Russian Air Power Backing Regime Assault on Aleppo in Syria

Assad regime forces backed by Iranian and Hezbollah commandos along with Russian air power were reportedly massing for an effort to retake the northern city of Aleppo from rebel forces Monday, even as the UN continued to beg all sides to continue so-far unsuccessful negotiations in Geneva. Meanwhile, an Iranian official reacted with contempt to a US request for assistance in convincing Assad to step down and allow for a political transition which would end the war.

The Islamic State (IS) terror militia carried out attacks in the Egyptian Sinai last Thursday which killed seven people and wounded 15 others. The following day, IS announced that it had executed 175 hostages it had recently kidnapped from a cement factory in the Assad-regime controlled area of Damascus. In related news, both Israel and the US have issued warnings for their citizens to leave Turkey as soon as possible due to the threat of terrorist attacks in that country.

Zionist Union MK Zouheir Bahloul caused an uproar last week when he said that a Palestinian who stabbed an Israeli soldier in an attack on 24 March was a “murderer” but not a “terrorist.” The remarks were condemned by several lawmakers including MKs from his own faction demanding a retraction but several Arab MKs from different factions issued statements supporting him and calling those who expressed disapproval of him “racists” and “criminals” among other epitaphs.

Hollywood superstar Kevin Costner was in Israel last week for the Israeli premier of his new film “Criminal” waved off questions about pressure he received to join the campaign to Boycott, Divest and Sanction the Jewish State. “I don’t ask anyone’s permission to travel,” Costner said.

Reports out of Washington indicate that the Obama Administration has not yet decided whether to use its veto at the UN Security Council to end a push by the Palestinian Authority to have Israeli settlements in the West Bank condemned. A State Department spokesman told reporters on Friday that US officials were waiting to get an official notification containing specific details about the plan before making a decision.

The Islamist terror militia Hamas issued a statement Sunday condemning the Palestinian Authority for the recent arrest of three Palestinian terrorists who were preparing to launch an attack against Israelis, with one Hamas official charging that security coordination between the PA and Israel “is aimed at aborting the intifada and targeting the Palestinian resistance.” In related news, three more Hamas operatives were reportedly killed over the weekend when the smuggling tunnel they were digging under the border with Egypt collapsed on top of them.