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The Cradle is an online news magazine covering West Asian geopolitics from within.
BREAKING | More Israeli missile sirens sound across the Galilee.
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❗️AP investigation reveals Israeli organization coordinated Gaza evacuation flights
Since May, at least three flights have evacuated Palestinians from Gaza to countries including South Africa and Indonesia. An AP investigation found that an Israeli group, Ad Kan, founded by former soldiers and intelligence officers and whose founder strongly supported US President Donald Trump’s proposal to resettle Palestinians from Gaza, was behind the operations, organizing the flights through a front company called Al-Majd to obscure Israeli involvement.
Ad Kan’s founder, Gilad Ach, has previously advocated for voluntary Palestinian emigration from Gaza and supported policies advancing Israel’s strategic interests.
The flights were arranged with Israeli coordination, though it remains unclear whether the government was directly involved. Passengers said they were transported to Israel via bus and allowed to board with only a few belongings.
❗️Israeli incursions intensify in south Lebanon as clashes with Hezbollah expand
Hezbollah has scaled back attacks deep inside Israel as it shifts its focus to confronting expanding Israeli ground incursions in southern Lebanon, while Israel has widened its target list across Lebanese territory.
By Saturday afternoon, Hezbollah had issued 22 statements claiming attacks, most of them targeting Israeli military positions along the border, surveillance and air-defense systems, and settlements in northern occupied Palestine. The group also reported striking Israeli soldiers and vehicles inside Lebanese territory near Khiam, Maroun al-Ras, and newly established Israeli positions at Blat and Nimr al-Jamal opposite Alma al-Shaab, as well as areas around the Khiam detention center, west of Blida, and Khazzan Hill in Odaisseh.
According to sources in southern Lebanon, Hezbollah is prioritizing efforts to repel Israeli ground advances after the Israeli army launched incursions along at least four axes. Israel has also attempted to prevent reinforcements from reaching Hezbollah fighters in the south by striking key infrastructure, including bridges and crossings linking areas south of the Litani River with those to the north. Airstrikes also targeted roads between villages.
Sources said the campaign appears aimed at depopulating the south, with ambulances and civil defense units reportedly coming under attack. Lebanon’s National News Agency reported Israeli warplanes struck the Khardali road and bridge linking Nabatieh and Marjayoun near a Lebanese army checkpoint, leaving a large crater and completely cutting the road.
Israeli strikes have also targeted medical facilities and ambulance centers, killing 22 paramedics since the start of the war, according to Lebanese officials. The deadliest incident occurred when an Israeli strike hit a Ministry of Public Health primary care center in Burj Qalaouiyeh, killing 12 doctors, paramedics, and nurses. Another strike hit a gathering point for the Islamic Health Authority and the Al-Risala Scouts Association in Souwaneh, killing two people. The Israeli military claimed Hezbollah uses ambulances and medical facilities for military purposes and accused the group of transporting rockets and weapons in civilian trucks along Lebanon’s coastal areas.
Airstrikes and artillery bombardment have intensified across southern Lebanon, hitting towns including Majdal Zoun, Yater, Taybeh, Sajd, Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, Khiam, Naqoura, Kharayeb, Bint Jbeil, Ainata, Aitaroun, Maroun al-Ras, and the outskirts of Shebaa and Hasbaya, with clashes ongoing across multiple fronts. The escalation has also affected UN peacekeepers, with a UNIFIL position near Mays al-Jabal struck by heavy machine-gun fire, sparking a fire and lightly injuring a peacekeeper. UNIFIL said it had opened an investigation and reminded all parties of their obligation to ensure the safety of peacekeepers.
(Asharq al-Awsat)
❗️Netanyahu appears to refute claims of his death
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu appeared in a coffee shop after social media posts claimed he was killed in an Iranian attack.
In a video while ordering coffee, he used Hebrew expressions meaning “to love something to death,” saying, "I love my nation and how they act to death," and raised both hands to show his fingers, refuting the “six fingers” image from his Thursday online press conference that had sparked AI rumors.
