Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 16-17/2023
St. Charbel’s Annual Remembrance Day
Saint Of The Day site/July 16/2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/120181/120181/
Youssef Antoun Makhlouf was born in 1828, in Bekaa Kafra (North Lebanon). He had a true Christian upbringing, which had given him a passion for prayer. Then he followed his two hermit uncles in the hermitage of the St Antonious Kozhaya monastery and was converted to monastic and hermetical life.
In 1851, he left his family village and headed for the Our Lady of Maifouk monastery to spend his first monastic year, and then he went to the St Maron monastery in Annaya, where he entered the Maronite Order, carrying the name Charbel, a name of one of the Antioch church martyrs of the second century. On November 1st. 1853, he exposed his ceremonial vows in St Maron’s monastery – Annaya. Then he completed his theological studies in the St Kobrianous and Justina monastery in Kfifan, Batroun.
He was ordained a priest in Bkerky, the Maronite Patriarchate, on July 23rd, 1859. He lived 16 years in the St Maron’s monastery – Annaya. From there, he entered, on February 15th, 1875, the St Peter & Paul hermitage, which belongs to the monastery. He was a typical saint and hermit, who spent his time praying and worshipping. Rarely had he left the hermitage where he followed the way of the saintly hermits in prayers, life and practice. St Charbel lived in the hermitage for 23 years. On December 16th, 1898 he was struck with an illness while performing the holy mass. He died on Christmas’ eve, December 24th, 1898, and was buried in the St Maron monastery cemetery in Annaya. Few months later, dazzling lights were seen around the grave. From there, his corpse, which had been secreting sweat and blood, was transferred into a special coffin. Hordes of pilgrims started swarming the place to get his intercession. And through this intercession, God blessed many people with recovery and spiritual graces. In 1925, his beatification and canonization were proposed for declaration by Pope Pious XI. In 1950, the grave was opened in the presence of an official committee which included doctors who verified the soundness of the body. After the grave had been opened and inspected, the variety of healing incidents amazingly multiplied. A multitude of pilgrims from different religious facets started flocking to the Annaya monastery to get the saint’s intercession. Prodigies reached beyond the Lebanese borders. This unique phenomenon caused a moral revolution, the return to faith and the reviving of the virtues of the soul.

Qatar and Saudi Arabia play crucial role in assisting French envoy in finding Lebanon solution: LBCI sources
LBCI/July 16, 2023
LBCI's sources confirmed that French president Emmanuel Macron's special envoy for Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian, will carry ideas regarding dialogue and unification of the path in the Quintet meeting, to reach an agreement on the best, and that Qatar and Saudi Arabia have a significant and essential role in helping Le Drian find a solution. It pointed out that "the French did not put forward Frangieh's name, but rather the proposal was present, and they supported it, and it became clear that neither Frangieh nor any other name possesses the majority, and Hezbollah must move to reach a settlement." "The French have doubts that Bassil would oppose if they were to move towards the Army Commander's name."

Report: Shea to take part in 5-nation talks in Doha
Naharnet/July 16, 2023
Eyes will turn Monday to the meeting of the five-nation committee on Lebanon that will be held in the Qatari capital Doha. The committee comprises representatives of the United States, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt. The meeting will be attended by French presidential envoy for Lebanon Jean-Yves Le Drian.“The meeting’s outcome will decide Le Drian’s next move,” Annahar newspaper reported on Sunday. Quoting reports, the daily added that U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea will also take part in the meeting.

Qatari envoy to visit Beirut, Doha talks to focus on 4 candidates
Naharnet/July 16, 2023
A Qatari envoy will visit Lebanon in the next few days to hold discussions over the stalled presidential file, a political source said. “The Qatari ambassador paved the way for this visit and the Qatari efforts have been active in Lebanon behind the scenes for a while now,” the source added, in remarks to ad-Diyar newspaper published Sunday. “Several ideas and formulas will be discussed (at the meeting of the five-nation committee on Lebanon) in Doha and all are based on reaching an understanding or an agreement among the Lebanese parties through dialogue,” the daily added. “Among the ideas is proposing a package of four names for the presidency -- Suleiman Franjieh, Army chief General Joseph Aoun and two other candidates,” the newspaper said. The four candidates will be proposed “in parallel with discussing the elements of the post-election period, which include the government’s shape and policies, especially reformist policies,” ad-Diyar added.

Fluctuations in Lebanon's exchange market as Salameh's term nears end
LBCI/July 16, 2023
The Lebanese exchange market witnessed sudden fluctuations over the weekend, with the US dollar surging to 99,000 Lebanese pounds before dropping back to 93,000 pounds. This unexpected shift comes after a relatively stable period where the exchange rate hovered around LBP 91,000. According to political analysts, the market disturbance is linked to warnings issued by speculators and money changers as the term of Lebanon's central bank governor approaches its end later this month. Additionally, rumors of the resignation of the four deputy governors further added to the market's sensitivity. However, sources close to the governors deny any current resignation plans, emphasizing their intention to engage with ministers and deputies to push for reform laws, as they reject the current financial policies. While political factors play a significant role, there is another explanation for the recent surge in the US dollar's rate. Analysts have attributed it to the increased money supply of the Lebanese pound in the market, exerting pressure on the dollar. Given these circumstances, what can be expected from banks and the exchange rate? The Sayrafa exchange platform is set to change. Sources from the Central Bank of Lebanon revealed recent meetings with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to facilitate the fund's communication with Reuters and Bloomberg agencies. These meetings aim to adopt one of them to announce the exchange rate of the US dollar against the Lebanese pound, according to Sayrafa. This initiative also involves linking Sayrafa to the global stock exchange, gradually replacing the parallel market rate, and establishing an official exchange rate. Furthermore, this move aims to put an end to the current Sayrafa exchange formula, which has caused chaos in exchange rates and depleted the central bank's reserves. According to deputies of the central bank governor, unifying the exchange rate is a gateway to reform. However, it cannot be accomplished without implementing capital control law and a recovery plan. Change is possible, but today the game lies in the hands of the political decision-makers.

Saudi ambassador Walid Bukhari departs for Doha to attend Quintet meeting on Lebanese presidential elections: LBCI sources
LBCI/July 16, 2023
LBCI's sources confirmed that the Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon, Walid Bukhari, left on Sunday morning for Doha to participate in the Quintet meeting that is discussing the file of the Lebanese presidential elections.

