English LCCC Newsbulletin For Le

English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For January 05/2023
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 03/01-06/:”In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, ‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on January 04-05/2023
Army chief 'unenthusiastic' as Paris talks seek to 'rescue French-Qatari initiative'
Change MPs promote Honein, win Kataeb and Sunni MPs' support
Al-Rahi to Hezbollah: No to a president who might stab you in back
Mikati lashes out at Bustani for 'interference in executive authority'
Two ministers file appeal against two cabinet decrees
White House nominates Shea for post of deputy envoy to UN
Lebanon's children face growing hunger crisis
Joseph Aoun’s presidential prospects, Al-Aqsa visit response
Once Again: Either Dubai or the Suburbs/Nadim Koteich/Asharq Al-Awsat/January, 04/2023

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 04-05/2023
Religious dissent in Israel at Ben-Gvir's Al Aqsa compound visit
UAE and China call for urgent UN Security Council meeting after Ben-Gvir's Al Aqsa visit
US leads criticism of Israeli minister's visit to al-Aqsa
Israel demolishes parts of West Bank hamlet set for eviction
With Iran in mind, new Israeli leaders cozy up to Putin
Dismay as dozens of Christian graves in Jerusalem vandalized
US reopening visa and consular services at embassy in Cuba
Iran Upholds Death Sentence Against Two
Cairo Adopts Balanced Approach to Iran’s Signs of Rapprochement
Iran releases prominent actress who protested executions
Putin is sending a warship into the Atlantic armed with new hypersonic cruise missiles
Putin deploys new Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles to Atlantic
Russia says their troops were killed in a devastating HIMARS strike because some soldiers were using cell phones and gave their location away
Wounded Putin Crony Sends Shrapnel From His Spine to Macron
Ukraine official says time for U.N. peacekeepers at nuclear plant

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 04-05/2023
Saudi Arabia and Iran…'Keep Your Hands Off'/Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/January, 04/2023
Turkey's 'Crimes against Humanity' and Illegal Occupation of Cyprus/Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/January 4, 2023
Ukraine's Winter Offensive Could Decide the War/Elliot Ackerman/Time/January 4, 2023
Ukraine Plant Must Be Seized From Russia, Nuclear Chief Says/Jonathan Tirone/Bloomberg/January 4, 2023

on January 04-05/2023
Army chief 'unenthusiastic' as Paris talks seek to 'rescue French-Qatari initiative'
Naharnet/January 05/2023
A French-U.S.-Qatari-Saudi meeting will be held in Paris in mid-January to discuss the Lebanese file, without any official or political Lebanese presence, amid an effort led by the French president to convince his allies with a plan aimed at securing the election of a president and the formation of a government in Lebanon, a media report said. “A lot of questions are surrounding many aspects related to the meeting, including the level of representation, which is still ambiguous, in addition to the agenda and how to implement the resolutions, especially should there be an agreement on articles related to the economic and financial situation,” al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Wednesday. Speaking to the daily, informed sources ruled out such an agreement, seeing as the French “have not received clear answers from the Saudis about their intention to intervene politically or financially.” “Riyadh is clinging to its stance, which is limited to humanitarian aid, and it does not want to support any partial Lebanese solution,” the sources added. Observers are also waiting to see how the meeting will tackle the outcome of the contacts that Qatar held recently with several Lebanese leaders over nominating Army chief General Joseph Aoun for the presidency, which “suffered a setback due to Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil’s refusal to endorse him,” al-Akhbar said. “This is what Qatar has recently told Saudi Arabia, in addition to informing the French that there is full coordination between it and Riyadh and that it does not at all intend to bypass Saudi Arabia in Lebanon,” the daily added. Indications on the retreat of the Qatari endeavor meanwhile surfaced after the French defense minister said during his latest visit to Lebanon that the army chief is “unenthusiastic” for running for the presidency, al-Akhbar added.

Change MPs promote Honein, win Kataeb and Sunni MPs' support
Naharnet/January 05/2023
The so-called change parliamentary bloc is trying to break the status quo created by MP Michel Mouawad’s nomination through promoting the candidacy of ex-MP Salah Honein, whom they see as “a sovereign, reformist and unprovocative candidate who did not get involved in corruption,” al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Wednesday. Change MPs believe that Honein “can unify the opposition’s votes around him, contrary to Mouawad,” the daily added. Accordingly, they have carried out a series of contacts with the other opposition blocs, which expressed readiness to endorse him, especially the Kataeb bloc and the independent Sunni MPs, al-Akhbar said. The Lebanese Forces and the Progressive Socialist Party have not yet presented “any clear answer,” the newspaper quoted sources as saying. “The two parties are still clinging to Mouawad’s nomination and this will continue until the end of this month, without clarifying their reasons, unless they are perhaps betting on a certain event or waiting for Saudi Ambassador Walid Bukhari to replace Mouawad with another candidate,” the daily added.

Al-Rahi to Hezbollah: No to a president who might stab you in back
Naharnet/January 05/2023
The latest visit by a Hezbollah delegation to Bkirki was “very cordial and excellent” and the only political file that was tackled was the presidential crisis, informed sources said. Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi was “direct in expressing concern over the failure to finalize this juncture, wondering why parliament wouldn’t convene in a single session, similarly to the pope’s election, in which dialogue would be held until an agreement over a president is reached,” the sources added, in remarks to al-Akhbar newspaper published Wednesday. The delegation for its part said that it would support a dialogue that would lead to a “strong president,” because “the country needs a president enjoying legitimacy stemming from consensus on him from a significant majority.”“Hezbollah is also keen, as its secretary-general has stressed, on securing the election of a president who would not stab the resistance (in the back),” the delegation reportedly told al-Rahi, prompting him to answer: “Mistaken are those who believe that such a president can be elected.”The patriarch also told the delegation that he would agree to Suleiman Franjieh’s nomination, according to the sources, to which he was answered that “the Christian blocs are also required to reach an agreement in order to speed up the election.”

Mikati lashes out at Bustani for 'interference in executive authority'
Naharnet/January 05/2023
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Wednesday accused MP and ex-energy minister Nada Bustani of “curtailing facts in an attempt to disavow her direct interference in the work of the executive authority,” after she accused him of backpedaling on the approval of funds needed to purchase fuel for the national electricity company. In a statement issued by his press office, Mikati accused Bustani of failing to mention that his previous approval had stipulated the issuance of a cabinet decree and the presence of an official clarification from Electricite du Liban explaining how it intends to return the treasury loan. “As for the constitutional part, we advise those orienting Mrs. Bustani that it is necessary to draw her attention to the need for halting her interference in the work of the executive authority and her participation in discussions related to the executive authority on behalf of the absent-present competent minister,” Mikati added, wondering if the Free Patriotic Movement “considers that we have become in the era of a one-party state that is in charge of both the legislative and executive authorities.”

Two ministers file appeal against two cabinet decrees
Naharnet/January 05/2023
Caretaker ministers Hector Hajjar and Issam Sharafeddine on Wednesday filed an appeal before the State Shoura Council against two decrees related to the Costa Brava landfill, al-Jadeed TV said. Speaking to al-Jadeed on Tuesday, the media adviser of caretaker PM Najib Mikati, Fares Gemayel, stressed that “the decrees are constitutional and cannot be appealed.”“This issue is out of the question and I don’t know why they have nostalgia for wars and problems,” Gemayel added. FPM chief Jebran Bassil has decried that “around 10 decrees issued by Cabinet were signed in a flagrant way that eliminated the president’s position.”“They did not only undermine the presidential post, but also the republic, the Lebanese entity and everything related to partnership and the National Pact,” Bassil added. Mikati and the FPM have been engaged in a war of words over signatures related to governmental decrees amid the ongoing presidential void. The FPM has repeatedly warned against holding any caretaker cabinet session during presidential vacuum, arguing that any decree issued would require the signatures of all ministers.

White House nominates Shea for post of deputy envoy to UN
Naharnet/January 05/2023
The White House has nominated U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea for the posts of U.S. Deputy Representative to the U.N. and U.S. Representative to the Sessions of the U.N. General Assembly, sending the nominations to the U.S. Senate for approval. According to Lebanon’s MTV, a successor to Shea as U.S. ambassador to Lebanon is yet to be appointed. “She will stay in Beirut for a maximum period of three months,” the TV network added.

Lebanon's children face growing hunger crisis
Jamie Prentis/The National/January 05/2023
Cases could surge unless urgent action taken, warns Save the Children
The dire situation in Lebanon means the number of children dealing with “crisis” levels of hunger could surge by 14 per cent if rapid action is not taken, Save the Children said. Already four out of 10 Lebanese and Syrian refugee children are living with “high acute food insecurity,” defined as level three or above in the IPC Acute Food Insecurity index. Stage three is deemed “crisis,” stage four “emergency” and stage five “catastrophe/famine”. Research in the last quarter of 2022 showed that 37 per cent of Lebanon’s population faced level three or above food insecurity on the IPC classification. But that will rise to 42 per cent without action in the first quarter of 2023, while the number of people living in “emergency” food insecurity will rise by nearly 50,000 people to 354,000. “The crisis in Lebanon is increasingly a children’s crisis. The first five years of a child’s life are critical, and we fear that without enough nutritious food to eat, an increasing number of children will become malnourished, or even face starvation,” said Save the Children’s country director Jennifer Moorehead. “Families are telling us they’re forced to skip meals or reduce the number of nutritious meals for their children. More needs to be done to prevent Lebanon from becoming the next tragic hunger emergency.” The situation is in part due to a crippling financial crisis that has plunged much of the population into poverty and led to widespread shortages in medicines, clean water and electricity. Lebanon is host to more than one million Syrian refugees fleeing the 12-year conflict in neighbouring Syria. The local currency has also plummeted in value to the US dollar on the parallel market by more than 95 per cent and salaries have not kept up with the rampant inflation. According to Save the Children, Lebanon has the sixth worst food crisis for the share of population that is insecure, after South Sudan, Yemen, Haiti, Afghanistan and Central African Republic.

