Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on August 01-02/2023
Report: Le Drian's dialogue to be held in early September
Naharnet/August 01/ 2023
The date of a dialogue between different Lebanese parties over the presidential crisis has almost been confirmed, al-Joumhouria newspaper said. French diplomatic sources told the daily, in remarks published tuesday, that it is almost confirmed that the dialogue will take place in early September. French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian, on his second mission to Lebanon, had proposed to all those taking part in the process of electing a president to invite them to a meeting in Lebanon in September to achieve a consensus on the challenges and on the priority projects the future president will have to carry out, and consequently the qualities necessary for tackling them. Most parties have reportedly agreed to take part in the dialogue. According to the sources, the dialogue will be led by Le Drian himself, and will likely be held at the Pine Residence -- the official residence of the French ambassador in Beirut. The daily also reported that the five-nation group on Lebanon will likely meet in New York in late September, on the sidelines of the 78th session of the U.N. General Assembly. On July 17, representatives of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United States, France and Qatar had gathered in Doha to discuss Lebanon, urging parliament to choose a president and politicians to "take immediate steps to break the impasse".

Nasrallah urges end to Ain al-Helweh fighting, lauds army
Associated Press/August 01/ 2023
Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday described the deadly clashes at the Ain al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp as “painful.” “What’s happening at the Ain al-Helweh camp is painful because it entails blood, displacement and bad and agonizing repercussions,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech marking the Muharram 13 commemorations. “This fighting should not continue, because its impact is detrimental to Sidon, the neighboring areas, the South and entire Lebanon,” Nasrallah added, urging “everyone at the Ain al-Helweh camp to stop the fighting.”“Anyone who can contribute with a word or a phone call in order to halt the fighting should do so,” he said. Separately, Nasrallah greeted the Lebanese Army on the occasion of Army Day, saying the military institution is “the main guarantee for territorial integrity and stability.”“This institution must be supported so that it be able to perform its responsibilities,” he said. Nasrallah also criticized the Organization for Islamic Cooperation’s statement on the recent Quran burnings, calling it weak, as it left the door up for each country to take action or not. He told “Muslim youth” that there “is no longer any sense in waiting for anyone,” and urged them to take matters into their own hands. He did not specify how they should take action. Nasrallah had told his followers Saturday, in another speech, that if governments of Muslim-majority nations did not act against countries that allow the desecration of the Quran, Muslims should “punish” those who facilitate attacks on Islam’s holy book. He did not elaborate.

Nasrallah discusses regional challenges, addressing critical issues during his speech
LBCI/August 01/ 2023
During the thirteenth Muharram march in Nabatieh, Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah made significant remarks on various pressing matters. Regarding the situation in Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp, Nasrallah expressed his distress, calling for an immediate cessation of fighting. He urged anyone capable of influencing the situation to intervene and halt the violence. Nasrallah also took the opportunity to congratulate the Lebanese Armed Forces on August 1, hailing the army as a vital pillar in protecting Lebanon from Israeli threats and ensuring unity and stability. As for the Quran burning, Nasrallah addressed the global Muslim community, stating that the responsibility to defend the Quran falls upon them. He emphasized that Muslims worldwide must take action against those who insult the Quran, promising that such offenders will deeply regret their actions. Nasrallah questioned the Arab leaders' ability to protect their holy Quran, casting doubt on whether they would defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque. He urged the Palestinian people to rely on their resilience and resistance, as well as the support of those standing on the resistance front. Shifting the focus to Lebanon's internal situation, Nasrallah praised the people's awareness and vigilance in not relying on the Arab League. He affirmed that the country's proper protection comes from its resistance. "Lebanon does not find security in Arab nations, the international community, or Islamic countries, but rather solely in its resistance," he said.

Head of Lebanon's Hezbollah urges halt to Palestinian camp clashes
Reuters/August 01/ 2023
The head of powerful armed group Hezbollah called on Tuesday for a halt to days of deadly clashes that have raged between rival factions in the Palestinian camp of Ain el-Hilweh in southern Lebanon. At least 11 people - most of them militants - have been killed in the camp since fighting broke out on Saturday between mainstream faction Fatah and hardline Islamists, security sources in the camp told Reuters. "This fighting must not continue because its repercussions are bad - for the camp's residents, for the dear Palestinian people... for the south, for all of Lebanon," Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised address. The United Nations agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said at least 2,000 people have fled their homes in the camp and UNRWA activities were suspended due to the violence. Negotiations between the rival factions have led to brief suspensions of fighting but have failed to secure a lasting ceasefire, with heavy clashes resuming on Tuesday. Hezbollah, which controls southern Lebanon and is vehemently opposed to Israel, has ties to Palestinian factions and supports their cause. Nasrallah on Tuesday said anyone who could "pressure, say a word, make contact, make an effort" to secure a truce should do so. UNRWA estimates that up to 250,000 Palestinian refugees live in Lebanon's 12 Palestinian camps, which date back to the 1948 war between Israel and its Arab neighbors. The camps mainly lie outside the jurisdiction of Lebanese security services. Nasrallah also ramped up his rhetoric on Tuesday against those burning copies of the Muslim holy book the Koran in Denmark and Sweden in recent weeks, saying the weak response from Muslim states had left believers wanting. "There is no longer any meaning to waiting for anyone. You must take up this responsibility and punish these damned people with the strongest punishment," Nasrallah said. Hezbollah was founded in 1982 by Iran's Revolutionary Guards and is classified by the United States and other Western countries as a terrorist organisation. Last year, Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old Shi'ite Muslim American, was charged with the stabbing of Salman Rushdie, author of the 1988 novel "The Satanic Verses," viewed by some Muslims as containing blasphemous passages. Matar's family originally hails from Yaroun, where Hezbollah has strong support. A Hezbollah official at the time said the group had no information on the attack and Nasrallah declined to comment directly on it.

Residents fearful as clashes rock Ain al-Helweh camp
Agence France Presse/August 01/ 2023
Fruit and vegetable seller Ismail Akkawi had no choice but to brave days of intermittent but deadly fighting in Lebanon's biggest Palestinian refugee camp in order to make ends meet. The produce market at the heart of the restive Ain al-Helweh camp -- in the southern coastal city of Sidon -- is usually bustling with vendors, but few have ventured out since clashes broke out in the camp late Saturday. "I have to leave the house, despite the horrific circumstances for selling vegetables," said Akkawi, who is in his sixties. If the violence continues, "who will put food on the table for me and my family?" he asked. Outbreaks of violence are common in the camp, but 11 people have been killed in the current flare-up -- the worst in years, pitting members of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement and Islamist militants. It is not yet known why the latest clashes broke out. Ain al-Helweh is home to more than 54,000 registered refugees. It was created for Palestinians who were driven out or fled during the 1948 war that coincided with Israel's creation. Thousands of Palestinians who sought refuge from Syria's civil war have also joined the camp in recent years. Palestinian factions said they had agreed on a truce on Sunday but it failed to hold, and fighting continued on Monday and Tuesday with automatic weapons and rockets being used. Deserted buildings stand riddled with bullet holes on the front lines, while charred cars litter the camp's southern district of Hittin, which witnessed clashes and shelling.
Fear of shortages -
Bread vendor Mukhtar, 62, said panicked residents were stocking up on supplies. "People are buying two bags of bread, fearing shortages due to the security situation," he said, declining to give his surname. The fighting has prompted the United Nations to suspend its activities in Ain al-Helweh, while shops and public institutions have also closed in Sidon, the largest city in southern Lebanon. "Arrangements are under way to establish a serious ceasefire," senior Fatah official Mounir Makdah told AFP on Tuesday. Palestinian security forces are working "to remove the gunmen from the streets and form an investigation committee" to identify those responsible for the violence, he added. "All factions have collectively decided to hold perpetrators of breaches and security incidents to account," Makdah said. Tiny Lebanon hosts an estimated 250,000 Palestinian refugees, according to UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. Most live in one of Lebanon's 12 official camps, and face a variety of legal restrictions, including on employment. By long-standing convention, the Lebanese Army does not enter Palestinian refugee camps, leaving the factions themselves to handle security.

UN reports 11 killed as clashes rock Lebanon Palestinian camp
Agence France Presse/August 01/ 2023
Three days of fighting in south Lebanon's Ain al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp have left at least 11 dead and dozens wounded, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said on Monday. Clashes broke out over the weekend between members of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah movement and Islamist militants based in the camp, Lebanon's largest located in the coastal city of Sidon. Renewed gunfire and shelling on Monday shook the camp, said an AFP correspondent in Sidon, sending frightened residents fleeing. "According to reports, 11 were killed and another 40 were injured, including one staff member" of UNRWA, said Dorothee Klaus, the U.N. agency's director in Lebanon. She added in a statement that UNRWA has "temporarily suspended" operations in the camp due to the fighting. Palestinian factions said they had agreed on a truce on Sunday but it did not hold, with fighting continuing with automatic weapons and rocket fire. Officials said five Fatah members and one Islamist militant had been killed in the initial violence over the weekend. There was no immediate word on the identities of the other fatalities. "UNRWA urgently calls on all parties to immediately return to calm and take all measures necessary to protect civilians, including children," Klaus said. The statement noted that "two UNRWA schools have sustained damaged" and more than 2,000 Ain al-Helweh residents had been forced to flee. An AFP correspondent on Monday morning saw dozens of people, mostly women and children, leaving the camp carrying light luggage, while others took refuge in a nearby mosque. Shells also fell outside the camp, AFP journalists said, with a nearby hospital evacuating patients and shops in Sidon closing fearing further escalation.
'Raining shells' -
By long-standing convention, the Lebanese army does not enter Palestinian refugee camps in the country -- now bustling but impoverished urban districts -- leaving the factions themselves to handle security. "We fled from the scene of the fighting, shells are raining in the streets," a 75-year-old woman told AFP, requesting anonymity for security concerns. She said armed factions were carrying weapons "to fight Israel, not to fight each other and become displaced". Ain al-Helweh, now home to more than 54,000 registered refugees, was created for Palestinians who were driven out or fled during the 1948 war that coincided with Israel's creation. In recent years, they have been joined by thousands of Palestinians who had been living in Syria and fled the war there. Palestinian armed groups in Lebanon rarely confront Israel nowadays, but fighting between rival factions is common in Ain al-Helweh. The latest violence began late Saturday, killing an Islamist and injuring six others, a Palestinian source inside the camp had told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. The next day, a Fatah military leader and four of his colleagues were killed during a "heinous operation", the group said. Tiny Lebanon hosts an estimated 250,000 Palestinian refugees, according to UNRWA. Most Palestinians, including more than 30,000 who fled the war in neighbouring Syria after 2011, live in one of Lebanon's 12 official camps, and face a variety of legal restrictions, including on employment.

Impact of gunfire on livelihoods in Sidon, Ain Al-Hilweh refugee camp
LBCI/August 01/ 2023
In the bustling city of Sidon, specifically on the main road, lies Abu Ahmad's source of income—a small pastry shop. But behind his modest business is a wall separating him from the Ain Al-Hilweh refugee camp. Every bullet fired in the vicinity disrupts his livelihood. Abu Ahmad is not alone in this struggle. Hundreds of businesses and establishments in Sidon face a similar fate. When you stroll through the streets, you'll find many of them either shuttered or their owners inspecting the properties before leaving, fearing a stray bullet or shell crossing over from the camp. This unfortunate aftermath affects not only the people of Sidon but also the residents of Ain Al-Hilweh camp. With their homes damaged and the violence, they find solace by seeking refuge in mosques and schools. However, scenes of violence erupted suddenly at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, breaking hours of cautious calm with occasional irregular gunfire. It all happened simultaneously with a meeting held at the Palestinian embassy to form an investigation committee. The camp witnessed the fiercest clashes near the Baraksat. According to the Fatah Movement, a group from Jund al-Sham, disguised in women's clothing, tried to infiltrate the Baraksat checkpoint. At that moment, Fatah opened fire, engaging in a fierce battle and inflicting casualties among Jund al-Sham fighters. The clashes lasted for about an hour. The Palestinian National Security Forces official in Lebanon, Major General Sobhi Abou Al-Arab, revealed to LBCI that some of the attackers, including those responsible for the death of Commander Abu Ashraf Al-Amrooshi from Jund al-Sham, are known, and the investigation committee will be tasked with uncovering more details. As the tension remains high, the people of Sidon and Ain Al-Hilweh continue to endure the impact of the escalating violence on their lives and livelihoods, hoping for a lasting solution that will bring peace and stability.