While no other customers were seen in the coffee shop, Netanyahu also said that “Israelis should leave their homes to get fresh air but stay close to shelters.”
Israel denies direct negotiations with Lebanon as ground battles with Hezbollah rage
The French Foreign Ministry has also denied a recent report that Paris has drafted a ceasefire plan for Lebanon
❗️A building in Jerusalem housing a senior US official was damaged during an Iranian missile barrage toward the city.
(Yedioth Ahronoth)
⭕️ Daughter of Israeli settlement minister who accused her family of sexual/ritual abuse found dead in her home
Shoshana Strook, 34, the daughter of Israel’s Minister of Settlement and National Missions Orit Strook, was found dead overnight at a rented home in the Amirim settlement in the Upper occupied Galilee, according to Hebrew media reports.
Authorities said her body was transferred to a forensic institute to determine the cause of death. Police have opened an investigation, with initial reports suggesting suicide, though the circumstances surrounding her death remain unclear.
Strook had previously drawn public attention after accusing members of her own family—including her mother, father, and brother—of sexual abuse and ritual exploitation during her childhood.
In a video released last year, she alleged she had been taken to “pedophilia rituals” from a very young age and subjected to systematic abuse. She later returned to Israel to file an official police complaint and requested protection, saying she feared threats from individuals connected to the alleged crimes.
Her mother, Orit Strook, a far-right genocidal minister in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government widely associated with Israel’s settlement movement and its barbaric policies toward Palestinians, confirmed the death on social media, writing that her “heart is broken” over the passing of her daughter.
Shoshana Strook’s allegations had previously sparked public debate in Israel, including discussions in the Knesset about claims of ritual abuse involving influential figures, though the investigation into her death is ongoing.
⭕️ Israeli strikes have killed 850 people and injured 2,105 in Lebanon since 2 March, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
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BREAKING | Israel continues murdering police officers in Gaza
Israeli forces bombed a police vehicle near the entrance of Al-Zawaida, killing Central Governorate Rapid Intervention Police Director Iyad Abu Yusuf and seven police officers, according to the Gaza Interior Ministry.
US, Israel using Shahed-inspired LUCAS drone for ‘false flags’ across region: Iran FM
The Iranian military has issued a similar warning, after Tehran denied responsibility for a number of recent attacks
❗️Lebanon's Hezbollah announces it targeted an Israeli Merkava tank in Mashrou’ al-Taybeh in south Lebanon's Marjayoun district with a guided missile, and it was seen burning.
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VIDEO | Pentagon AI chief Cameron Stanley demonstrates how Palantir's AI drone system works.
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❗️3 Iranian women footballers drop asylum bid in Australia, return home
Three members of Iran’s women’s national soccer team who had applied for asylum in Australia have chosen to return to Iran, the Australian government announced today.
So far, four of the seven players have decided to leave Australia. Another player reversed her decision last week.
"After telling Australian officials they had made this decision, the players were given repeated chances to talk about their options," Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement.
The Iranian Football Association (FFIRI) identified the players as Mona Hamoudi, Zahra Sarbali and Zahra Meshkehkar.
"After arriving in Malaysia and joining the rest of Iran's women's national football team, the three players will travel to Tehran in the coming days to once again be embraced by their families and homeland," FFIRI added in a statement.
❗️At least 4 injured after an Iranian missile attack on Petah Tikva, according to Hebrew sources.
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‼️ A fragment from an Iranian missile hit a residential building used by the US consul in Israel, Israeli media reports.
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BREAKING | Israeli missile sirens ring in Manara, Margaliot, and Kiryat Shmona, Upper Galilee.
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US energy producers earning 'billions' amid rising oil prices due to war on Iran: Report
Iran appears determined to keep the strategic Strait of Hormuz largely closed, with limited exceptions, disrupting oil exports from US-aligned Gulf producers
❗️US energy secretary: high gas prices to persist 'for a few more weeks'
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Sunday that US citizens should expect high gas prices “for a few more weeks."