Joseph Aoun’s presidential prospects, Al-Aqsa visit response,
L'Orient Today / 04 January 2023
Former US Middle East diplomat David Schenker predicted Lebanese Army Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun will become president in the next "three to four months," amid renewed calls for an end to the presidential vacuum. Schenker cited Aoun’s good relations with Hezbollah, the party which, according to the US diplomat, chooses “the right time” for successful elections. However, Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah in a Tuesday speech blamed the delay on politicians awaiting regional and international political agreements while claiming progress towards ending the deadlock was made the past week. Parliament has repeatedly failed to name a successor to former President Michel Aoun since the start of the election period two months before the end of his term on Oct. 31. Legislative head Nabih Berri recently expressed doubt as to whether a dialogue session regrouping different parliamentary blocs would prove successful after the Lebanese Forces and the Free Patriotic Movement rejected two such initiatives. Local and international political actors repeatedly call for consensus on the next head of state to end the vacuum as Zgharta MP Michel Moawad remains the only candidate to garner significant votes during election sessions.
The Lebanese Foreign Ministry yesterday condemned the "assault" on the Al-Aqsa mosque in occupied east Jerusalem. The ministry’s statement claimed that Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gavir’s visit to the mosque “reveals the extremist policies that the Israeli government has begun to practice towards the Palestinian people and their rights.” Lebanon’s condemnation joins a host of international criticisms leveled against Ben Gvir’s visit, described as “reckless” by Jordan’s Foreign Ministry and potentially “harming the status quo of holy sites” by the US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry called Ben Gvir's visit a “serious threat,” while Israel's Sephardi chief rabbi, Yitzhak Yosef, saw the Israeli minister’s move as one that flouts the position of the rabbinate. A war erupted in May 2021 between Palestinian militants in the Gaza strip and Israel after violence at Al-Aqsa mosque amid tensions sparked by the potential eviction of Palestinians by Israeli settlers.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah claimed there is “no reason to worry” about his health, denying earlier rumors of serious illness “in the Israeli and Gulf media.” Rumors of Nasrallah suffering a stroke emerged after a canceled speech by the Hezbollah head scheduled for last Friday, along with reports of his hospitalization in critical condition. A party spokesperson denied the rumors to L’Orient Today on Monday, affirming that the party head was only suffering from the flu and would give a speech Tuesday. Nasrallah himself apologized for causing concern, claiming that aside from a chronic condition there “there is absolutely no reason to worry” during a speech marking the third anniversary of the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, commander of the elite Quds Force in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces arrested a man who allegedly pilfered a church collection basket from a Bekaa Valley church. The security forces apprehended the suspect accused of stealing LL3 million (approximately $70 at the parallel market rate) from the Our Lady of Assumption Church in the Bekaa village of Houch Hala accompanied by another alleged thief wanted for a separate crime. Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi announced in December the deployment of “522 officers and 7,690 agents” outside “391 churches” to ensure security during the end-of-year period.
In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from yesterday: “How Najib Mikati got into Macron’s good graces”
Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz

Once Again: Either Dubai or the Suburbs
Nadim Koteich/Asharq Al-Awsat/January, 04/2023
It is difficult for anyone following the celebrations of the new year in Saudi Arabia to believe what they see is happening in the Kingdom. In the capital alone, the Trio Talent concert in Mohammed Abdo Arena (a Riyadh Season event) saw 12 music artists of both genders from across the Arab world come together and set the city alight with their singing, joy, lights, and outfits. Anyone watching the celebrations at Boulevard Riyadh City, their fireworks, and the crowds that gathered there would not find a difference between the scenes in the Saudi capital and the festivities in Times Square, London, Paris, or Beijing.
The celebrations of the new year have strong connotations and are extremely indicative of the scale of the social, moral, and political changes underway in Saudi Arabia. These changes, led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and under the guidance of King Salman bin Abdulaziz, are the result of diligent and careful planning.
Saudi Arabia has taken every opportunity to announce that it has a new place on the map. Saudi Arabia has a different spirit; it is looking to a different future, one that is different from the one that had been drawn for it in reaction to the choices of others. This different choice is the choice of the Saudi people first and foremost. It is the choice of Saudi Arabia’s men and women. It is a direct response to their needs and ambitions, and this choice is being taken in isolation of policies, decisions, and actions being taken here and there, regardless of the threat they pose to the country and its people.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said it in the past, and he is declaring it with his actions today: “We will not remain hostage to the events of 1979.” When Khomeini established the first confessional religious state in the Middle East that year, Iran’s neighbors were terrified, and he inspired some of their citizens to make insane and suicidal decisions. Among the latter was Juhayman Al-Otaybi, who attacked the Grand Mosque of Makkah that same year. All of that is now behind us, the Kingdom has announced. Tomorrow is for the Saudi People, their joys, achievements, economic progress, and innovation.
The choice of the Saudi people, the latest manifestation of which was the celebrations of the new year, comes within a broader regional framework. Some Arab cities are determined to make joy their social and political choice, while others have chosen destruction, displacement, and militias.
In the Emirates, the New Year’s Eve celebrations of the Sheikh Zayed Festival were attended by over one million visitors and spectators, who came together at Al Wathba (an Abu Dhabi suburb) to welcome the new year with stunning largest fireworks displays and a drone show that included over 3000 drones, in celebrations that broke five Guinness World Records.
In Dubai, which has always been a pioneer of dazzling displays, 30 events and shows were organized to welcome the new year. As is the case every year, the most impressive display was the fireworks at the Burj Khalifa, the city’s crown jewel, the most renowned of all symbols of cities, such as the Paris’ Eiffel Tower, New York’s Empire State Building, and London Bridge.
All of this is nothing short of political and social investment in what exists and what is being aspired to. The modernization of ethics is being funded, and closed identities are being opened to creative engagement with the identity of the other. All of this comes within a broader human framework that goes beyond rigid sectarian, religious, and national identities.
Since Dubai is a pioneer in redefining Middle Eastern cities, their roles, and their functions, I once wrote, in an Asharq Al-Awsat column, that the real choice before the people of the region is: “Either Dubai or the suburbs”! Wherever the “vision of the suburbs” (that is, the southern suburbs of Beirut- the main stronghold of Hezbollah) has taken hold, poverty, hunger, broken infrastructure, disease, cultural backwardness, and blind ideology followed. Wherever the “vision of Dubai” emerged, reconstruction, success, and opportunities have emerged with it.
At the time, I did not know that Iran would replicate the suburb model verbatim elsewhere. Indeed, in my discussion of the suburbs at the time, I was not referring to infrastructure alone but also an ideology that defines a group’s view of the world, its relationships, and its positions on the ideas of life, death, joy, and others!
I was astonished by the reports I read in Asharq Al-Awsat about Iran striving to revive its expansionist project near Damascus and expanding its influence in the rural regions south of the Syrian capital next to the Sayida Zaynab region, buying homes and establishing military bases aimed at creating a “southern suburb” like of controlled by Hezbollah in Beirut.
These are material replications, not mere political euphemisms for the “suburb/ Dubai” contrast. They sum up the real dividing line in our region. The matter goes beyond simplifications that see confessional dividing lines or regional battlelines manifesting themselves in Arab cities. All of that is abstract. It seems that the real split in our region is here:
On the one hand, Dubai is a euphemism for successfully moving towards all forms of modernity and striving for the well-being of its people. On the other, the suburbs are an open invitation to die for illusions and fantasies. “Dubai the euphemism” is not just a place. It is moving toward the future. The suburbs, meanwhile, are a euphemism for being imprisoned in a past that does not pass. The former is a laboratory for tolerance as a requisite for progress and building bridges to other places, while the latter is a factory where grudges and ideas are recycled.
One euphemism is inspired by and echoes a saying by one of the brightest minds in the region: the future is for those who can imagine it. The counter euphemism echoes a slogan that reflects sick formulations from a distant past.
Once again: “Either Dubai or the Suburbs!… Happy New Year.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 04-05/2023
Religious dissent in Israel at Ben-Gvir's Al Aqsa compound visit
Dan Williams/Reuters/January 4, 2023
Leading ultra-Orthodox Jewish figures supporting Israel's coalition government on Wednesday criticised a visit by a far-right minister to a flashpoint holy site in Jerusalem, adding internal religious dissent to a cascade of foreign censure. One lawmaker accused National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir of "goading the entire world". Ben-Gvir's tour on Tuesday of the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, which Jews revere as the Temple Mount, stirred protests from across the Arab world and Western concern about long-standing understandings on non-Muslim access.The minister, himself religious, did not breach an Israeli-enforced ban on Jewish prayer at what is an icon of Palestinian nationalism. But his mere presence at the compound was anathema to more stringently pious and politically neutral Jews. "It is forbidden to go up to the place of the Holy of Holies," senior United Torah Judaism lawmaker Moshe Gafni said in parliament, referring to a part of Jewish temples that stood at the site in ancient times and was off-limits to most people. Gafni said he had advised Ben-Gvir of this. "Besides the aspect of religious law, there is nothing to be gained from just goading the entire world," he said. Al Aqsa compound, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, is Islam's third holiest site. It is also Judaism's most sacred site. It is also a symbol for Palestinian hopes of securing a state, a goal that looks ever bleaker with Ben-Gvir and other far-right allies now in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. It is located in East Jerusalem, among areas Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war and where Palestinians seek statehood. Israel deems all of Jerusalem its indivisible capital - a status not recognised internationally.
"SYMBOL OF SOVEREIGNTY"
Some sages who promote Jewish visits to the compound argue their route comports with sanctity by steering clear of where they believe that the Holy of Holies had been located. Citing such rulings, Ben-Gvir retorted to Gafni on Twitter: "The Temple Mount is not just a religious matter...It is also a symbol of sovereignty and governance, and the enemy measures us up in accordance with our conduct there."Alongside United Torah Judaism in the government Netanyahu swore in last week is Shas, an ultra-Orthodox party that draws support from Sephardi Jews of Middle Eastern descent. The office of Israel's Chief Sephardi Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef said he had sent Ben-Gvir what it called a "protest letter ... urging the minister not to go up to the Temple Mount again". "Even if claimed that a rabbinical minority has personally permitted you to do this, it is clear that as a minister in the government of Israel you must not take action against the instructions of the Chief Rabbinate dating back generations," said the letter, seen by Reuters. Although the visit to the site passed without incident, it risked increasing frictions with Palestinians after a surge of violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in 2022. Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group which controls Gaza, said on Monday that more such behaviour "will bring all parties closer to a big clash". (Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

