The President's Daily Brief - October 19th, 2023: Fact-Checking the Gaza Hospital Bombing & Iran's Ominous Warningv

Episode Date: October 19, 2023

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief:   We start by examining the contentious Gaza hospital bombing allegations. Although initial narratives blamed Israel for the massive loss of Palestinian lives, emerging details question this account.   Iran sending a stark message to Israel in the aftermath of the Gaza hospital incident, ominously stating, "Time is Up."   Shifting our gaze to Brussels, we uncover the horrific attack claimed by the Islamic State, which resulted in the tragic loss of two Swedish soccer enthusiasts.   Wrapping up in the Back of the Brief, we focus on the political arena with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping's meeting at the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing. Plus, Putin's reaction to the introduction of a fresh weapon in the Ukraine war zone.   Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief.   Email: [e-mail]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ladies and gentlemen, it's Thursday, October 19th. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. Today, we begin by examining the controversy surrounding the Gaza hospital bombing. Now, initial U.S. and international media reporting, based on accusations from the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in Gaza, accused Israel of an aerial strike on the hospital, causing up to 500 Palestinian fatalities. However, serious evidence, including overhead imagery and communications intercepts,

now challenges those claims, highlighting the perils of uncritical reporting in the Israel-Hamas conflict. Then, a little later in the program, tensions escalate further as Iran sends a chilling warning to Israel and, by implication, the U.S., following the Gaza hospital attack, telling Israel, time is up. It's dangerously unclear as to what the Iranian regime means when they threaten that time is up. Meanwhile, the Islamic State terrorist organization, remember them, they claimed responsibility for a deadly attack this week in Brussels, leaving two Swedish football fans dead. Rounding things out in today's back of the brief segment, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping convene at the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, as the Russian leader responds to a new weapon entering the Ukrainian battlefield,

and Putin issues his own threats. Apparently, it's the season for despots and purveyors of terrorism to rattle their swords. Now, on yesterday's PDB, we spotlighted the explosion at Al-Ali-Baptist Hospital in Gaza City. Early reports from Hamas indicated hundreds of Palestinians perished there, either seeking medical care or shelter from Israeli strikes. Now, as we cynically but accurately predicted, the narrative, driven by Hamas, ignited considerable global outcry. Although in the aftermath of the bombing, Israel denied involvement, attributing the explosion to a misfired Hamas or Islamic Jihad rocket based on early intelligence,

many media outlets, politicians, and even the U.S. accepted the Hamas-promoted story unchallenged, churning out sensational headlines, attributing the deaths of 500 more or more Palestinians to Israelis. The aftermath of the Gaza hospital bombing was both immediate and intense. Cities across the Middle East and North Africa from Jordan and Iraq to Iran and Tunisia erupted in demonstrations denouncing the incident. In the West Bank's Ramallah, altercations broke out between protesters and Palestinian security forces. The spotlight shifted to Lebanon when protesters in the hundreds sought to breach barriers leading to the U.S. embassy just north of Beirut. This unrest prompted the State Department to issue a security alert,

urging Americans to avoid the vicinity. That would, of course, be a statement of the obvious. Hezbollah in Lebanon, surprised with Iran's backing, declared a day of rage, squarely placing the blame on Israel and labeling the incident a massacre and a horrific crime. The United Nations didn't hold back either. The U.N. Secretary Genoa Antonio Gutierrez voiced his dismay at the reported casualties among Palestinian civilians. And in an unfortunate blow to potentially productive diplomatic efforts, Jordan, canceled a pivotal summit involving President Biden and leaders from Jordan, Egypt, and the Palestinian Authority

that was to take place the day after the bombing. This gathering was primarily meant to streamline relief efforts for the people of Gaza. However, as the smoke cleared on Wednesday morning, doubts surrounded the accuracy of the initial claims from Hamas. Satellite imagery and ground videos seem to suggest the inflicted damage doesn't mirror that of an Israeli air strike. The most significant damage seems to have occurred in a parking lot next to the hospital, sparing the hospital and adjacent buildings from major structural harm. Moreover, available footage seems to support IDF's stance,

capturing multiple rockets launched near the hospital with one misfiring, resulting in a ground-level detonation. The evidence was so compelling that even President Biden felt confident enough to say that the blast had been caused by, quote, the other team. Now, the Health Ministry of Gaza, under Hamas' administration, has since revised its casualty estimates, now placing the count between 200 and 300. While Israel has spent the past 24 hours gathering and displaying its evidence to refute the Hamas claims,

as we noted in yesterday's PDB, to much of the Arab world and to much of the international media, it just won't matter. The speed with which governments, politicians, journalists, and social media were willing to accept the word of an organization that only 10 days earlier, had shocked the world with its brutality and slaughter of Israelis, well, that can only be explained by one of two options. They're either completely incurious and lack any integrity in pursuing truth, or they're harboring either subtle or not-so-submetic views.

You would think it's not necessary to say, but apparently it is. Before you accept the narrative, explanation, or version of events from a terrorist organization sponsored by Iran, perhaps you should investigate the accuracy of what is being said. I know. It's another statement of the obvious. Because getting it wrong, promoting disinformation in a war setting, has real and deadly consequences. Coming up after the break, Iran sends a chilling warning to Israel following the Gaza hospital blast.

And in Brussels, the Islamic State claims responsibility for a deadly attack on Swedish football fans, all linked to a 45-year-old Tunisian. I'll be right back. Welcome back to the president's daily brief. All right, let's dig a bit deeper into something we touched on earlier. The responses to that Gaza hospital explosion. Iran's reaction, well, it wasn't what you'd call subtle. Just hours after the explosion, top Iranian officials took to social media to issue some rather foreboding messages.

