English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For May 22/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 05/43-48/:”‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.”But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on May 21- 22/2021
Health Ministry: 450 new Coronavirus cases, 6 deaths
US announces $120 mln in military aid to Lebanon, looking for more ways to help army
Parliament hears Aoun letter, discussions Saturday
Parliament Session Adjourned to Saturday after Aoun's Letter Recited
After months of negotiations, Aoun says Hariri unable to form cabinet
Hizbullah Hails 'Historic Victory' for Palestinians
Diab Meets Hamas Delegation, Says 'Palestine Has Triumphed'
On the Sidelines, Hizbullah Looms Large over Gaza Battle
Bassil Hails 'Resistance in Palestine' over 'New Victory'
Grenades, Unrest as Tensions Linked to Syrian Vote Spread to Tripoli
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros El-Rah iwelcomes UN’s Najat Rushdie.
Kanaan from UNESCO: Goal of President's message is to tackle government crisis
A small detail in Lebanon’s major tragedy

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 21- 22/2021
Hamas pushed image of superhero and victim but could not convince the West
With Israel-Hamas conflict, Mideast gets Washington’s attention
Netanyahu warns Hamas against further attacks, as Palestinians take out rally
Israeli Police, Palestinians in Fresh Clashes at al-Aqsa Compound
Palestinians See Victory in Gaza Truce as Israel Warns Hamas
Hour-by-Hour: Biden's Behind-the-Scenes Push for Mideast Ceasefire
Netanyahu Hails Gaza Operation as 'Exceptional Success'
World Leaders Welcome Israel-Hamas Truce
5 Bodies Found, about 10 Survivors Rescued in Gaza Tunnel
Gaza's War in Numbers
Canadian court rules Iran downing of Ukraine plane was ‘act of terrorism’
Cyprus Says 'State of Emergency' over Syria Migrant Inflow
Iraq Warns Against Dangerous Violations of Precautionary Measures
Treasury Sanctions Senior Houthi Military Official Overseeing Group’s Offensive Operations
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
U.S. sanctions Houthi military leaders as peace efforts stall
6 killed, dozen injured in attack on pro-Palestine rally in Pakistan

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 21- 22/2021
Question: "What did Jesus mean when He said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven?"/GotQuestions.org/May 21/2021
Israel Confronts Tehran’s Terror Proxies in Gaza/Bradley Bowman/Seth J. Frantzman/The Dispatch/May 21/2021
Iran and Hamas’s Jerusalem/Gaza offensive against Israel/Joanathan Spyer/Jerusalem Post/May 21/2021
Is the Biden Administration an Enemy of Israel and the Free World?/Guy Millière/Gatestone Institute/May 21/2021
Gaza war ‘scorecard’: Both sides say they won, here’s what they did/Seth J. Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/May 21/2021
Israel's Gaza operation is like no other military op. in history - opinion/Yaakov Katz/Jerusalem Post/May 21/2021
Israel's confrontation with Hamas is a strategic wake-up call - opinion/Avi Gil/Jerusalem Post/May 21/2021
Le 4 août de la presse libanaise/OLJ / Par Rayane SAADEH, le 20 mai 2021

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on May 21- 22/2021
Health Ministry: 450 new Coronavirus cases, 6 deaths
NNA/21 May ,2021
The Ministry of Public Health announced, on Friday, the registration of 450 new Coronavirus infections, thus raising the cumulative number of confirmed cases to-date to 537887.
It also indicated that 6 deaths have been recorded during the past 24 hours.

US announces $120 mln in military aid to Lebanon, looking for more ways to help army
Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English/21 May ,2021
US and Lebanese officials held the inaugural Defense Resourcing Conference Friday and the State Department announced $120 million in military aid for the Lebanese army. “In this virtual conference, the delegations highlighted the strength of the US-LAF partnership and discussed ways to deepen security cooperation,” the State Department said. Senior Official for Arms Control and International Security C.S. Eliot Kang headed Washington’s delegation while Lebanese army commander General Joseph Aoun led Beirut’s side. The delegations discussed the deteriorating economic, political, and humanitarian conditions affecting the Lebanese people and military, the State Department said. “The US Department of State renewed its commitment to the LAF by announcing $120 million in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) assistance to Lebanon for fiscal year 2021, subject to Congressional notification procedures, representing a $15 million increase over prior-year levels.” Discussions also took place on ways the US could provide additional aid to the Lebanese army “as it grapples with the economic crises in Lebanon.”
Decades of rampant corruption and mismanagement of public funds, coupled with sectarianism and clientelism, have led to unprecedented economic and social crises in Lebanon.Nationwide anti-government protests in 2019 also rocked the country, forcing the collapse of the government. The political elite was then unable to agree on a new government after Hassan Diab stepped down following the Beirut blast in August 2020. Meanwhile, the army, which is considered one of the pillars of stability in Lebanon, has suffered from a lack of morale due to the collapse of the local currency. Washington, the biggest supporter of the army, is now looking at ways to increase assistance. “Earlier this month, for instance, the US Department of Defense notified Lebanon of the planned transfer of three Protector-class patrol boats to the Lebanese Navy, which, upon delivery in 2022, will enhance the Lebanese Navy’s ability to counter external and regional threats, and protect freedom of navigation and commerce in the maritime domain,” the State Department said on Friday. Gulf states, most notably Saudi Arabia, have provided financial and economic assistance to Lebanon for years. But as the role and influence of Iran-backed Hezbollah increased in state institutions, Lebanon’s traditional allies grew frustrated. In 2016, Saudi Arabia suspended a $3 billion aid package to the army and another $1 billion to the internal security forces. Ties between Beirut and Riyadh have remained patchy since Michel Aoun, backed by Hezbollah, was elected president. Read more: Saudi ambassador, Lebanese interior minister meet after FM’s ‘disgraceful’ statements

Parliament hears Aoun letter, discussions Saturday
The Daily Star/May. 21/2021
BEIRUT: President Michel Aoun's letter on the government deadlock paralyzing the county was read out in Parliament Friday, but discussions over the dispatch were put off for 24 hours.In his letter, Aoun blamed Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri for the crisis, claiming that he was incapable of forming a government to pull the nation out of its financial crisis. "It has become evident that the prime minister-designate is unable to form a government capable of salvation and meaningful contact with foreign financial institutions, international funds and donor countries," Aoun wrote in his letter. Hariri was present during Friday's session after returning to Beirut from a private visit to the United Arab Emirates. Apprehensive of the negative impact of Aoun’s letter on the already strained ties between the president and the premier-designate, Speaker Nabih Berri adjorned the session once the letter was read and called on the assembly to meet again Saturday to discuss it. Western and other donors, led by former colonial power France, have said Lebanon needs to form a viable Cabinet of technocrats or specialists before they will release aid funds. Talks with the International Monetary Fund have stumbled.
Gulf states, which in the past have provided financial support, are reluctant to step in because of frustrations over the rising influence of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite group backed by their rival Iran. Tensions with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states were stoked this week by disparaging comments about them by Lebanon's foreign minister in a television interview. The minister resigned from his caretaker post shortly afterward.

Parliament Session Adjourned to Saturday after Aoun's Letter Recited
Naharnet/May. 21/2021
Speaker Nabih Berri on Friday swiftly adjourned a parliamentary session after a letter sent by President Michel Aoun was recited, in an apparent bid to calm political tensions. A new session will now be held at 2pm Saturday to discuss the letter. In the letter, Aoun blamed PM-designate Saad Hariri for the delay in forming a new government and asked parliament to take “the appropriate stance, measure or decision for the sake of the people.”“He is still detaining and perpetuating the formation… and he is also imprisoning the people and governance, taking them together as a hostage… and ignoring every reasonable deadline for formation,” the president charged. The session was attended by Hariri and Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil. Hariri had pushed for discussing the letter on Friday, arguing that he came from abroad to debate it. Media reports meanwhile said that both Hariri and Bassil had prepared fiery speeches to recite during the session. According to al-Jadeed TV, the tension was clear between Hariri and Bassil during Friday’s session. “Hariri passed near Bassil without looking at him or saluting him, and Bassil did the same five minutes later,” al-Jadeed said.

After months of negotiations, Aoun says Hariri unable to form cabinet
The Arab Weekly/May 21/2021
BEIRUT--Lebanon’s parliament will convene on Friday to discuss a letter written by the president saying Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri had shown he was incapable of forming a government that could pull the nation out of financial crisis. The letter follows months of political negotiations in a country where allegiances tend to follow sectarian lines. It was addressed to parliament, which will convene on Friday to discuss it after it is read out. The existing government has been acting in a caretaker capacity since resigning after a huge explosion in a portside warehouse tore through Beirut in August. The blast further complicated the task of rescuing an economy that has been in tailspin since late 2019. “It has become evident that the prime minister-designate is unable to form a government capable of salvation and meaningful contact with foreign financial institutions, international funds and donor countries,” President Aoun, a Maronite Christian, wrote in his letter.
Shifting sands
Hariri, a Sunni Muslim who like his assassinated father has headed several previous governments, was asked to form another one in October, after a previous prime minister-designate failed to form a cabinet of technocrats after several weeks of trying. Earlier in May, Lebanese political sources said they believe Saudi Arabia’s changed view on Hariri was behind former interior minister Nohad el-Machnouk’s call for the PM-designate to apologise for not being able to form a Lebanese government. The sources revealed that Machnouk’s call for Hariri to relinquish his cabinet formation mandate was based on strong information that Riyadh has taken an unfavourable position towards Hariri. According to Lebanese political sources, Machnouk believes that France and Russia were withdrawing their support for Hariri’s formation of a government of “specialists.” Machnouk said in press statements at the time that “if Hariri does not apologise, we will suffer for a very long time from this matter, but if he apologises, the problem will be even greater, because his apology at this stage would constitute a great shock to a segment of Lebanese society, especially his father’s supporters.”Hariri has long sought to present himself as an alternative capable of playing this role. In strong statements he made in the past few months, he depicted himself as being in the opposite camp of Hezbollah. Western and other donors, led by former colonial power France, have said Lebanon needs to form a viable cabinet of technocrats or specialists before they will release funds to support the crippled country. Talks with the International Monetary Fund have stumbled.
Tensions with Gulf
Arab Gulf states, who in the past could be relied up to provide financial support to Lebanon, are now reluctant to step in because of frustrations over the rising influence of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia group backed by their regional rival Iran. Tensions with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab nations were stoked this week by disparaging comments about them made by the foreign minister during a television interview. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain summoned Lebanon’s envoys to their countries over the remarks. Riyadh handed a memorandum of what were described as Wehbe’s “offences” and the UAE foreign ministry called his comments “derogatory and racist.”Kuwait denounced Wehbe’s remarks as “gravely abusive,” while Bahrain called them “offensive”, both adding that the comments contradict the fraternal relations that ties the GCC states with Lebanon. The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council asked Wehbe to make a formal apology to Gulf states. The minister quit his caretaker post shortly afterwards.

Hizbullah Hails 'Historic Victory' for Palestinians
Agence France Presse/May. 21/2021
Hizbullah hailed a "historic victory" for the Palestinians after a ceasefire took effect Friday between Israel and Gaza militants following 11 days of fighting. "Hizbullah congratulates the heroic Palestinian people and its valiant resistance on the historic victory achieved... against the Zionist enemy," the group said in a statement. Hizbullah, which fought its own devastating war with Israel in 2006 but remains a powerful force in Lebanese politics, has close relations with Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas and with the Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian militant group. The Egyptian-brokered ceasefire went into effect at 2:00 am on Friday (2300 GMT Thursday), ending the most serious fighting in years. Israeli strikes on Gaza killed 232 Palestinians, including 65 children, as well as fighters, according to health authorities in the enclave. Rockets fired by Gaza militants claimed 12 lives in Israel, including foreign workers, two children and an Israeli soldier, according to the police.

Diab Meets Hamas Delegation, Says 'Palestine Has Triumphed'
Naharnet/May. 21/2021
Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab on Friday met with a delegation of Lebanon-based Hamas officials that was led by Ahmed Abdul Hadi, hours after the Palestinians hailed a victory in their 11-day war with Israel. “The delegation demonstrated the facts of the victory of Gaza and Jerusalem and the details of the ceasefire,” the National News Agency said. Diab meanwhile tweeted that “Palestine has triumphed.”“It is a victory for those who believed in their cause and offered for it all sacrifices… It is a victory for all those who believe that Jerusalem is the nation’s compass and will remain so,” the caretaker Lebanese PM added. “Congratulations to Palestine and the nation over this victory on the path to Jerusalem,” Diab went on to say.

On the Sidelines, Hizbullah Looms Large over Gaza Battle
Naharnet/May. 21/2021
Ever since their last war in 2006, Israel and Hizbullah have constantly warned that a new round between them is inevitable. Yet once again, a potential trigger has gone unpulled. Hizbullah's shadow loomed large during Israel and Hamas' two-week battle, with the possibility it could unleash its arsenal of missiles -- far more powerful than Hamas' -- in support of the Palestinians. Instead, Hizbullah stayed on the sidelines. And if a ceasefire that took effect early Friday holds, another Israel-Hamas war will have ended without Hizbullah intervention. For now, both sides had compelling reasons not to clash, including -- for Hizbullah -- the bitter memory of Israel's 2006 bombing campaign that turned its strongholds in Lebanon to rubble. Lebanon is also in the grips of an economic and financial collapse unparalleled in its modern history and can ill afford another massive confrontation with Israel.
For Israel, the Iranian-backed group in Lebanon remains its toughest and most immediate security challenge. "Israel needs to manage the conflict in Gaza with a very open eye toward what is happening in the north, because the north is a much more important arena than Gaza," said Amos Yadlin, a former Israeli military intelligence chief who currently heads the Institute for National Security Studies. He spoke before the truce took effect at 2 a.m. Friday.
Hizbullah's reaction during the 11 days of Israeli bombardment that engulfed Gaza in death and destruction was relatively mute. Its leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, did not make any public comments, even after a Hizbullah member was shot dead by Israeli soldiers at the border during a protest last week. Late Thursday, Netanyahu's Security Cabinet approved a unilateral cease-fire to halt the Gaza operation, a decision that came after heavy U.S. pressure to stop the offensive. Hamas quickly followed suit and said it would honor the deal. Throughout the current round of fighting, Hizbullah's show of solidarity appeared carefully calibrated for limited impact. "The political message is 'we are here,' and safety for Israel from its northern border is not to be taken for granted and neither is the deterrent that was established in 2006" when the two sides fought each other to a draw, said Joyce Karam, an adjunct professor of political science at George Washington University. At the tense Lebanon-Israel border, Hizbullah supporters wearing yellow hats organized daily protests over the past week. On at least one occasion, dozens of people breached the fence and crossed to the other side, drawing Israeli shots that struck and killed a 21-year-old. He was later identified as a Hizbullah fighter, and given a full-fledged funeral with hundreds in attendance. Analysts said chances of Hizbullah joining in the fighting with Israel were low, particularly given the political and economic implosion happening in Beirut and the array of challenges the group faces internally with social tensions on the rise. Even among Hizbullah's supporters, there is no appetite for a confrontation as Lebanese suffer under an economic crash that has driven half of the population into poverty.
Also, Hizbullah's patron Iran is engaged in nuclear talks with the West, with growing hopes an agreement might be reached. Tehran has also been holding talks with longtime regional rival, Saudi Arabia, signaling a possible de-escalation following years of animosity that often spilled into neighboring countries.
"Hizbullah so far doesn't seem inclined to spoil Iran's talks with world powers on the nuclear front because it wants to see sanctions relief for its primarily political, military and financial backer," said Karam, who covers Mideast politics for the regional newspaper The National.
Speaking at a rally in Beirut's southern suburbs on Monday, senior Hizbullah official Hashem Safieddine bragged about the group's firepower, which he said has multiplied many times since the 2006 war, but suggested the time has not come for Hizbullah to get involved. "We in Hizbullah look to the day where we will fight together, with you, side by side and shoulder to shoulder, on all fronts to extract this cancerous cell," he said, addressing Palestinians and referring to Israel's presence in the Arab world. "This day is coming, it's inevitable."Hizbullah has grown considerably more powerful in the last decade and amassed a formidable army with valuable battlefield experience backing the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad in the neighboring country's civil war, Israeli defense officials say.
During the inconclusive, monthlong 2006 war, the group launched some 4,000 rockets into Israel -- as many as Hamas and other Palestinian groups fired at Israel during the current round of fighting -- most of them unguided projectiles with limited range. Today, Israeli officials say Hizbullah possesses some 130,000 rockets and missiles capable of striking virtually anywhere in Israel.
Yadlin, the former Israeli military intelligence chief, said all intelligence assessments, however, indicate that Hizbullah does not want a full-on conflict with Israel. "Nasrallah is in the position that he doesn't want to repeat the mistake of 2006. He knows he won't be the defender of Lebanon, he will be the destroyer of Lebanon," said Yadlin. "He had a lot of opportunities and he hasn't taken them." He was referring to Israeli strikes targeting Hizbullah assets in Syria for which the group vowed to retaliate, but still has not. Qassim Qassir, an analyst and expert on Hizbullah affairs in Lebanon, concurred that there seemed to be no intention to open the southern front because it would "lead to an all-out war with consequences no one can predict." For now, both Israel and Hizbullah consider the deterrence established following the 2006 war to be holding, with Hizbullah threatening to strike deeper than ever inside Israel, including at its nuclear facilities, and Israel vowing to target civilian infrastructure, inflicting massive damage. Karam said both Hizbullah and Israel have been saying since 2006 that round two is inevitable, but its cost has only gone up for both sides. For the moment, both seem satisfied with keeping their tensions on Syrian territory rather than having another war in Lebanon. But each day brings closer the possibility of an unwanted conflict coming to bear. "For now, this paradigm seems to hold," she said.