Thousands mourn Palestinian general, among 9 killed in Ain el-Hilweh
Associated Press/August 01/ 2023
Thousands of mourners have gathered in south Lebanon for the funeral of a Palestinian military general with the Fatah group, whose killing in a refugee camp in Lebanon fueled fierce sectarian street battles that have killed at least nine people. Three days of clashes between Palestinian factions at the Ain el-Hilweh refugee camp have pitted members of President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party against Islamist groups accused of gunning down the general, Abu Ashraf al Armoushi, on Sunday. A Lebanese lawmaker announced a cease-fire agreement late Monday, which appeared to calm the situation, but sporadic gunfire continued afterward. Earlier efforts to broker a cease-fire had failed to stop the shooting and shelling through the narrow streets of the Ain el-Hilweh camp in southern Lebanon. Armoushi's funeral was held in another refugee community, the al-Rashidieh camp where he had lived. "This heinous crime doesn't benefit anyone but the enemy, and that is the Zionists, because they are the primary and only beneficiary" of the carnage in Ain el-Hilweh said Jalal Abuchehab, a Fatah official at al-Rashidieh camp, during Armoushi's funeral. The violence began Saturday when an unknown gunman tried to kill Palestinian militant Mahmoud Khalil but instead fatally shot his companion. Full-blown clashes erupted Sunday when Islamic militants shot and killed Armoushi and three escorts as they were walking through a parking lot, according to a Palestinian official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. On Monday afternoon, after a meeting between Lebanese officials and security forces and Palestinian factions, Lebanese lawmaker Osama Saad, who represents the Sidon area where the camp is located, announced a new ceasefire agreement.
Saad earlier told The Associated Press that officials are "making extraordinary efforts to find serious, effective, lasting and stable solutions to the situation inside the camp."On the ground, the intensity of the fighting decreased following the announcement, but sporadic shooting continued.
A Lebanese army spokesperson confirmed Monday that at least nine people were killed at Ain el-Hilweh camp, while some reports gave higher figures. Two soldiers stationed outside the camp were lightly wounded, Col. Fadi Abou Eid said. The Lebanese army mans a checkpoint outside and typically does not enter the camp, which is under the control of the Palestinian factions. Some Lebanese officials have called for the army to take control of the camps in the wake of the clashes. Lawmaker Samy Gemayel, head of the Kataeb party, which during the Lebanese civil war allied with Israel against the Palestinian Liberation Organization, met with US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea on Monday and called for "the disarmament of the camps and placing them in the custody of the Lebanese army," the state-run National News Agency reported.
On Sunday, Palestinian factions said in a joint statement that they had agreed to a cease-fire during a mediation meeting hosted by the Lebanese Shiite Amal movement and the militant Hezbollah group in the city Sidon. But the cease-fire did not hold. Some residents in Sidon neighborhoods near the camp have fled their homes after stray bullets hit buildings and shattered windows and storefronts. The public Sidon General Hospital evacuated its staff and patients. A Fatah statement condemned the killing of its security official, saying the attack was part of a "bloody scheme that targets the security and stability of our camps." It vowed to hold the "perpetrators accountable." Rival faction Hamas issued its own statement Monday condemning the fighting and calling for dialogue to "spare the blood of our people and to preserve civil peace." It called for formation of an investigative committee to look into who was responsible for the clashes. Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Abbas both issued statements Sunday decrying the violence. There are nearly 500,000 Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, although the actual number in the country is believed to be around 200,000, as many have emigrated but remain on UNRWA's roster. Palestinians in Lebanon are restricted in their rights to work and own property, and the vast majority of them live in poverty.

Exchange rate plan: BDL acting governor Wassim Mansouri's vision for exchange rate liberation
LBCI/August 01/ 2023
The Banque du Liban (BDL) acting Governor, Wassim Mansouri, declared a plan to gradually liberate the exchange rate, aiming to solely reflect the real market rate instead of the Sayrafa rate and black market rates. The plan is pending approval from the government, raising concerns about the potential increase in the dollar's value in the market. According to deputy governors, the exchange rate liberalization is not expected to affect ongoing monetary stability negatively. They argue that several factors support the timing of this move: Firstly, with the arrival of expatriates and tourists during the summer, many of them carry dollars. Though official numbers on the quantity of these dollars are not available, experts estimate it to be between 500 million and 800 million dollars. Secondly, another contributing factor to controlling the exchange rate is the decline in the Lebanese lira money supply, from around LBP 80 trillion earlier this year to about LBP 60 trillion currently. This decrease in money supply helps alleviate the demand for dollars in the market. What is the reason behind the decline in money supply? The modification of the $400 cash withdrawal limit, which eliminated the Lebanese lira part, made the Finance Ministry obligate merchants to pay 75 percent of fees and taxes in cash and now receive their salaries in dollars. A third factor that deputy governors rely on is improved tax and fee collection to generate approximately LBP 20 trillion monthly, with over half of these amounts collected in cash. Furthermore, authorities plan to cooperate with the Security Forces and the judiciary to combat market speculators. However, experts suggest that the deputy governors' plan may only stabilize the exchange rate temporarily, given the absence of crucial reforms such as enhancing tax collection, combating smuggling, implementing capital control, and other necessary changes that have yet to be realized.

Kataeb Party demands justice for Beirut blast victims, criticizes Hezbollah for undermining state authority
LBCI/August 01/ 2023
The political bureau of the Kataeb Party convened under the leadership of Party Chief MP Samy Gemayel, which expressed, in commemoration of the Beirut Port explosion, that the truth remains elusive, and justice appears stalled, leaving the perpetrators and responsible individuals shielded by a lethal network that evades accountability. The Kataeb Party emphasized the urgent need for an international inquiry to deliver justice to the victims, free from local pressures hindering access to the truth and impeding accountability. They firmly asserted that this issue is an enduring right, vowing to spare no effort in pursuing justice and holding those involved accountable. They seek to provide reparation to the victims and honor the memory of the fallen comrades who perished on that fateful day, including Secretary-General Nazar Najarian, Joe Akiki, Joe Andoun, Tony Barmaki, and Randa Rizkallah. Addressing the prevailing security breakdown in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp, the Kataeb Party deemed it a natural consequence of the abnormal situation in Lebanon, marked by the presence of both Lebanese and non-Lebanese armed militias. The political bureau further criticized Hezbollah, accusing the party of undermining state authority and emptying decision-making centers one by one. They stated that Hezbollah has become an authoritative figure in the Lebanese scene, exploiting its established conditions to turn the refugee camps into arenas for inter-militia conflicts aligned with the agendas of resistance movements in the region. The bureau argued that the objective now is to control the clashes and address the issue comprehensively. This necessitates a political decision from the Lebanese government to disarm the camps fully, given that the Palestinian Authority's clear stance demands the Lebanese state's sovereignty over the Palestinian camps to ensure security and peace. Furthermore, the political bureau condemned the blatant negligence that characterizes the country's administration. Lebanon is left adrift while its people suffer under the weight of crises. At the same time, some choose to evade responsibility, turning the period until September into a phase of irresponsibility, subjecting the country to obstructive forces and appropriation. The Political Bureau considered that keeping the country without a president in these dangerous circumstances is tantamount to sacrificing the state and the law. It held Hezbollah and its allies responsible for destroying the remaining institutions and the current chaos, partial, improvised, and illegal security, economic, and financial solutions. These stem from the prevention of electing a president to seize control over decisions and dominate the country. The bureau stated that following the exit of the Central Bank Governor, carrying with him the most significant file of looting Lebanese people's funds in history, together with the "mafia" partners, leading to the collapse of the national currency and the evaporation of people's deposits outside the law, it appears that the new policy will be based on legal theft. In this context, the Kataeb Party rejected any step aimed at lending money to an insolvent state and legalizing the theft of depositors' funds – a plan advocated by the system to evade future accountability. They emphasized that temporary solutions will only prolong the crisis, asserting that the only viable solution lies in comprehensive plans that exist and require decisive action for implementation. On the occasion of Army Day, the Kataeb Party highlighted the significant role of this institution, which continues to stand firm despite the prevailing dire circumstances in the country.

Cabinet discusses state budget 2023 draft law on Thursday
NNA/August 01/ 2023  
The Council of Ministers will hold a session at 12:00 pm on Thursday to follow up on the state budget 2023 draft law, in addition to other items.

15 diplomats hand Bou Habib letter urging Lebanese authorities to expedite port blast probe
NNA/August 01/ 2023  
Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Dr. Abdallah Bou Habib, on Tuesday welcomed 15 ambassadors and chargé d'affaires representing the countries that signed the Beirut Port explosion’s joint statement at the Human Rights Council. Minister Bou Habib kicked off the meeting by observing a minute of silence for the souls of Beirut Port blast martyrs. The Ambassadors then handed Minister Bou Habib a letter, in which they urged "the competent Lebanese authorities to expedite the judicial investigations of Beirut port explosion,” deploring the “slow course it has taken to date,” and expressing their concern about “continuing attempts to obstruct it.” For his part, Minister Bou Habib affirmed the Lebanese government's commitment to reveal the circumstances surrounding the port explosion, while stressing that “this responsibility is that of the Lebanese judiciary, which must carry out its duties in accordance with the laws and principles that govern its work.” Bou Habib expressed hope that matters would take their normal course, whether at the level of judicial or constitutional institutions.

Mouawad visits Saudi Ambassador
NNA/August 01/ 2023  
Head of the "Independence Movement," MP Michel Mouawad, on Tuesday visited Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon, Waleed Bukhari, with whom he discussed the latest developments and the outcome of the five-nation committee's meeting in Doha.

Sami Gemayel holds Hezbollah responsible for Ain al-Helweh clashes
Naharnet/August 01/ 2023 
Kataeb Party chief Sami Gemayel has held responsible for the deadly clashes in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Helweh near Sidon. “With the presence of Lebanese and non-Lebanese armed militias on Lebanese soil, the Ain al-Helweh clashes are a normal result of that,” Gemayel said in an interview with al-Hurra television. Asked about “Hezbollah’s responsibility” as to the events in the camp, Gemayel said: “Hezbollah is responsible for two reasons: the first is that Hezbollah is preventing the rise of the state and preventing it from extending its authority over all territories. It is also preventing the exclusivity of arms and it is responsible for arms proliferation because it is giving the example through the presence of its armed militia.”“The second reason is that it is engaged in the conflict among the Palestinian factions by backing some of them in Palestine, coordinating with some in Lebanon and playing a role in the power struggle among these factions,” Gemayel added. “The state is absent and Hezbollah and the parliament speaker are taking the decisions and negotiating on behalf of the Lebanese, as happened in the (sea) border demarcation file, when the state was in the forefront while in fact it was Hezbollah that was negotiating with Israel through the Lebanese state,” the Kataeb leader went on to say.

Sami Gemayel addresses government with written question about reasons behind failure to transfer revenues of Independent Municipal Fund
NNA/August 01/ 2023 
Kataeb Leader Samy Gemayel directed a written question on behalf of the Kataeb parliamentary bloc to the Lebanese government about the reasons for not transferring the revenues of the Independent Municipal Fund that have accumulated over 2021 and 2022 and the revenues from mobiles phones since 2018 which have not been distributed until now. Gemayel considered that depriving municipalities from obtaining all their rightful revenues leads to the inability to provide basic services to residents within the municipal area and to the inability to secure salaries and compensation for employees in municipal councils.
The Kataeb Leader asked Interior and Finance Ministers about the reasons for not issuing a decree to distribute the funds of the Independent Municipal Fund in September as required by legal provisions in this regard and about the date on which the government intends to transfer the collected funds from mobile phone revenues since 2018 to municipalities' accounts.

Hamieh says oil and gas exploration vessel granted permission to access Lebanese territorial waters
NNA/August 01/ 2023  
Caretaker Minister of Public Works and Transportation, Ali Hamieh, on Tuesday said via Twitter that his ministry has granted the oil and gas exploration vessel permission to enter the Lebanese territorial waters and head directly to the designated drilling point in Block 9. The vessel is expected to arrive by mid-August, 2023.

Fuel prices edge up
NNA/August 01/ 2023  
Fuel prices edged up in Lebanon on Tuesday, with the price of the gasoline canister rising by LBP 16,000, that of diesel by LBP 17,000, and that of LP gas by LBP 32,000.
Prices are consequently as follows:
95-octane gasoline: LBP 1,712,000
98-octane gasoline: LBP 1,750,000
Diesel: LBP 1,497,000
LPG: LBP 842,000

MP Makhzoumi raises concerns over government's draft law to borrow from BDL
LBCI/August 01/ 2023 
MP Fouad Makhzoumi expressed his concerns on Twitter regarding the government's proposed draft law to borrow from the Banque du Liban (BDL) using its mandatory reserves under exceptional circumstances. According to Article 91 of the Monetary and Credit Law, the BDL is allowed to lend to the government in such situations. However, Makhzoumi emphasized that the BDL must have surplus reserves and positive budget results. Currently, the reserves amount to $9 billion, indicating a potential deficit and accumulated losses. Makhzoumi strongly opposed the government's borrowing plan, dismissing it as futile to buy time and mask financial challenges. He urged the Parliament to reject the proposal, warning that it sets a dangerous precedent, as it could deplete the mandatory reserves and the remaining funds of depositors. Additionally, he raised concerns that bondholders of Eurobonds may demand debt restructuring if Lebanon fails to meet its obligations to repay these bonds.

Lebanese Cabinet resumes discussing much delayed state budget
Naharnet/August 01/ 2023 
Cabinet convene Tuesday to resume the discussion of the 2023 state budget. Last month, the ministers received the budget draft law from the Finance Ministry and cabinet started successive sessions to discuss and approve it. Mired in a crippling economic crisis since 2019, Lebanon has been governed by a caretaker cabinet for more than a year and without a president for more than eight months. The FPM ministers have been boycotting the caretaker cabinet sessions, claiming that cabinet can not convene without a president. Last year, parliament passed the 2022 budget in September as debates over the customs exchange rate delayed the budget approval amid various dollar exchange rates functioning across the country. Cabinet will convene again on Thursday to resume the discussion.

Bou Saab again suggests early parliamentary elections
Naharnet/August 01/ 2023
Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab held talks Tuesday in Ain el-Tineh with Speaker Nabih Berri. “I asked Speaker Berri about the solution (for the presidential crisis) should we fail to reach a solution (in September) and he reminded me that had we conducted these (French-proposed) consultations we would have finalized this juncture,” Bou Saab said after the meeting. “After seven months of vacuum, we should have talked and consulted among each other to reach a solution,” he added. “Today I reiterate that if we don’t manage to reach a solution after the expected attempt in September, we as MPs should seriously think of early parliamentary elections, because it is unacceptable for us as MPs to stand idly by for three years without electing a president,” Bou Saab went on to say.

