Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on December 04-05/2023
"Hamas" - Lebanon announces the establishment of "Vanguards of the Al-Aqsa Flood" and calls on Palestinian youth to join it
Adraee to the Lebanese: Do you remember the slogan of the Jerusalem Road passing through Jounieh?
Israeli reports reveal details about possible border deal with Lebanon
Not now, Lebanon and Hezbollah tell Hochstein on border deal
Israel bombs south as Hezbollah targets groups of soldiers
Hostilities at the Border Restart with Hezbollah Attacking Soldiers, Israel Bombarding Southern Areas
Israel's Shin Bet chief vows to kill Hamas chiefs 'in Lebanon, Turkey, Qatar'
Hezbollah strikes Ruwaisat Al-Alam site and Shebaa Farms: Monday announcement
Israeli Army: We bombed a Hezbollah weapons depot in Lebanon
Le Drian to visit Lebanon next month
Escalation at the southern borders and regional implications
FPM says LF backing Aoun extension at request of 'foreign forces'
Drilling dilemma: Energy Ministry sets 'strict' proposals for TotalEnergies in Blocks 8 and 10
American University of Beirut commemorates 157th Founders Day: A celebration of educational excellence, civic leadership and citizenship

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 04-05/2023
US strike in Iraq kills 5 militants preparing attack
Militant Rocket Hit Base Linked to Israeli Nuclear Missile Program
Israeli tanks advance south towards Khan Younis
Israel orders evacuations as it widens offensive but Palestinians are running out of places to go
Global journalist group says Israel-Hamas conflict is a war beyond compare for media deaths
United States requests Israel to allow more fuel into Gaza Strip
Netanyahu's corruption trial resumes
US military official confirms 'self-defense strike' in Iraq
Dozens of Israeli tanks enter southern part of Gaza Strip
Israeli army says 3 soldiers killed in Gaza fighting, toll reaches 75
A US Navy warship had to gun down more threats as American forces get pulled deeper into fights being fueled by Israel's war with Hamas/Jake Epstein/Business Insider/December 4, 2023
3 commercial ships hit by missiles in Houthi attack in Red Sea, US warship downs 3 drones
Israel says it killed Hamas commander in air strike
WHO board to hold emergency session on Gaza health situation
Global Affairs confirms Canadian death in Lebanon, 8th since Israel-Hamas war began
Putin to visit UAE, Saudi Arabia this week - Russian news outlet
Putin blames Nord Stream blasts for disruption of Russia-Germany relations
Egypt’s president opens defense expo showcasing latest technology
Philippine police identify possible suspects after deadly blast at Catholic mass
US targets ex-Sudan officials with sanctions for undermining peace

Titles For The Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 04-05/2023
UN and Hamas: Partners in Crime/Robert Williams/Gatestone Institute./December 4, 2023
End of Gaza ‘pause’ reinforces importance of a ceasefire/Chris Doyle/Arab News/December 04, 2023
Sinwar and the explosive belt/Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al-Awsat/December 04, 2023
Iran balancing deterrence and the risk of escalation/Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/December 04, 2023
Gaza war creates ‘to be or not to be’ moment for Palestinians/Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/December 04, 2023
Russia outlines its vision of a ‘world majority’ to rival the West/Dr. Diana Galeeva/Arab News/December 04, 2023
Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei Knowingly Lies By Claiming That Iran Never Said That The Jews/Zionists Should Be Thrown Into The Sea And That Iran Never Wanted This/MEMRI/December 4, 2023

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on December 04-05/2023
"Hamas" - Lebanon announces the establishment of "Vanguards of the Al-Aqsa Flood" and calls on Palestinian youth to join it
NNA/December 04, 2023
The Hamas movement - Lebanon issued the following statement: “O sons of our Palestinian people in Lebanon. O heroic mujahideen. Based on the Almighty’s saying: {And prepare against them whatever force you are able and of the tack of horses, with which you may terrify the enemy of God and your enemy}. And in confirmation of the role of the Palestinian people in places where All of them, in resisting the occupation by all available and legitimate means In continuation of what Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood” achieved, and a victory for the patient steadfastness of our Palestinian people and our valiant resistance, and the steadfastness and sacrifices made by our people, and in an effort towards the participation of our men and youth in the project of resisting the occupation and benefiting from their energies and scientific and artistic capabilities, the Islamic Resistance Movement - Hamas in Lebanon announces, Establishing and launching “Vanguards of the Al-Aqsa Flood”. O sons of our people, you young men and heroic men, join the vanguards of the resistance, and participate in shaping the future of your people, and in liberating Jerusalem and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

Adraee to the Lebanese: Do you remember the slogan of the Jerusalem Road passing through Jounieh?
X platform/December 4, 2023
Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adraee wrote a post on his account on the “X” platform: saying “Which country do the Lebanese prefer, the Emirate of Hamas Land, which is part of Iran Land, or the free, independent Lebanese state?” He added, "O Lebanese, do you remember the slogan: The Jerusalem Road passes through Jounieh? And Fatah Land, which caused the tragedies of the Lebanese and caused Lebanon to drown in a flood of blood in a civil war that destroyed everything green and dry and wreaked murder, plunder and destruction on the country?" He continued, "Here is the same scene being repeated with the most criminal and brutal organization, Hamas, ISIS, which called on the Palestinians in Lebanon to join the so-called vanguards of the Al-Aqsa flood, promoting in the eyes of the Lebanese the idea of Hamas Land." He added, “It seems that it received sponsorship and blessing from the dwarves of Iran in Lebanon, which means that Lebanon is heading towards the dark unknown, especially in light of the chaos of weapons in the Palestinian-Lebanese camps in the south, which would tear apart and destroy what remained of Lebanese sovereignty, in addition to the concerns and crises after it was transformed by a party.” May God come to the arena in defense of the brutality of ISIS and Hamas.”

Israeli reports reveal details about possible border deal with Lebanon
Naharnet/December 04, 2023 
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen has publicly declared that he has carried out contacts with Paris and European capitals regarding the clashes-hit border with Lebanon and Israeli media outlets have published some details about these talks. A report by Israel’s Channel 12 said that there are behind-the-scenes negotiations between several countries with the aim of pushing back Hezbollah’s forces from the border with Israel. The U.S., France, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are taking part in these talks and the objective is to guarantee the security of the Israeli settlements that lie on and near the border with Lebanon, the report said. They are discussing pushing back Hezbollah’s forces to the area north of the Litani River, sending an international force to the Shebaa Farms and northern Ghajar areas and electing a new Lebanese president, the report added. “This format was previously proposed by the representatives of the UAE, but it did not make progress, and the talks do not mean that Israel agrees to this solution,” the report said. Israel’s Yedioth Ahraonot meanwhile said that chances have surged for an agreement over the situation on the Israel-Lebanon border through a U.S.-French mediation. “The Lebanese government will be bribed with international funds and Hezbollah will agree to what ministers in Israel call a ‘light Resolution 1701’, or a reduced version of the (2006) U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the Second Lebanon War,” the newspaper said. “Hezbollah apparently agrees to withdrawing the Radwan Force to behind the Litani River and not to rebuild the monitoring and surveillance towers that have been destroyed by the Israeli army on the border,” Yedioth Ahraonot claimed. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is meanwhile demanding “the resumption of the Air Force’s overflights in Lebanon’s airspace,” the daily added.

Not now, Lebanon and Hezbollah tell Hochstein on border deal
Naharnet/December 04, 2023
During his latest visit to Lebanon, U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein tried to raise the issue of land border delineation according to an equation that he said Israel “would accept,” a media report said. The equation includes “vacating all the contested points in Lebanon’s favor, including withdrawal from the northern part of Ghajar and key posts in the occupied Shebaa Farms, on the condition that the matter be implemented in two stages: declaring the Lebanese identity of these territories and agreeing that the U.N. oversee them militarily and security- and social-wise until the emergence of another political situation,” al-Akhbar newspaper said. “Hochstein was told by Lebanese officials, and indirectly by Hezbollah, that this file is not up for discussion at the moment and that all things are frozen until after halting the aggression against Gaza and ending the daily Israeli threats against Lebanon,” the daily added.

Israel bombs south as Hezbollah targets groups of soldiers
Naharnet/December 04, 2023
The Israeli army shelled Monday several border towns in south Lebanon as Hezbollah targeted groups of soldiers in northern Israel. Hezbollah said it targeted several Israeli posts including Ruwaisat al-Alam, al-Baghdadi post, and groups of soldiers in Shtula, Misgav Am, Karm al-Touffah near the Branit Barracks and al-Raheb post. The group said all attacks were direct hits and inflicted casualties. The Israeli army responded with airstrikes, artillery shelling, flares and white phosphorus shells on the outskirts of several Lebanese border towns including Odeisseh, Kfarkela, al-Naqoura, Kfarshouba, Mhaibib, Mays al-Jabal, Ayta al-Shaab, Yaroun, Dhaira, Halta, Marwahin, Ainata, Maroun el-Ras and Alma al-Shaab. Twenty rockets were also fired from south Lebanon at an area in northern Israel between Shtula and Mattat. In overnight clashes, three Israeli soldiers were injured in a mortar shell attack on Shtula, Israeli army Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X, while other mortar shells launched from Lebanon hit an Israeli post in Yiftah. On Sunday, eight soldiers and three civilians were wounded by Hezbollah fire in the area of Beit Hillel.

Hostilities at the Border Restart with Hezbollah Attacking Soldiers, Israel Bombarding Southern Areas
Daily Star/December 04/2023
After a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, which had paused the frequent rocket fire, artillery shelling, and airstrikes between Hezbollah and Israel in southern Lebanon, border skirmishes reignited on Friday. Lebanon and Hezbollah were not direct participants in the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, yet there was a notable but cautious calm in the southern Lebanese border area during the truce in Gaza. With the resumption of conflict in Gaza, Hezbollah initiated attacks near the Israeli position at Jal al-Alam, launching anti-tank missiles towards the Manara settlement. In retaliation, Israel conducted artillery shelling of the al-Labbouneh, Hamoul, and Rwaisat areas near Naqoura in Lebanon, and also targeted the al-Qawzah forests with a guided missile. This response followed the detonation of an Israeli interception missile over al-Khiam town, which the Israeli army claimed was launched at a “suspicious aerial target” from Lebanon. Despite the ceasefire, the past week witnessed sporadic Israeli breaches and ongoing surveillance by Israeli drones. On the same Friday, Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati attended the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, overshadowed by the renewed conflict in Gaza. Discussions at the summit addressed the war, with Iranian delegates exiting in protest against Israeli representation and Palestinian climate change expert Hadeel Ikhmais questioning the purpose of negotiations amidst ongoing conflict. Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, the Lebanon-Israel border has experienced escalating hostilities, primarily involving Israel and Hezbollah, but also Palestinian factions. This has raised concerns over a potentially wider conflict. In Lebanon, the cross-border exchanges have resulted in 109 fatalities, including at least 77 Hezbollah fighters and 14 civilians, with over 55,000 people displaced from their homes. On the Israeli side, there have been six soldier and three civilian casualties. Following the declaration of the truce last week, Lebanese residents who had evacuated their homes near the border began cautiously returning.

Israel's Shin Bet chief vows to kill Hamas chiefs 'in Lebanon, Turkey, Qatar'
Naharnet/December 04, 2023
Israel is determined to kill Hamas’ leaders “in every location” in the world, including Qatar, Turkey, and Lebanon, even if it takes many years, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar said in recordings revealed Sunday. “In every location, in Gaza, in the West Bank, in Lebanon, in Turkey, in Qatar, everyone,” he said in recordings aired by the Kan public broadcaster Sunday evening. “It will take a few years, but we will be there in order to do it.” “The cabinet set a goal for us, to take out Hamas. And we are determined to do it, this is our Munich,” he could be heard saying in the recordings, referencing the years-long Israeli operation to assassinate the Palestinian militants responsible for the 1972 Munich Olympics attack that killed 11 Israelis. Hamas has reportedly said that it is unfazed by Bar’s threats and that for Israel to carry them out would be a violation of allied countries’ sovereignty. Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel is planning to hunt down Hamas leaders around the world once it shifts away from fighting the group in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered spy agencies to draw up plans to assassinate the group’s top leaders outside of Gaza, who live in Turkey, Qatar, and elsewhere, the paper reported, citing Israeli officials. According to the report, some called for Israel to immediately assassinate Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, who lives in Doha, and others following the October 7 attack. However, such actions on Qatari or Turkish soil could have strained or torpedoed diplomatic efforts to free hostages, and the idea was pushed off. Netanyahu hinted at Israel’s plans for assassinations abroad in an address in late November, to the ire of some, who preferred to keep the future campaign under wraps, according to the WSJ. The paper also reported that Israel is looking into the possibility of expelling lower-level Hamas fighters from Gaza to shorten the war.

Hezbollah strikes Ruwaisat Al-Alam site and Shebaa Farms: Monday announcement
LBCI/December 04, 2023
In a Monday announcement, Hezbollah stated: "We targeted the Ruwaisat Al-Alam site in the Kfarchouba hills and the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms with appropriate weapons."Adding that they "achieved a direct hit."