Geagea rejects retreat under pressure, says solution for Syrian refugees' crisis is in Hezbollah's hands
LBCI/July 16, 2023
The Lebanese Forces party leader, Samir Geagea, discussed the political developments in the country, particularly the presidential elections, during his meeting with Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rahi in Bekaa Kafra, where he tackled the latest investigations and the judicial process in Qornet El Sawda's crime, and the demarcation of borders in that region. During the meeting, Geagea pointed out that the dispute over Qornet El Sawda is between Bcharre and Bqaa Safrin, adding: "No matter how great the differences are, solutions can be found." He showcased his regret for hearing, in the past days, of attempts to interfere in the criminal investigations, stating that the investigation that has been in place for three years to demarcate the borders between Bcharre and Bqaa Safrin be completed and be concluded as it should. Geagea also congratulated the people of Bcharre for their composure, calmness, and adherence to the law and judiciary, which they showed in the aftermath of the incident. Geagea stressed that "the ongoing dispute can only be resolved through the law and the judiciary, and based on this, the municipality of Bcharre has responded to all the requests of the real estate judge and the real estate experts who have been addressing this issue for three years until today. Therefore, we hope that the municipality of Bqaa Safrin will respond similarly so that we can reach a result as quickly as possible." Regarding an attempt to remove the judge responsible for investigating the issue of border demarcation, he stated: "According to what I have heard repeatedly from the lawyer of the municipality of Bcharre, the file has been completed to a large extent, with only 10 percent to 15 percent of the work remaining. Therefore, it is unfortunate in a delicate and complex case of this magnitude, which could lead to bloody events, to suspend the work to remove the judge." "Some people indeed say that it is a legally recognized step in the presence of "reasonable suspicion," and I frankly will not express an opinion on this matter. But 'legitimate suspicion' means suspicion and legitimacy. For three years until today, we have not heard anything about this issue, even though the judge himself is deciding on this matter. Is it permissible that at the end of the road, we hear now that there is a legitimate suspicion!?" He added: "Since one thing leads to another, we have all seen how a crime the size of the Beirut Port explosion is still unresolved today under the name of 'legitimate suspicion.'" Geagea hopes that the concerns and fears of the deputies of Bcharre are not in place. He said: "The most important thing is not to hinder the judiciary, and on this occasion, I would like to urge all parties involved in the case to focus on assisting the judiciary so that it can give its verdict on this matter as soon as possible."
The Lebanese Forces party leader addressed the issue of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, saying: "Some people in Lebanon always try to distort matters because no one can give orders to Lebanon, as the decision regarding Syrian refugees is an exceptional sovereign decision." He added: "The fact is that what was issued by the European Parliament is just non-binding recommendations for Lebanon, which, in terms of the issue of Syrian refugees, are completely contrary to reality and do not consider that Lebanon is a people, a state, and a sovereign decision-maker." "Therefore, the recommendations state that refugees should stay in Lebanon." He added, "This land is ours, and the decision belongs to us. Accepting any individual as a Syrian refugee is a sovereign decision we make." Geagea also commented on the position of Hezbollah's officials in this matter, who condemn and reject the European recommendations, asking, "Why doesn't the Lebanese government decide the return of Syrian refugees at present, considering that it is the problem of Hezbollah and its allies today? Instead of Hezbollah officials giving us statements expressing outrage at the European Union's position, let them decide themselves." He urged the caretaker government to meet to decide that the reasons for seeking refuge no longer exist. Therefore, all those classified as Syrian refugees in Lebanon should return to their country within a week, two weeks, or a month. "I assure them from now on that we will fully support this decision."
Geagea emphasized that through the refugee issue, "it is evident that some politicians in Lebanon talk about one thing, but what they do is completely different. The solution to the problem of Syrian refugees in Lebanon is entirely in the hands of Hezbollah." Finally, Samir Geagea touched on the presidential elections, saying: "They should stop wasting time and seeking refuge in France, going to Qatar, Cairo, and then returning to Lebanon. One simple, natural, logical, and constitutional solution is that the deputies in the Parliament elect a president." He continued, "They used to say that the balance of power in Parliament does not allow the election of a president. From this standpoint, I ask all those who prevented the quorum of the June 14 session, why did you withdraw from the session if it is true what you claim, that the balance of power does not allow the election of a president? Why didn't you stay for a second, third, and fourth round until a president was elected? If that had happened, no team among us could guarantee who would be elected president. But when things become necessary, everyone must be present for the election of a president." Geagea concluded, "All they care about is that we retreat under the pressure of the crisis to give them what they want. However, this time we will never retreat. I say this to be clear so they know exactly where they are heading." "The only possibility is that we go to Parliament and hold consecutive electoral sessions until a president is elected. I affirm here that if the June 14 session had not been boycotted by the 'obstruction team,' we would have had a president today."

LBCI Sources: No immediate resignations of Lebanon's Central Bank deputy governors
LBCI/July 16, 2023
LBCI's sources confirmed that there are no resignations from the deputy governors of Lebanon's central bank and no intention to resign at present. Instead, intensive meetings are being held to exert pressure and initiate reforms in the coming days.
Regarding the sudden rise in the exchange rate of the US dollar, followed by its subsequent decline, observers have linked the political movement to currency speculation as the end of the term of the governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon approaches.

Lebanon economic crisis means more work for craftsmen
Agence France Presse/July 16, 2023
Among meandering alleyways in the historic market of Lebanon's southern city of Sidon, cobblers and menders are doing brisk business, as an economic crisis revives demand for once-fading trades. At Ahmed al-Bizri's shoe repair store, nestled among old stone arches and a crowded warren of shops and stalls, workers are busy adjusting a woman's sandals and replacing the worn-out sole of a man's shoe. "Repairs are in high demand," said Bizri, 48, who learned the trade from his father. People from all walks of life "come to us to repair their shoes: rich, poor, average workers, public servants, soldiers," he added. Since late 2019, Lebanon has been in a state of economic collapse that the World Bank says is one of the worst in modern times. The Lebanese pound has lost around 98 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar, and most of the population has been plunged into poverty. Bizri said his work "has increased 60 percent" since the crisis began, adding that people now prefer to spend up to one million Lebanese pounds (around $11 on parallel markets) to fix old shoes rather than buy new ones. "Even people who had shoes hidden away for 20 years are bringing them out for repair," he said with a smile, boots hanging from rusty hooks and coloured laces on the walls around him. In a shop nearby in central Sidon, fellow cobbler Walid al-Suri, 58, works with an old manual sewing machine that clicks and clacks as he pumps the pedal with his foot. He stitches up a hole in the side of a shoe and trims the thread, covering it with black polish to camouflage the repair. "It's true that our work has increased," he said from his workshop, a tiny space with faded green walls filled with shoes of all kinds. But "there are no profits because the price of all the materials has gone up, from glue to needles, thread and nails," he said.
'Suffocating' -
In Lebanon, a country dependent on imports, inflation has soared. In 2022, inflation averaged 171 percent, according to the World Bank -- one of the highest rates worldwide. "We pay for everything in dollars, not in Lebanese pounds," said Suri, who repairs around 20 shoes a day. For that, he said he earns about $11, hardly enough to cover the basic needs of his family of three. Some people have asked him to repair shoes that were verging on unfixable because they had no money for new ones, he said. Elsewhere in the coastal city, Mustafa al-Qadi, 67, is mending duvets under the soft light of a window during one of Lebanon's long power cuts. The bankrupt state provides just a handful of hours of electricity a day. Qadi uses thick thread and deftly sews stitches into a duvet spread out on the floor, other quilts folded and rolled up around him. "Most people patch things up" even if they are made cheaply, said Qadi, who is also an upholsterer. "The circumstances are extraordinary -- unfortunately our currency has no value," he said, his glasses slipping down his nose as he worked. Despite the crash, Lebanese officials have failed to enact reforms demanded by international donors that would unlock bail-out funds.
Unemployment reached more than 29 percent last year, according to the World Bank."We hope this situation will end because we're suffocating," Qadi said.
'Forced' to repair
In a store bearing an old-fashioned hand-painted yellow "Repairs" sign, tailor Mohammed Muazzin, 67, works away, surrounded by spools of thread and clothes waiting for attention or ready for pickup. A woman in hijab and long robe holds up a dress to inspect Muazzin's adjustments, while another in a tank top and flowing hair waits to ask about repairing a pair of torn jeans. "People used to buy trousers, wear them a few times and then get rid of them. Today, they give them to their brother or another relative," said Muazzin, who has been a tailor for four decades. Even though he has up to 70 clients a day, he said that before the crisis "our earnings were higher." Areen, 24, an unemployed teacher who declined to provide her surname, is among those who have come to Muazzin for repairs. "The tough circumstances have forced us" to go to tailors instead of buying new clothes, she said, wearing a soft-colored headscarf. "Before, we would throw away clothes, shoes and bags or give them to those in need," she said. "Now we try to get the most out of them."