Bassil Hails 'Resistance in Palestine' over 'New Victory'
Naharnet/May. 21/2021
Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil on Friday congratulated the Palestinian groups in Gaza on the “new victory” against Israel.
“In 2006, the resistance in Lebanon established the deterrence equation that consolidated stability and reined in Israel. In 2021, the resistance in Palestine established the deterrence equation that consolidated the right to self-determination and laid the cornerstone for the two-state solution,” Bassil tweeted. “Congratulations for the new victory,” the FPM chief added. He also included the hashtag #no_defeats_after_today in his tweet.

Grenades, Unrest as Tensions Linked to Syrian Vote Spread to Tripoli
Naharnet/May. 21/2021
The northern city of Tripoli witnessed several security incidents on Thursday evening in connection with the Lebanese-Syrian unrest that rocked several Lebanese regions during the day. As assailants in the city torched the Kataeb Party’s office and a clinic affiliated with the Lebanese Forces with Molotov cocktails, an Energa-type, rifle-fired grenade was launched in the area between al-Qobbeh and Bab al-Tabbaneh, wounding two people. The army meanwhile imposed a security cordon around the LF’s office in the city to prevent any attacks. Also in Tripoli, a road leading to Jabal Mohsen witnessed tensions after young men blocked the neighborhood’s entrance and burned flags of Israel and the LF in protest at attacks on Syrian voters in Nahr el-Kalb. The army eventually closed a nearby road, especially after young men in Bab al-Tabbaneh burned a Syrian flag. Earlier in the day, young men had blocked the al-Nour Square roundabout in protest at convoys by Syrians who support President Bashar al-Assad, calling for the deportation of any Syrian who voted for him at the Syrian embassy. Jabal Mohsen had also witnessed a protest over the wounding of many of its residents in attacks by Lebanese mobs on Syrian voters earlier in the day. Scattered mobs, led by LF supporters, had earlier intercepted cars and buses plastered with pictures of Assad and carrying Syrian flags and voters at intersections in and outside Beirut and in the eastern Bekaa region.
There were no official reports on how many were injured. "If they want to vote, they can go home and vote there," said Fadi Nader, a Lebanese protester. "Since they love Bashar Assad, why don't they go home?"
Calls for Syrians to go home have been a widely politicized issue among Lebanese, deeply divided over the 10-year conflict in Syria, some supporting Assad and others backing his opposition.
The violence came a day after LF leader Samir Geagea called for those who vote for Assad to go back home immediately since they are clearly not fearful of his government. Even before the conflict, Syria's role in Lebanon was deeply divisive. Syrian troops -- deployed in Lebanon in 1976, shortly after the civil war broke out -- withdrew in 2005 following massive protests and a U.N. resolution, after a 29-year domination of Lebanese politics. It's a dilemma for Syrians living in Lebanon. Many say they are not ready to return home because of fear of prosecution in the absence of a peace deal. The U.N., the EU and the U.S. say conditions are not ripe for the return of millions of refugees. The Biden administration has said it will not recognize the result of Syria's presidential election. France and Germany banned any voting at Syrian missions in their country, with a French Foreign Ministry official saying the elections are "null and void" and there is no point in holding them. Syria has been engulfed in civil war since 2011, when Arab Spring-inspired protests against the Assad family rule turned into an armed insurgency in response to a brutal military crackdown. Around half a million people have been killed and half the country's population has been displaced.

Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros El-Rah iwelcomes UN’s Najat Rushdie.
NNA/21 May 2021 
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros El-Rahi, is currently meeting at his patriarchal residence in Bkerke, UN Deputy Special Coordinator in Lebanon, Najat Rushdie. The pair took stock of the latest local developments, and the role of the international community in supporting Lebanon through a special conference that consecrates its neutrality and dissociates it from the very regional and international conflicts that have submerged it in dangerous crises.

Kanaan from UNESCO: Goal of President's message is to tackle government crisis
National News Agency/21 May 2021
Finance and Budget Parliamentary Committee head, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, on Friday said in a statement from UNESCO that the goal of President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun’s message was to tackle the governmental crisis in a bid to move the country out of the prevailing state of imbalance. “This is the most important thing that must be broached during tomorrow’s parliamentary discussions,” he added.

A small detail in Lebanon’s major tragedy
The Arab Weekly/May 21/2021
The words of Charbel Wahbe, the Lebanese foreign minister in the caretaker government headed by Hassan Diab, are not a minor matter. It is true that Wahbe was forced to submit his resignation and to contact the Saudi ambassador in Lebanon to offer an apology, but it is also true that the problem lies elsewhere. The problem simply lies in the fact that Charbel Wahbe, a diplomat who accidentally acceded to the position of Lebanese ambassador to Venezuela, is part of a school that has been instrumental in the process of controlling Lebanon and placing it under Iran’s will.
The school is headed by the President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, who did not mind coming to the Baabda Palace as an Hezbollah nominee. This is a school that has been imbibed with racism, ignorance and hatred towards any success. It is a school that believes that Christians in Lebanon can obtain their rights thanks to the weapons of a sectarian militia called “Hezbollah.”This militia is in fact nothing but a brigade in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. This militia can only drag Lebanon into another disaster if it continues in the game of allowing so-called Palestinian organisations to launch rockets from Lebanese territory towards Israel. From this point of view, there is something beyond the words of Charbel Wahbe, who knows nothing about other Arab societies. There is a problem related to Lebanon’s position in the region and has Lebanon lost its Arab depth? The Lebanese tragedy dates back to 1969, the date of the signing of the disastrous Cairo Agreement between the army chief at the time, Emile Boustani, on the one hand and Yasser Arafat, in his capacity as chairman of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, on the other. Under the Cairo Agreement, the Lebanese state gave up sovereignty over part of its territory to the Palestinian guerrillas who moved from Jordan in the hundreds to Lebanon, especially after the events of 1970.
Few in the country understood the meaning of this transformation that led to the implosion of Lebanon in April 1975, then to the Israeli invasion in 1982. Between 1969 and 2021, that is, in more than half a century, there was only one attempt to save Lebanon and put it back to the map of the region.
This attempt was led by Rafik Hariri, who brought Beirut back to life and transformed it again into a city that is welcoming of Arabs and foreigners. He brought back, among other things, electricity after a long deprivation that has now returned. It is no secret that Hezbollah was behind the assassination of Rafik Hariri, leading to the assassination of Lebanon itself during the era of Michel Aoun and his son-in-law, Gebran Bassil, head of the Free Patriotic Movement. The insulting phrases that Charbel Wahbe addressed to the peoples of the Gulf, with a special focus on Saudi Arabia, cannot be separated from the culture of the “Aounist current” to which he belongs. This movement is carrying out a clear plan aimed at destroying Lebanon under the slogan of reform and change … and restoring the rights of Christians.
There is a conclusion that the Lebanese who lost their country will soon reach. This conclusion says that the day Michel Aoun was elected president, on October 31, 2016, was as much an ill omen as the day the Cairo agreement was signed between the army chief and Yasser Arafat under the auspices of Gamal Abdel Nasser. The continuation of the vacuum would have been much better than the election of Michel Aoun as president of the republic. During the reign of Michel Aoun and his son-in-law, electricity disappeared, the Beirut port blew up and the banking sector collapsed.
All that the ruling regime does at the present time is to destroy Lebanese institutions and block the livelihood of the Lebanese, so emigration becomes their only option. Every day it becomes clear that pushing the Lebanese to emigrate from their country is the favourite pastime of Michel Aoun, who, while in Baabda Palace between September 1988 and October 1990, was behind a great achievement as the head of a provisional government whose mission was to elect a new president of the republic.
His achievement was to wage two wars in order to be president. The first targeted Muslims and was called the “war of liberation” and the other targeted Christians and was called the “war of abolition.”Using brigades in the Lebanese army that remained loyal to him, Aoun attacked Syrian positions in Lebanon. He killed Lebanese citizens but not Syrian soldiers. After that, he moved to a war with the “Lebanese Forces” hoping Syrian President Hafez al-Assad would accept him and bring him to the presidency of the republic …What Lebanon is currently witnessing, in terms of lack of electricity, fuel for cars or medicine, in light of a complete collapse of the national currency, is a continuation of Michel Aoun’s legacy.Therefore, Charbel Wahbe’s words are nothing but a small detail in a big game that could permanently destroy Lebanon as it gradually loses its foundations. In the meanwhile, the president of the republic’s main concern is to prevent the formation of a government headed by Saad Hariri on the one hand and saving the political future of his son-in-law, Gebran Bassil, who was subjected to US sanctions under the Magnitsky Act on corruption on the other. These are sanctions that will be difficult for the beloved brother-in-law to evade as he aspires to become president of the republic, one day. In light of the miserable and sad situation in which the Lebanese live, there is still, fortunately, a place for political jokes.
One of those jokes says in describing the “Aoun current”: “They received energy, and it was dark 24 hours on the 24th. They received the ministry of foreign affairs and there was no friend left for Lebanon in the whole world. They received the presidency and the country went to Hell. ”
In the end, what can be expected from the country of the President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, while Hezbollah is controlling all its sinews? The statements of Charbel Wahbe are only a small detail in a major tragedy. This tragedy is represented by the repositioning of Lebanon outside the Arab system.
Lebanon is proceeding according to an Iranian agenda that is being implemented by Hezbollah. Therefore, the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, seems to have a point when he says, “We are concerned about the future of Lebanon, but it must find a way to save itself,” adding, “Hezbollah’s hegemony over the (Lebanese) political decision-making impedes any real reform.” .

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 21- 22/2021
Hamas pushed image of superhero and victim but could not convince the West
The Arab Weekly/May 21/2021
GAZA – Hamas fought its own battle with Israel by launching rockets with unprecedented intensity. During the 11 days of the conflict, it changed the perception of the confrontation from one between an occupation force and an occupied people to virtually a war between two states.
More precisely, it sought to project a different image of itself to different audiences: to the Palestinian, Arab and Islamic public, it endeavoured to depict itself in superheroic terms, while in the narratives intended for the West it presented itself as a victim in an unequal showdown.
In trying to create the heroic impression, it benefitted from the favourable bias of traditionally loyal media, such as the Qatari, Turkish and Iranian news outlets and those of Islamic countries in East Asia which still view Middle East events through the prism of sacred religious wars.
But this narrative drew particular mileage from social media where statements and speeches of Hamas leaders were distributed on a large scale and contributed to the shaping of the valiant image that the movement sought to cultivate.
During the eleven days of the conflict, Hamas rockets could not, as in the past, change the course of the war, especially as the rockets were in some cases fired with insufficient accuracy and in other cases, were thwarted by the Iron Dome or fell in areas far away from their targets.
But the pro-Hamas media, most of which catered to Muslim Brotherhood audiences in the region, worked to promote the notion of a movement that was waging a holy battle and that is able to achieve extraordinary feats reminiscent of episodes in early Islamic history.
This particular audience hyped up the effectiveness of the rockets and drones used by Hamas to target a number of Israeli sites.
Talk spread about the so-called Hamas-made “submarine” emphasised by the threats of Muhammad Dhaif (Abu Ubaida), the spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of Hamas.
Abu Ubaidah, who in previous wars lost a hand and an arm and was blinded in one eye, was depicted as a mighty superhero who decided the course of the war and controlled the outcome of the confrontation to the point of giving Israelis occasional reprieves to replenish their supplies.
Abu Ubaida said in one of his statements that “the decision to bomb Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Dimona, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Beersheba and beyond is easier for us than drinking water.”
However, if the image of the superhero cultivated by Hamas and someone like Abu Ubaidah, in particular, has appealed to the pro-Hamas media and the Islamist audiences in the region, it served to increase the West’s solidarity with Israel.
Countries that had previously denounced vehemently the Israeli bombing of Gaza, were this time quite emphatic that Israel had “the right to defend itself” against Hamas rockets aimed at civilians in Israel.
Analysts believe that Hamas, and before it, Hezbollah, may have succeeded in inflating their image to Arab audiences, which still yearn for Jerusalem and sympathise with the Palestinians.
But it has caused more woes to the Palestinians themselves by opening the doors to a lopsided war which pitted them against Israel’s military machine.
At the same time, the Israeli army found itself under less pressure over the civilian casualties and infrastructure damage it caused thanks to the salvoes of Hamas rockets and the threats of Abu Ubaidah, which somehow returned the war atmospherics to the populist discourse of the 1960s.
These analysts point out that Hamas has provided the West with enough ammunition to accuse the movement of practicing violence and terror and not differentiating between the Israeli army and civilians, in a way just like Israel, and that it is a ruthless organisation despite its rhetoric about being a “resistance movement”.
Hamas was unable to promote its traditional dual discourse. If its pose of heroism appealed to a wide Arab audience, its self-depiction as a victim failed to win Western sympathy, including that of organisations dealing with human rights and the issue of refugees.
International sympathy with the Palestinians has declined, especially in those countries in the West that had agreed to host Palestinians in recent decades as peaceful refugees.
Western countries and societies may have to change their outlook due to the spread of violent and radical narratives among Palestinians, as has happened recently in Austria which raised the Israeli flag in solidarity with the Jewish state, despite being traditionally one of the most ardent sympathisers of the Palestinian cause in Europe.
American political writer Nicholas Kristof said that both Hamas and Israel engaged in “war crimes” in the Gaza conflict.
British political analyst Donald Macintyre believes that though Western governments rejected Israeli assaults, they do not condone Hamas’s use of missiles nor accept the escalation in the fighting.
But it is a reminder that the world ignores the Israeli-Palestinian conflict until things get completely out of control.
Through the victimisation narrative, Hamas sought to undermine support for Israel with Hamas leaders appearing in Western and Israeli media outlets denying accusations they targeted civilians and trying to show heroism in the face of Israel.
“Any new war is not in the interest of anyone and certainly is not in our interest, as no one armed with a slingshot has the desire to confront a nuclear power,” Yahya Sinwar, head of the Hamas political bureau, said in an interview with an Italian newspaper.
Pro-Hamas media often reprinted truncated statements where Israeli “experts” and former officials talked of Hamas’s victory over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the deep impact of Hamas rockets in shaking his image and popularity on the Israeli street,.
The results on the ground testified however to the opposite. Netanyahu still clung to the pursuit of the war and turned international pressure over civilian dead and injured into a card in his favour. This was well illustrated by statements from Western officials that stressed Israel’s right to defend its security and expressing their understanding of Netanyahu’s determination to continue striking infrastructure targets in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian observers believe that the current gains of Hamas from the war, mainly in terms of sympathy in the Arab street, will now be severely tested as the Palestinians realise the losses they suffered in an unequal conflict and in a political show of force between Hamas and Netanyahu.
Hamas succeeded in putting pressure on Fatah and President Mahmoud Abbas pushing them to back its actions. This support is linked, according to analysts, to the immediate political calculations of President Abbas, who wants to keep his alliance with Hamas in order to confront opposition within Fatah.
Observers say that President Abbas will be one of the most prominent victims of the Hamas war and that he will lose Arab and Western support for himself and the Palestinian Authority. Indeed this confrontation may have spelled his end as Palestinian figure who until now has been kept afloat politically by a favourable consensus that is likely to dissipate.

