Elon Musk has filed an antitrust lawsuit against the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), alleging that it organized an illegal boycott of X (formerly Twitter). Video hosting platform Rumble has joined the complaint.
The suit, filed in federal court in Texas, claims that the coalition, known as GARM, “conspired” with leading brands, including CVS, Unilever, Mars and the Danish energy company Orsted, to “collectively withhold billions of dollars in advertising revenue” that were owed to X, then known as Twitter, in the wake of Elon Musk’s takeover of the social media company in 2022.
“The illegal behavior of these organizations and their executives cost X billions of dollars,” wrote Linda Yaccarino, X’s chief executive, in an open letter to advertisers. “People are hurt when the marketplace of ideas is undermined and some viewpoints are not funded over others as part of an illegal boycott.”
With the lawsuit, X effectively declared war on advertisers, which provide the bulk of the social media company’s revenue. Since Mr. Musk acquired the company and promised to usher in a new era of unfettered free speech, many advertisers have limited their spending on X, concerned by reports of rising hate speech and misinformation there. By pursuing legal action against GARM, Mr. Musk continued to break with the leaders of other social media companies, who have forged close relationships with advertisers and been responsive to their concerns about offensive online content.
“We tried being nice for 2 years and got nothing but empty words,” Mr. Musk wrote Tuesday in a post on X. “Now, it is war.” He added in a separate post that he encouraged any company that faced a boycott to file a lawsuit.
We tried being nice for 2 years and got nothing but empty words.
“To the extent that Elon hadn’t already burned all bridges and ties with the entire advertising community, I don’t see how this will get any advertisers to come back to X,” said Ruben Schreurs, the chief strategy officer at Ebiquity, a marketing and media consulting firm. “It’s a last-ditch effort to force brands who don’t want to be in the cross hairs of this kind of legal action to return to the platform.”
The suit, filed in Texas on Tuesday, follows last month’s publication of a report by the US House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee, which found evidence that GARM conspired to demonetize and otherwise harm “disfavored platforms.”
“We tried being nice for 2 years and got nothing but empty words. Now, it is war,” Musk said on X, above a post from Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski announcing he would join the case.
“This is not a decision we took lightly, but it is a direct consequence of their actions,” X CEO Linda Yaccarino said in an open letter to all users, calling the behavior by GARM and others “a stain on a great industry, and cannot be allowed to continue.”
According to Yaccarino, X has “met and surpassed” the requests made by GARM and other advertiser groups to improve controls and increase the effectiveness of their ads, working in good faith to allay their concerns.
“The unfortunate reality is that despite all our efforts, hundreds of meetings and research to the contrary, many companies chose to dismiss the facts. To those who broke the law, we say enough is enough,” Yaccarino said.
The lawsuit names GARM, the World Federation of Advertisers, and GARM members CVS Health, Mars, Orsted and Unilever as the defendants, with a note that the list could be expanded later pending discovery. X is seeking treble the damages as compensation.
Last month, the New York Post called GARM head Robert Rakowitz a “fascist creep” and self-styled “mega-censor of everything people can read.” The outlet was censored on multiple platforms in 2020, after publishing an entirely truthful story about Hunter Biden’s laptop that the Democrats denounced as “disinformation.”
According to the House report, GARM is an initiative of the WFA, which represents the world’s biggest ad buyers. Its members control 90% of global marketing spending, to the tune of almost $1 trillion a year. Documents obtained by the lawmakers showed Rakowitz bragging that X was “80% below revenue forecasts” since GARM began targeting it. His defense was that the email was meant as a “self-effacing joke.”
Outside observers have pointed out that GARM received money from the US government and may have been part of the notorious “censorship-industrial complex” exposed by the ‘Twitter Files.’
USAID “explicitly said it was reaching out to advertisers, doing ‘advertiser outreach’ to organize advertiser boycotts to cut financial support to disfavored websites,” noted Mike Benz, a former Trump administration official who now runs the Foundation for Freedom Online
People walk next to a Google logo during a trade fair in Hannover Messe, in Hanover, Germany, April 22, 2024. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A landmark ruling on Monday that Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google illegally monopolizes Web search also came with a rebuke for the tech giant for obscuring potential evidence in the case, and a warning to other companies about safeguarding data.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington, D.C., lambasted Google for allegedly failing to preserve internal chats and abusing protections for legal communications, but he declined to formally sanction the company.
The U.S. Justice Department had asked Mehta to punish Google for what the government called its “systematic destruction” of employee messages and “flagrant misuse” of the attorney-client privilege that shields communications with lawyers.
