Drudge and Jerusalem post, great sources
From the resistance, dating from yesterday:
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/military-option-against-irans-nuclear-program-is-crucial:-io
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/lapid:-israel-us-dont-necessarily-agree-on-iran
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/qatari-emir:-israel-is-a-major-source-of-tensions-and-instab
The resistance knows, Israel is going to strike Iran regardless of what the US says or does.
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/iof-raid-west-bank-occupied-al-quds
IOF raid West Bank, occupied Al-Quds
Israeli settler groups have forced their way into the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied Al-Quds under heavy Israeli occupation forces (IOF) protection.
Department of Islamic Endowments in Al-Quds said in a statement on Monday that dozens of Israeli settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque through Bab Al Maghariba, performed Talmudic rituals, and carried out provocative tours in its courtyards until they exited through Bab Al-Silsila.
The statement added that the number of settlers who participated in the raids on Al-Aqsa increased during various Jewish holidays and occasions.
On Sunday, about 340 Israeli settlers stormed Al-Aqsa mosque during the morning and evening periods.
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) launched a massive arrest campaign across the occupied West Bank, while Palestinian youths confronted them.
Furthermore, the IOF stormed neighborhoods in Ramallah, Beir Lahm, Nablus, and Al-Khalil this morning, in addition to raiding Al-Jalazun refugee camp and arresting ten young Palestinians.
IOF have also stormed the outskirts of the at-Tira neighborhood in the central West Bank city of Ramallah last night.
The occupation forces arrested three young Palestinians from Al-Jalazun refugee camp, north of Ramallah. The camp witnessed confrontations between dozens of young Palestinians and the occupation forces, who used excessive force firing gas bombs and rubber-coated metal bullets against unarmed Palestinians.
Last night, Israeli occupation forces arrested three Palestinians from Beit Lahm.
Local sources reported that an Israeli military force stopped a vehicle near the village of Wadi Fukin, west of Beit Lahm, searched it, and arrested its passengers.
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/iof-chief-aviv-kochavi-flew-through-saudi-airspace-months-ag
IOF chief Aviv Kochavi flew through Saudi airspace months ago
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi flew over Saudi Arabia three months ago, the IOF's spokesperson Ran Kochav revealed on Sunday shortly after the Gulf state announced it would open its airspace to Israeli flights.
Earlier on Sunday, Israeli carrier El Al requested that Saudi Arabia allow overflights this week.
The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) announced last Friday that Saudi Arabia is opening its airspace for all civil air carriers for overflying.
Last Wednesday, CNN cited sources familiar with the matter that Saudi Arabia was planning to permit flights to and from the occupied lands.
At the time, GACA claimed that the decision comes as part of Riyadh's desire to fulfill its obligations under the Convention on International Civil Aviation of 1944, which stipulates non-discrimination between civil aircraft used in international air navigation, as well as to complement the country's "efforts aimed at consolidating the Kingdom's position as a global hub connecting three continents and to enhance international air connectivity."
US President Joe Biden on Thursday rushed to hail the Saudi decision to open its airspace to Israeli carriers, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.
It is worth noting that Biden arrived in Jeddah last Friday for two days of meetings with Saudi officials, less than a day after the kingdom announced it would open its airspace to all carriers, including those departing from "Israel".
Biden boarded Air Force One at 5h53 pm local time, just under two hours after departing “Israel's” Ben Gurion Airport in "Tel Aviv".
“Israel” and Morocco: Cooperation rooted in blood
On Kochavi's upcoming trip to Morocco, the spokesperson praised further developing ties with the country, which established diplomatic ties with “Israel” under the Abraham Accords in 2020.
“Israeli officers took part in an exercise, in uniform, with the Israeli flag, in Morocco two or three weeks ago, and now we have the visit of the IDF [IOF] chief of staff. We will exercise together, train together, develop our defense ties, maybe even develop training ties, intelligence, other capabilities, all as part of the Abraham Accords, and bilateral relations with Morocco,” Kochav said.
Last November, Israeli occupation Security Minister Benny Gantz and Morocco's Minister in charge of defense administration, Abdellatif Loudiyi, signed a memorandum of understanding on security cooperation between the two sides.
Morocco, "Israel", and the US signed a tripartite agreement on December 23, 2020, which included several memoranda of understanding to establish relations between Morocco and the Israeli occupation under Washington's sponsorship.
Morocco is the fourth Arab country, following the UAE, Bahrain, and Sudan, to have normalized ties with the Israeli occupation.
The Moroccan national carrier Royal Air Maroc (RAM) recently announced the start of direct flights to "Israel", a year after normalizing ties.
On July 16, 2021, the Israeli National Cyber Directorate signed a cooperation agreement with Morocco, the first of its kind in the field of cyber security since the normalization of ties between Morocco and the occupation.
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/technology/israeli-pegasus-spyware-hacks-relative-of-rwandan-dissident
Israeli Pegasus spyware hacks relative of Rwandan dissident
The nephew of Hotel Rwanda dissident, Paul Rusesabagina, found he was hacked nearly a dozen times in 2020 using the Israeli-made spyware program, Pegasus.