Israeli Army: We bombed a Hezbollah weapons depot in Lebanon
LBCI/December 04, 2023
The Israeli Army announced on Monday that it had bombed a weapons depot for Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Le Drian to visit Lebanon next month
LBCI/December 04, 2023
Informed sources revealed to Al-Joumhouria that the visit of the French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian, who is expected to return to Lebanon next month, did not yield any results regarding the agenda he brought to discuss with officials, leaders, and parliamentary blocs. This article was initially published in, translated from, the Lebanese newspaper Al Joumhouria. Al-Joumhouria also learned that Le Drian heard harsh criticisms from some of those he met regarding the French president's biased positions toward Israel in its war on Gaza. This has impacted and will continue to impact France's role and interests in Lebanon and all Arab and foreign countries sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.

Escalation at the southern borders and regional implications
LBCI/December 04, 2023
This article was initially published in, translated from the online newspaper Al-Anbaa
Sunday marked the most intense day regarding the Israeli attacks on the southern borders since the truce ended four days ago. The intensity of Israeli shelling increased on the borders of southern towns, with Israeli missiles reaching the bush between the towns of Rashaya Al-Fakhar and Al-Fureidis in Hasbaya. This indicates that Israel is expanding the scope of its aggression to the south. Meanwhile, Hezbollah targeted several Israeli sites, with the most notable news being the targeting of a gathering that resulted in the injury of 11 Israelis, including eight soldiers, according to Israeli sources.
This comes in the context of a noticeable escalation that could change the rules of clashes in the upcoming days, making them more open to various possibilities. On another note, Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati continued his meetings in Dubai on the sidelines of the COP 28 Climate Summit.
He met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to discuss Palestinian developments. However, the most prominent file was discussed in his meeting with officials from TotalEnergies. Mikati urged the resumption of drilling operations in Block 9 and the exploration of new wells in other blocks.
But Mikati's request is unlikely to find receptive ears, as the company, which halted its operations shortly after the aggression on Gaza began, citing technical reasons, will not resume its work in Lebanon for political reasons, according to observers closely monitoring the file. The reasons are linked to the Israeli aggression on Gaza on the one hand and the fragile security situation in Lebanon following the southern developments. Furthermore, the sources pointed out that the global and European energy markets, in particular, require massive quantities of gas, and the Russian-Ukrainian war, along with the Gaza conflict, is affecting supply lines and prices. Therefore, there is a need for Lebanese gas, if found, as well as Israeli gas. However, the sources said, "Energy security is linked to politics, and Lebanon is not expected to be allowed to start gas extraction before regional settlements are established in the area."Additionally, the Israeli army initiated operations in the southern Gaza Strip, launching ground operations in Khan Yunis. It may expand its operations in the coming hours and days, increasing the humanitarian crisis in the Strip and the number of martyrs and displaced persons. This indicates that the aggression will not stop soon. Simultaneously with the Israeli aggression on Gaza, tension escalated in the Red Sea as the Houthis claimed responsibility for attacking American and foreign military and commercial ships. Israel and the United States sent warships to the region, threatening to expand the conflict in the area. In conclusion, Lebanon is on a 'hot seat' at all levels, with pending issues and the holiday season just weeks away. However, the country and its citizens urgently need to start resolving these issues step by step before things worsen further, and there is a risk of Lebanon sliding into unfavorable circumstances.

FPM says LF backing Aoun extension at request of 'foreign forces'
Naharnet/December 04, 2023
The Free Patriotic Movement has said that “there is no need for the Lebanese Forces to be tense or to justify why it is seeking the extension” of the term of Army chief General Joseph Aoun. “It is enough that it has backpedaled on its stance on not attending any legislative session and it has submitted a draft law for extension and announced that it would attend a session containing dozens of unnecessary agenda items,” the FPM said in a post on the X platform. “The public opinion has realized how much it is subordinate to foreign forces and how much it heeds their requests, be them a U.S. ambassador or a French envoy,” the FPM added. “What’s important is that respecting national sovereignty and the independence of the decision are to it mere slogans and a viewpoint,” the FPM charged.

Drilling dilemma: Energy Ministry sets 'strict' proposals for TotalEnergies in Blocks 8 and 10
LBCI/December 04, 2023
TotalEnergies' exploration and oil and gas prospecting proposal for Blocks 8 and 10 were rejected by the Ministry of Energy, demanding amendments that achieve the following points: - Increase the state's share from 56 percent and 64 percent, depending on the quantities that may be discovered, to between 64 percent and 72 percent.
- The drilling in Blocks 8 and 10 should take place within one year as a maximum limit from the contract's date of establishment, not extending until 2027.
- TotalEnergies should not wait until May 2025 to decide on drilling a second well in Block 9.
- TotalEnergies should undertake seismic surveys in Block 8 at its own expense.
Did TotalEnergies agree to these demands?
TotalEnergies has not provided any response yet, despite the meeting with its Chairman Patrick Pouyanné, Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Energy Minister Walid Fayad, and the Prime Minister's Advisor Nicolas Nahas in Dubai on the sidelines of the COP28 summit. TotalEnergies responded that it would not decide on Lebanese demands before concluding the report related to the results of the first well in Block 9, stating that it needs a grace period that could extend up to two months.

American University of Beirut commemorates 157th Founders Day: A celebration of educational excellence, civic leadership and citizenship
NNA/December 04, 2023
The American University of Beirut (AUB) marked the 157th anniversary of its founding on December 3, 1866, with a celebration headed by AUB President Dr. Fadlo R. Khuri, having Dr. Nassif Hitti as a keynote speaker, a distinguished diplomat, academic, and AUB alumnus. The ceremony, held in the university’s historic Assembly Hall, showcased the rich traditions of AUB, including a processional, the awarding of the annual student essay contest winners, and musical performances.
In his opening speech, AUB President Fadlo Khuri reflected on the institution's long-standing commitment to diversity, inclusivity, and community impact. “Traditionally on Founders Day, we look back, we look forward, and we look inside ourselves," Khuri stated, highlighting AUB's roots as the Syrian Protestant College and its evolution into a beacon of liberal education. He emphasized the importance of philanthropy in AUB's history, citing the recent successful fundraising dinner in New York that raised $6 million for student scholarships and patient support.
Additionally, he emphasized the significance of the university's annual Giving Day which takes place on the same day as Founders Day, describing it as a tradition that “aims to engage our global community of alumni and friends and inspire them to support new opportunities for AUB students and faculty, as well as the greater communities we serve.”Khuri also addressed the university's role during challenging times, underscoring the necessity of providing adequate space for diverse viewpoints and equipping students to critically engage with global challenges, identify societal issues, and devise solutions. "Our aim is to graduate dreamers, strivers, and builders of a better world,” he added, a vision aligned with that of the university's founding fathers. The student essay contest winners brought their unique perspectives to the forefront. The first-place winner Mohammed Abo Bakr, MEPI Tomorrow’s Leaders Program scholar majoring in business administration with a concentration in business information and decision systems at the Olayan School of Business, inspired the audience with the reading of his essay “Beyond the Red Sea: A Journey of Hope and Human Connection.”
“As I reflect on my journey I realize that my story goes beyond being an account of survival and personal development. It stands as a testament, to the influence of compassion, opportunities, and the life-changing potential of education,” Mohammed shared during his reading.
Ahmad Konainah, awarded second place, is pursuing dual degrees in computer science at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and business administration with a concentration in entrepreneurship and family business at the Olayan School of Business. His essay explored the odyssey of hope and how education fanned the flames of his civic awakening amid the ashes of war. Joy Al Ahmar, the third-place winner, currently majoring in environmental health sciences in the Faculty of Health Sciences, brought attention in her essay to how universities are guardians of democratic values, nurturing engaged citizenship in the Global South amidst global challenges. In the keynote address, Dr. Nassif Hitti, drawing from his rich diplomatic and academic background, eloquently emphasized the significance of dialogue, diversity, and the importance of building bridges. He stressed, “Accepting diversity of views, of values, and ideas is what we need to commit ourselves to at the societal level as well as at the national and the international levels. We need to construct the concept of true genuine citizenship at all these levels.”
Addressing the complex situation in Lebanon, Dr. Hitti highlighted, “It is through forging a genuine and consolidated national identity that we can succeed the challenge of the institutionalization of the state apparatus that will remain otherwise hostage to political sectarianism.”
Dr. Hitti concluded his address with a powerful message of resilience and optimism, reflecting on his years at AUB. He said, “We have a tall order for reforms, interrelated reforms in different fields. It Is not an easy task but we have no choice but to take this road despite the many obstacles that we have to face, and that for the sake of building a new Lebanon for the generations to come. And as I learned from my student’s days at AUB I strongly believe that we shall overcome, and we will.”The ceremony ended on a high note with the alma mater and a recessional to AUB's plaza, leaving attendees inspired and hopeful. -- AUB

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 04-05/2023
US strike in Iraq kills 5 militants preparing attack
Reuters/December 04, 2023
BAGHDAD: A US air strike killed five Iraqi militants near the northern city of Kirkuk as they prepared to launch explosive projectiles at US forces in the country, three Iraqi security sources said, identifying them as members of an Iran-backed militia. A US military official confirmed a “self-defense strike on an imminent threat” that targeted a drone staging site near Kirkuk on Sunday afternoon. A statement by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group representing several Iraqi armed factions with close ties to Tehran, said five of its members had been killed, and vowed retaliation against US forces. The group had claimed several attacks against US forces throughout Sunday. Earlier Sunday, the US military official said US and international forces were attacked with multiple rockets at the Rumalyn Landing Zone in northeastern Syria, but there were no casualties or damage to infrastructure. Iraqi armed groups have claimed more than 70 such attacks against US forces since Oct. 17 over Washington’s backing of Israel in its bombardment of Gaza. The attacks paused during the recent Israel-Hamas cease-fire but have since resumed. The US in November launched two series of strikes in Iraq against what it said were Iran-aligned armed groups who had engaged in attacks against their forces. Those strikes killed at least 10 militants who were identified both as members of shadowy militia Kataeb Hezbollah and of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, an official security institution composed mainly of Shiite Muslim armed groups. Iraq’s government condemned those strikes as escalatory and a violation of Iraqi sovereignty. The United States has 900 troops in Syria and 2,500 in Iraq on a mission it says aims to advise and assist local forces trying to prevent a resurgence of Daesh, which in 2014 seized large swaths of both countries before being defeated.

Militant Rocket Hit Base Linked to Israeli Nuclear Missile Program
Riley Mellen/The New York Times/December 4, 2023
A rocket most likely fired by Hamas militants during their Oct. 7 attack on Israel struck an Israeli military base where, experts say, many of the country’s nuclear-capable missiles are based, according to a visual analysis of the attack’s aftermath by The New York Times. While the missiles themselves weren’t hit, the rocket’s impact, at the Sdot Micha base in central Israel, sparked a fire that approached missile storage facilities and other sensitive weaponry. Israel has never acknowledged the existence of its nuclear arsenal, though Israeli whistleblowers, U.S. officials and satellite imagery analysts all agree that the country possesses at least a small number of nuclear weapons. Hans Kristensen, director of the Federation of American Scientists’ Nuclear Information Project, told the Times that he estimates there are most likely 25 to 50 nuclear-capable Jericho missile launchers at the base. According to experts and declassified U.S. government documents, Israel’s Jericho missiles are equipped to carry nuclear warheads. Those warheads are most likely kept in a separate location away from the base and thus were not under threat during the attack, said Kristensen, who has studied the base.
The previously unreported strike on Sdot Micha is the first known instance of Palestinian militants hitting a site suspected of containing Israeli nuclear weaponry. It’s unclear if they knew the specifics of what they were targeting, beyond the base simply being a military facility. Hamas, the group that fired the majority of the rockets Oct. 7, did not respond to requests for comment.
But the targeting of one of the most sensitive military locations in Israel shows that the scope of the Oct. 7 attacks may have been even greater than previously known — and that rockets can penetrate the airspace around Israel’s closely guarded strategic weapons.
The attack on the area around Sdot Micha involved a series of rockets over several hours, according to warning alarm data. It’s unclear how many rockets were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system, or managed to slip through and hit the base in addition to the one found by the Times. In some cases around the country Oct. 7, Iron Dome became overwhelmed by the amount of incoming fire or ran out of interceptor missiles. A spokesperson for the Israel military declined to comment on the Times’ findings. Since Oct. 7, though, Israel appears to have recognized and responded to the threat of rocket attacks at Sdot Micha. Recent satellite images show new earthen berms and barriers have been built around military positions near the rocket impact location, presumably to defend against shrapnel or blast debris from future attacks. The Times first identified the fire caused by the attack on Sdot Micha using public NASA satellite imagery for detecting wildfires. There has not been a fire — from any cause — of similar magnitude at the base since at least 2004. Further evidence of the attack exists in publicly available satellite imagery, rocket alarm records and social media posts, which also revealed efforts to fight the brush fire ignited by the fallen rocket. The rocket struck within the confines of the base, located 25 miles northeast of the Gaza Strip and 15 miles west of Jerusalem, around 10 a.m. It landed in a small ravine adjacent to a Jericho missile facility, a large radar system and a battery of air defense missiles. The explosion quickly started a fire in the thick, dry vegetation.
While the Times could not confirm if other rockets also struck the base, satellite imagery captured at 10:30 a.m. shows the fire near the Jericho missiles was the only one on the base. More satellite images taken in the hours after the strike captured the rapid spread of the fire and Israeli firefighters’ efforts to stem its growth. At least two firefighting aircraft and streaks of bright red fire retardant were visible near the fire. The next day, a satellite image revealed that new roads and firebreaks had been cut through the woods to contain the flames, which appeared to be extinguished.
Decker Eveleth, a researcher at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies who analyzed the images, said it appeared that “paths were created by firefighting vehicles making sure the fire didn’t get near the launchers.”According to a University of Maryland database tracking attacks on nuclear facilities, there have been only about five known strikes worldwide on bases with nuclear weapons in the past. But because of the inherent secrecy of nuclear weapons, the exact number may never be publicly known. However, Gary Ackerman, one of the researchers who established the database, said the Oct. 7 attack was unique. “This is not something that happens every day,” he said. Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups typically fire rockets at Israeli towns and cities relatively close to Gaza. Indeed, they fired thousands of projectiles at these locations Oct. 7. On the rarer occasions that the groups fire longer-range rockets, they usually target Israeli cities farther from Gaza such as Tel Aviv and Rishon LeZion rather than the military bases storing advanced weaponry that, in some cases, are much closer to Gaza.
The Sdot Micha base, in existence since 1962 and clearly visible on public satellite imagery, occupies thousands of acres of rolling hills. While rockets fired by militants in the Gaza Strip can be inaccurate, it is unlikely Sdot Micha was hit by accident. There are virtually no other targets — besides sensitive military facilities — within 2 miles of the rocket’s impact site. There are also few important, nonmilitary targets in the greater region as a whole because of its sparse population. Although the fire burned approximately 40 acres at the base, weaponry and equipment remained safe. The flames stopped about 1,000 feet from the nearest suspected Jericho missile facility but approached within 400 feet of a large radar system built on a hill at the base, according to a Times analysis of satellite imagery. Kristensen observed that, even if the fire had reached the missiles, their underground, tunneled storage facilities were built to withstand damage. Still, he noted the risks inherent in a fire of this size burning near volatile fuel and munition depots. “All sorts of things can go wrong,” he said.

