Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on December 19-20/2023
Video/Embracing the True Spirit of Christmas: A Call for Forgiveness and Reconciliation/مع روحية الميلاد دعوة للغفران والمسامحة
Video & Text/Embracing the True Spirit of Christmas: A Call for Forgiveness and Reconciliation/مع روحية الميلاد دعوة للغفران والمسامحة
Hezbollah Says Israeli Attacks on Lebanon Civilians to Be 'Reciprocated'
IDF shells terror sites in Lebanon in response to rocket fire
Israel gives US 'few weeks' for Lebanon diplomatic solution
Intensive Israeli drone activity in Lebanon extends as far north as Baalbek for first time
Lebanon-Israel border in 'dangerous' state, UNIFIL head says
Israeli artillery strikes multiple areas in south Lebanon, using phosphorus
Pentagon chief in Israel visit warns Hezbollah of 'wider conflict'
Israel-Hezbollah border skirmishes: Latest developments
Berri says army chief 'consensus' can apply to presidency
Mikati OKs parliament law extending Aoun's term despite Bassil's objection
Mikati hails 'Lebanese solidarity', says Lebanon a 'resistant country'
Bassil says Joseph Aoun presidential candidate of 'anti-Lebanon scheme'
PSP head meets EU Ambassador in Clemenceau
Bou Saab meets US ambassador who acknowledged the recent legislative accomplishments
MP Jimmy Jabbour to LBCI: We still reject the Army Commander’s term extension

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 19-20/2023
Airstrike likely carried out by Jordan targets drug dealers in Syria
Cyprus says a joint operation with Mossad has foiled a suspected Iranian plot to kill Israelis
U.S. launches Red Sea force as ships reroute to avoid attacks
UN Security Council delays vote on cease-fire resolution in Gaza
Hamas financier behind ‘tens of millions’ in funding killed
Israel pounds Gaza, Houthis vow more Red Sea attacks
Israel strikes south Gaza and raids hospital in north with renewed US support
US, Israel and Qatar work for new hostage release deal
Gaza war is world's 'moral failure', Red Cross chief says
Secret plans: Who will have the final say in the aftermath of the war, Tel Aviv or Washington?
The Israeli army demolishes home of Palestinian accused of killing 2 Israelis
Israeli military officials: High civilian toll in Gaza is cost of crushing Hamas
Swedish court upholds life sentence in Iran executions case
Russia summons Finland ambassador over US border accord
Tehran Warns Against Cooperation with ‘Maritime Alliance to Deter Houthis’
Iran Vows to Punish Perpetrators of Deadly Attack on Police in Balochistan
Zelensky: Ukraine to produce one million drones next year
Zelenskyy says he is weighing Ukrainian military's request for mobilization of up to 500,000 troops
West Accuses Iran of Illegally Testing Missiles, Transferring Drones to Russia, Enriching Uranium
The UK and France reiterate that Russia's invasion of Ukraine must end in failure as US aid falters
The EU's naval force says a cargo ship hijacked last week has moved toward the coast of Somalia

Titles For The Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 19-20/2023
Multinational force in Gaza will fail if history is any guide, report says/DAVID ISAAC/JNS/December 19, 2023
Herzog: Israel ready for pause in fighting Hamas to enable release of hostages/YAAKOV LAPPIN/JNS/December 19, 2023
Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières), an Accomplice of Hamas?/Alain Destexhe/Gatestone Institute/December 19, 2023
Many Israeli writers are still in a state of shock and unable to process Oct. 7/Jeffrey Fleishman, Melanie Lidman/Los Angeles Times/December 19, 202
The U.S. Is About To Make A Decision At The U.N. That Could Change Gaza's Fate/Akbar Shahid Ahmed/HuffPost/December 19, 2023
France’s regional influence on the rise/Zaid M. Belbagi/Arab News/December 19, 2023
The two-state solution is dead — and there is no alternative/Osama Al-Sharif/Arab News/December 19, 2023

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on December 19-20/2023
Video/Embracing the True Spirit of Christmas: A Call for Forgiveness and Reconciliation/مع روحية الميلاد دعوة للغفران والمسامحة
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9L3K1BI8PQ&t=1s

Video & Text/Embracing the True Spirit of Christmas: A Call for Forgiveness and Reconciliation/مع روحية الميلاد دعوة للغفران والمسامحة
Elias Bejjani/December 19/2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/125288/125288/
As we approach the commemoration of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, the divine God who was incarnated for our sake, taking what is ours and giving us what is His, it is not only our duty but a profound obligation to extend our hands to those with whom we are at odds. Specifically, within our families, it becomes imperative to reconcile, forgive, and seek forgiveness from those we may be estranged from. The true essence of celebrating Christmas remains elusive unless we forgive, reconcile, and extend forgiveness to those with whom we have disagreements, particularly within our families.
Celebrating Christmas cannot be genuine unless we forgive, reconcile, and extend forgiveness to those with whom we have any form of discord. It is a call to action, mirroring the spirit of the season, and a reflection of the teachings of the Lord, whose birth we commemorate. Just as He embraced humanity with love and forgiveness, let us emulate His example by reaching out to those we may be in conflict with, especially within our own families, to foster unity, understanding, and the true spirit of Christmas.”
As the festive season envelops us in a warm embrace of twinkling lights, festive tunes, and the tantalizing aroma of holiday treats, it is imperative that we take a moment to reflect on the essence of Christmas beyond the glittering façade of festivities. Beyond the gifts and the feasts lies a profound spirit—one of love, caring, and most importantly, forgiveness.
In a world often marred by discord and strife, Christmas serves as a poignant reminder of the power of forgiveness and reconciliation. It is a time to mend fractured relationships, heal old wounds, and extend the hand of forgiveness to those who may have wronged us. Yet, in the midst of the jingling bells and joyful carols, it is disheartening to witness a paradox—a hypocrisy that threatens to undermine the very essence of this joyous season.
Celebrating Christmas without embracing the spirit of forgiveness is akin to adorning a festive garb while wearing a mask of indifference. The lights may sparkle, the carols may resonate, but the true meaning of Christmas remains elusive without a genuine commitment to fostering love and reconciliation. It is a call to action, a challenge to peel away the layers of resentment and pride that separate us from those we hold dear.
One of the most poignant scenarios that demand our attention is the estrangement within families. How often do fathers remain distant from children, siblings harbor grudges, and fractures persist in the very foundation of what should be a sanctuary of love? The season of Christmas beckons fathers to approach their estranged family members, to bridge the gaps that time and bitterness have forged. It is an opportunity to extend the olive branch, to rebuild the bonds that may have been strained by misunderstandings and grievances.
Similarly, the call extends to the younger generation—children who may find themselves distanced from their parents. The spirit of forgiveness is not a one-way street; it requires both parties to be willing to let go of past hurts and open their hearts to reconciliation. Children, too, must find the courage to approach their parents, to initiate conversations that transcend grievances and foster understanding. It is a chance to rediscover the warmth of familial love and the joy that comes from rebuilding connections.
Forgiveness is not a sign of weakness; it is a testament to the strength of the human spirit. It is a gift we give ourselves and others, a balm that soothes the wounds of the past and paves the way for a brighter, more harmonious future. As we gather around the Christmas tree, let us remember that the true ornament of this season is not the tinsel or baubles but the bonds of love and forgiveness that weave a tapestry of warmth and unity.
In this Christmas season of giving, let us give the invaluable gift of forgiveness—to our family members, friends, and even to ourselves. Let the spirit of Christmas be a catalyst for reconciliation, a force that transcends differences and fosters a renewed sense of togetherness. In doing so, we honor the true essence of Christmas and create a legacy of love and forgiveness that will resonate far beyond the twinkling lights and festive melodies.

Hezbollah Says Israeli Attacks on Lebanon Civilians to Be 'Reciprocated'
Asharq Al Awsat/19 December 2023
Lebanon's Hezbollah movement on Monday vowed any Israeli attacks on civilians "will be reciprocated", after an Israeli strike hit a building opposite a funeral procession for one of the group's fighters. The frontier between Lebanon and Israel has seen regular exchanges of fire, mainly between the Israeli army and Hamas ally Hezbollah, since the conflict in the Gaza Strip began on October 7. The Iran-backed group on Monday evening said they launched a "salvo of rockets" at the Israeli border town of Kiryat Shmona "in response to the enemy's targeting of the funeral in Aita al-Shaab", a Lebanese border town. "Any harm to civilians will be reciprocated," the group added in a statement, AFP reported. Lebanon's official National News Agency had earlier reported that Israel "targeted people who were participating in the funeral procession" of Hezbollah member Hassan Srur in Aita al-Shaab. The strike hit a building less than 40 metres (130 feet) from the procession, causing damage but no casualties, the agency said, adding that "the Israeli enemy was trying to intimidate hundreds" of mourners, who nonetheless continued with the ceremony. Not long after, artillery shells also fell near the funeral procession for another Hezbollah fighter in Beit Lif, a few kilometres further north, the correspondent said. Shortly after the strikes, Hezbollah said it had fired artillery at two launchpads from Israel's Iron Dome air defense system.

IDF shells terror sites in Lebanon in response to rocket fire
JNS/December 19, 2023
The projectile targeting the northernmost Israeli city of Metula landed in an open area. Israel Defense Forces artillery on Tuesday struck several terror sites in Lebanon after a rocket was launched towards the Jewish state. The projectile, fired from Lebanese territory towards the northernmost Israeli city of Metula, landed in an open area, causing no injuries or damage. Later Tuesday, the Iron Dome defense system intercepted a “suspicious aerial target” that crossed into Israeli territory. In response, IDF aircraft and tanks struck a series of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. IDF Spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus warned on Monday that the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror army was “dragging Lebanon into an unnecessary war.” He noted that since Oct. 8, a day after Hamas’s mass murder attack on southern Israel, Hezbollah had fired more than 1,000 rockets, missiles, drones and mortar shells towards Israel. Five Israeli civilians and nine military personnel have been killed by enemy fire in the north since the Hamas massacre. More than a hundred Hezbollah members have been killed by Israeli retaliatory strikes, according to estimates. “The situation along the northern border along the [U.N.-delineated] Blue Line is not one that we can tolerate, and we are looking for safety for Israeli civilians living behind our internationally established and recognized borders,” said Conricus. Earlier Monday, the IDF intercepted a “suspicious aerial target” that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory. In retaliation, Israeli artillery shelled terror targets in Lebanon and IAF fighter jets struck an anti-tank missile squad. The military confirmed that several rockets were also launched towards the Jewish state. Also Monday, IAF jets struck a series of Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanon, including a command center and a rocket launch site. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday vowed to restore security to the north so that residents of border communities could return to their homes. “We will do this either through an agreement, or using force,” said Gallant. “We don’t want war, but we won’t hold it for too long,” he added.

Israel gives US 'few weeks' for Lebanon diplomatic solution
Naharnet/December 19, 2023
Israel has told the Biden administration it wants Hezbollah's forces to be pushed roughly 6 miles (10 kilometers) from the border as part of a diplomatic deal to end tensions with Lebanon, three Israeli and U.S. officials told U.S. news portal Axios.
President Joe Biden's senior adviser, Amos Hochstein, and other U.S. officials have been working on trying to reach such a diplomatic solution but so far little progress has been made. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told visiting U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Monday that Israel wants a deal that includes pushing Hezbollah's forces far enough that they will not be able to fire at Israeli settlements along the border or be able to conduct a raid like the one Hamas conducted on Oct. 7, Israeli and U.S. officials told Axios. The Israeli prime minister and the minister of defense told Austin that as part of this agreement they want Hezbollah to not be allowed to go back to its positions along the border, which Israel destroyed in the last two months, the officials said. U.S. and Israeli officials said Austin told Netanyahu and Gallant that the Biden administration understands the Israeli concerns and will push for a peaceful solution, but asked that Israel give time and space for diplomacy and not take steps that exacerbate the tensions. Netanyahu and Gallant said that Israel is willing to give diplomacy a chance, but stressed they want to see progress in the next few weeks, Israeli officials said. Shortly after the war in Gaza began, Hezbollah started attacking Israeli military outposts along the border and launching rockets and drones into the northern parts of Israel. Israel has evacuated tens of thousands of civilians from Israeli villages and towns close to the border as a precaution for a possible attack by Hezbollah's elite Radwan forces like the one Hamas conducted on Oct. 7. The Israeli government said publicly that in order to allow Israeli citizens to go back to their homes, the situation needs to change either through a diplomatic solution or military action.

Intensive Israeli drone activity in Lebanon extends as far north as Baalbek for first time
Arab News/December 19, 2023
BEIRUT: Intensive activity by Israeli drones was evident in the skies over the city of Baalbek and surrounding villages in northern Lebanon on Tuesday. It was the first time Israeli drones had been spotted in the city, which is in the Bekaa Valley, east of the Litani River, about 67 kilometers northeast of Beirut.
It came a day after French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, speaking during a visit to Lebanon, warned that the hostilities in southern Lebanon could escalate into full-scale war. The Israeli army has been using drones in its operations in southern Lebanon to launch guided missiles at targets. Israeli military spy planes have violated the airspace of the region as far north as the city of Hermel in the past two months, even crossing the border into Syrian territory. The Baalbek-Hermel region is a stronghold of Hezbollah, which has military sites located there. Israeli army radio reports said that “warning sirens sounded in several settlements in the Upper Galilee (area near the border with Lebanon) in the afternoon due to suspicion of drone infiltrations. The air defenses were activated after a suspicious object was detected above Bar’am.”According to Israeli media, “a rocket was launched from Lebanon toward a target in Malkiya in Upper Galilee and ambulance teams rushed to the scene.”Hostile Israeli operations continued in southern Lebanon on Tuesday. Hezbollah’s media department said “an Israeli Merkava tank fired direct shells toward the town of Yaroun, and remnants of an interceptive missile fell near the vocational school in the town of Bint Jbeil.”The operations specifically targeted villages in the western and central sectors, extending to the outskirts of the coastal city of Tyre and beyond the Litani River.
The Israeli bombing targeted the outskirts of Al-Khiyam town with incendiary phosphorus shells, as well as the outskirts of the towns of Blida and Hula. The Israeli army also targeted the vicinity of Aita Al-Shaab and Naqoura with early-morning gunfire. In addition, Israeli forces used drones to bomb the southern and eastern outskirts of Maroun Al-Ras and Mays Al-Jabal, as well as the outskirts of Naqoura, Jabal Al-Labbouneh, the Ain Alma area, the area between the towns of Naqoura and Alma Al-Shaab, and olive groves between Dermamas and Kafr Kila. A shell reportedly landed near houses in the town of Rmeish. Hezbollah said it had targeted the “Israeli military outpost of Metula, causing confirmed casualties.”On Monday afternoon, an Israeli drone attack targeted a spot very close to the village of Aita Al-Shaab, where residents and Hezbollah supporters were attending the funeral of one of the group’s fighters. Hezbollah said it responded by bombing Israeli Iron Dome air-defense platforms in the vicinity of Kabri, east of the city of Nahariya, and also struck the city of Kiryat Shmona. Colonna, the French foreign minister, concluded her visit to Lebanon on Monday by warning against “expanding the area of tensions and violating Resolution 1701.” UN Security Council Resolution 1701 was adopted in 2006 with the intention of resolving the war that took place that year between Israel and Hezbollah. “If Lebanon plunged into war, it would never recover,” Colonna said, adding that “the situation is very dangerous.”During a meeting with Colonna at the French embassy in Beirut, Maj. Gen. Aroldo Lazaro, commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, said “the level of tension on both sides of the Blue Line is very dangerous.” He added that “Hezbollah is using more long-range weapons and Israel is violating the Lebanese airspace,” but noted that “in the past three days, the exchange of fire has decreased.”