With Israel-Hamas conflict, Mideast gets Washington’s attention
The Arab Weekly/May 21/2021
WASHINGTON - Having secured a truce between Israel and Hamas, the US administration finds itself compelled to get directly involved in the Palestinian-Israel conflict which it had tried to managed remotely, if at all. It will also have to review the premises behind its Mideast policy and move towards a more pragmatic stance, analysts say. President Joe Biden on Thursday pledged humanitarian and reconstruction aid for Gaza as he hailed a deal to end 11 days of fighting between Israel and Hamas that has tested his negotiating skills and exposed him to criticism from fellow Democrats. The US secretary of state plans to go to the region in the coming days to cement the truce and restart on the arduous path of a negotiated settlement. Biden, appearing briefly at the White House after news of the ceasefire agreement, also promised to replenish Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system, despite complaints from the Democratic left about a pending US arms sale to Israel.
Biden said the United States would work through the United Nations and other international stakeholders “to provide rapid humanitarian assistance and to marshal international support for the people in Gaza and in the Gaza reconstruction efforts.”He insisted that reconstruction aid would be provided in partnership with the Palestinian Authority and not with Hamas, which the United States labels a “terrorist organisation”.However, the Palestinian Authority, which is run by moderate President Mahmoud Abbas, only governs parts of the occupied West Bank while Hamas holds sway in the Gaza Strip. “We will do this in full partnership with the Palestinian Authority – not Hamas – in a manner that does not permit Hamas to simply restock its military arsenal,” Biden said. The ceasefire agreement followed days of intense diplomatic activity that provided a test of the ability of Biden and his top national security aides to help resolve a conflict that could have spiralled into a prolonged war.
Blinken makes to plunge
After trying to delegate contacts in the troubled region to an intermediate level official, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken ended up working the phone himself during the last few days. Now he plans to travel to the Middle East “in the coming days,” the State Department said Thursday after Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire halting 11 days of fighting. Blinken spoke with his Israeli counterpart Gabi Ashkenazi, who “welcomed Secretary Blinken’s planned travel to the region,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. The top US diplomat “will meet with Israeli, Palestinian and regional counterparts in the coming days to discuss recovery efforts and working together to build better futures for Israelis and Palestinians,” Price said. The announcement came after Blinken spoke twice Thursday with Ashkenazi ahead of implementation of the ceasefire, which was brokered by Egypt and followed mounting international pressure to stem the bloodshed. “Both leaders expressed their appreciation for Egypt’s mediation efforts and the secretary noted that he would continue to remain in close touch with his Egyptian counterpart and other regional stakeholders,” Price said. Blinken was headed home Thursday following an Arctic tour overshadowed by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Working from hotel rooms and the airplane in the scramble for a ceasefire, he spoke to leaders on both sides, as well as from Arab nations with influence over Hamas. The secretary “welcomed the (Israeli) foreign minister’s confirmation that the parties had agreed to a ceasefire,” Price said. The Israeli army said Hamas and other Islamist armed groups in Gaza have fired more than 4,300 rockets towards Israel, which have claimed 12 lives, including two children and an Israeli soldier. Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed 232 Palestinians, including 65 children, as well as fighters and have wounded another 1,900, according to the Gaza health ministry.
Egypt rehabilitated
The frantic contacts made by the US to reach a truce, relied very much on Egypt as an intermediary with Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organisation by the US and much of Europe. The Egyptian factor will be difficult to dismiss by the US administration despite its cool stance towards Cairo since Biden’s inauguration. Analysts expect the US to operate an even more “realistic” shift towards pragmatic compromises in dealing with authoritarian but friendly regimes in the turbulent region. During the negotiations, Biden spoke to two leaders with whom he has had tense relations – six times with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, including twice on Thursday and once with Egyptian President Abel Fattah al-Sisi. Both Netanyahu and Sisi were close to Biden’s Republican predecessor, Donald Trump. Biden waited weeks to call Netanyahu after taking office in what Israel viewed as a snub. His phone call with Sisi on Thursday was the first time they had spoken since Biden took office in January. Egypt, which has a peace treaty and diplomatic relations with Israel and also maintains contacts with Hamas, has traditionally played a key role in quelling Gaza fighting. The absence until now of direct communication between the two presidents had been widely seen as a snub to Sisi by a new administration that has made clear its concerns about Egypt’s human rights record. When the conflict began, the administration was cautious not to make public demands on Israel out of concern Israelis would ignore US appeals and prolong the conflict, a source familiar with the behind-the-scenes negotiations said. The United States got a sense five or six days ago that Israel was prepared to begin a wind-down phase after destroying much of the Hamas targets it had set out to hit, the source said. At that point, senior US officials from Biden on down began pressing Israel more strongly for a de-escalation and a ceasefire, the source said. On Thursday, Israel signalled to Biden officials a readiness for a ceasefire, the source said. The United States informed Egypt, which told Hamas. The Islamist militant group then informed Egypt of its readiness for a ceasefire and Egypt told the United States. The main interlocutor for Egypt was Cairo’s intelligence chief, the source said. Biden’s public backing of Israel’s “right to self-defence” against Hamas rocket attacks prompted criticism from fellow Democrats that he needed a more balanced approach instead of marching in lockstep with Israel. In his remarks, Biden defended his approach to handling the crisis but gave a nod to his critics, saying Palestinians deserve to live in peace and security just like Israelis. “My administration will continue our quiet, relentless diplomacy toward that end. I believe we have a genuine opportunity to make progress and I am committed to working for it,” he said.
With some critics pointing to Biden’s lack of high-level representation on the ground, the source made clear that the selection process for a new US ambassador to Israel was nearing an end. Thomas Nides, a former State Department official who is currently a Morgan Stanley bank executive and Robert Wexler, a former Democratic lawmaker with extensive Middle East experience, are the front-runners, a US official told Reuters recently. The Axios news website reported on Thursday that Biden was leaning toward picking Nides.
Dragged back
The last few days of fighting in Gaza and the US efforts to secure a ceasefire have signalled Washington’s failure to stay out of the Middle East. Blinken’s forthcoming visit to region will seal the end of disengagement.
Early in Biden’s term, foreign policy has taken a back seat. The president has tried to avoid getting bogged down in an interminable effort to establish an elusive Mideast peace to which many of his White House predecessors have dedicated precious time without much success. Biden’s call on Netanyahu to de-escalate the fighting came as political and international pressure mounted on the US president to intervene more forcefully to push for an end to the hostilities. Biden, until Wednesday, had avoided pressing Israel more directly and publicly for a cease-fire, or conveying that level of urgency for ending Israeli airstrikes targeting Hamas in the thickly-populated Gaza Strip. His administration has relied instead on what officials described as “quiet, intensive” diplomacy, including quashing a UN Security Council statement that would have addressed a cease-fire. The administration’s handling opened a divide between Biden and some Democratic lawmakers, dozens of whom had called for a cease-fire. Biden’s relationship with Netanyahu could be further complicated for the president by a shifting tide on Israel among some congressional Democrats. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York has called Israel an “apartheid state,” and Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota has labeled Israeli airstrikes “terrorism.” Biden, during a visit to Michigan on Tuesday, had an animated conversation about the ongoing fighting with Representative Rashida Tlaib, who has family in the West Bank. Tlaib told Biden that his administration must do far more to protect Palestinian lives, according to a person familiar with their conversation.
Soon after Netanyahu announced he planned to continue operations, Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib and Mark Pocan of Wisconsin introduced a resolution opposing the sale of $735 million in military weaponry to Israel that has already been approved by the Biden administration. Separately, 138 House Democrats on Wednesday signed a letter, organised by David Price of North Carolina, urging Biden and his administration to “boldly lead and take decisive action to end the violence.”

Netanyahu warns Hamas against further attacks, as Palestinians take out rally
Jerusalem/May 20, 2021
The Associated Press, AFP, Jerusalem, Gaza City, Gaza Strip/Published: 21 May ,2021
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers against any further rocket attacks following a cease-fire. In a speech hours after the truce took effect on Friday, he said, “if Hamas thinks we will tolerate a drizzle of rockets, it is wrong.” He vowed to respond with “a new level of force against any expression of aggression against communities around Gaza and any other part of Israel.”Israel and Hamas fought an 11-day war, their fourth since the Islamic militant group seized power in Gaza from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. Netanyahu hailed Israel’s 11-day bombardment of Palestinian armed groups in Gaza as an “exceptional success,” after a ceasefire to end the deadly conflict took effect. “We achieved our goals in the operation,” Netanyahu said, describing the campaign against Hamas and Islamic Jihad as “an exceptional success." Meanwhile, Palestinians rallied by the thousands early Friday after a cease-fire took effect in the latest Gaza war, with many viewing it as costly but clear victory for the Islamic militant group Hamas over a far more powerful Israel. The 11-day war left more than 200 dead — the vast majority Palestinians — and brought widespread devastation to the already impoverished Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. But the rocket barrages that brought life to a standstill in much of Israel were seen by many Palestinians as a bold response to perceived Israeli abuses in Jerusalem, the emotional heart of the conflict. Thousands took to the streets of Gaza as the cease-fire took hold at 2 a.m. Young men waved Palestinian and Hamas flags, passed out sweets, honked horns and set off fireworks. Spontaneous celebrations also broke out in east Jerusalem and across the occupied West Bank. An open-air market in Gaza City that was closed throughout the war reopened and shoppers could be seen stocking up on fresh tomatoes, cabbage and watermelons. Workers in orange traffic vests swept up rubble from the surrounding roads. “Life will return, because this is not the first war, and it will not be the last war,” said shop owner Ashraf Abu Mohammad. “The heart is in pain, there have been disasters, families wiped from the civil registry, and this saddens us. But this is our fate in this land, to remain patient.” There was little to celebrate in the hard-hit northern town of Beit Hanoun, where residents, many of whom had lost loved ones, surveyed the wreckage of their homes.A Palestinian policeman directs traffic near a building
“We see such huge destruction here, it’s the first time in history we’ve seen this,” said Azhar Nsair. “The cease-fire is for people who didn’t suffer, who didn’t lose their loved ones, whose homes were not bombed.”
The mood was also somber in Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced angry accusations from his right-wing base that he had halted the war too soon. Like the three previous wars between the bitter enemies, the latest round of fighting ended inconclusively. Israel claimed to have inflicted heavy damage on Hamas with hundreds of bruising airstrikes but once again was unable to halt the rockets. Hamas also claimed victory, despite the horrifying toll the war took on countless Palestinian families who lost loved ones, homes and businesses.
It now faces the daunting challenge of rebuilding in a territory already suffering from high unemployment and a coronavirus outbreak. At least 243 Palestinians were killed, including 66 children and 39 women, with 1,910 people wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not break the numbers down into fighters and civilians. Twelve people in Israel, including a 5-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl, were killed. In Gaza, rescue workers were still recovering bodies from areas that had been too dangerous to enter. The Red Crescent emergency service said it recovered five bodies in the southern town of Khan Younis on Friday, including the body of a three-year-old child. The fighting began on May 10, when Hamas militants in Gaza fired long-range rockets toward Jerusalem. The barrage came after days of clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police at Al-Aqsa. Heavy-handed police tactics at the compound, and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers had inflamed tensions.
The competing claims to Jerusalem lie at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and have repeatedly triggered bouts of violence in the past. The cease-fire was brokered by neighboring Egypt after the US pressed Israel to wind down the offensive. Netanyahu announced that Israel had accepted the proposal late on Thursday, while emphasizing that “the reality on the ground will determine the future of the campaign.” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken plans to visit the region in the coming days “to discuss recovery efforts and working together to build better futures for Israelis and Palestinians.” the State Department said. Hamas and other militant groups fired over 4,000 rockets at Israel throughout the fighting, launching the projectiles from civilian areas at Israeli cities. Dozens of projectiles flew as far north as Tel Aviv, the country’s bustling commercial capital. Israel, meanwhile, carried out hundreds of airstrikes targeting what it said was Hamas’ military infrastructure, including a vast tunnel network. Palestinians riding on an auto rickshaw loaded with belongings head to their home  The United States, Israel’s closest and most important ally, initially backed what it said was Israel’s right to self-defense against indiscriminate rocket fire. But as the fighting dragged on and the death toll mounted, the Americans increasingly pressured Israel to stop the offensive.
Biden welcomed the cease-fire. He said the US was committed to helping Israel replenish its supply of interceptor missiles and to working with the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority — not Hamas — to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza. Netanyahu faced heavy criticism from members of his hawkish, nationalist base. Gideon Saar, a former ally who now leads a small party opposed to the prime minister, called the cease-fire “embarrassing.” Itamar Ben Gvir, head of the far-right Jewish Power party, tweeted that the cease-fire was “a grave surrender to terrorism and the dictates of Hamas.”
In a potentially damaging development for the Israeli leader, the Palestinian militants claimed Netanyahu had agreed to halt further Israeli actions at the Al Aqsa Mosque and to call off the planned evictions of Palestinians in the nearby Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. An Egyptian official said only that tensions in Jerusalem “will be addressed.” He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing behind-the-scenes negotiations and provided no details. Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad militant group both appear to have suffered significant losses. The two groups said at least 20 of their fighters were killed, while Israel said the number was at least 160 and probably higher. Some 58,000 Palestinians sought shelter in crowded United Nations schools at a time of a coronavirus outbreak. Thousands returned to their homes as the truce took hold. Since the fighting began, Gaza’s infrastructure, already weakened by a 14-year blockade, has rapidly deteriorated, and airstrikes have damaged schools and health centers. Medical supplies, water and fuel for electricity are running low in the territory, on which Israel and Egypt imposed the blockade after Hamas seized power from the Palestinian Authority in 2007. Since then, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has governed autonomous areas of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and has limited influence in Gaza.

Israeli Police, Palestinians in Fresh Clashes at al-Aqsa Compound
Agence France Presse/May 20, 2021
Fresh clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police broke out at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound on Friday, two weeks after unrest at the sensitive religious site triggered deadly hostilities in Gaza. Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said "riots broke out" at the al-Aqsa esplanade which is Islam's third holiest site and also revered by Jews, who call it the Temple Mount. "Hundreds of people threw rocks and petrol bombs at police officers who responded at the scene and began dispersing the rioters," Rosenfeld said in a statement. "Police units (are) at the scene," he added. AFP reporters at the compound in Jerusalem's Old City said clashes were ongoing. Police have fired rubber bullets and used stun grenades at the site, according to an AFP reporter. Days of unrest at al-Aqsa during Islam's holy fasting month of Ramadan led Hamas, the Islamist group that controls, to demand Israeli forces vacate the compound by 6:00 pm (1500 GMT) on May 10. Hamas then fired rockets at Jerusalem when the deadline expired. Israel then commenced a heavy aerial campaign targeting Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza. A ceasefire to end the Gaza hostilities appeared to be holding on Friday.

Palestinians See Victory in Gaza Truce as Israel Warns Hamas
Associated Press/May 20, 2021
Palestinians rallied by the thousands Friday after a cease-fire took effect in the latest Gaza war, with many viewing it as costly but clear victory for the Islamic militant group Hamas. Israel vowed to respond with a "new level of force" to any further hostilities. The 11-day war left more than 200 dead — the vast majority Palestinians — and brought widespread devastation to the already impoverished Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. But the rocket barrages that brought life to a standstill in much of Israel were seen by many Palestinians as a bold response to perceived Israeli abuses in Jerusalem, the emotional heart of the conflict.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned against further attacks, saying, "If Hamas thinks we will tolerate a drizzle of rockets, it is wrong." He vowed to respond with "a new level of force" against aggression anywhere in Israel. The Israeli leader, who has faced criticism from his hawkish base for ending the offensive prematurely, said Israel had done "daring and new things, and this without being dragged into unnecessary adventures." He added that Israeli forces had caused "maximum damage to Hamas with a minimum of casualties in Israel."Israeli strikes killed more than 200 militants, including 25 senior commanders, and hit more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) of militant tunnels, Netanyahu said. The truce faced an early test when clashes broke out between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police following Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a flashpoint holy site in Jerusalem that is sacred to Jews and Muslims. It was unclear what sparked the violence. Police fired stun grenades and tear gas, and Palestinians hurled rocks and at least one firebomb after hundreds took part in a celebratory demonstration in which they waved Palestinian and Hamas flags and cheered the militant group. Clashes between protesters and police there earlier this month were one of the main triggers for the war. Protesters also clashed with Israeli troops in parts of the occupied West Bank, which has seen violent demonstrations in recent days linked to Jerusalem and Gaza. Thousands took to the streets of Gaza as the cease-fire took hold at 2 a.m. Young men waved Palestinian and Hamas flags, passed out sweets, honked horns and set off fireworks. Celebrations also broke out overnight in east Jerusalem and across the occupied West Bank. Israel captured all three territories in the 1967 war and the Palestinians want them for their future state. An open-air market in Gaza City that was closed throughout the war reopened and shoppers could be seen stocking up on fresh tomatoes, cabbage and watermelons. Workers in orange traffic vests swept up rubble from surrounding roads.
"Life will return, because this is not the first war, and it will not be the last war," said shop owner Ashraf Abu Mohammad. "The heart is in pain, there have been disasters, families wiped from the civil registry, and this saddens us. But this is our fate in this land, to remain patient."There was little to celebrate in the hard-hit northern town of Beit Hanoun, where residents, many of whom had lost loved ones, surveyed wrecked homes.
"We see such huge destruction here, it's the first time in history we've seen this," said Azhar Nsair. "The cease-fire is for people who didn't suffer, who didn't lose their loved ones, whose homes were not bombed." Like the three previous wars, the latest round of fighting ended inconclusively. Israel claimed it inflicted heavy damage on Hamas with hundreds of bruising airstrikes but once again was unable to halt the rockets. Hamas also claimed victory but faces the daunting challenge of rebuilding in a territory already suffering from high unemployment and a coronavirus outbreak.
At least 243 Palestinians were killed, including 66 children, with 1,910 people wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not list the numbers of fighters and civilians. Twelve people were killed in Israel, including a 5-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl. In Gaza, rescue workers were still recovering bodies from areas that had been too dangerous to enter. Five were collected Friday in the southern town of Khan Younis, including that of a 3-year-old, the Red Crescent emergency service said.
The fighting began May 10, when Hamas militants in Gaza fired long-range rockets toward Jerusalem. The barrage came after days of clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police at Al-Aqsa. Heavy-handed police tactics at the compound, and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers had inflamed tensions. The competing claims to Jerusalem lie at the heart of the conflict and have repeatedly triggered bouts of violence.
The cease-fire was brokered by neighboring Egypt after the U.S. pressed Israel to wind down the offensive. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken plans to visit the region "to discuss recovery efforts and working together to build better futures for Israelis and Palestinians." the State Department said.
Hamas and other militant groups fired over 4,000 rockets at Israeli cities, launching them from civilian areas. Dozens landed as far north as the bustling commercial capital of Tel Aviv. Israel, meanwhile, carried out hundreds of airstrikes, targeting what it said was Hamas' military infrastructure. The United States, Israel's closest and most important ally, initially backed what it said was Israel's right to self-defense against indiscriminate rocket fire. But as the fighting dragged on and deaths mounted, the Americans increasingly pressured Israel to stop the offensive.
President Joe Biden welcomed the cease-fire. He said the U.S. was committed to helping Israel replenish its supply of interceptor missiles and to working with the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority — not Hamas — to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza. Netanyahu faced heavy criticism from members of his hawkish, nationalist base. Gideon Saar, a former ally who leads a small party opposed to the prime minister, called the cease-fire "embarrassing." Itamar Ben Gvir, head of the far-right Jewish Power party, tweeted that the cease-fire was "a grave surrender to terrorism and the dictates of Hamas."
In a potentially damaging development for the Israeli leader, the Palestinian militants claimed Netanyahu had agreed to halt further Israeli actions at the Al Aqsa Mosque and to call off the planned evictions of Palestinians in the nearby Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. An Egyptian official said only that tensions in Jerusalem "will be addressed." Some 58,000 Palestinians sought shelter in crowded U.N. schools amid a coronavirus outbreak. Thousands returned to their homes as the truce took hold. The fighting dealt another blow to the already decrepit infrastructure in Gaza. The small coastal territory, home to more than 2 million Palestinians, has been under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade since Hamas seized power from forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007, confining his authority to parts of the occupied West Bank.
The World Health Organization says 30 health facilities in Gaza were damaged, with one clinic destroyed and another with significant damage. An airstrike damaged the only facility in Gaza processing coronavirus tests, forcing a halt to testing in the territory. Fabrizio Carboni, regional director for the Near and Middle East at the International Committee of the Red Cross, estimated there were "several hundred" pieces of unexploded ordnance strewn in Gaza, adding that medical supplies were a pressing need.

