Based on what they have been hearing from the Iranians, the Saudis must believe that a war between Israel and Hezbollah is imminent, because they have instructed their citizens to leave Lebanon immediately… “Saudi Arabia calls on its citizens to abide by the travel advisory to Lebanon and for those in the country to immediately leave.”

On the other side of that border, there are reports that peacekeepers are evacuating in anticipation of the coming conflict… “Arab and Iranian social media channels are publishing footage in which, allegedly, UNIFIL forces, the peacekeepers in Southern Lebanon, are urgently evacuating their base in Naqoura on the border with Israel, in anticipation of war.” In this world, what people actually do is far more important than what they say.

In Iran, a black flag has been ominously raised above the Imam Reza Mosque. There has been a lot of debate about what this could mean. But without a doubt, it certainly isn’t a good sign to have a black flag flying on top of the world’s largest mosque… it appears that things are about to break loose in a major way.

When Hamas claimed that an Israeli airstrike destroyed a major hospital in Gaza and killed at least 500 people, mainstream media outlets all over the world immediately believed them and broadcast those “facts” to their unsuspecting audiences. As a result, we saw absolutely massive riots erupt in Islamic countries. But it wasn’t true.

What actually happened is that a rocket that was fired from a cemetery behind the hospital by terrorists from Islamic Jihad malfunctioned and landed in the parking lot of the hospital… Of course this is not the first time that something like this has happened. Overall, approximately 30 to 40 percent of all Hamas rockets fail and land in the Gaza Strip…

In Beirut protesters have actually been throwing fireworks at the US embassy… Decades ago, Beirut was one of the most beautiful cities in the entire Middle East. But now thanks to Iran it is a hellhole. The Iranians never cared about the truth. All they care about is their endless “jihad”. They want war, and so that is precisely what they are going to get. And the whole world will greatly suffer as a result…

The two contrasting trips show how vastly the global political landscape has been redrawn by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and how that changed landscape is on full display in the war between Israel and Hamas, the group that controls Gaza.

Russia, China and Iran were already forming a new axis over Ukraine, one they have pursued diplomatically, economically, strategically and even ideologically. Russia relies on weapons from Iran and diplomatic support from China to fight in Ukraine. Iran has been isolated and only too happy to have new trading partners and some source of international legitimacy. China, whose economy is ailing, has saved billions of dollars by importing record amounts of oil from countries under Western sanctions, like Russia and Iran.

Together, they find a common ideological cause in denouncing and defying the United States in the name of reforming the existing international order dominated by the West since World War II.

In fact, as I write this article protesters are swarming the US embassy in Beirut because they believe that something happened that may not have actually happened at all. It is so important to carefully investigate the facts before jumping to conclusions. Unfortunately, vast numbers of people out there seem to be convinced that it is not necessary to be reasonable and rational at a time like this.

So why are so many people out there so determined to cast doubt on this story? Is it because it makes Hamas look bad? If you are defending Hamas, you really need to take a very long look in the mirror, because there is something seriously wrong with you. There is no way to ever justify what Hamas has done. Islamic terrorists don’t seem to care much about the truth. They just want to win their stupid war.

And ultimately it is a war against the entire civilized world. Their stated goal is to get every man, woman and child on the entire planet to submit to Islam. Anyone that does not submit is to be eliminated. World domination is what they want, and they have no plans to stop until they reach that goal.

The earliest reports from official Israeli sources were that the IDF was investigating the explosion, and that it looked like the hospital might have been hit by an errant Hamas rocket — a frequent occurrence, given the rockets have no guidance systems. Later, the IDF stated definitively that it had concluded that the hospital had been hit by a Palestinian rocket — not fired by Hamas, but rather by Iranian-controlled Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a smaller group that is fighting alongside Hamas.

Biden himself, en route to Israel on Air Force One, seemed inclined to accept the Palestinian narrative — at least at first. But by the time Air Force One landed, the evidence was overwhelming: Israel did not strike the hospital, and was not attacking in the area; the damage was much smaller than initially indicated; and the culprits were almost certainly the terrorists whose rocket misfired, not Israel itself.

Here is the evidence that emerged.