Lebanon-Israel border in 'dangerous' state, UNIFIL head says
Agence France Presse/December 19, 2023
non's border with Israel is "dangerous" with ongoing exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel, the head of the United Nations peacekeeping force in the country warned."The situation now, as everybody knows, it is tense. It is difficult, it is dangerous," said Aroldo Lazaro, head of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Since October 8, the day after the Israel-Hamas conflict started, the frontier between Lebanon and Israel has seen escalating cross-border fire, mainly between the Israeli army and Iran-backed Hezbollah, which says it is acting in support of Hamas. "We are trying to continue with our liaison and coordination role... in order to avoid miscalculations, misinterpretations that could be another trigger for escalation," Lazaro told journalists ahead of a meeting in Beirut with French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna. More than 130 people have been killed in hostilities on the Lebanese side of the frontier, according to an AFP tally, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also including a Lebanese soldier and 17 civilians, three of them journalists. On the Israeli side, four civilians and seven soldiers have been killed, authorities have said. Lazaro emphasized the correlation between events in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and the increase in tensions in south Lebanon. He added that Hezbollah was using longer-range weapons, while Israeli aircraft were violating Lebanon's air space. However, "during the last three days, we have seen a little bit more reduced exchanges of fire," Lazaro said. The U.N. force has itself been hit by fire in recent weeks, without causing any deaths among peacekeepers. UNIFIL was set up in 1978 to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli forces after they invaded Lebanon in reprisal for a Palestinian attack. It was bolstered after Hezbollah and Israel fought a devastating war in 2006. Colonna was meeting with senior officials in Beirut on Monday, a day after visiting Israel and the occupied West Bank, as part of efforts to de-escalate the situation on the border.

Israeli artillery strikes multiple areas in south Lebanon, using phosphorus
LBCI/December 19, 2023
On Tuesday, Israeli artillery launched a series of attacks on south Lebanon targeting Wadi Hassan, the outskirts of Jebbayn, Houla, Markaba, and Mays El-Jabal. The strikes included phosphorus bombing in the western part of Blida, situated between the towns of Blida and Aitaroun. Further artillery bombardment hit the eastern and western outskirts of Mhaibib and Aitaroun.

Pentagon chief in Israel visit warns Hezbollah of 'wider conflict'
Agence France Presse/December 19, 2023
Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin has urged Hezbollah to avoid provoking a "wider conflict" amid near-daily skirmishes along the Israel-Lebanon border since Israel's war with Hamas. The frontier has seen escalating cross-border fire, mainly between the Israeli army and Iran-backed Hezbollah, which says it is acting in support of Hamas. "We call upon Hezbollah to make sure that they don't do things that would provoke a wider conflict," Austin said at a joint press conference with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. "We've been clear that we don't want to see this conflict widen into a larger war or a regional war," Austin said. Asked if Israel was planning for a ground operation in the north, Gallant said "diplomacy is the preferred way" but stressed "we are preparing ourselves (for) any situation that is needed."Since the Israel-Hamas war began in early October, more than 130 people have been killed in hostilities on the Lebanese side of the frontier, according to an AFP tally, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also including a Lebanese soldier and 17 civilians, three of them journalists. On the Israeli side of the border, five civilians and seven soldiers have been killed, authorities have said.

Israel-Hezbollah border skirmishes: Latest developments
Naharnet/December 19, 2023
Hezbollah targeted Tuesday the Metulla Israeli settlement with a guided missile as Israeli shells hit the outskirts of Rmeish, al-Khiam, Kfarkila, Mays al-Jabal, Blida and Houla. Israeli warplanes carried out three airstrikes on the outskirts of Maroun al-Ras and drones heavily overflew Baalbek and the neighboring villages. Hezbollah had launched on Monday evening a "salvo of rockets" at the Israeli border town of Kiryat Shmona in response to the enemy's targeting of a funeral procession for a Hezbollah fighter in Aita al-Shaab. More than 130 people have been killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon, mostly Hezbollah fighters but also a Lebanese soldier and 17 civilians, including three journalists, according to an AFP tally. On the Israeli side, four civilians and seven soldiers have been killed, according to officials. Hezbollah says it is acting in support of Hamas. French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna met with senior officials in Beirut on Monday, a day after visiting Israel and the occupied West Bank, as part of efforts to de-escalate the situation on the border.

Berri says army chief 'consensus' can apply to presidency
Naharnet/December 19, 2023
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has told his visitors that the latest legislative session and its extension of the army chief’s term have proven that “without consensus nothing can be achieved.”“It is possible to apply the latest parliamentary scene to the presidential vote if there is a real consensus will among the parliamentary blocs,” Berri added. Reminiscing how parliamentary blocs had “refused to convene and sit around the dialogue table,” the Speaker lamented that “we could have saved a lot of time instead of wasting all this time.”“In the end, things can only work through following the choice of consensus, which would lead to the election of a president and the strengthening of the country and its institutions,” Berri added.

Mikati OKs parliament law extending Aoun's term despite Bassil's objection
Naharnet/December 19, 2023
Cabinet convened Tuesday and issued 14 laws previously passed in Parliament, including extending the army chief's term for a year. On Friday, Parliament approved delaying for one year the retirement of senior officers at the head of the military and security services, including army chief Gen. Joseph Aoun who was set to retire in January. Aoun's departure would have added another gap to crisis-hit Lebanon's withering and paralyzed institutions. The tiny Mediterranean country has been without a president since Michel Aoun's term ended in October last year, while its government has been running in a limited caretaker capacity. Lebanon has also been without a top spy chief to head its General Security Directorate since March, and without a central bank governor since July. Free Patriotic Movement leader Jebran Bassil who opposes the extension of Aoun's term said that amid a presidential void, all 24 ministers must sign on the law for it to be published in the official Gazette. The FPM ministers boycotted the cabinet session today, thus Bassil considered the law unconstitutional. The FPM MPs will submit an appeal against the law before the constitutional council.

Mikati hails 'Lebanese solidarity', says Lebanon a 'resistant country'
Naharnet/December 19, 2023
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati noted Tuesday that “74 days have passed of the tragedy of the war on Gaza, the recurrent attacks on south Lebanon, the casualties among civilians and human suffering as a result of criminality and genocide.”“Our people in the South are the victims of daily Israeli attacks and the villages, land and all crops are being burned,” Mikati lamented, at the beginning of a caretaker Cabinet session at the Grand Serail. “I salute the Lebanese solidarity which has proven that Lebanon is a firm and resistant country: some of us are resisting on the ground and some of us are resisting in political and national stances and at international platform. The parliament, government, security forces and the administration are resisting despite all the circumstances,” Mikati added. Moreover, he called for speeding up the election of a president and said parliament should “continue legislating” and the government “should continue its work.”“I hope that Lebanon will have a president soon,” he added.

Bassil says Joseph Aoun presidential candidate of 'anti-Lebanon scheme'
Naharnet/December 19, 2023
Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has noted that the extension of Army chief Joseph Aoun’s term has “removed the masks and showed the true faces” of the political forces that backed it. “It has revealed that Joseph Aoun is the candidate of the West and those who bow to the West’s will in Lebanon,” Bassil said in an interview with al-Akhbar newspaper. “Accordingly, no one can from now on claim that the army chief is a consensual (presidential) candidate or that he enjoys unanimity, for it has become clear that he is the candidate of a single camp, and that extending his term is aimed at using the army commander post to reach the presidency,” Bassil added. “They want him to keep the post because the post is what gives him presidential significance, or else why wouldn’t he maintain his nomination without being an army chief?” Bassil wondered. He also charged that “the scheme aiming to dismantle entities in the region, which fragmented Iraq and Syria and struck Lebanon, which was behind the July 2006 aggression and which was behind striking us on Oct. 17, 2019 is the same scheme that wants Joseph Aoun for president.”“It wants to eradicate Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine, it wants to implement Resolution 1701 in a one-sided way, and it wants to keep the displaced (Syrians) in Lebanon to use them for sedition purposes,” Bassil went on to say. Expecting that the intensity of the Gaza war would start to get lower with the beginning of the new year, the FPM chief said that, in parallel, attempts to activate Lebanon’s presidential file would also begin. “It is certain that those seeking the election of Joseph Aoun as president will try to repeat the pressure that they exerted to secure the extension of his term,” Bassil added.

PSP head meets EU Ambassador in Clemenceau
LBCI/December 19, 2023
Leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, MP Taymour Jumblatt, welcomed on Tuesday Ambassador of the European Union to Lebanon, Sandra De Waele, in Clemenceau. MP Wael Abou Faour, Deputy Party Leader Zaher Raad, and MP Jumblatt's advisor, Houssam Harb, attended the meeting. The meeting discussed the latest local and regional developments.

Bou Saab meets US ambassador who acknowledged the recent legislative accomplishments
LBCI/December 19, 2023
Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, Elias Bou Saab, welcomed the US Ambassador to Lebanon, Dorothy Shea, in his office at the Parliament for a farewell visit marking the conclusion of her diplomatic mission in the country. During the meeting, their significant cooperation was highlighted, leading to achievements in several essential files, notably maritime demarcation. Discussions also covered developments on the southern front and the role played by the US administration in preventing escalation and averting war. Ambassador Shea acknowledged the "recent legislative accomplishments and the positive role played by the Deputy Speaker in endorsing laws that serve the interests of the Lebanese people, including the Sovereign Wealth Fund law." Bou Saab expressed gratitude to Ambassador Shea for her efforts throughout her mission in Lebanon, recognizing her influential role in various issues that have assisted many Lebanese, including the Lebanese army and security institutions.

MP Jimmy Jabbour to LBCI: We still reject the Army Commander’s term extension
LBCI/December 19, 2023
Strong Lebanon Bloc MP Jimmy Jabbour affirmed the bloc's continued rejection of extending the term of the army commander, stating that they will "submit an objection to this extension." Speaking on LBCI's "Nharkom Said" TV show, Jabbour considered that the current form of the extension law represents the non-comprehensiveness of legislation and an encroachment on the powers of the executive authority. He pointed out that the Minister of Defense had previously informed the Cabinet that he was taking legal measures to fill the vacuum in the army command. Jabbour recalled Hezbollah's previous stance, which called for not extending the terms of all general directors. Moreover, he emphasized the existence of competent individuals within the army capable of assuming leadership roles.

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 19-20/2023
Airstrike likely carried out by Jordan targets drug dealers in Syria
Associated Press/December 19, 2023
An airstrike believed to have been carried out by Jordan's air force struck a province in southern Syria late on Monday night, Syrian opposition activists said. Hours earlier, Jordanian authorities said their troops killed several smugglers in a border clash. There was no immediate confirmation from Jordan on the strike that hit the province of Sweida, a known route for drug smuggling from war-torn Syria to its southern neighbor. Smugglers have used Jordan as a corridor over the past years to smuggle highly addictive Captagon amphetamines out of Syria, mainly to oil-rick Arab Gulf states. Jordanian authorities have managed to stop several smuggling attempts, including some in which smugglers used drones to fly the drugs over the border. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said Monday's airstrike targeted the area of Salkhad and killed a well-known drug dealer in the region. It said the strike was most likely carried out by Jordan's air force but did not elaborate. Earlier Monday, Jordan's state news agency said the country's border guards killed and wounded several smugglers along the border with Syria. It added that nine smugglers were detained and that troops seized nearly five million pills of Captagon, as well as an unspecified amount of cannabis. The Captagon industry has been a huge concern for Jordan, as well as Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab countries as hundreds of millions of pills have been smuggled over the years. The drug is used recreationally and by people with physically demanding jobs to keep them alert. In late August, an airstrike hit an alleged drug factory in southern Syria near the Jordanian border, an attack believed to have been carried out by Jordan's air force. In May, another airstrike on a village in Sweida killed a well-known Syrian drug kingpin and his family. Activists believe that strike was conducted by the Jordanians. Jordan has so far not claimed responsibility for any of the strikes.

Cyprus says a joint operation with Mossad has foiled a suspected Iranian plot to kill Israelis
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP)/December 19, 2023
Cyprus has disrupted an alleged Iranian plot to target Israeli businessmen with the arrest of two Iranian asylum-seekers who were in contact with another Iranian associated with the Revolutionary Guard, a Cypriot official said Tuesday.
The official told The Associated Press the two Iranian men have been in police custody since Nov. 3 and procedures were underway to deport them. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he’s not allowed to speak publicly about national security matters, said the suspects’ detention was the culmination of a joint operation with Israel’s Mossad security service. Cypriot security services had been surveilling the two Iranian men for several weeks and detained them just before what authorities believe would have been the arrival of a squad to carry out killings, the official said. The targeted individuals were primarily Israeli businessmen, the official said. Cypriot authorities said the suspects’ Iranian handler moved in and out of Cyprus through the ethnically divided island nation’s breakaway Turkish Cypriot north and would cross a U.N.-controlled buffer zone into the internationally recognize south to establish contact with the two. His identity and whereabouts were not revealed but the official said he worked for Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard. Cyprus was divided in 1974 when Turkey invaded following a coup by supporters of union with Greece. The Cypriot government doesn’t exercise effective control in the northern third, which is only recognized by Turkey. Last week, an announcement by the Israeli prime minister’s office on behalf of the Mossad said Iran’s use of Cyprus’ breakaway north for “terrorist purposes” and as an “area of activity and transit to attack Israeli and Jewish targets constitutes a disturbing issue.”Cypriot officials say the collaboration with security and intelligence agencies in countries in the region, Europe and beyond have enabled Cypriot authorities to effectively identify and counter such threats. At the same time, the Cypriot official said Cyprus wants to maintain friendly relations will all neighboring countries and doesn’t seek to be implicated in any regional conflicts. In a statement, Turkish Cypriot authorities condemned the Israeli announcement as a “baseless and unfounded allegation” that was made to divert the international community’s attention away from the “inhuman attacks” Israel is perpetrating against Palestinian civilians and Gaza and the West Bank. The Iranian government did not immediately respond to AP calls for comment. This is the third such alleged Iranian plot to target Israelis in Cyprus in more than a year. In July, Cyprus authorities broke up an alleged plot involving an Iranian-backed hit squad that planned to kill Israelis and other Jews. Israel considers Iran its greatest enemy, citing the Iranian government’s calls for Israel’s destruction and support for hostile militant groups. It also accuses Iran of trying to develop a nuclear bomb — a claim that Iran denies.