Hour-by-Hour: Biden's Behind-the-Scenes Push for Mideast Ceasefire
Associated Press/May 20, 2021
The diplomatic flurry was over and Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu was on the phone telling U.S. President Joe Biden that it appeared the furious fighting between Israel and Hamas was about to end. But Biden remained wary even after the afternoon phone call with the prime minister. Things still could go crosswise with hours to go before the cease-fire took effect, Biden's team reasoned. Nervous White House aides dialed contacts in Tel Aviv and Cairo to suss out whether the truce would hold. Officials in both the U.S. and Israel worried that another barrage of Hamas rockets could sink the Egyptian-brokered agreement, according to an official familiar with the conversations. Then came another call from Netanyahu — his second to Biden in a matter of hours — with reassurances for the American president that the 11-day war really was halting. Biden's first extended foreign policy crisis, one he handled largely by avoiding the cameras and maneuvering instead behind the scenes, had abated. The president went before cameras in the Cross Hall of the White House to describe "intensive high-level discussions, hour by hour, literally" by the United States that involved Egypt, the Palestinian Authority and other Middle Eastern countries. All of it, he said, came "with an aim of avoiding the sort of prolonged conflict we've seen in previous years when the hostilities have broken out." The calls between Biden and Netanyahu were a small sample of the furious diplomacy that the White House conducted. The president and senior aides had over 80 engagements, by phone or in person, in search of an endgame to the fighting, according to the White House. Biden's speech celebrating the cease-fire lasted just 3½ minutes and was delivered in time for evening news broadcasts. He reiterated his belief that Israel has a right to defend itself, expressed condolences for Palestinian civilians who died in the Israeli bombardment and promised that humanitarian aid to Gaza Strip was on its way. It was an enigmatic, and perhaps fitting, bookend to the sort of messy Mideast crisis he had hoped to avoid, particularly early in a presidency already oversubscribed with managing the public health and economic tumult caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The conflict had also exposed a rift between Biden and members of his own party. The president who over nearly 50 years in national politics has burnished a reputation for unwavering support of Israel leads a Democratic Party that has trended toward a far more divided outlook on the proper path to peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Republicans were all too eager to try to make political use of the situation. Biden had studiously avoided extensive public comment about the Israeli military strikes. But he faced increasing pressure from Democrats to speak out against the Israelis as the death toll climbed in Gaza and as tens of thousands of Palestinians were displaced by the aerial bombardment. Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut expressed relief at the cease-fire and commended Biden and his team for their work. But he also laid out ongoing worries, saying, "I am deeply concerned that without meaningful progress towards a two-state future, the conditions of despair will deepen, further fuel extremism and lead to a tragic renewal of the cycle of violence." The cease-fire announcement came after Biden on Wednesday stepped up his pressure on Netanyahu, telling the prime minister that he expected "significant de-escalation" of the fighting by day's end, according to the White House. But Netanyahu came right back with a public declaration that he was "determined to continue" the Gaza operation "until its objective is achieved."
Biden's advisers were not overly concerned that Netanyahu's comments seemed to reject the president's public call to ease off, said the official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss private discussions and spoke on condition of anonymity.
U.S. officials believed Netanyahu did not want to telegraph to Hamas in advance that he was ready to accept terms to end the violence, and was sending a message to a domestic audience that had become traumatized by the barrage of rocket fire from Gaza. But pressure was building on Biden, and he, in turn, was making that known to Netanyahu. On Tuesday, while in Michigan to visit a Ford facility, Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib confronted Biden at the airport and called on him to speak out forcefully against the Israeli strikes. Also this week, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York introduced resolutions to block the sale of $735 million in military weaponry to Israel that had already been approved by the Biden administration.
"Let us hope that the ceasefire in Gaza holds," Sanders tweeted Thursday evening. "But that's not enough. Our job now is to support desperately needed humanitarian and reconstruction aid to Gaza's people, and find a way to finally bring peace to the region." Biden advisers had concluded in the first days of the crisis, as Hamas fired hundreds of rockets on Israel, that a call from the president for Israeli restraint would have fallen flat. At the same time, early in the crisis, there was deep worry inside the White House that the fighting could escalate into something that would take months to tamp down. As the outside calls for Biden to speak out more forcefully grew, the president and top aides privately made the case to Israeli officials that time wasn't on their side. Biden and Netanyahu have known each other for more than 30 years and have frequently butted heads. Their conversations throughout the crisis probed one another as they tried to game out a path forward, according to officials. Netanyahu insisted that his half-dozen conversations with Biden during the fighting were "warm and friendly.""I told him that any country coming under fire from thousands of rockets on its cities would not sit with folded hands, and I told him that we will halt the fighting once we achieve the objectives of the campaign," Netanyahu said. "The president understood this and this is exactly what we did." White House officials have pointed to some grim evidence to argue that Biden's attempts at behind-the-scenes diplomacy worked: The latest Israel-Hamas war — in which at least 230 people in Gaza and at least 12 in Israel died — was shorter and less blood was spilled than in some of the other recent major outbreaks of violence in the region. Biden, in his brief remarks about the cease-fire, noted that without the Iron Dome, a missile defense system developed by the U.S. and Israel, the body count would have been far worse. The system is designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells. Biden said he assured Netanyahu that his administration would work to quickly replenish it.
He also pledged that humanitarian aid would quickly flow through the Palestinian Authority, which is in control of the West Bank but not Gaza. "We will do this in full partnership with the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas ... and in a manner that does not permit Hamas to simply restock its military arsenal," Biden said. The details of missile system supplies and humanitarian aid, though, could wait for another day. Biden ended on a hopeful note: "I believe we have a genuine opportunity to make progress, and I'm committed to working for it."

Netanyahu Hails Gaza Operation as 'Exceptional Success'
Agence France Presse/May 20, 2021
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Friday hailed Israel's 11-day bombardment of Palestinian armed groups in Gaza as an "exceptional success", after a ceasefire to end the deadly conflict took effect. "We achieved our goals in the operation," Netanyahu said of the campaign primarily targeted at Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, and Islamic Jihad, the second largest armed group in the enclave. The hawkish premier said "the public doesn't know everything" about Israel's gains in the operation "and neither does Hamas." Gaza's health ministry has put the death toll from Israel's air strikes at 243. Netanyahu said Israel's strikes had killed "more than 200 terrorists" in Gaza, including 25 senior commanders. Defense Minister Benny Gantz added that Israel's operation followed plans that had "been prepared for years and months.""The military action is over. Now is the time for political action." The pre-dawn ceasefire brokered by Egypt and agreed by Israel, Hamas and Islamic Jihad appeared to be holding Friday. Egypt has said it will monitor the truce.  Gantz warned Hamas it would pay a "heavy, very heavy" price if it breached the ceasefire. Israel launched its campaign in Gaza on May 10 in response to Hamas firing rockets at Jerusalem, following weeks of building tensions between Israeli forces and Palestinians in the city. In total, Palestinian groups fired more than 4,000 rockets at Israel, killing 12 people.

World Leaders Welcome Israel-Hamas Truce
Agence France Presse
World leaders and top diplomats welcomed an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that was in place Friday, while urging a long-term political solution to the Middle East conflict.
Here are reactions from around the world:
European Union -
The EU welcomed the ceasefire and insisted that working toward a "two-state solution" was the only viable option. "We are appalled and regret the loss of life over these past 11 days," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.
"As the EU has consistently reiterated, the situation in the Gaza Strip has long been unsustainable."
- Russia -
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said while Moscow was satisfied with the truce, more needed to be done. "This is an important but still insufficient step," she said. "In order to avoid a resumption of violence, we must double international and regional efforts on relaunching direct political negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians."
- China -
Beijing welcomed the truce and said the international community now needed to "extend helping hands" to the region. It said it would commit $1 million in emergency aid and a further $1 million to UN relief efforts for the Palestinians.
"The international community should promote the resumption of peace talks between Palestine and Israel, and achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the Palestine issue on the basis of the two-state solution," foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters.
- United States -
President Joe Biden said the ceasefire marks a "genuine opportunity" for peace following the unrest. "I believe we have a genuine opportunity to make progress and I'm committed to working toward it," Biden said at the White House, highlighting Egypt's role in brokering the truce.
- Germany -
"Good that there is now a ceasefire," Foreign Minister Heiko Maas tweeted, a day after he visited Israel and Ramallah for talks. "Now we have to deal with the causes, rebuild trust and find a solution to the Middle East conflict."
- Britain -
Britain called on all sides to the conflict to ensure the ceasefire is lasting.
"All sides must work to make the ceasefire durable and end the unacceptable cycle of violence and loss of civilian life," UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Twitter, adding that Britain supports "efforts to bring about peace".
- France -
France welcomed the ceasefire but said the violence underscored the need for a relaunch of the peace process. Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warned that barring negotiations, "cycles of violence will be repeated."

5 Bodies Found, about 10 Survivors Rescued in Gaza Tunnel
Agence France Presse/May 20, 2021
Emergency workers on Friday recovered five bodies and rescued around 10 survivors from the rubble of what appeared to be a tunnel in Gaza hit by Israeli bombardment, medics and witnesses said. Raed al-Dahshan, deputy head of Gaza's civil defense, said they were still sifting through the rubble to find more bodies, hours after a ceasefire ended 11 days of Israeli air strikes on the besieged coastal enclave run by Islamist movement Hamas."The civil defense and the ministry of public works and municipalities are working to clear away the rubble," he said. "We are continuing to look for the missing under the debris. "But it's tough work because we don't have the heavy equipment to search, so many injured are dying under the rubble," he said. The recovered bodies take the death toll from Israeli air strikes since May 10 to 243, including 66 children, the health ministry says. Hamas has said that fighters were among those killed.

Gaza's War in Numbers
Agence France Presse/May 20, 2021
The war between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas has killed hundreds, displaced thousands from their homes and ravaged key infrastructure.
Here is a recap in numbers.
- Gaza -
243 Palestinians including 66 children killed in Israeli air strikes in the besieged coastal enclave since May 10, the health ministry says.
Two doctors were among those killed, including the head of internal medicine at the Shifa hospital, the main one in the Gaza Strip.
More than 1,900 people including 560 children wounded in that same period, according to the same source.
91,000 people have been forced to flee their homes, the U.N. humanitarian agency says.
1,447 homes -- houses or flats -- hit, according to the Hamas group running the enclave.
205 residential blocks completely destroyed, Hamas says.
75 governmental and public facilities damaged, it says.
14 kilometers of water pipes, 50 water wells, and 17 kilometers of sewage pipes have been affected, Hamas says.
31 electrical substations and 79 kilometers of cables affected, nine main lines cut off, it estimates.
454 cars or means of transport destroyed or badly damaged, according to the same source.
Three mosques completely destroyed, 40 mosques and one church damaged, according to Hamas.
- Israel -
12 killed in Israel, including one Israeli child, one Arab Israeli teenager and her father, one Indian, and two Thai nationals, Israeli medics say. 357 people have been wounded by rockets. Of 4,070 rockets fired by Palestinian armed groups towards Israel, around 90 percent were intercepted by Israel's air defense system, the military says. 2,061 claims received for homes hit by rockets and 1,367 more for cars in southern and central Israel, according to the Israel Tax Authority, which deals with compensations.
West Bank
25 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since the outbreak of hostilities in the occupied territory, Palestinian health authorities say. The Israeli army says at least five of them had attempted to ram or stab Israeli forces at checkpoints.

Canadian court rules Iran downing of Ukraine plane was ‘act of terrorism’
The Arab Weekly/May 21/2021
OTTAWA--A Canadian court on Thursday ruled that the shooting down of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 was deliberate and an “act of terrorism,” paving the way for possible compensation for victims’ families. The Superior Court of Justice of Ontario found that “on a balance of probabilities” two missile strikes on the jetliner shortly after takeoff from Iran’s capital Tehran on January 8, 2020 “were intentional.”“The plaintiffs,” Justice Edward Belobaba also ruled, “have established that the shooting down of Flight 752 by the defendants was an act of terrorism.”Lawyers Mark and Jonah Arnold called the decision “unprecedented in Canadian law.”“It is significant for the impact it will have on immediate surviving family members seeking justice,” they said in a statement. The legal action seeking Can$1.5 billion (US$1.25 billion) was brought by four people who lost family members in the disaster that killed all 176 aboard, including 85 Canadian citizens and permanent residents. They claimed the strikes were “Iran’s retaliation” for the US killing of Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Qods Force near Baghdad Airport in Iraq days earlier. In a final report in March, the Iranian Civil Aviation Organisation (CAO) pointed to the missile strikes and the “alertness” of its troops on the ground amid heightened tensions between Iran and the United States at the time. Ukraine, which lost 11 citizens in the disaster, said the report was “a cynical attempt to hide (the) true causes” of the tragedy, while Canada said it contained “no hard facts or evidence” and pledged to soon release the results of its own investigation. Iran did not defend itself in court, but the Islamic republic admitted three days after the disaster that its forces shot down the Kiev-bound Boeing 737-800 plane. The amount of compensation to be awarded is to be determined at a later hearing. Foreign states are normally immune to Canadian civil claims, but a 2012 law made an exception for those listed as sponsors of “terrorist activity,” such as Iran. Canada broke off diplomatic ties with Iran that same year, as relations frayed over Tehran’s support for Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, its nuclear programme and threats to Israel. Since Canada does not have formal diplomatic relations with Iran, claiming damages will likely be lengthy and complex, but it has been done before. The lawsuit names Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, top commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and others.

Cyprus Says 'State of Emergency' over Syria Migrant Inflow
Agence France Presse/May 20, 2021
Cyprus said Friday it is in a "state of emergency" because of an inflow of Syrian migrants that has flooded its reception centers, appealing for help from the European Union. Cyprus has this week faced a "daily wave of migrant arrivals" by sea from the Syrian port of Tartus, Interior Minister Nicos Nouris said. "Due to this situation and overcrowding in reception centers, I was forced to make a written representation to the European Commission," said Nouris. He had notified the commission that Cyprus was "entering a state of emergency as far as migration is concerned, and there is no further capacity to host additional migrants".Since January, almost 4,000 asylum applications have been rejected, the minister said. He called for EU help to repatriate those denied asylum in cases in which Nicosia has no bilateral accord with third countries, such as Turkey which does not recognize the Republic of Cyprus. On Wednesday, Cypriot authorities intercepted a vessel off the island’s east coast carrying 97 migrants from Syria. On Friday, authorities another 14 people from Syria, including three children, crossed into the Republic of Cyprus from the Turkish-controlled north of the divided island. In the past four years, the number of asylum seekers in Cyprus has reached four percent of its population, compared to one percent in other EU states, the government says. As the EU’s most southeasterly state, Cyprus has the highest per capita number of first-time asylum seekers in the 27-member bloc, according to Eurostat statistics agency. But Cyprus, 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the coast of war-torn Syria, has not seen the massive inflow of migrants once experienced by Turkey and Greece. More than 12,000 Syrians have sought refuge in Cyprus since 2011, of whom 8,500 have been granted international protection, according to the UNHCR.

Iraq Warns Against Dangerous Violations of Precautionary Measures
Baghdad - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 21 May, 2021 -
The Iraqi Health Ministry warned on Thursday people posing as doctors were treating COVID-19 patients in illegal medical centers, putting the lives of Iraqis under threat. “In the past few months, we have documented violations that threaten the lives of citizens. Some unauthorized persons are treating COVID-19 patients in illegitimate medical centers, and are promoting their practices through social media websites,” the Ministry said in a statement carried by the official news agency, nina. It also accused the fake doctors of spreading misleading information about the pandemic, saying they are urging citizens not to wear masks and not to be vaccinated. “Such practices are punished by Article 368 of the Iraqi Penal Code 111 of 1969,” the Ministry said, adding that coordination with the judicial and security authorities is necessary to follow up on the matter. “We are keen to follow up the implementation of all preventive measures to confront the pandemic based on the recommendations of the Supreme Committee for National Health and Safety in order to maintain health security,” the Ministry statement added. Iraq recorded 4,512 COVID-19 cases and 28 deaths in the past 24 hours, the Ministry said Thursday. Since the outbreak of the pandemic in Iraq, 1,132,092 patients have contracted the disease, 1,028,627 of whom have recovered and 15,883 have died.