UAE and China call for urgent UN Security Council meeting after Ben-Gvir's Al Aqsa visit
Ismaeel Naar/The National/January 05/2023
The Emirates has strongly condemned 'storming of Al Aqsa Mosque courtyard' by Israeli minister
The UAE and China have called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting following Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's visit to Al Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem on Tuesday. Diplomats say a session to discuss the issue will probably take place on Thursday. At the UN on Wednesday meanwhile, several meetings were planned between Arab delegates to discuss next steps. Palestine’s ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour said the international community would show the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it will act in a unified way to show it “will not accept and will condemn” abuses of international law and any breach of the historic status quo of the holy sites. The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation on Wednesday strongly condemned the “storming of Al Aqsa Mosque courtyard by an Israeli minister under the protection of Israeli forces”. “The ministry underscored the need to respect the custodial role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan over the holy sites and endowments in accordance with international law and the historical situation at hand, and not to compromise the authority of the Jerusalem Endowment Administration and Al Aqsa Mosque,” officials said. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he would also seek a Security Council condemnation, the country's Wafa News Agency reported.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on all “to refrain from steps that could escalate tensions in and around the holy sites”, his deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said. This follows a call between the foreign ministers of the UAE and Jordan, during which they stressed their condemnation of the visit.
Also on Wednesday, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, spoke to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. They discussed “the importance of preserving the status and sanctity of holy places in Jerusalem and increasing co-ordination against such unacceptable acts”, the UAE Ministry said. “They reiterated the need to provide full protection for Al Aqsa Mosque and halt serious and provocative violations taking place there and called upon Israeli authorities to assume responsibility for reducing escalation and instability in the region,” the ministry said.
Germany released a statement on Wednesday saying it opposed any change to the status quo of the holy sites, calling Mr Ben-Gvir's action a provocation. “We expect the new Israeli government to commit to a continuation of the tried and tested practice around the holy sites in Jerusalem and to put a stop to further deliberate provocations,” said a foreign ministry representative at a regular government news conference.
In more actions that threatened to escalate tensions, videos posted on social media early on Wednesday showed at least a dozen Jewish settlers performing Talmudic rituals near the Bab Al Rahma (Gate of Mercy), close to the Eastern Wall area of Al Aqsa compound.
Mr Ben-Gvir was surrounded by heavy security during the visit, after Palestinian warnings that his presence at the site would cause “an explosion”. The minister, leader of the far-right Jewish National Front party, was sworn into office on Thursday. Tensions continued on Wednesday as several Israeli police cars entered Jerusalem's Silwan neighbourhood accompanied by a bulldozer. The Palestinian neighbourhood lies below the southern walls of the Old City, with Al Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, visible from the streets below. Mr Ben-Gvir has previously visited the compound as a member of parliament and has called for Jewish worship there. This is banned under an agreement with Jordan. Under a long-standing status quo, non-Muslims can visit the site at specific times but they are not allowed to pray there. Jordan, the custodian of Al Aqsa Mosque compound, summoned the Israeli ambassador and said the visit had breached international law and “the historic and legal status quo in Jerusalem”. Several Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jewish leaders spoke out against Mr Ben-Gvir on Wednesday, with senior United Torah Judaism politician Moshe Gafni saying the visit was “forbidden.”“Besides the aspect of religious law, there is nothing to be gained from just goading the entire world,” he said. The office of Israel's Chief Sephardi Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef said he had sent Mr Ben-Gvir what it called a “protest letter,” warning him that he “must not take action against the instructions of the Chief Rabbinate dating back generations.”

US leads criticism of Israeli minister's visit to al-Aqsa
Agence France Presse/January 04/2023
The United Nations and the United States led a chorus of international criticism of a visit by Israel's extreme-right new national security minister to Jerusalem's super-sensitive Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Tuesday.
The move by firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir angered the Palestinians and U.S. allies in the Arab world, while Western governments warned such moves threaten the fragile status quo at Jerusalem's holy sites. "Our government will not surrender to the threats of Hamas," Ben-Gvir vowed in a statement published by his spokesman, after the Palestinian militant group warned such a step was a "red line." Late Tuesday, militants in Hamas-ruled Gaza fired a rocket towards Israel, but it fell short and hit the ground inside the Palestinian enclave, the Israeli army said.
Ben-Gvir's visit comes days after he took office as national security minister, with powers over the police, giving his decision to enter the highly sensitive site considerable weight. Al-Aqsa mosque is the third-holiest place in Islam and the most sacred site to Jews, who refer to the compound as the Temple Mount. Under a longstanding status quo, non-Muslims can visit the site at specific times but are not allowed to pray there. In recent years, a growing number of Jews, most of them Israeli nationalists, have covertly prayed at the compound, a development decried by Palestinians. The UAE and Morocco, which established diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020, both spoke out against Ben-Gvir's action. Abu Dhabi "strongly condemned the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard by an Israeli minister". Rabat appealed for "avoiding escalation and unilateral and provocative actions."
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that a change to the status quo of Jerusalem's holy sites would be "unacceptable."State Department spokesman Ned Price said the United States was "deeply concerned" by Ben-Gvir's visit, which could "provoke violence."
A United Nations spokesman said Secretary General Antonio Guterres called "on all to refrain from steps that could escalate tensions in and around the holy sites". Germany's ambassador to Israel said the status quo "has long helped maintain the fragile peace and security around the holy sites" and urged all sides to avoid actions that could raise tension. Lying in the walled Old City of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, the compound is administered by Jordan's Waqf Islamic affairs council, with Israeli forces operating there and controlling access. After his visit, Ben-Gvir vowed to "maintain the freedom of movement for Muslims and Christians, but Jews will also go up to the mount, and those who make threats must be dealt with -- with an iron hand".
'Serious threat'
The politician has lobbied to allow Jewish prayer in the compound, a move opposed by mainstream rabbinical authorities. Israel's Sephardi chief rabbi, Yitzhak Yosef, wrote to Ben-Gvir on Tuesday. "What will people say when they see a minister, an observant Jew, who flouts the position of the rabbinate?" he asked. Jordan's foreign ministry spokesman Sinan Majali said Amman summoned the Israeli ambassador, to "convey a protest message about the recklessness of the Israeli national security minister in storming the blessed Al-Aqsa mosque".
Saudi Arabia, home to the holiest sites in Islam, condemned the "provocative practices" of Ben-Gvir. Israel's arch-foe Iran called the visit a "violation of international regulations and an insult to the values and sanctities of the Muslims." Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah, said Israel's "attack" on the Jerusalem holy site "will not only blow up the situation inside Palestine, but may blow up the entire region." While Ben-Gvir has visited the compound numerous times since entering parliament in April 2021, his presence as a top minister is highly significant. A controversial visit in 2000 by then opposition leader Ariel Sharon was one of the main triggers for the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, which lasted until 2005. The Palestinian foreign ministry called Ben-Gvir's visit a "serious threat."Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem deemed it a "crime" and vowed the mosque compound "will remain Palestinian, Arab, Islamic."
'Negative consequences'
Hamas rules the Gaza Strip. In May 2021 an 11-day war broke out between Palestinian militants based in the territory and Israel, after violence at Al-Aqsa mosque. Egypt -- which serves as a mediator in Gaza -- warned "of the negative consequences of such actions."For years seen as a fringe figure, Jewish Power leader Ben-Gvir entered mainstream politics with the backing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose office on Tuesday said Netanyahu is "committed to strictly maintaining the status quo, without changes" at the holy site. Ben-Gvir has advocated for Arab-Israelis deemed disloyal to the state to be expelled and for the annexation of the occupied West Bank. Until a few years ago, he had a portrait in his living room of Baruch Goldstein, who massacred 29 Palestinian worshippers at a Hebron mosque in 1994.

Israel demolishes parts of West Bank hamlet set for eviction
Associated Press/January 04/2023
The Israeli military has demolished homes, water tanks and olive orchards in two Palestinian villages in the southern West Bank where some residents are at risk of imminent expulsion, residents and activists said Wednesday.One of the villages whose structures were demolished on Tuesday is part of an arid area of the West Bank known as Masafer Yatta, which the Israeli military has designated as a live-fire training zone. Some 1,000 residents of the eight hamlets that make up Masafer Yatta are slated for expulsion, an order Israel's Supreme Court upheld in May after a two-decade legal battle. According to images shared by local residents and activists, armored vehicles escorted construction equipment to the demolitions in the villages of Ma'in and Shaab al-Butum, which is part of Masafer Yatta. Guy Butavia, an activist with the Israeli rights group Taayush, said the army razed five homes, animal pens and cisterns, spilling the contents of people's lives out onto the cold desert. "They come and demolish your house. It's winter. It's cold. What's next? Where are they going to sleep that night?" he said. Most residents of the area have remained in place since the ruling, even as Israeli security forces periodically roll in to demolish structures. But they could be forced out at any time. Local officials and rights group said Israeli defense officials have informed them that they would soon forcibly remove more than 1,000 residents from the area. "There is a genuine concern that a grave war crime will be committed," said Roni Pelli, a spokeswoman for ACRI. COGAT, the Israeli defense body that deals with Palestinian civilian affairs, declined to comment. Both villages are in the 60% of the occupied West Bank known as Area C, where the Israeli military exercises full control under interim peace agreements reached with the Palestinians in the 1990s. Palestinian structures built without military permits — which residents say are nearly impossible to obtain — are at risk of demolition. Tuesday's demolition comes against the backdrop of a new government in Israel, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, where proponents of Israel's West Bank settlement enterprise hold influential portfolios and are expected to both drive up settlement building and suppress construction for Palestinians in Area C. The families living in Masafer Yatta say they've herded their sheep and goats across the area long before Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war. But Israel says the nomadic Arab Bedouin had no permanent structures when the military declared the area a firing and training zone in the early 1980s. In November 1999, security forces expelled some 700 villagers and destroyed homes and cisterns. A twenty-year legal battle began the following year that ended in 2022 with the Israeli Supreme Court denying an additional hearing in October over the expulsion. While previous Israeli governments have for decades demolished homes in the area, the current government is expected to step up demolitions in the area.

With Iran in mind, new Israeli leaders cozy up to Putin
Mohammed Najib/Arab News/January 04/2023
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, after a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, asked his Cabinet colleagues to avoid commenting on the Russia-Ukraine conflict
RAMALLAH: The new Israeli government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to restore close ties with Russia in a bid to counter Moscow’s increasingly friendly relationship with Iran, analysts say. At least one observer believes Russia’s support for Iran could pose a future threat to Israeli security operations against Iranian targets in Syria. On Jan. 3, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, after a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, asked his Cabinet colleagues to avoid commenting on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
He said that the new government will talk less about the war, meaning Israel will avoid denouncing Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, a shift away from the stance adopted by former prime minister Yair Lapid. “It’s clear that the relations between Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin are much warmer for many years than those between Lapid and former Israeli premier Naftali Bennett with Putin,” Ksenia Svetlova, a senior non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council and former member of the Israeli parliament, told Arab News. Netanyahu is also believed to be unhappy with President Volodymyr Zelensky over Ukraine’s failure to oppose pro-Palestinian resolutions at the UN last week. Putin has worked with Netanyahu for 12 of the 22 years he has been at the helm in the Kremlin, and the two have a close relationship. The Russian president called Netanyahu to congratulate him on winning the Nov. 3 election and again after the Israeli leader won a confidence vote on Dec. 29. Israeli experts told Arab News that the Netanyahu government will work to develop close ties with Moscow, but at the same time maintain strategic links with the US, which expressed displeasure over the Cohen-Lavrov call.
Israeli political analyst Yoni Ben Menachem said that Putin expects Netanyahu to shift Israel’s Russia policy away from the approach taken by Lapid, who attacked Moscow in his UN speech and media statements. Israel fears Moscow may prevent it from continuing to bomb Iranian targets in Syria. Russia might provide anti-aircraft missiles to Iranian forces that would pose a threat to Israeli warplanes. Russia now enjoys “a very close relationship” with Iran to the extent that it may end the freedom given to the Israeli airforce to bomb Iranian targets in Syria, Ben Menachem said. There are 1 million Russian Jews in Israel who speak Russian. Most are over 18 and vote and influence Israeli elections. Previous Israeli governments included ministers and deputy ministers of Russian origin, such as Avigdor Lieberman, Yuli Edelstein and Sophia Lander. On Dec. 31, Netanyahu spoke with Zelensky and asked him to oppose pro-Palestinian resolutions at the UN. Zelensky said he would agree if Tel Aviv provided Ukraine with advanced weapons. Netanyahu rejected the offer and told Zelensky that Israel could not supply Ukraine with more than humanitarian aid for fear of spoiling Tel Aviv’s ties with Moscow. Ukraine was absent from the voting session and avoided voting against Israel. Zelensky hoped to receive air defense systems from the Lapid government, but these failed to arrive. It is unlikely Netanyahu will supply the systems. “In any case, Israeli-Russian relations would be better between Netanyahu and Putin than they used to be between Lapid and Putin,” Svetlova told Arab News. Alexander Grinberg, an expert on Russia-Israel affairs, told Arab News: “I am sure that Netanyahu will be able to balance Israel’s position and its relations with Russia with the continuation of the war in Ukraine, as the position of his predecessor Yair Lapid in support of Ukraine was personal and emotional, nothing more.”He said Netanyahu’s position on Russia was consistent with the Israeli army, Military Intelligence Directorate, and the rest of the Israeli security apparatus regarding Israel’s security interests concerning Tehran, whether in Syria or inside Iran. “The Israeli people stand against Russia on the war in Ukraine, while the political and security leadership cooperates closely with Putin,” he said.