U.S. launches Red Sea force as ships reroute to avoid attacks
Reuters/December 19, 2023
STORY: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Tuesday (December 19) the United States was launching a multinational operation to safeguard commerce in the Red Sea from Houthi militant attacks. That's as incidents involving the Iran-backed Yemeni group increased, forcing more major shipping companies to reroute.While on a trip to Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's headquarters in the Middle East, Austin met with ministers from more than 40 nations. He called on them to contribute as he condemned "reckless Houthi actions.""That operation is bringing together more than a dozen countries from around the world to conduct joint patrols in the Red Sea and the gulf of Aden.” Austin said the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain were among nations involved in the security operation. The missile and drone attacks began last month against international vessels sailing through the Red Sea in response to Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip. The Houthis doubled down after Austin's Tuesday announcement - saying they would not be deterred by the U.S.-led security initiative. Shipping companies continued to reroute on Tuesday despite Austin's comments. Though many other vessels continued to ply the waterway, with LSEG data showing that several ships have armed guards on board. Austin's remarks leave many questions unanswered, including which other countries are willing to do what mostly U.S. warships have done in recent days - shoot down Houthi missiles and drones, and rush to the aid of commercial ships under attack. This week's assaults forced oil major BP to pause all Red Sea transits. A move that showed that the crisis was broadening to include energy shipments. Crude oil prices rose based on those concerns on Monday (December 18). A slew of freight firms including Denmark's Maersk started diverting shipments, saying it would sail its ships around Africa until further notice. It's added days to journey times and incurred higher costs.
British maritime security firm Ambrey said on Tuesday it had received information of a potential boarding attempt not far from Yemen's Aden port city. It added that the attack was unsuccessful and all crew were safe. Industry sources say the impact on global trade depends on how long the crisis persists. But insurance premiums and longer routes would be immediate burdens. Israel's 10-week-old war with Hamas, the Palestinian group that controls Gaza, has increasingly drawn in the United States and its allies on the side of Israel. Iran and its Arab proxy forces take the side of Hamas, risking a wider regional conflict. Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis in an October 7 attack, sparking a devastating Israeli assault on Gaza that has killed more than 19,000 Palestinians.

UN Security Council delays vote on cease-fire resolution in Gaza
Associated Press/December 19, 2023
The U.N. Security Council delayed until Tuesday morning a vote on an Arab-sponsored resolution calling for a halt to hostilities in Gaza to allow for urgently needed aid deliveries to a massive number of civilians as members intensified negotiations to try to avoid another veto by the United States.
The council said Monday's 5 p.m. EST vote would not take place, and diplomats said negotiations were taking place to get the United States, Israel's closest ally, to abstain or vote "yes" on the resolution. A key issue is how to implement and sustain a desperately needed aid operation. Human Rights Watch accused Israel earlier Monday of deliberately starving Gaza's population by blocking the delivery of water, food and fuel, a method of warfare that it described as a war crime. The United Nations' food agency reported on Dec. 14 that 56% of Gaza's households were experiencing "severe levels of hunger," up from 38% two weeks earlier.
The draft on the table Monday morning called for an "urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities" for humanitarian access to deliver aid. But this language is expected to be watered down to a "suspension" of hostilities or something possibly weaker to satisfy the Americans, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because discussions have been private. The U.S. vetoed a Security Council resolution on Dec. 8 that was backed by almost all council members and dozens of other nations demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza. The 193-member General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a similar resolution on Dec. 12 by a vote of 153-10, with 23 abstentions. The importance of a Security Council resolution is that it is legally binding, but in practice many parties choose to ignore the council's requests for action. General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but though they are a significant barometer of world opinion. The draft resolution that was being considered by the 15 council members on Monday recognizes that civilians in Gaza don't have access to sufficient food, water, sanitation, electricity, telecommunications and medical services "essential for their survival." Also, it would express the council's "strong concern for the disproportionate effect that the conflict is having on the lives and well-being of children, women and other civilians in vulnerable situations."
More than 19,400 Palestinians have been killed according to the Gaza Health Ministry since Israel declared war on the Palestinian militant Hamas group following its surprise attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7 that killed about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and took about 240 hostages. Hamas controls the Gaza Strip and its Health Ministry does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths. Thousands more Palestinians lie buried under the rubble in Gaza, the U.N. estimates. Israel says 116 of its soldiers have died in its ground offensive.
The proposed council resolution reiterates its demand that all parties comply with international humanitarian law, especially protecting civilians and the infrastructure critical for their survival including hospitals, schools, places of worship and U.N. facilities.
The draft, obtained by The Associated Press, demands the parties to the conflict — Hamas and Israel — fulfill their obligations under international humanitarian law and enable "the immediate, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale directly to the Palestinian civilian population throughout the Gaza Strip."It "calls for an urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access" in Gaza and also "firmly condemns all violations of international humanitarian law, including all indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian objects, all violence and hostilities against civilians, and all acts of terrorism."The draft also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all Hamas-held hostages . The draft confirms its "unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-state solution," and stresses "the importance of unifying the Gaza Strip with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority."The draft is being negotiated by the United Arab Emirates, which is the Arab representative on the Security Council, and requests U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres establish am expeditious mechanism to monitor all humanitarian shipments to Gaza by land, sea and air.

Hamas financier behind ‘tens of millions’ in funding killed
Maighna Nanu/The Telegraph/December 19, 2023
Israel has claimed to have killed a prominent Hamas financier behind “tens of millions” of funding for the terror group. Subhi Ferwana was killed by a fighter jet in an airstrike in Rafah, the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) said in a joint statement. They added: “Hamas’ military wing depends on these funds transferred to them via financiers and its capabilities are consequently diminished without them.”The IDF and Shin Bet said Ferwana and his brother were involved in the transfer of “tens of millions of dollars” to Hamas. It comes as President Isaac Herzog announced Israel would be prepared for another foreign-mediated truce, should it lead to the exchange of hostages from Gaza. The Israeli President told a gathering of more than 80 ambassadors: “Israel is ready for another humanitarian pause and additional humanitarian aid in order to enable the release of hostages. In response, a Hamas senior official rejected holding negotiations over a prisoner exchange but reiterated that the group was open to any initiative to end the war. Earlier in the day, Rishi Sunak told the House of Commons liaison committee that too many civilians are being killed due to Hamas embedding itself in civilian communities. The prime minister also warned Cabinet that malign actors are seeking to exploit the situation in the Middle East for their own ends, as Iran-backed Houthi rebels doubled down on attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

Israel pounds Gaza, Houthis vow more Red Sea attacks
Nidal al-Mughrabi and Bassam Masoud/Reuters/December 19, 2023
Israel kept pounding the shattered Gaza Strip on Tuesday while Yemen's pro-Palestinian Houthi movement vowed to defy a U.S.-led naval mission and keep hitting Israeli targets in the Red Sea. Israel's campaign to eradicate Hamas militants behind an Oct. 7 massacre has left the coastal enclave in ruins, brought widespread hunger and homelessness, and killed nearly 20,000 Gazans, according to a Palestinian tally. Under foreign pressure to avoid killing innocents, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the war will not stop until a remaining 129 hostages are freed and Hamas is obliterated after its fighters' slaying of 1,200 Israelis. The conflict has spread beyond Gaza into the Red Sea where Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group has been attacking vessels with missiles and drones. That has prompted the creation of a multinational naval operation to protect commerce in the area, but the Houthis said they would carry on anyway. "Our position will not change in the direction of the Palestinian issue, whether a naval alliance is established or not," Houthi official Mohammed Abdulsalam told Reuters, saying only Israeli ships or those going to Israel would be targeted. "Our position in support of Palestine and the Gaza Strip will remain until the end of the siege, the entry of food and medicine, and our support for the oppressed Palestinian people will remain continuous."Announcing the naval operation, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in Bahrain joint patrols would be held in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden which encompass a major East-West global shipping route. "This is an international challenge that demands collective action," he said. British maritime security firm Ambrey said on Tuesday it received information of a potential boarding attempt 17 miles west of Yemen's Aden port city, adding that the attack was unsuccessful and all crew were safe.
DEATHS MOUNT
In Gaza, Israel's latest missiles hit the southern Rafah area, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees have amassed in recent weeks, killing at least 20 people and wounding dozens of others, according to local health officials. Residents said they had to dig in the rubble with bare hands. "This is a barbarian act," said Mohammed Zurub. Among the dead was Palestinian journalist Adel Zurub and several members of his family, medics said. That raised the number of Palestinian journalists killed to 97, according to the Hamas-run government media office. Another strike killed 13 people and wounded about 75 in northern Jabalia, Gaza health ministry spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qidra told Reuters. One Jabalia resident, who asked not to be named, said he thought refugees were being punished for refusing to comply with Israeli orders to leave the area. "There is no food, no water, no medicine and no hospitals to take the wounded and patients too. People die in their homes and in the streets," he added. Israel says it warns of strikes in advance so civilians can escape, and it accuses Hamas of hiding in residential areas. In the ground war, where Israel has lost 132 soldiers, tanks advanced further into the southern city of Khan Younis and shelled a market area but met heavy resistance, residents said. Thousands of Hamas fighters, based in tunnel networks, are waging guerrilla-style war against the Israeli soldiers."The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is continuing to operate against Hamas terrorist infrastructure and operatives in the Gaza Strip," the Israeli military said in a statement. The Gaza health ministry said on Monday that 19,453 Palestinians had been killed and 52,286 wounded since Oct. 7. U.N. officials voiced disbelief about the situation in Gaza's hospitals, which lack supplies and safety. "I'm furious that children who are recovering from amputations in hospitals are then killed in those hospitals," said James Elder, spokesperson for the U.N. children's agency, saying Nasser Hospital, the largest operational one left in the enclave, had been shelled twice in the past 48 hours.

Israel strikes south Gaza and raids hospital in north with renewed US support
Associated Press/December 19, 2023
Israeli forces raided one of the last functioning hospitals in Gaza's north and bombarded the south with airstrikes that killed at least 28 Palestinians, pressing ahead with their offensive Tuesday with renewed backing from the United States, despite rising international alarm. The air and ground war, launched in response to Hamas' Oct. 7 attack into Israel, has killed nearly 20,000 Palestinians, displaced some 1.9 million, demolished much of northern Gaza and sparked attacks on U.S. and Israeli targets across the region. Assaults on ships in the Red Sea by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels have led major shipping companies — as well as the oil and gas giant BP — to suspend trade through the vital waterway, prompting the U.S. and its allies to launch a new mission to counter the threat. But after meeting with Israeli officials Monday, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he was "not here to dictate timelines or terms."His remarks signaled that the U.S. would continue shielding Israel from growing international calls for a cease-fire as the United Nations Security Council was set to hold another vote Tuesday, and would keep providing vital military aid for one of the 21st century's deadliest military campaigns.
STRIKES ACROSS GAZA
A strike on a home in Rafah where displaced people were sheltering killed at least 25 people, including a 2-year-old boy and his newborn sister, and another strike killed at least three people, according to Associated Press journalists who saw the bodies arrive at two local hospitals early Tuesday.
Rafah, which is in the southern part of Gaza where Israel has told Palestinians to seek shelter, has been repeatedly bombarded in recent days, as Israel has struck what it says are militant targets across the territory, often killing large numbers of civilians. The military said Tuesday that it had killed a prominent Hamas financier in an airstrike on Rafah, without specifying when it occurred or if others were killed or wounded. Meanwhile, fierce battles also raged in northern Gaza, which has been reduced to a wasteland seven weeks after Israeli tanks and troops stormed in.
Israel's bombardment of the urban Jabaliya refugee camp on Tuesday killed at least 27 people and wounded more than 100, according to Munir al-Boursh, a senior official at the Hamas-run Health Ministry. In central Gaza, at least 15 people were killed in strikes overnight, according to hospital records. Among the dead were a mother and her four children, who were killed as they sat around a fire, according to an AP reporter who filmed the aftermath. Hamas has continued to put up stiff resistance and lob rockets at Israel. The militants said they fired a barrage toward Tel Aviv on Tuesday, and air raid sirens went off in central Israel. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The war began after Hamas and other militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in Israel and abducted 240 others. More than 19,400 Palestinians have been killed since then, according to the Health Ministry, which has said that most are women and minors and that thousands more are buried under rubble. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths. Israel's military says 131 of its soldiers have been killed in the Gaza ground offensive. It says it has killed thousands of militants, without providing evidence. Israel blames civilian deaths on Hamas, saying it uses them as human shields, but the military rarely comments on individual strikes.
HOSPITAL RAID
Israeli forces raided the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City overnight, according to the church that operates it, destroying a wall at its front entrance and detaining most of its staff. The facility was the scene of an explosion early in the war that killed dozens of Palestinians, and which an Associated Press investigation later determined was likely caused by a misfired Palestinian rocket. Don Binder, a pastor at St. George's Anglican Cathedral, which runs the hospital, said the raid left just two doctors, four nurses and two janitors to tend to over 100 seriously wounded patients, with no running water or electricity. "It has been a great mercy for the many wounded in Gaza City that we were able to keep our Ahli Anglican Hospital open for so long," Binder wrote in a Facebook post late Monday. "That ended today." He said an Israeli tank was parked on the rubble at the hospital's entrance, blocking anyone from entering or leaving. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Forces have raided other hospitals across Gaza, accusing Hamas of using them for military purposes. Hospital staff have denied the allegations and accused Israel of endangering critically ill and wounded civilians. The military said Tuesday that troops found an explosive device inside a clinic in Shijaiyah, a Gaza City neighborhood that has seen heavy fighting in recent days. It did not say whether the clinic was operational, and in footage released by the military it appeared to have been abandoned.
SECURITY COUNCIL TO VOTE ON NEW TRUCE PROPOSAL
The U.N. Security Council delayed to Tuesday a vote on an Arab-sponsored resolution calling for a halt to hostilities to allow unhindered access to humanitarian aid. Diplomats said negotiations were taking place to get the U.S. to abstain or vote "yes" on the resolution after it vetoed an earlier call for a cease-fire.
France, the United Kingdom and Germany — some of Israel's closest allies — joined global calls for a cease-fire over the weekend. In Israel, protesters have called for negotiations with Hamas to facilitate the release of scores of hostages still held by the group.
DIPLOMACY RAMPS UP
CIA Director William Burns met in Warsaw with the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency and the prime minister of Qatar on Monday, the first known meeting of the three since the cease-fire and the release of some 100 hostages in a deal they helped broker. But U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the talks were not "at a point where another deal is imminent." Hamas and other militants are still holding an estimated 129 captives. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that Israel will keep fighting until it ends Hamas rule in Gaza, crushes its military capabilities and frees all the hostages taken during the Oct. 7 attack. For now, at least, he seems to have full U.S. support for a campaign that could last months or years.