Israeli tanks advance south towards Khan Younis
The Telegraph/December 4, 2023
Dozens of Israeli tanks moved into southern Gaza on Monday as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) hit the main city of Khan Younis with airstrikes and urged residents to flee. The bombardment came as the IDF said it was operating against Hamas targets “in all of the Gaza Strip”. “The forces are coming face-to-face with terrorists and killing them,” Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters in Tel Aviv. Israel’s military posted a map on Monday morning with around a quarter of the city of Khan Younis marked off in yellow as territory that must be evacuated at once. Three arrows pointed south and west, telling people to flee 20 numbered blocks and head further towards the Mediterranean sea and the Egyptian border. It came as the commander of Israel’s armoured corps said that his and other ground forces were close to achieving their war mission in the northern Gaza Strip. Many of those who have taken shelter in Khan Younis were displaced from other areas in the central and northern Gaza Strip during the first phase of Israel’s ground offensive. Israel said it was defining “safe areas” in order to minimise civilian casualties, but UN officials and Palestinians warned it was difficult to heed the orders in real-time given patchy internet access and unreliable electricity. Aid groups demanded an immediate ceasefire, saying civilians had nowhere to hide from the conflict. Israel said it was not seeking to force Palestinian civilians to permanently leave their homes, even as it acknowledged conditions in Gaza were “tough”. “We have asked civilians to evacuate the battlefield and we have provided a designated humanitarian zone inside the Gaza Strip,” said Jonathan Conricus, a spokesman for the IDF, referring to a tiny coastal area of the territory named Al-Mawasi. Any suggestion of Palestinian dispersal is highly contentious in the Arab world as the war that led to Israel’s creation 75 years ago gave rise to the exodus or forced displacement of 760,000 Palestinians. The UN currently estimates that around 1.8 million people in Gaza, roughly 75 per cent of its population, had been displaced, many to overcrowded and unsanitary shelters in the south.
James Elder, a spokesman for Unicef, said Khan Younis had endured a “night of utterly relentless bombardments”. “I don’t think there was more than a five or 10 minute period throughout the course of the night where something wasn’t flying overhead or the sky being lit up,” he said. Save the Children warned “there is nowhere safe” in the coastal territory as Israel intensifies its military operations. “Families are being warned by Israeli authorities to move, once again, forcibly displacing them into smaller and smaller areas with no guarantee of safety or return, and without the necessary infrastructure and access to services to support life,” said Jason Lee, the charity’s country director for the Palestinian territories. “Rather than the sham pretence that these orders ensure the safety and survival of families, they instead present families with the inconceivable ‘choice’ of one death sentence over another.”Civilians who had already fled the north were desperate, with many of those on the move lugging their few remaining belongings away in plastic bags and on wooden carts. Samia Adel, a 39-year-old doctor, said she was desperate to escape Khan Younis but had no idea where to go. “I don’t know what I’m doing … it’s a nightmare,” she said.
“I’m looking for somewhere to go. I thought they would have allowed us to return to Gaza City when they started in the south. I can’t find words to describe how I feel. It’s grim.”‘Your indifference ... is a disgrace’Meanwhile in Israel, families of the remaining hostages were pressing the government to resume talks to save their relatives.Daniel Lifshitz, the grandson of kidnapped Oded Lifshitz and Yocheved Lifshitz, who was later released from captivity, said relatives were urging the cabinet to go back to talks “without any delay and at any costs”.“Your indifference towards us is a disgrace,” he told reporters.
Oded, 83, remains missing, presumed to be one of the estimated 140 captives still being held in the Gaza Strip. Families of the hostages planned to stage a sit-in outside the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv on Monday evening and stay there until talks are resumed. Under an agreement between Israel and Hamas, 80 Israeli hostages were released in exchange for three times as many Palestinian prisoners during a seven-day truce that ended on Friday. Another 25, mostly Thai citizens, were freed separately.

Israel orders evacuations as it widens offensive but Palestinians are running out of places to go
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP)/December 4, 2023
Israel renewed calls Monday for mass evacuations from the southern town of Khan Younis, where tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought refuge in recent weeks, as the military widened its ground offensive and bombarded targets across the Gaza Strip. The expanded assault posed a deadly choice for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians — either stay in the path of Israeli forces or flee to squeeze into progressively tinier slivers of the Gaza Strip, with no guarantee of safety. Aid workers warned that the mass movement would worsen the already dire humanitarian catastrophe in the territory. “Another wave of displacement is underway, and the humanitarian situation worsens by the hour,” the Gaza chief of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, Thomas White, said in a post on X. Israel has vowed to eliminate Gaza’s Hamas rulers, whose Oct. 7 attack into Israel triggered the deadliest Israeli-Palestinian violence in decades. The war has already killed thousands of Palestinians and displaced over three-fourths of the territory’s population of 2.3 million people. Already under mounting pressure from its top ally, the United States, Israel appears to be racing to strike a death blow against Hamas — if that’s possible, given the group’s deep roots in Palestinian society — before any new cease-fire. But the mounting toll, which Palestinian health officials say has killed several hundred civilians since a weeklong truce ended Friday, is likely to further increase international pressure to return to the negotiating table. It could also render even larger parts of the isolated territory uninhabitable. Airstrikes and the ground offensive have transformed much of the north, including large areas in Gaza City, into a rubble-filled wasteland. Hundreds of thousands of residents fled south during the assault. Now around 2 million people — most of the territory’s population — are crowded into the 230 square kilometers (90 square miles) that make up south and central Gaza, where Israel's ground offensive is expanding. Their only escape is to other parts of that area, as both Israel and neighboring Egypt have refused to accept any refugees.
FIGHTING IN CENTRAL GAZA
Residents said Monday they heard airstrikes and explosions in and around Khan Younis overnight after the military dropped leaflets warning people to relocate farther south toward the border with Egypt. The U.N. said Israel has ordered an area constituting about a fifth of Khan Younis to evacuate, an area that was home to some 117,000 people before the war and now hosts tens of thousands displaced from elsewhere. It said 21 shelters housing 50,000 people — the vast majority from northern Gaza — were in the evacuation zone. Large areas east of Khan Younis were also ordered to flee. The military warned civilians Monday to avoid the main north-south highway between Khan Younis and the central town of Deir al-Balah, saying the road had become a “battlefield.” That indicated Israeli troops were approaching Khan Younis from the northeast, possibly with plans to cut central Gaza off from the south.
Al Jazeera television aired footage of medics rescuing people wounded by what appeared to have been a strike on a car on that stretch of highway. An Israeli tank could be seen just up the road. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesman, said the army is pursuing Hamas with “maximum force” in the north and south while trying to minimize harm to civilians. He pointed to a map that divides southern Gaza into dozens of blocks in order to give “precise instructions” to residents on where to evacuate. Some Palestinians have ignored past evacuation orders, saying they do not feel any safer in the areas where they are told to seek refuge — which have also been repeatedly bombed. Many also fear they will never be allowed back to their homes. The military has barred those who fled the north from returning, even during the cease-fire. “The level of human suffering is intolerable,” Mirjana Spoljaric, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said during a rare visit to Gaza. She also called for the immediate release of scores of hostages captured by Palestinian militants during the Oct. 7 attack. “It is unacceptable that civilians have no safe place to go in Gaza, and with a military siege in place there is also no adequate humanitarian response currently possible.”
RISING TOLL
The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said the death toll in the territory since Oct. 7 has surpassed 15,890 people – 70% of them women and children — with more than 42,000 wounded. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths. Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said hundreds have been killed or wounded since the cease-fire's end early Friday, with many still trapped under rubble. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah received 32 bodies overnight after Israeli strikes across central Gaza, said Omar al-Darawi, an administrative employee. Associated Press footage showed women in tears, kneeling over the bodies of loved ones and kissing them. The military said aircraft struck some 200 Hamas targets overnight, with ground troops operating “in parallel,” without elaborating. It said troops in northern Gaza uncovered a militant hideout in a school after coming under attack. Inside, they found two tunnel shafts, one of which had been booby-trapped, as well as explosives and weapons, the military said. It is not possible to independently confirm battlefield reports from either side. Israel says it targets Hamas operatives, not civilians, and blames civilian casualties on the militants, accusing them of operating in residential neighborhoods. Still, it does not provide accounting for its targets in individual strikes. In addition to leaflets dropped over Gaza, the military has used phone calls and radio and TV broadcasts to urge people to leave specific areas. Israel claims to have killed thousands of militants, without providing evidence. Israel says at least 81 of its soldiers have been killed.
U.S. PRESSURE
The U.S. is pressing Israel to avoid more mass displacements and civilian deaths, a message underscored by Vice President Kamala Harris during a visit to the region. She also said the U.S. would not allow the forced relocation of Palestinians out of Gaza or the occupied West Bank, or the redrawing of Gaza’s borders. But it’s unclear how far the Biden administration is willing or able to go in pressing Israel to rein in the offensive, even as the White House faces growing pressure from its allies in Congress. The U.S. has pledged unwavering support to Israel since the Oct. 7 attack, which killed over 1,200 people, mostly civilians, including rushing munitions and other aid to Israel. Israel has rejected U.S. suggestions that control over postwar Gaza be handed over to the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority as part of a renewed effort to resolve the overall conflict by establishing a Palestinian state. Hopes for another temporary truce faded after Israel called its negotiators home over the weekend. Hamas said talks on releasing any more of the scores of hostages seized by Palestinian militants on Oct. 7 must be tied to a permanent cease-fire. The earlier truce facilitated the release of 105 of the roughly 240 Israeli and foreign hostages taken to Gaza during the Oct. 7 attack, and the release of 240 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Most of those released by both sides were women and children.

Global journalist group says Israel-Hamas conflict is a war beyond compare for media deaths
BRUSSELS (AP)/Mon, December 4, 2023
With a journalist or media worker killed every day on average in the Israel-Hamas war, the head of the global organization representing the profession said Monday that it has become a conflict beyond compare. About 60 have been killed since the Oct. 7 start of the war, already close to the same number of journalists killed during the entire Vietnam War half a century ago. Other brutal wars in the Middle East have not come close to the intensity of the current one. “In a war, you know, a classical war, I can say that in Syria, in Iraq, in ex-Yugoslavia, we didn’t see this kind of massacre,” Anthony Bellanger, the general secretary of the International Federation of Journalists, told The Associated Press. And since the end of the weeklong cease-fire in Gaza on Friday, the misery has continued, he said: "Unfortunately, we received the bad news this weekend — after the end of this cease-fire — and at least three or four were killed.”Bellanger said they are mourning around 60 journalists, including at least 51 Palestinian ones and also Israeli and Lebanese. Most were killed during Israel’s bombardment in the Gaza Strip. He said Israeli journalists were also killed during Hamas’ attack in southern Israel that set off the war. He said those numbers are based on all available sources that the federation uses for its annual report. Along with the human toll, the premises of many media organizations in Gaza have been destroyed, he said. He estimated there were about 1,000 journalists and media workers in Gaza before the conflict and said that now, no one can get out. And yet amid the rubble, local journalists continue to do their job, said Nasser Abu Baker, president of the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate. “They lost their families and they continue their work," he said. "They are without houses and they continue their work. ... Without food, without the security for them, without their families. Also, if their families are still alive, they are not with their families because they are living or sleeping in the hospitals.” Bellanger said Israeli authorities were not responsive. "I called the Israeli government, but they didn’t reply. And when I went to Palestine a few days ago, I proposed to the government press office to have a meeting, just to have a follow-up about this call. But nobody replies,” he said. Israel has said it makes every effort to avoid killing civilians and accuses Hamas of putting them at risk by operating in residential areas. The IFJ and Reporters Without Borders have called on International Criminal Court prosecutors to investigate the deaths of journalists and media workers, and ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan has visited the area. The ICC’s prosecution office is already investigating the actions of Israeli and Palestinian authorities dating back to the Israel-Hamas war in 2014. The probe can also consider allegations of crimes committed during the current war. Khan has called on Israel to respect international law but stopped short of accusing the country of war crimes. He called Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack a serious violation of international humanitarian law. Israel argues the ICC has no jurisdiction in the conflict because the Palestinian territories are not an independent sovereign state. Israel isn’t a party to the treaty that underpins the ICC and is not one of its 123 member states. Bellanger didn't see sudden change on the ground coming soon but said that as the chief of the global journalism network, "I don’t have the right to be pessimistic.”

