Iran has launched Dozens of drones toward Israel, The Jerusalem Post said citing Israeli and US intelligence. Moreover, IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari confirmed that Israel is ready to defend itself against the expected Iranian strike. | The Israeli army said that it is ready to shoot down Iranian drones which are expected to reach Tel Aviv's airspace in a few hours. Israeli airspace is closed until 7 a.m. on Sunday, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority said on Saturday night. Both Jordan and Iraq have also announced the temporary closure of their airspace amid fears of growing tension in the region. Iran has warned to respond to the Iranian consulate attack in Syria's Damascus during which seven Revolutionary Guards, two of them generals, were killed. Tehran blamed Israel for the attack and threatened to respond to the attack.

■ Massive power outage reported in Tel Aviv | News sources have told the Zionist regime's local media, a large part of Tel Aviv, the capital of occupied Palestine, went dark due to a power outage, Lebanese Al Mayadeen TV Network reported. A cyber hacking group by the name of "Cyber Avengers." has announced in an statement that it took responsibility for cutting off electricity in various parts of the occupied territories. The group emphasized that it carried out this cyber attack from the south to the north in response to the Zionist regime's crimes in Gaza.

■ Iran launches swarm of kamikaze drones at Israel – Axios (RT.com)
■ Iran attacks Israel: Live updates (RT.com)

The special naval forces of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) have seized Israel-linked MSC Aries container ship near the Strait of Hormuz, official news agency IRNA reports. | The ship was impounded by the Sepah Navy Special Force (SNSF) in a heliborne operation and rappelling of forces on the ship's deck, the agency said Saturday. The ship has now been directed towards the territorial waters of our country," IRNA said. The Portuguese-flagged ship, operated by Zodiac Maritime, is owned by Israeli real estate, energy, technology and shipping magnate Eyal Ofer, it added. Zodiac Maritime is part of the Israeli billionaire's Zodiac Group.

■ IRGC seizes Israel-linked ship near Strait of Hormuz (IRNA)

Amnesty International has for decades documented widespread torture by Israeli authorities in places of detention across the West Bank. | [O]ver the past four weeks, videos and images have been shared widely online showing gruesome scenes of Israeli soldiers beating and humiliating Palestinians while detaining them blindfolded, stripped, with their hands tied, in a particularly chilling public display of torture and humiliation of Palestinian detainees. ■ In one image analysed by Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab, three Palestinian men, blindfolded and stripped of their clothes can be seen beside a soldier, wearing a green olive uniform like those worn by the Israeli ground forces. A Haaretz investigation published on 19 October found that the image was taken in Wadi al-Seeq, a village East of Ramallah, on 12 October. One of the three victims depicted in the photograph told Amnesty International that he had initially been held and beaten by settlers but two hours later an Israeli military jeep arrived: 💬 “One of the Israeli officers who came, approached me and kicked me on my left side, then jumped on my head with his two legs pushing my face further into the dirt and then continued kicking me as I was head down, into the dirt, with my hands tied behind my back. He then got a knife and tore all of my clothes off except for my underwear, and used part of my torn clothes to blindfold me. The beating to the rest of my body did not stop, at one point he started jumping on my back – three or four times – while yelling ‘Die, die you trash’ … in the end before this finally stopped, another officer urinated on my face and body while also yelling at us ‘to die’.”

■ Palestinians have died in detention facilities under the custody of the Israel Prison Services (PHRI))(.pdf)
■ Physician at Israeli Field Hospital for Detained Gazans: 'We Are All Complicit in Breaking Law' (Haaretz)

American ships and troops in the Middle East prepared for a likely Iranian attack on Israel on Friday, as US President Joe Biden urged Tehran to think twice. | Iranian leaders have vowed to “punish” Israel for the April 1 airstrike on the consulate in Damascus, Syria that killed seven officers of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, including two of its generals. [...] The Pentagon is moving additional troops and equipment to sites in the Middle East, to “bolster regional deterrence efforts and increase force protection,” an anonymous official said in a background briefing.