Illegal betting invades cafes in Lebanon, targeting young people, leading to reported suicides and clashes
Arab News/August 01, 2023
BEIRUT: The Lebanese security forces have arrested Jacques Barsoumian, known as “Jacques the King,” and others, in its battle against illegal betting on the internet. The Court of Cassation’s Public Prosecution Office countenanced the move and investigations are ongoing to prosecute all criminals involved in online gambling who have been able to draw hundreds of young people into their dark world, while also denying the public treasury millions of dollars. The online betting scandal peaked after a series of events took place in southern Lebanon and in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Children reportedly stole from their parents, sold their mothers’ jewelry, and even died by suicide as a result of getting hooked by betting. Other incidents included heated disputes that turned into armed clashes. The only licensed betting venue is at Beirut Horse Racing, while gambling is limited to Casino du Liban, by law, along with a number of licensed venues that impose age restrictions. However, unlicensed gambling and betting platforms are now accessible to young people on their phones or in cafes in neighborhoods. This has led to an increase in the number of those addicted to gambling, who believe in the practice as a gateway to easy money.
Security sources say the plague has “thrived across the country’s various regions. The bets have now reached football games and other games, with young men, old men, and even young girls and military personnel taking part in them due to the temptations of fast-earned profits.”
Playing in cafes only requires the purchase of recharge cards, similar to phone recharge cards, and then using them to play. Prepaying is easy. Most of the cafes operate under the patronage and protection of agents in Lebanon. According to security sources, the number of agents does not exceed five people, who surround themselves with heavy security and are aided by surveillance cameras. During a raid that targeted an online gambling cafe in a southern town, the security forces found what amounted to 4 billion Lebanese pounds. Further investigations revealed that this amount constituted the profits that the cafe made in just one day. It was also found that 90 percent of those in the establishment were aged between 15 and 35. Retired Brig. Gen. Mounir Akiki, who is the editor-in-chief of the General Security Magazine, told Arab News: “The cyberspace is open and all the world is suffering from this plague. “What made the betting business thrive in Lebanon is the deteriorating living conditions and the rising unemployment rates.”Akiki added it was the responsibility of parents to learn about what their youngsters were doing. He said: “In the past, parents used to turn off the television and the children would be left with no other options. However, today, young people are accessing prohibited websites as they sit next to their parents, without them even being aware.”He highlighted the importance of guidance “because it is a matter of national security. Authorities are unable to contain this cyberspace as it is everywhere.”

Lebanon, the Ancestors and the Grandchildren
Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/August 01/2023
The politician said: “I can feel the pain, so as not to call it humiliation. A country mired in poverty and anarchy, where emigration steals its best young men, is awaiting the return of Macron’s envoy in September in the hope that he will succeed in persuading the political forces to elect a president for this fragmented republic.”
“Unfortunately, we did not learn from the war and the river of blood that flowed for so long. We did not draw a lesson when poverty attacked us and hunger knocked on the doors. The Lebanese are behaving as if they hate each other and are worried over their color and their share of the debris.”
“What’s more painful is that the divide between the grandchildren far exceeds that which existed between the grandparents. There is no comprehensive national administration. Unfortunately, the Lebanese always need an outside mediator. They actually need a guardian or guide. They prefer to abide by foreign wills rather than reaching internal concessions. This fact makes every settlement more like a truce or a temporary non-aggression agreement that is not suitable for building a state, institutions, stability and prosperity,” he added.
The politician’s words reminded me of an old concern I had years ago. In late February 2005, Beirut was seething with anger over the assassination of Rafik Hariri, who was more than a prime minister. The city witnessed a roar accusing the Syrian forces of the crime and demanding their withdrawal from Lebanon. At the time, reports said Arab and international parties had advised Syria to pull out its troops from the country.
I was in Beirut and journalistic curiosity overwhelmed me. I wanted to know what President Bashar al-Assad thinks, and how he acts under the weight of a crisis of this magnitude. I asked for an appointment and received an approval for a visit the details of which were not to be published.
I asked the Syrian president many questions. He was remarkably firm in his answers, repeatedly stressing that the Syrian apparatus had nothing to do with the Hariri assassination. I also concluded that Syria would pull out its troops to the international border with Lebanon if pressure and advice continued to mount.
On my way back from Damascus to Beirut, I stopped in the town of Chtoura for a cup of coffee. The Lebanese scene was tense: Hariri in the grave. Emile Lahoud in the palace. Walid Jumblatt leading the ranks of those enraged by the assassination. Hassan Nasrallah not willing to accept any change in the internal balance of power or in Lebanon’s regional position. Michel Aoun was in exile and Samir Geagea in prison.
Thinking about the end of the Syrian era was not simple. Over the decades, presidents, ministers, deputies and leaders were born on the Beirut-Damascus road, and the Syrian presence was the backbone of political and daily life in Lebanon.
My acquaintance of the players of different affiliations led me to worry that the vacuum resulting from the Syrian withdrawal would pave the way for new divisions among the Lebanese, who had grown addicted to working under an external guardian or guide. Unfortunately, this is what happened. The Lebanese were divided with or without the tutelage.
The politician’s words about ancestors and grandchildren made me think about the deep gap between the Lebanese and the loud voices calling for organizing the failure of coexistence since divorce is not possible. In fact, the ancestors did not succeed in establishing institutions that accommodate, correct and regulate living under the constitution and the law.
Sometimes I watch clips of Lebanon’s parliament sessions, and I see a number of grandchildren filling the seats of their parents and grandparents, now, amid more difficult and more terrible circumstances. Taymour Jumblatt is now replacing his grandfather Kamal and his father Walid. Today, he is entrusted with a long legacy of leadership, marked with the wounds of his grandfather’s assassination. He is a young man who dreams of being able, through peaceful means, to help in building a state out of the extensive Lebanese rubble. But the conditions he is facing are more difficult than the ones faced by his grandfather and his sect’s power has been diminished.
Sami Gemayel sits in parliament, where his grandfather Pierre, his father Amin and his brother Pierre once sat. He inherited the leadership of the Kataeb Party and the legacy of a family that gave birth to two presidents and two martyrs. He is a young man who did not participate in the war and does not want to return to it. He raises the slogans of sovereignty, institutions and integrity. His task is more difficult than that of his grandfather and father, because the weight of his party and his sect has diminished. The same can be said about his cousin, MP Nadim Bashir Gemayel, who succeeded his mother, Solange, and grandfather, Pierre.
Faisal Karami sits in parliament. His grandfather Abdel-Hamid, his father Omar, and his slain uncle, Rashid preceded him. He took over the legacy of a family that gave birth to three prime ministers. It is clear that Faisal’s task is more complex than that of his ancestors, as the country is fragmented and the developments have affected the power of both the leadership and the sect.
In the same parliament, Tony Franjieh replaces his father, Suleiman - currently a presidential candidate – his slain grandfather, Tony, and his great-grandfather, President Suleiman Franjieh. He inherited the legacy of a family that gave birth to a president of the republic. He is a modern young man, who dreams of a state of institutions. His task is more challenging than that of his predecessors in the family.
There is no room here to delve into the change that occurred in the representation of families among Sunnis and Maronites, as well as the tremendous transformation witnessed by the Shiite community, as a result of the birth of Hezbollah and the party’s seizure of the leading role in the sect.
The talk of ancestors and grandchildren is not limited to politicians, but also includes citizens. Grandparents coexisted and clashed. They fought battles and concluded truces. However, during those days, the Lebanese did not lose hope that the wounds would be healed. The state did not decompose the way it is today... The citizens’ bank deposits were not looted... The pillars of the Lebanese house were not completely uprooted, and the port, the university, the hospital and the role and message of Lebanon were not assassinated...
What’s important is that the era of the grandchildren does lead to the end of Lebanon and the acknowledgment of the failure to build a state and a homeland, or even to develop a formula for coexistence with minimal damage. The Lebanese are divided under tutelage and further separated once it ends.

Hezbollah’s Catch-22 situation over conflict with Israel
Yossi Mekelberg/Arab News/August 01, 2023
When Hassan Nasrallah, head of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, celebrates something that is taking place in Israel, warning lights should begin to flash in every Israeli household.
In response to the Israeli parliament’s ratification of an antidemocratic bill last week, the leader of the Iranian-sponsored movement said in a televised speech: “Today, in particular, is the worst day in the history of (Israel), as some of its people say.” He was speaking in reference to Israel’s current political crisis and he expressed his hope that “this is what puts it on the path of collapse, fragmentation and disappearance.”
Whereas such wishful thinking has been central to Hezbollah’s ideology since its inception, Nasrallah might also erroneously believe that he could give his nemesis in the south a helping hand on its route to self-destruction — an intervention that could have horrendous consequences.
Such barbs and wishes for each other’s demise are not new, but on this occasion they coincide with tensions along the border and a fragility among both the Israeli and Lebanese political systems. This makes a tense situation even more susceptible to an outbreak of hostilities, whether intentional or inadvertent.
This month marks 17 years since the last large-scale conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which was prompted by the latter’s provocation on the border, when it killed and kidnapped Israeli soldiers, resulting in 34 days of war in which both sides suffered severe losses. Since 2006, the levels of mutual suspicion and vitriolic language between the two protagonists have increased exponentially, their respective political systems and societies have become even more unstable, and their devastating military capabilities have expanded. In the case of Hezbollah, it enjoys a constant stream of advanced weapons and ammunition from Iran. However, in Israel, these worrying developments along its northern border have been pushed down the government’s list of priorities as a consequence of the current constitutional crisis, despite the increasing threat of military clashes with Hezbollah. The most recent tensions stem from moves by both Israel and Hezbollah along and close to the border
The most recent tensions stem from moves by both Israel and Hezbollah along and close to the border, which began more than a year ago. Israel is building a wall along certain sections of the border to replace the old fence, with the aim of creating a barrier that will prevent future incursions by Hezbollah. In the past, the organization has tunneled into Israel. According to Israeli security officials, the aim was then, and remains, for the organization’s Radwan force, estimated to have 8,000 fighters at its disposal, to cross the border and capture Israeli military posts, take over major road junctions in the north of the country and to attack villages and take civilians and soldiers hostage. Israel cannot afford for Hezbollah to gain such a morale-boosting psychological victory, while it would also become vulnerable to a hostage situation.
Border disputes between Israel and Lebanon are not new, but the building of a wall represents a more permanent statement of where Israel believes — or would like to believe — the border runs, a position that Hezbollah and the Lebanese government are challenging. The lack of direct communication between the two sides, the unilateral nature of the steps they take and the general distrust between them are exaggerating every disagreement disproportionately to the act itself and leading to increasing tensions.
The recent dispute concerning the village of Ghajar is a case in point. It is a small Alawite village in the Golan Heights, home to about 2,700 people, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967. Since 2001, the village has been a closed military zone that visitors require special permission from the municipal council and the Israeli army to enter. However, last September, and with no prior notice, Israel erected a fence around the northern part of Ghajar, keeping all its houses inside Israeli territory despite the dispute over the location of the border in the area.
Keeping all the village’s houses within Israeli-controlled territory, regardless of the border dispute between the two countries — which are still officially at war with each other — gave Hezbollah the perfect pretext for a calculated escalation in the area. It is keeping Israel guessing about its intentions and its next moves, and it mainly presents itself as the only force in Lebanese politics that is standing up to its southern neighbor, even though it is violating the UN Security Council resolution that brought an end to the war in 2006 by erecting surveillance posts along the border, which are manned by its elite Radwan force.
If Hezbollah goes too far, it will bring about a disaster for Lebanon and possibly its own demise.
Moreover, back in May, to Israel’s irritation, about 200 Hezbollah fighters carried out military exercises with live ammunition and drones just 12 miles from the border, while senior members of the organization warned Israel that, in case of war, “we will rain down our precision missiles and all the weapons at our disposal.” Between this aggressive rhetoric and both sides’ actions on the ground, Israel and Hezbollah are edging closer to a military confrontation. Hezbollah would prefer a very limited confrontation in which it can make some gains, but Israel has no interest in such a scenario and has no wish to let its enemy gain any semblance of achievement.
In terms of intentions and capability, Hezbollah is becoming Israel’s immediate arch-enemy — a situation made worse by its ties with Tehran and the latter’s encouragement. All the signs are that Nasrallah and his movement believe that the domestic crisis in Israel is an opportune moment to poke their militarily stronger neighbor, but to do so without provoking it to use its superior military capabilities to hit Lebanon with full force.
For now, both sides, with the help of behind-the-scenes US mediation, are managing to avoid dragging each other into a wider military clash. Israel has learned lessons from both 1982 and 2006 and is concerned with fortifying its border and preventing Hezbollah from acquiring the weapons that could alter the balance of power between the two. For Hezbollah, Israel is more a tool to maintain its political position inside Lebanon and to remain useful for Tehran in its confrontation with Tel Aviv. But by pursuing these ends, it has become a dangerous burden for Lebanese politics and society. It is a Catch-22 situation for Hezbollah: To remain relevant, it needs to maintain its conflict with Israel, but if it goes too far, it will bring about a disaster for Lebanon and possibly its own demise.
*Yossi Mekelberg is professor of international relations and an associate fellow of the MENA Program at Chatham House. He is a regular contributor to the international written and electronic media. Twitter: @YMekelberg
Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News' point of view