Treasury Sanctions Senior Houthi Military Official Overseeing Group’s Offensive Operations
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
PRESS RELEASES
May 20, 2021
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is taking action today against a key senior military official of Ansarallah, sometimes referred to as the Houthis, whose actions prolong Yemen’s civil war and exacerbate the country’s humanitarian crisis. Muhammad Abd Al-Karim al-Ghamari is responsible for orchestrating attacks by Houthi forces impacting Yemeni civilians. He has most recently taken charge of the large-scale Houthi offensive against Yemeni government-held territory in Marib province. Humanitarians have warned that the Marib offensive is contributing to a tipping point in Yemen’s humanitarian crisis, as it puts approximately one million already vulnerable internally displaced people (IDP) at risk, threatens to overwhelm an already stretched humanitarian response, and is triggering broader escalation. The civil war continues to result in widespread suffering throughout Yemen, where half the Yemeni population faces acute food shortages, in what the United Nations has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
“As the senior Houthi military official, Muhammad Abd Al-Karim al-Ghamari is directly responsible for attacks on infrastructure that have harmed civilians and now oversees an offensive in Marib that compounds human suffering,” said Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control Andrea M. Gacki. “The United States will continue to hold Houthi leadership accountable for actions that contribute to Yemen’s humanitarian crisis.”
Today’s action is being taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13611, an authority aimed at blocking property of persons threatening the peace, security, or stability of Yemen.
The Houthis, with the support of the Iranian government, continue to wage a bloody war against the internationally recognized Yemeni government using ballistic missiles, explosives, naval mines, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to attack bases, population centers, infrastructure, and commercial shipping. Iranian support through funding, training, and military equipment has allowed the Houthis to threaten Yemen’s neighbors and to conduct heinous attacks damaging civilian infrastructure in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
As the Head of the General Staff of the Houthi armed forces, the most senior commander within the Houthi military leadership structure, Al-Ghamari is directly responsible for overseeing Houthi military operations that have destroyed civilian infrastructure and Yemen’s neighbors, specifically Saudi Arabia and the UAE. He directs the procurement and deployment of various weapons, including improvised explosive devices, ammunition, and UAVs. Al-Ghamari has also overseen Houthi UAV and missile attacks against Saudi Arabian targets. Al-Ghamari reportedly received his military training in Houthi militia camps run by Lebanese Hizballah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Most recently, Al-Ghamari replaced Abdul Khaleq al Houthi, the brother of Houthi leader Abdul Malik al Houthi, as Commander in Chief of the Houthi offensive in Marib. The Marib offensive is a push by the Houthis to capture control of the province from Yemen’s internationally recognized government. Marib has served as a bastion of stability for millions of Yemenis, hosting camps for close to one million IDPs. The offensive has already forced tens of thousands of these IDPs to evacuate and threatens to displace hundreds of thousands more if it continues. The Houthi offensive on Marib has been brutal, with reports of Houthi ballistic missile attacks impacting IDP camps and other civilian sites in Marib. Al-Ghamari also participated in Houthi attacks on Saada in northwestern Yemen, and the 2014 capture of Yemen’s capital Sana’a. In 2015, he was appointed as head of the so-called Supreme Revolutionary Committee and Houthi supervisor in Hajjah governorate.
Basis for Designation
Al-Ghamari is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13611 for having engaged in acts that directly or indirectly threaten the peace, security, or stability of Yemen, such as acts that obstruct the implementation of the agreement of November 23, 2011, between the Government of Yemen and those in opposition to it, which provides for a peaceful transition of power in Yemen, or that obstruct the political process in Yemen.
In a separate action, the Department of State is designating Yusuf al-Madani pursuant to E.O. 13224, a counterterrorism authority, on the basis that he poses a significant risk of committing acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States. Al-Madani is a prominent Houthi military leader and is the commander of the fifth military zone in Al Hudaydah, Hajjah, Al Mahwit, and Raymah, Yemen. Persistent Houthi repositioning and other violations of the Hudaydah ceasefire agreement threaten stability in a city that serves as a critical thoroughfare for humanitarian and essential commercial commodities, and one that faces some of the highest levels of humanitarian needs. Additionally, there are regular reports of Houthi attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in and around Hudaydah.
Sanctions Implications
As a result of today’s actions, all property and interests in property of the persons designated that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or otherwise exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons. The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any blocked person or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.
View identifying information on the individuals designated today.

U.S. sanctions Houthi military leaders as peace efforts stall
Aziz Yaakoubi/Reuters/May 21/2021
The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on two Houthi military officials, the U.S. Treasury Department said, taking action over the Iran-aligned movement's offensive to seize Yemen's gas-rich Marib region.
U.S. Special Envoy on Yemen Tim Lenderking earlier on Thursday urged the group battling a Saudi-led coalition for over six years to de-escalate and engage seriously with U.S. and U.N. efforts for a ceasefire needed to end the war, a top foreign policy priority for the Biden administration.
He also urged the Saudi-led military alliance to remove restrictions on all Yemeni ports and airports to ease what the United Nations says is the world's largest humanitarian crisis. read more
"The Houthis are not winning in Marib. Instead they are putting a great deal of stress on an already very fragile humanitarian situation, they are putting the lives of 1 million internally displaced people ... in danger," Lenderking said.
He said the United States would impose sanctions on the head of the general staff leading the Houthi's Marib offensive, Muhammad Abd Al-Karim al-Ghamari, and on a leader of Houthi forces assigned to the advance, Yusuf al-Madani.
The Treasury in a statement announcing the sanctions accused al-Ghamari of prolonging the war and orchestrating attacks that have harmed civilians.
The U.S. State Department also blacklisted al-Madani as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).
"If there were no offensive, if there were commitment to peace, if the parties are all showing up to deal constructively with the U.N. envoy there would be no need for designations," Lenderking told a virtual media briefing.
Riyadh in March proposed a nationwide truce and reopening of air and sea links to Houthi-held areas to help end a conflict widely seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. But the Houthis have insisted that restrictions be lifted on Hodeidah port, the main entry of Yemen's commercial and aid imports, and Sanaa airport before any ceasefire talks. The group has also repeatedly launched cross-border missile and drone attacks on Saudi cities, prompting the coalition to respond with air strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen. Lenderking welcomed direct talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran but said he has not yet seen positive Iranian engagement to end the Yemen conflict, which has killed tens of thousands of people and left millions facing famine. "I do think this is potentially a constructive engagement and we wish both parties success because it will be not only good for overall tensions in the region but there should be positive impact on the Yemen conflict in particular," he said. The envoy said Washington wants a long-term solution beyond a ceasefire and urged Tehran to support peace talks.

 6 killed, dozen injured in attack on pro-Palestine rally in Pakistan
NNA/AFP/May 21/2021
At least six people were killed and 14 more wounded in a bomb attack at a pro-Palestinian rally in a Pakistani city bordering Afghanistan on Friday, officials said.
"It was an improvised explosive device which went off as participants began to disperse," said Tariq Mengal, a senior local administration official in Chaman, Balochistan province. A second official confirmed the incident and toll.--AFP

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 21- 22/2021
Question: "What did Jesus mean when He said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven?"
GotQuestions.org/May 21/2021
Answer: There are several different schools of thought on what Jesus was referring to in saying it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to gain eternal life (Matthew 19:24; Mark 10:25; Luke 18:25). The Persians expressed the concept of the impossible by saying it would be easier to put an elephant through the eye of a needle. The camel was a Jewish adaptation (the largest animal in Israel was a camel).
Some theorize that the needle Jesus was speaking of was the Needle Gate, supposedly a low and narrow after-hours entrance found in the wall surrounding Jerusalem. It was purposely small for security reasons, and a camel could only go through it by stripping off any saddles or packs and crawling through on its knees. The problem with this theory is there is no evidence such a gate ever existed. Beyond that, what sane camel driver would go through such contortions when larger gates were easily accessible?
Others claim that the word translated “camel” (Greek: kamelos) should actually be “cable” (Greek: kamilos). Then the verse would read that it is easier for a cable (or rope) to go through the eye of a needle. To believe this, however, brings up more problems than it solves, namely casting doubt on the inerrancy and inspiration of Scripture.
The most likely explanation is that Jesus was using hyperbole, a figure of speech that exaggerates for emphasis. Jesus used this technique at other times, referring to a “plank” in one’s eye (Matthew 7:3-5) and swallowing a camel (Matthew 23:24).
Jesus’ message is clear—it is impossible for anyone to be saved on his own merits. Since wealth was seen as proof of God’s approval, it was commonly taught by the rabbis that rich people were blessed by God and were, therefore, the most likely candidates for heaven. Jesus destroyed that notion, and along with it, the idea that anyone can earn eternal life. The disciples had the appropriate response to this startling statement. They were utterly amazed and asked, “Who then can be saved?” in the next verse. If the wealthy among them, which included the super-spiritual Pharisees and scribes, were unworthy of heaven, what hope was there for a poor man?
Jesus’ answer is the basis of the gospel: "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God" (Matthew 19:26). Men are saved through God’s gifts of grace, mercy, and faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). Nothing we do earns salvation for us. It is the poor in spirit who inherit the kingdom of God (Matthew 5:3), those who recognize their spiritual poverty and their utter inability to do anything to justify themselves to a holy God. The rich man so often is blind to his spiritual poverty because he is proud of his accomplishments and has contented himself with his wealth. He is as likely to humble himself before God as a camel is to crawl through the eye of a needle.

Israel Confronts Tehran’s Terror Proxies in Gaza
Bradley Bowman/Seth J. Frantzman/The Dispatch/May 21/2021
The best way to reduce violence long-term is to deprive Hamas of the means to kill civilians.
As violence between Israel and Tehran’s terror proxies in Gaza continues, President Joseph Biden used a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to reiterate his desire for a ceasefire. Given the human suffering over the last week, calls for a cessation of violence are certainly understandable.But when applying that virtuous impulse to the situation in Israel and Gaza, honest observers should reject suggestions of moral equivalence between Israel and terrorist groups, while recognizing that inflicting additional damage on terrorist groups now may save more Israeli and Palestinian lives in the long run.
False equivalence.
As often happens in Israel’s conflicts with terrorist groups in Gaza, some international observers have explicitly or implicitly suggested a moral equivalence between the two sides. But such a suggestion does not stand up to scrutiny.
On one side, you have Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). For good reason, the U.S. government has designated both as foreign terrorist organizations. In just 10 days, these terrorist groups launched more than 4,000 rockets toward Israel in an effort to kill civilians. These rockets are not precise weapons of war but rather tools of terror.
And to make matters worse, as in previous conflicts, Hamas and PIJ have deliberately put Palestinian civilians in harm’s way by often placing command and control nodes, terror tunnels, rocket factories, and launch sites under, in, or adjacent to civilian structures such as homes, hospitals, and schools. Hamas and PIJ hope that using the people of Gaza as human shields will prevent Israeli attacks or invite civilian casualties that can then be blamed on Israel. The goal is to further a global information warfare campaign designed to demonize and isolate Israel.
This battlefield behavior by Hamas and PIJ, however, stands in stark contrast to the behavior of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
In response to thousands of rockets being launched at its citizens, Israel could have just played defense in hopes of intercepting all the rockets destined for Israeli towns and cities. But no government and no military in the world would be satisfied with such a passive and defensive approach if they possessed the means to better protect its citizens.
When jihadist terrorists used commercial planes as missiles to kill Americans on 9/11, the United States traveled all the way to Afghanistan to hold the perpetrators accountable and ensure they lacked the ability launch additional attacks. It would be an odd argument, indeed, to suggest that Israel does not have a similar right to take offensive action to prevent additional attacks on its citizens. And that is exactly what Israel has done.
If the IDF shared Hamas’ and PIJ’s disregard for innocent life, the IDF could have applied a scorched-earth policy in Gaza. But Jerusalem has not done so. Instead, when civilians might be hurt in an upcoming IDF strike against Hamas or PIJ, the IDF has a practice of notifying civilians in advance so they have time to get to safety. And the IDF will often employ additional tactics just before the strike occurs to give civilians one last opportunity.
By providing advance warning, Israel accepts the fact that some terrorists will escape—but Jerusalem is willing to accept such a cost to minimize civilian lives. Hamas and PIJ—who methodically seek to kill the innocent—do not take similar measures when it comes to their strikes on Israel.
Many respond to these facts by highlighting the systemic political and economic challenges confronting Palestinians. But it would be morally depraved to suggest that such challenges justify efforts by jihadist terrorist groups to mass murder Israelis.
In response to arguments rejecting any moral equivalence between Israel and terrorist groups, others highlight the relative death tolls—noting that far more Palestinians have been killed than Israelis. Each civilian death is a genuine tragedy. The images of children killed are particularly heart-wrenching. But comparing death tolls to suggest relative moral culpability is deeply misleading and even cynical given the distinct actions and intentions of the two sides.
If it were not for Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system and the prevalence of bomb shelters in Israel, launching thousands of rockets at Israeli cities and towns would have killed hundreds or, more likely, thousands of civilians. Does the fact that Israel has developed the means to defend itself more effectively against such rocket attacks change the moral depravity of Hamas and PIJ in deliberately launching rockets at civilians? They are attempting to murder thousands of civilians and are failing only because of the efforts of others.
As anyone who has served on a jury or watched a legal thriller knows, motives matter when it comes to the law. When someone is killed, we rightly spare no expense in investigating whether the killing was accidental or premeditated. We agree that deliberately taking an innocent life is particularly heinous and worthy of far more condemnation than one who accidently takes a life despite extensive precautions to avoid such an outcome.
And every indication is that the IDF—like the U.S. military—takes extraordinary measures to avoid civilian casualties. Yet individuals who pride themselves on human rights and basic fairness sometimes seem happy to suspend this fundamental principle of law when it comes to Israel’s efforts to defend itself against terrorist attacks.
Accordingly, as leaders pursue a ceasefire in the coming days, they should see the character of the respective combatants clearly and avoid any suggestion that terrorist groups deliberately trying to kill civilians are morally equivalent to those who take extraordinary steps to protect innocent life.
Next time?
In addition to questions of culpability, there is also the question of how and when to end the conflict. Given the images coming out of Israel and Gaza, people of goodwill instinctually want the violence to end without delay. But the best way to reduce such violence over the long-term is to deprive terrorist groups of the means to kill civilians—rather than demanding that besieged democracies stop their efforts to defend their citizens.
Ending the conflict sooner may not necessarily decrease the overall suffering of Israelis and Palestinians in the coming months and years. Let us explain.
In this conflict, Hamas and PIJ have launched a higher volume of rockets at Israel than in previous conflicts, and a greater percentage of the rockets have been launched long-range toward Tel Aviv and other Israeli population centers. The terror groups targeted Jerusalem with rockets for the first time since 2014. They have also employed drones, unmanned underwater vehicles, anti-tank guided missiles, and new types of rockets. It takes time for the IDF to destroy the infrastructure, including a massive underground complex, that permits these terrorist groups to import, build, and employ these weapons.
A few more days of attacks on Hamas and PIJ, while assiduously avoiding civilian casualties, might decrease overall suffering in Gaza and Israel by extending the peaceful interlude before the next conflict. That’s because additional damage to their terrorist capabilities will force the terror groups to take longer to reconstitute forces, render them less effective in killing civilians in the next conflict, and make them think twice before starting the next missile barrage at all.
It is also important to remember that Hezbollah and Tehran are watching, and they are far more capable adversaries. In fact, Iran has funded, trained, and equipped terrorist groups in Gaza. Tehran and its terror proxies must not be left with the impression that they can launch thousands of rockets at Israel and pay a relatively light price. Otherwise, we will see more of the same in the future, and that will mean more casualties among both Israelis and Palestinians or a wider war involving Iran’s proxies in Lebanon and Syria. The more serious a blow the IDF can deliver to Hamas and PIJ, the stronger the deterrent message it will send to those groups as well as Hezbollah and Tehran.
So, let’s hope that hostilities end soon and that civilians will be spared from the violence. But let’s also reject cynical suggestions of moral equivalence between Israel and terrorist organizations, while recognizing that the best way to protect the innocent over the long term is to deprive terrorists of the means to commit murder.
*Bradley Bowman is senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Seth Frantzman is the senior Middle East correspondent for The Jerusalem Post and author of Drone Wars: Pioneers, killing machines, artificial intelligence and the battle for the future. *Follow Bradley on Twitter @Brad_L_Bowman. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

