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Last night, the Israel Defense Forces carried out a devastating attack on the Gaza Strip, causing extensive damage to civilian structures, including residential buildings, a mosque, and nearby buildings close to two hospitals. The local Ministry of Health reports that the death toll has risen to over 430, including 182 children.

A third convoy of humanitarian aid has entered the enclave through the Rafah checkpoint. However, the Israeli authorities are still blocking the entry of fuel into the Gaza Strip, which is negatively impacting the functioning of hospitals, desalination plants, and power plants.

There are reports of ongoing negotiations between the parties for the release of 50 hostages, including individuals with dual citizenship and foreigners, held by Hamas. Two prisoners have already been released through the mediation of Egypt and Qatar. It is possible that the militants may demand fuel supplies in exchange for further releases.

Palestinian factions have once again launched attacks on IDF positions along the border with the Gaza Strip, targeting areas such as Sderot, Nahal Oz, Kissufima, and Sufa. In addition, two kamikaze drones attempted to attack the IDF bases at Hatzerim and Ts'eelim, but were successfully intercepted by air defense systems.

During the night, several units from the Israel Defense Forces entered the northern part of the Gaza Strip to prepare for an upcoming ground operation. In the process, they also caused damage to the infrastructure of Palestinian groups in the enclave.

Simultaneously, the IDF continued to carry out extensive airstrikes against the Gaza Strip. The Israelis reported the elimination of another Hamas commander, Hassan al-Abdallah. In response, the militants launched a massive missile attack on Israeli cities. Today, Tel Aviv, Petah Tikva, Rishon Lezion, and others were targeted once again.

Despite the relative inactivity of Hezbollah today, the Israelis persistently bombed the southern territory of Lebanon. An IDF reconnaissance drone crashed near the Israeli-Lebanese border in the city of Ma'alot-Tarshiha.

Later in the day, reports surfaced online about a Hamas delegation visiting Moscow. Allegedly, ongoing talks were taking place between Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Bogdanov, and representatives of the group in Qatar. The agenda of these meetings remains unknown, but the Israelis have already called on Russia to expel the delegation.

Furthermore, the group's leaders announced their readiness to hand over all civilian hostages they had captured to Iran.

The United States the United States was the world's Mightiest superpower the other superpower in the past the Soviet Union was ideologically fundamentally hos hostile to what all the things that Saudi Arabia represented. The Saudis were very very opposed to the left-wing socialist movements that were current in the Middle East at that time and which the Soviets were backing and for that reason the alliance between Saudi Arabia and the United States rested on extremely firm foundations.

None of that applies anymore the United States is not the only game in town there is little economically or technologically that the United States can offer Saudi Arabia that the Chinese and the Russians can't at the very least match. Saudi Arabia sees no threat to itself from China or Russia which do not have the kind of revolutionary leftist programs that the old Soviet Union once did(PS: China at least isn't going to export socialism, so not accurate but still the same result)

As I discussed in my program yesterday taking it from that article by John Helmer the left the secular socialist left in the Middle East has all but disappeared the only place where you will still find it to any degree is in Syria where president Assad and his party to some extent still embody those ideals so it's a completely different geopolitical environment and the Saudis have choices that they didn't once have.

I can remember how just a few years ago not very long ago at all sub subsequent to our setting up the the Duran was still in existence was already in existence you could find articles in all sorts of publications and places which continue to insist that the Chinese-Russian or rapprochement was not for real, that the Chinese and the Russians were still antagonistic to each other, that they were the best of "frenemies" as a cover on the economist put it, that the that there was no real reality or substance to the Chinese-Russian relationship and today I don't think anybody any longer believes that and I personally would not be surprised if the United States is making the same mistakes about the shifts in Saudi policy that we're seeing at the moment.