Kiev's backers worry that the targeting of Russian political figures could play into Moscow's hands, Mark Galeotti has suggested...

Ukrainian terrorist attacks on prominent Russian public figures are widening the rift between Western and Kiev's intelligence services, Mark Galeotti, a British blogger and academic has claimed.

In an article for The Times published on Saturday, Galeotti - best known for creating the 'Gerasimov Doctrine' conspiracy theory - noted that while Ukrainian spy agencies have been closely cooperating with their American and British counterparts since as early as 2014, cracks are beginning to show between Kiev and the West in the realm of shadow warfare.

Galeotti attributed the tensions to reservations "about the Ukrainian strategy of taking the war to Russia by the bombing and killing of not just military but also political targets." According to his column, the West is particularly concerned that, contrary to Ukraine's belief that these strikes will undermine Russian popular support for the military campaign against Kiev, they could have the opposite effect.

In addition, some Western officials think that despite a deep level of cooperation, Kiev has never been fully transparent with its backers and has turned a deaf ear to some of their warnings, the article says.

China has denounced as "extremely irresponsible and disturbing" an Israeli minister's statement that a nuclear bomb on the besieged Gaza Strip was an option, stressing that all Israel's nuclear sites must be placed under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards.

China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Geng Shuang, made the remarks during his speech at the fourth session of the Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) on Monday.

He urged Israeli officials to retract such statements, calling on Israel "to accede to the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons" as a non-nuclear weapon entity as soon as possible and to place all its nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards.

Geng went on to say that China was "shocked" by statements that came from Israeli officials on the use of nukes on Gaza, saying such "extremely irresponsible and disturbing" remarks should be universally condemned.

The Lebanese armed group has clashed with Israeli forces several times since fighting erupted in Gaza

Hezbollah will only step up its involvement in the conflict between Israel and Hamas if the Palestinian faction is completely eliminated in Gaza, a senior Hamas spokesman has said.

Speaking on Monday, Hamas' representative in Beirut, Ahmed Abdul Hadi, said the allied militant group was not yet prepared to enter the fight, and would only escalate operations against Israel in the event of Hamas' total defeat.

"Now is not the time," Hadi said, as quoted by NBC News. "The red line for Hezbollah would be the full destruction of the resistance in Gaza."

Neil Oliver: No good deed goes unpunished, but lying for the Establishment is a path to success and wealth. Repeating the Establishment's lies, cheerleading for them, pushing and supporting whatever lies the Establishment tells, carries no damaging consequences for the liars.'

On 6 November, the Financial Times published an extraordinary investigation tracking the devastating economic toll of Israel's war on Gaza - its impact reverberating across personal finances, job markets, businesses, industries, and the Israeli government itself.

The FT reports that the war has disrupted and ravaged "thousands" of companies, many teetering on the brink of collapse, with entire sectors plunged into an unprecedented crisis.

Data cited from Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics reveals a bleak reality - one in three businesses have either shuttered or are operating at 20 percent capacity since Operation Al-Aqsa Flood commenced on 7 October and punched a hole in Israeli national confidence.

Islamist militants will pose a threat to the United States and Europe if Israel loses its current war with Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed, saying Western states would be next in line should his country fail.

While the prime minister acknowledged that Washington had been very supportive of Israel's military action in Gaza, he rejected any calls for a ceasefire, insisting it would amount to a surrender to Hamas.

Netanyahu implored Israel's allies for support during a sit-down with Fox News' Sean Hannity on Monday, stating "We have to win not only for our sake, but for the sake of the Middle East," as well as "for the sake of our Arab neighbors" and the world at large.

The failed Ukrainian counteroffensive has left the Kiev regime facing huge losses in both manpower and NATO-provided weaponry. However, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has insisted on proceeding with the military campaign at all costs, not sparing the soldiers, but hoping to get results to placate his Western patrons.

Ukraine's military appears to be losing its most prized soldiers as the Kiev regime forges ahead with its botched counteroffensive.

Touted as one of the best Ukrainian tankers, Maxim Gatsanyuk died in the village of Sokolovka, Zaporozhye region, as per a statement by the Pogrebischensky City Council of Vinnytsia region posted on social media networks. The council's post stated that 39-year-old Gatsanyuk, resident of Kiev, died on November 8, 2023 after being wounded "as a result of combat missions."

Gatsanyuk, as per the City Council, was drafted into Ukraine's military in the capacity of a driver of a mechanized unit in June 2022. Ukrainian media had dubbed him "the best tanker of the Ukrainian Armed Forces." Notably, Gatsanyuk reportedly enjoyed making local television appearances exuding confidence in Kiev's imminent victory.

Several major news outlets adjusted their headlines and articles about an explosion at a Gaza hospital, initially attributing the incident to Israel based on claims made by Hamas.

