Israeli Expands Offensive Against Hamas Terrorists In Gaza

TUESDAY PDB – Israel says Jabalia refugee camp encircled as UN warns of ‘no safe zones.' IDF tanks and bulldozers are advancing on Khan Younis amidst heavy fighting with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, while the main Salah al-Din road is closed to passage north and south.

The IDF has designated the Mawasi area on the coast west of Khan Younis a safe “humanitarian area” for residents to leave the town. In the north, the Israeli military has advanced into Jabalia refugee camp, where it says it has destroyed a Hamas general security HQ.

Reports in the Wall Street Journal suggest that Israel has set up large pumps north of Gaza City for flooding out Hamas network of up to 300 miles of tunnels.

MEANWHILE – The case for an immediate, US-led, stabilization mission in Gaza. Without a multi-national force plan to provide aid and security to the vulnerable Palestinian population, the IDF will be unsuccessful in dismantling Hamas, argues Jonathan Lord of CNAS.

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here's a roundup of today's other top defense stories from conservative national security expert PAUL CRESPO.

Not the President's Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL'S DAILY BRIEFING – the PDB:

PENTAGON WOKE WATCH

Ditching promotion file photos may have helped minorities, report says. A review of minority promotion numbers showed an increase in officers of color moving up the Army's ranks.

Ex-Navy secretary demands halt to RI wind farm that will ‘obliterate quality of life' and won't ‘ever' reduce carbon emissions. The long-serving diplomat has called on Team Biden and Congress to halt plans for immense offshore wind farms near Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

POLITICS

Schumer sets up Ukraine, Israel aid vote despite floundering border talks. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday prepared the first procedural vote on Joe Biden's $106 billion supplemental package to send aid to Ukraine, Israel, Indo-Pacific countries and for humanitarian purposes in Gaza.

Jonathan Majors assault trial starts with competing versions of a backseat confrontation. Since the actor's arrest in March, an ad campaign for the U.S. Army featuring Majors has been pulled and the release of “Magazine Dreams,” a Sundance award-winning filming that he starred in, has been postponed.

NATIONAL SECURITY

We can do all of that: Admiral says US can support Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan at same time. The U.S. military can aid Taiwan along with Ukraine and Israel if the Indo-Pacific island came under attack from China, the Pentagon's second highest-ranking officer said.

CHINA THREAT

CAN'T ‘INTRUDE' IN INTERNATIONAL WATER – US Navy ship ‘intruded' in South China Sea waters, China says. The Navy said the ship “was conducting routine operations in international waters … consistent with international law.”

US to deploy anti-ship missiles on subs in 2024 to counter China. The Navy to begin arming submarines next year with ship-targeting versions of the widely used Tomahawk missile, part of the push to challenge Chinese maritime forces, particularly around Taiwan.

The Pentagon needs fresh ideas for evading Taiwan logistics pitfalls. The Indo-Pacific remains an unforgiving theater of operations to this day, and, when combined, the four tyrannies interact to undermine U.S. deterrence against China—most notably, the deterrent effect of airpower.

RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR

Why Russia now must use its A-50U closer to the fight in Ukraine. “They will have to decide what costs them more: to lose one or more of these A-50s or to continue to see their combat aircraft and S-400 units progressively degraded.”

Deputy Russian army corps commander is killed in Ukraine. He is Major General Vladimir Zavadsky, deputy commander of Russia's 14th Army Corps.

WOW! – Ukrainian sniper breaks cover to claim world-record hit of more than 2 miles. The shot has offered Ukraine a morale boost as the country's forces struggle to make headway at the front line.

IRAN THREAT

IT'S IRAN, STUPID! – US, allies in talks on naval task force to protect shipping in Red Sea. After three vessels were struck by missiles from Iran-backed militant groups, the U.S. may establish a naval task force to escort commercial ships.

Reloading vertical missile tubes at sea is within a crane arm's reach. Recent events in the Middle East raise questions about how best to sustain finite naval power in strategically important waters.

US POWER OVERSEAS

US, Japan kick off 10-day tabletop exercise that includes Australia for first time. More than 6,000 soldiers from the U.S. Army and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force gathered throughout Japan on Monday to begin 10 days of command-and-control training.

USS Gerald R. Ford crew gets break at Souda Bay amid extended deployment. The Navy's largest aircraft carrier has arrived at a base in Crete for a port visit, giving sailors on deployment in the Mediterranean Sea a respite after their mission was extended in response to Israel's war in Gaza.

Former Colombian officer charged with bombing attack that injured 3 US soldiers. The indictment against a medically discharged Colombian Army officer was unsealed as the suspect, extradited to Miami, made his first court appearance.

US MILITARY

The Marine Corps is looking at small drone boats for spying on vessels. The uncrewed surface vessels ideally would be light enough to get lugged around by a Marine heavy-lift helicopter.

Backpack jammer prototyped by CACI's Mastodon passes early Army test. Preliminary testing of a portable jammer soldiers can sling to their backs and use to manipulate electronic signals while on the move was successful.

Why Air Force tanker crews are training to pump their own gas. The Michigan Air National Guard recently has a first of its kind: a training program that teaches KC-135 tanker crews how to perform specialized fueling operations (SFO): ground-based procedures that could help gas up military aircraft in a conflict.                                                   

CONGRATS – AND THEY CAN DO THE JOB – BUT AS A SOCIETY, DO WE WANT OUR MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS TO BE TRAINED KILLERS? I STILL HAVE MY DOUBTS – Meet the Army's first female active-duty sniper. Though her childhood nickname was “Sniper,” there was no guarantee that's what Army Sgt. Maciel Hay would become.

END of PDB

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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