US, Israel and Qatar work for new hostage release deal
Associated Press/December 19, 2023
The head of the CIA jetted to Europe for talks with Israeli and Qatari officials Monday, sounding out the potential for a deal on a new cease-fire and the release of hostages in Gaza as the United States defense secretary spoke to Israeli military leaders about scaling back major combat operations against Hamas.
Still, there was no sign that a shift in the war was imminent after more than two months of devastating bombardment and fighting. Fierce battles raged in northern Gaza, where residents said rescue workers were searching for the dead and the living under buildings flattened by Israeli strikes.
Pressure is growing as France, the United Kingdom and Germany — some of Israel's closest allies — joined global calls for a cease-fire over the weekend. Israeli protesters have demanded the government relaunch talks with Hamas on releasing more hostages after three were mistakenly killed by Israeli troops while waving a white flag. U.S. officials have repeatedly expressed concern about the large number of civilian deaths in Gaza. But after talks with Israeli officials Monday, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, "This is Israel's operation. I'm not here to dictate timelines or terms." The U.S. has vetoed calls for a cease-fire at the United Nations and has rushed munitions to Israel. The U.N. Security Council delayed to Tuesday a vote on an Arab-sponsored resolution calling for a halt to hostilities to allow unhindered access to humanitarian aid. Diplomats said negotiations were taking place to get the U.S. to abstain or vote "yes" on the resolution. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that Israel will keep fighting until it ends Hamas rule in Gaza, crushes its formidable military capabilities and frees hostages still held in Gaza since the deadly Oct. 7 attack inside Israel that ignited the war. Militants killed some 1,200 people and abducted 240 others in the attack. The war has killed more than 19,000 Palestinians and demolished much of the north, turning it into a moonscape. Some 1.9 million Palestinians — nearly 85% of Gaza's population — have fled their homes, with most packing into U.N.-run shelters and tent camps in the southern part of the besieged territory.
HOSTAGE TALKS
In an apparent sign that talks on a hostage deal were growing more serious, CIA Director William Burns met in Warsaw with the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency and the prime minister of Qatar, a U.S. official said. It was the first known meeting of the three since the end of a weeklong cease-fire in late November, during which some 100 hostages — including a number of foreign nationals — were freed in exchange for the release of around 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the talks were not "at a point where another deal is imminent." Aiming to increase public pressure on the Israeli government, Hamas released a video showing three older Israeli hostages sitting in white T-shirts and pleading for Israel to bring their immediate release. The comments were likely made under duress, but the video signaled Hamas wants to move on to discussions of releasing sick and old men from captivity. Israel has said it wants around 19 women and two children freed first. Hamas says the women include soldiers, for whom it is expected to demand a higher price in terms of prisoner releases. Hamas and other militants are still holding an estimated 129 captives. Hamas has said no more hostages will be released until the war ends.
SCALING DOWN THE WAR
Austin, who arrived in Israel with Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. CQ Brown, said he and Israeli officials exchanged "thoughts on how to transition from high intensity operations" in Gaza and how to increase the flow of humanitarian aid. American officials have called for targeted operations aimed at killing Hamas leaders, destroying tunnels and rescuing hostages. U.S. President Joe Biden warned Dec. 12 that Israel is losing international support because of its "indiscriminate bombing." Speaking alongside Austin, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said only that "the war will take time."Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the Israeli chief of staff met with Austin and Brown and presented "plans for the continuation of the battle in the coming stages."European countries appear to be losing patience. "Far too many civilians have been killed in Gaza," European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell posted on X, formerly Twitter. Under U.S. pressure, Israel provided more precise evacuation instructions earlier in December as troops moved into the southern city of Khan Younis. Still, casualties have continued to mount and Palestinians say nowhere in Gaza is safe as Israel carries out strikes in all parts of the territory. Israel reopened its main cargo crossing with Gaza to allow more aid in — also after a U.S. request. But the amount is less than half of prewar imports, even as needs have soared and fighting hinders delivery in many areas. Israel blocked entry of all goods into Gaza soon after the war started, and weeks later began allowing a small amount of aid in through Egypt.
MORE DEATH AND DESTRUCTION
At least 110 people were killed in Israeli strikes Sunday on residential buildings in the urban Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, Munir al-Boursh, a senior Health Ministry official, told Al Jazeera television. Fierce fighting continued Monday in Jabaliya and the Gaza City districts of Zaytoun and Shijaiyah, where tens of thousands of Palestinians remain trapped, crowded in homes or schools. In Jabaliya, first responders and residents searched the rubble of many collapsed buildings. "They use their hands and shovels," said Amal Radwan, who is staying at a U.N. shelter there. "We need bulldozers and above all the bombing to stop." More than 19,400 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, which has said that most are women and minors and that thousands more are buried under rubble. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths. Israel's military says 127 of its soldiers have been killed in the Gaza ground offensive. It says it has killed thousands of militants, without providing evidence. Israel blames civilian deaths on Hamas, saying it uses them as human shields. But the military rarely comments on individual strikes.
REGIONAL TENSIONS
Early Tuesday in Bahrain, Austin said that the U.S. and other nations have created a new force to protect commercial ships passing through the Red Sea from attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels. The Houthis say their attacks aim to end Israel's offensive in Gaza, and their campaign has prompted a growing list of companies to halt operations in the major trade route. "This is an international challenge that demands collective action," Austin said in statement. Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah have traded fire along the border nearly every day since the war began. And in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, over 300 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, including four overnight during an Israeli military raid in the Faraa refugee camp, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. This has been the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since 2005. Most have been killed during military raids, which often ignite gunbattles, or during violent demonstrations.

Gaza war is world's 'moral failure', Red Cross chief says
GENEVA (Reuters)/December 19, 2023
The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Tuesday deplored the conflict in Gaza as a "moral failure" of the international community and urged Israel and Hamas to reach a new deal to halt the fighting. "I have been speaking of moral failure because every day this continues is a day more where the international community hasn't proven capable of ending such high levels of suffering and this will have an impact on generations not only in Gaza," ICRC president Mirjana Spoljaric told journalists in Geneva following trips to the Gaza Strip and Israel. "There's nothing without an agreement by the two sides, so we urge them to keep negotiating..." she said, referring to the release of Israeli hostages taken to Gaza by Hamas gunmen during their deadly rampage in southern Israel on Oct. 7. "The releases in themselves are highly complex, highly sensitive missions."A truce mediated by Qatar and Egypt held for a week at the end of November and brought about the release of 110 hostages in Gaza in exchange for 240 Palestinian women and teenagers from Israeli jails. Heavy fighting resumed on Dec. 1 and some of the remaining hostages have been declared dead in absentia by Israeli authorities. Although the ICRC facilitated the release of hostages during the truce, the group has been criticised by some Israelis for not doing more to have the hostages freed. Some social media users have equated the ICRC to a taxi service to drive hostages out of Gaza. "You don't just go there and take the hostages and bring them out," Spoljaric said, saying that any analogy with an Uber or taxi service was "unacceptable and outrageous.""Our colleagues risked their lives and their safety and security during these operations and the hostages are highly exposed while these things are ongoing," she added. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to confirm last week that new negotiations were under way to recover hostages still held by Hamas, after a source said Israel's intelligence chief met the prime minister of Qatar. Spoljaric said the ICRC would stand ready to assist again once the parties arrive at an agreement. "We continue to talk to all sides to then be ready to operationalise the agreement that they reach."

Secret plans: Who will have the final say in the aftermath of the war, Tel Aviv or Washington?
LBCI/December 19, 2023
Secret plans: Who will have the final say in the aftermath of the war, Tel Aviv or Washington? As the relentless shelling of northern Israeli towns continues, surpassing a thousand attacks since Hezbollah's involvement in the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation, Israelis have heightened their threats, believing that war with Lebanon is now more imminent than ever. During recent meetings with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Brown, Israeli officials warned that they would not tolerate the current situation with Lebanon for much longer. They called on Washington to guarantee Hezbollah's withdrawal at least ten kilometers from the Israel-Lebanon border. While the Israeli army remains on high alert for the possibility of war, security and military experts caution against such a step. On the Lebanon front, tensions escalate, while in Gaza, a new video from three captives who urged the government to negotiate an immediate deal with Hamas for their release, deepening internal divisions in Israel. As the US continues to pressure Israel to outline a post-war strategy, a secret plan initiated by Foreign Minister Eli Cohen has surfaced. The plan, classified in a confidential document, envisions a future where the Palestinian Authority has no presence in Gaza, ensuring Israeli control over the region after the war.
Key points of the plan include:
-Full operational freedom for the Israeli army.
-Complete disarmament.
- Establishment of buffer zones.
- Ensuring an international oversight mechanism to prevent smuggling and monitor the Rafah crossing and the Philadelphia Corridor.
- Guaranteeing a safe maritime space.
-Detailed planning for UNRWA's operations in Gaza.
- International oversight for humanitarian services.
Who will have the final say in the aftermath of the war, Tel Aviv or Washington?

The Israeli army demolishes home of Palestinian accused of killing 2 Israelis
Agence France Presse/December 19, 2023
The Israeli army said Tuesday it had demolished the family home of a Palestinian man accused of killing two Israelis -- a father and his son -- at a car wash in the occupied West Bank. Police arrested Osama Bani Fadl in November after a months-long hunt, accusing him of killing Shay Silas Nigrekar and Aviad Nir in the Palestinian town of Houwara in August. The two Israeli men were gunned down when they were at a car wash, in an attack that rocked the territory at the time. On Tuesday the Israeli army released footage of troops demolishing Bani Fadl's apartment during the night in the town of Aqraba. Israel regularly demolishes the homes of Palestinians it accuses of deadly attacks on Israelis, arguing such measures act as a deterrent. Human rights activists say the policy amounts to collective punishment, as it can render non-combatants, including children, homeless. A witness said troops stormed the town and surrounded Bank Fadl's apartment before blowing it up during the night. The army said it had "destroyed the apartment of the terrorist who carried out the attack in Houwara". The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that confrontations erupted between Palestinian youths and soldiers during the demolition."Soldiers fired stun grenades and tear gas canisters," it said, adding that several people were arrested.
Surge in violence -
Even before the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas broke out on October 7, violence had surged across the West Bank. The area had seen a rise in attacks on Israelis as well as attacks by Jewish settlers on Palestinian communities. Violence has further escalated there since the war in the Gaza Strip began, with more than 300 Palestinians killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces and settlers. Israel has occupied the West Bank since the Six-Day War of 1967 and, excluding annexed east Jerusalem, the territory is now home to around 490,000 Israelis who live in settlements considered illegal under international law. The deadliest ever war in Gaza began after Hamas militants poured across the border and launched an attack that reportedly left 1,139 people dead in Israel. Some 250 people were also abducted and taken to the Gaza Strip. In Israel's retaliatory campaign against Hamas, at least 19,453 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in Gaza.

Israeli military officials: High civilian toll in Gaza is cost of crushing Hamas
Reuters/December 19, 2023
Israeli military officials said that heavy civilian casualties are the cost of Israel's intense campaign to destroy Hamas in Gaza and the militants' urban warfare strategy in the face of global alarm at the staggering toll from the bombing. Israel has dropped thousands of tons of munitions over the past 10 weeks, leaving the narrow Mediterranean strip in ruins and killing nearly 20,000, with thousands more believed to be trapped under collapsed buildings, Gazan officials say. More than 50,000 are injured, with minimal healthcare services working.

Swedish court upholds life sentence in Iran executions case
STOCKHOLM (Reuters)/December 19, 2023
A Swedish appeals court on Tuesday upheld a guilty verdict and life sentence given to a former Iranian official convicted last year for his part in a mass execution of political prisoners in Iran in 1988. In 2022, the Stockholm District Court ruling found Hamid Noury guilty of murder and serious crimes against international law, drawing strong criticism from Iran, which said the verdict was politically motivated. The Appeal Court's decision was greeted with cheers by several hundred protesters who had gathered outside the court, waving flags and chanting slogans calling for the end of the Iranian regime.
"It's a great day, it's a beautiful day and justice has prevailed," Abdolreza Shafie, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, an opposition umbrella group, told Reuters. Noury is the only person so far to face trial over the killings at the Gohardasht prison in Karaj, Iran, in 1988 that targeted members of the Iranian People's Mujahideen, which was fighting in parts of Iran, as well as other political dissidents. Amnesty International has put the number executed on government orders at around 5,000, saying in a 2018 report that "the real number could be higher". Iran has never acknowledged the killings. Under Swedish law, courts can try Swedish citizens and other nationals for crimes against international law committed abroad. Noury, who denied the charges, was arrested at a Stockholm airport in 2019. The case has caused a deep rift between Sweden and Iran. Earlier this month, an Iranian court opened the trial of a Swedish European Union employee arrested in 2022 while on holiday in the country. Johan Floderus is charged with spying for Israel and "corruption on earth," a crime that carries the death penalty. Sweden has requested his immediate release, calling the detention arbitrary. Rights groups and Western governments have accused the Islamic Republic of trying to extract political concessions from other countries through arrests on security charges that may have been trumped up. Tehran says such arrests are based on its criminal code and it denies holding people for political reasons.

Russia summons Finland ambassador over US border accord
Robert Greenall - BBC News/December 19, 2023
Russia has summoned the Finnish ambassador in Moscow, after Finland signed a new agreement on military co-operation with the US. Monday's deal grants the US broad access to the area of Finland's long border with Russia. Moscow said it would "take necessary measures to counter the aggressive decisions of Finland and its Nato allies".Finland joined Nato this year in response to Russia's Ukraine invasion. Russian President Vladimir Putin recently accused Nato of having "dragged" Finland into the bloc, and announced the creation of a new military district near Finland's border. Meanwhile Finland has accused Russia of channelling migrants towards its territory in a "hybrid operation", and has temporarily closed all its border crossings with its eastern neighbour. The agreement signed on Monday allows the US rapid military access and aid to Finland in the event of conflict, as well as joint training of forces.
"We do not expect the United States to take care of the defence of Finland. We continue to invest in our defence and share the burden in our area and beyond," Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen said, quoted by the AFP news agency. "However, this agreement significantly enhances our ability to act together in all situations."Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow would not leave "Nato's military buildup" on its borders unanswered. "Responsibility for turning a zone of good-neighbourliness in this region into a zone of possible confrontation lies entirely with the current Finnish authorities," she said. Finland enjoyed relatively friendly relations with Russia's predecessor the USSR during the Cold War, steering clear of joining the Western military alliance. But along with Sweden it applied to join Nato over concerns that Russia's aggression in Ukraine could spread to other neighbouring countries. It shares a 1,340km (830-mile) frontier with Russia.

Tehran Warns Against Cooperation with ‘Maritime Alliance to Deter Houthis’
Asharq Al Awsat/19 December 2023
In response to Washington’s efforts to form a maritime alliance to address threats to navigation in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Iran issued a warning against collaboration with the US in countering Houthi attacks. Ali Shamkhani, the political affairs advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, defended Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea, describing them as “courageous.”Shamkhani asserted that Houthi actions aimed at restricting maritime movement to and from Israel put pressure on a vital lifeline for the latter. This marks the first official commentary from a high-ranking official in Khamenei’s office regarding Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea. Mohsen Rezaee, senior military officer in the Revolutionary Guard and former Vice President of Iran for Economic Affairs, dismissed accusations of Iran supporting the Houthis as a “big lie.”Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator and deputy foreign minister, Ali Bagheri Kani, emphasized the importance of resistance forces for stability in the region. He hinted at a potential shift in the strategic, political, and security landscape in the region after the war in Gaza, stating that resistance could not be denied as an effective player in the regional map. On his part, Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad-Reza Ashtiani warned against the formation of the maritime alliance, asserting Iran’s predominance over the Red Sea and rejecting any maneuvering by external forces in the region. This statement raised concerns among Iranians about the possibility of direct involvement in a war with the US. Conservative Iranian newspaper “Khorasan” suggested that Houthi actions significantly influenced the calculations of the US, the UK, Israel, and their allies concerning the war and the Gaza crisis. The newspaper predicted the failure of any multinational task force to protect shipping in the Red Sea against the Houthis and highlighted Ashtiani’s warning about the formation of such an alliance.