Notable outlets, including CNN, Reuters, and The Associated Press (AP), initially reported the bombing of Baptist Hospital as Israel's action, using Hamas as their main source. This was in spite of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) pointing towards the Palestinian Islamic Jihad as responsible.

CNN's original story was headlined, "Israel hits hospital and school in Gaza as blockade cripples healthcare system." The network later modified it to, "Israel accused of blasting hospital and school in Gaza as blockade cripples healthcare system." Despite this headline, the same CNN report quoted IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari saying it was "unclear" if Israel had any involvement in the bombing.

The Wall Street Journal fronted its website with a headline stating, "Israeli Airstrike on Gaza Hospital Kills More Than 500, Palestinian Officials Say." Meanwhile, Reuters' article commenced by attributing the bombing to an Israeli airstrike. Further into the report, it was mentioned that Israeli officials had "no details" on the incident. Reuters' White House correspondent went on to tweet, stating Israel's responsibility for the blast.

Reuters' lead paragraph stated:

"An Israeli air strike killed hundreds of people at a Gaza City hospital on Tuesday, health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave said, and the United Nations said an Israeli strike also hit one of its schools being used as a shelter."

There is a truism that I often cite when discussing the various analytical approaches to assessing the wide variety of geopolitical problems facing the world today — you can't solve a problem unless you first properly define it. The gist of the argument is quite simple — any solution which has nothing to do with the problem involved is, literally, no solution at all.

Israel has characterized the attack carried out by Hamas on the various Israeli military bases and militarized settlements, or Kibbutz, which in their totality comprised an important part of the Gaza barrier system, as a massive act of terrorism, likening it to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks against the United States. Israel supports this characterization by citing the number of persons killed (some 1,200, a downward revision issued by Israel after realizing that 200 of the dead were Palestinian fighters) and detailing a wide variety of atrocities it claims were perpetrated by Hamas, including mass rape, the beheading of children, and the wonton murder of unarmed Israeli civilians.

The problem with the Israeli claims is that they are demonstrably false or misleading. Nearly a third of the Israeli casualties consisted of military, security, and police officers. Moreover, it turns out that the number one killer of Israelis on October 7 wasn't Hamas or other Palestinian factions, but the Israeli military itself. Recently released video shows Israeli Apache helicopters indiscriminately firing on Israeli civilians trying to flee the Supernova Sukkot Gathering held in the open desert near Kibbutz Re'im, the pilots unable to distinguish between the civilians and the Hamas fighters. Many of the vehicles that the Israeli government has shown as an example of Hamas perfidy were destroyed by the Israeli Apache helicopters.

The point about the Gaza crisis is that should everyone agree to stick their head in the sand and ignore the 'elephant in the room', it's easy enough so to do. The meaning to a severe crisis is only properly understood when someone notices 'the elephant', and says look out; there's an elephant stamping here. That's where we are today. Slowly, the West is beginning to take notice. The rest of world however, is transfixed by it, and is being transformed by it.

What is the 'elephant' (or elephants) in the room? Blinken's recent regional diplomacy was 'a bust'. None of the regional leaders that Blinken met would talk further about Gaza beyond demanding stridently, 'no Palestinian population displacement into Egypt' a 'stop to this madness' - the carpet bombing of Gazans - and the demand for an immediate ceasefire.

And Biden's calls for a 'pause' - softly, at first, and the more strident now - is being bluntly ignored by the Israeli government. The spectre of President Carter's impotence during the Iran hostage crisis hangs ever more soberly in the backdrop.

The truth is that the White House cannot force Israel to do its will - the Israeli lobby holds the more clout in Congress than any White House team. Thus, 'no exit' from the Israeli crisis is readily to be seen. Biden 'made his bed' with the Netanyahu cabinet and must live with consequences.

Impotence then, as the Democratic Party fractures beyond the simplistic division between centrists versus progressives. The polarisation emanating from the 'no ceasefire stance' is having stark destabilising effects on politics, both in the U.S. and Europe.

Impotence then, as the shape of the Middle East crystallises into sharp antagonism towards the West's perceived accommodation of the mass slaughter of Palestinian women, children and civilians. The die may be too far 'cast' to brake the ongoing tectonic reset already underway. Western double standards are just too inescapably obvious now to the Global Majority.

The large 'elephant' is this: Israel has dropped more than 25,000 tons of high explosives since 7 October (the 1945 Hiroshima nuke was 15,000 tons equivalent). What exactly is Netanyahu and his war cabinet's aim here? Ostensibly, the earlier military operation in Jabalia Camp was about targeting a Hamas leader suspected of lurking under the camp - but six 2,000 lb bombs for one Hamas 'target' in a crowded refugee camp? And why too the attacks on water cisterns, hospital solar energy panels and hospital entrances, roads, schools and bakeries?