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on August 01-02/2023
Analysis: Buildup of American forces in Persian Gulf a new signal of worsening US-Iran conflict
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)/Tue, August 1, 2023
Thousands of Marines backed by advanced U.S. fighter jets and warships are slowly building up a presence in the Persian Gulf. It’s a sign that while America’s wars in the region may be finished, its conflict with Iran over its advancing nuclear program continues to worsen, with no solutions in sight. The dispatch of the troop-and-aircraft-carrying USS Bataan to the Gulf, alongside stealth F-35 fighters and other warplanes, comes as America wants to focus on China and Russia. But Washington is seeing once again that while it's easy to get into the Middle East militarily, it's difficult to ever get fully out — particularly as Iran now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels after the collapse of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. There is no sign that diplomacy will revive the deal soon, and Iran in recent weeks has resumed harassing and seizing ships trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Some 20% of the world's oil passes through the narrow waterway connecting the Persian Gulf to the wider world.
For hard-liners in Tehran's theocracy, the move projects power to surrounding nations as part of a wave of assaults attributed to Iran since 2019. It also serves as a warning to the U.S. and its allies that the Islamic Republic has the means to retaliate, particularly as American sanctions result in the seizure of ships carrying Iranian crude oil. Worries over another seizure likely has left a ship allegedly carrying Iranian oil stranded off Texas as no company has yet to unload it.
For the U.S., keeping the Strait of Hormuz open to shipping remains a priority to ensure global energy prices don't spike, particularly as Russia's war on Ukraine pressures markets. Gulf Arab nations need the waterway to get their oil to market and worry about Iran's intentions in the wider region.
Those fears have cemented the longtime American presence in the Persian Gulf. In the two decades that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, there were at times two different American aircraft carriers patrolling the Gulf to provide fighter jets for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and later for the battle against the Islamic State group. But slowly, the Pentagon began to wind down the naval presence, leaving a gap of months that brought gasps from Gulf Arab states and commentators worried about Iran. The USS Nimitz sailed out of the Strait of Hormuz in November 2020 as the last American carrier in the Persian Gulf. The last Marine expeditionary unit — an armada carrying Marines, aircraft and vehicles prepared for an amphibious assault — came through in November 2021.
Washington's worries have changed since then. Russia's war on Ukraine shifted some of the American focus back to Europe. China continues its push to control more of the South China Sea, and the U.S. Navy has responded with increased patrols. In recent months, the U.S. military has again begun dialing up its Mideast presence. It conducted a Strait of Hormuz patrol with the top U.S., British and French naval commanders in the region on board. In late March, A-10 Thunderbolt II warplanes arrived at Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates. The Pentagon ordered F-16 fighters, as well as the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner, to the region. Stealth F-35A Lightning II fighter jets arrived last week.Now, America will have part of a Marine expeditionary unit in the region for the first time in nearly two years. The deployment of thousands of Marines and sailors consists of both the USS Bataan and the USS Carter Hall, a landing ship.Those vessels left Norfolk, Virginia, on July 10 on a mission the Pentagon described as being “in response to recent attempts by Iran to threaten the free flow of commerce in the Strait of Hormuz and its surrounding waters.” The Bataan passed through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea last week on its way to the Mideast. While the U.S. military hasn't discussed precisely what it will be doing with the increased presence in the region, the movements have gotten Iran's attention. In recent days, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian called his counterparts in both Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates to say that "we can have peace, stability and progress in the region without the presence of foreigners.”
Iran's army chief, Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, said the U.S. deployment would bring only “insecurity and damage” to the region. “For years, Americans have been in and out of the region with pipe dreams, but the security of the region will only endure with the participation of the regional nations,” Mousavi said, according to Iranian state television. Iran also made a point to again show off its Abu Mahdi cruise missile, first unveiled in 2020, which could be used to targets ships at sea up to 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) away. The missile is named after Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a veteran Iraqi militant who was killed in a 2020 U.S. drone strike in Baghdad alongside Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. All that raises the risk of conflict, though previous recent buildups of U.S. forces in the region haven't resulted in open warfare. The two sides have been in combat in the past, however. In 1988, America attacked two Iranian oil rigs used for military surveillance and sank or damaged Iranian ships in the largest U.S. naval battle since World War II. With diplomacy stalled and Iran willing to be more aggressive at sea, the U.S. appears again to be relying on military might to convince Tehran to dial back. But that leaves the rest of the issues between them beyond the seas to continue to fester.

Iran shuts down for two days because of 'unprecedented heat'
DUBAI (Reuters)/Tue, August 1, 2023
Iran has announced Wednesday and Thursday this week will be public holidays because of "unprecedented heat" and told the elderly and people with health conditions to stay indoors, Iranian state media reported. Many cities in southern Iran have already suffered from days of exceptional heat. State media reported temperatures had this week exceeded 123 degrees Fahrenheit (51 Celsius) in the southern city of Ahvaz. Government spokesman Ali Bahadori-Jahromi was quoted by state media as saying Wednesday and Thursday would be holidays, while the health ministry said hospitals would be on high alert. Temperatures are expected to be 39 C in Tehran on Wednesday. Heatwaves have affected large parts of the globe in recent weeks. Scientists have linked them to human-induced climate change.

Drone hits tower housing Russian ministries for second time in 3 days
Reuters/August 01, 2023
MOSCOW: A high-rise building in Moscow’s business district that houses three Russian government ministries was struck by a drone for the second time in three days on Tuesday, in what Russia called an attempted Ukrainian “terrorist attack.”A Ukrainian presidential adviser said Moscow should expect more drone attacks and “more war.”The building that was struck is known as the “IQ quarter,” which houses the Ministry of economic development, the digital ministry, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Video obtained by Reuters showed a section of its glass facade, high above the ground, had been destroyed by the impact. “At the moment, experts are assessing the damage and the state of the infrastructure for the safety of people in the building. This will take some time,” Darya Levchenko, an adviser to the economy minister, said on Telegram. She said staff were working by video conference. Moscow has come under repeated drone attacks since early May, when two drones were fired at the roof of a building in the Kremlin complex. While the incidents have not caused casualties or major damage, they have provoked widespread unease and sit awkwardly with the Kremlin’s narrative that Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine is proceeding according to plan. Ukraine has drawn satisfaction from the attacks, though without directly claiming responsibility for them. “Moscow is rapidly getting used to a full-fledged war,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter. He said Russia should expect “more unidentified drones, more collapse, more civil conflicts, more war.”
’OUT OF CONTROL’
In a statement, the Russian defense ministry said it had thwarted the “attempted terrorist attack” and downed two drones west of the Moscow city center. It said another one was foiled by jamming equipment and went “out of control” before crashing into buildings in the Moskva-Citi business district. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said it hit the same tower that had been struck on Sunday. “The facade has been damaged on the 21st floor. Glazing was destroyed over 150 square meters,” he said. A witness told Reuters: “We were going to see the tower where the explosion happened the day before yesterday... Suddenly there was this explosion, and we immediately ran. There were shards of glass, and then smoke rising. Then the security services starting running that way. The shards were really big.” Vnukovo airport, one of three major airports serving the capital, briefly shut down but later resumed full operations. After the first drone hit the business district on Sunday, tech company Yandex sent a memo to staff instructing them not to be in the office at night and urging them to “take care.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that Ukrainian attacks on Moscow and other targets inside Russia were “acts of desperation” and that Russia was taking all measures possible to protect against strikes.

Russia accuses Ukraine of another drone attack on Moscow
Associated Press/August 01, 2023
Russian authorities early Tuesday accused Kyiv of yet another attack on Moscow and its surroundings with drones, one of which hit a building in the capital that was damaged by a drone just days ago in a similar attack early Sunday. Russian officials have claimed that the intensified attacks on the capital region reflect failures in Ukraine's counteroffensive, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said over the weekend that "the war is gradually coming back to Russian territory," but stopped short of taking responsibility of the attacks. The repeated drone strikes underscore Moscow's vulnerability as Russia's war in Ukraine drags into its 18th month. The Russian Defense Ministry said in the early hours of Tuesday that it it shot down two Ukrainian drones outside Moscow and jammed another, sending it crashing into a skyscraper in the Moscow City business district and damaging the building's facade. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the drone crashed into the same building that was damaged in a similar attack early Sunday. IQ-Quarter, located 7.2 kms (4.5 miles) from the Kremlin, contains the offices of several government agencies, including, reportedly, the headquarters of Russia's Ministry for Economic Development. Sobyanin said the Tuesday attack didn't result in any casualties. It wasn't clear why the same building was hit twice in a row. In both incidents, the Russian military said the drones that hit the skyscraper were jammed before crashing. Zelenskyy's advisor Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted that Moscow "is rapidly getting used to a full-fledged war, which, in turn, will soon finally move to the territory of the 'authors of the war' to collect all their debts," without confirming or denying Kyiv's involvement in the attack. The Russian military also said that Kyiv's forces tried to attack two of its war ships in the Black Sea overnight, using maritime drones. Three drones targeted two patrol vessels, Sergei Kotov and Vasily Bykov, 340 kilometers southwest of the Russian-controlled city of Sevastopol on the annexed Crimean peninsula, the Defense Ministry reported. All three drones were destroyed, the report said. The attacks on Moscow and Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, follow a deadly Russian missile strike on Kryvyi Rih, a city in central Ukraine and Zelenskyy's hometown. Monday's strike partially destroyed a residential building and killed at least six people, wounding dozens more.

Ukraine is using a new exploding drone to target Russia, say experts. But the 'Beaver' may have one major weakness.
Tom Porter/Business Insider/Tue, August 1, 2023
Ukraine is using new Beaver drones to attack targets within Russia's borders. The drones are being launched from Ukraine, reports indicate.Ukraine has in recent days attacked Moscow, with drones crashing into a high-rise building. Ukraine is using a new, long-range drone, known as the "Beaver", to bring the war deep into Russia's borders, according to experts. Open-source intelligence experts have posted footage of recent drone attacks in Moscow, and said the aircraft appeared to be Ukrainian Beaver drones. The drones have an unusual shape, with an engine at the back end and a second pair of smaller wings near the front, according to footage and images posted online by Ukrainian outlet Euromaidan Press. This allows them to make abrupt changes in flight altitude and evade air defenses. They carry an explosive payload, and have a range of up to 620 miles, meaning attacks on Russia can be launched from within Ukraine's borders. However, they appear to have at least one major weakness. Justin Bronk, a senior research fellow with the London-based Royal United Services Institute think tank, told Newsweek that the drones resemble the "Shahed" drones used by Russia to attack civilian targets in Ukraine.
But he added that it is unclear whether Beaver drones are as adept at evading navigation-jamming technology as Shahed drones, and might be vulnerable to the electronic defense systems set up in the Russian capital. He pointed to reports saying that two drones targeting Moscow Sunday had hit an office high rise, which is not a target that's part of Ukrainian military doctrine. He said this indicated they had likely been diverted from their intended targets by Russian defenses. The "Beaver" drone is being built with the help of influencer Ihor Lachenkov, who has recently shed light on Ukraine's secretive drone warfare program.
In an interview with The New York Times published Monday, Lachenkov confirmed he's worked alongside the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center. He added that he'd been asked to fundraise for the production of a remote "kamikaze drone" that can "fly very far." He said that he and his followers had been able to raise around half a million dollars for the project. Ukraine appears to have stepped up its drone attacks against Moscow in recent months. Since May, Ukraine is believed to have been behind attacks on sites including the Kremlin, military bases, and a wealthy Moscow suburb near Russian President Vladimir Putin's residence. On Tuesday a drone crashed into a skyscraper in central Moscow for the second time in two days. Russian authorities accused Kyiv of staging the attack. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday said that Ukraine was attacking sites in Russia, saying that "gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia — to its symbolic centers and military bases, and this is an inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process."

Ukraine Has Made One Change To Major Monument To Show Its Severed Relations With Russia
Kate Nicholson/HuffPost UK/August 1, 2023
Ukraine just made a noteworthy change to its a giant monument to show – once again – how its relationship with Russia has collapsed. Moscow invaded its European neighbour last February, and a bloody war has been raging ever since. Russia currently occupies a fifth of Ukrainian land, having launched a “special military operation” under the guise of liberating Kyiv from its “neo-Nazi” government (although this is a baseless claim). More than 9,000 Ukrainian civilians, including more than 500 children, have died since Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade. Still, almost 18 months since the war began, Moscow is still fighting to control Ukrainian land. Now, Ukraine has removed the Soviet hammer and sickle from a famous statue in the capital of Kyiv, known as the Motherland Monument. Around 62m in height, it stands near the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, and weighs 560 tonnes. The statue, first put up in 1981, shows a woman, known locally as Baba, staring eastwards, holding a 16m sword and an eight-metre shield. But as of July 30, the shield no longer has the hammer and sickle symbol of the Soviet Union emblazoned on it, the symbol meant to represent the industrial worker and peasant of communism. But, as part of the ongoing removal of any Russian influence within the country, this was removed and replaced with the emblem of Ukraine, a trident over the weekend. As the FT correspondent Christopher Miller noted on Twitter, this was a “remarkable moment filled with symbolism”. Oleksandr Tkachenko – then Ukraine’s culture minister – explained this decision by saying there is “serious public demand for the process of overcoming the consequences of Sovietisation, Russification of Ukraine” earlier this month, according to Politico. When the dismantling work began over the weekend, he wrote on Twitter that the monument would now become “mother Ukraine in all senses”. Tkachenko actually resigned after the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for spending controls last month – and there was some backlash over the supposed cost of changing the monument amid a costly war. But, the former culture secretary has maintained that such projects were still important in wartime, writing on Facebook last Friday: “Some say it is not the time to spend money on culture during the war. But tell me then, what are we fighting for? Aren’t we fighting for our culture, identity, language, and history? Culture during the war is as important as drones.“The makeover for the Motherland monument reportedly did not come from public funds but from big businesses.