Iran Vows to Punish Perpetrators of Deadly Attack on Police in Balochistan
IRNA /19 December 2023
The Iranian intelligence and interior ministries vowed on Monday to hold accountable the perpetrators of the deadly attack on the Rask police station in the Sistan and Balochistan province last week. Fridya's attack was claimed by “Jaish al-Adl”. It left Iranian police officers dead and critically wounded eight others. Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib said on Monday the security agencies will bring the perpetrators to justice. Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said on the sidelines of the meeting of provincial governors in Iran that authorities were “seriously” pursuing the perpetrators of the Rask attack. Vahidi said investigations showed that the attackers had entered Iranian territory from neighboring Pakistan. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian held on Monday a phone call with his Pakistani counterpart, Jalil Abbas Jilani. The Iranian FM demanded Islamabad to identify the perpetrators behind the attack, the Iranian Mehr news agency reported. Jalani strongly condemned the attack, expressing Pakistan’s firm commitment to working closely with Iran in confronting terrorism, which is a challenge to regional peace and security. On Sunday, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said the country stands in full solidarity with the government and the people of Iran in the tragedy. One day after the attack, Iranian authorities executed a prisoner convicted of spying for Israel’s Mossad intelligence service in Sistan-Balochistan. It did not offer any details on the identity of the prisoner or the date of his arrest.

Zelensky: Ukraine to produce one million drones next year
Reuters/December 19, 2023
Ukraine will produce one million drones next year, boosting current production levels, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday. Ukraine has been working to increase its domestic weapons production since the start of Russia's invasion in February 2022. Drones increasingly play a central role on the battlefield and are used in large numbers by both Kyiv and Moscow. "Regarding production, we will produce a million drones next year," Zelensky told a televised news conference. "We will make a million. We will do everything to make it so. I know that's how it will be."

Zelenskyy says he is weighing Ukrainian military's request for mobilization of up to 500,000 troops
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)/December 19, 2023
Ukraine's military wants to mobilize up to 500,000 more troops to fight Russia's invasion, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that he has asked them to spell out their plans in detail on what is “a very sensitive matter” before deciding whether he grants their wish as the war approaches the two-year mark. Such a major mobilization would cost Ukraine around 500 billion hryvnias ($13.4 billion), Zelenskyy said. Other aspects to be considered include whether troops currently on the front line would be rotated or allowed home leave after almost 22 months of full-scale war. Ukrainian Ministry of Defense statistics say the Ukrainian army had nearly 800,000 troops in October. That doesn't include National Guard or other units. In total, 1 million Ukrainians are in uniform.
Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the country’s military to increase the number of troops by nearly 170,000 to a total of 1.32 million.
Russia, Ukraine’s far bigger neighbor, outguns and outnumbers Kyiv’s forces.
The around 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line has barely budged this year as a Ukrainian counteroffensive ran up against sturdy Russian defenses. Now, with winter setting in, troop movements are being slowed by bad weather, placing grater emphasis on the use of artillery, missiles and drones. Putin said earlier Tuesday that the Kremlin’s forces have taken the initiative in Ukraine and is well positioned for the coming year. Zelenskyy, speaking at a year-end news conference, insisted that the Kremlin's forces had failed in their efforts to occupy more of Ukraine since their full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. It wasn't possible to independently verify battlefield claims by either side. Zelenskyy said that Ukraine has received additional Patriot surface-to-air systems and advanced NASAMS anti-aircraft systems, providing medium- to long-range defense against Russian missile attacks, but declined to provide more details. They will help fend off expected Russian attacks on Ukraine's power grid over the winter. Amid signs of war fatigue among Ukraine’s Western allies, Zelenskyy said that he was confident that the United States and European Union would make good on their promises of providing Ukraine with more military and financial support next year — a crucial issue for Kyiv as it fights its larger foe.
In other developments:
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said Tuesday that his agency has confirmed more than 10,000 civilian deaths in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion started. The number includes more than 560 children, he said.
“The true toll is probably substantially higher,” he said. Also, Türk said that his office is investigating six new reported cases of Russian soldiers allegedly killing civilians in Ukraine. Since the start of all-out war in Ukraine, the Russian military has repeatedly used missiles to blast civilian targets across the country, with devastating consequences.
The toll the war is taking on the Ukrainian economy was clear in figures published Tuesday that showed the volume of Ukraine’s goods exports through November was 19.3% lower than in the same period last year. The drop was due largely to Russia’s “blockade of seaports and Russian attacks on our export transport logistics,” Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko tweeted. However, a recent uptick in sea exports came after Ukraine created a temporary grain corridor in the Black Sea and introduced a ship insurance mechanism, she said, adding that the growth bodes well for next year.

West Accuses Iran of Illegally Testing Missiles, Transferring Drones to Russia, Enriching Uranium
AP/19 December 2023
The Western powers in the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran accused Tehran on Monday of developing and testing ballistic missiles, transferring hundreds of drones to Russia, and enriching uranium to an unprecedented 60% level for a country without a nuclear weapons program — all in violation of a UN resolution endorsing the deal. Iran and its ally, Russia, dismissed the charges by Britain, France and Germany, strongly supported by the United States, which pulled out of the agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2018. The six-party agreement was aimed at ensuring that Iran could not develop atomic weapons. Under the accord, Tehran agreed to limit enrichment of uranium to levels necessary for the peaceful use of nuclear power in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. The sharp exchanges came at the Security Council’s semi-annual meeting on the implementation of its resolution endorsing the 2015 nuclear deal. Both Iran’s UN Ambassador Amir Iravani and Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia blamed the United States’ withdrawal from the JCPOA, Western sanctions and an “anti-Iran” stance for the current standoff. Iravani said Iran is allowed to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and Nebenzia rejected alleged evidence that it was using Iranian drones in Ukraine. Then-President Donald Trump said when unilaterally pulling out of the accord in 2018 that he would negotiate a stronger deal, but that didn’t happen. Iran began breaking the terms a year later and its 60% enrichment is near weapons-grade levels, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog. Formal talks to try to find a roadmap to restart the JCPOA collapsed in August 2022. At Monday’s council meeting, UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo stressed that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres still considers the JCPOA “the best available option to ensure that the Iranian nuclear program remains exclusively peaceful.” She urged Iran to reverse course, as did the three European countries who issued a joint statement quoting the IAEA as saying Iran’s stockpiles of enriched uranium now stand at 22 times the JCPOA limit. “There is no credible civilian justification for the state of Iran’s nuclear program,” the UK, France and Germany said. “The current trajectory only brings Iran closer to weapons-related capabilities.”The Europeans and US Minister Counselor John Kelley stressed that they would use all means to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. As for the future, Kelley told the council: “Iran should take actions to build international confidence and de-escalate tensions and not continue nuclear provocations that pose grave proliferation risks.”“The United States is fully committed to resolving the international community’s concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear program through diplomacy,” he said. “Unfortunately, Iran’s actions suggest this goal is not its priority.”Iran’s Iravani said Tehran “has persistently worked toward the JCPOA revival” and “stands prepared to resume the full implementation of its commitment on the JCPOA once it is revived.” That requires the US and all other parties to fully implement their obligations as well as “genuine political attentiveness,” he said. Nebenzia said: “The Russian Federation is firmly convinced that there is no alternative to the JCPOA.”

The UK and France reiterate that Russia's invasion of Ukraine must end in failure as US aid falters
PARIS (AP)/December 19, 2023
Britain and France reiterated their determination Tuesday that Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine ends in failure, with the U.K. foreign minister saying that Ukraine's allies must better leverage their economic might to vastly outmatch Moscow's war machine. The renewed insistence from U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron and French counterpart Catherine Colonna that Russia can't be rewarded for its aggression comes as wartime aid from Ukraine's biggest single military backer — the United States — is faltering. Cameron, speaking after talks with Colonna in Paris, said that if the economies of Ukraine's Western partners are calculated together, “we outmatch the Russian economy by 25 to one or more.”“What we have to do is make that economic strength and that commitment pay,” he said. “If we can, I have no doubt that we can make sure that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin loses and it's essential that he does lose.”Neither Cameron nor Colonna announced new aid for Ukraine in their comments to reporters. They took no questions. “Hand in hand since the beginning, our two countries are working together to ensure that the Russian aggression is not rewarded, is a failure," Colonna said. Cameron said that U.K. and French support for Ukraine will continue “for as long as it takes.”Likening the war to “a play that comes in different acts,” he also said that Ukraine's allies must determine its next phase. “The first act," he said, "was the stunning failure of Russia to achieve its objectives” — when the Russian invasion forces first thrust for the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, in February and March of 2022 and were beaten back. The second act was Ukraine's counteroffensive in the summer of 2022, he said, "the brilliance that the Ukrainians showed in driving back the Russians, taking back half the territory that had been lost, pushing them back across the Black Sea.""The third act has been more difficult on land,” he said, a seeming reference to Ukraine’s disappointing counteroffensive this summer. “But the fourth act is yet to be written and we must make sure we write it in the correct way, with our friends and partners in the Western world.”

The EU's naval force says a cargo ship hijacked last week has moved toward the coast of Somalia
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP)/December 19, 2023
A Maltese-flagged merchant ship that was hijacked last week in the Arabian Sea with 18 crew on board is now off the coast of Somalia, the European Union's maritime security force said Tuesday. One crew member has been evacuated for medical care. The bulk carrier Ruen remains under the control of the hijackers, whose identity and demands are unknown, the EU Naval Force said in a statement. It did not give details on the condition of the crew member who was taken off the vessel on Monday and moved to an Indian navy ship that has been shadowing the Ruen. An Indian maritime patrol plane spotted the Ruen a day after its hijacking last Thursday and made radio contact with the crew, who had locked themselves in a safe room. The hijackers broke into the safe room and "extracted the crew" hours later, the EU Naval Force said. The Ruen, which is managed by Bulgarian shipping company Navibulgar, was off the Yemeni island of Socotra near the Horn of Africa when it was boarded, the private intelligence firm Ambrey and the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said. Bulgarian authorities said the ship’s crew were Angolan, Bulgarian and Myanmar nationals. The 185-meter (606-foot) Ruen was carrying a cargo of metals from the port of Gwangyang in South Korea, the EU Naval Force said. It had been headed to the Turkish port of Gemlik. The captain confirmed the hijacking by sending a mayday alert to the EU Naval Force’s command center. The vessel has now moved southwest toward the coast of Somalia, according to the EU force. Suspicion has fallen on Somali pirates, whose attacks have decreased markedly in recent years. They may be more active again. The Pentagon has said that five armed assailants who seized a commercial ship near Yemen late last month were likely Somali nationals and not Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, who were first suspected to be responsible. The Yemen-based Houthi rebels have escalated their attacks on ships passing through the Red Sea during the Israel-Hamas war, impacting global trade. The U.S. said Tuesday that it and a host of other nations are creating a force to protect ships transiting the Red Sea that have come under attack from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. But Somalia’s maritime police have also intensified their patrols in recent weeks following the Pentagon's assessment of last month's attempted hijacking as fears grow of a resurgence of piracy by Somali nationals. A Spanish frigate from the EU Naval Force and a Japanese naval vessel that is under the multinational Combined Maritime Forces command have moved to the vicinity of the hijacked Ruen to join the Indian navy vessel. It is being “continuously monitored” by the ships and a 5-meter-long (16-foot) drone used by the EU force.

Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 19-20/2023
Multinational force in Gaza will fail if history is any guide, report says
DAVID ISAAC/JNS/December 19, 2023
As if to underscore the report’s conclusions, Hezbollah fired a rocket just 20 meters from a U.N. compound in Lebanon on Dec. 9.
Disagreement has sharpened between the U.S. and Israel over Gaza’s post-Hamas future. The U.S. favors the Palestinian Authority taking over, an idea to which Israel is adamantly opposed. Israel wants to retain security control for an “indefinite” period. The U.S. talks of “international agencies” providing transitional “security and governance.”Judging from experience, the latter idea is doomed to failure.
“In the Middle East, these missions have proven to be futile, and in the rare cases where they were effective, they served the aggressor rather than regional or international peace,” says a new report by the Kohelet Policy Forum, titled “Chronic Failure Without Accountability: International Peacekeeping and Security Forces in the Arab-Israeli Conflict.” As if to underscore the report’s conclusions, Hezbollah fired a rocket just 20 meters from a United Nations compound in Southern Lebanon on Dec. 9. Hezbollah has repeatedly used UNIFIL positions as human shields, firing on Israel from nearby. UNIFIL (the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon), created in 1978, is one of a dozen examples given in the report of peacekeeping missions that failed to live up to their billing.
Eugene Kontorovich, director of Kohelet’s international law department, who co-wrote the report with Adi Schwartz, a research fellow at the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, told JNS that the main reason Israel would agree to a U.N. or multinational force would be due to international pressure. “We see with these peacekeeping forces that often the way they’re inserted is not really to provide security but to provide a kind of face-saving way out a crisis,” Kontorovich said.
‘The U.S. and U.K. promptly removed their personnel’
International peacekeepers tend to leave or stand aside when threatened. The report shows this was the case with several Middle Eastern peacekeeping missions, including the European Union Border Assistance Mission at the Rafah Crossing Point (EUBAM Rafah) and the U.S.-U.K. Jericho prison guards.
The last were police officials that Britain and the U.S. agreed to place as supervisors at the Al Muqataa prison in Jericho after the 2001 assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze’evi in Jerusalem. Israel wanted assurance the guilty terrorists were indeed imprisoned. In 2006, when Hamas threatened to forcibly break the prisoners out of jail, “the U.S. and U.K. promptly removed their personnel to keep them out of harm’s way,” the Kohelet report says.
The report also provides examples outside the Israel-Arab conflict. Particularly disturbing was the behavior of international peacekeepers during the Rwandan genocide in 1994. “As U.N. peacekeepers stood on the sidelines, more than eight hundred thousand Rwandans were killed in just three months,” the report notes. As if telegraphing its own view of the likely success of a multinational mission in Gaza, the U.S. on Nov. 1 announced that no American troops would be put on the ground there as part of any peacekeeping force post-conflict, “now or in the future.”Washington and Jerusalem are closer to agreement on civilian affairs in Gaza after the war. Both have floated the idea of a multinational group to manage non-security issues and help in reconstruction. (Although the U.S. initially envisioned an international coalition handling “interim security measures” as well, the White House has since conceded that Israel will need to keep security in hand for an initial period.) However, Israel may face resistance in gaining help to rebuild the Strip. The United Arab Emirates, one of the countries whose support Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will “harness” for reconstruction efforts, balked at stepping in without the agreed-upon end goal being a Palestinian state. “The message is going to be very clear: We need to see a viable two-state solution plan, a road map that is serious before we talk about the next day and rebuilding the infrastructure of Gaza,” UAE Ambassador to the U.N. Lana Nusseibeh told The Wall Street Journal on Dec. 12. “The road map is: the Israelis and the Palestinian Authority and a grouping of countries that have leverage on the both of them sitting around the table and saying, ‘That’s the endgame we’re going to work to. The work starts here. This is the timeline, and it starts now,’” she said. That would be a “double whammy” against Israeli interests, in which a multinational force transitions to Palestinian Authority control, said Kontorovich. “All the P.A. needs to do is pressure the countries to leave early, which is very likely what they’ll do. If they can simply abscond, then the P.A. is left to fill in. And history shows these groups have very little perseverance under adversity.”As the report says, “History, and especially Israel’s experience, shows that foreign troops or personnel, even with countries or institutions who have expertise in peacekeeping, cannot be trusted to provide security for Israel.
“This is true even in straightforward contexts like policing a demilitarized zone or guarding a jail, and would be all the more true for the daunting task of rebuilding Gaza without Iranian, Islamist or other hostile influence,” the report concludes.