■ Russia trolls U.S and Israel with new Ballistic Missile test (The Times of India)
■ Turkey DENIES U.S. Permission To Use Airspace to Attack Iran (Hal Turner)
■ Qatar and Kuwait Forbid US From Using their Bases to Attack Iran (Hal Turner) (12 April 2024)
■ Iran readies '100+ cruise missiles' for possible retaliation against Israel (TRT World)
■ Iran Warns It Will Attack US Forces in Mideast If It Helps Defend Israel (Sputnik News)
■ US Moving More Assets to Mideast to Bolster Deterrence Ahead of Iran Retaliation (Sputnik News)
■ Iran: UN condemnation of Israeli airstrike could have 'obviated' retaliation (04/12/24)

Humanitarian aid items blocked by Tel Aviv include anesthetics, chocolate croissants, generators for hospitals, maternity kits, power supply equipment and solar panels, reports Washington Post. | Israel has rejected or restricted access to aid items ranging from life-saving medical supplies to toys to chocolate croissants from entering the besieged Gaza, the Washington Post reported. The US news outlet contacted 25 aid groups, UN agencies and donor countries to ask about aid delivery to Gaza. Food, water and blankets do not require approvals, but agencies submit requests for items they think have a chance of being rejected, such as communications equipment and sanitation or shelter items.

CNN investigation, with accounts from multiple eyewitnesses and expert forensic analysis of video footage of the incident, seeks to challenge Israeli military's claims that more than 110 killings resulted from stampede rather than direct gunfire. | A CNN investigation has unveiled significant discrepancies in the Israeli military's account of a devastating incident on February 29 in Gaza, now widely referred to as the "Flour Massacre." ● The CNN report, substantiated by eyewitness testimonies and video evidence, raises serious questions about the transparency of Netanyahu's extremist government, casting doubt on their official narrative.

■ Al least 19 Palestinians killed as Israeli troops open fire on Gaza aid seekers (03/24/24)
■ US gave Israel ‘green light’ for Gaza aid carnage: Hamas official (03/03/24)
■ For What It's Worth, Israel admits army shot dead over 100 Palestinians seeking aid (03/02/24)

After a series of scandals, The New York Times fires a journalist who supported turning Gaza into a “slaughterhouse” | Israeli journalist Anat Schwartz supported a post on social media platforms calling for turning the Gaza Strip into a “slaughterhouse” She was also criticized for her role in publishing a false report about sexual violence in Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. Schwartz is not primarily a journalist, and she previously worked for Israeli Air Force intelligence (social networking sites) It was later revealed that Schwartz does not have the experience that qualifies her to work with one of the most important newspapers in the world on a subject of such importance.

Organisers of the event have called for an immediate cessation of all military aid from Germany to Israel and a comprehensive military embargo on Tel Aviv. | The German government is actively and illicitly trying to stop or delay a Palestine Congress in Berlin from happening, an organiser of the event has said. There is “pressure from the federal government” to cancel the Palestine Congress, Nadija Samour told Anadolu on Friday. She also accused Berlin of intentionally delaying the start of the congress, citing technical reasons as a pretext.

Iranian media reported Saturday that 64 tons of veterinary medicines have been exported to Afghanistan from Taibad in Razavi Khorasan province, citing the local veterinary network chief, Hassan Azarian. | Azarian highlighted the effectiveness of Iranian animal medicines as a key factor driving the increase in exports. ● Additionally, the IRIB news agency reported that last year, 885 tons of aquaculture supplements were shipped from the Dogharoon border to Afghanistan.

Andrey Sushentsov | Washington appears desperate to prevent Ukraine from being associated, in any way, with the horrific murderous rampage in the Russian capital | The United States of America is trying to control and manipulate the media and political interpretation of the tragic terrorist attack in Moscow last month. In the Western information space, Washington is forming a narrative to try to distract attention from its proxy, Ukraine. ■ At certain points, ISIS was a useful tool for the Americans in Syria. There is published evidence suggesting that the US operated in parallel with the terrorist group against the Syrian government. The fact that Washington was ready to offer a coherent version of events from the first minutes after the attack in Moscow is in itself extremely paradoxical.

Аs follows from testimonies by a laboratory technician, the German Army’s Senior Ensign Ludwig Schneider, contained in the declassified FSB archive materials | The Katyn case owes its name to the Katyn forest near Smolensk, where mass graves of executed Polish prisoners of war were found in 1943 in German-occupied territory. The discovery of mass graves in the Katyn Forest in 1943 was first reported by Rudolf-Christoph Freiherr von Gersdorff, an Army Group Center intelligence staff officer. [...] Officers of the Nazi Germany's state secret police (Gestapo) accompanied the members of an international commission to investigate the mass killing of Polish soldiers and officers in the Katyn forest, as follows from testimonies by a laboratory technician, the German Army’s Senior Ensign Ludwig Schneider, contained in the declassified FSB archive materials, seen by TASS. [...] [In] the Katyn forest a large number of bodies had been found. Allegedly, the Bolsheviks had shot Polish officers there, and "the upcoming investigation is very important for Germany, and for that reason, as Hilbers said, the laboratory staff must be very attentive, instantly and clearly follow all orders without asking questions and do not make any experiments on their own, as the slightest inaccuracy or error can cause irreparable harm."