Dismay as dozens of Christian graves in Jerusalem vandalized
AFP/January 04, 2023
JERUSALEM: A Jerusalem bishop said on Wednesday he was “dismayed” by the desecration of dozens of Christian graves on the edge of the Old City, as police probed the vandalism. Stone graves lay in pieces with crosses toppled at the Protestant cemetery on Mount Zion, where Christians believe Jesus’s Last Supper took place.“We discovered that more than 30 tombstones and crosses were smashed to pieces,” Hosam Naoum, an Anglican bishop, told journalists at the cemetery. Church authorities said the damage was discovered on Tuesday, while security camera footage from January 1 showed two men or boys vandalizing the site while wearing Jewish attire. “These criminal acts were motivated by religious bigotry and hatred against Christians,” the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem said in a statement. Israeli police said on Tuesday they had launched an investigation into “the defacement of a large number of tombstones in the Protestant cemetery.”Standing before one of the damaged graves, Naoum said: “We are not only dismayed but we are very much saddened.” The bishop said the cemetery was established in the mid-19th century and is the final resting place of figures including clergy, scientists and politicians. Among them were “people of great importance that have contributed to the history of Jerusalem and to the life of the people here,” he said. Israel’s Foreign Ministry called for the perpetrators to be prosecuted, writing on Twitter that “this immoral act is an affront to religion.”Mount Zion lies outside the Old City walls and has drawn pilgrims for centuries. It is also revered by Jews, as the burial place of the biblical King David. In December 2021, church leaders warned that “Christians have become the target of frequent and sustained attacks by fringe radical groups” in Jerusalem and the wider Holy Land.
The statement criticized inaction by law enforcement and local officials, accusations deemed “baseless” by the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

US reopening visa and consular services at embassy in Cuba
Associated Press/January 04/2023
The United States Embassy in Cuba is reopening visa and consular services Wednesday, the first time it has done so since a spate of unexplained health incidents among diplomatic staff in 2017 slashed the American presence in Havana. The Embassy confirmed this week it will begin processing immigrant visas, with a priority placed on permits to reunite Cubans with family in the U.S., and others like the diversity visa lottery. The resumption comes amid the greatest migratory flight from Cuba in decades, which has placed pressure on the Biden administration to open more legal pathways to Cubans and start a dialogue with the Cuban government, despite a historically tense relationship. They are anticipated to give out at least 20,000 visas a year, though it's just a drop in the bucket of the migratory tide, which is fueled by intensifying economic and political crises on the island.In late December, U.S. authorities reported stopping Cubans 34,675 times along the Mexico border in November, up 21% from 28,848 times in October. Month-to-month, that number has gradually risen. Cubans are now the second-largest nationality after Mexicans appearing on the border, U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows.
The growing migration is due to a complex array of factors, including economic, energy and political crises, as well deep discontent among Cubans. While the vast majority of Cuban migrants head to the U.S. via flights to Nicaragua and cross by land at the U.S. border with Mexico, thousands more have also taken a dangerous voyage by sea. They travel 90 miles to the Florida coast, often arriving in rickety, precariously constructed boats packed with migrants. The exodus from Cuba is also compounded by rising migration to the U.S. from other countries like Haiti and Venezuela, forcing the U.S. government to grapple with a growingly complex situation on its southern border. The renewal of visa work at the embassy comes after a series of migration talks and visits by U.S. officials to Havana in recent months, and may also be the sign of a slow thawing between the two governments. "Engaging in these talks underscores our commitment to pursuing constructive discussions with the government of Cuba where appropriate to advance U.S. interests," the U.S. Embassy said in a statement in November following an American delegation's visit to Cuba.
The small steps are far cry from relations under President Barack Obama, who eased many American Cold War-era sanctions during his time in office and made a historic visit to the island in 2016. Visa and consular services were closed on the island in 2017 after embassy staff were affflicted in a series of health incidents, alleged sonic attacks that remain largely unexplained. As a result, many Cubans who wanted to legally migrate to the U.S. have had to fly to places like Guyana to do so before migrating or reuniting with family. While relations have always been tense between Cuba and the U.S., they were heightened following the embassy closure and the Trump administration's tightening of sanctions on Cuba. Under President Joe Biden, the U.S. has eased some restrictions on things like remittances and family travel from Miami to Cuba, but has fallen short of hopes by many in Cuba that a Biden presidency would return the island to its "Obama era." Restrictions on tourist travel to Cuba, and imports and exports of many goods, remain in place. Also kindling tensions has been the Cuban government's harsh treatment of participants in the island's 2021 protests, including hefty prison sentences doled out to minors, a constant point of criticism by the Biden administration. Cuban officials have repeatedly expressed optimism about talks with the U.S. and steps to reopen visa services. Cuban Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Carlos Cossio said in November that ensuring migration through safe and legal pathways is a "mutual objective" by both countries. But Cossio also blamed the flight of tens of thousands from the island on U.S. sanctions, saying that "there's no doubt that a policy meant to depress the living standards of a population is a direct driver of migration."

Iran Upholds Death Sentence Against Two
London, Tehran/Asharq Al-Awsat/January 04/2023
Iran's Supreme Court upheld the death sentence against two protesters accused of killing a security officer during the nationwide protests that began 110 days ago and ordered a retrial of three others on death row in the same case.
Since September 16, Iran has witnessed protests following the young woman's death, Mahsa Amini, three days after the "morality police arrested her."On Monday, the Human Rights Activists Agency (HRANA) said that 516 protesters, including 70 minors, and 67 members of the security forces were killed during the Iranian protests.The organization estimates that 19,204 people have been arrested. The judiciary handed down 13 death penalties, with two implemented so far, while the Supreme Court confirmed the maximum penalty against four and ordered a retrial of six, and one judgment remains subject to appeal. Among the death sentences, the judiciary issued five rulings in December against five for killing Ruhollah Ajamian, a member of the Basij forces, during the protests in early November in Karaj, west of Tehran. After the review, the Supreme Court upheld the ruling against the two. It confirmed that "the two appeals submitted by the convicts, Mohammad Mahdi Karmi and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini, are invalid, and accordingly, their sentences were upheld and approved. The death sentences against co-accused Hamid Ghare-Hasanlou, Hossein Mohammadi, and Reza Aria were overturned "due to the existence of defects in the proceedings," the court said, adding that they would now be retried. Amnesty International reported that Ghare-Hasanlou, a doctor, and his wife had been "caught up in the chaos," which resulted in Ajamian's death. Sixteen people appeared before the judiciary in the case of the murder of Ajamian, 27, who prosecutors said was stripped naked and killed by a group of mourners celebrating the 40th anniversary of the death of Hadis Najafi, who was killed during the protests. The court also ordered retrials for 11 other defendants handed lengthy prison terms in the case. The judiciary's Mizan Online website confirmed that a death sentence had been issued against Mehdi Mohammadifard after his "corruption on earth" trial and "enmity against God." The website stressed that the verdict is preliminary and subject to appeal before the Supreme Court, explaining that Mohammadifard is accused of "committing arson, destroying public property, colluding and conspiring to commit a crime against the country's security and inciting people to cause insecurity."Human rights organizations in Iran reported that Mohammadifard, 18, had been sentenced to death for setting fire to a traffic police booth in the western city of Nowshahr. Of the 13 death sentences announced so far, two were carried out in December against Majidreza Rahnavard and Mohsen Shekari after they were convicted of assaults on members of the security forces. The Supreme Court also upheld four death sentences for Muhammad Mahdi Karmi and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini, accused of attacking security officers with a knife. Mohammed Ghobadlou was charged with corruption for running over police officers with a car, one of whom was killed and wounded others.

Cairo Adopts Balanced Approach to Iran’s Signs of Rapprochement
Cairo - Osama Al-Said/Asharq Al-Awsat/January 04/2023
Well-informed Egyptian sources emphasized Egypt’s adherence to balancing its national interests with its commitments to Gulf security, following Iranian diplomatic statements about Tehran’s rapprochement efforts with Cairo.
The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Egypt was committed to balance its vision of regional relations and national interests with its core adherence to the security of its Gulf allies and the need to prevent any interference in their internal affairs. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, refused to comment on the remarks of the Iranian Foreign Ministry regarding a “short positive” conversation that took place between Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, on the sidelines of the Baghdad-2 summit in Jordan last month. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said, in a press statement on Monday, that the conversation was “positive, and included an interest in continuing the talks,” noting that Sisi and Abdollahian “had bilateral discussions regarding consular issues.”
“The Iraqi government has shown its willingness to help form a dialogue between Iran and Egypt, and we welcome these positive initiatives,” he added. These statements followed successive signals from Tehran over the past months, reflecting its desire to “start Iranian-Egyptian talks on the security and political levels, which would lead to strengthening relations between Tehran and Cairo,” according to the Iranian foreign minister, in statements reported by the Iranian Mizan news agency, on the sidelines of the second session of the Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership. Former Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Orabi said that Iran “is the one seeking rapprochement with Egypt,” adding that Cairo “has a firm approach” regarding dealing with any regional powers, including Iran and Türkiye, according to a vision that “respects national interests and the requirements of Arab national security.”
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Orabi stressed that Egypt “does not view with satisfaction” Iran’s interference in the internal affairs of several Arab countries, and realizes that these interventions “harm Arab national security.”For his part, Dr. Tariq Fahmy, a professor of political science at Cairo University, monitored the escalation of Iran’s “unilateral” talk about its desire to improve its relationship with Egypt. He noted that the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s statement “is not the first in this regard,” pointing to “mutual security and intelligence contacts.”Fahmy reaffirmed that Cairo “will not sacrifice its relations with the Gulf in favor of Iran,” and stressed that his country was aware of the dangers of Iran reaching the nuclear threshold (the ability to produce a nuclear bomb) on Arab national security.”