Lebanese officials react to European Parliament's decision on Syrian refugees
LBCI/July 16, 2023
Lebanese officials and politicians from various backgrounds have used a range of terms to describe their reaction to the recent decision by the European Parliament in support of keeping refugees in Lebanon. Verbal positions indicate almost common rejection of the decision, but what about the supposed steps to be taken to expedite the return of displaced persons to Syria? However, while efforts were underway to form the supposed ministerial delegation to visit Damascus and initiate a dialogue regarding the issue of refugee return, Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib did not wish to lead the delegation, following some analyses linking his decision to recent foreign developments and decisions related to the matter. In a clarifying statement, he emphasized that the role of the Foreign Minister is to engage in diplomatic and political communications with Arabs, Syrians, and other friendly countries. He asserted that he has been, and will continue to be, actively involved in these efforts in coordination with the Prime Minister. On the other hand, technical matters fall within the purview of relevant ministers and agencies. While some sources stressed that Bou Habib's reluctance stems from his American citizenship over the past decades, fearing potential repercussions under the Caesar Act in case of his visit, he denied these claims in an interview with LBCI, affirming that he had visited Syria after the earthquake and that he will soon meet with his Syrian counterpart, Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad. He also highlighted his membership in the Arab Six-Party Committee for Dialogue with Syria. Minister Essam Sharafeddine, responsible for the file, will request from Caretaker Prime Minister Mikati, upon his return from abroad after July 24th, to hold an emergency government session the following day dedicated to the issue of displaced persons. He will also assign another minister to lead the delegation, which consists of eight ministers, General Security and the Supreme Council of Defense. The objective is to expedite a serious visit to Syria, committed to initiating work on resolving this issue as soon as possible. It is preferable for the minister to be from the faction supported by the Free Patriotic Movement, as they comprise four of the eight ministers forming the committee. Government sources emphasized that the committee's establishment and its visit to Damascus were discussed and approved within the Council of Ministers. However, the Foreign Minister's apology will be subject to future consultations for the appointment of an alternative committee head. In a related context, after eight months of study, the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Lebanese Parliament will issue a draft of recommendations on Tuesday covering the development of refugee management, including a response to the European Parliament's decision, according to LBCI information. While everyone agrees on the gravity of the refugee issue, there is a lack of concrete executive steps. Are personal interests with foreign parties or hesitation and evasion to blame for the delay, while Lebanon and the Lebanese bear the high cost of these repercussions?

Are the Hezbollah border threats the new normal for Israel? - analysis
Seth J. Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/July 16/2023
The Hezbollah incidents and threats to Israel along the northern borders appear to be increasing in both tempo and type.
Over the last several months Hezbollah has established a new normal of provocations in Lebanon.
This threatens Israel and it appears that the incidents continue to increase in both tempo and type.
The Israeli Defense Forces said on Saturday that “IDF soldiers fired warning shots and used riot dispersal means in order to distance a number of suspects who crossed the Blue Line in the area of Mount Dov, after they refused to withdraw from the area. The suspects returned to Lebanese territory.”
Al-Mayadeen, the pro-Iran media outlet, claimed that on Saturday “a media delegation was on a tour with Qassem Hashem, a member of the Development and Liberation Bloc in the Lebanese Parliament, on the outskirts of the Shebaa Farms.”
The “Shebaa Farms” is another name for the Mount Dov area. Another article from the media outlet says that the current tensions could lead to a “military confrontation” lasting “several days.”The article, which poses as an analysis, basically says that even if neither side desires conflict, tensions are growing. The important issue then is examining how Hezbollah has begun to dictate the tempo and pressure on the border.
This now appears to be the new normal or at least an attempt by Hezbollah to create one.
Changing up the border rules
LAST WEEK it became clear that Hezbollah was trying to change the rules on the border. In addition, a speech by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah revealed how the terror group is throwing down a rhetorical gauntlet over some tents it has set up. The tents were an attempt to move a pawn into Mount Dov to try to trade area for demands regarding Ghajar, a village on the border that recently opened to tourism. But there is more to it than just this. Hezbollah is learning from the maritime deal last year that it can create artificial tensions to then exploit the crisis and make gains. This gives it additional influence over the Lebanese government to make demands on Israel. It also creates fake crises to profit from. It also is able to draw in the US and thus gain a kind of legitimacy through its actions. No other terror group could do what Hezbollah does. For instance, no one would let terror groups invade a border area and demand concessions and get the government (i.e Lebanon) to rubber stamp them. Let’s review what is known. This past week Hezbollah enabled an attempt to damage the security fence. While Hezbollah may not always take credit for these activities, the group controls southern Lebanon and therefore it may use plausible deniability to avoid being held to account for its actions. In this case, several suspects approached the security fence with Lebanon and attempted to sabotage it, the IDF said at the time. The identity of the suspects is not known but this is a serious incident.
Then on July 6, there was a launch of an anti-tank missile in Lebanon and shrapnel was located adjacent to the town of Ghajar. On April 6 Hamas fired 34 rockets from Lebanon at Israel. In addition, in April mortars were also launched near Metulla.
The IDF struck targets belonging to the Hamas terror organization in southern Lebanon in April. In March a man infiltrated from Lebanon into Israel and set up an explosive at a junction near Megiddo. He was later neutralized. Back in February, there was also a drug smuggling attempt into Israeli territory near the town of Arab al-Aramshe. In addition to all these incidents are the Hezbollah tents quietly set up in the disputed territory of Mount Dov. Earlier this month the Institute for National Security Studies correctly noted that “Israel must use every possible means to remove the Hezbollah tents at Har Dov. The political process should be fully exhausted, but limited in time. If it fails, Israel should take action to remove the tents, even at the price of risking a deterioration into a limited conflict on the ground.”
The overall context now reveals how Hezbollah has been ratcheting up the tensions slowly, applying more pressure over time, and testing the limits to which its behavior can stretch.
It continues to up the ante, including with the tents, the demands about Ghajar, and now border incidents including damage to the fence, the firing of the anti-tank missile, and the enabling of rocket fire.