Iran and Hamas’s Jerusalem/Gaza offensive against Israel
Joanathan Spyer/Jerusalem Post/May 21/2021
BEHIND THE LINES: As ever, Iran prefers to avoid direct involvement. But without its backing, support and expertise, the latest Hamas offensive against Israel would have been inconceivable.
Iran and its allies appear to wish to avoid any direct intervention in support of Hamas’s current efforts against Israel from the Gaza Strip. Launchings of rockets from southern Lebanon and Syria in the direction of Israel caused heightened alerts in the North over the past week. But these appear to have been symbolic efforts, timed to coincide with the marking of “Nakba Day.” The launches from Lebanon could not have taken place without the permission of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps and their Lebanese Hezbollah proxy, who are the true rulers of that country. But these acts were a gesture, not a signal by IRGC/Hezbollah of intervention into the conflict.
IRGC Quds Force commander Maj.-Gen. Esmail Ghaani notably spoke by telephone with Qatar-based Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Saturday. Ghaani also called Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Ziyad al-Nakhalah. The reports in Iranian media of the conversations described formulaic exchanges. Ghaani, whose knowledge of the Arab world is limited, reiterated his country’s support for the muqawama (“resistance”). Haniyeh described Hamas’s fight against Israel as the battle of all Muslims.
Lesser elements of Iran’s “resistance axis” (the term Tehran prefers for its archipelago of proxy political-military organizations across the region) have also expressed their support for Hamas’s campaign.
Nasir al-Shammari, deputy leader of Hezbollah al-Nujaba in Iraq, pledged his movement’s willingness to offer practical support for Hamas. In an interview with the Iranian Mehr News Agency on Sunday, Al-Shammari said, “We are ready to support the Palestinian resistance; from weapons and the transfer of experience to direct participation in the fight against this usurping regime.”
A new study by Hamdi Malik at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy details further statements by Iraqi Shia militias. These include a claim by the Ashab al Kahf group, a front for the well-known Asaib Ahl Al Haq militia, to have fired the three rockets launched at Israeli territory from Syria on May 14.
Such pledges and claims amount to little more than rhetoric. Nujaba, of the Iraqi Shia militias, has a long record of declarations of intent regarding its desire to intervene in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Its leader, Akram al-Kaabi, announced the formation of the Golan Liberation Brigade in March 2017. In 2018, Kaabi traveled to southern Lebanon and pledged to fight “on a single front” with Hezbollah against Israel. The Golan Liberation brigade has yet to make its appearance on Israel’s northern border.
But while Iran and its proxies clearly wish to avoid direct engagement beyond the rhetorical in the current hostilities, Iran’s support forms a vital component of Hamas’s war effort. Hamas’s relations with Tehran are complex. Palestinian Islamic Jihad is a straightforward proxy and client of the Iranians. Hamas, by contrast, emerged from the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.
During the brief moment a decade ago when it looked like a new Sunni Islamist bloc was emerging in the region, Hamas quit its headquarters in Damascus and sought to align with this new bloc. But with the defeat of Sunni Islamism in Egypt and then Syria, the new alliance proved stillborn. Since that time, Hamas has been seeking to rebuild its ties with Tehran. These efforts have made considerable progress over the last two years.
The latest Hamas attacks that began the current round of fighting are likely to improve Hamas’s stock in the eyes of the Iranians. Unlike the Turkey/Qatar axis, Tehran’s expectation of its Palestinian allies is for direct armed action. Iran’s role in assisting and supplying Hamas’s rocket arsenal is central and pivotal. The Kornet ATGMs employed in recent days by Hamas, which resulted in the death of Sgt. Omer Tabib, were supplied to Gaza from Syria under the auspices of the IRGC, according to a December 7, 2020, statement by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.
Both Hamas’s Qassam Brigades and Islamic Jihad have noted the use of Iranian ordnance, including Sejjil and Badr-3 missiles, in their bombardments of Israeli towns in recent days. The ability of Hamas and PIJ to produce their own rockets in Gaza exists largely because of Iranian assistance.
As Hamas representative in Tehran Khaled Qaddoumi put it in a May 17 interview with al-Monitor, “The Islamic Republic of Iran... has helped a lot in transferring knowledge and expertise on one side, and transporting the rockets on another, helping Hamas depend on its local capabilities to produce such advanced technology.”
Or as Islamic Jihad leader Ziad al-Nakhala told the pro-Iran al-Mayadeen channel on December 1, 2020, “All the conventional weapons reached Gaza via al-Hajj Qassem Soleimani, Hezbollah and Syria, and the entire resistance axis played a part in transporting them.... There are training camps in Syria where our brothers in Hamas received special training to produce the rockets.”
HAMAS’S WAR effort against Israel is of importance to Iran as a testing ground for a certain strategic hypothesis. As Qaddoumi put it, the movement this time “applied a strategic shift in the concept of resistance, from defending Gaza against Israeli attacks to defending all Palestinians living in historic Palestine.”
This statement accurately points to the essential strategic question underlying this round of fighting. In recent years, the Palestinian Arab population west of the Jordan has become politically fragmented. Four identifiable populations exist: the Arab citizens of Israel, the inhabitants of Gaza, the Arab inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the population living under the administration of the West Bank Palestinian Authority.
The Hamas offensive which began with the launching of seven missiles at Jerusalem on May 10 is an effort to test the hypothesis that by mobilizing the symbol of al-Aqsa Mosque, and then initiating military action in the name of its defense, Hamas could reduce or remove these divisions.
Iran’s strategic vision is of a long war conducted through the use of proxies and political client forces, and intended to result in Israel’s hollowing out, weakening, isolation and eventual collapse.
The division of the local Arab forces represented and represents a threat to the advancement of that vision. The latest Hamas offensive is hence most importantly an attempt to reverse this fragmentation. The feasibility of the Iranian strategy against Israel depends on the divisions being bridged.
At this interim stage, but with a ceasefire now looking increasingly possible, what will be the verdict drawn regarding this effort? As of now, it looks mixed.
Jerusalem, with Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr passed, has experienced only sporadic unrest. The riots in Israeli Arab towns have for the moment receded. The West Bank has seen large demonstrations but does not currently appear close to conflagration.
Gaza, though it will undoubtedly continue to fire rockets until the last moments, has suffered far greater damage than it has been able to inflict. If these situations hold, the fragmentation has not been comprehensively overturned.
Nevertheless, from the Iranian point of view, there are also considerable reasons for encouragement from the events of the last 10 days. Most importantly, the widespread rioting and attacks on Jews by Arab Israelis in Lod, Ramle, Haifa, Jaffa and elsewhere demonstrate the efficacy of al-Aqsa as a unifying symbol.
Even if this has not for now resulted in a generalized uprising, it is a strategic lesson that the Iranians will note carefully. For the first time since the establishment of Israel, Arab Israelis in large numbers mobilized, and on occasions used weaponry, to assist the war effort of an organization attacking Israel. This is a matter of deep significance, and represents a profound, if still partial, success for Hamas and its backers. The possession of considerable arsenals in the hands of elements of the Arab Israeli population, and the potential this has for disruption will similarly have been carefully noted.
The initially slow and weak response of Israeli state authorities in responding to this will also be recorded. As will the role of armed Jewish volunteers in defending against the mobs, particularly in Lod (an aspect insufficiently discussed in Israeli media.)
The large rallies in Europe and the Middle East demonstrate the continued resonance this issue has for broad sections of the Muslim public.
All these will be seen by Iran as encouraging signs of Israeli internal disarray and division, opening up new possibilities for future use.
As ever, Iran prefers to avoid direct involvement. But without its backing, support and expertise, the latest Hamas offensive against Israel would have been inconceivable. From this point of view, the events of the last 10 days may be seen as the latest episode in Tehran’s long war against Israel.

