Unconfirmed: a major event in Rafah is being mentioned in both Palestinian and settler TG channels.

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General Claudio Graziano, the chairman of Italian state-controlled shipbuilder Fincantieri since 2022, has been found dead at home.

The cause of death is not yet known, some media report he committed suicide. General Graziano served as Chairman of the European Union Military Committee and from 2015 to 2018 was Chief of Defence Staff of the Italian Armed Forces. He also served in UNIFIL (2007-2010).

Fincantieri is the largest shipbuilder in Europe and the second-largest company in the Italian military-industrial complex, after Leonardo. It's a multinational company in which the state has retained a controlling stake.

Leonardo and Fincantieri account for between 80 and 90% of the turnover of the military sector in Italy. An important part of their production is carried out abroad: for Leonardo in the US, UK, Poland and Israel, for Fincantieri in the US.

Fincantieri has over 20,000 employees worldwide, nearly half of them in Italy.

Italy has increased its military expenditure for the year 2024, which for the first time exceeds 29 billion euros (29,161 million to be precise), with an increase of no less than 1,438 million euros (+5.1% compared to 2023), which follows an increase of around 1.8 billion already realised between 2022 and 2023. All in all, the defence budget will increase by around 12.5% in two years.

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“Israeli” media:

3 army helicopters transported wounded soldiers from the Gaza Strip to hospitals.

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Israel just killed journalist Hussein Jaber’s 5-year-old daughter, Salma, before his eyes.

She was shot in the neck by an Israeli tank sniper in Gaza while running to her father for safety.

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Ken Klippenstein - the close connection between the US and Jordan:

The Biden administration has sought to keep quiet its close military ties to Jordan, with the White House national security council instructing State Department communications officials to avoid mentioning its military coordination with the country in particular, according to internal memos he has reviewed.

There are now a record 3,813 American troops in Jordan, according to the White House’s war powers report to Congress released on June 7.

U.S. forces in Jordan have used the host nation as a base for military operations conducted throughout the region.

First, the United States maintains an airbase at Muwaffaq Salti, where F-15E Strike Eagles have been forward deployed since October 7 — aircraft that have carried out airstrikes on Iran-backed groups throughout the Middle East. U.S. special operations forces also stage from Jordan in their anti-ISIS campaign, and the United States, along with Jordan, maintains a large special forces training base. Also since October 7, Jordan has also served as the hub for U.S. logistical support to Israel, a home base for special forces and CIA personnel involved in the Hamas war, and as the hub for humanitarian air drops into Gaza.

Context: Klippenstein resigned from The Intercept on 30 April 2024. His reason was

“The Intercept has been taken over by suits who have abandoned its founding mission of fearless and adversarial journalism, and I can’t continue in an environment where fear of funders is more important than journalism itself.”

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