Mehta said it was not necessary to rule on Google's evidence handling to decide whether the company violated antitrust law.
“Still, the court is taken aback by the lengths to which Google goes to avoid creating a paper trail for regulators and litigants,” Mehta wrote. Google “trained its employees, rather effectively, not to create ‘bad’ evidence,” he said.
Google and the Justice Department declined to comment on Mehta’s decision not to sanction Google over its evidence safeguards. Google has denied violating antitrust law and said on Monday it will appeal the court's ruling. It has also denied mishandling evidence.
Google had a longstanding practice of automatically deleting employees' chat messages after 24 hours unless the person clicked a “history on” button to preserve them. It changed the policy last year to better safeguard chats.
Mehta also criticized the company about its “communicate with care” initiative, which involved Google employees adding lawyers to messages and marking them “attorney/client privileged.”
The fight over Google’s chat records has extended into other cases challenging the tech company’s business practices.
A federal judge in California last year ruled that Google “willfully” failed to keep relevant chat evidence in a lawsuit filed by “Fortnite” maker Epic Games.
Epic prevailed at that trial, which accused Google of overly controlling the Android app market.
Later this month, a federal judge in Virginia will hear arguments about evidence destruction in the Justice Department’s lawsuit against Google over its digital advertising practices. A non-jury trial is scheduled for next month.
Mehta said his decision to not sanction Google was not an exoneration.
“Any company that puts the onus on its employees to identify and preserve relevant evidence does so at its own peril,” Mehta wrote. “Google avoided sanctions in this case. It may not be so lucky in the next one.”
The Russian Defense Ministry has published new video footage of first-person view (FPV) drone strikes on Ukrainian military positions and hardware.
The attacks were conducted near the village of Spornoye in Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic. The video captures strikes on several Ukrainian pickup trucks, some of which were targeted as they traveled by road.
The compilation also features strikes on Ukrainian positions within ruined buildings, with the drones seen entering small openings with pinpoint accuracy before detonating inside.
In recent months, FPV drones have become an increasingly important tool on the front line for both Russian and Ukrainian troops. Sources on both sides have claimed their adversaries enjoy superiority when it comes to these devices.
Moscow has ramped up its FPV drone production lately, with nearly 4,000 units supplied to troops every day, Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov said late last month.
Generally, FPV drones are light, single-use quadcopters that can carry a variety of payloads, such as munitions used in shoulder-mounted grenade launchers or mortar mines, which detonate on contact with their targets or by remote control.
Numerous videos circulating online show these drones striking armor and fortified positions, deploying mines, and even hunting down individual servicemen. Recently, FPV drones debuted as light aerial interceptors, striking down heavier bomb-carriers and surveillance UAVs.
Ukraine Lost Over 115,000 Troops in Less Than 2 Months - Shoigu
Ukraine has lost over 115,000 servicepeople in less than two months, this might not have happened if Kiev had met Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin's initiatives halfway, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday.
In June, Putin said that Russia would immediately cease fire and begin negotiations with Ukraine after Kiev withdraws troops from the territory of Russia's new regions and officially abandons plans to join NATO.
"Over these two months, the territory liberated by our troops has increased by 420 square kilometers, and Ukrainian troops have lost, according to the [Russian] Ministry of Defense, more than 115,000 [servicemen] of their troops ... Although this could have been stopped if the demands set out by our president had been met. Therefore, our position is clear, understandable — the troops are moving forward," Shoigu told reporters.
Russian troops liberate Timofeyevka community in DPR over past day
Russian troops liberated the community of Timofeyevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday.
"Battlegroup Center units liberated the settlement of Timofeyevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic as a result of active operations and gained more advantageous positions," the ministry said in a statement.
Russia’s Battlegroup North inflicts 120 casualties on Ukrainian army over past day
Russia’s Battlegroup North struck four Ukrainian brigades and inflicted roughly 120 casualties on enemy troops in its area of responsibility over the past day, the ministry reported.
"Battlegroup North units inflicted damage on manpower and equipment of the 36th marine infantry, 117th and 129th territorial defense and 1st special operations brigades in areas near the settlements of Stetskovka and Miropolye in the Sumy Region, Ryasnoye, Volchansk and Volchanskiye Khutora in the Kharkov Region. They repelled two counterattacks by assault groups of the Ukrainian army’s 63rd mechanized brigade," the ministry said.
The Ukrainian army’s losses in that frontline area over the past 24 hours amounted to 120 personnel, two pickup trucks, two 152mm D-20 howitzers and two 122mm D-30 howitzers, it specified.