Spotlight on Terrorism: Hezbollah, Lebanon and Syria (June 30 – July 13, 2023)
The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center/July 16/2023
https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/en/spotlight-on-terrorism-hezbollah-lebanon-and-syria-june-30-july-13-2023/
Growing tension along the Israel-Lebanon border: The Lebanese government, in coordination with Hezbollah, deliberated Israel’s [alleged] trespass into Lebanese territory in the tiny village of Ghajar instead of directly addressing Israel’s demand for the removal of the tents Hezbollah erected on the Israeli side of the border (the Blue Line). In the meantime, Hezbollah continued its provocation along the border, which included firing an anti-tank missile from the Ghajar region, an attempt to vandalize the border fence, in which three civilians were injured, and an arson attempt.
On June 12, 2023, Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah gave a speech for the 17th anniversary of the Second Lebanon War, relating to the current events along the border. He claimed the tent erected by Hezbollah was located in Lebanese territory and any forcible Israeli attempt to remove it would be met with a “military” response. According to Nasrallah, the territory of the Shebaa Farms [Har Dov] is Lebanese and Israel had to withdraw. He also related to the maritime border between Israel and Lebanon as “a model which had proved itself,” because, he claimed, Hezbollah’s threats against the Karish offshore drilling rig had been a factor in the successful arrangement of the issue. However, he claimed, it was not a legitimate border delineation because Hezbollah did not recognize Israel and only sought its annihilation.
The Lebanese presidential crisis continues with no resolution in the foreseeable future.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps’ (IRGC) Qods Force and Hezbollah are strengthening their foothold in Syria.
Information was revealed about an Iranian company’s provision of missiles and UAVs to Hezbollah and Russia.
Lebanon
Growing tension along the Israel-Lebanon border
During the past two weeks tension has grown along the Israel-Lebanese border:
On July 12, 2023 several individuals of unknown identity wearing civilian clothes attempted to vandalize the barrier between Israel and Lebanon; they were repelled by IDF forces (IDF spokesman, July 12, 2023). According to the al-Nashra website, they were three workers who were erecting a watch tower near the border in the al-Bustan region, southeast of the village of Yarin (near Zarit, an Israeli moshav). They were reportedly injured by an IDF hand grenade (al-Nashra, July 12, 2023). Muhammad Afif, head of Hezbollah’s media information department, said three Hezbollah operatives had been wounded in an incident on the border in “circumstances which had not yet been clarified,” and they had been evacuated to a hospital in Tyre. It was also reported that Lebanese army and UNIFIL forces had been put on alert along the border to control the situation (al-Istiqlal, July 12, 2023). In response, Candice Ardell, deputy director of the UNIFIL media office, said the agency was aware of the Blue Line incident and was monitoring the situation. She added that the situation was “sensitive” and UNIFIL had called for a halt to any activity that might cause escalation (Lebanese National News Agency, July 12, 2023). In his speech Nasrallah claimed the July 12 incident on the border was still under examination (al-Manar, July 12, 2023).
Somewhat later on July 12, 2023, several suspicious individuals approached the border security fence near Metulla, Israel’s northernmost city, threw rocks and tried to light a fire in Lebanese territory near the fence. IDF fighters fired shots to repel them and they retreated (IDF spokesman, July 12, 2023). Their actions may have been related to the 17th anniversary of the Second Lebanon War. The Lebanese media issued pictures of several young Lebanese climbing the border security fence near Metulla and trying to cover its security cameras (@alishoeib1970 Twitter account, July 12, 2023).
The events were preceded by several clashes in the area of the village of Shuba, apparently instigated by Hezbollah, to disrupt IDF engineering activity: on July 5, 2023, after an IDF activity to remove underbrush near the fence, local residents came, planted 40 trees and installed an irrigation system. In the meantime, Lebanese army soldiers claimed an Israeli bulldozer engaged in engineering activities at the site had entered Lebanese territory. They informed UNIFIL, which temporarily halted the activities (LBC, July 5, 2023; @alishoeib1970 Twitter account, July 12, 2023). Later, two Lebanese crossed the border and approached the IDF bulldozer. IDF fighters fired into the air to repel them. Several others crossed the border but left after a discussion with officials (Ynet, July 9, 2023).
On July 6, 2023, an explosion was reported near the village of Ghajar. IDF forces arriving on the scene reported mortar shells had been fired at Israeli territory near the border. An examination revealed an anti-tank missile had been fired (IDF spokesman, July 6, 2023). Its source was unclear. The Lebanese media reported a rocket had been fired from south Lebanon which landed in the al-Wazzani region near Ghajar. Lebanese “security sources” claimed the rocket had been fired from the area around Shuba (al-Nashra, July 6, 2023). UNIFIL said in an official announcement that it could not confirm the source of the rocket fire and had sent forces to investigate, adding that the UNIFIL commander was in contact with the Israeli and Lebanese authorities and had informed them they had to practice restraint and avoid taking measures that could lead to war (UNIFIL Twitter account, July 6, 2023). In the meantime, according to reports, Najib Mikati, interim Lebanese prime minister, was following the events and maintained contact with both Lebanese army and UNIFIL headquarters (Lebanese government Twitter account, July 6, 2023).
On July 9, 2023, about 30 armed Lebanese army soldiers and unarmed Hezbollah operatives crossed the border for a short period of time. The IDF asked UNIFIL to return them to Lebanese territory and they withdraw (IDF Radio, July 9, 2023). In the meantime, five members of the Lebanese parliament held a demonstration near the village to Ghajar to protest what they referred to as Israel’s “annexation of the northern part of the village.” They called for pressure to be exerted on Israel to stop its annexation and called on the Lebanese army to confront Israel (al-Nashra, July 9, 2023).
In his speech (see below), Hassan Nasrallah related at great length to the tension along the border and the situation in Ghajar. He said that the previous year Israel had built a fence to annex the northern part of the village, which he claimed was “Lebanese territory which had international recognition from the UN.” He complained that no objections were made when Israel turned Ghajar into a tourist attraction, while the UN indicated objection to Hezbollah tents, implying that the UN had a double standard . He rejected the claim that Israel had annexed Ghajar because of tents erected at the site and that erecting the tents had merely renewed the whole border situation. He claimed the time had come to deal with Israel’s violations in Ghajar after 17 years, as the maritime border between Israel and Lebanon had been arranged following Hezbollah’s threats to attack the Karish offshore natural gas drilling rig. He complained the international community had a double standard, saying nothing about Israel’s [alleged] “violations” in Ghajar, but reacting swiftly to the erection of the tents. He claimed entering the Shebaa Farms [Har Dov] and erecting the tents had been legitimate because they were in Lebanese territory, and Lebanon had the right to build whatever it liked. He added that Israel was not as strong as it had been and therefore it could be challenged with the erection of tents. He threatened that if the tents were attacked Hezbollah’s operatives would receive orders “to deal with the situation.”
In the wake of the erection of the tents, over the past two weeks the Lebanese government and Hezbollah initiated complaints that Israel had violated UN Resolution 1701.[1] According to al-Quds al-Arabi and the Deutsche Presse-Agentur News Agency, Lebanon informed the UNIFIL commander that “Hezbollah’s two tents were on Lebanese land” and “starting from the location of the tents, UNIFIL had to begin delineating the land borders and write finis to the entire issue” (al-Quds al-Arabi and DPA, July 11, 2023).
The Hezbollah-affiliated media outlets reported that Lebanon had ordered its UN delegation to lodge a complaint with the UN secretary general and Security Council and for Israel to withdraw immediately and unconditionally from all Lebanese territory (al-Manar, July 11, 2023). A few hours before Nasrallah made his speech he discussed the tents with Lebanese media personnel. He claimed that in early June 2023 Israel had asked UNIFIL to remove them by force, and “[H]ere we are, a month and a half later…” Nasrallah’s threat of a Hezbollah attack should the tents be forcibly removed was preceded by a warning sent to Israel through several channels claiming if Israel removed them, regardless of the method used, Hezbollah would declare war (al-Akhbar, July 4, 2023).
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib initiated a round of talks with the foreign ministers of the Security Council members to initiate the process for delineating Israel’s land border. According to the report, he also discussed the idea at a meeting attended by interim Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, the UNIFIL commander and himself. Habib complained that there were still many problematic issues to be dealt with regarding Israel and the border, and therefore they were convinced that delineation was the best solution. He stressed it did not mean recognition or normalization of relations with Israel (MTV and Telegram, July 11, 2023).
Senior officials in both Hezbollah and Amal, including Hashem Safi al-Din, chairman of Hezbollah’s executive council, and Wafiq Safi, head of Hezbollah’s liaison and coordination unit, held a coordination meeting. It ended with the publication of a joint statement warning Israel against taking “aggressive action” at various sites along the border, including “new aggression” in the form of erecting a fence in the northern Ghajar area, which they claimed was Lebanese territory in the Shebaa Farms (al-‘Ahed, July 4, 2023). Nabih Berri, speaker of the Lebanese parliament and head of the Amal movement, said the tent had been erected on Lebanese territory and the international community had to force Israel to implement Resolution 1701 and withdraw from the northern area of Ghajar, from the Shebaa Farms and from the hills around the village of Shuba (Nabih Berri’s Twitter account, July 10, 2023).
Muneir al-Rabi’, a Lebanese political commentator, said Western agencies had proposed Israel withdraw from the northern area of Ghajar in return for Hezbollah’s removing the tents. However, he claimed, that would be the wrong approach for Hezbollah because all the territories were Lebanese and they were not part of any disputed areas. He also said that “according to assessments,” Hezbollah had set a time limit for restoring the status quo ante in Ghajar, otherwise escalation would be unavoidable. He added that all the developments had opened doors to many possibilities for negotiations to delineate the land borders, especially since Hezbollah, with Lebanon behind it, did not agree on the locations of several sites marked on the Blue Line (al-Medan, July 9, 2023).
According to Lebanese sources, the Americans entered the picture and the United States administration asked interim Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati to promote understandings with UNIFIL regarding its position. Dorothy Shea, the American ambassador to Lebanon, demanded an urgent meeting with Mikati regarding Hezbollah’s position, presenting him with messages from Israel and the United States. The United States, she said, expected the Lebanese government to reach understandings with the Lebanese army and UNIFIL to deal with the crisis of the Hezbollah tents. She told Mikati that the United States did not want to see any military activity from Lebanese territory towards Israel. It was also reported that Mikati passed the message to Hezbollah (al-Akhbar, July 4, 2023).
Hassan Nasrallah’s speech
On July 12, 2023, Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah gave a speech for the 17th anniversary of the Second Lebanon War (al-Manar, July 12, 2023). In addition to the above, his main points were the following:
The Second Lebanon War: According to Nasrallah, the war in 2006 was particularly significant for Lebanon and the entire region, and its consequences were still felt today. At the time the United States tried to introduce the concept of “the new Middle East,” in which Israel would control the entire area as an American proxy. The concept failed in the wars in Lebanon and Iraq and in the Palestinian arena.
The equation of deterrence: Since the war, he claimed, Hezbollah had created a new equation of deterrence with Israel, while Israel’s deterrence was consistently deteriorating. That was obvious, he said, because since the war Israelis had lived in fear while Lebanese lives had been tranquil. That was because they had faith in the efficacy of the balance Hezbollah had created, despite the war in Syria and the struggle against radical Islam headed by ISIS. He added that Hezbollah had created the balance for the sake of Lebanon’s security, whose three foundations were the forces of Hezbollah, the Lebanese army and the Lebanese people themselves. Israel’s attempts to restore its deterrence had resulted in chaos, which was obvious in Operation Shield and Arrow in May 2023 and the activity in Jenin in June 2023.
The Palestinian “resistance:” He said the Palestinian “resistance” [anti-Israel terrorism] had become stronger. He quoted a new Palestinian public opinion poll which found that two thirds of the Palestinians in Judea and Samaria were of the opinion that not only would the entre region be “liberated,” but Israel would soon cease to exist. He said that since Israel had withdrawn from Lebanon [2006] the “resistance” had “liberated” Gaza [i.e., Israel’s disengagement from the Gaza Strip] and the idea of a “greater Israel” had collapsed.
Israel’s [alleged] violations of the Lebanese border: He said that according to Resolution 1701, Israel was supposed to stop its hostile activities against Lebanon and the situation was supposed to be under Lebanese army and UNIFIL supervision, but in reality Israel routinely violated Lebanon’s air space and sea and land sovereignty to attack Syria.
UNIFIL mandate extended
The UNIFIL mandate was extended, and senior figures in the Lebanese government are trying to curtail its forces’ freedom of activity in south Lebanon. To that end Najib Mikati, interim Lebanese prime minister, met with Abdallah Bou Habib, the Lebanese foreign minister. Habib said Lebanon had an interest in UNIFIL performing its function smoothly and therefore it would be best if the Lebanese army accompanied it. He said that 80% of UNIFIL’s patrols were accompanied by Lebanese army forces, and they wanted the percentage to be higher to prevent problems, because local residents were more “comfortable” if Lebanese army forces were present on patrols (Lebanese government Twitter account, July 12, 2023). UNIFIL said in a statement that all its activities were coordinated with the Lebanese army and in 20% of its ground activities Lebanese soldiers were present, and the patrols were the key to monitoring violations of Resolution 1701 (UNIFIL Twitter account, July 13, 2023).
Hezbollah and the Palestinian issue
Hezbollah condemned the “Zionist aggression against the Jenin refugee camp,” saying the silence of the international community and the Arab states encouraged Israel to continue its “violent acts of terrorism.” Hezbollah also stressed its total support for the Palestinian [terrorist] organizations, with all means they wanted to use, to deter Israel and defend the Palestinian people (al-Alam al-Harbi, July 2, 2023).
17th anniversary of the Second Lebanon War
July 12, 2023, marked the 17th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second Lebanon War, for which Hezbollah’s al-Manar website posted articles, pictures and videos. One video showed the abduction of three Israeli reserve soldiers, which began the war (al-Manar, July 12, 2023). In all the posts, as well as in Hassan Nasrallah’s speech, the role of Hezbollah as “Lebanon’s defender” was repeatedly emphasized.
Hezbollah and the protests in Israel
Hezbollah is carefully monitoring Israel’s internal situation and the protests against the “legal reform.” Most of its reporting rests on Israeli media coverage. Hezbollah’s articles claim that Israel’s internal crisis put the fate of the country in danger. One article related to the petition signed by more than 100,000 reserve Israeli Air Force soldiers and a letter sent by 211 reserve soldiers and officers to senior officials and officers in the Ministry of Defense and IDF (al-Manar, July 12, 2023).
The Lebanese presidential crisis
The Lebanese presidential crisis continues. So far no political camp has been able to achieve a majority for its candidate. Hezbollah remains determined to support the candidacy of Suleiman Frangieh, affiliated with both Hezbollah and the Syrian regime, and apparently will continue to frustrate attempts to elect a different candidate (icibeyrouth.com, July 2023).
The Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese daily paper al-Akhbar reported that France was planning to propose to Saudi Arabia that Iran be included in contacts related to the Lebanese presidential issue and even possibly in the committee composed of Saudi Arabia, the United States, Qatar, Egypt and France. Such a possibility would depend on contacts France held with all the other committee members (al-Akhbar, July 4, 2023).
Syria
Qods Force and Hezbollah strengthen their foothold in Syria
The American Institute of War issued a report on June 30, 2023, according to which the IRGC’s Qods Force and Hezbollah had erected a headquarters in the city of al-Mayadin in eastern Syria, and Hezbollah, through its construction company Jihad al-Binaa, had begun building a military base in Deir ez-Zor, not far from al-Mayadin. According to the report, the base has storerooms for weapons, a training facility and housing for pro-Iranian militia operatives and their families. In addition, the pro-Iranian militias handled by the Qods Force and Hezbollah recently constructed a new military headquarters and housing for soldiers south of Damascus near the Shi’ite shrine of al-Sayyidah Zaynab. The sites are part of Hezbollah and the Iranian regime’s efforts to secure the main roads in Syria and their connections to the Golan Heights and Lebanon (The Institute of War, June 30, 2023).
Iranian Support for Hezbollah and Russia
A groups of Iranian hackers calling themselves “Lab-Dookhtegan” gave Iran International, the opposition channel, information about a company called Tik, affiliated with the IRGC and, according to the hackers, providing Russia and Hezbollah with UAVs and missiles. The group revealed pictures related to the company and the names of its management. According to the information, the company provided Hezbollah and the Russian army with instructions and information about the missiles and the manufacture of the UAVs, and about their command and control systems. Tik’s CEO is Rasul Sirati, and the top person in charge of instructing Hezbollah is Heshmat Parsaifard (Iran International, June 29, 2023).
Full document in PDF format/https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/app/uploads/2023/07/E_134_23.pdf
[1] UN Security Council Resolution 1701, passed at the end of the Second Lebanon War, deals with the deployment and responsibilities of the Lebanese army and UNIFIL in south Lebanon. For further information see the December 19, 2018 report, "Security Council Resolution 1701 and Its Systematic Violation by Hezbollah and Iran." For the text of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, see https://peacemaker.un.org/israellebanon-resolution1701.