Is the Biden Administration an Enemy of Israel and the Free World?
Guy Millière/Gatestone Institute/May 21/2021
Biden made no distinction between a democratic ally of the United States and a terrorist organization he did not even name. He spoke as if he did not know that the calm was broken by a terrorist organization and by no one else, and that what prevents Palestinians from having freedom, prosperity and democracy is precisely that they are ruled by terrorists and people who supports terrorism.
On April 7, a US Department of State press statement said that the Biden administration had decided to restore US financial "aid to Palestinians", without requiring that American money not be used for terrorist purposes....
The appointment to the post of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Israeli-Palestinian Affairs of Hady Amr, a man who has accused Israel of "ethnic cleansing" and "apartheid", and said that he was "inspired by intifada", seemed to confirm that the Biden administration would not be particularly "pro-Israel".... Amr met Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Muhammad Ishtayya in Ramallah to negotiate the use of US financial aid to the PA while Israel was under missile fire....
In a PBS interview on April 2, one of the American negotiators, Robert Malley, announced that he wants "to remove those sanctions that are inconsistent with the deal", "so that Iran enjoys the benefits that it was supposed to enjoy". Nothing shows that the Biden administration has changed that position.
There were no threats to stop the new funding he had promised the Palestinians until they stopped firing rockets. He did not threaten to withdraw his promise of an office in Washington DC for them.
Most unsettling of all, while Iran's proxy, Hamas, was raining nearly 4,000 rockets and missiles into a country the size of New Jersey, the US was engaged in talks in Vienna to discuss how much money the US was prepared to give Iran – to buy more weapons to batter Israel again?
Seemingly to destabilize Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the US administration made public a report accusing the him of being responsible for the murder of the anti-Saudi writer, Jamal Khashoggi, without specifying that Khashoggi was an agent of the Muslim Brotherhood, an arch-enemy of the House of Saud.
A recent article by Michael Doran and Tony Badran on Tablet explains why Israel needs to stay on guard and be ready to act decisively. A project designed during the Obama presidency and aiming to "create a new Middle Eastern order" seems to be underway. It would place the interests of Iran over those of US allies in the Middle East, thereby leading to the hegemony in the region of Iran. The project would erode new the Abraham Accords, push Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to come to an agreement with Iran and involve "forcing Israel into a more passive posture in the face of Iran's rising power". Is this project that the Biden administration is now implementing?
"[I]n war and conflict, one side wins and one side loses.... Israel must do what all nations... are doing to achieve victory: beating its enemy...." — Daniel Pipes, historian, Commentary, January 2017.
The Biden administration acts as if it does not see that it puts Israel and other longtime American allies in danger; it acts as if it does not see that behind Iran and the mullahs, China is on the move.
Is the Biden administration about to seriously diminish the status of the United States and the Free World to herald in a new world order that is radical and monstrous?
The Biden administration acts as if it does not see that it puts Israel and other longtime American allies in danger; it acts as if it does not see that behind Iran and the mullahs, China is on the move. President Biden made no distinction between a democratic ally of the United States and a terrorist organization he did not even name. Pictured: President Biden delivers remarks on the Middle East, at the White House on May 20, 2021 in Washington, DC.
May 10, 6.07 pm. Six missiles fired by Iran's proxy militia, Hamas from the Gaza Strip fly into Israel and quickly become more numerous. Most were destroyed by the Iron Dome, but not all. Within a week more than 3,000 missiles had been fired by Hamas. Some caused deaths, injuries and destruction. Hamas's goal was to exhaust the capabilities of the Iron Dome and cause as many civilian casualties as possible. To that end, it targeted Tel Aviv at night when people are asleep. Without the Iron Dome, there would have been thousands of deaths. Hamas has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Hamas's attacks were preceded by unrest in Jerusalem and assaults on Jews. An Israeli court decision to evict Arabs who did not pay the rent and squatted in homes belonging to Jewish families in Jerusalem, was used as a pretext for riots. Violent incidents also took place on the Temple Mount, where Arab rioters shouted Islamist slogans calling for the death of Israel and bombing Tel Aviv.
As Hamas launched its missiles, Israeli Arabs in mixed Jewish-Arab cities such as Lod, Jaffa, Acre, Ramle and Nazareth assaulted their Jewish neighbors, torched Jewish synagogues, homes, cars and businesses, and flew Palestinian Authority and Hamas flags.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in airstrikes in Gaza, destroyed countless missile launchpads, underground tunnel systems Hamas built to house its arsenals and protect its terrorists, and buildings that housed Hamas headquarters, offices, media outlets, cyber-warfare units and intelligence units. The IDF strikes also killed several senior Hamas leaders and the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the other Islamic terrorist organization participating in the attacks from Gaza.
On May 11, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that those who attacked Israel would pay "a very heavy price". On May 14, he added that Israel now needed to fight on two fronts: Gaza and Israel. He promised to defeat Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and to "restore law and order to the cities of Israel".
Israel, attacked by Hamas in the past, in 2014 also had to intervene in Gaza, which Israel had totally evacuated in 2005 to give the Palestinians living there the opportunity of turning it into the "Singapore of the Middle East."
Arab Israelis have participated in riots before; some Israeli Arabs have even carried out terrorist attacks.
US Senator Marsha Blackburn tweeted on May 11,: "The conflict in Israel would not be happening if President Trump were in office". While it is impossible to know what would have happened if Trump were still president, it must be noted that sudden changes have taken place in American policy towards Israel, the Middle East, Russia, and China since President Joe Biden entered the White House.
The Biden administration has constantly shown its desire to return to the disastrous 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which permits Iran to keep enriching uranium and have all the nuclear weapons it wants just a few years from now. The Biden administration also apparently is eager to lift US sanctions against Iran, thereby enriching it to arm once again not only Hamas, but also other Iranian proxies in the region, such as Hezbollah, which now runs Lebanon; the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Houthis in Yemen. The Biden administration, however, never speaks of Iran's support for Islamic terrorist groups, or of the regime's obsessive will to destroy Israel.
The Biden administration has radically broken with the policies of the administration that preceded it: President Trump decided to walk away from Iran's nuclear deal precisely because the mullahs' regime was funding Islamic terrorism and constantly threatening Israel the United States, as well as Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria, Libya and Iraq. Iranian leaders appear see the Biden administration in a position of weakness and ready to turn a blind eye to even Iran's most hideous atrocities, either inside the country or outside it.
That the Biden administration chose Robert Malley, the lead negotiator for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, to conduct negotiations again, makes the Iranian leadership even more intrigued by the Biden administration's weakness. Negotiations are currently underway in Vienna, Austria. The Iranians have refused to meet with the American delegation. The Iranian delegation has told Mikhail Ulyanov, Permanent Representative of Russia to International Organizations, that they were "still not ready" to meet Americans.
It seems Iran's leaders thought that they could supply Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad with sophisticated missiles without risking an American reaction -- and they did. The Biden administration did not react. In a PBS interview on April 2, one of the American negotiators, Robert Malley, announced that he wants "to remove those sanctions that are inconsistent with the deal", "so that Iran enjoys the benefits that it was supposed to enjoy". Nothing shows that the Biden administration has changed that position.
On January 26, less than a week after Biden's inauguration, his administration stated that it would work toward "a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict", and "restore relations with the Palestinians' leadership". It did not demand that the Palestinian Authority break its incitement to violence or support for terrorism. That policy, too, was a clear departure from that of the Trump administration, which decided to close PLO mission in Washington and said the United States would not have any relations with the Palestinian Authority until the PA completely broke with terrorism.
On April 7, a US Department of State press statement said that the Biden administration had decided to restore US financial "aid to Palestinians", without requiring that American money not be used for terrorist purposes -- also a clear departure from the policy of the Trump administration. In addition, President Biden waited for a month before calling Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, a delay widely interpreted as a sign that the new administration wanted to distance itself from Israel. The appointment to the post of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Israeli-Palestinian Affairs of Hady Amr, a man who has accused Israel of "ethnic cleansing" and "apartheid", and said that he was "inspired by intifada", seemed to confirm that the Biden administration would not be particularly "pro-Israel".
Week after week during April and the first week of May, as Hamas speeches in the Gaza Strip grew more virulent, the Palestinian Authority leaders in the West Bank also made virulent speeches and did not seem nervous about drawing negative American remarks.
On April 29, PA President Mahmoud Abbas, now in the sixteenth year of his four-year term of office, postponed Palestinian parliamentary elections that had been scheduled for May, most probably out of fear of a Hamas victory. Hamas leaders apparently thought even then that they could launch an attack on Israel: they had weapons, Iranian support, and assumed that the United States would barely react. They were not wrong.
"Israel," President Biden said on May 13, "has the right to defend itself when you have thousands of rockets flying into your territory". He did not explicitly condemn the Hamas attack or even say that Hamas committed war crimes.
"Palestinians and Israelis" Biden remarked on May 16, "equally deserve to live in safety and security and enjoy equal measures of freedom, prosperity and democracy, and my administration will continue to engage Palestinians and Israeli and other regional partners towards sustained calm".
Biden thus placed Israel and the "Palestinians" on an equal footing. He made no distinction between a democratic ally of the United States and a terrorist organization he did not even name. He spoke as if he did not know that the calm was broken by a terrorist organization and by no one else, and that what prevents Palestinians from having freedom, prosperity and democracy is precisely that they are ruled by terrorists and people who supports terrorism.
Israeli commentators seem to think that the harsh rhetoric used by Hamas and the Palestinian Authority leaders -- combined with the view that Israel no longer had strong American support -- had led some Israeli Arabs to openly show their hatred for Israel and the Jews.
The Israeli government cannot afford to criticize President Biden, but they can clearly see that he does not show unambiguous support for Israel. There were no threats to stop the new funding he had promised the Palestinians until they stopped firing rockets. He did not threaten to withdraw his promise of an office in Washington DC for them. Most unsettling of all, while Iran's proxy, Hamas, was raining nearly 4,000 rockets and missiles into a country the size of New Jersey, the US was engaged in talks in Vienna to discuss how much money the US was prepared to give Iran – to buy more weapons to batter Israel again?
In addition, the Israeli government could see that the Biden administration's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Israeli and Palestinian Affairs in the US State Department, Hady Amr, met Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Muhammad Ishtayya in Ramallah to negotiate the use of US financial aid to the PA while Israel was under missile fire, and that Ishtayya had said that Israel was carrying out "aggression in the Gaza Strip" and practicing an "ethnic cleansing policy" in the presence of Hady Amr, who remained silent.
The Biden administration still appears to want to lift sanctions on Iran's regime, even though it is weapons designed or financed by Iran that are being used against Israel, while Iranian leaders praise Hamas for having launched an attack on Israel.
The Biden administration recently removed yet another Iranian proxy, the Houthi militias -- who have been waging another war on behalf of Iran against Saudi Arabia -- from the list of terrorist organizations. A few weeks later, the Houthis attacked a Saudi oil facility and a Patriot anti-missile system. The US still has not reacted.
The Biden administration has, instead, imposed a freeze on US arms sales to Saudi Arabia, and decided no longer to have any relationship with Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman , popularly known as MBS. Seemingly to destabilize the prince, the US administration made public a report accusing the him of being responsible for the murder of the anti-Saudi writer, Jamal Khashoggi, without specifying that Khashoggi was an agent of the Muslim Brotherhood, an arch-enemy of the House of Saud.
The Israeli government realizes that if there are not to be rockets pummeling Israel every few years, Hamas must be made to pay a high price -- so that its leaders will think long and hard before initiating an attack on Israel again.
President Biden said that the United States would provide humanitarian support to Gaza, "in full partnership with the Palestinian Authority... in a manner that does not permit Hamas to simply restock its military arsenal". He did not explain what the United States could do to prevent Hamas from stockpiling weapons again. He ensured Prime Minister Netanyahu of his "full support to replenish Israel's Iron Dome system."
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that the Israeli Defense Forces "reached military achievements unprecedented in their scale, precision and strategic significance for the struggle with terrorist organizations in Gaza.... The reality on the ground," he added, "will determine how we move forward."
"[I]n war and conflict," historian Daniel Pipes has written, "one side wins and one side loses.... Israel must do what all nations... are doing to achieve victory: beating its enemy...." Hamas's rocket infrastructure in Gaza, he said, must be "completely destroyed."
Israeli leaders know it, and it must be wished that the damage dealt this month to Hamas's military infrastructure is significant enough so that Israel does not face the risk of a major attack in the years to come.
A recent article by Michael Doran and Tony Badran on Tablet explains why Israel needs to stay on guard and be ready to act decisively. A project designed during the Obama presidency and aiming to "create a new Middle Eastern order" seems to be underway. It would place the interests of Iran over those of US allies in the Middle East, thereby leading to the hegemony in the region of Iran. The project would erode new the Abraham Accords, push Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to come to an agreement with Iran and involve "forcing Israel into a more passive posture in the face of Iran's rising power". Is this project that the Biden administration is now implementing?
Sensing that the United States seeks to destabilize the Saudi kingdom and him, Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman declared in April: "We are seeking to have good relations with Iran. We aim to see a prosperous Iran. We are working with our partners in the region to overcome our differences with Iran." He then went to Baghdad, Iraq to meet with Iranian diplomats.
The Biden administration acts as if it does not see that it puts Israel and other longtime American allies in danger; it acts as if it does not see that behind Iran and the mullahs, China is on the move. China and Iran just signed a 25-year "strategic partnership" that will allow the mullahs' regime to have hundreds of millions of dollars, help it expand its nuclear program, and presumably lead to greater military cooperation between them.
Journalist Melanie Phillips asks:
"Might Biden be turning America into Israel's foe?.... Obama's hostility to Israel and his empowerment of Iran made his double-term presidency a nightmare for the Jewish state. But if that was bad enough, it will take a measure of strategic genius for Israel to defend itself against Obama's surrogate third term and keep its people safe".
Is the Biden administration about to seriously diminish the status of the United States and the Free World to herald in a new world order that is radical and monstrous?
*Dr. Guy Millière, a professor at the University of Paris, is the author of 27 books on France and Europe.
© 2021 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Gaza war ‘scorecard’: Both sides say they won, here’s what they did
Seth J. Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/May 21/2021
Israel’s IDF says that it killed at least 225 Gaza-based terrorists and 25 senior commanders. These were commanders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The recent 11-day operation in Gaza witnessed an unprecedented level of rocket fire, closed airports in Israel and a record number of interceptions of Hamas rockets in a short period of time. When the ceasefire came into force in the early hours of May 21 there were celebrations by Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank claiming victory. Israel also says it made impressive gains. So what is the “scorecard” of the conflict?
Here is a look at what we know.
Israel’s IDF says that it killed at least 225 Gaza-based terrorists and 25 senior commanders. These were commanders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Israel also targeted the Hamas “metro” of underground tunnels that enable Hamas to move weapons and fighters underneath the Gaza Strip. 100 kilometers of the tunnel network was struck. The IDF also struck command and control centers located in the residences of 12 senior Hamas commanders in the Gaza Strip, used for terror purposes.
Israel carried out numerous strikes on the residences of Hamas members. For instance, it hit the operational apartments that “belonged to Hamas operatives, including those of Ja'adi Cha'alah, company commander in the Hamas 'Al-Farqin' Battalion, Jamal Alaeda, company commander in the Hamas ‘Northern’ Battalion, and Muhammad Shuaf, company commander in the Hamas 'Nuhba' Battalion,” according to a statement.
One of the houses that was struck was the home of Izz al-Din Hadad, a senior member of the Hamas military wing and the head of combat support during recent hostilities. IDF statements also noted it struck “the house of Amjad Abu Najeh, the commander of the Nuhba battalion in the Gaza Strip, who directed attacks from his home; the house of Ibrahim Muhammad Mustafa Qareh, the commander of the southern Khan Yunis battalion, who was involved in shooting attacks against IDF forces as well as responsible for rocket fire at Israel; the house of Ahmed Shamali, the commander of the Nuhba battalion in Shuja'iyya - the building contained military communications infrastructure and stored weapons; and the home of Nasim Abu 'Ajuna, commander of the Beit Lahia Battalion, whose house contained military infrastructure."
The IDF and Israel Security Authority also said they targeted Hasam Abu Harbid, Commander of the Northern Division in the Islamic Jihad terror organization. The IDF his the houses of the commanders of the Hamas 'Central Camps' Brigade and the Hamas 'Karrara' and Parkain Battalions, “both of which served as Hamas military infrastructure.” In addition Israel said it struck “a large number of rocket launch sites and underground rocket launchers, among them a multi-barrelled rocket launcher, from which rockets were fired at Jerusalem a few days ago. A number of terrorist squads on their way to launch rockets into Israeli territory were also struck, along with a Hamas post which included an Anti-Tank missile launcher in Jabalia.”
Hamas forces in Rimal in Gaza were hit as well as storage warehouses. “In these warehouses were paragliders intended for aerial infiltration into Israeli territory and Hamas air force equipment was stored.” Israel also took out a Hamas unmanned submarine and other naval vessels. Observation posts and military compounds were hit as well as a joint IDF and ISA raid on a complex and “first-of-its-kind operation to simultaneously eliminate a number of senior commanders in the Hamas terrorist organization, in the city of Gaza and Khan Yunis.”
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Hamas kamikaze drones were all shot down by Iron Dome and F-16s. These included at least six Hamas UAVs. Israel said that the Iron Dome system achieved ninety percent success against thousands of missiles fired from Gaza. These included 4,340 that were launched, of which 640 fell in Gaza. Overall a total of some 430 Hamas and Islamic Jihad launchers were struck and some 20 rocket launching operatives were killed. The last days of the campaign saw 30 rocket launching posts struck. In addition, during the first week Israel hit a number of anti-tank missile teams in Gaza.
While Israel carried out some 570 airstrikes on rocket launchers, it also took down several large buildings in Gaza. These included 10 government and 11 security targets, as well as five banks linked to Hamas or terrorism. Israel targeted the Al Jala media building, receiving critique for hitting a building that had been where media worked in Gaza. When it was struck it was the fourth multi-story building Israel hit, and critics around the world accused Israel of destroying civilian infrastructure. Israel said the buildings were used by Hamas.
Israel used one larger series of airstrikes, using some 160 aircraft in one operation in the first week of the war to begin the strikes on Hamas underground tunnel network. Some 150 targets were struck with 450 missiles in 40 minutes. Controversy erupted over whether international media was briefed about a ground incursion that never happened and was perhaps designed to lure Hamas into the open.
By contrast, Hamas boasted of new drones that it had developed and said it targeted infrastructure in Israel with them. It also boasted of a new long-range rocket called Ayyash with a range up to 250km. It was able to fire massive barrages of up to 140 rockets over several minutes, trying to overwhelm the Iron Dome system. It targeted Israel’s airports, according to its media and media in Iran. Hamas targeted an Israeli bus with a Kornet anti-tank missile on May 20 and used similar missiles on other days of the conflict. Hamas said it targeted the Ramon airport near Eilat and also other air bases. It said it also targeted a chemical factory in Nahal Oz. PressTV said that Hamas had also targeted Iron Dome batteries.
Hamas and pro-Palestinian activists pointed to the death toll of civilians in Gaza, claiming some 227 people, including 102 women and children, were killed. 1,400 were reported injured. 12 were killed in Israel, including two foreign workers and one IDF soldier in a jeep hit with an ATGM on May 13.
Hamas took credit for redrawing the equation of power in the region in its battle with Israel, asserting that Israel is now in a state of decline. It celebrated and Palestinians also celebrated in Jerusalem and the West Bank. Iran says that Israel gave in to a ceasefire due to the “resistance heavy rocket barrage.” Egypt helped broker the ceasefire and Israel was pressured by the US to sign on. China led efforts to condemn Israel at the UN and only Hungary helped forestall greater critique in a possible EU statement. Israel received some support from Greece, Slovak, Czech and German diplomats who visited during the conflict.
Hamas commanders and Iran warned of new capabilities against Israel during this conflict. Rockets were launched from Lebanon and Syria at Israel and a drone flown from Iraq or Syria. Rockets even flew near Kiryat Yam not far from Haifa. These were serious incidents as well as protests in Jerusalem, across the West Bank and in Arab areas in Israel and in Jordan and Lebanon. Iraqi Shi’ite militias said they sent fighters to join the battle against Israel. Hamas and Iran portrayed the clashes in Israeli cities as a possible intifada and a major shift after decades of malaise. Israel was forced to increase security forces in Israel, send border police to Lod and increase IDF presence in the West Bank as well as calling up some 10,000 soldiers to deal with the various fronts and crises. Major clashes led to concern over civil conflict in Israel and the use of illegal weapons. Israelis travelled from the West Bank to Lod and a few nights looked more like a city with mobs run amok, than a city secured by Israel. People said dozens of calls to police went unanswered and they had to flee the city. In Acre, Nazareth, Kfar Kana, Jaffa, Jerusalem, Rahat, Umm al-Fahm and many other places there were clashes and lynchings on both sides. An uptick in attacks in the West Bank and a car ramming in Sheikh Jarrah added to the tensions. Khaled Meshaal of Hamas called for a new intifada.
The conflict also mobilized anti-Israel views around the world. Pakistan and Turkey joined. Forces to oppose Israel and Turkey consulted with Iran about a full court diplomatic press against Israel. Gangs of men in New York, California, London and across Europe attacked Jews and synagogues, threatening to “rape” Jewish women. Rabbis were attacked. He unprecedented outpouring of Palestinian national far-right hooligans driving around in convoys of cars looking for Jews to attack in the US and Europe was a new phenomenon of this conflict. Although some politicians condemned it, there were no counter protests in solidarity with Jewish minorities. Some far-left Jewish activists in the US reacted to the war by saying they had nothing to do with Israel and that Israel should be destroyed or become part of a one-state solution. Several members of Congress and US Senator Bernie sanders harshly bashed Israel, calling for an end to military sales. Congresswoman Ilhan Oman and several others called Israel apartheid. Congress member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote that “apartheid states aren’t democracies” and her colleague Cori Bush wrote the same thing. Turkey’s president called Israel a “terror state” and Chinese CGTV including an antisemitic comment about Israel. Pakistan’s foreign minister went on CNN and made antisemitic comments. Several antisemitic Pakistan celebrities praised Hitler during the operation. CNN and AP both parted ways with a writer apparently due to controversial comments.
The anti-Israel axis led by Turkey and Iran and with Pakistan and some other countries joining the chorus, mobilized during this war. The US State Department condemned Turkey’s antisemitic outbursts. It appears antisemitism reached new heights during this war.
Compared to the 2014 war which lasted some seven weeks, Hamas fired around the same number of rockets in only 11 days. It increased its volume and range. While Israel did some 6,000 airstrikes in the 2014 war and a ground incursion, it appeared to do less this time. For instance in the 2014 war only six civilians in Israel were killed, including one foreign worker. 67 IDF soldiers were killed in the fighting. 2,125 Palestinians were estimated killed and Israel estimated around 44 percent of them were Hamas members or other terrorists. Israel killed far less Hamas members this time, appearing to concentrate on mid-level or more senior commanders than the rank and file.

Israel's Gaza operation is like no other military op. in history - opinion
Yaakov Katz/Jerusalem Post/May 21/2021
In the 16 years since Israel withdrew from the entire Strip, the region has changed dramatically. But Gaza remains stuck in place.
Summer Rains, Cast Lead, Pillar of Defense, Protective Edge, Black Belt, and now, Guardian of the Walls.
Each one was an IDF operation in the Gaza Strip. Summer Rains (2006) went on for four months; Cast Lead (2009) three weeks; Pillar of Defense (2012) a week; Protective Edge (2014) 50 days; Black Belt (2019) less than 72 hours; and now, Guardian of the Walls, so far 12 days.
In the 16 years since Israel withdrew unilaterally from the Gaza Strip, we’ve had six large-scale operations, an average of one every two and a half years.
Each one had its trigger, each its objective. But fundamentally, none were different from the one that preceded it or came after it. Change the names of the IDF chief of staff, the defense minister and the top Hamas commanders, and the stories pretty much write themselves.
Yes, some details might change, but not the overall picture. Summer Rains was sparked by the abduction of Gilad Schalit; Cast Lead came after thousands of rockets; Black Belt started with the targeted killing of a top Islamic Jihad commander; and Guardian of the Walls kicked off with a Hamas rocket barrage on Jerusalem.
In earlier wars the rockets flew as far as Ashdod; now they get as far as Tel Aviv. Ashkelon and Beersheba don’t even count. And while the missile range might vary as well as the nature of the threat, the overall challenge remains the same: Israel and Hamas are launching missiles at one another again.
In the years in between the six named military operations, Hamas improved its capabilities. It now has more rockets with longer ranges and larger warheads, more tunnels, more fighters, and more sophisticated electronic warfare. All true. But for the most part, Gaza is a place stuck in time.
In the 16 years since Israel withdrew from the entire Strip, the region has changed dramatically. Wars have been fought, superpowers have come and gone, and borders have shifted like the proverbial sand of the Middle East.
But Gaza remains stuck in place.
Hamas improved its military capabilities and its prized and well-fortified “metro,” the underground tunnel network diligently built in the seven years since the last Gaza War. But for the citizens of Gaza, the story remains the same: they are living under the control of a terrorist group, bent on Israel’s destruction, determined to sacrifice its own people, in an unwinnable war, against the IDF.
Like the five before it, the latest operation has had its unique traits and surprises. Hamas, for example, surprised the IDF with its ability to fire non-stop barrages. In one day it managed to launch 170 rockets into Ashkelon within a matter of hours. That was impressive. The terror group’s ability to fire rockets whenever it wanted, wherever it wanted, and how many it wanted also showed that it has sophisticated command-and-control systems that remain undamaged despite the heavy IDF bombardment of Gaza.
If this is what Hamas has now, the understanding is that in any future war in Lebanon with Hezbollah – which has been watching this war carefully – the ability to stop rocket fire will be even harder.
Israel did exceptionally well during this operation. There was, for example, the intelligence coup of discovering the route of the Metro, and its destruction that will set back Hamas for some time.
Most impressive however, was Israel’s aerial assault.
While the world tends to look at this conflict through dry and simple numbers like a scorecard – how many are dead in Gaza (more) compared with how many are dead in Israel (less) – this is a distorted perspective.
It should instead evaluate what exactly has happened during Guardian of the Walls (yes, it is a terrible name for an operation), which is shaping up to be the most accurate and precise military operation in modern military history.
Here are the numbers: the IDF bombed over 1,000 targets in Gaza, many of them homes, buildings, tunnels and Hamas positions. The number of dead according to Hamas’s official numbers – which sadly includes civilians – is about 230.
The IDF says that at least 160 of those are targeted terrorists, and they have most of the names to prove it. That means approximately 60 of the dead are civilians. Some of them were likely killed by Hamas’s own rockets, as a third of the missiles shot landed inside the Gaza Strip.
Every life lost is a tragedy. We know that. But think about this: over 1,000 bombs were dropped in Gaza, on over 1,000 targets – and 60 civilians were killed. Never been done.
But to listen to John Oliver or any similar critic who says that the IDF is disproportionate shows a complete ignorance of asymmetric conflict, especially a war against a cynical enemy that embeds itself within a civilian population and hides behind human shields.
This does not mean the IDF did not make mistakes. Just as all wars include collateral damage, all wars include mistakes. But if you’re looking at the dry numbers as the international community likes to do, then what the IDF has done is astounding, an accomplishment never achieved by any other military in world history.
While Oliver and others will continue to attack Israel, I have little doubt that this operation will be studied at West Point and the National War College. Just extraordinary.
WHAT COMES next? Will this latest round of war prevent the next one? Israel’s hope for after this operation ends is to achieve quiet for at least five years. That is what senior IDF generals are openly saying.
Five years would be nice. But maybe Israel needs to change the way it thinks about Gaza.
Instead of looking at the strip of land as enemy territory, maybe Israel needs a shift in the paradigm: does Israel simply accept the reality that there is another round of violence every few years, or is there a possible alternative?
No one knows. But after 16 years (since the disengagement in 2005) of managing Gaza one way, maybe it is worth trying something else. In most likelihood, the answer will be: nothing else will work, because as long as Hamas rules Gaza, it will seek Israel’s destruction. It is possible that this reality is something we Israelis simply have to accept.
But maybe there is something else. One of the explanations why Hezbollah is currently deterred from a conflict with Israel is because it understands that if there is war, it will be blamed for the inevitable destruction of Lebanon, and specifically and more importantly, the Lebanese national infrastructure. Hezbollah runs Lebanon, and Israel has already stated that in any future war, it would attack Beirut’s national infrastructure as part of its target bank.
In Gaza, however, there is no infrastructure, beside what Hamas has built for itself. In an effort to put pressure on Hamas, Israel tried to send a message this past week to Gaza’s elite through its attacks on the upscale neighborhood of Rimal, but that is nothing like the threat of losing industrial zones, power plants, ports, permits to work in Israel, and more.
The thing is that none of these assets exist when it comes to Gaza, and despite numerous ideas over the years – from docking a ship off Gaza’s coast with a generator to provide electricity, to establishing industrial zones or ports for Gaza in Cyprus or on an artificial island – nothing has moved ahead.
It is important to remember that Israel is not responsible for the situation in Gaza. What happens there is because of Hamas. One of the criticisms of Israel this week was that while Israelis have the Iron Dome and bomb shelters to protect them, Gazans have nothing.
This is false. Gazans have the simplest, cheapest and most effective Iron Dome in the world – it is called Stop Shooting. If Hamas stopped attacking, Israel would not have to fire a single missile into Gaza.
But that does not mean that we should accept this cycle of war. After 16 years of doing it one way, is it not time to try something else?