Russia’s Battlegroup West inflicts 370 casualties on Ukrainian army over past day
Russia’s Battlegroup West took better positions and inflicted roughly 370 casualties on Ukrainian troops in its area of responsibility over the past day, the ministry reported.
"Battlegroup West units gained more advantageous frontiers and positions and inflicted casualties on formations of the Ukrainian army’s 14th, 43rd and 116th mechanized, 77th airmobile, 110th and 115th territorial defense brigades near Sinkovka and Tabayevka in the Kharkov Region, Stelmakhovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic and Torskoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the ministry said.
The Ukrainian army’s losses in that frontline area over the past 24 hours amounted to 370 personnel, five motor vehicles, a British-made 155mm Braveheart self-propelled artillery gun, a US-made 155mm M777 howitzer, a 152mm D-20 howitzer, a 122mm D-30 howitzer and two British-made 105mm L119 artillery guns, it specified.
In addition, Russian troops destroyed a US-made AN/TPQ-36 counterbattery radar station and three ammunition depots of the Ukrainian army, the ministry said.
Russia’s Battlegroup South inflicts 520 casualties on Ukrainian army over past day
Russia’s Battlegroup South inflicted roughly 520 casualties on Ukrainian troops in its area of responsibility over the past day, the ministry reported.
"Battlegroup South units improved their tactical position and inflicted damage on manpower and equipment of the Ukrainian army’s 23rd, 24th, 54th and 72nd mechanized, 5th, 10th and 80th assault brigades in areas near the settlements of Verkhnekamenskoye, Ivano-Daryevka, Ivanopolye, Grigorovka, Chasov Yar, Predtechino, Ostroye and Konstantinovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the ministry said.
The Ukrainian army’s losses in that frontline area over the past 24 hours amounted to 520 personnel, three motor vehicles, a US-made 155mm Paladin self-propelled artillery system, a French-made 155mm Caesar self-propelled artillery system, a US-made 155mm M777 howitzer, a 152mm Msta-B howitzer and two 152mm D-20 howitzers, it specified.
Russia’s Battlegroup Center strikes six Ukrainian brigades over past day
Russia’s Battlegroup Center struck six Ukrainian army brigades and repelled three enemy counterattacks in its area of responsibility over the past day, the ministry reported.
Battlegroup Center units "inflicted casualties on formations of the Ukrainian army’s 31st, 32nd, 100th and 117th mechanized, 142nd infantry and 109th territorial defense brigades in areas near the settlements of Toretsk, Novgorodskoye, Vozdvizhenka, Grodovka and Tarasovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic. They repelled three counterattacks by assault groups of the Ukrainian army’s 53rd and 151st mechanized and 95th air assault brigades," the ministry said.
Russia’s Battlegroup Center inflicts 355 casualties on Ukrainian army over past day
Russia’s Battlegroup Center inflicted roughly 355 casualties on Ukrainian troops in its area of responsibility over the past day, the ministry reported.
"The enemy’s losses amounted to 355 personnel, a US-made M113 armored personnel carrier, a 122mm D-30 howitzer and a 100mm Rapira anti-tank gun," the ministry said.
Russia’s Battlegroup East inflicts 105 casualties on Ukrainian army over past day
Russia’s Battlegroup East inflicted roughly 105 casualties on Ukrainian troops and destroyed an enemy tank in its area of responsibility over the past day, the ministry reported.
"Battlegroup East units improved their forward edge positions and inflicted damage on manpower and equipment of the Ukrainian army’s 72nd mechanized, 58th motorized infantry and 128th territorial defense brigades in areas near the settlements of Vodyanoye and Makarovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Mirnoye in the Zaporozhye Region. They repulsed two counterattacks by the Ukrainian army’s 108th territorial defense brigade," the ministry said.
The Ukrainian army’s losses in that frontline area over the past 24 hours amounted to 105 personnel, a tank, nine motor vehicles, three Polish-made 155mm Krab self-propelled artillery guns and an Anklav-N electronic warfare station, it specified.
Russia’s Battlegroup Dnepr wipes out two Ukrainian ammo depots over past day
Russia’s Battlegroup Dnepr destroyed two Ukrainian ammunition depots and inflicted roughly 65 casualties on enemy troops in its area of responsibility over the past day, the ministry reported.
