Spies and Strikes
Not so Privy Pentagon, Hezbollah's Hiring and Iran's Days of Repentance: The Weekly Conquest Week of 10.20.24 – 10.26.24
Welcome to the ZioKnight
Week of October 20, 2024
Ariane Tabatabai
Top secret documents detailing Israel’s retaliation plans against Iran were released earlier this week. White House national security spokesperson, John Kirby, confirmed the authenticity of the documents. This begs the question, “How did they get out?”
Many pointed to Ariane Tabatabai, an Iranian-American serving as the Chief of Staff to the Assistant Secretary of Defence for Special Operations at the Pentagon.
Although the Pentagon indicated she was likely not the culprit, other factors caused suspicion among pundits. Members of Congress have called for her removal in 2023 for ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp and she is under investigation by the FBI.
As the story unfolds, continue to check your inbox for updates. Not to keep you waiting too long, I dive into another spy story below!
Sunday 10.20
A branch of al-Qard al-Hassan in Beirut
Israel is striking Hezbollah’s assets from the source. The al-Qard al-Hassan Bank, or in English, “the benevolent loan,” is Iran’s vehicle for transferring funds to Hezbollah. It is sanctioned by both the US and Saudi Arabia. Israel is striking their branches “all over Lebanon” to stop the flow of money to Iran’s proxy. [1][2]
Monday 10.21
An Iranian network of Jewish spies was uncovered in Israel. They were taking pictures, sharing intelligence, and carrying out missions on behalf of the Islamic Republic. In exchange, they received hundreds of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency.
Iran has been engaging in a quantity-over-quality strategy, where their agents have been recruiting desperate Israelis to betray their state to alleviate their difficult financial situations. Israel has sworn to prosecute these individuals to the fullest extent of the law. [3][4]
Tuesday 10.22
Israeli Announcement of the Death of Hashem Safieddine
It bears repeating that being the head of Hezbollah isn’t a great gig. Nasrallah’s replacement, Hashem Safieddine, was killed in an IDF airstrike before he assumed the position.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi marked this accomplishment saying “we have the capability to find and neutralize anyone who endangers the security of Israeli citizens.” [5]
Wednesday 10.23
Guess Who Board Game Box Cover
Let’s play a game of Guess Who! I will tell you the name of someone’s position, and you guess their employer: head of rocket launching squad, deputy head of propaganda unit, sniper, and training company commander.
If you guessed Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Al Jazeera, you are right. They work for all three! Newly released documents definitively prove that 6 Al Jazeera employees have these side gigs. [6][7]
Thursday 10.24
Sinwar’s Notes
The Palestinian Al-Quds newspaper revealed the late Yahya Sinwar’s notes regarding the holding of hostages. He instructed his underlings to keep them as a “pressure card” and listed their genders, ages, whether they were soldiers, and where they were being held. [8][9]
Friday 10.25
The only thing standing between the hostages’ continued capture and release is Hamas’ leadership council. The group rejected a deal allowing them safe passage out of the territory in exchange for the release of the hostages. They indicated they were willing to continue fighting for the months or years to come. [10]
Saturday 10.26
Commercial Flights Avoiding Iran’s Airspace
Israel responded to Iran’s aggression with a three-stage 100-jet strike on missile manufacturing facilities and surface-to-air launch batteries, coined as operation “Days of Repentance”.
American officials were informed of the strike, which is expected to end the direct confrontations between Iran and Israel for the time being.
The operation precisely targeted military assets, killing 4 soldiers. The focus on hitting air defense systems positioned Israel to have freedom of movement in the newly unprotected Iranian skies.
Iran-affiliated sources tried to brush off the attack’s significance, showing videos of people getting on with their everyday lives while the country was being hit. This was likely an attempt to juxtapose against the country-wide hour-long shutdown induced by Iran’s assault on Israel.
Many of the Sunni Gulf states condemned the strike, showing their increased allegiance to Iran. Saudi Arabia, The UAE, and Oman have recently tightened formal and informal ties.
IDF spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, stressed that this strike intends to end direct confrontation with the Islamic Republic and refocus on Hezbollah and Hamas. [11][12][13][14]