cited an unnamed Israeli official as saying that Netanyahu and Yossi Cohen, head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, flew to the Saudi city of Neom on Sunday, where they met with the crown prince. The prince was there for talks with visiting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

    A Gulfstream IV private jet took off just after 1740 GMT from Ben-Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, according to data from website FlightRadar24.com. The flight traveled south along the eastern edge of the Sinai Peninsula before turning toward Neom and landing just after 1830 GMT, according to the data. The flight took off from Neom around 2150 GMT and followed the same route back to Tel Aviv.

    The Israeli prime minister’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

    Pompeo traveled with an American press pool on his trip throughout the Mideast, but left them at the Neom airport when he went into his visit with the crown prince.

    Meanwhile, the Saudi foreign minister has denied reports of a meeting between MBS and Netanyahu, as per Reuters.

    While Bahrain, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates have reached deals under the Trump administration to normalise ties with Israel, Saudi Arabia so far has remained out of reach.

    King Salman long has supported the Palestinians in their effort to secure an independent state. However, analysts and insiders suggest his 35-year-old son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, likely is more open to the idea of normalising relations without major progress in the moribund peace process.

    The kingdom approved the use of Saudi airspace for Israeli flights to the UAE, a decision announced the day after Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, met with Prince Mohammed in Riyadh. Bahrain normalizing ties also suggest at least a Saudi acquiescence to the idea, as the island kingdom relies on Riyadh.

    Israel has long had clandestine ties to Gulf Arab states that have strengthened in recent years as they have confronted a shared threat in Iran.