"Battlegroup Dnepr units inflicted casualties on formations of the Ukrainian army’s 65th mechanized, 128th mountain assault, 124th territorial defense and 37th marine infantry brigades in areas near the settlements of Malaya Tokmachka and Pyatikhatki in the Zaporozhye Region, Antonovka in the Kherson Region and the city of Kherson," the ministry said.
The Ukrainian army’s losses in that frontline area over the past 24 hours amounted to 65 personnel, four motor vehicles, two US-made 155mm M777 howitzers, a 152mm D-20 howitzer and two field ammunition depots, it specified.
Russian forces destroy two Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jets at airfield over past day
Russian forces destroyed two Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jets at an airfield over the past day, the ministry reported.
"Operational/tactical aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, missile troops and artillery of the Russian groups of forces destroyed two Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29s at their airfield and a P-18 aerial target detection and tracking radar and struck armament and ammunition depots, massed enemy manpower and military equipment in 127 areas," the ministry said.
Russian air defenses destroy 51 Ukrainian UAVs, six HIMARS rockets over past day
Russian air defense forces shot down 51 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and six rockets of the US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system over the past day, the ministry reported.
"Air defense capabilities shot down six US-made HIMARS rockets and 51 unmanned aerial vehicles," the ministry said.
Overall, the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 635 Ukrainian warplanes, 278 helicopters, 29,235 unmanned aerial vehicles, 561 surface-to-air missile systems, 16,776 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,396 multiple rocket launchers, 12,904 field artillery guns and mortars and 24,419 special military motor vehicles since the start of the special military operation, the ministry reported.
Israeli police and officials work at the impact site of a projectile, after Lebanon's armed group Hezbollah said it launched a swarm of attack drones against military targets in northern Israel, in Nahariya, Israel, August 6, 2024. REUTERS/Rami Shlush
Hezbollah has fired a series of drones into Israel Terrorists, striking several areas and triggering air raid sirens.
Hezbollah launched a series of drone and
Hezbollah said it launched a swarm of attack drones at two military sites near Acre in northern Israel, and also attacked an Israeli military vehicle in another location.
The Israeli Terrorists military said a number of hostile drones were identified crossing from Lebanon and one was intercepted. It said several civilians were injured to the south of the coastal city of Nahariya. Reuters TV footage showed one impact site near a bus stop on a main road outside the city.
Fears are rising that the Middle East could be tipped into full-blown war following vows by Hezbollah to avenge Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr's killing, and by Iran to respond to the assassination in Tehran last week of the head of Palestinian group Hamas.
An explosion was reported in the Galilee region, in northern Israel, on Tuesday as Isreali media indicated that an Isreali military base may have been targeted.
The Lebanese group Hezbollah confirmed in a statement that it carried out “an air attack with a squadron of attack drones targeting the headquarters of the leadership of the Golani Brigade and the headquarters of Egoz Unit 621 in the ‘Sharaga’ barracks.”
A Hezbollah source told Reuters that "the response to the assassination of commander Fuad Shukr has not yet come."
Earlier on Tuesday, four people were killed in a strike on a home in the Lebanese town of Mayfadoun, nearly 30 km (19 miles) north of the border, medics and a security source said.
The Israeli Terorists medical officials said seven people were evacuated to hospital, to the south of the coastal city of Nahariya, one in critical condition.
The Israeli Terrorists military said an initial investigation indicated the injuries were caused by an interceptor that "missed the target and hit the ground, injuring several civilians." It said the incident was still under review.
Tehran has warned that retaliation is inevitable and that “punishing the aggressor” is the only way to “establish stability in the region”. Iran’s foreign ministry yesterday called on the US to stop supporting Israel.
Footage shows impact of Hezbollah drone in Israel
Video shared by local media outlets in Israel shows a drone, launched as part of a swarm attack on areas some 20km (12.4 miles) into Israel, hitting the ground near civilian infrastructure.
Lebanese group Hezbollah says the attack was targeted at Israeli military installations, but we’ve been getting reports that civilians were injured, some in “serious” condition.
🔴 More footage shows Hezbollah drones hitting civilian areas in Israel
The Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom stated that alarms warning of the intrusion of “hostile aircraft” were initially activated in Hanita, Shlomi, and Batza in Western Galilee.
At a later stage, alarms were triggered in Nahariya and in the settlements of Liman, Batsat, Gesher HaZiv, Sa’ar, the Ghetto Fighters, and the Akziv Milovat industrial area.
Alarms also reportedly sounded in the city of Acre (Akka), and the nearby settlements of Evron, Mazraa, Nativ Shayira, Ben Ami, Shevi Zion, and Regva. Warnings about rocket and missile fire were simultaneously issued for Nahariya, Evron, the Ghetto Fighters, Ben Ami, and Mazraa.