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 16-17/2023
Iran’s morality police return to streets after protests in a new campaign to impose Islamic dress
AP/July 16, 2023
DUBAI: Iranian authorities on Sunday announced a new campaign to force women to wear the Islamic headscarf and morality police returned to the streets 10 months after the death of a woman in their custody sparked nationwide protests.
The morality police had largely pulled back following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini last September, as authorities struggled to contain mass protests calling for the overthrow of the theocracy that has ruled Iran for over four decades.
The protests largely died down earlier this year following a heavy crackdown in which over 500 protesters were killed and nearly 20,000 detained. But many women continued to flaunt the official dress code, especially in the capital, Tehran, and other cities. The morality police were only rarely seen patrolling the streets, and in December, there were even some reports — later denied — that they had been disbanded. Authorities insisted throughout the crisis that the rules had not changed. Iran’s clerical rulers view the hijab as a key pillar of the Islamic revolution that brought them to power, and consider more casual dress a sign of Western decadence. On Sunday, Gen. Saeed Montazerolmahdi, a police spokesman, said the morality police would resume notifying and then detaining women not wearing hijab in public. In Tehran, the men and women of the morality police could be seen patrolling the streets in marked vans. The battle over the hijab became a powerful rallying cry last fall, with women playing a leading role in the protests. The demonstrations quickly escalated into calls for the overthrow of Iran’s clerical rulers, whom the mostly young protesters accuse of being corrupt, repressive and out of touch. Iran’s government blamed the protests on a foreign conspiracy, without providing evidence. Several Iranian celebrities joined the protests, including prominent directors and actors from the country’s celebrated film industry. Several Iranian actresses were detained after appearing in public without the hijab or expressing support for the protests. In the most recent case, actress Azadeh Samadi was barred from social media and ordered by a court to seek psychological treatment for “antisocial personality disorder” after appearing at a funeral two months ago wearing a cap on her head.