Israel's confrontation with Hamas is a strategic wake-up call - opinion
Avi Gil/Jerusalem Post/May 21/2021
Strategic assumptions of questionable validity have coalesced into a kind of axiom that no longer requires proof. Here is a selection of these assumptions that should now be reexamined.
The violent confrontation with Hamas reveals how delusional the Israeli reality is: The Israeli-Palestinian issue has long been pushed out of the political discourse and election debates. Strategic assumptions of questionable validity have coalesced into a kind of axiom that no longer requires proof. Here is a selection of these assumptions that should now be reexamined.
• “The Israeli-Palestinian conflict must be managed, not resolved.” – This slogan creates a somewhat odd common denominator between Greater Israel proponents and those who are ready for a historic compromise but believe the Palestinian side is not yet ripe for it. As a result, a large Israeli majority has been created that sanctifies the status quo, increases the impulse to deepen the split between Gaza and the West Bank, and strengthens the legitimacy of the Hamas rule in Gaza. There is a long-running dispute within Palestinian society between the camp seeking peace with Israel and the camp insisting on its destruction. Israel’s status quo policy and failure to set a credible political horizon weakens the Palestinian camp amenable to compromise and strengthens its opponents.
• “Israel will know how to preserve its Jewish character under any scenario.” – The IDF’s attack on Hamas, severe as it may be, will not make the two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the three million in the West Bank disappear. The removal of the two-state solution from the agenda and the continuation of the settlement process in what should be the Palestinian state’s territory bring Israel closer to the point of no return, when it will no longer be able to escape a binational reality and the loss of its Jewish-democratic character.
Although Israel’s Nation-State Law declares, “The right to exercise national self-determination in the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish people,” in practice, a Palestinian decision may have more weight than Israeli law. That is, if instead of demanding an independent state alongside Israel, equal rights are claimed in one state between the river and the sea.
• “Israeli Arabs prefer integration over nationalism.” – The brutal confrontations between Jews and Arabs within Israel’s borders reveal just how fragile the integration process is. Without an effort to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the nationalist urge among Israeli Arabs will intensify and with it their solidarity with their brethren in the territories. The deeper the axis that connects the Arabs living in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, the closer we are to a violent and dangerous binational reality.
• “In any future arrangement, Jerusalem will remain united under Israeli sovereignty.” – The violence in Jerusalem, and the way Hamas has exploited and amplified it, unmask the Israeli illusion of a “united city.” The potential for deterioration is great in the face of deliberate provocations of extremists on both sides. The 330,000 Jerusalem Arabs who have until now boycotted municipal elections may end this practice.
Israel is therefore held hostage by a Palestinian decision that has the power to significantly erode the Jewish character of Israel’s capital. The illusion that an agreement could be reached with the Palestinians that leaves the whole of Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty was conspicuously advanced by the Trump administration in its “Deal of the Century.” It is no wonder that the Trump plan failed to find partners, collapsed and disappeared.
• “The Arab world is tired of the Palestinian problem” – The Abraham Accords led many to accept the claim that it is possible to achieve peace with the Arab world without making progress in solving the Palestinian problem. The responses to the current crisis emanating from the Arab world show that this is a shaky claim. Without a solution for the Palestinians, the longevity of the Abraham Accords is anything but guaranteed. The prospect of more Arab countries joining the peace circle is also fading. Moreover, if Israel does not set a credible political horizon for the Palestinians, it will have difficulty forming a regional front with Arab states in the face of the Iranian threat.
• “Israel will always be able to rely on the alliance with the United States and its Jews” – The Biden administration, which is preoccupied with complicated internal problems, sees the challenge posed by China as the organizing factor of American foreign policy. Against this background, the US is striving to extricate itself from the shifting sands of the Middle East. This position will hold as long as the events along the Israeli-Palestinian axis do not threaten American interests. Washington’s displeasure with Israeli moves in Jerusalem, the pressure it exerts for a ceasefire, and the critical voices toward Israel heard within the Democratic Party may signal what to expect in the future.
The Biden administration will not push for a speedy settlement between Israel and the Palestinians because it does not believe the parties are ripe for it. But Washington is certainly expected to toughen its demand that Israel improve its treatment of the Palestinians and avoid establishing facts on the ground that will foil future implementation of the two-state solution (i.e., settlement activity beyond the populated blocs adjacent to the 1967 lines, and moves perceived as provocative in east Jerusalem). Israel’s disregard for the necessity of promoting an agreement may even deepen the distancing of liberal US Jews from Israel, and their support is essential to Israel in times of distress. When the fighting stops, our leaders will claim they have taught the enemy a lesson he will never forget. However, it is essential that they do not run away from learning their own lessons. A stable and long-term solution to Israel’s vexing strategic predicament requires formulating a political horizon to end the occupation, strengthening the hand of the moderate Palestinian camp, and making a real effort to advance the two-state solution.
The writer is a senior fellow at The Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI), author of Shimon Peres: An Insider’s Account of the Man and the Struggle for a New Middle East, and a former director-general of Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

Le 4 août de la presse libanaise
OLJ / Par Rayane SAADEH, le 20 mai 2021 à 00h00
Durant les neuf mois qui viennent de s’écouler, le combat de boue qui nous a servi de débat public a porté essentiellement sur les écrasantes responsabilités officielles dans la catastrophe du 4 août. Dès le lendemain, voire dès la soirée du drame, nos principales personnalités journalistiques se sont érigées en procureurs du tribunal de l’opinion publique. Et depuis, il semble que toute la presse écrite et audiovisuelle libanaise ait prêté le même serment. Elle aurait prêté serment que pas un seul des meurtriers corrompus n’échapperait à son courroux ; par ses enquêtes et ses réquisitoires, nos souffrances seraient vengées et nos bourreaux pendus avec la bénédiction des grands prêtres des plateaux télé.
Quelques heures à peine après l’explosion, un torrent d’informations sur l’évènement fut soudain déversé sur nos têtes sonnées. Et alors qu’on avait à peine commencé à déblayer les bris de verre, on en savait déjà plus sur notre drame que les victimes des attentats post-2005 en savent aujourd’hui sur les leurs. Nous avions appris la nature de l’explosif, sa quantité originelle, sa provenance, son destinataire, son propriétaire, où il avait été stocké pendant les 5 années précédentes et toute la saga judiciaire dont il fut le protagoniste muet.
Par exemple, dans son édition du 5 août 2020, L’Orient-Le Jour expliquait comment le stock de nitrate d’ammonium qui avait explosé la veille s’était retrouvé dans l’entrepôt 12. Dans l’article intitulé « “Nous avons alerté six fois la justice sur la dangerosité du nitrate d’ammonium. En vain”, affirme le directeur des douanes », L’Orient écrivait : « (En 2015, l’agence Reuters le rappelle), Shiparrested.com (...) avait rapporté que le cargo Rhosus, battant pavillon moldave, avait fait escale à Beyrouth en septembre 2013 en raison de problèmes techniques alors qu’il devait relier la Géorgie au Mozambique avec 2 750 tonnes de nitrate d’ammonium dans ses cales. » Et effectivement, Reuters ce jour-là publiait un article intitulé « Initial investigations point to negligence as cause of Beirut blast – source », reprenant les informations de Shiparrested.com, réseau d’information de professionnels du transport maritime. Ce réseau existe sous la forme d’un simple site internet, et avait rapporté, dans sa newsletter trimestrielle « The Arrest News », la quasi-totalité de l’affaire du Rhosus telle qu’elle est actuellement connue des Libanais. Tout y est : l’abandon du navire par son propriétaire, la séquestration de l’équipage est-européen à bord du navire presque jusqu’à épuisement des vivres, et, crucialement, l’information que 2 750 tonnes de nitrate d’ammonium que « The Arrest News » elle-même qualifiait de « dangereuses » étaient désormais entreposée au port de Beyrouth, en vrac, à un jet de pierre de Gemmayzé. Et ce n’était pas la seule source sur laquelle Reuters eût pu s’appuyer ; le site fleetmon.com, autre réseau de suivi du trafic maritime, couvrit cette affaire dans un article publié le 23 juillet 2014, dont le titre aurait pu suffire à lancer l’alerte: « Crew kept hostages on a floating bomb – m/v Rhosus, Beirut ».
Sitôt que la presse libanaise s’était unanimement érigée en juge d’instruction de l’affaire du port et avait mis ses journalistes sur la trace du nitrate, elle était déjà surclassée sur son propre terrain par une agence de presse étrangère. Il n’aura pas fallu plus de quelques heures à Reuters pour publier ces informations cruciales ; la seule raison pour laquelle ce fut possible est qu’elles étaient disponibles depuis bien plus longtemps.
Suggestion au lecteur: arrêtez votre lecture maintenant et tapez sur Google « shiparrested.com beirut ». Attendez 0,16 seconde puis regardez droit devant vous ; vous venez de trouver vous-même la source primaire de Reuters, et par extension de la presse libanaise tout entière au lendemain de l’explosion. Elle est dans les 3 premiers résultats de votre recherche; il s’agit du document The-Arrest-News-11th-issue.pdf, la newsletter de Shiparrested.com en question. Elle est disponible publiquement depuis fin 2015, les newsletters de Shiparrested.com étant toutes publiques. Si vous aviez été journaliste entre octobre 2015 et le 3 août 2020, peut-être auriez-vous sauvé deux cent dix vies ?
Ainsi, les informations cruciales qui ont émergé quelques heures après l’explosion avaient pour source non pas des témoignages chuchotés entre quatre murs sourds, un dossier confidentiel ou un microfilm dissimulé dans la doublure d’une veste, mais un document public disponible sur
google.com. Elles étaient littéralement à la portée du premier venu.
Apprendre qu’on a passé six années à vivre près d’une des plus grosses bombes non atomiques de l’histoire suffit déjà à donner aux victimes de l’explosion un sentiment d’impuissance écrasant. Certes, les Libanais ont pris l’habitude de vivre avec le fatalisme d’un moustique posé sur une ampoule. Mais à l’écoute des nouvelles sur l’explosion, même le plus blasé d’entre nous n’a pu empêcher ses poils de se dresser. Alors apprendre que, pendant ces six années, il aurait peut-être suffi d’une recherche sur Google pour prévenir la catastrophe…
Bien entendu, aucune société raisonnable n’exige de ses éboueurs, hommes ou femmes au foyer, médecins ou ouvrières qu’ils suivent eux-mêmes ce qui se passe dans les ports commerciaux. En société à presse libre, c’est à cette presse qu’il incombe d’informer. Pour les dossiers « sérieux » du genre de celui-ci, elle possède même son unité d’élite : les journalistes d’investigation. Et dans la presse qui se veut d’investigation, il est de bon ton de dénigrer le journaliste de bureau, celui qui se contente de piller dépêches et communiqués pour pondre colonnes et JT, et ne va jamais enquêter « sur le terrain ». Pourtant, il faudrait assimiler que ce n’est pas le journalisme de bureau qui aurait suffi à empêcher l’enfer du 4 août, mais le journalisme de transat.
Le 3 mars dernier, sur le plateau de l’émission de Riad Tok, Riad Kobeissi – l’un des plus fameux représentants de notre journalisme d’investigation et spécialiste du port – ricanait d’une certaine critique que des internautes prorégime lui adressaient sur Twitter. Ces twittos, avec mauvaise foi, lui demandaient comment il continuait à se prétendre expert en affaires portuaires s’il ne savait pas qu’il y avait du nitrate d’ammonium au port. Il se défendit en disant qu’il était défendu d’entrer au port et eut le trait d’humour suivant: « Comme s’il suffisait de googler “ammonium nitrate” pour le découvrir. » Il ne croyait pas si bien dire ; le bataillon des investigateurs, l’unité d’élite de la presse libanaise, a oublié de se servir de Google.
On pourrait disputer cette grave accusation. Après tout, le fait que l’affaire du Rhosus soit publique depuis plus de 5 ans mais n’a été reprise par aucun média libanais signifie peut-être qu’elle n’avait aucun intérêt avant l’explosion. Effectivement, pourquoi un quelconque média s’intéresserait-il à l’histoire de l’abandon d’une quantité énorme de nitrate d’ammonium (dont l’utilisation comme explosif est mentionnée dans tous les dictionnaires) au port de Beyrouth ? Pourquoi, alternativement, s’intéresserait-il à la séquestration de cinq marins pendant un an sur un navire amarré à Beyrouth, navire qui finit même par couler en 2018, amarré sur la digue du port visible depuis la place des Martyrs ? Cette affaire était-elle en droit de tirer la couverture médiatique aux épiques bras de fer entre Joumblatt et Arslane pour le contrôle du strapontin.
Probablement que, même si le stock n’avait jamais explosé, les informations contenues dans « The Arrest News » n’auraient jamais manqué d’être publiées si un journaliste libanais en avait pris connaissance. Dans ce cas de figure – qui veut croire en la bonne foi d’au moins une partie de notre presse –, j’ai eu tort d’écrire plus tôt qu’elles étaient à la portée du premier venu. Ces informations étaient bel et bien cachées ; elles étaient cachées derrière un mur de compétence.
Effectivement, pour avoir le réflexe de consulter un réseau d’experts maritimes comme Shiparrested.com ou fleetmon.com, il faut être assez bien versé en journalisme maritime. Et cela demande un grand entraînement en amont, assez coûteux. C’est pareil pour le journalisme médical, économique ou industriel. Personne n’entreprendrait ce genre d’entraînement s’il n’avait pas la certitude que son investissement serait ensuite rémunéré par un emploi lucratif.
Or ce que démontre l’échec éclatant de toute la presse écrite et audiovisuelle libanaise à rapporter l’affaire du Rhosus avant le 5 août, c’est que les médias libanais ne rémunèrent pas ces investissements. Dans ce cas, les journalistes libanais n’ont aucun intérêt à perdre leur temps à se former pour des emplois que les patrons de presse se refusent à créer. Et ce qui vaut dans le domaine du transport maritime vaut probablement dans l’écrasante majorité des domaines de l’activité économique libanaise – c’est-à-dire de l’activité libanaise tout court.
Alors je laisse au lecteur le loisir d’imaginer la quantité d’informations publiques cruciales qui passent chaque jour sous le nez de notre presse, échappant ainsi à l’attention du peuple. Malheureusement, les éruptions de ferveur journalistique qui succèdent aux catastrophes s’éteignent plus vite qu’un feu de paille. Surveille-t-on désormais l’activité des 3 ports commerciaux du Liban ? Sait-on si le ministère de la Santé respecte la chaîne du froid pour conserver les vaccins du Covid ? Qu’en est-il des déchets qui ont créé la crise de 2015 ? Y a-t-il encore des déchets nucléaires dans le Kesrouan ? Y en a-t-il devant votre propre maison ? Les réponses à ces questions sont probablement déjà bien plus publiques qu’on ne le pense. Cependant, à cause de leur manque de compétences délibéré, les journaux, radios et télés libanaises sont tous incapables de décrypter le monde qui les entoure. Nous devrions leur être reconnaissants de parvenir à nous donner la météo du lendemain, tant est petite la fente qui leur sert de fenêtre sur le Liban.