The Israeli Home Front Command confirmed “the event of a hostile aircraft entering the skies of Israel,” claiming that it had ended.
The Director General of the Israeli ambulance service said that several people were injured in the drone strike targeting Western Galilee.
“At least five people were injured by the drone strike in the Western Galilee, including one in a critical condition” according to Yedioth Ahronoth.
The ruling found that Google hoards an 89.2% share of the market for general search services, which increases to 94.9% on mobile devices.
A U.S. judge ruled on Monday that Google violated antitrust law, spending billions of dollars to create an illegal monopoly and become the world's default search engine, the first big win for federal authorities taking on Big Tech's market dominance.
A judge ruled that Google has been unlawfully exploiting its dominance over competing companies Monday by stifling innovation in an effort to maintain dominance over the search engine industry. The lawsuit wrapped up nearly a year after the trial between the US Justice Department and Google first began.
US District Judge Amit Mehta of the US District Court for the District of Columbia issued the decision after reviewing a year’s worth of evidence including testimonies from top executives at Google, Microsoft and Apple. Google and the DOJ presented their closing arguments in early May, AP reported.
"The court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly," U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, Washington, D.C., wrote. Google controls about 90% of the online search market and 95% on smartphones.
The "remedy" phase could be lengthy, followed by potential appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. The legal wrangling could play out into next year, or even 2026.
Shares of Alphabet fell 4.5% on Monday amid a broad decline in tech shares as the wider stock market cratered on recession fears. Google advertising was 77% of Alphabet's total sales in 2023.
Alphabet said it plans to appeal Mehta's ruling. "This decision recognizes that Google offers the best search engine, but concludes that we shouldn’t be allowed to make it easily available," Google said in a statement.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland called the ruling "a historic win for the American people,” adding that "no company - no matter how large or influential - is above the law."
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the "pro-competition ruling is a victory for the American people," adding that "Americans deserve an internet that is free, fair, and open for competition."
“After having carefully considered and weighed the witness testimony and evidence, the court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” Mehta wrote in his 277-page ruling. The company paid billions of dollars a year to device makers like Apple and Samsung to have Google installed as the default search engine on those devices.
The ruling is perhaps the biggest antitrust decision of the modern internet era and could fundamentally alter how consumers use the internet. It could also hint at how other antitrust suits will play out against tech giants like Amazon, Apple, and Meta*, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
The US battled Microsoft in a similar antitrust suit during the 1990s.
“This is the most important antitrust case of the century, and it’s the first of a big slate of cases to come down against Big Tech,” said Rebecca Haw Allensworth, a professor at Vanderbilt University’s law school. “It’s a huge turning point.”
Google is well known for its search engine – so much so that the name of the company has become synonymous for the act of online search. Google’s search engine handles about 8.5 billion searches per day across the world which is nearly double that of 12 years ago. The result of the suit will undoubtedly present a major blow to Google which generated nearly $240 billion in revenue last year.
Kent Walker, Google’s president of global affairs, said the company intends to appeal the ruling. The company also faces a separate federal antitrust case over ad technology that will go to trial next month.
Meanwhile the Consumer Choice Center, a lobbying group, has accused the US of “drifting toward the anti-tech posture of the European Union, a part of the world that makes almost nothing and penalizes successful American companies for their popularity.”
BILLIONS PAID
The logo for Google is seen at the Google Store Chelsea in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., November 17, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Mehta noted that Google had paid $26.3 billion in 2021 alone to ensure that its search engine is the default on smartphones and browsers, and to keep its dominant market share.
"The default is extremely valuable real estate," Mehta wrote. "Even if a new entrant were positioned from a quality standpoint to bid for the default when an agreement expires, such a firm could compete only if it were prepared to pay partners upwards of billions of dollars in revenue share and make them whole for any revenue shortfalls resulting from the change."
He added, “Google, of course, recognizes that losing defaults would dramatically impact its bottom line. For instance, Google has projected that losing the Safari default would result in a significant drop in queries and billions of dollars in lost revenues.”
The ruling is the first major decision in a series of cases taking on alleged monopolies in Big Tech. This case, filed by the Trump administration, went before a judge from September to November of last year.
"A forced divestiture of the search business would sever Alphabet from its largest source of revenue. But even losing its capacity to strike exclusive default agreements could be detrimental for Google," said Emarketer senior analyst Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf, who said a drawn-out legal process would delay any immediate effects for consumers.