Herzog: Israel ready for pause in fighting Hamas to enable release of hostages
YAAKOV LAPPIN/JNS/December 19, 2023
Israel’s president says responsibility lies “fully with Sinwar” • IDF identifies 1,500 tunnel shafts and underground passages in Gaza so far • Gazan hospital director confesses his facility was a Hamas terror headquarters.
Israel is prepared to accept an additional pause in its battle against Hamas to enable the release of Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on Tuesday during a briefing to more than 80 ambassadors and diplomats.
He added that the responsibility for the situation “lies fully with [Hamas senior leader in Gaza Yahya] Sinwar and the leadership of Hamas.”During the ceremony, diplomats received a briefing on the current situation from Col. Elad Goren, head of the Civil Department of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), who detailed the ongoing efforts to provide humanitarian aid to Gazans. “First and foremost, we must remember that there are dozens of humanitarian cases within the group of hostages, such as babies, the elderly, sick, wounded, and, of course, many women,” stated Herzog.
“It is really important for us to reiterate, we are not fighting the people of Gaza. They are not our enemies. We are fighting Hamas; they are the enemy. And in this respect, we are taking all possible humanitarian steps according to international humanitarian law,” he said.“For the last two weeks, there was a failure by the United Nations, predominantly, and other partners in the inflow of trucks into Gaza—only about 125 or 100 trucks a day. You can triple the amount of trucks easily if there was only an effort by the United Nations and its partners. The world has to know that you could have had tens of thousands of tons a day more going into Gaza,” Herzog explained. Also on Tuesday, Mossad director David Barnea reportedly met with CIA director Bill Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Warsaw to discuss options for moving a new hostage-release deal forward.
‘Reaching all places that need to be reached’
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visited the Gaza area on Tuesday with senior military commanders and stated that Israel’s operations are “very ordered—aerial strikes, artillery strikes, armored-forces maneuvers—reaching all of the places that need to be reached.”
He added that in northern Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces are focused on final mopping up operations and entering deep underground tunnels built by Hamas, which have seen IDF soldiers recover Hamas capabilities.
Gallant said in southern Gaza, Khan Yunis “has turned into the new terror capital.”
“We are working there, focusing the efforts,” he said. “The operation will pass through stages and continue until we reach our objectives. We will not let up from this place. We will bring the leaders of the murderous organization to where they belong, either the cemetery or prison.”
War Cabinet minister and former IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz toured the south on Tuesday and stated: “While Hamas’s murderers continue to hide in tunnels until we get them, alive or dead, southern residents will return to the western Negev, and will be under broad protection.”
He added that “even when we pass into the next stage in combat, IDF soldiers will continue to operate deep in the Strip, until we reach all of our objectives … our operational plan has a long way ahead.”
IDF Fire Artillery Towards GazaAn Israeli artillery unit fires shells towards the Gaza Strip from southern Israel on Dec. 19, 2023. Photo by Flash90. Also on Tuesday, the IDF said its elite Shaldag special force conducted operations within Hamas’s tunnel network.
“Underground warfare is a combat strategy used by the Hamas terrorist organization. Since the beginning of the ground operation in the Gaza Strip, IDF troops have identified about 1,500 tunnel shafts and underground passages belonging to Hamas. Most of these subterranean structures have been found beneath schools, hospitals, mosques, U.N. facilities and civilian institutions,” said the military. Troops from the IDF’s 162 Division in the areas of Al-Atatra and Jabalia in northern Gaza located new weapons production sites and a storage facility containing a large stockpile of armaments, the military added. Soldiers located missiles, rockets and explosives inside a building. “During the operation, the soldiers conducted targeted raids on the residences of terror operatives, where they located weapons, maps of significant tunnel routes and intelligence findings,” it said. “While scanning a building, a rocket lathe was discovered with hundreds of missiles and a truck intended for their transportation to launchers.”
‘They hide in hospitals … a safe place’
Meanwhile, the Shin Bet announced that Ahmad Kahalot, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Jabalia in northern Gaza, admitted that Hamas turned hospitals into military facilities under their control. In his confession, which was filmed and released to the public, Kahalot said: “I was recruited to Hamas in 2010 with the rank of brigadier general. There are employees in the hospital who are military operatives of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades—doctors, nurses, paramedics, clerks and staff members.” Humanitarian Aid for GazaTrucks with Humanitarian aid arrive at the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip on Dec. 18, 2023. Photo by Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90. He described how Hamas uses hospitals for military purposes—hiding its operatives, carrying out military activity, moving around Hamas members and even bringing a captured soldier to the hospital.
“They hide in hospitals because for them, a hospital is a safe place. They won’t be targeted when they are inside a hospital,” said Kahalot. ”I know 16 employees in the hospital—a doctor, nurse, paramedic, or clerks … who also have different positions in al-Qassam.”“There are offices where the Hamas leader and two of the senior officials were. There’s a place where the soldier was,” he added, referring to the kidnapped soldier. “There’s a place for the interrogators, internal security and special security. All of them have private telephone lines inside the hospital.”
“They [Hamas] have a private ambulance, even its color and the way it’s painted are different, and it doesn’t have a license plate. They used it to transport the soldier [kidnapped] and transport bodies. … It didn’t assist us with transporting the injured,” he said. “I begged him to take someone to the Indonesian Hospital, take to Shifa [Hospital], but he refused. His mission is more important.” “The leaders of Hamas are cowards,” said Kahalot. They left us in the field while they hide in secret places. … They have destroyed us.”

Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières), an Accomplice of Hamas?
Alain Destexhe/Gatestone Institute/December 19, 2023
The neutrality and independence of the international organization is called into question in Gaza.
Since October 7, MSF, which is extremely active on X, has not made a single tweet denouncing the crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by Hamas on October 7, including the abduction of over 240 Israelis and others who have been held in Gaza as hostages, and the use of hospitals as barracks or human shields. MSF has constantly denounced Israel in virulent terms, but never the violations of humanitarian law committed by Hamas.
The information provided by MSF, which often repeats without proof the words of its local Palestinian employees, should therefore be no more credible than that of Hamas.
MSF must be irreproachable and neutral in its work. This is clearly not the case in Gaza.
The public statements since October 7 of Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF) and its employees, on the ground in Gaza, show a systematic bias in favor of Hamas and hostility to Israel. MSF has failed in its humanitarian purpose and violated its own charter, which proclaims "assistance... irrespective of race, religion, creed or political convictions."
MSF has been present in the Gaza Strip since 1989. It now plays a leading role there, with at least 300 staff members, and works closely with local hospitals on a number of projects, either directly or indirectly with the Hamas "Ministry of Health".
MSF is often quoted by the international media and is seen by public opinion as an objective, neutral and independent observer of the conflict in the region. Because of the history of the organization, which in 1999 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the French and international media have blind faith in MSF when it comes to reporting what it states.
However, a new investigative report on the social media posts of MSF and its employees has seriously called this reputation into question. The tweets and the Facebook posts of MSF and around 100 of its employees in Gaza were scrutinized.
Despite being subject to the MSF Charter, a significant proportion of its staff seem to share the Hamas point of view and support the terrorist attacks of October 7. For example, from October 7:
"Always remember that Gaza has done what all Arab armies have not done... !! It dug tunnels with its own hands. It built its weapons with its own hands...!! She sacrificed her sons, her women, her youth, her elderly, her homes and her mosques for the dignity of this land...!!" — MSF nurse (see Appendix 1).
"oh my God, we love you" — MSF doctor (see Appendix 1).
Similar comments were made by doctors from Al-Shifa, who are not members of MSF but who work with MSF doctors on a daily basis (see Appendix 6).
Not once in its official statement has MSF mentioned the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7. On the contrary, it sets out without proof -- based on testimonies of its local Palestinian employees -- to depict the events in order to accuse Israel of all the crimes, with phraseology designed to capture the imagination, but whose veracity is questionable. For example, the words "massacres", "annihilation", "sacrifice assumed and organised", "indiscriminate bombing campaign", as well as a serious accusation made -- without proof -- in the official MSF X (Twitter) account on November 13:
"There's also a sniper who attacked patients, they have gunshot wounds, we operated on three of them."
In the meantime, the evidence of Hamas operating in Gaza's medical facilities is overwhelming. A video from October 7 shows hostages being taken by force into Al Shifa Hospital, stolen IDF vehicles in the hospital courtyard, armed men in the hospital, bodies of hostages found in the hospital, numerous weapon caches and exchanges of fire. Finally, several tunnel entrances are located in an area very close to the hospital.
MSF has had a large presence in Gaza for a long time. Moreover, in a series of tweets, MSF provided precise information on the situation at the Al Shifa Hospital, showing its perfect knowledge of the premises and the staff. Is it possible and credible that MSF and its employees knew nothing and saw nothing of Hamas's violations of humanitarian law in the hospital?
To date, MSF has not once denounced the violation of these "sanctuaries" by Hamas belligerents, even though on October 7 it demanded:
"Health care facilities cannot become targets. We ask all parties to respect health infrastructures, which must remain a sanctuary for people seeking treatment."
The investigation looked only at MSF's French-language posts. Those in English and Arabic are worse. On October 7, MSF made a statement in Arabic as follows: "Israeli forces launched air strikes against the Indonesian Hospital in the Gaza Strip," without making the slightest reference to the initial attack by Hamas on the same day.
MSF's biased analysis of events can also be found among MSF's official spokespeople, who -- usually quick to communicate -- are completely silent on the atrocities of October 7. Worse still, two of them -- on October 7 -- posted ambiguous tweets.
Ghassan Abou Chaar, vice-president of MSF France, reposted this:
"I think it important for people to be educated on Gaza before spewing anything from talking points you have heard." (Appendix 5)
Louis Baudoin Laarman, Field Communications Manager in Jerusalem, tweeted: "Rockets still shooting from #Gaza right now. No Israeli response for now", then reposted in English from MSF international talking about an Israeli strike following "the escalation," and then in an Arabic version via "MSF Arabic", he failed to mention "the escalation" (Appendix 5).
Dr Mohammed Abed Abu Mughaiseeb, MSF Deputy Medical Coordinator in Gaza, widely quoted by MSF, even seems to have friendly and/or family links with people close to terrorists who took part in the attacks on October 7 (Appendix 7).
MSF repeated the false claim that Israel bombed Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza. In a tweet dated October 17, MSF France wrote in French:
"We are horrified by the Israeli bombing of the Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, which treated patients and housed displaced people. Hundreds of people were killed according to local authorities. This is an unacceptable massacre."
MSF did not specify that these "local authorities" are part of Hamas.
On X (Twitter), on October 17 at 9:56pm (a few hours after the rocket launched by Palestinian Islamic Jihad hit Al Ahli Hospital), MSF France quoted Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah, identified as an MSF doctor in Gaza:
"We were operating in the hospital when there was a loud explosion and the ceiling of the operating theater fell. It was a massacre."
On his Facebook page, where he identifies himself as an MSF doctor, Abu Sittah wrote the next day:
"We now know that the number of people killed exceeds 500, and this number is going to rise (...) it was the most heralded crime in history, it's a massacre by appointment" (Appendix 4).
Abu Sittah is often quoted by MSF and has been picked up by the world's press, including the BBC. It should be remembered that the hospital was not destroyed, that the PIJ rocket hit the hospital's parking lot and that, according to European sources, the death toll was between 10 and 50.
Since October 7, MSF, which is extremely active on X, has not made a single tweet denouncing the crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by Hamas on October 7, including the abduction of over 240 Israelis and others who have been held in Gaza as hostages, and the use of hospitals as barracks or human shields. MSF has constantly denounced Israel in virulent terms, but never the violations of humanitarian law committed by Hamas.
It is vital that the media and politicians are vigilant when they use information released by MSF. It is essential to check sources and to present events in a balanced way, taking into account the perceptions of all those involved. The information provided by MSF, which often repeats without proof the words of its local Palestinian employees, should therefore be no more credible than that of Hamas.
MSF regularly refers to international humanitarian law, but its interpretations of this law varies widely. In its public communications, MSF has seriously failed in its humanitarian aim. MSF's charter, asserts the organization's neutrality, impartiality and independence from any political, economic or religious power. MSF must be irreproachable and neutral in its work. This is clearly not the case in Gaza.
*Alain Destexhe, Medical Doctor (MD), a Gatestone Institute distinguished senior fellow, is an Honorary Senator in Belgium, former secretary general of Médecins sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders) and former president of the International Crisis Group. Author of Rwanda and Genocide in the Twentieth Century.
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Many Israeli writers are still in a state of shock and unable to process Oct. 7
Jeffrey Fleishman, Melanie Lidman/Los Angeles Times/December 19, 202
After Israel’s war with Hamas erupted, Etgar Keret, who writes surrealist short stories, had an idea for a plot: Aliens from another universe come to Earth looking for a power source. They find it in human suffering. Lights on the alien planet shine bright when Hamas attacks Israel. A huge glow appears again during Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes on Gaza. The narrative is at once evocative and fantastical — a nation inured to decades of conflict and bloodshed experiences a pain so deep it becomes a power all its own.
In a post for Substack, Keret, the son of Holocaust survivors and one of Israel’s most admired writers, suggested early in the war the enormity he and other writers were facing: “Since October 7, I haven’t really been able to write. For me, writing is a state in which you briefly release the suffocating grip of rationality and let your guts speak, but ever since this war broke out, my guts aren’t saying anything.
Etgar Keret poses for portrait outside his home in Tel Aviv.
"It's not that I don't feel," says writer and artist Etgar Keret. "I feel too much, all the time." (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
"It’s not that I don’t feel," he said. "I feel too much, all the time. But the things I’m feeling — whether sorrow or fury or loneliness — don’t lead anywhere. And when your gut goes silent, nothing meaningful can be written, at least not the way I write.”
The Hamas massacre of 1,200 Israelis and Israel’s bombing and invasion of Gaza, which local health authorities say have killed more than 19,000 Palestinians, is testing how novelists, filmmakers and TV writers will distill a tragedy. For Israelis, it is one that rouses the past and raises existential questions many are unable to fathom.
Avi Issacharoff, a journalist and TV writer, said — like many American writers immediately after Sept. 11, 2001 — it’s too soon for him to find perspective in a war still unfolding. Issacharoff is the co-creator of "Fauda,” a Netflix series about an Israeli undercover unit tracking Palestinian militants, which was eerily prescient about the Hamas attack. “We will have to wait for the war to end to see what will happen and how we deal with it creatively," he said. "But we can’t ignore this date. October 7 is with us forever.”
Many Israelis have compared this moment to 9/11 or the pogroms of Europe — events that shook nations and changed all that came after.
The most riveting works to arise from the Holocaust were often stories of singular lives seared into the larger horror, notably "The Diary of Young Girl" by Anne Frank and Elie Wiesel's "Night," an account of the evils a boy faces in German concentration camps. Intimate perspectives also emerged from 9/11, including Don DeLillo's "Falling Man," a tale of grief and alienation around a man who survives the burning towers and becomes consumed by lingering trauma. In his novel, "Saturday," Ian McEwan explores the dread and anxiety that pervade otherwise happy lives in an age when terrorists slam planes into buildings.
In Israel, war and conflict are not abstractions; their reverberations are immediate and personal. Issacharoff is a former special forces soldier who was wounded years ago during clashes with Hamas fighters in Hebron. His step-daughter’s partner, an Israeli paratrooper, was killed in Gaza in November.
A man watches a TV show being recorded
Muli Segev, the man behind "Eretz Nehederet," an acclaimed Israeli satirical television show, attends the recording of an episode in the production studio. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
One of Israel’s most prominent novelists, David Grossman, published “To the End of the Land,” a story of a mother who escapes the “notifiers” who might bring news of her soldier son’s death, after his own son was killed when his tank unit battled Hezbollah fighters in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.
Grossman has often explored the Israeli-Palestinian question in essays and reportage. A peace activist and left-leaning Zionist, he believes in Israel's right to exist but opposes the occupation of Palestinian territories in the West Bank that were seized after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Grossman’s seminal nonfiction work, “The Yellow Wind,” first published in 1988, was an empathetic portrait of the hardship Palestinians face living under occupation. It was also a warning about the future if the decades of death and conflict that have defined this land were not quelled.
In an updated introduction 10 years later as violence was escalating toward a second intifada, Grossman wrote: “The heart cringes at the thought that we are doomed to endure another round of blood, worse than its predecessor, so we understand there is no choice other than the way of peace, the way we have barely tried. In the coming years — whether negotiations continue ... or whether the process comes to a halt — the most fanatical, primal, cruel forces in each nation are likely to break loose.”
They have. The war came when Israelis were more divided than perhaps anytime in the nation’s 75-year-history. In January, liberals began months of protests against the right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which bolstered the power of ultraconservatives and threatened to undermine the independence of the courts. Israel was heading toward a dangerous collision over its own ideals. Then came another existential jolt when Israel’s vaunted intelligence agencies failed to prevent Hamas’ October attack. The delusion of invincibility had been broken, and the Holocaust was evoked as images of scattered and mutilated bodies were glimpsed in places like Sderot and Kfar Aza.
No one felt safe anywhere in Israel. There were wailing and calls for vengeance. At night a strange silence fell amid the stones of the old towns; farther south, air raid sirens warned of incoming rockets. It seemed, for many, as if the past from nearly a century ago had rushed in.
“There are stories we all keep in our collective memory from the Holocaust,” said Issacharoff, co-author of a book about Israel’s 2006 war with Lebanon. “That’s a very, very sensitive place in the soul of Israelis. It made Israelis stand up and say 'no more.'” He added: “It was very clear to me that on the first day [after the Hamas attack] the world stood by Israel. But I knew in a few days that would shift. Maybe it was a David and Goliath syndrome when Israel retaliated. Now we’re witnessing pure antisemitism and hate of Jewish people around the world.”
The war and its immediate aftershocks became sensitive terrain for “Eretz Nehederet” (What a Wonderful Country), an Israeli version of “Saturday Night Live.” The program stayed on the air during the early days of COVID and was accustomed to using humor and satire to navigate wars, terrorist attacks and other national traumas. But Oct. 7 felt different. The writers spent more than two weeks to find the right balance and tone to pull a show together.
Portrait of Avi Issacharoff, co-creator of the series "Fauda"
Avi Issacharoff, co-creator of the series "Fauda," says, "We will have to wait for the war to end to see what will happen and how we deal with it creatively. But we can't ignore this date. October 7 is with us forever." (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
“We were ready to take the chance,” said executive producer Muli Segev. “We had a lot of requests from people that they needed to take a break from the news and the terrible images and the awful stories and the anxiety and the stress from the rockets and the soldiers and everything. To take a moment to take a breath.”
One of the skits focused on the true story of Rachel Edery who stayed alive for more than 12 hours after militants invaded her home by feeding them cookies and coffee. Another bit parodied pro-Palestinian protests on U.S. college campuses. It featured two students at the made up “Columbia Untisemity” who said they supported LGBTQH — the H standing for Hamas. The students are oblivious to the sentiments of a Hamas fighter who despises their liberal values and wants to execute them. One of the students wears a kaffiyeh and says “I totally simp Hamas, it’s so trending right now.” He explains that he’s “not antisemitic, I'm racist fluid.”
A recent episode satirizes a Netanyahu who appears oblivious to the fact that Hamas has been a longtime enemy. He refuses to take responsibility and tells Israelis: "I decided to take respiratory breathing exercises with my wife to rest from everything that has happened to us."
The show aims for “small moments of comfort amidst the darkness,” said Segev, adding that it’s a Jewish tradition “to laugh very quickly at trauma. ... It’s kind of in our DNA.”
The war and its consequences, said Keret, have created the picture that most people, depending on their politics and sympathies, or whether they’re Israeli or Palestinian, “just take a fragment of.” The challenge is to see and grasp its fullness. He was reminded of when he was a child and came home from school one day: “I told my father, ‘Today we learned the lesson of the Holocaust.’ My dad said, ‘You know, the Holocaust was such a huge experience. Don’t you think there’s more than one lesson to it?’”
Keret, whose short story collections include, “Suddenly, a Knock on the Door,” recently wrote a tale about a man who finds transcendence and hope in prayer even after his faith in God is shaken following the Hamas attack. It is a twist of optimism in a dark time. A lot of his writing these days has been short passages “just trying to [record] those little pockets of humanity and confusion and the feeling of uselessness.”
A text he sent to a girl whose father was killed on Oct. 7 reads: “Close your eyes, and allow yourself, just for a moment, to simply feel the pain, to hesitate, to be confused, to feel sorrow, remorse. You still have your whole life to spend persecuting, avenging, reckoning. But for now, just close your eyes and look inward like a satellite hovering over a disaster zone searching for signs of life. A lot has been taken away from you, but you're still a human being — wounded, bloodied, angry, hurting, frightened, drowning in sorrow, but still human.”
In a recent essay in the Financial Times, Grossman wondered: “Who will we be when we rise from the ashes and re-enter our lives? When we viscerally feel the pain of author Haim Gouri’s words, written during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, ‘How numerous are those no longer with us.’ Who will we be and what kind of human beings will we be after seeing what we’ve seen? Where will we start after the destruction and loss of so many things we believed in and trusted?”
A few years ago, Grossman’s fellow peace activist and novelist, the late Amos Oz, said fewer Israeli writers were exploring the larger questions around Palestinians and Israel’s troubled place in the Middle East. He told The Times in a conversation in 2015 that in the decades since the country was founded, writers had gradually abandoned the role of prophets that “show the way.”
Israeli writers, said Oz, who died in 2018, “are normalized. They write about everyday life: love, jealousy, solitude, ambition, longing, loss, the great and simple topics. Everyday existence in Israel is no longer ... the epic of the birth of a nation. The nation is born for better or worse. So you will find fewer and fewer Israeli writers dealing with the birth of a nation, dealing with the question of where do we go from here.”
That question is still in search of an answer, although it seems likely writers will find that the nation is a looming and inescapable character.
Lidman is a special correspondent.