Iran releases prominent actress who protested executions
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)/January 4, 2023
Local media are reporting that Iran has released a prominent actress nearly three weeks after she was jailed for expressing solidarity with a man who was executed over unrest linked to anti-government protests. Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency reported Wednesday that Taraneh Alidoosti, the 38-year-old star of Asghar Farhadi’s Oscar-winning “The Salesman,” was released on bail. Her mother, Nadere Hakimelahi, said she would be released in a post on Instagram. Alidoosti had joined several Iranian celebrities in expressing support for the nationwide protests and criticizing the authorities' violent crackdown on dissent. She had posted at least three messages in support of the protests on Instagram before her account was disabled. One message had expressed support for the first man to be executed on charges linked to the protests, which were triggered by the death of a woman in police custody and have escalated into widespread calls for the overthrow of clerical rule. The protests mark one of the biggest challenges to the Islamic Republic since it was established after the 1979 revolution, and have prompted a heavy crackdown by security forces, who have used live ammunition, bird shot and tear gas to disperse protesters, according to rights groups. Mohsen Shekari was executed Dec. 9 after being charged by an Iranian court with blocking a street in Tehran and attacking a member of the country’s security forces with a machete. A week later, Iran executed a second prisoner, Majidreza Rahnavard, by public hanging. He had been accused of stabbing two members of the paramilitary Basij militia, which is leading the crackdown. Activists say at least a dozen people have been sentenced to death in closed-door hearings over charges linked to the protests. At least 516 protesters have been killed and over 19,000 people have been arrested, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that has closely monitored the unrest. Iranian authorities have not provided an official count of those killed or detained.

Putin is sending a warship into the Atlantic armed with new hypersonic cruise missiles
Jake Epstein/Business Insider/January 4, 2023
Russian leadership announced Wednesday that Russia is sending a warship armed with new hypersonic cruise missiles that Moscow has touted as unstoppable off on a deployment that will take it into the Atlantic.The frigate Admiral Gorshkov will travel on a long-range voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Mediterranean Sea, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at a ceremony, according to state-run media outlet TASS. He explained that the "main efforts during the campaign will be focused on countering Russia's threats, maintaining regional peace, and stability together with friendly countries."
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who also attended the ceremony, said that the Admiral Gorshkov and its "powerful weapons" will safeguard Russia from "potential external threats." This frigate is the lead ship for Russia's Project 22350, an effort to develop advanced multi-purpose combat ships.
The Admiral Gorshkov is setting sail armed with Zircon, also spelled Tsirkon, hypersonic missiles — a relatively new weapon in Moscow's arsenal. Putin first revealed the development of the missile during a February 2019 address to the nation, during which he announced work on various weapons while also threatening to target the US if it moved ballistic missiles to Europe. Speaking Wednesday, Putin said the Zircon missile has "no analogues in any country in the world." The Russian military, using the Admiral Gorshkov as a testing platform, test-fired a Zircon hypersonic missile for the first time in October 2020. The Russian defense ministry said it flew at speeds of Mach 8 before hitting a target nearly 300 miles away. Several tests have occurred since then, most recently last May. The Admiral Gorshkov is also outfitted with various other weapons, such as air defenses and torpedoes, TASS cited the ship's captain Igor Krokhmal as saying, though the Zircon hypersonic missiles are perhaps the most noteworthy. "We will continue to develop the combat potential of the Armed Forces, make advanced models of weapons and equipment that will guard Russia's security in the coming decades. This is a promising weapon," Putin said at the Wednesday ceremony, according to Russian state media. Hypersonic missiles are highly maneuverable and fast, and they can fly along unpredictable flight paths, thus creating headaches for traditional air defenses. Standard ballistic missiles, by contrast, travel on set parabolic trajectories. Hypersonic weapon development by Russia — and also China — is a concern for the US military, which is working on its own systems. In December, a US B-52 bomber successfully launched a fully-operational hypersonic missile prototype in a milestone weapon test for the Air Force that could pave the way to production and fielding. The Army is planning to field its first hypersonic missile unit later this year, and the Navy is looking to have these weapons on Zumwalt-class destroyers by 2025.

Putin deploys new Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles to Atlantic
MOSCOW, Jan 4 (Reuters)/January 4, 2023
President Vladimir Putin sent a frigate to the Atlantic Ocean armed with new generation hypersonic cruise missiles on Wednesday, a signal to the West that Russia will not back down over the war in Ukraine. Russia, China and the United States are in a race to develop hypersonic weapons which are seen as a way to gain an edge over any adversary because of their speeds - above five times the speed of sound - and manoeuvrability. In a video conference with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Igor Krokhmal, commander of the frigate named "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov", Putin said the ship was armed with Zircon (Tsirkon) hypersonic weapons. "This time the ship is equipped with the latest hypersonic missile system - 'Zircon'," said Putin. "I am sure that such powerful weapons will reliably protect Russia from potential external threats."The weapons, Putin said, had "no analogues in any country in the world". More than 10 months since Putin sent troops into Ukraine, there is no end in sight to the war which has descended into a grinding winter artillery battle that has killed and wounded tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides. Russia has also used hypersonic Kinzhal (Dagger) missiles in Ukraine. Along with the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle which entered combat duty in 2019, the Zircon forms the centrepiece of Russia's hypersonic arsenal. Russia sees the weapons as a way to pierce increasingly sophisticated U.S. missile defences which Putin has warned could one day shoot down Russian nuclear missiles.
ATLANTIC VOYAGE
Shoigu said the Gorshkov would sail to the Atlantic and Indian oceans and to the Mediterranean Sea.
"This ship, armed with 'Zircons', is capable of delivering pinpoint and powerful strikes against the enemy at sea and on land," Shoigu said. Shoigu said the hypersonic missiles could overcome any missile defence system. The missiles fly at nine times the speed of sound and have a range of over 1,000 km, Shoigu said. The main tasks of the voyage were to counter threats to Russia and to maintain "regional peace and stability jointly with friendly countries", Shoigu said. A U.S. Congressional Research Service report on hypersonic weapons says that Russian and Chinese hypersonic missiles are designed to be used with nuclear warheads. The target of a hypersonic weapon is much more difficult to calculate than for intercontinental ballistic missiles because of their manoeuvrability. Beyond Russia, the United States and China, a range of other countries are developing hypersonic weapons including Australia, France, Germany, South Korea, North Korea and Japan, according to the U.S. Congressional Research Service.

Russia says their troops were killed in a devastating HIMARS strike because some soldiers were using cell phones and gave their location away
Hannah Getahun/Business Insider/January 4, 2023
Russia said a Ukrainian HIMARS strike in the occupied Donetsk region in Ukraine killed dozens of its soldiers. The Russians say 89 soldiers were killed, and blamed their own troops for using cell phones. According to the Russians, these cell phone signals gave their soldiers' locations away.The Russian Ministry of Defense says so many of its troops died in a recent Ukrainian attack in the Donetsk region, because soldiers were using cell phones and gave their location away. On New Year's Eve, Russian troops came under attack in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Makiivka. The Russians say they were struck by Ukrainian troops equipped with US-provided High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers. But in a statement posted on the defense ministry's Telegram channel on Tuesday, the Russians blamed their own soldiers for "allowing the enemy to locate and determine the coordinates of the location of military personnel for launching a missile strike." "It is already obvious that the main reason for what happened was the switching on and massive use — contrary to the prohibition — by personnel of mobile phones in a reach zone of enemy weapons," the statement from the Russian defense ministry read.
On Tuesday, Russia said 63 of its soldiers died in the New Year's strike by Ukrainian forces. The defense ministry's statement on Telegram reported a later death toll of 89. Ukraine's military reported a higher number of Russian casualties from the attack — around 400 — but this figure has not been independently verified.The use of cell phones on the battlefield by Russian soldiers has become a risk for Russian soldiers. But it's been a boon for Ukraine, which has used intercepted calls to locate Russian troops since the start of the war. An investigation from the New York Times released last month found that Ukrainian forces discovered upticks in frantic calls from foreign numbers and used them to pinpoint the location of Russian troops. "We listened to the Russian soldiers as they panicked and called their friends and relatives," a Ukrainian official told The Times. "They used ordinary phones to make decisions about their further moves." Representatives for the Kremlin did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Wounded Putin Crony Sends Shrapnel From His Spine to Macron
Allison Quinn/The Daily Beast/January 4, 2023
Russia’s military has spent months leaving a well-documented trail of war crimes in Ukraine, but Vladimir Putin crony Dmitry Rogozin apparently thinks a tiny piece of shrapnel lodged in his spine proves Russia is actually the victim.
Russia’s former space chief, still recovering from his injuries after he came under fire by Ukrainian troops while celebrating his birthday on occupied Ukrainian land, has sent an unsolicited missive to the French ambassador to Russia bemoaning his near-death experience—along with the shrapnel extracted from his back.“It went through my right shoulder and got stuck in my fifth cervical vertebrae, just a millimeter away from killing me or making me an immobile invalid,” Rogozin wrote, according to a copy of the letter shared by Russia’s RIA Novosti. The man who has long cheered on Russian attacks against Ukraine that have killed and maimed thousands of Ukrainians asked French Ambassador Pierre Levy to give the shrapnel to French President Emmanuel Macron. “Tell him that no one will escape responsibility for the war crimes of France, the U.S., Great Britain, Germany and other NATO countries in the Donbas,” he wrote. Calling Ukraine’s targeting of Russian troops who’ve occupied the east of the country a “vile terrorist act,” Rogozin explained he was sending the shrapnel to France because it came from artillery supplied to Ukraine by the French military. The self-pitying letter appears to be in stark contrast to Rogozin’s comments on the war just a few weeks prior to his injury, when he told Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov that he was “thoroughly convinced we [Russia] will take Kyiv.”“It’s either us or them,” he said. “When we say ‘denazification’ [of Ukraine], what do we mean? Being proud of the fact that we killed 300 Ukrainian conscripts a day, or 1,000 a day? Well, yes. This is a battle, a war. No one has pity for anyone anymore.”