“Yes, it is a short term disruption in the flow of energy. Americans are feeling it right now. Americans will feel it for a few more weeks, but at the end, we will have removed the greatest risk to global energy supplies,” Wright told NBC News’s Kristen Welker on Meet the Press.
“We’ll go to a world more abundant in energy, more affordable in energy and less risky for American soldiers and commerce in the Middle East,” he added.
The average price for regular gasoline in the US is about $3.70 per gallon, up from roughly $2.98 a month ago, according to AAA.
‼️ Pakistan carried out overnight strikes on Taliban facilities and "terrorist hideouts" in Afghanistan’s Kandahar, Pakistan’s Information Minister said in a post on X today.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Afghan government, confirmed the attacks but stated that there were "no casualties."
VIDEO | Footage shows strikes on Hamedan, Iran a short while ago, where the Israeli military says it targeted IRGC and Basij headquarters as part of its relentless, indiscriminate attacks on Iranian infrastructure.
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❗️Palantir Co-Founder Peter Thiel holds private Rome talks on the Antichrist
Palantir Co-Founder Peter Thiel began a series of private lectures in Rome on Sunday examining the concept of the Antichrist, attracting attention from Catholic commentators.
The invitation-only event, which continues until Wednesday, is closed to the press and its location has not been disclosed. Organizers cited in media reports said attendees come from academic, technological, and religious backgrounds
Last year, he conducted a similar series of talks in San Francisco exploring the possibility that the Antichrist could appear on the global stage.
He has specifically expressed concern that an Antichrist could emerge who seeks to establish a one-world government under the pretext of preventing nuclear, AI, or climate-related disasters.
BREAKING | Israeli missile sirens sound in the occupied Golan Heights.
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❗️Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office published a message warning Israelis in the UAE and telling them to refrain from "attending or participating in events and gatherings identified with Israel."
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❗️Pope Leo condemns 'atrocious violence,' urges ceasefire
"For two weeks, the peoples of the Middle East have been suffering the atrocious violence of war," Pope Leo said during his weekly Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square.
"In the name of Christians in the Middle East and of all women and men of good will, I appeal to those responsible for this conflict: Cease fire!" he said.
"Thousands of innocent people have been killed, and many more have been forced to leave their homes. I renew my closeness to all those who have lost their loved ones in the attacks," Leo added.
He also expressed "great concern" about the situation in Lebanon.
❗️Lebanese Health Ministry announces 8 were wounded in a series of Israeli airstrikes on villages in southern Lebanon.
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⭕️ According to Israeli media, today marks the 16th day of the war, and Iran has already carried out 10 waves of missile launches toward Israel by midday, making it the third-heaviest day since the war began, noting that 1 March remains the second most intense day, with 15 Iranian launch waves recorded, and adding that the current number could surpass that figure by midnight if attacks continue.
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⭕️ Iran's Armed Forces announced in a statement that army drones targeted Israeli security centers and police headquarters, including the Lahav 433 special police unit and the Gilat Defense satellite communications center, in response to Israeli attacks on Iran. The statement said the strikes were part of Iran’s ongoing retaliation and warned that any further attacks on Iran will be met with a powerful response.
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WATCH | "One word answer? Epstein."
Retired US Army Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Colin Powell, says political decisions in Washington are certainly influenced by compromising material tied to the Epstein network.
👉 Full episode here
BREAKING | Israeli missile sirens sound in Metula, Yuval, and Ghajar in the Upper Galilee and occupied Golan Heights.
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❗️Alba shuts 3 smelting lines amid Strait of Hormuz disruptions
Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) announced today that it had begun shutting down three aluminum smelting lines that account for 19% of its production capacity to maintain business continuity amid ongoing disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.
Alba, which has an annual aluminum smelting capacity of 1.62 million tons, said in a statement it had started a "controlled and safe shutdown" of reduction lines 1, 2 and 3.
"This targeted, line-specific action is designed to optimize the utilization of Alba's existing raw materials inventory and prioritize operational stability across Reduction Lines 4, 5 and 6," added Alba, which describes itself as the "world's largest aluminum smelter on one site."