United States requests Israel to allow more fuel into Gaza Strip
AFP/December 4, 2023
The United States announced on Monday that it is requesting Israel to permit the entry of more fuel into the Gaza Strip after the ceasefire with Hamas has ended.
The spokesperson for the US State Department, Matthew Miller, told reporters, "The Israeli government did not allow, early on Friday, the entry of fuel," referring to the day the ceasefire concluded after a week between Israel and Hamas.
"We had frank discussions with them about the need for fuel entry, and we saw some fuel enter on Friday. We saw more fuel enter on Saturday but at the level we had before the ceasefire began," he added.

Netanyahu's corruption trial resumes
Associated Press/December 4, 2023
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial has resumed after a hiatus prompted by the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and the war it set off. Netanyahu is on trial for alleged fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases involving powerful media moguls and wealthy associates. He denies any wrongdoing. In Monday's hearing, police investigators will be questioned over allegations that Netanyahu promoted regulatory benefits for a telecom company in exchange for favorable coverage from a news outlet it owned. Netanyahu’s lengthy trial, which began in 2020, was paused after the Hamas attack, when the country’s courts were put under emergency status and all but shut down. The last hearing took place at the end of September.

US military official confirms 'self-defense strike' in Iraq
Agence France Presse/December 4, 2023
A "self-defense strike" was carried out in northern Iraq against a drone launch site, a U.S. military official said, after an air strike killed five pro-Iranian militants there. "A self-defense strike was carried out on a drone staging site," the official said on condition of anonymity. It took place "in the vicinity of Kirkuk" and targeted "an imminent threat", he added.

Dozens of Israeli tanks enter southern part of Gaza Strip
Agence France Presse/December 4, 2023
Dozens of Israeli tanks entered the southern part of the Gaza Strip near Khan Younis on Monday, witnesses told AFP, with the Israeli military widely expected to start ground operations in the area soon. Armoured personnel carriers and bulldozers were also seen. Amin Abu Hola, 59, said the Israeli vehicles were "two kilometres (1.2 miles) inside" the Palestinian territory in the village of Al-Qarara near Khan Younis, while Moaz Mohammed, 34, said Israeli tanks were on the southern part of Salah al-Din road which runs from the north to the south of the strip.

Israeli army says 3 soldiers killed in Gaza fighting, toll reaches 75
Agence France Presse/December 4, 2023
The Israeli army said Monday three more soldiers had been killed in fighting in the Gaza Strip, raising the number of troop deaths there to 75 since the war began. All three died in northern Gaza on Sunday, the military said. The deaths brought the total number of Israeli defence personnel killed since October 7 -- among them those who died in the Hamas attacks themselves, and including soldiers, reservists, kibbutz guards and others -- to 401.

A US Navy warship had to gun down more threats as American forces get pulled deeper into fights being fueled by Israel's war with Hamas
Jake Epstein/Business Insider/December 4, 2023
Multiple commercial ships came under fire in the Red Sea on Sunday.
A US Navy destroyer responding to the incidents had to battle off multiple drones during the day.
As Israel's war with Hamas nears the two-month mark, US forces in the Middle East are increasingly finding themselves in fights with Iran-backed militant groups, with engagements taking place at sea, on land, and in the air.
In the most recent episode on Sunday, a US Navy warship shot down three drones over a period that lasted more than four hours as it responded to missile attacks against internationally flagged commercial vessels in the Red Sea. US Central Command (CENTCOM) pinned the blame on the Houthis, a rebel group in Yemen that's armed and supported by Iran. All three drones were headed toward the USS Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, when it shot them down. But it's unclear if the warship or any of the commercial vessels that came under the attack were the actual targets in all three cases.
"These attacks represent a direct threat to international commerce and maritime security," CENTCOM said in a statement that provided details on the incidents. "They have jeopardized the lives of international crews representing multiple countries around the world."
"We also have every reason to believe that these attacks, while launched by the Houthis in Yemen, are fully enabled by Iran," the US military said, adding that it will consider "all appropriate responses in full coordination with its international allies and partners."
After a 2016 incident, the US Navy retaliated against Houthi aggression by launching strikes on coastal radar sites in Yemen, but so far, the US military has yet to respond to the latest aggressive acts with force as it did in the past. Actions so far have been defensive.
The actions of the destroyer USS Carney on Sunday were not the first time in recent weeks the Navy has played defense in the Red Sea, where hostile activity has skyrocketed since the Israel-Hamas war began.
American destroyers like the Carney have shot down scores of drones and missiles launched from Houthi-controlled territory in recent weeks. The Houthis have claimed that they are targeting Israeli ships and have even fired projectiles at Israel itself — though none have reached its territory.
The Yemen-based Houthis fall under Iran's so-called "axis of resistance," which is a band of proxy groups across the Middle East that are backed by Tehran and include Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and various militias in Iraq and Syria. These groups have increased their attacks on Israel and its main ally, the US. American forces based in Iraq and Syria have come under attack by proxy groups at least 74 times since the middle of October, according to a Pentagon tally shared by a spokesperson last week. The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, which has tracked anti-US strikes during the Israel-Hamas war, suggests the figure could actually be much higher. Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War, a conflict-oriented think tank in Washington, DC, said that with the continuous attacks against US troops in Iraq and Syria, Iran and its network of proxy forces are "exploiting" the Israel-Hamas war to support Tehran's longstanding objective: pushing American forces out of the Middle East. "These attacks are meant to impose a cost on the United States for supporting Israel and also erode American willingness to remain militarily in Iraq and Syria," the analysts wrote in a Sunday assessment.
The report added that Iranian and axis of resistance leaders "are operating on the theory that relatively low levels of militant pressure gradually diminish the willingness of the US political establishment to sustain deployments in the Middle East."
The US has carried out multiple retaliatory strikes in response, sending fighter jets, gunships, and other aircraft to hit sensitive sites affiliated with the Iran-affiliated forces. Most recently, an American combat drone on Sunday killed five militants in Iraq who were preparing to launch a drone of their own.
Middle East security experts previously told Business Insider Washington has to walk a tightrope in weighing how best to react to the provocations, as it balances its own strategic interests in the region. US officials have routinely stressed that the small American footprint of a few thousand troops in Iraq and Syria is in place to ensure the defeat of the Islamic State. The US is determined not to let other challenges deter that effort. "Our forces are there for one reason and that's to stay focused on the Defeat ISIS mission," Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters last month. "And so we will continue to focus on that mission, as well as ensuring that our forces are protected."

3 commercial ships hit by missiles in Houthi attack in Red Sea, US warship downs 3 drones
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)/December 4, 2023
Ballistic missiles fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels struck three commercial ships Sunday in the Red Sea, while a U.S. warship shot down three drones in self-defense during the hourslong assault, the U.S. military said. The Iranian-backed Houthis claimed two of the attacks. The strikes marked an escalation in a series of maritime attacks in the Mideast linked to the Israel-Hamas war, as multiple vessels found themselves in the crosshairs of a single Houthi assault for the first time in the conflict. The U.S. vowed to “consider all appropriate responses” in the wake of the attack, specifically calling out Iran, after tensions have been high for years now over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program. “These attacks represent a direct threat to international commerce and maritime security,” the U.S. military's Central Command said in a statement. “They have jeopardized the lives of international crews representing multiple countries around the world.”It added: “We also have every reason to believe that these attacks, while launched by the Houthis in Yemen, are fully enabled by Iran.”The attack began around 9:15 a.m. local time (0615 GMT) in Houthi-controlled Sanaa, Yemen's capital, Central Command said. The USS Carney, a Navy destroyer, detected a ballistic missile fired from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen at the Bahamas-flagged bulk carrier Unity Explorer. The missile hit near the ship, the U.S. said. Shortly afterward, the Carney shot down a drone headed its way, although it's not clear if the destroyer was the target, Central Command said. About 30 minutes later, the Unity Explorer was hit by a missile. While responding to its distress call, the Carney shot down another incoming drone. Central Command said the Unity Explorer sustained minor damage from the missile.Two other commercial ships, the Panamanian-flagged bulk carriers Number 9 and Sophie II, were both struck by missiles. The Number 9 reported some damage but no casualties, and the Sophie II reported no significant damage, Central Command said. While sailing to assist the Sophie II around 4:30 p.m. local time (1330 GMT), the Carney shot down another drone heading in its direction. The drones did no damage. The Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, has shot down multiple rockets the Houthis have fired toward Israel during that nation's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It hasn't been damaged in any of the incidents and no injuries have been reported on board. The Defense Department initially described the assault as simply an attack on the Carney before providing more details. Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed two of Sunday's attacks, saying the first vessel was hit by a missile and the second by a drone while in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Saree did not mention any U.S. warship being involved.
“The Yemeni armed forces continue to prevent Israeli ships from navigating the Red Sea (and Gulf of Aden) until the Israeli aggression against our steadfast brothers in the Gaza Strip stops,” Saree said. “The Yemeni armed forces renew their warning to all Israeli ships or those associated with Israelis that they will become a legitimate target if they violate what is stated in this statement.”Saree also identified the first vessel as the Unity Explorer, which is owned by a British firm that includes Dan David Ungar, who lives in Israel, as one of its officers. The Number 9 is linked to Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement. The Sophie II's owner, Kyowa Kisen of Imabari, Japan, told The Associated Press that the ship's crew were safe and the vessel did not sustain serious damage. Managers for the two other ships could not be immediately reached for comment. Israeli media identified Ungar as being the son of Israeli shipping billionaire Abraham “Rami” Ungar. Iran has yet to directly address the attacks. However, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian threatened “that if the current situation continues, the region will enter a new phase” over the Israel-Hamas war.
“All parties who are after igniting a war are warned, before it’s too late stop the killing of women and children, of which a new round has started," Amirabdollahian said. Iran's top diplomat described his comments as coming after conversations with “resistance forces” in the region — a description Tehran uses for the Shiite militias it backs, including groups in Iraq, the Houthis and Lebanon's Hezbollah, as well as the Sunni fighters of Hamas. All have threatened or attacked Israel, Iran's regional archrival, during the war.
The Houthis have launched a series of attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, as well as launching drones and missiles targeting Israel. Analysts suggest the Houthis hope to shore up waning popular support after years of civil war in Yemen between it and Saudi-backed forces.
The U.S. has stopped short of saying its Navy ships were targeted, but has said Houthi drones have headed toward the ships and have been shot down in self-defense. Washington so far has declined to directly respond to the attacks, as has Israel, whose military continues to try to describe the ships as not having links to their country. Global shipping had increasingly been targeted as the Israel-Hamas war threatens to become a wider regional conflict — even as a truce briefly halted fighting and Hamas exchanged hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. However, the collapse of the truce and the resumption of punishing Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and a ground offensive there had raised the risk of more seaborne attacks. In November, the Houthis seized a vehicle transport ship also linked to Israel in the Red Sea off Yemen. The rebels still hold the vessel near the port city of Hodeida. Missiles also landed near another U.S. warship last week after it assisted a vessel linked to Israel that had briefly been seized by gunmen. Separately, a container ship owned by an Israeli billionaire recently came under attack by a suspected Iranian drone in the Indian Ocean. The Houthis had not directly targeted the Americans for some time, further raising the stakes in the growing maritime conflict. In 2016, the U.S. launched Tomahawk cruise missiles that destroyed three coastal radar sites in Houthi-controlled territory to retaliate for missiles being fired at U.S. Navy ships at the time.

Israel says it killed Hamas commander in air strike
Reuters/December 04/2023
STORY: Army spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the commander, who was named in a statement as Haitham Khuwajari, directed militants to carry out raids into southern Israel on Oct. 7, in which 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 taken hostage.
Khuwajari also led battles in the Shati area of Gaza in the past month, Hagari said.The Israeli army released video said to show the strike that killed Khuwajari. Reuters was not able to confirm the date or location the video or photo was taken.

WHO board to hold emergency session on Gaza health situation
GENEVA (Reuters)/Mon, December 4, 2023
The World Health Organization will hold an extraordinary session of its Executive Board on Dec. 10 to discuss health conditions in Gaza and the West Bank, a document from the U.N. global health agency showed and Palestinian ambassador said. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus convened the session after receiving a request from 14 members of the WHO's board, the WHO document said. A WHO spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Palestinian ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva Ibrahim Khraishi said that the meeting would focus mostly on Gaza but also cover attacks on the health sector in the West Bank. "We want to empower the WHO and call for the Israeli side not to target the medical sector. We want to allow for fresh medical supplies," he told Reuters, saying that his diplomatic mission was drafting a motion to be reviewed by the 34-member board. Only a fraction of Gaza's hospitals are currently operational due to bombings and lack of fuel and those that are still functioning are increasingly overwhelmed by a new wave of wounded arriving. Israel has accused Hamas of using ordinary Gazans as human shields by placing command centres and weapons inside hospitals and other civilian buildings. A senior adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday Israel would facilitate the provision of humanitarian aid to Gaza's civilians as fighting there resumed.