Ukraine official says time for U.N. peacekeepers at nuclear plant
Timothy Gardner/WASHINGTON (Reuters)/January 4, 2023
Ukraine wants the United Nations to send peacekeepers to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant even without a deal with Russia to establish a safety zone there, the head of Ukraine's state nuclear power company said. Ukraine has called for U.N. peacekeepers at the site since September. But the comment was the first time a Ukraine nuclear official has suggested publicly peacekeepers should be deployed in the absence of an agreement to create a safety zone at the plant, which Russia took control of soon after invading the country on Feb. 24. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, Europe's largest, has suffered repeated shelling and power cuts, raising concerns of radioactive catastrophe. Ukraine and Russia trade blame for the shelling Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), had hoped to mediate an agreement between Russia and Ukraine on a safety zone by January. Petro Kotin, the head of Ukraine's state nuclear power company Energoatom, said the absence of a deal means the U.N. Security Council, of which Russia is a permanent member, should deploy peacekeepers. "The problem is there is no solution (at) the level of IAEA," Kotin told Reuters in an online interview from his office in Kyiv on Tuesday. "The process is not going forward. We would propose to bring this problem to the next level," he said. The prospects were uncertain. Russia could veto any Security Council resolution for peacekeepers. But Kotin said this would raise public awareness of Moscow's actions.
He said a peacekeeping force would be a way to end Russian control of the plant. However, the absence of a safety zone could complicate drawing the boundaries for a peacekeeping mission's area of control, potentially exposing peacekeepers to danger.
In October, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree transferring the plant from Energoatom to a subsidiary of Russia's Rosatom, a move Kyiv said amounted to theft. In an internal meeting on Wednesday, Ukraine officials will discuss how to raise the peacekeeper issue to the Security Council, Kotin said. The IAEA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.mRussia has coerced 1,500 Ukrainian workers at Zaporizhzhia to sign contracts saying they now work for a unit of Rosatom, Kotin said. There are about 6,000 workers at the plant, compared to 11,000 before the war. Kotin said about 10% of the plant's Ukrainian operating staff were among those who signed contracts and the remainder were in non-operating roles. Shutdowns can be harmful to nuclear plants unless careful maintenance is performed, and Kotin worried that a breakdown in communications between staff and Energoatom due to Russia's activities could lead to the Zaporizhzhia plant's deterioration.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 04-05/2023
Saudi Arabia and Iran…'Keep Your Hands Off'
Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/January, 04/2023
In 2007, former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attended the Gulf Cooperation Council Summit (28) for the first time. It was held in Doha, and Qatar had invited him to be the guest of honor. During the summit, one picture drew particularly strong attention.
It was a picture of the late King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz - may God have mercy on his soul - Ahmadinejad, and the late Sultan Qaboos bin Saeed - may God have mercy on his soul - all holding hands. A short while later, I met the late Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the former Saudi foreign minister, in Paris as part of a team of editors-in-chief at the time. In statements to "Newsweek" Magazine on the backdrop of Ahmadinejad’s visit to Saudi Arabia earlier in 2007, Al-Faisal said that King Abdullah had spoken openly with Ahmadinejad, stressing the Kingdom’s strong opposition to any Iranian interference in Arab domestic affairs, to which Ahmadinejad replied: “We do not interfere.”The late King told the Iranian president not to play with fire and warned him against the nuclear file.
Because of these statements, Jamil Altheyabi - current editor-in-chief of Okaz newspaper and editor-in-chief of the Saudi version of Al-Hayat at the time - asked him a frank question:
“You give warnings to Iran, then a picture of (the late) King Abdullah and Ahmadinejad holding hands emerges, how are we to understand this situation?” Prince Al-Faisal then excused himself because he had received a call from the late King. We thought that the Prince had not heard the question.”
Prince Al-Faisal returned minutes later. “Do you want King Abdullah to tell Ahmadinejad: Keep your hands off me?” He was telling us that it had been Ahmadinejad who approached the Saudi King. We all chuckled, but I still remember this exchange, and it continues to affect my view of the Saudi- Iranian ties.
Iranian has made many statements about Saudi Arabia, and I am not only talking about countless tendentious statements. They are playing their game out in the open. There are no reformists in Iran, and Iran nevertheless releases statements calling on Saudi Arabia to negotiate and engage in dialogue and reopen its embassy. They are keen on arranging any kind of meeting, even behind closed doors, with Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, or discussing the meetings that have already taken in Iraq further.
The question here is why is Iran so desperate to mend fences with Saudi Arabia? Beyond a doubt, its intention is to divide the Arab world, push the Saudi media to ignore Iran’s actions, and prevent Saudi Arabia from taking action on the international level to undermine Iran- just look at the summit between Riyadh and China.Moreover, it is apprehensive about the potential for the US rapprochement with Saudi Arabia. This could shock many, including Iran. And so, whenever I see Iranian officials trying to make rapprochements, I remember the late King Abdullah. May God have mercy on his soul. “Should we say ‘keep your hands off me?’”Of course not. However, we can say it with our stance, as we have become familiar with the Mullah regime in Tehran and how it functions, and we are now certain there are no reformers!