The U.S. Is About To Make A Decision At The U.N. That Could Change Gaza's Fate
Akbar Shahid Ahmed/HuffPost/December 19, 2023
The best chance right now to improve the desperate situation in Gaza ― where millions of people are under bombardment while on the brink of starvation amid a U.S.-backed Israeli military operation ― hinges on America’s choices at the United Nations.
The U.N. Security Council will vote Tuesday on a resolution proposed by the United Arab Emirates, a close U.S. partner, on behalf of Arab and Muslim states that calls for limiting the fighting and dramatically increasing humanitarian aid for Gazans, two diplomats told HuffPost on Monday. It’s a major moment for besieged Palestinians and their supporters, and for the Biden administration, which is struggling to balance its support for Israel with international criticism of the devastating offensive and deep concerns among American officials about the consequences of largely unchecked support for Israel.
If the U.S. votes to pass the resolution, that would be the strongest signal yet from the Biden administration that Israel must change its conduct to protect civilians. Historically, including under President Joe Biden, the U.S. has almost always used its influence at the U.N. to shield Israel from pressure. Alternatively, the U.S. could abstain, declining to use its veto power and allowing the resolution to pass in what would represent a major warning to Israel. Or the U.S. could veto the resolution, as it did a U.N. resolution calling for a Gaza cease-fire on Dec. 8, making America an outlier on the Security Council and among the nearly 200 members of the U.N., 153 of whom endorsed a cease-fire on Dec. 12 in a vote in the General Assembly.
The situation underscores the huge quandaries the Gaza crisis is forcing upon the U.S. office at the U.N. and its leader, veteran diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
Thomas-Greenfield and her team are deeply involved in the sensitive negotiations around the resolution, including the question of how Biden will handle it. The ambassador’s office requested a delay in the vote, previously expected Monday, a foreign diplomat and a U.S. official involved in the discussions told HuffPost, which first broke the news of the postponement.
A European diplomat described U.N.-wide negotiations over the resolution as “still ongoing,” interpreting that as “a good sign.” And a Muslim diplomat and an Arab diplomat both told HuffPost they believe the U.S. is unlikely to veto the resolution. HuffPost spoke with 10 U.S. and foreign officials for this story, nearly all of whom requested anonymity to speak frankly.
Whatever decision Biden makes, Thomas-Greenfield and her staff will have to publicly defend and implement it. That reality has made their work extremely complicated since Oct. 7, when the war began after the Gaza-based militant group Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped more than 200 more. The attack prompted Israeli retaliation, which has led to the deaths of nearly 20,000 Gazans, the vast majority of them women and children, according to Gaza health officials.
Foreign policy watchers say Thomas-Greenfield and her team find themselves in an unenviable position as they suspect some in the ambassador’s office would prefer a change in U.S. policy. Some critics of Biden’s Gaza response hope the ambassador may be echoing views similar to theirs within the administration.
The dilemma is in some ways unique but also reflects the broader struggle of American national security officials: Biden has largely rebuffed internal and external calls for a more restrained U.S. approach to the war that prioritizes humanitarian and strategic concerns.
“She was an ambassador in Africa ― I’m sure she has a different opinion on what’s happening,” said Dave Harden, a former State Department official who, like Thomas-Greenfield, left roles in the U.S. government under former President Donald Trump. Thomas-Greenfield served as the U.S. ambassador to Liberia, and her highest rank before her current post was as the State Department’s chief Africa official; she is deeply connected and well-respected across the continent. Most countries in Africa and the Global South generally support a cease-fire in Gaza, and multiple U.S. officials have told HuffPost they believe Biden’s position on the war is reducing America’s influence internationally.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said representatives of other countries are “describing a double standard in terms of the U.S. approach” to Israel, given the way the U.S. has previously used the U.N. to rallyopposition to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and highlight Moscow’s responsibility for war crimes there. “I’m sure the administration is well aware of this,” Van Hollen said.
One State Department official described particular concerns at their agency about the way the situation is affecting the legacy of Thomas-Greenfield, one of the most prominent Black diplomats in the U.S. foreign service’s history. “Black officers at the State Department are saying this reminds them of Colin Powell and how they threw him under the bus” to justify the U.S. invasion of Iraq at the U.N., the official said, referring to America’s first Black secretary of state.
“You’re just instrumentalized by the policy. It’s not her personal view, and knowing her, I think probably she would have abstained [from this month’s veto] if she could,” the official continued. “When she retires, she’ll probably write a memoir and explain it wasn’t her personal position. Based on her background and professional reputation, it’s not consistent with what we would expect from her best professional advice.”
Nate Evans, a spokesperson for Thomas-Greenfield, described the ambassador as fully in line with the Biden administration’s Gaza approach.
“At every possible juncture, Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield has made clear: Israel has every right to take action to protect itself against terrorists and ensure the horrors of Oct. 7 are never repeated. She also agrees Israel must take steps to protect civilians and must adhere to international law,” Evans told HuffPost. “Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield has also joined with her colleagues across the Cabinet to advocate for a sharp increase in allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza to alleviate the suffering of innocent Palestinians. She will continue to advocate for Israel’s right to defend itself while at the same time being clear about the need to take feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm and the need to prioritize the protection of civilians.”
‘Problematic And Isolating’
Earlier this fall, Ukraine’s mission to the U.N. approached its U.S. counterpart. The Ukrainians wanted American help with a resolution marking Soviet atrocities during World War II that echo Russian brutality against Ukraine today. The proposal, which would have offered a new chance to highlight Russia’s historic opposition to Ukrainian rights, would have to go through the U.N.’s General Assembly because Russia bars action on human rights abuses in Ukraine at the Security Council, just as the U.S. usually bars movement on Israeli actions, such as building settlements in occupied Palestinian territory.
The U.S. gave a message back: It’s not the right time.
The proposal was pulled, for unclear reasons. But a U.S. official described the incident to HuffPost to underscore how the Biden administration’s handling of Gaza is increasingly seen as undercutting other American stances and humanitarian objectives elsewhere — making it harder for its national security personnel to pursue other global priorities, like supporting Ukraine.
Some staff at the U.S. mission to the U.N. believe “it’s going to be quite difficult, if not impossible, to get as many [General Assembly] members to sign up for these resolutions on Ukraine, especially since a lot of the Ukraine resolutions focus heavily on international humanitarian law,” the U.S. official said. The U.S. has repeatedly said it is not assessing whether Israel is abiding by international law in its Gaza operation.
“There are those who have expressed their feeling that the position we’re taking at the Council [is] problematic and isolating from the rest of the Council and the rest of the U.N. membership at large,” the official continued. “This is the cost of our policy of being one-sided.”
A representative of the Ukrainian mission declined to comment on the incident and whether America’s Gaza policy hurts their cause broadly. Another diplomat argued Ukraine had killed the proposal for the World War II commemoration.
Louis Charbonneau, the U.N. director at the advocacy group Human Rights Watch, described the inconsistency as striking.
“The U.S. voting record at the U.N. has highlighted double standards in Washington’s commitment to the laws of war. It rightly supports condemning Russian atrocities in Ukraine and Hamas’ in Israel. But it hasn’t done the same for Israel’s atrocities,” Charbonneau said.
U.S. allies publicly acknowledge that awkward positioning. The U.S. was the only council member to reject a Security Council resolution on Israel on Dec. 8; even America’s closest friend, Britain, abstained. “America is now alone on this issue,” Hakan Fidan, the foreign minister of U.S. ally Turkey, said after the veto.The situation contrasts with the Biden administration’s repeated promise to mend U.S. ties with the outside world that had been damaged in the Trump administration.
“Cooperation with [the United States at the U.N.] is good most of the time. Sometimes we disagree. That’s life. But, all in all, it is so much better than under the Trump administration,” said Nicolas De Rivière, the French ambassador to the U.N. “On Ukraine, the cooperation is excellent… in Palestine, the differences are obvious.”
“While we strongly support Israel and are not ready to accept anything that would jeopardize its security… I don’t see any contradiction between the right to fight against terrorists, including Hamas, and the absolute necessity to stop attacks against civilians,” he told HuffPost. “What is happening now is a massive violation of the Geneva Conventions. It should stop now. Military actions should target exclusively Hamas fighters, period.”
France ― which, like the U.S., Russia, China and Britain, is a permanent member of the Security Council with the power to veto resolutions ― has supported calls for a cease-fire, including at the U.N.
The foreign ministers of the United Kingdom and Germany on Saturday published a joint opinion article in The Times endorsing a “sustainable ceasefire” in Gaza. The next day, former British defense secretary Ben Wallace argued in an essay: “Israel’s original legal authority of self-defense is being undermined by its own actions… [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s] tactics will fuel the conflict for another 50 years.”
Some American diplomats are publicly struggling with being the standard-bearers of a widely unpopular policy at the U.N., the U.S. official said. They said multiple staffers at the U.S. mission have internally communicated they do not want to be put in the position of being seen during televised U.N. sessions at which the U.S. is defending Israel in controversial ways, for instance by using its veto.
“Other bureaucrats don’t have to defend the policy in public view in this way,” the State Department official noted.
There isn’t universal discomfort, however. Many personnel are proud to support a long-time U.S. partner still reeling from the Oct. 7 attack, while others seem to be processing the situation much as they have when responding to other upsetting but far-away crises, the U.S. official said.
“Ambassador [Robert] Wood is a strong supporter of Israel,” the official continued, referring to Thomas-Greenfield’s deputy. When he cast the Dec. 8 veto, calling the resolution too hasty, “You could see him almost jump out of his seat to put his hand in the air.”
‘An Objection Of Conscience’
Critics of the Biden administration’s Gaza policy have recently homed in on Thomas-Greenfield as a potential internal ally.
Officials within the U.S. government have internally shared their belief that the ambassador is more supportive of preventing civilian harm to Palestinians than other senior officials in the administration, a U.S. official told HuffPost. And some observers noted that it was Wood ― not Thomas-Greenfield ― who cast the only U.S. veto since Oct. 7.
But others caution against imposing unattainable expectations on one of the most senior women of color in U.S. foreign policy ― and against attempted reading of tea leaves from afar.
“[Thomas-Greenfield ] has been very highly regarded by her staff,” said Jasmine El-Gamal, who worked on Middle East issues at the Pentagon from 2008 to 2017. “Despite the U.S.’s stances at the U.N. thus far, people inside government ― and people who understand U.S. foreign policy ― know that the U.S. [ambassador to the] U.N. only has so much influence over the president’s directives. There will always be people who want to see such high-level leaders resign in protest, as you saw with Samantha Power when she was U.S. [ambassador to the] U.N., but almost all the time when such a leader is uncomfortable with the policy, they will stay to influence what they can, when they can.”
The State Department official shared a similar view, arguing that Thomas-Greenfield “probably did have an objection of conscience, but she couldn’t voice it.”
“If she resigns, it’s not going to change the policy and we won’t have a Senate-confirmed ambassador to the U.N.,” the official continued.
A U.S. official noted that Thomas-Greenfield had previously scheduled travel to Africa during the week when the Security Council considered the resolution that Wood vetoed. “Anyone insinuating anything otherwise is entirely misinformed and making things up,” the official said.
Tuesday’s expected vote on a Gaza resolution could go some way toward restoring American sway at the U.N., if the U.S. does not block the idea, and be yet another hint that Biden administration personnel are effectively convincing the president to modify his policy of all-out support for Israel amid evidence that current U.S. calls for restraint are insufficient.
The U.S. has been heavily involved in preparing the resolution and appears keen to help it pass and even potentially vote for it, the Arab diplomat told HuffPost.
Backers of the resolution tweaked its language from a call for a “cessation” of hostilities to a demand for a “suspension” in hopes of winning a U.S. endorsement, according to the Muslim diplomat.
That could disappoint many countries that do not want to advance a U.N. resolution that could tacitly greenlight a continued Israeli operation in Gaza. But supporters of the resolution are arguing it is worthwhile to have America and the Security Council onboard a Gaza resolution, and are highlighting how the proposal would enable aid to flow more quickly into the besieged strip, the Arab diplomat said.
“Last week, President Biden warned Israel that it was losing support because of its indiscriminate bombing of Gaza. And indiscriminate bombing is a violation of the laws of war. I hope the U.S. will back those words with action by enabling the Security Council to finally pressure Israel and Hamas to comply with international humanitarian law and protect civilians,” Charbonneau, of Human Rights Watch, said.
He added, “How many civilians need to die before the U.S. lets the Security Council say: ‘Enough’?”