Global Affairs confirms Canadian death in Lebanon, 8th since Israel-Hamas war began
The Canadian Press/December 04/ 2023
Global Affairs Canada is announcing the death of an eighth Canadian citizen in the Israel-Hamas war. The department says the death was in Lebanon, but offered no further details in an update Sunday evening. It says 130 Canadians left Gaza through the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt after it reopened to foreign nationals this weekend. Seven Canadians and one person with deep connections to Canada were killed in the initial Hamas-led attack in Israel that killed about 1,200 mostly civilians on Oct. 7. One Canadian remains missing, but has not been identified by Global Affairs.
Israel's military said Sunday its ground offensive had expanded to every part of Gaza, and it ordered more areas in and around the region's second-largest city of Kahn Younis to evacuate. Heavy bombardments were reported overnight and into Sunday in Khan Younis as well as Rafah itself, where Israel says many Hamas leaders are hiding. Israel vowed its efforts in southern Gaza would be of "no less strength" than its attacks in northern Gaza. Many of the territory's 2.3 million people are crammed in the south after Israeli forces ordered civilians to leave the north in the early days of the two-month-old war.

Putin to visit UAE, Saudi Arabia this week - Russian news outlet
MOSCOW (Reuters)/Mon, December 4, 2023
Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia this week, Russian news outlet Shot reported on Monday, citing Putin's aide Yury Ushakov. The reported visit comes after the OPEC+ group of oil producers, which includes all three countries, agreed last Thursday to voluntary output cuts totalling about 2.2 million barrels a day. Markets reacted with scepticism to the deal because of doubts about whether the voluntary cuts would be fully implemented. Oil prices fell 2% last week after the announcement, and declined further on Monday. Brent crude was down nearly 0.6% at $78.45 as of 1709 GMT. The figure of 2.2 million bpd included an extension of existing Saudi and Russian voluntary cuts of 1.3 million bpd. Shot quoted Ushakov as saying Putin would go first to UAE and then to Saudi Arabia, where negotiations would take place mainly with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. "I hope that these will be very useful negotiations, which we consider extremely important," Ushakov said. Putin has rarely travelled abroad in recent years, and mostly to states of the former Soviet Union. His last trip beyond those countries was to China in October. Apart from cooperation in OPEC+, Putin is keen to cultivate the Gulf states as part of his drive to build global alliances with non-Western countries in order to demonstrate what he says is the failure of the United States and its allies to isolate Russia with sanctions over the war in Ukraine. Putin's scope to travel abroad was limited in March when the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against him for the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, a war crime. Russia denied the charge and called the move outrageous, but said it was legally void in any case because Russia is not a member of the ICC. Neither Saudi Arabia nor the UAE is a member of the court either, so Putin can travel to both countries without fear of being arrested under the ICC warrant.

Putin blames Nord Stream blasts for disruption of Russia-Germany relations
MOSCOW (Reuters)/Mon, December 4, 2023
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that cooperation between Moscow and Berlin had been disrupted by blasts in September 2022 affecting Nord Stream pipelines that had pumped Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Putin made his comment while accepting the credentials of more than 20 new foreign ambassadors to Russia, including those of Germany and Britain, at a ceremony in the Kremlin. "The current frozen state of (Germany's) relations with Russia - and this is not on our initiative, I want to emphasise - is unprofitable. It is unprofitable both for us and for you, but especially, in my view, for Germany," Putin said. "Energy has always been an attractive area of bilateral cooperation," he said. "This cooperation was literally disrupted by the sabotage on the Nord Stream pipelines." Russia has blamed the United States, Britain, and Ukraine for the pipeline blasts. They all denied any involvement. Putin also said on Monday he hoped that relations between Moscow and London would improve. "Let us hope that the situation will change for the better in the interests of our two countries and peoples," Putin said. Russia's relations with Western countries are at their lowest level since the depths of the Cold War following Putin's decision in February 2022 to send tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine, prompting sweeping Western economic sanctions.

Egypt’s president opens defense expo showcasing latest technology
Arab News/December 04, 2023
CAIRO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi opened the third edition of the Egypt Defense Expo on Monday. El-Sisi inspected pavilions and watched a documentary about the country’s military. More than 400 companies from 46 countries are participating at the event, which is being held at Egypt International Exhibition Center in Cairo between Dec. 4-7. It will display weapons manufactured by Egypt, in addition to those produced by international companies working in the defense industries field. Some 22 pavilions from different countries feature at the expo, which is a biennial event. The expo, which is the only defense and security event that covers Africa and the Middle East, is expected to attract 35,000 visitors, including high-level military delegations, and is the biggest in Africa.
The event gives visitors the opportunity to see the latest technology, equipment, and military systems for use across land, sea, and air.

Philippine police identify possible suspects after deadly blast at Catholic mass
Reuters/December 04, 2023
MANILA: Philippine police are looking into possible suspects behind the bombing at a Catholic mass in the country’s south, a regional police chief said on Monday after the blast that killed four people was claimed by Daesh militants. On Sunday, a powerful explosion ripped through a gymnasium at Mindanao State University in Marawi, a southern Philippine city that was besieged by pro-Daesh militants for five months in 2017. The death toll stood at four as of Monday, while around 50 others were injured from the blast. Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack late on Sunday, saying that its members had detonated an explosive device at the gathering, according to reports. “Following the explosion, the PNP (Philippine National Police) created a special investigation task group to focus and expedite the investigation relative to this incident … We (now) have persons of interest,” regional police chief Allan Nobleza told reporters, adding that one of the suspects was linked to a local militant group. “The investigation is still ongoing. In order not to preempt the investigation, we will not divulge the names.” Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., chief of staff of the Philippines’ Armed Forces, said that Sunday’s attack may have been in response to a series of recent military operations that had targeted local militant groups. Philippine forces launched an operation targeting the local Dawlah Islamiyah cell in the southern province of Maguindanao on Friday, killing 11 suspected militants including the group’s alleged leader Abdullah Sapal. The militant group, which has been linked to bombings and other deadly attacks in the southern Philippines, pledged allegiance to Daesh in 2015. In another operation in Sulu province on Saturday, government forces killed Mudzrimar Sawadjaan, also known as Mundi, a senior leader of another Daesh affiliate, the Abu Sayyaf Group. Brawner said Mundi was the mastermind of two major attacks in the Sulu capital of Jolo, including the 2019 cathedral bombings that killed at least 20 people. Both Dawlah Islamiyah —also known as the Maute group — and the ASG were behind the 2017 Marawi siege, a five-month battle that killed more than 1,100 people and forced more than 300,000 others from their homes. “Because of the accomplishments … we believe that that could be one of the strong possibilities why this (attack) occurred,” Brawner told reporters in Marawi on Monday. “We will go after the perpetrators as soon as possible and use all resources at our disposal in order to make this happen.”

US targets ex-Sudan officials with sanctions for undermining peace
WASHINGTON (Reuters)/December 4, 2023
The United States imposed sanctions on Monday on three former Sudanese officials for their role in undermining peace, security and stability in Sudan, the Treasury Department said. The sanctions are being imposed under a U.S. executive order that places penalties on people who destabilize Sudan and undermine democracy, the department said in a statement. It named the three as Taha Osman Ahmed al-Hussein, Salah Abdallah Mohamed Salah and Mohamed Etta Elmoula Abbas, all former Sudanese officials. "These individuals have engaged in activities that undermine the peace, security, and stability of Sudan," it said. "Elmoula and Gosh are former security officials who worked to return former regime elements to power and undermine efforts to establish civilian government, while Taha worked to facilitate the delivery of military and other materiel support from external sources to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)," it said. A war erupted on April 15 between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces after weeks of friction between the two sides over a plan to integrate forces as part of a transition from military rule to civilian democracy. The U.S. statement said Washington was committed to promoting accountability for those responsible for atrocities in the Sudanese conflict. "The warring parties must comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law, and we call on them to protect civilians, hold accountable those responsible for atrocities or other abuses, allow unhindered humanitarian access, and negotiate an end to the conflict," it said. The U.S. announcement follows a vote by the U.N. Security Council on Friday to shut down a U.N. political mission in Sudan on Dec. 3 after a request from Sudan's acting foreign minister. A British-drafted resolution terminated the mandate of the mission, known as UNITAMS, and requires it to wind down over the next three months. UNITAMS was established by the 15-member council in June 2020 to provide support to Sudan during its political transition to democratic rule. A senior United Nations official said last month that violence against civilians in Sudan was "verging on pure evil," as a humanitarian crisis worsens and ethnic violence increasesin the western region of Darfur. Last week U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed veteran Algerian diplomat Ramtane Lamamra as his personal envoy for Sudan. The Security Council resolution encourages all parties to cooperate with the envoy.

Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 04-05/2023
UN and Hamas: Partners in Crime
Robert Williams/Gatestone Institute./December 4, 2023
To understand how the UN effectively runs the Hamas propaganda war, it is important to know that the UN, through its agency for Palestinian refugees, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), is effectively embedded with Hamas in the Gaza Strip...
"The UN has 13,000 employees in tiny Gaza. They know exactly what's going on... They all knew Hamas' terror infrastructure was in the hospital compound, where Israel wouldn't attack. They lied to the world for 16 years. To paint Israel as evil." — Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of UN Watch, November 16, 2023.
[T]he UN has sustained an incessant campaign, especially on social media, that accuses Israel of deliberately targeting schools, children, civilians, hospitals and healthcare workers. While those are protected from attack during war by international law, that protection does not apply to schools, hospitals and other civilian sites that are used for military purposes.
When Israel carried out an airstrike on an ambulance in northern Gaza, which was being used by Hamas terrorists, [UN Secretary-General António] Guterres expressed that he was "horrified" with Israel's action, while ignoring Hamas's war crimes. In practice, the UN and Hamas act as partners in crime.
Above all, the UN's transparent complicity with Hamas should convince the US, finally, that much of the UN is a destructive organization that prolongs wars, and needs immediately to have its funding decimated, and be reduced in importance to the corrupt relic that it is, deserving no place in this century.
When a rocket fired by Palestinian Islamic Jihad exploded outside Gaza's Al-Ahli hospital, Hamas claimed within minutes that Israel had bombed the hospital and falsely asserted that hundreds of people had been killed there. The United Nations rushed to blame Israel, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres used his speech at the Belt and Road Summit in China to condemn Israel for the explosion.
Since October 7, when Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel and massacred at least 1,200 and kidnapped another 240 Israelis and people of other nationalities, the United Nations has been acting as the unofficial propaganda arm of the Iranian-backed Hamas terrorist organization.
The propaganda campaign's main aim – besides smearing Israel – appears to be to build overwhelming international pressure on Israel to agree to an indefinite ceasefire , which will give Hamas the needed time to regroup and replenish to continue its terrorist activities and to avoid being eliminated by the Israeli Defense Forces.
To understand how the UN effectively runs the Hamas propaganda war, it is important to know that the UN, through its agency for Palestinian refugees, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), is effectively embedded with Hamas in the Gaza Strip: it can be difficult to make any meaningful distinction between the two organizations. On October 7, in fact, as the Hamas massacre of civilians in Israel unfolded, UNRWA employees in Gaza celebrated. UN Watch wrote in a report last month:
"As soon as news of the horrific slaughter broke, which was livestreamed on social media by some of the terrorists, United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff immediately celebrated and justified it on Facebook... UNRWA has been a breeding ground for Palestinian terrorists from its early days... The perpetrators of the 1972 Munich Olympic Massacre, in which 11 Israeli athletes were murdered... almost all were raised and educated in UNRWA schools... Likewise, Mohamed Deif, the commander of Hamas's Al Qassem Brigades who masterminded the October 7th massacre, was also educated in an UNRWA school."
According to Associated Press:
"From 2014-2020, U.N. agencies spent nearly $4.5 billion in Gaza, including $600 million in 2020 alone. More than 80% of that funding is channeled through the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, who make up three-fourths of Gaza's population. Some 280,000 children in Gaza attend schools run by UNRWA, which also provides health services and food aid."
The UN, through UNRWA in Gaza, likely knows everything that happens there, including the terrorist infrastructure of the underground Hamas tunnels and their use of hospitals and ambulances. Yet throughout this war, the UN has done nothing but feign "horror and shock" at Israel's necessary measures against Hamas terrorists embedded within civilian society in Gaza. As the executive director of UN Watch, Hillel Neuer, pointed out:
"The UN has 13,000 employees in tiny Gaza. They know exactly what's going on... They all knew Hamas' terror infrastructure was in the hospital compound, where Israel wouldn't attack. They lied to the world for 16 years. To paint Israel as evil."
On October 24, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stooped to a new low when pushing a typical Hamas narrative of grievances. He said that the October 7 attacks "did not happen in a vacuum," thereby seemingly justifying the terrorist attacks. Meanwhile, the UN has not bothered in the least to address in concrete and horrifying detail what happened during the October 7 massacre – the mass rapes, the horrific torture, the ruthless murders and the kidnappings.
This silence on what happened on October 7 is, sadly, in keeping with the UN's demonization of Israel around the clock. The UN invokes international humanitarian law – which Hamas, not Israel, is breaking by building military installations in protected civilian spaces (which, when used for military purposes become unprotected) and using civilians as human shields. Meanwhile, the UN never calls for Hamas to stop using its civilians as human shields to protect its weapons and show dead babies to the television cameras – to imply that their deaths were Israel's fault.
Why are Gazan civilians not allowed to take shelter from aerial bombardments in Hamas's 300 km of underground tunnels? Why did the Israel Defense Forces have to protect the Gazans fleeing south for their lives -- as Israel had cautioned them to -- while Hamas tried at gunpoint to prevent them from leaving?
Everything that the UN says and does regarding to Israel's military operations in Gaza turns Hamas's war crimes on their head -- to try to blame them on Israel. Meanwhile, the UN parrots as fact whatever outlandish claims Hamas produces, including Gazan casualty numbers, which oddly never include any mention of Hamas terrorists, but mostly women and children.
When Hamas claimed on October 17 that Israel had bombed Gaza's Al-Ahli hospital, falsely asserting that hundreds of people had been killed, the UN rushed to blame Israel. Guterres used his speech at the Belt and Road Summit in China to condemn Israel for the explosion outside the hospital and to call for an immediate ceasefire, while Dennis Francis, president of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly announced that he was "shocked and horrified."
On October 18, Israel published evidence showing that the strike on the hospital compound was a misfired rocket aimed at Israel and launched by Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The UN said nothing. Instead, the UN has sustained an incessant campaign, especially on social media, that accuses Israel of deliberately targeting schools, children, civilians, hospitals and healthcare workers. While those are protected from attack during war by international law, that protection does not apply to schools, hospitals and other civilian sites that are used for military purposes.
Hamas' unlawful military use of hospitals, schools and other civilian sites was first exposed years ago. Former US President Bill Clinton spoke about it in 2016. "When Hamas chooses to rocket Israel, it insinuates itself into hospitals and into schools," he said.
NATO published a report in 2019, which bluntly stated:
"Hamas, an Islamist militant group and the de facto governing authority of the Gaza Strip, has been using human shields in conflicts with Israel since 2007. According to the Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the war crime of using human shields encompasses "utilizing the presence of a civilian or other protected person to render certain points, areas, or military forces immune from military operations." Hamas has launched rockets, positioned military-related infrastructure-hubs and routes, and engaged the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) from, or in proximity to, residential and commercial areas.
"The strategic logic of human shields has two components. It is based on an awareness of Israel's desire to minimise collateral damage, and of Western public opinion's sensitivity towards civilian casualties. If the IDF uses lethal force and causes an increase in civilian casualties, Hamas can utilise that as a lawfare tool: it can accuse Israel of committing war crimes, which could result in the imposition of a wide array of sanctions. Alternatively, if the IDF limits its use of military force in Gaza to avoid collateral damage, Hamas will be less susceptible to Israeli attacks, and thereby able to protect its assets while continuing to fight."
When Israel carried out an airstrike on an ambulance in northern Gaza, which was being used by Hamas terrorists, Guterres expressed that he was "horrified" with Israel's action, while ignoring Hamas's war crimes. In practice, the UN and Hamas act as partners in crime.
A Hamas terrorist who participated in the October 7 mass-murder of Israelis and was captured, said during a recent interrogation intercepted by Israel:
"Al-Qassam [the Hamas military wing] has its own ambulances, some of which are located on the military base. The appearance of the ambulances is similar to the civilian ambulances so that they will not arouse suspicion or be bombed by Israel."
Another captured Hamas terrorist said:
"During combat, the ambulances are used, among other things, to evacuate fighters, commanders and operatives. They also transport food, cargo and weapons in them because that is the safest way to transport them."
Yet another captured terrorist said that ambulances were useful to transport "important people" such as Hamas commanders because "the Jews don't attack ambulances."
When Israel published evidence of the Hamas military command center beneath Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, World Health Organization Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who covered up the transmissibility of the COVID-19 pandemic for China and is accused of trying to cover up three cholera epidemics in Ethiopia, immediately castigated Israel.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths, wrote:
"I'm appalled by reports of military raids in Al Shifa hospital in #Gaza. The protection of newborns, patients, medical staff and all civilians must override all other concerns. Hospitals are not battlegrounds."
While these high-ranking UN officials disingenuously feign ignorance and expect the public to believe that they knew nothing about the Hamas base in Al-Shifa Hospital, foreign doctors and journalists have apparently been aware of it for years.
An unnamed British doctor, who worked at Al-Shifa hospital three years ago, recently said in a television interview:
"The main point was, when I was first asked to work there [at Al-Shifa], I was told there was a part of the hospital I was not to go near, and if I did, I'd be in danger of being shot... implicit was that it was being used for non-medical purposes... I stayed away, but I saw a few dodgy looking non-medical characters going in and out all the time. It was a ward leading to a basement."
A journalist from Italy related that in 2009, upon arriving in Al-Shifa Hospital to interview wounded members of Fatah, he came almost face to face with the Hamas command and control center beneath the hospital:
"Shifa is a very large compound. I got lost inside it, and at some point I ended up on an underground floor, and I found myself in front of two armed Hamas men in military attire, who told me to get out. I got the impression they were guarding a security door that gave access to their underground infrastructure. Several Palestinian sources I spoke with later on confirmed that Hamas's command and control center was located under Shifa Hospital and that [Hamas leader] Ismail Haniyeh had been hiding there throughout the duration of Operation Cast Lead."
It is also likely that the UN, with its 13,000 employees in Gaza, knew, as did the nurses and doctors at Al-Shifa Hospital, that Israeli hostages were being held at Al-Shifa. Israel recently revealed that Hamas terrorists brought hostages there in broad daylight on October 7, with healthcare staff even holding doors open for the terrorists.
The UN's pretend show of "shock and horror" that Israel is eliminating its Hamas partner in Gaza is too transparent for anyone to take seriously, although the international mainstream media certainly does, parroting whatever Hamas and the UN allege as facts.
Above all, the UN's transparent complicity with Hamas should convince the US, finally, that much of the UN is a destructive organization that prolongs wars, and needs immediately to have its funding decimated, and be reduced in importance to the corrupt relic that it is, deserving no place in this century.
*Robert Williams is a researcher based in the United States.
© 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.

End of Gaza ‘pause’ reinforces importance of a ceasefire
Chris Doyle/Arab News/December 04, 2023
Legend has it that, back in 64 A.D., the Emperor Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Although almost certainly a myth, the comment highlights how contemptuous the hated emperor was of his people. Many Palestinians feel that this is exactly what Western leaders are doing right now, in as medieval and barbaric a fashion as the infamous Nero. As their land is being ruthlessly bombarded and their people ethnically cleansed, the world is collectively fiddling.
It fits the pattern of deep-rooted and unrecognized anti-Arab racism that informs so much of the West’s decision-making, which I covered last month. Not one Western leader has yet, to my knowledge, condemned the numerous genocidal comments made by Israeli ministers, which continue to be uttered with total impunity. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich included the West Bank as well as Gaza in his scope of annihilation, saying last week: “There are 2 million Nazis in Judea and Samaria, who hate us exactly as do the Nazis of Hamas-ISIS in Gaza.” A hip-hop war anthem that reached No. 1 in Israel includes lyrics such as “let’s write names on the bombs, for the children of the Gaza envelope.”
The lack of reaction shows that this does not horrify politicians as it should. Likewise, the Western media, with a few honorable exceptions, is also not interested. Why would a world that ignores such genocidal calls be concerned about Palestinian civilians?
Last week’s pause in fighting, which was extended twice, proved exactly why getting a lasting ceasefire matters. A pause resolves nothing. The bombardment resumes — it does not deserve the term “fighting,” given the asymmetry. Pauses tell you all you need to know about the intent. The aim will be to resume the bombardment. The pause allowed some additional humanitarian aid in, but this is like fattening the victims for the eventual kill. A ceasefire, on the other hand, would indicate an intent to secure a more lasting deal; one designed to be the first step toward ending the horror.
Nothing encapsulates this complacent attitude more than the tiresome, almost pedantic debate over the terms “truce,” “pause” and “ceasefire.” These were the disgraceful verbal gymnastics that dominated the debate. The British Labour Party leadership went from calling for nothing to calling for humanitarian pauses and then to calling for a cessation of hostilities, but it did not dare utter the word “ceasefire.”
The hostility to the concept of a ceasefire was instructive. The US vetoed a resolution at the UN Security Council calling for one. Countries from the Global South that are clearly appalled by the Israeli atrocities nearly all voted for one at the UN General Assembly. One of the most ludicrous arguments was to say there was no point in a political leader calling for a ceasefire because that would make him or her look weak, as it would not happen. It would not be “practical,” as one senior British political figure told me. By such specious reasoning, nobody would have called for the end of slavery, apartheid or for the Berlin Wall to be pulled down. Imagine if politicians confined themselves solely to calling for things that were going to happen.
The one major benefit of the pauses was the release of hostages and Palestinian detainees. Yet, if the safety of the hostages had been the primary consideration, there would have been a ceasefire very early on. The harsh reality is that Israeli hostages are far more at risk under the savage bombardment that resumed last Friday. The pause allowed some additional humanitarian aid in, but this is like fattening the victims for the eventual kill.
The whole debate is centered more on how long Israel should be permitted to bomb the hell out of Gaza, not on whether this is right. To be clear, Israel can act to protect its citizens, but the massive carpet bombing of Gaza is totally unwarranted and is more about revenge. The total siege is clearly illegal. Former International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo argued that the siege is a genocide both because of what it does to civilians and due to the aims expressed by Israeli leaders.
However, despite tokenistic statements of concern for the well-being of civilians in Gaza, this has not led to any serious policy decisions. Rather than compel Israel to end its total siege, Western complicity with Israeli crimes leaves UN and humanitarian agencies scrabbling around to try and stave off the worst humanitarian horrors with the paltry number of aid trucks allowed in per day, while their staff get bombed. UNRWA has lost at least 111 members of its staff so far. This renewed phase of Israeli bombardment also introduces new factors. Israel is now pummeling the southern part of the Gaza Strip, having parceled the area up into hundreds of tiny segments. Most of Gaza’s population, crammed into unsanitary and disease-ridden areas in the south, are being told to move. At some point, there will be nowhere to move to. On top of that, the deathly cold of winter will wreak further havoc. The word “catastrophe” was used over a month ago, so what shall we call this? Israel has decimated Gaza’s health infrastructure, knocking out two-thirds of its hospitals. The education system is also crushed. Gaza’s water infrastructure has not been spared. No doubt more will be smashed and rendered useless. Palestinians and many others fear this is all part of the plan to make the Gaza Strip completely uninhabitable. With no healthcare and no water infrastructure, Palestinians will be forced to flee, whether into Egypt or, as some Israelis have suggested, via the sea routes to Europe. Does this sound absurd? Well, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed his adviser and Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer to produce plans to thin the population of Gaza “to a minimum.” This is the very definition of ethnic cleansing. Everyone is left wondering what the US will consider to be enough. When will these political leaders stop fiddling and actually get serious with Israel? Perhaps when the fatality count passes 20,000 or even 30,000. Will that be enough? Will they give Israel even longer and we see 50,000 Palestinian fatalities? After all, pretty soon the media will lose interest in Gaza and turn to some fresh horror elsewhere in the world. That would suit Israel’s leaders just fine. US President Joe Biden has started making a few of the right noises, albeit in whispers. Israel may finally have been put on notice that American patience is not infinite. This phase of Israeli attacks may be even more brutal as a result. If and when some form of ceasefire does materialize, it will not be long before many will ask: why did we not push for a ceasefire earlier? You may be able to hit the pause button, but you cannot rewind. With every day of slaughter, all the future scenarios just get tougher and tougher. It is time to fast forward to a proper ceasefire, when maybe a new course for Gaza and its people can be charted.
• Chris Doyle is director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding in London. X: @Doylech