Turkey's 'Crimes against Humanity' and Illegal Occupation of Cyprus
Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/January 4, 2023
[T]he invading Turkish forces [in 1974] murdered innocent civilians, raped women and children, and plundered northern Cyprus. They forcibly displaced around 170,000 Greek Cypriots, or a third of the total population of the Republic of Cyprus....
"The widespread or systematic practice of enforced disappearance constitutes a crime against humanity as defined in applicable international law and shall attract the consequences provided for under such applicable international law." — United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, 2006.
According to the statistics, the highest number of complaints to the European Court of Human Rights, after Russia, involved Turkey.... In 2021, Turkey topped the list for the number of ECtHR judgments that found violations of freedom of expression.
"[T]here has been a collective decades-long failure to uphold the rule of law in an adequate manner befitting the post-1945 legal order." -- Dr. Klearchos A. Kyriakides, "The Search for Security via Answers to Questions on Law, Criminal Justice and Impunity," forum.agora-dialogue.com, June 17, 2017
Dr. Kyriakides also notes the failure of Turkey to become a state party to more than 70 instruments of international law.
For criminal justice to be served in Cyprus, Kyriakides recommends that a new independent international criminal tribunal in the lines of the tribunals established by the victorious Allies in Nuremberg or by the UN Security Council in relation to the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda should be established concerning the crimes Turkey and its agents committed in Cyprus.
"[C]ontrary to international humanitarian law, the United Nations shoulders at least some of the responsibility for fostering a culture of impunity. The United Nations has never established any independent international criminal tribunal for the Republic of Cyprus along the lines of the precedents established...." — Dr. Klearchos A. Kyriakides, "The Search for Security via Answers to Questions on Law, Criminal Justice and Impunity," published in connection with the "Conference on Cyprus" in Geneva, on June 28, 2017.
Investigations could warrant an independent Nuremberg-style or Hague-style tribunal to deal with the war crimes committed.
Invading Turkish forces in 1974 murdered innocent civilians, raped women and children, and plundered northern Cyprus. They forcibly displaced around 170,000 Greek Cypriots, or a third of the total population of the Republic of Cyprus. Turkish forces have since occupied 36% of Cypriot territory, and the fate of hundreds of missing people remains unknown. Pictured: Turkish Army soldiers and tanks on parade in Nicosia, in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus, on July 20, 2021. (Photo by Iakovos Hatzistavrou/AFP via Getty Images)
On August 15, 1974, Pavlos Solomi, 42, and his son, Solomis Pavlou Solomi, 17, were arrested by Turks at their home in the Cypriot village of Komi Kepir during the second phase of Turkey's military invasion of Cyprus.
Panagiota Pavlou Solomi spent the remainder of her life trying to find her missing husband and son. Finally, 43 years after their abduction, in 2017, their remains were found in Galatia Lake by the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP), which exhumed what was left of them. A funeral was held for the murdered father and son in March 2018, but not in their beloved village of Komi Kepir. That village is still illegally occupied by Turkey. The family buried the corpses in the free region of the Republic of Cyprus, where they currently reside.
In 2008, the French news magazine L'Express reported on the plight of Mrs. Solomi:
"The old woman sent her desperate letter to Nelson Mandela, to Margaret Thatcher, to the European Parliament, to the Queen of England. The greats of this world left her unanswered....
"The life of this 79-year-old Greek Cypriot, draped in black, fits on a typewritten sheet: 'My name is Panayiota Pavlou Solomi... My husband, Pavlos Solomis, 42, and my son, Solomis Pavlou, 17, disappeared in 1974. On August 15, that year, the Turkish army came in, started shooting. We were brought in for questioning. [...] My husband and my son never came back. They weren't soldiers. Just civilians. [...] I have the right, as a human being, mother and wife, to know what happened to them. Please help me find them.'"
Mrs. Solomi passed away on December 10. Petros Ashiotis, a family friend of Solomis, told Gatestone:
"We would visit their house when I was young. The family had an olive refinery and prior to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, were well off. But when the Turkish military invaded, they, like every Greek Cypriot in the occupied area, lost everything. Nine civilians from my village Yialousa, including a district judge, were also arrested during the invasion and went missing. Their corpses were also found later in Galatia."
Ashiotis added that Mrs. Solomi went every Saturday to the Ledra Palace Hotel, which was the only "accessible" path to the occupied northern region of Cyprus until 2013. There, she stood silently with photos of her husband Pavlos and her son, and other women seeking justice for their missing relatives. She became a symbol of the struggle to find the forcibly "disappeared" Cypriots.
Mrs. Solomi appealed to the European Court of Human Rights to bring the Turkish regime to account, reported the Athens News Agency (ANA) in 2002. She noted that the Turkish-Cypriot leader at that time, Rauf Denktas, never responded to a letter she sent in 1975 asking what became of her husband and son after their disappearance.
Turkish Cypriot investigative journalist Sevgül Uludağ joined the funeral of the father and son in 2018 in Limassol and wrote about the funeral ceremony.
In her eulogy, Solomi's daughter, Christina Pavlou, said,
"It was August 15, 1974 when our whole family was arrested at our home in Komi Kepir by Turkish Cypriot co-villagers and they transferred us to the village of Galatia. There, it was the last moment that I saw you alive, and even then... they rushed us away from you.... Pasias had then... promised us that in three days you would be coming back to us in our house in Komi. That never happened.
"We had difficult years on our own, my mother and I, always thinking about you and being anxious for some good news....
"However, from up there you will be seeing us all together and be proud...
From this wonderful family, here is my husband, Vasos... He is so much like you... Dad, you have three grandchildren.... They never had the fortune to meet their grandfather... to play with you, to joke or to seek your advice."
In two military campaigns in 1974 – on July 20 and August 15 – Turkey, a NATO member, illegally invaded the Republic of Cyprus, which had only a small National Guard and no navy or air force. Turkish forces have since occupied 36% of Cypriot territory, and the fate of hundreds of missing people remains unknown. The Turkish military code-named the invasion "Atilla," after the 5th century tribal leader and barbarian ruler of the Huns from Central Asia, and known for his destruction of parts of the Roman Empire.
Living up to the "legacy" of Atilla the Hun, the invading Turkish forces murdered innocent civilians, raped women and children, and plundered northern Cyprus. They forcibly displaced around 170,000 Greek Cypriots, or a third of the total population of the Republic of Cyprus, violently targeted churches and destroyed Christian cemeteries. They arrested Greek Cypriots and tortured many. An investigative report issued in 1976 by the European Commission of Human Rights, a body of the Council of Europe, documented many of the crimes and abuses committed by Turks during the invasion. Regarding the missing persons, the report noted:
"The Commission considers that there is a presumption of Turkish responsibility for the fate of persons; shown to have been in Turkish custody. However, on the basis of the material before it, the Commission has been unable to ascertain whether, and under what circumstances, Greek Cypriot prisoners declared to be missing have been deprived of their life."
According to the 2006 International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance,
"'Enforced disappearance' is considered to be the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside the protection of the law.
"The widespread or systematic practice of enforced disappearance constitutes a crime against humanity as defined in applicable international law and shall attract the consequences provided for under such applicable international law."
Cypriots established several organizations to find the remains of those who forcibly disappeared in 1974. According to the Organization of Relatives of Undeclared Prisoners and Missing Persons of Cyprus,
"The initial number of missing persons was 1619, including non-combatants, women and small children. On the face of evidence, all these people disappeared during or after the Turkish invasion in the areas captured by the Turkish troops. There is corroborating evidence from eyewitnesses and international organizations that many of these persons had been arrested by the Turkish invasion forces or armed Turkish Cypriot groups and held for a period of time in Turkish prisons."
Another organization – the Panhellenic Committee of Parents and Relatives of Undeclared Prisoners and Missing Persons of the Cyprus Tragedy – aims to fully investigate the fate of the Greeks missing from the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The committee notes:
"Many decades have already passed since that morning of July 20, when the hordes of 'Attila' invaded the island, spreading death and destruction. The conqueror left behind ruins, while for a number of years he continues to hold part of northern Cyprus."
The Organization of Relatives of Missing Cypriots UK (ORMC) was founded in 1983 by relatives of missing Cypriots living in the United Kingdom. According to the ORMC:
"This tragic problem of a purely humanitarian nature remains unresolved because Turkey, in full disregard of international conventions and declarations, does not allow effective investigations to be carried out. Persuasive information, which could determine the fate of missing persons, has not been revealed."
When the Turkish military invaded in 1974, the population of Cyprus was approximately 642,000. Photis Photiou, the Presidential Commissioner of Cyprus, told Gatestone:
"The human losses and suffering caused by the Turkish invasion, in relation to the population of Cyprus, are immense. Leaving aside the economic destruction of the northern occupied part of Cyprus and the problems of the refugees and the enclaved, approximately 3,000 Greek Cypriots lost their lives or disappeared during the invasion. The ICRC in 1975 provided a list to the Government of Cyprus containing more than 2,500 cases. After investigations by the Government authorities, more cases of missing and dead were recorded.
"In 1995, approximately 1,500 cases of disappeared Greek Cypriots were submitted to the Committee on Missing Persons, which operated under the auspices of the United Nations. This Committee was established in 1981 and operates ever since. Today, more than 750 cases of the 1,500 cases submitted are still pending. It should also be noted that, for the majority of the rest of the cases, the families received for burial only small or isolated bones as a result of the policy of the Turkish occupying forces to destroy the mass burials and to intentionally remove the remains to places unknown to us.
"In addition to the cases submitted to the CMP, there are more than 400 pending cases of Greek Cypriots who are buried in known or unknown places in the occupied areas. The families of these persons are also waiting to trace the remains of their loved ones so they can proceed to a decent burial according to our religious and social customs."
Turkish government authorities, however, have not helped to find those missing people.
"The cooperation of Turkey is very essential and necessary to our efforts to solve the humanitarian aspect of the tragedy of the missing persons and their families. Unfortunately, despite our efforts Turkey is not forthcoming and cooperating.
"Turkey is not represented in the Committee on Missing Persons, although Turkey is responsible for the creation of the problem and its prolongation for so many decades. It is very indicative of the Turkish policies to state that Turkey is refusing to provide the information from its military archives, continues to put obstacles for investigations and exhumations in the military areas, refuses to show the mass burials that were created by the Turkish army after the collection of the dead from clearing the battlefields and, more importantly, Turkey is proceeding to destroy the mass burial sites in the occupied areas so to cover up and destroy all the evidence documenting the crimes committed."
According to the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP), 2,002 persons (492 Turkish Cypriots and 1,510 Greek Cypriots) disappeared by force in 1963-64 and 1974. The CMP has managed to identify 292 of the missing Turkish and 736 Greek Cypriots.
Photiou said:
"The Government of Cyprus is, and has always been, committed to the full determination of the fate of all the missing Turkish Cypriots. A lot of information has been submitted to the CMP for burial places of missing Turkish Cypriots by the Greek Cypriot Member from 1989 onwards, that is 16 years before the program of exhumations started by the CMP. This will continue and intensify so the Turkish Cypriot families concerned can be informed fully and conclusively about the fate of their loved ones. In addition to the work in the CMP, the Government of Cyprus in 2003 has taken a lot of unilateral steps concerning the tragic problem of the missing Turkish Cypriots and their families."
On January 25, The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) released its Annual Report 2021. According to the statistics, the highest number of complaints, after Russia, involved Turkey. According to the Council of Europe's Platform to Promote the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists, Turkey generates the most cases submitted to Europe's human rights bodies. In 2021, Turkey topped the list for the number of ECtHR judgments that found violations of freedom of expression.
The European Court has convicted Turkey for Cypriot missing persons, as well. Photiou said:
"The Government of the Republic of Cyprus submitted four inter-state applications against Turkey at the Council of Europe. Moreover, the fourth inter-state application was examined by the European Court of Human Rights. In all four inter-state applications, as well as in its decision of 2001, the European Court held Turkey responsible and guilty of serious violations of basic articles of the European Convention of Human Rights, including Article 2 of the Convention pertaining to the right to life. In 2014, the European Court also took another decision concerning the obligation of Turkey to provide compensation to the families of the missing persons. In addition, there are also a number of decisions of the European Court concerning the violations of human rights of the families by Turkey, following the submission of individual cases to the European Court of Human Rights.
"Despite all these decisions and the findings of the Court, Turkey has taken no steps towards implementing the aforementioned ECHR related decisions and keeps refusing to abide and implement the decisions, showing complete disregard and disrespect to the international law and to the fundamental principles and values of human rights. The international community as a whole and the institutions that represent it, namely the United Nations, have a special responsibility to hold Turkey accountable for crimes committed by its agents against the people of Cyprus.
"The international community has a moral and a political obligation to compel Turkey to behave and abide by the fundamental principles of international law and civilized humanity. Turkey should not and cannot be allowed by the international community to continue to show disrespect and ignore the decisions of the European Union and other International institutions that constitute the cornerstone of the civilized international order. More specifically, Turkey should:
i. Release the information concerning the mass burials of Greek Cypriots carried out by the Turkish army after the clearing of the battlefields
ii. Allow access to the Turkish military archives
iii. Release the information concerning the location of the new burial sites containing the remains that were removed intentionally by the Turkish army from the primary burial places.
iv. Implement without further delays the 2001 and 2014 Decisions of the European Court of Human Rights concerning the missing Greek Cypriots."
Dr. Klearchos A. Kyriakides, whose academic areas of expertise include International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law, wrote:
"Turkey has never become a State Party to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance of 2006. This fact raises additional questions as to the sincerity of Turkey in connection with the search for missing persons and any related pursuit of criminal justice...
"[T]here has been a collective decades-long failure to uphold the rule of law in an adequate manner befitting the post-1945 legal order. In consequence, not only have the citizens of the Republic of Cyprus remained de jure divided along 'bi-communal' lines since 1960 and de facto segregated on de facto 'bi-zonal' lines since 1974. Individual citizens of the Republic of Cyprus – and its citizens as a collective whole – have been subjected to the systematic denial of criminal justice. In turn, systemic injustice has been supplemented by a culture contaminated with systematic impunity."
Dr. Kyriakides also notes the failure of Turkey to become a state party to more than 70 instruments of international law. "Why has Turkey," he asks, "never become a state party to so many legal instruments of substantial importance to peace, security, justice, human rights and the rule of law generally?"
For criminal justice to be served in Cyprus, Kyriakides recommends that a new independent international criminal tribunal along the lines of the tribunals established by the victorious WWII Allies in Nuremberg or by the UN Security Council in relation to the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda should be established concerning the crimes Turkey and its agents committed in Cyprus. Kyriakides explains:
"[C]ontrary to international humanitarian law, the United Nations shoulders at least some of the responsibility for fostering a culture of impunity. The United Nations has never established any independent international criminal tribunal for the Republic of Cyprus along the lines of the precedents established, firstly, by the victorious Allies in relation to Germany (in Nuremberg in Germany) and Japan (in Tokyo) and, secondly, by the United Nations Security Council with respect to places such as the former Yugoslavia (in The Hague in the Netherlands) and Rwanda (in Arusha in Tanzania and The Hague)."
Both the international community and Turkey have a responsibility to help Cyprus trace the fate of the missing Cypriots. Investigations could warrant an independent Nuremberg-style or Hague-style tribunal to deal with the war crimes committed. Such a court's mandate could include the issue of missing and murdered victims. Naturally, that would help Cypriot families find some justice almost 50 years after Turkey's illegal invasion and occupation of Cyprus.
*Uzay Bulut, a Turkish journalist, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute. She is also a research fellow for the Philos Project.
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Ukraine's Winter Offensive Could Decide the War
Elliot Ackerman/Time/January 4, 2023
During my years in the Marine Corps, I participated in military operations as diverse as night ambushes, amphibious raids, and helicopter assaults. All required intricate planning. Gathered around maps and satellite imagery, my colleagues and I had to consider all three of the dimensions in which war is typically waged: land, sea, and air. Once our plans were laid, there was always one last step before our mission: we would synchronize our watches. This ritual acknowledged the final dimension in which war is waged: time. Too often our analysis of a conflict neglects time as a space through which armies maneuver. But in Ukraine, as winter sets in and the war enters its second year, time will prove decisive.
Time is not on Ukraine’s side. A strategy of maximum pressure may provide the only path to victory, requiring Ukraine and its allies to remain relentlessly on the offensive this winter. Begin with the reality that while NATO support increases pressure on Moscow, it also places a weapon in Putin’s hand by lending credence to his claims that the West is at war with Russia. It increases the likelihood that Russia will expand the scope of the war, to include the use of nuclear weapons, a threat Putin habitually makes. A strategy of maximum pressure carries heightened risks, but the alternative is almost certain defeat.
If the efficacy of the Ukrainians’ September offensive is an indicator of their capability, there is reason to believe that subsequent offensives could lead to equally significant territorial gains. But success poses its own challenges. President Volodymyr Zelensky has maintained throughout the war that it will end in negotiations. Victory on the battlefield creates the route to the negotiating table; it is telling, however, that even though both sides said in late December that they were ready to talk, they did so only with conditions they must have known the other would not meet.
Ukraine is fighting a war for national survival, while Russia is fighting a war of choice. This dynamic could shift the longer the war goes on. As backing down becomes less of a possibility for Russia, the stakes of the conflict increase for its leadership. This creates a dangerous tension in which neither Russia nor Ukraine can countenance any result but total victory. This could escalate the conflict for both sides, spiraling toward the total war that many fear.
In the early days of the war in 2022, NATO nations, led by the U.S., proved cautious in their support of Ukraine given concerns of escalation with Russia. However, Ukrainian battlefield successes coupled with Russian underperformance tempered those concerns. Heading into this winter, the Biden Administration has taken a notably more aggressive stance. The warm welcome Zelensky received in Washington in December preceded the authorization of a record aid package and the deployment of Patriot missiles. The White House seems to understand that the war is entering a new phase.
A Ukrainian winter offensive appears likely. It would take place largely in the east and would not only seize back terrain lost to Russian forces, but also keep those forces off-balance. This would deny the Russians the ability to rest and refit through the winter months. The Ukrainians are equally exhausted, but to be successful they will need to pull off the extraordinary dual feat of launching an offensive while simultaneously replenishing and refitting their own forces. If the Ukrainians can achieve this, they’ll be well positioned in the spring. That is when the war will be decided.
In a classroom at a military school in Kyiv Oblast in November, young Ukrainians prepare for a career in war.Fabian Ritter—DOCKS collective
A lengthy war inherently favors Russia. It increases the odds that other authoritarian nations—such as Iran or China—will become more actively involved. Iran has already provided material support, like drones, to Russia. The longer the war drags on, the more likely it becomes that other nations will follow suit. It also makes it increasingly difficult for NATO to hold together an economic alliance against Russia. A swift resolution to the war in Ukraine isn’t only in the best interests of Ukraine, but also the stability of the world.
Although Putin, with his absurd claims of denazifying Ukraine, has often evoked the Second World War as a historical analogue, Zelensky would be wise to look at Finland’s victory over the Soviet Union in the Winter War as a strategic analogue. Just as Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was based on fears of NATO expansion, Stalin’s invasion of Finland in November 1939 was based on fears of a non-communist, nationalist Finland along the Soviet Union’s border, particularly given Hitler’s aggression in Western Europe. Also, the Red Army had launched a successful invasion of eastern Poland earlier that year, and Stalin—like Putin—had overestimated his military’s capability. He had also underestimated the ferocity of Finnish national pride.
The Red Army’s invasion of Finland, which relied on shock and overwhelming force, quickly faltered when Finnish resistance proved stiffer than expected. The Finns, when faced with the choice of digging in against the Soviets or launching a risky winter counteroffensive, chose the latter. Through a combination of partisan tactics and precisely deployed offensive operations, and with the aid of brutal weather, the Finns expelled the Soviets by March 1940.
Although the Finns outmaneuvered the Soviets on land, they also outmaneuvered them with regard to time. They understood that a limited window existed for them to achieve victory, and so they maintained the offensive through a punishing winter. The Ukrainians find themselves in a similar position today. A war that grinds on into a second, third, or even fourth year fatally disadvantages them.
Zelensky, unlike Putin, requires the support of an alliance to sustain his war. The member nations of that alliance are subject to the vicissitudes of their domestic politics. The war in Ukraine could just as easily be lost at an American or European ballot box as on the battlefield. Thus far, support for Ukraine has proved durable among allied nations. According to an October Ipsos poll, 73% of Americans believe the U.S. should continue to provide military aid. A similar poll, taken in Europe, showed that 61% of Germans and 63% of the French support the war. Those are strong majorities. But they are majorities that Russia is targeting.
The Russians have already launched their own winter offensive, one that targets Ukraine’s civilian population and infrastructure, as well as an economic one that takes aim at energy and commodity prices. Even if Russia’s economic warfare proves ineffective, support for Ukraine will eventually falter in the face of competing international priorities. The Russians know this. They will use the winter to replenish their forces, leveraging arms shipments from allies like Iran while also integrating conscripts into their diminished ranks. This buildup places urgency on Ukraine’s military operations.
Those operations must proceed with a coherent, integrated strategy, in which Ukraine and NATO share a similar vision of victory. Offensive operations in the dead of winter require significant resourcing, which the U.S. has until recently provided at a too sluggish pace that has struggled to keep up with Ukrainian demand. At every juncture—-whether it’s been the provisioning of Javelins, HIMARS, or Switchblade drones—-Ukrainians have deployed these weapons responsibly and with devastating effects. If the Biden Administration wants Ukraine to win, its window to arm it with weapons that will provide a decisive advantage is narrowing.
It is imperative that Ukrainian and NATO strategists use this winter to set conditions favorable for a massive Ukrainian counteroffensive when the weather turns. If the Russians are given time to rest and refit, they will be the ones to resume the offensive. This isn’t to say that Ukraine doesn’t also possesses inherent advantages. One of the most significant is counterintuitive: Ukraine possesses a manpower advantage over the Russians.
Throughout history, Russia’s vast territory has granted it an equally large population to draw from, typically giving it a numerical advantage. Both Hitler and Napoleon learned through bitter experience the dangers of awakening the proverbial Russian bear. Their armies were crushed by the resources Russia can hurl against an invader; except in Ukraine, Russia is the invader, and it is becoming difficult for Putin to mobilize his population the way his predecessors did. The past year has demonstrated that a mobilized army is no match against a mobilized society. It is Ukraine that possesses the numerical advantage today.
Russian conscription efforts, which have thus far proved lackluster, are designed to offset this imbalance. It’s doubtful that Russia will ever be able to mobilize an army—conscripted or otherwise—that strips the Ukrainian population of its inherent numerical advantage; however, the passage of time allows Russia to hone its conscription efforts while the Ukrainians continue to suffer difficult-to–replace losses, balancing the scales a bit more in Russia’s favor.
The operational specifics of a winter offensive are difficult to predict. The Russians have, thus far, demonstrated a remarkable lack of imagination and adaptability on the battlefield. Their centralized command structure has made it difficult for them to respond to a more fluid, decentralized Ukrainian military command. Partisan activities behind Russian lines in Zaporizhzhia and Luhansk Oblast have made it difficult for the Russians to consolidate their gains. The Ukrainians would be wise to capitalize on the resistance in Russian rear areas while they still can. The Russian strategy of warfare—one that is attritive and seeks to wear out their enemy—often creates risk aversion, in which commanders aren’t fighting to win so much as fighting not to lose. Reports of Russian logistical shortfalls, senseless frontal assaults, and the deaths of senior commanders all demonstrate Russia’s vulnerability to a well-planned and equally well-resourced Ukrainian offensive. The Winter War, which history remembers as a Finnish victory, was ended at the negotiating table. Despite their battlefield success, the price of peace for the Finns—who had so thoroughly humiliated the Red Army—were territorial concessions that exceeded prewar Soviet demands. In a deal that has ensured their sovereignty, the Finns yielded nearly one-tenth of their territory to the Soviets. Ultimately, it proved a wise choice, and it kept generations of Finns out from behind the Iron Curtain.
In the months ahead, these kinds of decisions will confront Ukraine’s leaders. As the war enters this next phase, in the air, on land, and at sea, it is critical that the Ukrainians—and we, their allies—make wise use of the time we have left.