Iran's foreign minister expressed his outrage on Twitter. stating, quote, after the terrible crime of the Zionist regime in bombing and causing the deaths of more than 1,000 innocent women and children in the hospital, it's high time for the world to unite against this regime, which he claimed is a more detested regime than ISIS. He ominously concluded with the words, time is over. And if that wasn't sufficiently attention-grabbing, the Iranian embassy in Damascus echoed this with his tweet saying, time is up. Now, Just a little background here. Iran had been hinting that they might take some preemptive action against Israel. You could argue, given that they built and maintained Hamas, that Iran already

took preemptive action against Israel with the murderous attacks a week and a half ago. While it might be easy to brush off the words as typical rhetoric from Iran, it's crucial to remember the connection between Iran and militant groups Hamas and Asbalah. Both are, for all intents and purposes, Iranian proxies. Such threats could potentially signify that Hezbollah, with Iran's backing, might be gearing up for an offensive against Israel from the north. Furthermore, a recent revelation suggests a deeper collaboration between Hamas and Hezbollah in their strategies against Israel. According to Ahmed Abdul-Hadi, head of Hamas's political bureau in Beirut, while Hamas hadn't forewarned Hezbollah about its October 7 attacks on Israel, he did emphasize an ongoing collaboration between the two.

Abdul-Hadhi stated that Hezbollah is currently geared for a major war against Israel from the Northern Front. There is the possibility that Hezbollah is waiting, likely under the guidance from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, for the IDF to begin its much-discussed ground incursion into Gaza before Hezbollah opens up a second front up north. A potential scenario is that, with the opening of the war, that second front, then the U.S. carrier groups stationed in the Eastern Med would provide targeted support to degrade Hezbollah's resources. That then begs the question, what next from Iran?

At that point, Iran has a decision to make. Their oil refineries and weapons program facilities are known targets. Would the Iranian regime risk destruction of their infrastructure? And would that sufficiently weaken the Mullahs in the IRC? And would that embolden the Iranian people to finally rise up and topple a despotic and destabilizing regime. These are the questions being asked by all sides as the chess pieces get moved around the board. All right, let's pivot to Brussels for a moment. The city's terror alert is currently at its maximum level and for good reason. To get you up to speed, on Monday this week, a 45-year-old Tunisian man carried out a terror attack in the city. Onlookers captured footage of the man driving up on a scooter, dismounted.

and opening fire on pedestrians with a rifle. The violence didn't stop on the streets. He chased some victims into an apartment building, gunning them down. By the time his spree was over, two Swedes had lost their lives, and another individual was injured. The terrorist filmed himself after the attack, admitting to the attack and openly declaring his affiliation with ISIS. After an intense manhunt, the police shot and killed him. The motive behind his brutality? Prosecutors believe he targeted Swedes in Belgium, who were there for a Euro-2020-qualifying match, because he was angered by a series of Koran burnings back in Sweden. ISIS has subsequently claimed responsibility for the attack.

Here's the part that's raising alarms for Europeans. The Tunisian man was in the country illegally, there's a surprise, having entered by boat through Italy. In addition, Belgian officials revealed that this guy wasn't unknown to them since 2016, Authorities had been alerted multiple times about his potential ties to jihadist movements and the risk that he posed, and according to authorities, he'd been ordered to leave the country some three years ago, which obviously never happened. It's a stark reminder of how important it is that Western nations maintain their vigilance and understand who is coming into their countries, who is crossing their borders. Today's PDB is apparently brought to you by Statement of the Obvious.

All right, Vladimir Putin makes a rare international appearance at China's Belt and Road Forum over the past couple of days. Coming up in today's back of the brief segment, we'll take a look at his meeting with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping and his remarks on a new American weapon, now being effectively deployed by the Ukrainian military. I'll be right back. Welcome back. In today's back of the brief, we'll shift our focus to Beijing, where, with little serious media covered, due to the crisis in the Middle East, Russian President Vladimir Putin is making a rare international appearance since the start of the Ukraine war. Keep in mind, Putin's travel options have been severely minimized due to the risk of arrest for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. At China's Belt and Road Forum, Putin openly praised his, quote, dear friend, Xi Jinping. He commended the Belt and Road

initiative, calling it a global plan aimed at creating a more equitable multipolar world. That's better than how I've referred to Xi's Belt and Road Initiative, which I've called a scam designed to bankrupt and subvert third and fourth world nations through usury practices. While in Beijing for the forum, Ukraine of course remained a key topic. This week marked the debut of a U.S. supplied weapon on the battlefield, the Army Tactical Missile System, commonly referred to by its acronym, ATACMS, or ATACMS. Nobody loves acronyms like the U.S. military. It's a surface-to-surface artillery system, essentially ballistic missiles with a range up to approximately

190 miles. An advantage is that the missiles can be used by existing launch systems already in use by Ukraine. And the impact? Well, two Russian air bases in Ukrainian territory under occupation took significant hits, as reported by both Ukrainian and Russian sources. In Beijing, Putin spoke to the press about this development. He criticized the U.S. for arming Ukraine with these missiles, labeling it, quote, another mistake. Putin argued that these missiles will only increase casualties and prolong Ukraine's ordeal.

Yes, the irony is audible. And despite the missile's power, Putin confidently stated they won't alter the balance of power in the current conflict. Hmm, doth Putin protest too much? Yeah, that's Shakespeare. The weapon is important, as it allows Ukraine to more efficiently pursue efforts to degrade and eliminate Russian supply lines, transport facilities, weapons stockpiles, and command centers in Russian-held territory in the Ukraine that has been out of reach of their other weapons systems. And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Thursday, 19 October. If you have any questions or comments, reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back tomorrow.

Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.