Sinwar and the explosive belt
Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al-Awsat/December 04, 2023
It was Oct. 7. They woke up Benjamin Netanyahu, who found a cup of poison waiting for him. He could not believe it at first glance. They came by land, air and sea. Al-Qassam Brigades fighters are walking free in the settlements. They fire shells and bullets and take hostages into the Gaza tunnels. Yahya Sinwar’s trick misled the arrogant security services. It also affected the “invincible army.” It soon became clear that Hamas fighters crossing the electronic wall around Gaza was more terrifying than any attack Israel had previously known.
Confrontation is not new. Israel has previously received many blows from Palestinian factions, but it responded with something even harsher. This is not a slap. It is a deep stab. Sinwar’s attack shook the settlements and the occupiers. It shook the security and military establishment and subjected the political institution to an unprecedented scandal. Israel plunged into an “existential war,” as its senior officials said. The story is bigger than the recovery of the hostages, despite its importance to the Netanyahu government. It is to restore prestige and the ability to deter, while ensuring that another Sinwar does not emerge elsewhere. We are now in December. A river of blood and small coffins … Successive waves of displaced … A sea of rubble. A humanitarian truce allowed for the exchange of prisoners and the introduction of aid. The world dreamed that extending the truce would lead to a permanent ceasefire. But the confrontation is more complex than the world thought.
It is a war that is difficult to retreat from. Defeat carries an unbearable price. The price of risking rushing into confrontation is less than that of surrender. In this type of war, defeat has the taste of suicide. The war must be completed to eliminate Hamas and create a Gaza that does not harbor dangers for Israel.
This is what the American president heard, along with his secretary of state and defense secretary. The Israeli government cannot see Hamas going back to ruling Gaza. Removing Hamas from the scene would require breaking its back, which is impossible without causing a new catastrophe. Hamas cannot accept the proposed “next-day” scenarios, as it did not unleash the Al-Aqsa Flood in order to retire after it. After nearly two months, questions continue about what went through the minds of Hamas’ Gaza leader Sinwar and Al-Qassam Brigades head Mohammed Deif before the launching of the Al-Aqsa Flood. Did Sinwar consider that the attack would result in the return of a number of hostages, which would allow “the Israeli prisons to be cleansed of Palestinian detainees?”
Did he expect Israel to respond with an incursion similar to previous invasions, followed by a ceasefire and the completion of a swap deal that would strengthen Hamas’ standing in both Gaza and the West Bank, establishing it as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people?
Did he rule out the possibility that Israel would respond with an indefinite war of killing and destruction? Did he take into account the likelihood that America would move its navy and its president to ensure that Hamas would not win or even have a role in the “next day?” Is it true what some say: that Hamas was surprised by the settlements being completely exposed to its fighters, so it went so far as to inflict unprecedented losses on the Israelis?
Many questions arise. Did Sinwar decide to strike a painful blow at Israel or did he intend to spark a widescale war, regardless of the international calculations and consequences? Did he ignite the war, relying on the belief that a broad and brutal Israeli response would necessarily lead to a regional confrontation?
Did he believe that his partners in the so-called axis of resistance would consider the war their own and rush to engage in it? Did he assume that Iran would ignite the region in the face of the Americans and the world would hurry to extinguish the fire in what is a highly flammable region? Is it true that the timing of the battle was the big secret between Sinwar and Deif and that their allies only knew about the earthquake once it had started? Does Sinwar have the right to put his allies in the face of such a dangerous fait accompli or was he confident that they were already preparing for a “major strike,” no matter how late it was? Many more questions arise. Will Sinwar accept the retirement of the Al-Qassam Brigades in exchange for a firm international promise to launch a political process leading to a two-state solution? Does he agree to sit in a Palestinian state that will necessarily recognize the other state or does he actually demand a Palestine from the river to the sea?
Did Sinwar believe that he could tip the international and regional balance and force everyone to deal with Hamas, forgetting that the Palestine Liberation Organization did not become internationally accepted until it reexamined some of its expressions and phrases?
The 61-year-old Sinwar has spent 24 years in Israeli prisons. He was liberated by Hamas in 2011 as part of the Shalit deal, which saw Israel release more than 1,000 detainees in exchange for Hamas’ discharge of soldier Gilad Shalit.
Hamas cannot accept the proposed ‘next-day’ scenarios, as it did not unleash the Al-Aqsa Flood in order to retire. From his long stay in prison, he concluded that the war was wide open and that it was nothing less than a war of existence.
I realized the depth of this conflict from a story recounted to me by the former head of Hamas’ political bureau, Khaled Meshaal, when we were in Damascus, delving into the movement’s history since its birth. I asked him how he allowed himself to send a young man on a suicide operation. He was quick to respond: “We consider them martyrdom operations imposed by persistent Israeli injustice.”He told me that a young man named Mohammed Fathi Farhat, a 17-year-old, submitted a request to the leadership of the Al-Qassam Brigades to carry out a martyrdom operation. The command rejected his request out of mercy for his family, as his brother had carried out an operation of this kind and his older brother was a wanted man. After a while, the leadership received a letter from the young man’s mother, saying: “I do not allow you to reject his desire for martyrdom and I hope you accept his request.” The Hamas leaders agreed and the mother accompanied her son during his preparations. When she heard the news of his departure, she put on her best clothes and began to receive the well-wishers. Her eldest son was also later killed.
How cruel is this war? Israel informs its visitors that it cannot retreat. Hamas cannot back down. Did Sinwar carry out a coup against the history of exchanged strikes with Israel? Where will he be on the “next day?” Will Hamas accept a return to the mantle of the Palestinian Authority to avoid a disaster? Did Sinwar succeed in reversing the equation or did he encircle Hamas with an explosive belt and push it into a “martyrdom operation?”

Iran balancing deterrence and the risk of escalation
Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/December 04, 2023
Since Oct. 7, Iran has been torn between its revolutionary ambition to capitalize on the Palestinian issue at a time of military confrontation and the risk of an uncontrolled military escalation. This difficulty explains why Iran is trying to distance itself from any direct implication in the war, while supporting its proxies from the so-called axis of resistance in deterring Israel and the US from extending the conflict. Based on the strategy of forward defense, Iran’s regional policy aims to avoid the weakening of its networks of influence as an unintended consequence of the war between Israel and Hamas.
If the official purpose of Iran’s partnership with nonstate actors in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen is Israel’s elimination, this ideological dimension can be temporarily pushed aside for the sake of more pragmatic objectives, such as the survival of the Iranian state. The objective of the forward defense strategy is to deter the US or Israel from engaging in a military confrontation with Iran. Nevertheless, there is an ideological dimension in the Iranian discourse that is shaping its military approach; this is best seen in the official discourse regarding the “axis of resistance.” This ideological dimension is key to understanding the risk of military escalation based on Iran’s ideological imperatives, which could lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy toward a regional confrontation.
The day after Oct. 7, Iranian officials, while reaffirming their support for Palestine, denied the involvement of Iran in this attack. In a speech given two days later at a military academy, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei also rejected accusations of Iranian involvement in the preparation of the Hamas attack. He said: “The supporters of the Zionist regime (Israel) and some people in the usurping regime (the US) have been spreading rumors over the past two or three days, including that Iran was behind this action. They are wrong.”
There are several reasons for this extremely cautious attitude of the Iranian head of state, even though it is public knowledge that, for many years, Tehran has defended and supported Hamas in multiple ways, including the supply of arms, transfer of technology, logistics, training and finance. The first reason is obvious, which is not to provide a pretext for Israel or the US to launch military operations against Iran and to drag it into an armed conflict that would endanger the future of the regime.
The second reason is found in the unpopularity of the Iranian support to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The Iranian authorities are fully aware that, except among the insiders of the regime, Iranians generally do not support the expansionist regional policy. According to a September 2021 GAMAAN survey, 65 percent of Iranians (literate and aged over 19) disagreed with the slogan “death to Israel,” while about 23 percent supported it. On the other hand, 64 percent approved of the slogan “neither Gaza nor Lebanon, I sacrifice my life for Iran,” while 24 percent were opposed to it.
In a country where the economic situation is deteriorating further every year, the priority given by the Iranian government to providing financial and military support to nonstate actors outside the country is deeply unpopular. Indeed, the majority of the population considers that these ideological imperatives are pursued to the detriment of the priority that should be given to protecting the standard of living of Iranian society. The Iranian authorities are fully aware that Iranians generally do not support the expansionist regional policy.
For more than a year, since September 2022, the regime has had to face an unprecedented popular challenge, to which it has, until now, only responded with repression. Moreover, according to a study just published by the World Bank, during a “lost decade” of the Iranian economy between 2011 and 2020, close to 10 million Iranians fell into poverty.
The risk of military escalation is therefore limited by the state of the Iranian economy and the high level of popular discontent regarding Tehran’s official strategy toward the Palestinian issue. Another reason is the geopolitical convergence between Western states and Iran, with the two sides possibly finding common ground on the question of widening the scope of the conflict. The expansion of the conflict could take one of two different but related routes. On the one hand, it could be the result of a massive intervention by Hezbollah, which has more well-trained men and far greater resources than Hamas. It could open a new front and encircle the Israeli forces. In this case, the US, as it has already indicated, would probably intervene. The other route of a possible extension could be an Israeli attack on Iran, which would in turn push Hezbollah and Tehran’s other regional proxies to intervene.
Such a generalized and uncontrolled conflict would not be in the interest of anyone; either of the West, which is already heavily involved in the war between Russia and Ukraine, or of Iran, which cannot take the risk of being directly involved in an open war while the regime is already weakened internally. The economic cost of the regime’s commitment to Hamas removes the prospect of short-term economic improvement, as shown by the weakening of the national currency against the dollar since the start of the conflict.
Finally, it appears that the risk of unwanted escalation remains. Iran must keep mentioning the threat of escalation to preserve its military and ideological credibility with its proxies in Gaza, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. This explains the mobilization of Iraqi Shiite militias on the Syria-Israel border and the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. On the other hand, Israel appears keen to reestablish a balance of power with the so-called axis of resistance to reduce the likelihood of a future attack within its borders.
This dynamic of escalation could be further fueled by the local agenda of Iranian proxies such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, the Iraqi Shiite militias and the Houthis. In other words, even if regional and international powers have no interest in an extension of the conflict, local events could have unintended military consequences for the preservation of regional and international stability.
• Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami is the founder and president of the International Institute for Iranian Studies (Rasanah). X: @mohalsulami

Gaza war creates ‘to be or not to be’ moment for Palestinians
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/December 04, 2023
The all-too-brief ceasefire is already a dim and distant memory and the systematic killing of civilians in Gaza has resumed. Hence, this is the moment to question: Where does this all end and what are the long-term implications for Palestinians and Israelis?
Israel has already signaled that the carnage is destined to move south, where it previously dispatched Gaza’s entire population. “If (Palestinian civilians) stay in Khan Younis or Rafah, a similar fate awaits to what happened in Gaza City,” one Israel Defense Forces spokesman gruesomely stated. The baffling checkerboard maps of Gaza’s tiny 363 sq. km territory that Israel has distributed assume that 2 million people will endlessly scamper from one square to another, while warplanes bomb everything around them. QR code warnings would be a terrible idea even if everybody had not long since lost electricity and internet access. About 80 percent of the population has already been displaced, and we are just getting started.
Israeli politicians make no secret of their desire to see Palestinians permanently excluded from Gaza. The stated objective of bottling the entire population in a tiny quartile adjacent to the Egypt border resembles a textbook example of population transfer — for those not killed in the bombing first. If not, why have Israel’s Western allies not extracted public assurances that this is not the case? US Secretary of State Antony Blinken insincerely urged Israel “to take every possible measure to avoid civilian harm” and, in a stunning rebuke, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned that Israel’s failure to protect civilians would “drive (Palestinians) into the arms of the enemy” and “replace a tactical victory with a strategic defeat.” Yet, despite the war on Gaza rapidly outstripping the number of child fatalities from all other global wars combined, President Joe Biden refuses to exert actual pressure on Israel — even as his support craters among crucial young and multiethnic demographics ahead of next year’s elections.
One of the reasons for Israel’s occasional hesitations is its complete absence of a strategy for the day after the conflict ends. We have seen how such strategic failures played out in Iraq. Indeed, many commentators compare Israel’s acts of vengeance with the irrational manner in which the US lashed out after 9/11. Israel is gripped by existential fear, in a manner the country has not experienced for decades. It is not just vast regions to the north and south, but Tel Aviv also lies within easy reach of both Hamas and Hezbollah’s rockets. While the Oct. 7 attacks unleashed an overwhelming hunger for vengeance, wiser heads recognize that they must find an amicable modus vivendi with neighbors if Israelis are ever to enjoy safety and peace. The crisis has fueled debates hardly heard in decades, with progressive voices blaming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the extreme right for marching Israel into catastrophe; while also floating proposals for how the peace process could be revived from the dead, including mooting the idea of a Canada-style federal system.
More enlightened Israelis are highly disconcerted at how Israel’s global standing has plunged due to the Gaza atrocities. And not just among the world’s Muslim communities — young people throughout the Western world have been particularly galvanized by this human tragedy, along with demographics that normally pay scant attention to foreign affairs. In this transformed political climate, for how much longer can Israel take unqualified Western support for granted?
Since 1948, it has been de facto Israeli policy to render life in Gaza unlivable through all possible means, toward the goal of depopulating the Strip. The complete destruction of more than 60 percent of buildings in northern Gaza so far and the blocking of food and essential supplies into the region serve the same ethnic cleansing agenda. In a belated US recognition of this scenario, Vice President Kamala Harris, after meeting Arab leaders, last week warned that “under no circumstances will the United States permit the forced relocation of Palestinians” or “the redrawing of the borders of Gaza.” We will believe this when we see it. If Israel were to get away with wholesale population transfer in Gaza, it would confer momentum upon Zionist extremists who for years have been calling for the elimination of the West Bank’s Palestinian population, including Jerusalem. Arab states — including those that made peace with Israel — should explore every means at their disposal to render such moves diplomatically inconceivable.
Many commentators argue that the hatred aroused by the post-Oct. 7 events make a return to negotiations and a two-state solution impossible. They have a point. But I would conversely argue that these events render reanimated peace efforts an absolute necessity. Failing to pursue peace is the coward’s way out, because it surrenders the agenda to militants and extremists on both sides for pursuing their unilateral and exterminatory visions.
Real strength is manifested through displaying moral leadership and showing mercy. Violence stems from weakness, ignorance and fear. The Palestinian nation consequently stands at an existential moment, or “to be or not to be.” Either it successfully struggles for its continued existence as a nation upon its historic lands — or it vanishes from the pages of history. Israel can continue killing tens of thousands of Gaza civilians with relative impunity. Yet such actions merely perpetuate the conflict, while making it impossible for Israel to coexist with its neighbors, leaving it in a precarious position both internally and externally.
Real strength is manifested through displaying moral leadership and showing mercy. Violence stems from weakness, ignorance and fear. Instead of demonstrating moral strength in this crisis, a wounded and befuddled Israel lashed out, murdering women, children and babies.
Shocked world publics are watching and judging; with long-term political fallout for Israel’s resilience and global standing next time it searches for allies in a time of crisis.
*Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has interviewed numerous heads of state.