France’s regional influence on the rise
Zaid M. Belbagi/Arab News/December 19, 2023
Jointly organized by Baghdad and Paris, the Baghdad Summit of August 2021 was aimed at fostering regional and international support for Iraq, while simultaneously building France’s influence in the Middle East. The guest list included the presidents of Egypt and Iraq, the prime minister of the UAE and the emir of Qatar, reflecting the growing influence of France in a region hitherto the preserve of Anglo-American strategic interests. As French relationships have grown across the region, it is clear that this summit and its successors are only one facet of Paris’ growing Middle Eastern ambitions.
Iraq has always been a linchpin of French regional policy. In 2003, it famously opposed the US invasion partly owing to the significant business interests of French oil companies Total and Elf Aquitaine in the country. Having inked a further $27 billion of energy and water deals in 2021, Iraq is once again of critical importance to France. To that end, Paris has been the second-largest contributor to the missions to support Iraq’s fight against Daesh (both Operation Inherent Resolve and NATO Mission Iraq) and an important foreign investor in a country that has struggled to attract financing.
With Jordan having hosted the last summit, much to the chagrin of Iraq, Baghdad did its utmost to organize the third meeting in November under a theme of “Economic Integration and Regional Stability.” With the previous summit having resulted in the Iraqi-French strategic partnership agreement, signed in January 2023, followed by Qatar’s plan to buy a 30 percent stake in Total’s projects in Iraq, last month’s planned meeting was an important moment for Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani and French President Emmanuel Macron. They had hoped to extend partnerships in the water, energy, transportation and defense sectors, but the outbreak of conflict between Israel and Hamas has indefinitely postponed these plans. The delay of the meeting has not, however, tempered France’s ambitions elsewhere in the region. Despite Macron initially having a characteristically pro-Israel stance, he has recently tempered French support for Israel while simultaneously backing Qatari efforts at a truce and using the recent COP28 meeting in Dubai to further diplomatic initiatives. These efforts are part of nothing short of a boom, as French companies continue to ink deals in the region worth billions of dollars.
French defense giant Airbus has been successful in both the UAE and Saudi Arabia with recent orders of civilian aircraft, Dassault is engaged in ongoing talks with Saudi Arabia and Iraq for the sale of its Rafale jet and the UAE and Qatar are currently taking delivery of their own. Safran, the second-largest manufacturer of aircraft in the world, signed deals worth more than $1.2 billion with Emirates airline at last month’s Dubai Airshow, following a deal it signed separately with Saudi Arabian Military Industries.
These defense and aerospace sales are echoed in other sectors. The UAE has collaborated with France in the energy space and, in July 2022, TotalEnergies and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company signed an energy supply agreement amid the insecurity of energy supply due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
France also enjoys strong ties with Saudi Arabia, with which it shares strategic interests in the region and where French advisers have been key in shaping the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 plans, particularly in terms of building domestic space sector capabilities, alongside agreements on energy cooperation and the development of renewable energy.
France and Qatar continue to collaborate, built on the central role of TotalEnergies in the development of the Gulf state. Qatar has also benefited from French assistance in the field of economic diversification. Earlier this year, it agreed to provide TotalEnergies with liquefied natural gas for the next 27 years, underlining the cooperation between the two countries.
France’s cooperation in the corporate world is mirrored by its development of the cultural space around the region. French soft power is symbolized in the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the world’s first museum to be born of a bilateral diplomatic agreement and which is now “France’s largest cultural project abroad.” These efforts have been replicated in Qatar, where France has sought to support cultural initiatives, and especially in Saudi Arabia, where Paris has entered into an agreement for the development of AlUla. The open-air museum and other cultural and heritage attractions planned by the project are being led by French presidential envoy for the initiative Gerard Mestrallet, alongside the French Agency for Alula Development.
France’s cooperation in the corporate world is mirrored by its development of the cultural space around the region.
The uptick in French diplomatic activity is, therefore, unlikely to be derailed by the postponed Baghdad Summit, which is more central to the international legitimacy of the Iraqi leadership and Jordan’s future prosperity.
There is no doubt that political and societal instability at home and eight armed coups in French-speaking Africa have hurt France’s ability to project power overseas. In North Africa, as the youth in traditionally Francophone Algeria and Morocco are increasingly favoring the English language over French, the Francophonie itself is seen as a limited prism with which France can influence the wider world. However, Macron’s efforts to cultivate ties in the Gulf and wider Middle East during a period when the UK has been occupied with domestic challenges and the US has been focused on Russia and China has seen a significant increase in French influence.
Within this context, a rescheduled Baghdad Summit will merely be another political victory for a president seeking to sustain France’s influence and its international convening power.
*Zaid M. Belbagi is a political commentator and an adviser to private clients between London and the GCC. X: @Moulay_Zaid

The two-state solution is dead — and there is no alternative
Osama Al-Sharif/Arab News/December 19, 2023
This is probably the worst year for the two-state solution since the UN’s 1947 Partition Plan for British Mandate Palestine. One can also add that 2023 is the worst year for delivering an independent Palestinian state since the signing of the Oslo Accords, 30 years ago. And yet, with a two-month-old Israeli war on Gaza going on with no end in sight, with settler rampages against Palestinians out of control and the Israeli occupation army storming Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank on an almost daily basis — resulting in unprecedented destruction of infrastructure while the civilian death count overall is breaking all previous records — US officials and their European counterparts are again talking about the two-state solution.
Arab and Muslim leaders also speak of the two-state solution, even though, for the majority of analysts and experts, Israel has long since bulldozed that path, as it fattened illegal settlements and built dozens of new ones. A few days after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, which triggered the ongoing war — one whose death toll has surpassed the civilian casualties of all previous Arab-Israeli wars combined — President Joe Biden and his top aides began to mention the two-state solution again, all while giving Israel the green light to pursue its destructive campaign of the Gaza Strip without setting an end date.
The partition of Palestine so it could accommodate Israel and the native Palestinians was proposed in the 1947 Partition Plan, which the Arabs rejected. Almost two decades later, after the 1967 war and under UN Security Council Resolution 242, Israel was told to withdraw to the June 1967 line, including East Jerusalem. The fate of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank was to be decided later on, although the principle of land-for-peace was stated.
Both sides rejected the resolution, for various reasons. And then Jordan’s claims to the West Bank, which it had ruled until 1967, came to an end when the Arab League in 1974 recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Jordan finally relinquished all claims, except for the Jerusalem Waqf, in 1988.
The 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty spoke of self-rule for the Palestinians and the US restated this position in the 1980s with Ronald Reagan’s “Palestinian autonomy and self-government” declaration. The concept of a Palestinian interim self-government in the Occupied Territories was stated in the Oslo I Accord of 1993, with the final status to be negotiated within five years. Oslo II only succeeded in partitioning the West Bank into areas A, B and C, effectively denying the nascent Palestinian Authority control of more than 60 percent of the remaining territory. All attempts to revive the peace process and reach a final agreement to end the occupation and create a Palestinian state reached a dead end. Both sides blamed the other. But the important fact to remember is that, while the land-for-peace proposal evolved into what we know today as the two-state solution, it has been eroding ever since Oslo. In the wake of the historic peace agreement between Israel and the PLO, the former unleashed multiple waves of settlement building — not allowed under the accords — so that there were, as of January, 144 Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including 12 in East Jerusalem, and more than 100 illegal outposts. The estimated number of settlers in the West Bank today is nearly 800,000.
Israeli leaders have long since lost the political will to end the occupation or cede any land to a Palestinian state
But aside from the political, logistical and demographic nightmare that creating a contiguous Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip will present, the reality is that Israeli leaders have long since lost the political will to end the occupation or cede any land to a Palestinian state.
The UN Partition Plan would have given the Palestinians about 40 percent of historical Palestine. Implementing Resolution 242 (the two-state solution) would give them less than a third, while Donald Trump’s peace plan of 2020 would have given them roughly the same but with major land swaps and no East Jerusalem. Most settlements would remain and the Palestinian areas would be cut off from each other. Israel would annex the Jordan Valley. Both the Palestinians and Jewish settlers rejected it. Benjamin Netanyahu said nothing because he knew Trump’s plan would not fly. Today, Netanyahu and his far-right coalition partners openly say that they will not give up an inch of land. Netanyahu last week declared before his Likud party members that he is the only politician who can prevent the creation of a Palestinian state. He said that Israel will not make the Oslo mistake ever again. He also said that Gaza will remain under Israeli security control and that the PA will not be allowed to govern there.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said this is not the time to discuss the two-state solution. The Hebrew press reported that Israeli officials have asked their American counterparts not to speak of that solution publicly. Fewer Israelis are today willing to accept that concept while the war in Gaza remains inconclusive.
The two-state solution is a dud. Its evolution is a perfect example of the law of diminishing returns. Now, it has become a zero-sum game for the Palestinians, while the rest of the world continues to ignore the profound changes that Israeli politics has undergone in the past 20 years. Other options, like full annexation of the Occupied Territories and/or population transfer, are doomsday scenarios.
The outcome of the war on Gaza notwithstanding, it is important to note that neither the Biden administration nor its successor will be able resurrect any solution that will force Israel to withdraw from the Occupied Territories, not to mention allow a Palestinian state to come into existence. In the US, it is a combination of an endemically weak presidency, a divided Congress and a polarized political establishment, with the Zionist lobby having far too much influence on foreign policy. Add to that Iran and its proxies, the role of Russia and China in the Middle East and a divided Europe and you get an idea of why it is impossible for any power to force Israel into giving up its control of Palestinian territory.
The Oct. 7 October attack has sent shock waves through Israeli society and opened wounds that will not heal in the near future, while Israel’s bloody response in Gaza has radicalized Palestinians even further. The two peoples have never been so far apart. Netanyahu has so far challenged every US position on postwar Gaza. Partitioning Gaza and the creation of buffer zones remain on the agenda. Keeping security control means reoccupation and the forced transfer of Gazans is a strong possibility. In fact, the situation created by the Oct. 7 attack has complicated the conflict in a manner never seen before, at least not since the Second Intifada.
So, believing that the two-state solution — now an anachronistic term — could kick in automatically after the war is over is unrealistic and naive. Its demise also stands to rattle the Abraham Accords and their future, not to mention create cracks in older peace treaties. It will put Israel before difficult and polarizing tests once the war is over. It will push Palestinians back to the wall. This is a conflict that is about to get worse, with no hope that it will ever get a chance for a peaceful resolution.
• Osama Al-Sharif is a veteran journalist and political commentator based in Amman. X: @plato010