Ukraine Plant Must Be Seized From Russia, Nuclear Chief Says
Jonathan Tirone/Bloomberg/January 4, 2023
Ukraine must seize Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant back from Russia by force as efforts to establish a security zone around it evaporate, Kyiv’s top nuclear official said. Petro Kotin, the president of Ukraine’s nuclear utility Energoatom, cast doubt on calls by the International Atomic Energy Agency for Ukrainian and Russian authorities to impose a security perimeter around the Zaporizhzhia plant in southern Ukraine. The six reactors, captured by Russian forces in the first week of the Feb. 24 invasion, have been subject to artillery and missile attacks, raising the risk of a nuclear emergency. “We do not think it is realistic,” Kotin said in an interview late Tuesday of the IAEA’s effort to establish a security buffer. “There is a new year and there is no creation of this zone.”Instead, Kotin says the more likely scenario is the return of what he calls the country’s “atomic pearl” to Ukrainian control by the military. “Our best hope is with the Ukrainian armed forces,” Kotin, who oversees Ukraine’s 15 state-owned reactors, said via video link. If Kyiv’s forces are able to break through Russian lines and capture the southern city of Melitopol, more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) to the south of the facility, “the only option will be for the occupiers to leave the plant,” he said. The comments signal that one of the war’s most dangerous flash-points will remain on a short fuse as the conflict approaches its second year. IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi last month expressed optimism that a deal to set up a security zone was getting closer.
The nuclear risk raised by the Kremlin’s occupation should also be kept in mind by countries still doing billions of dollars worth of nuclear business with Russia, said Kotin, adding that Ukraine has several year’s worth of fuel inventory for its reactors.
“This is one of the legs this war stands on,” he said. “We need to stop this money they are receiving from financing the war.”Russia’s state-owned nuclear giant Rosatom has continued playing an outsized role in international nuclear markets. Its subsidiaries still supply more than a fifth of the enriched uranium used in the US and millions of Europeans still need its nuclear fuel to generate electricity. Rosatom continues work on projects from Bangladesh to Egypt and Turkey.
“There should be sanctions against Rosatom until this war is finished,” Kotin said. “Their international activities should be on hold until they end the illegal capture of civilian facilities.” Rosatom claimed full ownership over Zaporizhzhia in October, forcing workers to reapply with Russia’s state-owned company to keep their jobs. The chairman of its supervisory board, Sergei Kiriyenko, who’s also the Kremlin’s first deputy chief of staff, visited the plant late last month in a move condemned by Kyiv’s government. The Ukrainian government’s effort to persuade other nations to cut ties with Russia’s atomic industry won the backing of Holtec International Corp., the closely-held US nuclear supplier working with Kyiv’s government. Russia’s occupation of Zaporizhzhia doesn’t just risk a nuclear accident, it also threatens to undermine atomic power as a clean source of energy around the globe, Holtec Chief Executive Officer Kris Singh wrote in a letter shared with Bloomberg News Tuesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin “has devised and normalized a new horrendous instrument of war that a future rogue state like his own would feel uninhibited to employ against its neighbor it does not like,” Singh wrote. “Construction of new clean energy-producing nuclear plants on whom the future of de-carbonization of our planet’s environment substantially rests will be imperiled.”