Russia outlines its vision of a ‘world majority’ to rival the West
Dr. Diana Galeeva/Arab News/December 04, 2023
Moscow last week hosted its annual two-day forum known as the Primakov Readings, which is organized by the Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations. The main theme of the forum was “Transformation of the World Order: The Eurasian Dimension.” Among the participants were Russian presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Commonwealth of Independent States Executive Committee Chairman Sergei Lebedev and other Russian and foreign scientists and politicians.
One of the most frequently heard terms at this year’s forum was the concept of “world majority” (in English, the term is expressed as “global majority,” but many Russian translations use this wording). This denotes a non-Western group of countries that the Russian authorities hope will be able to build a “new, fairer and more democratic system of international relations.” Given the strategic importance of this forum, which is commonly joined by well-recognized speakers who shape Russia’s foreign policies, what conclusions can be drawn from these discussions of the preferred world order for Moscow (and its allies)?
Ushakov noted that “the theme of this year’s forum is very relevant — ‘horizons of post-globalization.’ It is obvious that the model of globalization, which was formed largely by Western states — naturally, in their own interests — has outlived its usefulness and is in a deep crisis.” Further, according to President Vladimir Putin, “a new, fairer (system) is emerging … a democratic system of international relations that meets the needs of the world majority.”
Expanding on the logic of the concept of “world majority,” Ushakov argued that, in the system of international relations that is currently being built, a more significant role will be played by countries that are “committed to their sovereignty and independent foreign policy.” “It is these countries … that account for the majority of the world economy and the overwhelming majority of the planet’s population,” he noted. Importantly, he added that the most important instrument of global governance, the vanguard of the “world majority,” are the BRICS member states and Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE, six countries that will join the bloc from Jan. 1, 2024. However, Ushakov did not specify which countries outside of this association might also be included in the “world majority.” Instead, he simply offered the impression that, in Russian eyes, the term’s meaning is largely “non-Western.”
In a similar vein, Lavrov concentrated on the development of multipolarity. He said: “Multipolar systems, if we look back in history, are not a new phenomenon. In one form or another, they existed before. For example, during the ‘concept of European powers’ of the 19th century or between the two world wars of the 20th century.”
The Russian view of the ‘world majority’ particularly involves the Middle East and the Islamic world. The Russian foreign minister further clarified the fundamental difference between these and the current “edition” of multipolarity, arguing that this was a chance to acquire truly planetary scale, based on the basic principle of the UN Charter, which is the sovereign equality of states. Before, decisions affecting the whole world had been made or controlled by a small group of countries, dominated by the Western community, for obvious reasons.
Today, Lavrov stated, new players representing the Global South and the East have come to the forefront of world politics. He enthused that their number is growing, stating: “We justifiably call them the world majority. Not in words, but in deeds, they strengthen their sovereignty in resolving pressing issues, demonstrating independence and putting their national interests at the forefront, and not someone else’s whims.”
As one example, he cited a statement by his Indian counterpart, S. Jaishankar, that “the world is much more than Europe.” Lavrov concluded: “It is clear that the meaning of this statement is that the world is much larger than the West. Russia consistently advocates for the democratization of interstate communication and for a more equitable distribution of global benefits.”
Lavrov also developed the idea that the fact that the world is changing can be seen in the many examples of multilateral diplomacy. Among the most striking evidence is the cooperation between the BRICS nations. In addition to BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Lavrov included in the new international structure the Eurasian Economic Union, the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the CIS, as well as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the African Union, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. The last three might be interesting examples, showing how the Russian view of the “world majority” particularly involves the Middle East and the Islamic world.
Even without a clear definition of the term, this new concept has become very popular within Russia’s narratives. Questions remain about how best to summarize it and why it is only now appearing on Russia’s foreign policy horizon.
In an article last month, Valdai Discussion Club program director Timofei Bordachev explained: “Russians love to invoke the concept of the world majority — a set of countries in the world that link their development with the main trends of globalization, but are capable of expressing their own views on fair forms on international order.” He wrote that this concept had previously been expressed “rather restrainedly,” as Western countries played the key role and were able to offer fairly optimal solutions for everyone. However, the ongoing crisis in the Middle East might open a new chapter in how the US and Europe are perceived in the world order. So, this could be the turning point that Russia aims to use as an opportunity to further attract and unite states as part of a new understanding.
To sum up, Russia’s “world majority” includes itself along with the Global South and the East, which together constitute the majority of the world’s economy and its population. This is briefed as standing in opposition to the “collective West,” presented as an entrenched elitism. Finally, Russia, as Ushakov concluded in his speech, “contributes to the formation of such a world order and is the locomotive of this objective process.” This course has been a preoccupation in Russia’s foreign policies, especially since the start of the Ukraine war, as it offers an opportunity to secure a leading role amid a storm of political uncertainty. The Middle East war has also been seen by Russia as a special opportunity to broadcast the concept from the biggest intellectual platforms of foreign policy formation.
• Dr. Diana Galeeva is an academic visitor to Oxford University. X: @Dr_GaleevaDiana

Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei Knowingly Lies By Claiming That Iran Never Said That The Jews/Zionists Should Be Thrown Into The Sea And That Iran Never Wanted This
MEMRI/December 4, 2023
Iran | Special Dispatch No. 10997
https://www.memri.org/reports/iranian-supreme-leader-khamenei-knowingly-lies-claiming-iran-never-said-jewszionists-should
On November 29, 2023, the anniversary of the 1947 UN Partition Plan endorsing the establishment of a Jewish state alongside an Arab state in Palestine that was rejected by the Arabs, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei claimed that Iran does not want to throw the Jews or the Zionists into the sea. He added that Iran has never said that it wants to do this and instead attributed these statements to the Arabs.
However, Khamenei's statement is false: Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Iran's Islamic regime has openly set the elimination of the State of Israel as top priority, and has made it a central element of its ideology. In this context, it is noteworthy that on International Quds Day in 2017, which fell on June 6 that year, a digital clock counting down the days until the destruction of Israel was set up in Tehran's Palestine Square, reflecting Khamenei's September 9, 2015 statement that Israel will be eliminated within 25 years.[1]
Not only do Iranian regime officials regularly call for the destruction of Israel, but they themselves have also explicitly called for throwing the Jews and the Zionists into the Mediterranean Sea. IRGC commander Gen. Hossein Salami said in 2018 that "there is no path other than throwing [the Israelis] into the sea," and in 2020 he called on the citizens of Israel to "take a good look at the Mediterranean Sea," which, he said, will be their "final dwelling place." In a 2019 Friday sermon, Majlis member and Friday preacher Mohammad Baqer Ebadi referenced Gen. Salami's statements, and, addressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told him to start to "learn how to swim in the Mediterranean Sea."
In addition to his lie that Iran has never said, or wanted, for the Jews or Zionists to be thrown into the Mediterranean, Khamenei has on occasion, in response to pressure from Western elements, tempered and nuanced his rhetoric about the destruction of Israel as a state. He has done this with the proposal – disingenuous in light of the UN's ratification of the Partition Plan in 1947 – for a "democratic" vote, or referendum, in which some of Israel's residents would participate: all the Palestinians within Israel in addition to all those in the global Palestinian diaspora, and the small percentage of the Jewish population within Israel that was present in British Mandatory Palestine prior to 1948. For an overview of the various ways that Iran has proposed Israel be destroyed, whether by war or by referendum, see MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 7682, Israel's Eradication – An Ideological And Practical Goal Of Iran's Islamic Revolution Regime, September 25, 2018; Inquiry and Analysis No. 1577, Destruction Of Israel By The Sword Or By Referendum – Part I: On Qods Day 2021, Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei Calls On Palestinians To Rise Up Against Israel, May 24, 2021.
He has done this with the proposal – disingenuous in light of the UN's ratification of the Partition Plan in 1947 – for a "democratic" vote, or referendum, in which some of Israel's residents would participate: all the Palestinians within Israel in addition to all those in the global Palestinian diaspora, and the small percentage of the Jewish population within Israel that was present in British Mandatory Palestine prior to 1948.
MEMRI will also soon be publishing a report about the recent spike of calls in Iran for the destruction of Israel since the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacres in southern Israel.
This report will refute Khamenei's lies that Iran has not called to throw the Jews or Zionists into the sea.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei: The Claims That Iran Wants To Throw The Jews Or Zionists Into The Sea Are False – We Have Never Said That
On November 29, 2023, Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei said at a meeting with Basij commanders and members that the claims that Iran wants to throw the Jews or Zionists into the sea are false. Asserting that Iran has never said such a thing, he instead attributed such statements to Arab spokesmen.
Khamenei said: "Some people in the world falsely claim that Iran maintains that the Jews or the Zionists should be thrown into the sea. This is untrue. These things were said in the past by some of the Arabs. We have never said this. We will throw no one into the sea.
"We support public opinion. That is, the government to be established [in Palestine] by the vote of the citizens of Palestine is what will determine [the future of] the citizens who are there [i.e. born in Israel] and of those who came [there] from other countries. Perhaps it [this Palestinian government] will decide that they will all stay in Palestine."[ii]
IRGC Commander Gen. Hossein Salami: The Only Path Is To Throw The Israelis Into The Sea; The Israelis Must Look Closely At The Mediterranean Sea, Since It Will Be Their Final Dwelling Place
In an October 5, 2018 speech at a Basij parade in Esfahan, IRGC commander Gen. Hossein Salami said that Hizbullah, Iran's proxy in Lebanon and the most powerful group in Iran's resistance axis, is strong enough to destroy Israel without any involvement on Iran's part. In contrast to Khamenei's recent claims, Salami said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should learn how to swim in the Mediterranean Sea, since "there is no path other than throwing [the Israelis] into the sea [and] we will soon see the killing and destruction of the Zionist regime." The following is a translated excerpt from Salami's speech:
"There is one message to the Zionist regime, a regime which is America's puppet in the region, and which has none of the components of a state or government, and which is not a threat to [Iran], since our Hizbullah is enough to destroy this political [cancerous] growth. I say to the Prime Minister of the Zionist regime [Netanyahu] that instead of inciting the world against our [nuclear and military] achievements, he should learn to swim in the Mediterranean Sea. He should practice swimming, since there is no path other than throwing [the Israelis] into the sea. We will soon see the killing and destruction of the Zionist regime."[iii]
On February 2, 2020, at a ceremony commemorating the late IRGC Qods Force commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by the U.S. in January 2020, Salami also said:
"We have said to [the Israelis] many times: Do not count on America. America always arrives late, if it arrives at all. If you want to count on anything, take a good look at the sea, because that is where your final place dwelling place will be. I am referring to the Mediterranean Sea."
In Iranian Friday Sermon, Preacher Mohammad Baqer Ebadi Says: Netanyahu Should Learn How To Swim In The Mediterranean, It's The Only Way He Can Escape
On April 19, 2019, Mohammad Baqer Ebadi, Islamic scholar and Friday preacher in the city of Birjand, said that the Israelis have nowhere to run from destruction, since they are surrounded by Iran's proxies. Reiterating Gen. Salami's assertion that Prime Minister Netanyahu should learn how to swim in the Mediterranean, he added that the day of Israel's destruction is drawing near and that the Israelis will trample each other as they try to flee. He said:
"General Salami said something once – a brief remark that still bothers the Zionists. In one speech, he said: 'The Israelis have nowhere to run. In the north, they have Hizbullah. In another part, they have Hamas. On this side, they have Syria, and all around there are Muslim peoples, even though some of the governments have sold out.
"Salami said, 'Netanyahu should start learning how to swim in the Mediterranean Sea.' He meant that when Netanyahu wants to flee, this will be his only way of escape. This is why he should learn to swim. I hope Mr. Netanyahu learns quickly how to swim, because Salami has finally arrived. He is the commander of the army of Islam. If Netanyahu has not yet learned to swim, he should, before it's too late, because, Allah willing, the day is drawing near. According to some traditions, the wounded Zionists will step over their dead while trying to escape, but they will be killed."
[1] The countdown's zero hour, January 1, 2040, is based on Khamenei's 2015 statement that "nothing will be left of Israel by 2040." The sign by the clock reads in Farsi, Arabic, and English: "[Number of days] left before [the] destruction of Israel. The Zionist regime will not survive the next 25 years." Source: Iusnews.ir, June 23, 2017. See also MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 6156, Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei: 'In 25 Years There Will Be No Such Thing As The Zionist Regime In The Region'; America Is Worse Than Satan, September 9, 2015.
[2] Farsi.khamenei.ir/speech-content?id=54526, November 29, 2023.
[3] Aparat.com/v/UL4D8, October 5, 2018.