There were initial claims that video footage — including a live shot from Al Jazeera — showed an errant rocket hitting the hospital. Israel’s Channel 12 also aired surveillance footage that appeared to back the claim that a Palestinian rocket hit the hospital. The channel repeated the report in English and Arabic to ensure it would be circulated outside Israel among non-Hebrew speakers.

The IDF determined none of its forces were operating in, or targeting, the area of the hospital. It studied radar it uses to intercept Palestinian rockets to determine that a barrage of rockets had been fired along a path that intersected with the airspace above the hospital.

The IDF released an intercepted recording of a phone call between two Hamas operatives discussing the hospital explosion, and saying that the rocket had been launched by PIJ from a cemetery next to the hospital (itself a violation of international law).

The IDF released photographs and footage from drones that showed the impact hit the hospital’s parking lot, and not the hospital itself. Moreover, the impact did not leave a crater, as would be typical with an air strike, but rather caused a fire and scattered shrapnel.

An IDF spokesman, answering questions from reporters, said that casualties may have occurred in the parking lot because civilians could have been gathering there as a shelter, but there was little significant damage to the building itself. That claim was supported by images in the media, and on social media, showing the hospital in the aftermath.

The extent of the damage, according to the IDF, was due to the fact that the rocket struck while it still had most of its fuel. An IDF spokesman told the media that Hamas had deliberately inflated the casualty numbers — claiming “500” (which was also the number of dead falsely claimed in a 2002 battle in Jenin, in the West Bank) within minutes — to inflame world opinion.

The evidence shown by the IDF convinced the US that Palestinian terrorists, and not an Israeli airstrike, were responsible for the hospital explosion. Biden, meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said that it appeared the explosion had been the fault of the “other team.”

UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly also agreed, saying that “too many jumped to conclusions” and that reporters ought to “Wait for the facts, report them clearly and accurately. Cool heads must prevail.” The IDF later released photographs showing the tendency of Palestinian terrorists to fire rockets near civilian institutions — a violation of international law.

In the meeting, the crown prince reportedly called for Israel to halt military operations "that claimed the lives of innocent people," after Israel bombarded the densely populated Gaza strip, and imposed a blockade on food, fuel, and other supplies. He also reportedly called for the conflict to be de-escalated. The Saudi position is in contrast to that taken by the Biden administration. The US president has backed Israel's bid to eliminate Hamas in the wake of the terror attacks, but has called for civilian lives to be protected.

Blinken's attempts to find common ground with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, another US regional ally, also met with little success, the report says. There were signs in recent weeks that Saudi Arabia and Israel were on the verge of a historic agreement, that would've seen relations between them normalized. Analysts believe that among Hamas' core aims in launching the October 7 attacks was ruining the talks.

Saudi Arabia has long been among the US' key regional allies, but in recent years its ruler has sought to steer a more independent course for the kingdom, forming closer ties with US rival China.

On Thursday, Amir-Abdollahian embarked on a regional tour to Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Qatar through Saturday to coordinate with the various resistance groups. Notably, he met Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Doha. Amir-Abdollahian told the media that unless Israel stopped its barbaric air strikes on Gaza, an escalation by the Resistance is inevitable and Israel could suffer a “huge earthquake,” as Hezbollah is in a state of readiness to intervene.

Russia reportedly is in talks with Turkey about assembling a humanitarian resupply mission with the Russian Navy providing security for a maritime delivery at Gaza’s ports. As the images of Palestinian casualties flood social media, pressure for a humanitarian mission will grow. Which brings me to the US Carrier Battle Groups being deployed to the Mediterranean Sea. If the US and Israel try to block the Gazan ports, this raises the risk of a direct conflict between Russia and the United States. While I think that is unlikely, it is a scenario that must be seriously considered.

Putting two of the eleven US aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean is a dangerous move by Joe Biden. As long as those two battle groups are not involved in any offensive actions against Palestinians in Gaza, their mission will be confined to providing Israel a symbolic security blanket. But if Biden orders them to take any kind of offensive action this will likely fuel a massive negative reaction in the Arab and Muslim world. You know it is serious when Shia Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia and Turkey come together to support the Palestinian cause. This is unprecedented in the 76-year history of Israel and the United States no longer has the political or economic clout to coerce the Arab and Muslim nations to submit to Washington’s demands. That is what makes this so dangerous.