Russia accuses Ukraine of striking same Moscow building that was hit by drone days ago
TALLINN, Estonia (AP)/Tue, August 1, 2023
A drone attacked a skyscraper in central Moscow early Tuesday for the second time in around 48 hours, damaging the building’s facade and further underscoring the Russian capital’s vulnerability. Russian authorities accused Ukraine of staging the assault. An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy  tweeted that Moscow “is rapidly getting used to a full-fledged war,” without confirming or denying Kyiv’s involvement. Russian officials have claimed that the repeated attacks on the capital region reflect failures in Ukraine's counteroffensive to recapture Russian-occupied territory. Zelenskyy said over the weekend that “the war is gradually coming back to Russian territory,” but he stopped short of taking responsibility. Russia's Defense Ministry said it shot down two Ukrainian drones outside Moscow and jammed another, sending it crashing into a skyscraper and damaging the building’s facade. The attack happened in a business district of high-rise office buildings known as Moscow City, west of the Kremlin. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the drone crashed into the same building that was damaged Sunday in a similar attack. IQ-Quarter, located 7.2 kilometers (4.5 miles) from the Kremlin, houses multiple government agencies, including the headquarters of the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Digital Development and Communications, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
The mayor said the attack on Tuesday did not result in any casualties.
It wasn’t clear why the same building was hit twice in a row. In both attacks, the Russian military said the drones that hit the skyscraper were jammed before crashing, which elicited questions from even the staunchest supporters of the Kremlin. Margarita Simonyan, chief editor of the state-funded TV channel RT, said in a social media post that “a drone hitting the same tower for the second time in a row, where three federal ministries are located, at least requires explaining the comments that the electronic warfare downed them all.”Asked about how protected the Russian capital is, given that supposedly jammed drones hit the same building, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov redirected the question to the Defense Ministry, saying only that “the threat exists and measures are being taken.”Sobyanin said the drone that struck the building Tuesday hit the 21st floor, one of the floors housing the Economic Development ministry. Photos from the scene showed several panels of glass missing, exposing the charred insides of the building. According to the mayor, 150 square meters (about 1,600 square feet) of the building’s glass facade were damaged. Russian news agency Interfax cited Darya Levchenko, an adviser to the economic development minister, as saying that the ministry's staff worked from home Tuesday while damage to the office was assessed. The Russian military also said Ukrainian forces tried to attack two of its warships in the Black Sea, using maritime drones. Three drones targeted two patrol vessels, Sergei Kotov and Vasily Bykov, 340 kilometers (210 miles) southwest of the Russian-controlled city of Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula, the Defense Ministry reported. All three drones were destroyed, the report said.
The governor of the Sevastopol region, Mikhail Razvozhaev, said a drone was shot down about 10 kilometers (6 miles) east of the city on Tuesday evening, causing a brush fire. The attacks on Moscow and Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, follow a deadly Russian missile strike on Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy's hometown in central Ukraine. Monday's strike partially destroyed a residential building and killed seven people. Dozens more were wounded. Russia's land and sea border with Ukraine spans more than 2,200 kilometers (1,400 miles), meaning that much of the line separating the two countries is not covered by defense radar, which creates an opening for drones. “Depending on where they are launched from, if there is a way to get through the initial line of defenses, then there will probably be a very poor ability to track them in real time,” said professor Justin Bronk, an expert in military air power and technology at the Royal United Services Institute, a defense think tank in London.
The most advanced defense systems around Moscow "are typically optimized for ballistic missile defense and are looking at targets and objects which are coming in at extremely high speeds and from very high angles,” Bronk said. Unlike ballistic missiles, drones can fly low and slow. That presents a challenge for radar systems, which scan higher altitudes and filter out slow-moving objects such as birds. In other developments Tuesday, Russian forces attacked Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, with Iranian-made Shahed drones, according to Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov. One drone struck a three-story building at an educational institution in the Saltivka district, partially destroying the top two floors of the building, as well as the roof. No one was inside at the time. Three more drone strikes hit the area of a sports complex in the Shevchenkivskyi district of Kharkiv. A two-story building in the complex was partially damaged, and a 63-year-old security guard was wounded, according to Syniehubov. Russian forces shelled the city of Kherson and hit a medical facility, according to regional Gov. Roman Mrochko, killing a doctor and wounding one nurse.
“A young, talented doctor was killed, who was on his first day of work after internship. It was his first working day, which ended without even starting,” Tetiana Karchevych, Kherson region health department head, said at the site of the attack. Ukraine's presidential office reported Tuesday morning that at least 12 civilians had been killed in the country over the previous 24 hours, and 104 people injured. The office reported that Monday's attack on Kryvyi Rih killed seven people, including a 10-year-old girl, making it one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in recent weeks. Russian rockets struck a residential high-rise building and a university building in the attack, which also wounded 81 people, including seven children.

Halted Ukraine grain deal, funding shortages rattle UN food aid programs
Arab News/August 01, 2023
BEIRUT: A halted landmark grain deal that allowed Ukrainian grain to flow to countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, along with donor’s fatigue, is rattling the operations of the United Nations food agency, its deputy executive director said Tuesday. “What we have to do now is to look elsewhere (for grain) of course,” Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Program told The Associated Press. “We don’t know exactly where the market will land, but there might well be an increase in food prices.” The WFP on Tuesday started reducing monthly cash aid for 120,000 Syrian refugees living in two camps in Jordan citing budget cuts, a decision that upset both refugees and Jordanian officials. The agency has said it would gradually cut off 50,000 refugees in Jordan from its assistance altogether. The program had initially covered 465,000 refugees. Syrian refugees in Jordan expressed frustration at the news, as they continue to struggle with finding work and high inflation rates. “This decision ruined our lives,” Khadija Mahmoud, a Syrian refugee from the Aleppo countryside in Amman and a mother of eight told the AP. “How are we going to pay for the apartment’s rent, the electricity bill, the water bill, how? We don’t have the capacity.”The WFP announced last week it has only raised $5 billion so far this year, less than half of its objective of between $10 billion and $14 billion. It also said it has reduced its food and cash assistance worldwide in recent months due to what it calls an “unprecedented funding crisis”.
Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which helped secure Ukrainian wheat also impacted the WFP, which this year purchased 80 percent of its wheat supply from the war-torn country. UN agencies and international humanitarian organizations for years have struggled to reach budgetary requirements due to the global economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic and Russia’s war with Ukraine. In the Middle East, budgetary constraints have impacted assistance for war-torn Syria and neighboring countries hosting millions of refugees while facing economic crises of their own, including Jordan and Lebanon. In June, WFP announced major cuts in aid to Syria, now in its 13th year of civil war, cutting 2.5 million of the 5.5 million people who rely on the agency for their basic food needs. “Frankly, it’s difficult to see how they would manage because all our beneficiaries are in dire need of assistance,” Skau said.
In March, then-WFP executive director David Beasley warned that ongoing funding cuts could cause mass migration, destabilized countries, and starvation in the next 12 to 18 months. “When the most vulnerable at critical levels of food insecurity don’t receive our food assistance, there are only two ways out,” Skau said. “Either they die or they move.”

Israel's full high court to hear petitions against judiciary law in September
Associated Press/August 01, 2023
Israel's Supreme Court said that a full panel of 15 justices would hear petitions in September against a contentious law that was passed last week by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and which has spurred mass protests. The law was one of a series of proposed changes to Israel's judiciary put forward by Netanyahu's government earlier this year that seek to curb the power of the Supreme Court. The judicial overhaul plan has been met with months of sustained mass protest against the legislation and drawn criticism from the White House. Critics of the overhaul say that the package of laws would concentrate power in the hands of the ruling coalition and erode the system of checks and balances between branches of government. Proponents say the measures are necessary to limit the power of unelected judges who they say are overly activist. Netanyahu and his allies passed a law last week that removes the high court's ability to annul government decisions considered "unreasonable." The "reasonableness standard" was implemented by the Supreme Court earlier this year to thwart the appointment of a Netanyahu ally as interior minister after he had recently pleaded guilty to tax offenses. The court said the hearing concerning the law striking down the "reasonableness standard" would take place on Sept. 12 with a full bench of 15 justices. The Supreme Court typically hears cases with smaller panels of justices, but appears to have opted for a full complement of judges because of the highly delicate nature of the matter. The Netanyahu administration's push to overhaul the judiciary has deeply divided an already highly polarized country and sparked the longest sustained protests in the country's history. Netanyahu and his allies took office in December after the country's fifth election in under four years, most of them referendums on the longtime leader's fitness to serve while on trial for corruption.

Two major Israeli firms stop advertising on right-wing channel
JERUSALEM (Reuters)/Tue, August 1, 2023
Two large Israeli companies have stopped advertising on a conservative news channel in the latest sign of polarisation in the country over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned judicial overhaul. Foodmaker Strauss Group and auto importer Delek Motors said they had stopped advertising on pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 after a panelist on a Sunday show advocated the release of the killer of then Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995. Rabin had embraced an Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Channel 14 - often compared with Fox News Channel in the United States - said the panelist, a lawyer, would not be asked back. Still, Strauss in a letter to Channel 14 seen by Reuters said it had pulled planned advertising on the channel for ethical reasons and after "various offensive statements, repeated over and over again". It said would resume advertising only after it was "convinced the channel meets the requirements of the ethics charter". Delek Motors, which imports Ford, Mazda, BMW and Mini cars, said in a separate letter to Channel 14 that Israeli society this year had been torn apart by the controversy surrounding the judicial plan and it was important to quell the flames. "Unfortunately, Channel 14 not only does not do so but only deepens the rift and widens the divisions," Delek Motors said, pointing to the call for the release of Rabin's killer that "was met with applause and echoed the next day by a senior presenter on the channel". "We do not have to cooperate and finance this outrageous conduct," wrote Yogev Weiss, Delek Motors' marketing manager. "I ordered the cessation of advertising of (our) group's brands on Channel 14." Channel 14 said in a statement it was "sorry that the owners of a public company like Strauss decided to educate the public instead of serving it. "Strauss' attempt to drag more advertisers after them to obscure their part in leading the fight to close Channel 14 will not work," it added. The judicial changes pursued by Netanyahu and his government have sparked an unprecedented crisis in Israel, opening deep divides in society, bruising the economy and drawing concern from Western allies. Netanyahu's coalition says they are needed to curb a Supreme Court that it says has become too politically interventionist.

Palestinian killed after wounding six Israelis in gun attack
Updated Tue, August 1, 2023
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -One Palestinian was killed by Israeli forces, Palestinian health officials said, after committing a shooting attack that wounded six Israelis outside a shopping mall in the settlement of Ma' ale Adumim in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday. Israeli emergency services said two of the six Israelis were in a serious condition and that one of the victims was 14 years old. "We went into the restaurant where we saw the victim lying fully conscious with gunshot wounds to his upper body," Israeli paramedic Oren Brill said of one of those shot in the attack. "We provided him with life-saving treatment and rapidly evacuated him to hospital in a serious condition. Following an initial assessment in the trauma room, he was transferred to the operating room." Footage circulating on social media, which could not be independently verified by Reuters, showed the shooter motionless on the ground, wearing a bright yellow vest, while blood seeps onto the sidewalk beneath his body. The Hamas militant organisation, which governs the Gaza Strip, said the attack was a response to Israeli officials ascending to Temple Mount in Jerusalem last week. The legal status of the religious site, known to Judaism as Temple Mount and in Islam as the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, is a recurring flashpoint in Israeli-Palestinian relations. Israel's Channel 12 said the attacker was shot by an off-duty officer. Violence in the West Bank, among territories where the Palestinians seek to establish a state, has worsened over the past 15 months amid stepped-up Israeli raids, Palestinian street attacks and assaults by Jewish settlers on Palestinian villages.

Turkish woman wounded in attack at Sweden’s consulate: official
AFP/August 01, 2023
ISTANBUL: A Turkish woman employee was seriously wounded in an armed attack on Tuesday at Sweden’s honorary consulate in the western province of Izmir, officials and media reports said. Tensions have flared between Sweden and Muslim countries following several protests involving public desecrations of the Qur'an — including setting pages alight. Two men set a copy of the holy book alight outside the Swedish parliament in Stockholm on Monday in an act similar to others in recent weeks that have drawn condemnation. The local governor’s office said the attack was carried out by a “mentally disabled” person with a gun in the Konak district of Izmir at 0945 GMT. The attack took place outside Sweden’s honorary consulate, the private NTV broadcaster reported. The wounded woman, who was working as a secretary at the diplomatic mission, was in critical condition, it added. Turkish authorities detained the assailant with the gun and launched an investigation into the incident, the governor’s office said. The Swedish foreign ministry’s press service in Stockholm confirmed the attack and said in an email to AFP that it was “in close contact” with the general consulate in Istanbul which was in turn in contact with the honorary consulate in Izmir. “Sweden’s general consul will travel to Izmir tomorrow to be informed of the situation and express her condolences.” The ministry said it would “not comment on threat scenarios against the foreign mission or which security measures are being taken, as that could counter the purpose of the measures.”Honorary consulates represent their nationals’ interests abroad but are not run by professional diplomats.

US says formally invites new Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi to Washington
Reuters/August 01, 2023
WASHINGTON: The United States has formally invited China’s newly reappointed foreign minister Wang Yi to Washington, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said on Tuesday, after Wang’s predecessor was abruptly removed from his post by Beijing. China reappointed veteran diplomat Wang as foreign minister last week, replacing former rising star Qin Gang, who has not been seen for more than month — a mysterious absence after just seven months in the job that has raised questions about transparency. The ministry has only said Qin was off work for unspecified health reasons. The invitation was extended on Monday during a meeting at the State Department between US Assistant Secretary for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink and Yang Tao, Director General of the North American and Oceanian Affairs at China’s Foreign Ministry, Miller said in a press briefing. “In the meeting yesterday, we extended the invitation that had previously been made to foreign minister Qin Gang and made clear that invitation did transfer over,” Miller said. He did not say if the Chinese side had accepted the invitation but added that this was Washington’s expectation. “We certainly expect that it is something that they would accept and is a trip that we expect to happen, but we have not yet scheduled a date,” Miller said. China’s Washington embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment when asked about the invitation. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Qin on June 18, on the first visit by America’s top diplomat to China in five years. The US State Department said then they held “candid, substantive, and constructive” talks, and Blinken invited Qin to Washington to continue discussions. Qin, 57, a former aide to President Xi Jinping and envoy to the United States, took over the ministry in December but has not been seen in public since June 25 when he met visiting diplomats in Beijing. The foreign ministry’s brief explanation that this was due to health reasons was later excised from official transcripts. Qin’s successor, Wang, 69, was also his predecessor, holding the post from 2013-2022 as ties frayed with rival superpower the United States to a point Beijing described as an all-time low. Blinken subsequently met Wang on the sidelines of a regional meeting in Jakarta in Qin’s absence.