In the past four years, federal antitrust regulators have also sued Meta Platforms (META.O), Amazon.com (AMZN.O) and Apple (AAPL.O), claiming the companies have illegally maintained monopolies.
Those cases all began under the administration of former President Donald Trump.
Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee's antitrust subcommittee, said the fact that the case spanned administrations shows strong bipartisan support for antitrust enforcement.
"It's a huge victory for the American people that antitrust enforcement is alive and well when it comes to competition," she said. "Google is a rampant monopolist."
When it was filed in 2020, the Google search case was the first time in a generation that the U.S. government accused a major corporation of an illegal monopoly. Microsoft settled with the Justice Department in 2004 over claims that it forced its Internet Explorer Web browser on Windows users.
Ali Al-Qahoum, a member of the Ansar Allah political bureau, told Sputnik Sunday that the retaliatory strike on Israel for the killings of Palestinian and Lebanese resistance movement commanders would come from all directions.
An official spokesman for Yemeni movement Ansar Allah (the Houthis) said Monday the organization was developing major plans for a strike on Israel.
In an interview with Newsweek, Ansar Allah Deputy Information Secretary Nasreddin Amer declined to disclose details of the group's participation in the upcoming attack but said that "major plans" were being developed.
"We tend during this period to speak little and act a lot," Amer told the publication. "This is what I want the world to understand."
Ali Al-Qahoum, a member of the Ansar Allah political bureau, told Sputnik Sunday that the retaliatory strike on Israel for the killings of Palestinian and Lebanese resistance movement commanders would come from all directions.
On Wednesday the Palestinian group Hamas said its political leader Ismail Haniyeh had been assassinated in his guesthouse in Tehran where he had arrived to attend the inauguration of the new Iranian president. The group blamed Israel and the United States for Haniyeh's death and said the attack would not go unanswered.
Haniyeh's assassination shows there will be no ceasefire in Gaza under Netanyahu — Hersh
The assassination of the head of the political bureau of the Palestinian movement Hamas Ismail Haniyeh in Iran sends a clear message that there will be no ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as long as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in power, US journalist Seymour Hersh said in his blog at the Substack website.
"The Israeli assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran… was a clear message that there will be no ceasefire in Gaza, as long as Netanyahu is in power," he believes. Hersh notes that Netanyahu "has been the one resisting a ceasefire there, despite pressure - or rather, pleading - from the Biden White House."
Hersh stresses that one of the causes of the Middle East crisis was "the failed foreign policies of President Joe Biden" and namely his "inability to understand the recklessness and depravity of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose hatred of Palestinians has now brought the Middle East and America to the brink of a war."
According to Hersh, the aggravation of the crisis was not only Biden’s fault but also of the US lawmakers who "routinely vote to send billions of dollars to support a corrupt and failing government in Ukraine and similarly approve the bombs and tank shells supplied to Israel for use in Gaza."
The situation in the Middle East has escalated sharply after militants of the radical Palestinian movement Hamas entered Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, accompanied by the killing of residents of border settlements and the taking of hostages. The situation has escalated dramatically once again after the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah senior commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut. Hamas and Hezbollah blamed Israel for the killings and warned of their reaction.
Haniyeh's Assassination Aimed at Prolonging Conflict in Gaza, Complicating Talks - Abbas
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said in an interview with Sputnik that the high-profile assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh would complicate negotiations to end the Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip and accused its organizers of seeking to prolong and expand the conflict.
The Palestinian Islamist group has placed responsibility for the murder of its leader, who arrived in Tehran for the inauguration of the Iranian president, on Israel, which has not commented on reports of involvement.
"There is no doubt that the purpose of Mr. Haniyeh's assassination is to prolong the war and expand its scope," Abbas said. "It will have a negative impact on the ongoing negotiations to end the aggression and withdraw Israeli troops from Gaza, but we call on our people to be steadfast, united and patient in the face of this occupation."
He recalled that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) had condemned Haniyeh's assassination, even despite its long-standing conflict with Hamas.
"We consider this a cowardly act and a dangerous development in Israeli politics," Abbas said.
"The Israeli occupation authorities are required to abandon their ambitions and stop their aggressive actions against our people and our cause, to comply with international law and implement the Arab Peace Initiative, as well as an immediate and lasting ceasefire and withdrawal from the Gaza Strip," he added.
The Arab Peace Initiative offers Israel the opportunity to normalize relations with its Middle East neighbors in exchange for the liberation of the occupied Palestinian territories.