Palestinian gunman wounds 3 Israelis in occupied West Bank
Associated Press/July 16, 2023
A Palestinian gunman opened fire on a car in the occupied West Bank on Sunday wounding three Israelis before fleeing, Israeli authorities said. The attack was the latest in a relentless cycle of violence that has gripped the region, driving up the death toll and sparking the worst fighting between Israel and the Palestinians in the West Bank in nearly two decades. The Israeli military said the gunman opened fire on a car from a passing vehicle. Israel's rescue service MDA said three Israelis were wounded, including a 35-year-old with gunshot wounds in serious but stable condition. Two girls, aged 9 and 14, were lightly wounded by flying debris. The military said forces were on the lookout for the assailant. Fighting between Israel and the Palestinians in the West Bank intensified early last year when Israel launched near-nightly raids into Palestinian areas in the West Bank in response to a spate of Palestinian attacks against Israelis.
The violence has spiked this year, with more than 150 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire since the start of 2023 in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, according to a tally by The Associated Press. Israeli says most of those killed have been militants, but stone-throwing youths protesting the raids and others not involved in the confrontations have also been killed. At least 26 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks against Israelis during that time. Israel says the raids are essential to dismantle militant networks and thwart future attacks. The Palestinians see the violence as a natural response to 56 years of occupation, including stepped-up settlement construction by Israel's government and increased violence by Jewish settlers. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, along with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem. Palestinians seek those territories for their hoped-for independent state.

Netanyahu feeling 'very good' after overnight hospitalization
Associated Press/July 16, 2023
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was still undergoing tests in hospital on Sunday after a dizzy spell but was expected to be released later in the day, his office said. Netanyahu, 73, was rushed to hospital on Saturday after feeling mild dizziness. His office said test results on Sunday were normal and that Netanyahu was feeling "very good."His office said he had spent the previous day at the Sea of Galilee, a popular vacation spot in northern Israel where temperatures climbed to about 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) amid a stifling country-wide heat wave. After a series of tests, the initial assessment was that the veteran Israeli leader was dehydrated. After being hospitalized, Netanyahu released a video on social media last night. Smiling, he said that he had been out in the sun on Friday without wearing a hat and without water. "Not a good idea," he said. Doctors ordered him to remain in the hospital overnight for further observation, and his weekly Cabinet meeting was delayed by a day and rescheduled for Monday, his office said. Netanyahu is Israel's longest-serving leader. He has served multiple terms stretching over 15 years in office. His current far-right government, a collection of religious and ultranationalist parties, took office last December. Netanyahu is said to be in generally good health, though he was briefly hospitalized last October after feeling unwell during prayers on Yom Kippur, a day when observant Jews fast. The Israeli leader faces pressure on multiple fronts. He is on trial for multiple corruption charges in a case that has bitterly divided the nation. His government's hard-line policies toward Palestinians have drawn international criticism and antagonized relations with the United States, Israel's closest and most important ally. At home, tens of thousands of Israelis have held weekly demonstrations against Netanyahu's government to protest his plan to overhaul the country's judiciary. Netanyahu's allies say the plan is needed to rein in the power of unelected judges. But his opponents say the plan will destroy the country's fragile system of checks and balances and concentrate power in the hands of Netanyahu and his allies.