Iraq's Yazidis: reclusive group hunted by Islamic State
Agence France Presse/August 01, 2023
The Yazidis, who Britain on Tuesday officially acknowledged as victims of "acts of genocide" by the Islamic State (IS), are a Kurdish-speaking ethno-religious minority found mainly in Iraq. IS jihadists carried out horrific violence against the community in 2014, killing men en masse and abducting thousands of girls and women as sex slaves. Here are some key facts about the Yazidis:
Ancient faith -
The Yazidis are followers of an ancient religion that emerged in Iran more than 4,000 years ago and is rooted in Zoroastrianism. Over time it has also absorbed elements of Islam and Christianity. Organised into three castes -- sheikhs, pirs, and murids -- Yazidis pray to God facing the sun and worship his seven angels, led by Melek Taus, or Peacock Angel. Their holiest site is Lalish, a stone complex of shrines and natural springs in Iraq's mountainous northwest. Yazidis discourage marriage outside of their community and across their caste system. Their beliefs and practices include a ban on eating lettuce and wearing the colour blue. Some Muslims wrongly accuse them of being devil worshippers. The community was persecuted during Ottoman times and also under Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
Hunted by IS -
Of the world's nearly 1.5 million Yazidis, the largest number -- 550,000 -- lived in Iraq before the IS offensive in 2014. The Sunni extremists attacked the Yazidi bastion of Sinjar in August 2014, killing more than 1,200 people, leaving several hundred children orphaned and destroying nearly 70 shrines, according to local authorities. A further 6,400 Yazidis were abducted, around half of whom were rescued or managed to flee. After the massacres, some 100,000 Yazidis fled to Europe, the United States, Australia and Canada, according to the U.N. Among those who found refuge in Germany was 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad who was captured, raped and forced to marry a jihadist before she was able to escape.
'Genocide' label -
In May 2021, a special U.N. investigation team said it had collected "clear and convincing evidence" that IS had committed genocide against the Yazidis. Six months later, a German court was the first in the world to recognise crimes against the Yazidi community as genocide. On Tuesday, Britain's government officially acknowledged that IS had committed "acts of genocide" against the Yazidis. Germany's lower house of parliament in January also recognised the 2014 massacres as "genocide", following similar moves in Australia, Belgium and the Netherlands.

IS attack on Syria oil convoy kills 7
Agence France Presse/August 01, 2023
Islamic State group jihadists attacked a convoy of oil tankers guarded by the army in the Syrian desert on Tuesday, killing seven people including two civilians, a war monitor said. "Five regime forces and two drivers have been killed in the armed attack by IS militants" in the east of Hama province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The attackers used machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, said the Britain-based monitor, which relies on a wide network of sources inside Syria. In March 2019, IS lost the last territory it had held in Syria following a military campaign backed by a U.S.-led coalition, but jihadist remnants continue to hide out in the desert and launch deadly attacks. They have used such hideouts to ambush civilians, Kurdish-led forces, Syrian government troops and pro-Iran fighters, while also mounting attacks in neighbouring Iraq. Syria's war broke out after President Bashar al-Assad's repression of peaceful anti-government demonstrations in 2011 escalated into a deadly conflict that pulled in foreign powers and global jihadists. The conflict has killed more than half a million people and displaced millions. Last week, IS jihadists claimed responsibility for a rare bombing in Damascus that killed at least six people near the capital's Sayyida Zeinab mausoleum, Syria's most visited Shiite pilgrimage site.

Saudi approves $1.2 bn in Yemen aid
Agence France Presse/August 01, 2023
Saudi Arabia has approved a $1.2 billion grant to Yemen's internationally recognised government, two officials told AFP on Tuesday, the latest attempt to prop up the war-scarred country's flagging economy. Yemen's finance minister and central bank governor as well as the Saudi ambassador were expected to disclose details of the grant at a signing ceremony in Riyadh at 5 pm (1400 GMT), said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to confirm the amount. Since 2015, Riyadh has led an international coalition backing the Aden-based government in its war against Huthi rebels, who seized the capital Sanaa in 2014. Fighting has dropped off sharply since a U.N.-brokered truce took effect in April last year, even though it lapsed in October. However more than two-thirds of Yemenis depend on aid to survive amid a grinding economic crisis marked by a collapsed currency and import bans. The U.N. special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said in June that "economic warfare" between the opposing parties had compounded the country's problems. At the end of last year, Huthi drone attacks on government-run oil terminals halted hydrocarbon exports, the main source of income for the Saudi-backed government, which is headed by an eight-member Presidential Leadership Council unveiled in Riyadh shortly after the truce began. The government has struggled to finance basic services and pay the salaries of civil servants. The Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen has touted Riyadh's efforts to ease Yemen's economic woes, including a $1 billion deposit in the central bank earlier this year, a $600 million oil derivatives fund and $400 million for development projects such as housing and hospitals. A surprise rapprochement deal announced in March between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which backs the Huthis, raised hopes for a durable ceasefire in Yemen. The following month, Saudi ambassador Mohammed al-Jaber travelled to Sanaa for talks with Huthi officials. Those meetings ended without a new agreement, though Jaber told AFP in May he believed all parties were "serious" about wanting peace.

Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on August 01-02/2023
Israel’s legal reforms continue to be of interest to the Palestinians, Hezbollah and Iran, who perceive the country as weakened
The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center/August 01/2023
Overview
The Palestinians and Hezbollah continue to monitor and extensively report on the protests in Israel following the ongoing promotion of legal reforms in Israel and the reversal of the “reasonableness doctrine,”[1] which was passed July 24, 2023 and the protest and controversy accompanying the legislation and its approval.[2] In Iran and Arab world there has been a recent decline in interest in events in Israel. Special attention has been paid to the declarations of reserve soldiers, especially pilots, soldiers in special units and intelligence personnel, about no longer volunteering for reserve service. In Arab-Muslim perception, the events indicate that Israel is militarily weak, has lost its deterrence and the rift in Israeli society is widening, all giving them an opportunity to attack Israel.
Some of the reports were based on Israeli media coverage. Arab-Muslim commentators and leaders predicted Israel’s approaching end, with claims such as “the days of the Zionist entity are numbered,” “Israel is on the brink of civil war,” “Israeli society is crumbling from within,” “the Israeli army has weakened and lost some of its deterrent power” and “the relationship between Israel and its main ally, the United States, have been damaged.”
Others related to the possibility that Israel was liable to take advantage of the situation vis-à-vis the Palestinians and toughen its policy towards them, or initiate military action against its opponents to unite the Israeli public and end the protests.
There were also calls from the Palestinians to exploit the situation to expand the “resistance” [anti-Israel terrorism] and bring the “settlement project” to a halt. On the other hand, there was an exceptional call for the Palestinian public to learn from the Israeli public and take to the streets to protest the ongoing violation of their rights by the corrupt Palestinian Authority leadership.
Further Information
Regarding the blow to Israel’s military might
Dr. Saleh al-Naami, Doctor of Political Science, Gazan political commentator and researcher of Israeli issues, wrote an article about the repeated warnings in Israel regarding possible damage to the IDF’s operational competence because of the many reports about IDF officers and soldiers, especially in the Air Force, who announced they would no longer volunteer for reserve service until the legislation had been halted (Palestine Online, July 18, 2023). In a different article he wrote that the reserve forces make up 70% of the IDF’s order of battle, and wondered about the extent of the potential damage to the IDF’s operational capability (Salah al-Naami’s Twitter account, July 20, 2023).
A short video was published on the al-Manar website which had initially been distributed on the social networks in Israel (the al-Manar version had Arabic subtitles). The video simulated a situation in which an IDF ground force soldier requests air assistance and as a condition for providing it, a pilot asks if the soldier supports the planned legislation, (al-Manar, July 24, 2023). Another post on the al-Manar website, relying mainly on Israeli media reports, claimed the political dispute in Israel had seeped into the ranks of the army and affected the willingness to report for reserve service (al-Manar, July 25, 2023).
During an interview, Hassan Hejazi, al-Manar’s commentator on Israeli affairs, related to a letter sent to the IDF soldiers by Chief of Staff, Major General Herzi Halevi, in which he stated that without cohesion in the army Israel would not be able to survive. In addition, Hejazi also mentioned the reports in the Israeli media stating that ten thousand IDF reserve soldiers and officers had announced they would no longer volunteer for reserve service if the bill to limit “reasonableness” was passed (al-Manar, July 23, 2023).
After the elimination of the Supreme Court’s “reasonableness” powers, an article in the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz was quoted on the Hezbollah-affiliated al-Mayadeen website. The article reported an initial erosion of the IDF’s operational capabilities, especially the Air Force, and claimed that in addition to the growing number of reserve officers and soldiers who announced they would no longer volunteer, refusal to serve could be expected from regular and career army officers and soldiers until the legislation is halted (al-Mayadeen, July 26, 2023).
The Lebanese daily newspaper al-Akhbar quoted a reserve officer who called it “the most serious crisis since the establishment of the State.” In addition, the paper emphasized that claims stating that 48 hours after the legislation had been passed the IDF would not be able to wage war were exaggerated. However it claimed that the situation of the IDF “is not normal” and that there were reports of “damages to its efficiency, cohesion and strength” (al-Akhbar, July 26, 2023).
The Iranian state news agency IRNA published an article titled, “What will the future of the Zionist army be?” Israeli commentators as well as senior IDF officials were quoted regarding the reservists’ announcements about no longer volunteering, as well as reports from the Israeli media claiming “the army is in crisis” (IRNA, July 26, 2023).
However, several commentators warned against early hopes for a civil war in Israel and claimed the Israeli prime minister might initiate military action against the Palestinians and/or Iran and Hezbollah to unite the Israeli public. Al-Quds published an editorial titled, “The disputes within Israel will not lead to a civil war,” claiming that as in the past, to deflect attention from an internal crisis, unite the people and stop the demonstrations, the right-wing government might take military action against each of its rivals, most likely in south Lebanon, in view of the growing tensions there in recent weeks (al-Quds, July 18, 2023). Talal Oukal, a political commentator from Gaza and al-Ayam columnist, wrote that to unite the Israeli public, Netanyahu might involve Israel in a military “adventure” with Iran or Hezbollah, meaning that the entire Middle East was on the brink of a broad, bloody explosion (al-Ayam, July 24, 2023).
Regarding Israel’s situation and status
Dr. Wa’el Mana’ma, political commentator and head of the journalism department at the Islamic University in Gaza, claimed Israel was living its last days, carrying within itself what would destroy it, and suffering from decline and degeneration unknown since its establishment in 1948 (Palestine Online, July 3, 2023).
According to Dr. Saleh al-Naami, Israel has been in a state of unprecedented internal unrest since the first reading of the anti-“reasonableness” law was approved. He claimed it would contribute to the spread of corruption in the corridors of government and strengthen nepotism (Salah al-Naami’s Twitter account, July 11, 2023). Adnan Abu Amer, a Gazan political commentator and researcher of Israeli affairs, claimed the political crisis developing in Israel around the legal “reforms” was a clear danger to the continued growth of the high-tech sector, and apparently between 50% and 80% percent of new start-ups were not registered as Israeli companies, in addition to a significant decrease in foreign investments in high-tech during the first quarter of 2023 (Palestine Online, July 12, 2023).
On July 24, 2023, according to the main article in the Iranian daily Kayhan, Israel was undergoing an unprecedented crisis that had weakened the IDF, the country’s national strength, its regional status and its ties with the United States (Kayhan, July 24, 2023). On July 26, 2023, the paper claimed that “a civil war has begun in Israel which is expected to be long-term.” The article elaborated on the clashes during the protests and quoted Israeli officials who spoke of “internal destruction” as well as commentators who claimed that “a military coup is not improbable” (Kayhan, July 26, 2023).
Shortly after the “reasonableness” bill passed the first reading in the Knesset on July 24, 2023, key Palestinian and Hezbollah figures gave their opinions about the expected consequences:
Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah secretary general, claimed “Today in particular is the worst day in the history of the Zionist entity, as several of its people say, and has set it on the path to collapse and decline” (Hezbollah’s combat information channel on Telegram, July 24, 2023). Muhammad Ra’ed, the leader of the Hezbollah faction in the Lebanese parliament, claimed “The enemy is now in an unenviable situation and its worst by far… Therefore, it is the ‘resistance’s’ responsibility to find ‘equations’ to deter the enemy and preserve the sovereignty of the people” (NNA, July 25, 2023). Al-Manar also noted the drop in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and the devaluation of the shekel (al-Manar, July 24, 2023).
Dr. Saleh al-Naami claimed that Israel had given the Palestinians a great gift, because the bill made it easier to prosecute Israel in international courts (Salah al-Naami’s Twitter account, July 25, 2023). Dr. Yusuf Rizqa, senior Hamas figure, claimed senior Israeli political commentators agreed that far-reaching changes in Israeli society were inevitable and could lead to civil war (Palestine Online, July 25, 2023).
On July 25, 2023, the Israeli media reported the presence of a Hezbollah squad, which led Hezbollah-affiliated journalist Hossein Mortada to post a picture to his Twitter account combining motifs related to the political-social crisis in Israel and the report from the border. The picture features the image of one of the activists recorded in the video flanked by a broken Star of David symbolizing the fracture in Israeli society, and in the background, the hashtag frequently seen on Hezbollah-affiliated channels, “#temporary_entity.” Mortada tweeted, “The hour is nigh” (Hossein Mortada’s Twitter account, July 25, 2023).
On July 26, 2023, the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese daily newspaper al-Akhbar devoted its front page and several articles to the events in Israel with the headline, “Mourning in Israel – the Establishment of the Fascist State.” According to the front-page article, “the atmosphere of mourning in the Israeli newspapers expresses the desire of the liberal colonialists in Israeli society to continue killing Palestinians in a manner consistent with international law.” An editorial claimed that developments were leading to a point of no return, which was potentially very dangerous [for Israel], in light of “the regional and international transformations that help Israel’s enemy.” The al-Mayadeen website quoted the prophecy of Haaretz’ Middle East affairs commentator, who said that “the day before yesterday the Israeli government officially approved the beginning of a civil war ” (al-Mayadeen, July 26, 2023).
After the Knesset passed the bill, Tareq al-Hamid, the former editor-in-chief of the pro-Saudi daily al-Sharq al-Awsat, wrote that “In the past we described Israel as the only democratic country in our region, but the situation has changed and today it can be said that Israel has come to terms with the regional rules of the game and has become a Middle Eastern state par excellence, where democracy is distorted” (al-Sharq al-Awsat, July 26, 2023). Lebanese-French political commentator Gilbert al-Ashkar, in an article published on the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated news website Arab 21, claimed that “the social division in the world is growing wider with the re-emergence of the extreme right in its new guise, neo-fascism, which accepts the democratic rules of the game without weapons.” According to the article, “the greatest paradox is that the Jews, who were its victims in the last century, have today become a breeding ground for [fascism]” (Arabi 21, July 26, 2023).
Several articles referred to the implications of the legal legislation on Israel-United States relations:
In an al-Quds editorial titled “What happens after the anti-reasonableness legislation?” argued that despite Israel’s dependence on American aid and the American administration’s displeasure with the legislation, the Israeli government chose to pass the bill. However, because of its interests in the Middle East, the United States will most probably not suspend its support for Israel (al-Quds, July 25, 2023).
Bassem Barhoum, a regular contributor the Palestinian Authority- (PA) affiliated daily al-Hayat al-Jadeeda, wondered if the US would allow the Israeli government to continue promoting the legislation, given the damage it would most likely do to American interests in the Middle East (al-Hayat al-Jadeeda, July 25, 2023).
Omar al-Ghoul, a member of the PLO Central Council and a political commentator who regularly contributes to al-Hayat al-Jadeeda, echoed the July 23, 2023 Washington Post article by reporter Max Boot, dated July 23, 2023, who claimed that Netanyahu’s policies endangered the close relationship between Israel and the United States. Al-Ghoul pointed out that the American administration and European countries had not yet grasped the magnitude of the crisis in Israel and did not understand that its roots went deep and were related to the heterogeneous composition of Israeli society (al-Hayat al-Jadeeda, July 25, 2023).
Dr. Yusuf Rizqa claimed that following the legislation, the United States would change its position vis-à-vis Israel with the excuse that Israel was no longer a democracy and the White House no longer completely trusted it. That possible scenario, he said, had implications for the Palestinian issue, the issue of [Israel’s] normalization with Arab countries and the conflict with Iran (Palestine Online, July 25, 2023).
The Iranian Arabic-language al-Alam network published a video published titled “The Coming Disintegration” which welcomed the crisis in Israel, and the deterioration of relations between Israel and the American government (al-Alam, July 25, 2023).
Regarding the Palestinian situation
Majed al-Zabda, a Gazan political commentator, claimed the crisis in Israel was an opportunity for the Palestinians Israel’s because the “Zionist parties” were on collision course, the crisis affected the IDF and Israel’s various economic pillars, all of which could be leveraged by the Palestinians. They had to think very carefully about ways to weaken the “settlement project” in the West Bank and Jerusalem, strengthen the Palestinian “resistance” in order to spread it to all West Bank districts, and build a national front capable of leading the Palestinians and directing concentrated attacks on Israel’s military, security and economy (Palestine Online, July 25, 2023).
Other commentators expressed concerns that if the legislation passed, it would provide legal justification for a harsher policy towards the Palestinians. For example, Dr. Salah al-Naami claimed the new legislation would make Israel more aggressive in its dealings with the Palestinians because it would exempt the government from having to use legal grounds to justify measures of oppression and terrorism (Salah al-Naami’s Twitter account, July 11, 2023). Bassem Barhoum, a political commentator who regularly contributes to the daily PA-affiliated al-Hayat al-Jadeeda, claimed that the Palestinians were the ones most affected by any development in Israel. He expressed concern that Israel’s right-wing government would attempt to eliminate the existence of the Palestinians as a people with national rights. In his opinion, successful opposition to the bill and, with American support, halting the legislation, would be good news for the Palestinian public, as they would have a better chance of dialogue with Israel’s left and the threat to the Palestinians would decrease (al-Hayat al-Jadeeda, July 20, 2023). Saleh al-Naami wrote that the Palestinians would be the legislation’s first victims, because it would allow Israeli ministers Ben-Gvir and Smotrich “to carry out their criminal plots against the Palestinians, plots of annexation, deportation, oppression and even extermination” (Saleh al-Naami’s Twitter account, July 24, 2023).
At the Palestinian organization summit meeting in Egypt, Isma’il Haniyeh, head of Hamas’ political bureau, said “we are facing an unusual phase in the conflict with the enemy and it requires us to make exceptional decisions about how to oppose [Israel’s] extremist policies.” He claimed they has to exploit of the window of opportunity created by the situation in which the “occupation” was suffering from an unprecedented internal schism, tense international relations and frustration at being able to “break the Palestinian resistance” (al-Risalah, July 30, 2023).
A rare opinion called on the Palestinian public to learn from the Israeli public and protest the trampling of their rights and the corruption in the PA. Akram Atallah, a political commentator from Gaza, argued that just as the Israeli public went out [into the streets] to protest what it perceived as a threat to the State of Israel’s liberal democratic character, the Palestinian public should also go out into the streets and protest the corruption of the PA’s senior officials and the trampling of their rights (al-Ayam, July 16, 2023 ).
Full document in PDF format
[1] The doctrine is used by the Israeli Supreme Court to review governmental decisions and can invalidate them. That is important because given Israel's political system, both the legislative and executive branches are in the hands of the ruling coalition, and a strong, independent judiciary is the only agency for checks and balances. ↑
[2] For further information see the ITIC's March 13, 2023, report, "Protests in Israel and the rejection of the government’s new legal reforms from the perspective of the Palestinians and Hezbollah." ↑

