Iran or its proxies in Syria have, for the first time, shot down a US Military Spy Balloon over the Al-Omar Oil Field. | The balloon was aloft to protect the (unauthorized) US military base at the oil field; a base which the Syrian Government has repeatedly told the US it cannot have and must close and leave. These platforms allow persistent high altitude surveillance around US bases in hostile territory. Its loss will limit the US militaries ability to identify and respond to threats nearby. This shoot-down of a US Military Surveillance Balloon is a first for Iran or its proxies.

■ Syria President Flies to Moscow - Second Time in One Week (Hal Turner)

Number of Palestinians announced dead in an lsraeli air attack hitting tents set up at a hospital’s yard in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/uA1EOHa5wy

— TIMES OF GAZA (@Timesofgaza) August 4, 2024

Israel’s war on Gaza live: Al-Aqsa Hospital, school bombed

 ●  Israeli forces have bombed tents housing displaced Palestinians in the yard of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, killing at least three and wounding 18 others. The attack came hours after a strike on a Gaza City school-turned-shelter killed 17 people.
 ●  France joins the United States and the United Kingdom in urging its citizens to leave Lebanon. More than a dozen countries have issued travel advisories amid the threat of war.
 ●  Hamas says it has initiated a broad consultation process to select a new leader following the assassination of its political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says Haniyeh was killed by a “short-range projectile” and again threatened Israel with a “severe” response.
 ●  At least 39,550 people have been killed and 91,280 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 and more than 200 were taken captive.

■ Another Cold-Blooded, Premeditated Murder by "the only Democracy in the Middle East" (Hal Turner)

Air raid sirens went off in 15 Israeli settlements, the Al Mayadeen TV channel reported | Armed formations of Lebanon’s Shiite group Hezbollah have launched a massive rocket attack on Israeli settlements in the Upper Galilee, the Al Mayadeen TV channel reported. According to it, the Shiite fighters fired more than 50 rockets from multiple rocket launchers. Air raid sirens went off in 15 Israeli settlements.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says the assassination of the head of the political bureau of the Hamas resistance movement, Ismail Haniyeh, in the Iranian capital Tehran, was designed and executed by Israel, with support from the US administration. | In a statement released on Saturday, the IRGC reported that the attack involved the use of a short-range projectile armed with a warhead weighing approximately seven kilograms, which subsequently caused a massive explosion. It further noted that the projectile was launched from an area outside the late Hamas leader’s residence. The IRGC also vowed that it would avenge the blood of Haniyeh, noting that the terrorist Zionist regime would face severe punishment at "the appropriate time, place and manner."

■ Iran seriously determined to make Israel accountable: Acting FM (IRNA)
■ Iran: Hezbollah will hit ‘broader, deeper’ Israeli targets (PressTV)

Olympic Medals for men beating women up in 2024. pic.twitter.com/eb2XFjiqSo

— John Olooney (@OlooneyJohn) August 1, 2024