Netanyahu ejects party activist over Holocaust mockery at judicial protest
Reuters/July 16, 2023
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the ejection on Sunday of an activist from his Likud party who mocked the Holocaust while heckling anti-government protesters, in remarks that suggested ethnic tensions beneath a constitutional crisis. Video circulated on social media showed Itzik Zarka cursing and spitting at demonstrators at a traffic junction near the working-class town of Beit Shean on Saturday. “It’s not for nothing that six million were killed,” he shouts. “I’m proud that six million of you were burned!”“We will not tolerate such disgraceful behavior in the Likud movement,” Netanyahu said in a statement on the ouster of Zarka, for years a towering figure at party campaign events. By framing the mostly European Jewish victims of the Nazi genocide as adversaries, Zarka appeared to be distinguishing between them and Mizrahi Jews of Middle Eastern descent who have been a traditional core of support for the conservative Likud. Some members of Netanyahu’s religious-nationalist coalition have cast the prime minister’s push to overhaul the judiciary as redressing elitist overreach by the Askenazi, or European-descended, Jews who dominated the country’s founding generation. rael’s Jewish majority — a figure hard to pin down due to widespread intermarriage with Ashkenazim — have at times complained of discrimination and socio-economic disadvantage. Denying the Holocaust, questioning its scale or celebrating it is punishable by five years in jail under Israeli law. The historical catastrophe is an issue that generally unites Jews, and Zarka’s remarks were condemned across the political spectrum. Zarka, who is Jewish, said in a statement circulated on social media that his comments had been “taken out of context” and described himself as the grandson of a Holocaust survivor. Critics of the proposed judicial reforms argue that Netanyahu seeks to curb court independence even as he argues his innocence in a long-running corruption trial. The veteran premier says the overhaul would balance branches of government. Some anti-government demonstrators have drawn comparisons to the march to tyranny in 1930s Germany — prompting Galit Distal Atbaryan, a Likud lawmaker and Israel’s minister for information, to accuse them of trivialising the Holocaust. “It was your families who were burned there,” Distal Atbaryan, who is of Persian Jewish descent, told opposition politicians in parliament in March. “How is this possible?”

Protests swell in Tel Aviv for 28th week as anti-government movement vows more ‘days of disruption’
AP/July 16, 2023
JERUSALEM: Tens of thousands of protesters packed the streets of Tel Aviv on Saturday night, marking the 28th straight week of demonstrations against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary. Protest leaders promised further “days of disruption” lie ahead. Netanyahu’s government gave initial approval to a key portion of the overhaul earlier this week, breathing new life into the grassroots movement. The bill still needs to be approved in two more votes, expected by the end of the month, before it becomes law. Saturday night protests have become a mainstay of the grassroots movement — but this week’s was larger than usual. In Tel Aviv, protesters unrolled a massive banner reading “SOS.” They threw paint powder into the sky, streaking it pink and orange. “Handmaids” — women dressed in red robes as characters from the dystopian novel and TV series “The Handmaid’s Tale” — once again took to the streets. Their jarring appearance is meant to drive home the notion that, if the overhaul passes, women could be stripped of their rights. On Tuesday, protesters blocked major highways and disrupted operations at the country’s main international airport after Netanyahu’s parliamentary coalition advanced a bill that is part of the overhaul. Organizers said they would hold another “day of disruption” on Tuesday if he continues to move ahead with the plan. The Israeli leader was hospitalized on Saturday for dehydration after suffering a dizzy spell and having spent the previous day in the sun without drinking water. He later released a video from the Tel Aviv hospital, saying he felt good. However, Netanyahu was to spend the night in the hospital, according to his office, and a weekly Cabinet meeting scheduled for Sunday was pushed to Monday.
Saturday’s protest in Tel Aviv was joined by others across the country. Protesters brandished lit torches outside Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem and demonstrated in the coastal cities of Herzliya and Netanya. After more than six months of protests, the movement shows little sign of abating. Israel’s national labor union and its medical association have joined a long list of groups speaking out against the bill. Military reservists, fighter pilots and business leaders have all urged the government to halt the plan. Arnon Bar-David, head of the country’s national labor union, the Histadrut, threatened a possible general strike that could paralyze the country’s economy. “If the situation reaches an extreme, we will intervene and employ our strength,” Bar-David said, calling on Netanyahu to “stop the chaos.”
The Histadrut called a general strike in March as the government pushed the judicial overhaul legislation through parliament after weeks of protest. The move shut down large swaths of Israel’s economy and helped contribute to Netanyahu’s decision to suspend the legislation.
The Israeli Medical Association, which represents 90 percent of Israeli physicians, joined the Histadrut Friday, voting to “employ all available means, including significant organizational measures” to oppose the reasonableness bill.
The law will “devastate the health care system,” the chairman of the association, professor Zion Hagay, said. The mass protests have taken place since Netanyahu’s far-right government presented the overhaul plan in January, days after taking office. The protests led Netanyahu to suspend the overhaul in March, but he decided to revive the plan last month after compromise talks with the political opposition collapsed. The overhaul calls for giving Netanyahu’s allies control over the appointment of judges and giving parliament power to overturn court decisions. The Netanyahu government is the most hard-line ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox in Israel’s 75-year history. His allies proposed the sweeping changes to the judiciary after the country held its fifth elections in under four years, all of them seen as a referendum on Netanyahu’s fitness to serve as prime minister while on trial for corruption. Critics of the judicial overhaul say it will upset the country’s fragile system of checks and balances and concentrate power in the hands of Netanyahu and his allies. They also say Netanyahu has a conflict of interest because he is on trial for charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes.

Putin warns of ‘reciprocal action’ if Ukraine uses US-supplied weapons
AP/July 16, 2023
KYIV: Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview published Sunday that Russia has a “sufficient stockpile” of cluster munitions, and warned that Russia “reserves the right to take reciprocal action” if Ukraine uses the controversial weapons. In his first comments on the delivery of cluster munitions to Ukraine from the US, Putin said that Russia has not used cluster bombs in its war in Ukraine so far. “Until now, we have not done this, we have not used it, and we have not had such a need,” he said, although the use of cluster bombs by both Russia and Ukraine has been widely documented, including by The Associated Press and international humanitarian organizations, and cluster rounds have been found in the aftermath of Russian strikes. Rossiya TV reporter Pavel Zarubin published excerpts of the interview to his Telegram channel Sunday ahead of a scheduled broadcast Sunday night. The Pentagon said Thursday that cluster munitions provided by the United States had arrived in Ukraine. The munitions, which are bombs that open in the air and release scores of smaller bomblets, are seen by the US as a way to get Kyiv critically needed ammunition to help bolster its offensive and push through Russian front lines. US leaders debated the thorny issue for months, before President Joe Biden made the final decision last week. Cluster bombs have long been criticized by humanitarian groups, and some US allies, because those used in previous conflicts have had a high “dud rate,” meaning that they often leave behind unexploded bomblets that can harm civilians long after a battle has ended. Proponents argue that Russia has already been using cluster munitions in Ukraine and that the weapons the US is providing have been improved to leave behind far fewer unexploded rounds. Ukraine has promised to use them only away from densely populated areas. On the ground, the Ukrainian military said in a regular update Sunday morning that over the previous 24 hours Russia had launched two Iranian-made Shahed exploding drones, two cruise missiles and two anti-aircraft guided missiles, in addition to 40 airstrikes and 46 attacks from multiple rocket launchers. The Ukrainian General Staff wrote that Russia continues to concentrate on offensive operations in Ukraine’s industrial east. Donetsk regional Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said Sunday that two residents of the region were killed on Saturday, and one other person was wounded.
Elsewhere in the country, two boys, aged eight and 10, were wounded when an explosive device left by Russian forces detonated in the southern region of Kherson on Sunday, according to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office. Regional Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin said that Russia had launched 69 shelling attacks against Kherson region. A 59-year-old man died on Saturday when attempting to disarm a round in the regional capital, also called Kherson. Yurii Malashko, governor of the neighboring, partly occupied, Zaporizhzhia region, said Russia had attacked 13 populated areas in the region, wounding seven people in the town of Stepnohirsk. Moscow-installed authorities in Russian-occupied Crimea on Sunday reported “a massive and prolonged” drone attack overnight targeting Sevastopol, the peninsula’s largest port, which hosts Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. According to Moscow-installed Sevastopol governor Mikhail Razvozhaev, air defense shot down all of the drones and there was no damage. Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, said that a woman was killed Sunday by shelling in the town of Shebekino near the border with Ukraine.