The Uninvited Backbone of Israel's Anti-Reform Movement
Steve Apfel/Gatestone Institute/August 01, 2023
Truth Social Gettr
In the war of words over Israel's judicial reform, irrespective of the rights and wrongs of the disputants, the word "democracy" appears to have suffered a bit of a roughing-up.
"... Biden was wrong to intervene in the debate over Netanyahu's proposed judicial reforms.... otherwise, Israeli officials may start commenting on Hunter Biden's plea deal." – Former National Security Advisor John Bolton, Twitter, July 31, 2023.
So, the Biden Administration delivered an "either-or" threat: stop the judicial reform or break our special relationship. The break had actually already begun with President Barack Obama, who became quixotically committed to a policy to finance and enable Israel's self-declared arch-enemy -- "Death to Israel" should probably qualify one as an arch-enemy -- unlimited nuclear weapons, billions of dollars to manufacture them; ballistic missiles to deliver them, and loose change for Iran's mullahs to continue "exporting" their Revolution into Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and Latin America.
"... the lawyers were all on one side, and they were all working to help Hunter Biden. The were all working to hide a blanket immunity agreement from the judge..." -- Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, Fox News, July 28, 2023.
"We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America," then-presidential candidate Barack Obama declared a few days before the 2008 presidential election, somehow neglecting to say what he was planning to transform it into.
FBI agents, in an illegal "state action," attempted an end-run around the First Amendment, dishonestly colluding with Facebook and other tech companies to censor news reports about Hunter Biden's 2020 election-altering "Laptop from Hell."
Team Biden, in the person of Antony Blinken, had reportedly called Mike Morell to get what ultimately turned out to be 51 former intelligence officials to sign a letter falsely alleging that the Hunter Biden laptop had "all the earmarks of a Russian intelligence operation." That letter, it turned out, was the real disinformation.
It was countered immediately on Fox Business by former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe. "Let me be clear," Ratcliffe said, "the intelligence community doesn't believe that because there is no intelligence that supports... that Hunter Biden's laptop is part of some Russian disinformation campaign. It's simply not true."
What it all comes down to is that one party seemingly decided that Obama's promise to radically transform America was too important to trust to the electorate.
Now Blinken and Biden are supposedly qualified to give Israel's coalition government a lecture on judicial probity and democracy?
President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are supposedly qualified to give Israel's coalition government a lecture on judicial probity and democracy? (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
In the war of words over Israel's judicial reform, irrespective of the rights and wrongs of the disputants, the word "democracy" appears to have suffered a bit of a roughing-up.
Thomas Friedman, New York Times columnist, proclaimed that "Only Biden Can Save Israel Now." Meanwhile President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have extend their not-so-clandestine attacks on the proposed reforms of Israel's judiciary – and intruded, uninvited, into the internal affairs of a fellow democracy -- right on the heels of a free, fair and uncontested election. Friedman wrote in his open letter to Biden:
"... Mr. President, this Jewish democracy urgently needs another airlift to save it from being destroyed from the inside. It needs an urgent resupply of hard truths — something only you can provide.... something very important could break in Israel and in our relationship with Israel. And once it's gone, it will never come back."
First of all, Israel's election was the product of "Jewish democracy." Unfortunately it seems to have delivered a result the Biden Administration did not like. What was the democratic response from Biden Administration? It repeatedly called for and helped fund what some may call a slightly undemocratic attempted coup d'état to remove the newly elected prime minister and his government until Israel can come up with one that the Administration likes better. As former National Security Advisor Ambassador John Bolton dryly tweeted:
"For both America and Israel, Biden was wrong to intervene in the debate over Netanyahu's proposed judicial reforms. US officials who are real friends of Israel should contribute their thoughts quietly, otherwise, Israeli officials may start commenting on Hunter Biden's plea deal. "
So, the Biden Administration delivered an "either-or" threat: stop the judicial reform or break our special relationship. The break had actually already begun with President Barack Obama, who became quixotically committed to a policy to finance and enable Israel's self-declared arch-enemy -- "Death to Israel" should probably qualify one as an arch-enemy -- unlimited nuclear weapons, billions of dollars to manufacture them; ballistic missiles to deliver them, and loose change for Iran's mullahs to continue "exporting" their Revolution into Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and Latin America.
"We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America," then-presidential candidate Barack Obama declared a few days before the 2008 presidential election, somehow neglecting to say what he was planning to transform it into. The most generous assessment might include putting the incumbent party's justice system on par with some of Latin America's finest.
In the latest outrage, Biden's Department of Justice has acted both as Hunter Biden's prosecutor and his defense team, according to former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe:
"... the lawyers were all on one side, and they were all working to help Hunter Biden. The were all working to hide a blanket immunity agreement from the judge..."
That is how desperately the White House needed that plea agreement to go through. Why? As Douglas Schoen explained, Hunter Biden's problems are now Joe Biden's.
The president appears to have turned America's system of justice into a family protection syndicate. Biden Administration officials also appear to have turned the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation against the American people -- such as parents and Roman Catholics who might not agree with them.
Biden Administration officials also appear to have done even more than that. FBI agents, in an illegal "state action," attempted an end-run around the First Amendment, dishonestly colluding with Facebook and other tech companies to censor news reports about Hunter Biden's 2020 election-altering "Laptop from Hell."
Team Biden, in the person of Antony Blinken, had reportedly called Mike Morell to get what ultimately turned out to be 51 former intelligence officials to sign a letter falsely alleging that the Hunter Biden laptop had "all the earmarks of a Russian intelligence operation." That letter, it turned out, was the real disinformation.
It was countered immediately on Fox Business by former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe. "Let me be clear," Ratcliffe said, "the intelligence community doesn't believe that because there is no intelligence that supports... that Hunter Biden's laptop is part of some Russian disinformation campaign. It's simply not true."
A day or so later, Biden waved the letter during his October 22, 2020 debate with Trump, and dismissed his son's laptop as a "Russian plant." Most media outlets went with the lie. Tech companies, apparently at the request of the White House, blocked the story. The outcome – apart from a Biden presidency? Blinken was subsequently rewarded with the post of Secretary of State supposedly for helping Biden get fraudulently elected.
What it all comes down to is that one party seemingly decided that Obama's promise to radically transform America was too important to trust to the electorate.
Now Blinken and Biden are supposedly qualified to give Israel's coalition government a lecture on judicial probity and democracy?
"[A] vast majority of Israelis believe — rightly — that you are a true friend and that your advice came from the heart," wrote Friedman from the bottom of his heart. What is more immoral: telling lies or covering up lies? That is for the editors of the New York Times and their Biden mouthpiece to answer, from the bottom of their hearts.
*Steve Apfel, an author of non-fiction and fiction, blogs at Balaam's Curse. His new novel, What Man Proposes, is serialized at Substack.
© 2023 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.