These findings follow earlier revelations by various media activists as well as members of the Pegasus Project, an investigation into "Israel’s" NSO Group, that Rusesabagina’s daughter, Carine Kanimba, was under near-constant surveillance by a client of NSO Group from January to mid-2021 when the hacking attack was discovered by researchers at Amnesty International’s security lab.
'Hotel hero' of the Rwandan genocide
Paul Rusesabagina was made famous by the film "Hotel Rwanda", released in 2004, which tells how a moderate Hutu who managed the Hotel Mille Collines in Kigali saved more than 1,000 people during the 1994 genocide.
An opponent for more than 20 years to the Paul Kagame regime, whom he has accused of authoritarianism and fueling anti-Hutu sentiment, Rusesabagina has used his Hollywood fame to give a global echo to his views.
He had lived since 1996 in exile in the US and Belgium before being arrested in Kigali in August 2020 in troubled circumstances, when he got off a plane he thought was bound for Burundi.
His family denounced a "kidnapping" organized by the Rwandan authorities, saying that he had been lured by the promise of a job in Burundi.
Last April, the family demanded $400 million in compensation for the kidnapping and the torture of Rusesabagina.
Allegations in Thailand
Earlier today, it was reported that more than 30 Thai activists and their supporters have been targeted by the firm's spyware.
The Thai government is the main suspect due to NSO's claims that it only sells to government agencies. The group also says it gets the approval of the Israeli occupation's government for each one of its deals.
Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto discovered an exploit that allowed NSO users to infect iPhones with the company's Pegasus spyware via a weakness in the iMessage feature.
"The infections occurred from October 2020 to November 2021, coinciding with a period of widespread pro-democracy protests, and predominantly targeted key figures in the pro-democracy movement," Citizen Lab said. "In numerous cases, multiple members of movements or organizations were infected."
Pegasus one year on
Since the revelations of “Project Pegasus” in July 2021, the Israeli company has faced an unprecedented crisis, between multiple revelations about the use of its spyware, financial hardships, and numerous lawsuits.
The crisis began on July 18 with the publications of "Project Pegasus". Coordinated by the international media network Forbidden Stories and with the help of Amnesty International, and seventeen other news outlets revealed the systematic misuse of Pegasus spyware, NSO group's flagship product.
The phones and devices of activists, journalists, and politicians in many countries across the world have been infected by this powerful smartphone spyware, and hundreds of others have been targeted.
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/nso-group-throwing-cash-at-lobbyists-to-get-off-us-blacklist
NSO Group 'throwing cash' at lobbyists to get off US blacklist
The troubled Israeli surveillance for hire spyware firm NSO Group is reportedly increasing its lobbying efforts in the United States in a desperate attempt to have its name removed from a US trade blacklist.
That blacklist and the stigma associated with it are said to have stymied NSO's efforts to sell its business to possible American buyers.
According to a ProPublica investigation published on Tuesday, NSO spent hundreds of thousands of dollars this year alone on lobbying, public relations agencies, and other entities all aiming to curry favor with US lawmakers and media outlets on behalf of the monitoring corporation.
NSO is known for its industry-leading zero-click hacking tool Pegasus, which is capable of infiltrating a target's phone and providing the attacker practically unlimited access to the device's content.
In recent months, NSO has been hounded by lawsuits, dwindling sales, unpaid debts, media backlash, and domestic problems. This brings us to NSO's growing exploits in the United States.
According to reports in The Guardian this week, it appears that the issues around the blacklist were simply too much for L3Harris. For the time being, the agreement appears to be dead. “If the [US] government is not aligned, there is no way for L3 to be aligned,” a source familiar with the deal said in an interview with The Guardian.
The failure of the arrangement was cheered by privacy and digital rights organizations such as AccessNow, who had been staunchly opposed to the endeavor from the start.
“NSO Group should not be rewarded for its facilitation of human rights violations and dangerous business practices with a lucrative offer from a US defense contractor,” Access Now Tech-Legal Counsel Natalia Krapiva said in a statement. “Such a deal is a blatant attack on human rights globally and US national security interests.”
With the US blacklist hanging over its head, NSO has little prospect of completing an American business. According to the ProPublica investigation, NSO's lobbyists are attempting to raise the matter of their removal from the list during Biden's scheduled meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid.
Lobbyists for the corporation reportedly tried and failed to arrange a meeting between corporate representatives and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
Getting their name removed from the trade blacklist is an obvious and immediate problem for NSO; nevertheless, papers obtained by ProPublica demonstrate that the company's US lobbying efforts preceded the blacklisting.
NSO reportedly recruited Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman law firm in July 2021 for roughly $75,000 per month to advise it in the US on bids and compliance issues.
Since then, NSO has inked contracts with several groups, including Bluelight Strategies, a Washington, D.C.-based public relations and media consulting firm with ties to the Democratic Party. According to ProPublica, NSO paid Bluelight $100,000 for two months of work.
Still, at least for the time being, all of NSO's attempts have failed to gain momentum with anyone who cares. The lobbying campaign has allegedly received little response, and NSO has yet to be notified of what it needs to do to be removed from the US blacklist.
Not a normal hammer but a sledgehammer. I love it.