The futile search for Palestinian reconciliation
Osama Al-Sharif/Arab News/August 01, 2023
Since the biggest Palestinian rift in modern times took place in 2007, when Hamas fighters expelled the Palestinian Authority from Gaza and defeated Fatah loyalists in a bloody coup, there have been many attempts at restoring national unity and what the mainstream now calls “Palestinian reconciliation.” But for the generation of Palestinians born after that catastrophic event, Palestinian reconciliation rings hollow. The bitter truth is that, after more than 16 years of political split between Gaza and the West Bank, achieving national unity has become an issue almost as central, and as elusive, as ending the Israeli occupation.
Unlike his predecessor Yasser Arafat, Mahmoud Abbas, who was elected as president of the PA in 2005 in addition to the Palestine Liberation Organization — the latter being the political umbrella for the most active and influential Palestinian factions — was never a popular or charismatic leader. His career has been described as clerical rather than him being a fighter in the trenches. He takes credit for negotiating the Oslo Accords of 1993 and ideologically, or so it seems, he has committed himself to their outcomes despite the fundamental and acute shifts in the inclinations of the Israeli body politic since the year 2000 and even before.
Fatah, the oldest and most popular Palestinian faction, has never been able to recognize Hamas and the other Islamist militant groups, with their extremist agendas, as equals or even as players on the evolving Palestinian political tapestry. While a politically opportunistic Arafat opted to cajole the budding Gaza-based movement of Hamas, especially after the First Intifada of 1988, Abbas disagreed with its objectives and goals. He flatly rejected their militant approach, describing the primitive missiles they then fired at southern Israel as “absurd” or “futile.”
Then came the split in Gaza after the collapse of the elected government of Hamas’ Ismail Haniyeh in 2007. The loss of Gaza was an especially painful blow to the PA, which presented itself as the legitimate government of the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, negotiating a two-state solution and the creation of an independent Palestinian state as per Oslo.
Hamas, and later Islamic Jihad, opted for a more radical position than that taken by the PLO and its institutions
Hamas, and later Islamic Jihad, opted for a more radical position than that taken by the PLO and its institutions, which was a negotiated peaceful settlement. They adopted armed struggle as a way to liberate Palestine. Their influence would have been limited if not for four factors: The failure of all attempts at restoring Palestinian national unity; the paralysis of peace talks between the Israelis and the PA; the rise of an intransigent Israeli far right that openly declared its rejection of the two-state solution and its intention to annex most of the West Bank; and the changing regional geopolitical landscape, which allowed Iran to infiltrate these movements under the guise of confronting Israel and standing in solidarity with the Palestinians.
All this was happening while successive Israeli governments carried out a number of military operations against the blockaded Gaza Strip, with the failed aim of crushing the Islamist resistance. While Abbas and his PA stood still as Israel expanded the illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and as the international community paid lip service to condemning the Israeli actions, the popularity of Hamas and Islamic Jihad soared.
Since the 2007 rift, there have been a number of attempts to restore national unity. From the Makkah agreement of 2007 all the way to the most recent reconciliation attempt in Algeria in October 2022, all efforts to form a national unity government, end Hamas’ control of Gaza and hold national elections across the Palestinian territories have been met with failure.
The latest initiative, launched by President Abbas, to hold a meeting of the leaders of the Palestinian factions in Egypt, which took place on Sunday, was equally unsuccessful. While Hamas attended, Islamic Jihad boycotted the meeting, calling on Abbas to release the “resistance fighters” who had been rounded up by the PA following Israel’s bloody Jenin incursion last month.
The Israeli government has turned its back on Oslo and is bulldozing its way into Palestinians lands
The meeting at El-Alamein failed to agree on a joint statement. The rift has widened, with Abbas calling for peaceful resistance to the Israeli occupation and a commitment to international law, while Hamas and others urged him to call an end to the Oslo process and agree on all forms of resistance available to the Palestinians to rid themselves of the Israeli occupation. There was a symbolic, but empty, gesture of agreeing on the need to revive the PLO and to take a united stand.
Abbas, at 87, and the financially troubled PA are running out of options. The Israeli government has turned its back on Oslo and is bulldozing its way into Palestinians lands. It could soon impose Israeli law on more than 60 percent of West Bank territory — a de facto annexation. The Biden administration will not risk a confrontation with Israel over Abbas and the PA ahead of an election year. Hamas and Islamic Jihad appear emboldened by the fact that Abbas is weak and is looking for ways to evade the ultimate question of who will succeed him.
And while the heads of more than 10 Palestinian factions were meeting in Egypt on Sunday, fighting broke out between Fatah and “extremist groups” in the Ain Al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon. It was the most serious inter-Palestinian fighting in Lebanon in years. This is a bad omen for what may come soon. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati described the timing of the fighting as “suspicious.”
Palestinian reconciliation has become an empty rhetorical statement. Hamas, which is becoming unpopular in the beleaguered Gaza Strip, will not give up control. Abbas is reluctant to allow the holding of elections because the militants may win, as younger and more desperate Palestinians become more skeptical about the prospect of a peaceful settlement that will liberate them. He has become hostage to his obsolete ideological beliefs, all while the PA has become an instrument of normalizing Israeli occupation.
For now, a far-right Israel is benefiting from Palestinian divisions. But Abbas will not last forever and Fatah, his political base, is crumbling under his feet. A new generation of Palestinian leadership is likely to emerge. And as Israel ups the ante, the Palestinian response will surely come.
*Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman. Twitter: @plato010

US allies apprehensive as 2024 presidential election race hots up
Andrew Hammond//Arab News/August 01, 2023
In November 2020, it was not just US Democrats who breathed a big sigh of relief at then-President Donald Trump’s election loss. Many US allies around the world were also hugely relieved by the outcome, hoping that Trump’s political career had come to an end.
Fast forward almost three years, however, and Trump’s 2024 campaign appears strong. Indeed, it even appears to be increasing in momentum as he faces mounting legal peril, including from a new round of indictments last week.
Little wonder that key American allies from Europe to the Asia-Pacific are increasingly concerned Trump could again be elected president, not least given the game-changing geopolitical impact this could have. While most elected officials are unwilling to comment publicly on their fear, others who will never face the ballot box again have spoken out. For example, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has called the possibility of Trump winning the presidency again a “disaster,” given the changed international relations of recent years, especially following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
To be sure, it is by no means certain that Trump will win the 2024 election. However, such a ballot may be much closer than many anticipate and some commentators, including this writer, have asserted since 2020 that the ex-president is highly likely to become the Republican standard-bearer.
If Trump does become the nominee, as looks increasingly likely, there remains a significant, albeit chilling, possibility he will become only the second person in US history elected to the White House in nonconsecutive terms. The first was Grover Cleveland, who won in 1884 and 1892.
For all the wrong reasons, Trump is a precedent-shattering politician and his chances of becoming the Republican nominee only appear to be increasing with the number of lawsuits and indictments filed against him. This reflects the nature of his voter base, who, for a range of reasons, believe their candidate is the victim of wide-ranging “deep state” conspiracy theories.
Key American allies from Europe to the Asia-Pacific are increasingly concerned Trump could again be elected president
While Trump is now 77, he is about three years younger than incumbent President Joe Biden. So, there are no personal or political blocks that would prevent him running again as long as his health holds up and following his impeachment acquittal in the US Senate. There is also currently no legal barrier to him holding future office. Moreover, in refusing to concede the 2020 ballot outcome, the billionaire businessman’s game plan for winning power again may well be to try to emulate the approach of Andrew Jackson, a president many have compared him to. In 1824, Jackson came close to winning the presidency, as he won the most electoral votes but not enough for the necessary majority in a field of four candidates. In what Johnson later termed the “corrupt bargain,” the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams as president, despite Jackson’s Electoral College advantage. Jackson went on to win the presidency in both 1828 and 1832.
While the circumstances of his loss to Biden are different to those of Jackson in 1824, Trump has sought to nurture a similar sense of grievance over his defeat. And this is despite the overwhelming evidence that points to Biden’s clear 2020 Electoral College win.
Despite Trump’s many controversies, he will be a formidable contender in 2024 should he win the Republican nomination. The appeal of “Trumpism” remains strong among key US groups, as has been evidenced by recent polls.
Trump also has significant advantages over those who are his rivals in seeking the Republican nomination. While the outcome of the party’s 2024 race is still too far away for us to be certain about any predictions, history indicates there are patterns to previous primary contests that point to potential success for Trump.
Despite Trump’s many controversies, he will be a formidable contender in 2024 should he win the Republican nomination
The past few decades of US political history suggest the victors in nomination contests for both major parties frequently lead national polls of party identifiers on the eve of the first presidential nomination ballot in Iowa and/or raise more campaign finance than any other candidate in the 12 months prior to election year. On both these counts, Trump is leading the other Republican candidates, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
From 1980 to 2020, the eventual nominee in about half the Democratic and Republican nomination races contested (that is, in which there was more than one candidate) was the early front-runner by both of these measures, as Trump is now for the Republicans. Moreover, in at least five partial exceptions to this pattern, the eventual presidential nominee led the rest of the field on one of the two measures, including Biden in 2020 and Trump in 2016.
With Trump, the probable Republican nominee for a third successive election, the one factor that still gives certain US allies some comfort is that it is far from certain he would win back the presidency for at least two reasons.
Firstly, while the reelection campaign of Biden (presuming he becomes the Democratic presidential nominee) has key vulnerabilities, he may ultimately become a moderate favorite to win a second term in 2024. This would be especially likely if the US economy avoids recession and enters a new period of faster, more equitable growth.
The second key factor influencing Trump’s prospects of winning the presidential election will be how much, and how quickly, the Republican Party can unite around him given the debate between moderate and centrist Republicans — many of whom are appalled by the ex-president’s behavior — and Trump’s supporters over the party’s future direction. A rancorous, divisive Republican nomination contest, even if Trump ultimately prevails, may only benefit Biden.
*Andrew Hammond is an Associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics.

Transformations and Opportunities: Riyadh and a Different Middle East
Yousef Al-Dayni/Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper/August 01/2023
Not a day goes by without Western academic, analytical, and media publications, and even the tweets and private discussions of experts, mentioning the “new” Saudi Arabia and its political repositioning. The changes underway are pivotal for the success of Vision 2030 and its architect, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose charisma has played a crucial role in selling to the broader public the vision’s model for how to approach identity, sovereignty, and foreign relations strategies. This model has allowed Saudi Arabia to take back its rightful place in the world, given its current capabilities and future plans.
The latest Saudi initiative is its offer to host peace talks to end the war in Ukraine, inviting Western countries, Ukraine, and major emerging nations, including India and Brazil, to discuss the matter, according to an exclusive report by the Wall Street Journal that was subsequently reported by an array of outlets, broadcasters, and analysts. Over 30 countries will take part, including nations with significant influence within their regions, such as Indonesia, Egypt, Mexico, Chile, and Zambia.
Despite these newspapers and research centers attempting to twist the news, either through various - often biased - interpretations or by framing the initiative based on unreliable sources, which goes against the fundamentals of reporting on conferences that are still being prepared and announced. Russia’s response to the news was more clear-cut, with the Russians saying that they are open to peace talks and reiterating their appreciation of their close relationship with Saudi Arabia, particularly considering its key role in OPEC+.
It might be too early to comment on and discuss this initiative, but what we can say is that it comes within the framework of a broader, clearly-defined Saudi project that has been underway since the launch of Vision 2030, aimed at enhancing the Kingdom’s global standing. This vision is founded on concrete, multifaceted achievements in politics, the economy, crisis management, and the resolution of conflicts in the region and the globe. These transformations have been further reinforced by successes in Iraq, de-escalation and breakthroughs with Iran, and the emergence of a clear vision for a sustainable resolution in Yemen. The Kingdom has also opened itself up to the entire world through a strategy of constructive partnership.
As for the Kingdom’s clear stance on international conflicts, the position of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council clearly recognizes the complexities of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Theirs might not align with the Western perspective, given the other conflicts that are just as complicated, despite the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries voting in favor of United Nations General Assembly resolutions condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, the approach they subsequently took in the wake of Western sanctions reflects their commitment to maintaining a degree of neutrality that allows for positive ties with Russia. This approach aligns with the political foreign policy repositioning we mentioned earlier. Through it, the Kingdom seeks to ensure its sovereignty, independence, and neutrality and does not require alignment in a multipolar world. This vision, in turn, has paved the way for diversifying the Kingdom’s security, economic, and investment partners.
These shifts in the Middle East echo previous phases it has undergone since the end of World War II, and they highlight the significance of this part of the world. Nonetheless, the situation is shaped by different factors, inputs, and mechanisms, today. The most prominent development is the rise of China, which continues to raise grave concerns in the United States and, to a lesser extent, in the European Union. Their reprehension can be seen in surveys conducted by Western pollsters. Among the most comprehensive of these surveys was one recently conducted by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, which is affiliated with Germany’s governing Social Democratic Party.
According to a report by the Carnegie Institute, the survey covered nine Arab countries, in addition to Türkiye, Iran, and Israel, and showed major shifts in the degree of trust in US policies in the region. It also found that the Russian-Ukrainian war is framed within the context of a geopolitical conflict between Russia and the West, not as a war between two countries. There seems to be a consensus in these countries that Washington is the main beneficiary of the Ukraine war. The results provide other astonishing and surprising insights regarding the deployment of Western and US forces. It also provides insights into other key issues, notably that many believe that we are now in a new, multipolar world. The conclusion one can draw from these impressions, analyses, and surveys is that a new Middle East is emerging. Its mood has changed, and it has grown thicker skin. The region can no longer tolerate the double standards or the recurrent efforts to undermine the sovereignty and aspirations of its people. Its youthful population aspires to an “ambitious homeland, a vigorous economy, and a vibrant society.” Coincidentally, these are the key pillars of Vision 2030, the cornerstone of the great Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s transformation.