Ukraine bides its time in its counteroffensive, trying to stretch Russian forces before striking
Associated Press/July 16, 2023
The first phase of Ukraine's counteroffensive to recapture Russian-occupied territory began weeks ago without fanfare. Apart from claiming that its troops are edging forward, Kyiv has not offered much detail on how it's going. Taking place mostly out of sight of impartial observers, the fighting in eastern and southern Ukraine pits troops equipped with new Western-supplied weapons against Kremlin forces that spent months digging formidable defenses and honing tactics. Here's a look at what's happening after more than 16 months of war:
WHAT ARE UKRAINE'S TACTICS?
Fighting has intensified at multiple points along the 1,500-kilometer (930-mile) front line. Ukrainian forces are making steady progress along the northern and southern flanks of the wrecked city of Bakhmut, which Russian forces have been occupying since May. Battles are also raging along the southern front in Zaporizhzhia, where Ukrainian forces are making minimal gains and coming up against formidable Russian fortifications. Hanna Maliar, Ukraine's deputy minister of defense, recently claimed that Kyiv's forces had destroyed six Russian ammunition depots in the space of 24 hours, a remark that hinted at Ukrainian tactics. "We inflict effective, painful and precise blows and bleed the occupier, for whom the lack of ammunition and fuel will sooner or later become fatal," she said. Britain's top military officer says that is Ukraine's first goal: starve Russian units of supplies and reinforcements by attacking logistic and command centers in the rear, including with U.K.-supplied Storm Shadow missiles. Ukraine is also trying to stretch Russia's resources by simultaneously badgering multiple points along the front line, said Admiral Tony Radakin, chief of the U.K. defense staff, earlier this month.
Ukraine's full-scale offensive will come, he said, when one point on the front line collapses. Kyiv's reserve troops can then pour through the breach. "I would describe it as a policy of starve, stretch and strike,'' Radakin told a British parliamentary committee. He noted that Ukraine lacks vital air cover for its attacks. Kyiv has won pledges from its Western allies of F-16 fighter jets, but they aren't expected to be seen over the battlefield until next year. Ukraine is also asking for long-range weapons and more ammunitions. The U.S. sent Ukraine cluster munitions this week to help bolster its offensive. President Joe Biden said he hoped the controversial bombs will provide a temporary fix to help stop Russian tanks because "the Ukrainians are running out of ammunition."
WHAT ARE RUSSIA'S TACTICS?
The Kremlin's forces are using large numbers of anti-tank mines to slow Ukraine's armored counteroffensive operations in southern Ukraine. That puts exposed Ukrainian attackers at the mercy of Russian drones, helicopters and artillery.
Even when entrenched behind many kilometers (miles) of trenches, anti-tank ditches and other obstacles, reportedly up to 20 kilometers (12 miles) deep in some places, Russian forces face plenty of difficulties. Battlefield attrition has diminished Moscow's military heft. The war has also exposed incompetence and a lack of initiative in Russian ranks, as well as poor coordination. Radakin, Britain's commander in chief, said Russia has lost about half its combat strength since its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Also, Russian factories aren't able to supply enough munitions to replace those lost on the battlefield, he said. For example, Russia has used about 10 million shells in Ukraine, while producing only 1 million new ones, according to Radakin. Similarly, it has lost more than 2,000 tanks but manufactured just 200 replacements, he said. Russians are reportedly conducting offensive operations and making minimal gains in the northern Kreminna forest area.
WHAT NEXT?
The Ukrainian counteroffensive will be "very long" and "very bloody," U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said recently. Ukrainian soldiers say the sheer weight of Russian shelling of their positions has been surprising and is slowing Kyiv's advance. In the open fields of Zaporizhzhia in particular, where finding cover is difficult, commanders are exposing fewer soldiers in order to limit the number of casualties from heavy artillery. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged last week that the counteroffensive "isn't going fast." It started later than many expected, apparently as Kyiv waited for the delivery of Western arms and the arrival of Western-trained soldiers. That delay meant that the operation began in the summer instead of the spring. Military planners have to bear in mind that the Ukrainian winter brings muddy conditions that bog down armor and troops. The notorious mud season even has its own name: "rasputitsa." Once the weather deteriorates, the warring sides will have to take stock and get ready for what could be another round of attritional warfare over the coming winter. Western analysts say the counteroffensive, even if it prospers, won't end the war. But it could prove to be a decisive episode and strengthen Kyiv's hand in any negotiations. Ukraine is also keen to show the West that sending aid was worthwhile.

Kyiv says it is "in a defensive position" near Kupyansk
LBCI/July 16, 2023
Ukraine announced that its forces are in a defensive position facing Russian forces near the city of Kupyansk in the eastern part of the country. The Deputy Minister of Defense said, "For the past two days, the enemy has launched intense attacks in the Kupyansk sector in the Kharkiv region. We are in a defensive position," adding that "fierce battles occur and positions change repeatedly within a single day."

Iraqi PM visits Syria in first trip since Syrian war
Reuters/July 16, 2023
BAGHDAD: Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani began an official visit to Syria on Sunday, the first by an Iraqi premier since the outbreak of the Syrian war in 2011, in a trip aimed at securing their shared border and bolstering economic ties. Iraq and Syria, which have close economic, maintained relations throughout Syria’s civil war even as other Arab states withdrew their ambassadors and closed their embassies in Syria. Baghdad and Damascus cooperated in the fight against militant group Daesh, which spread from Iraq into Syria and at one point controlled more than a third of both countries. Farhad Alaaldin, foreign affairs adviser to the prime minister, said Sudani was set to discuss combatting the flow of drugs, especially the amphetamine Captagon, and preventing the infiltration of Daesh militants over their shared 600km border. The prime minister would also discuss trade and economic cooperation and possibilities for reopening an oil export pipeline in the Mediterranean, which could help Iraq diversify its export routes, he said.

Tunisia and EU sign agreement on economy, migration
LBCI/July 16, 2023
Tunisia and the European Union signed on Sunday an agreement to establish a "comprehensive and strategic partnership" in economic development, renewable energy, and combating irregular migration. President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, welcomed the agreement, which aims to "invest in shared prosperity" and includes "five pillars," including migration issues.

Iraq: First Captagon production factory was seized
LBCI/July 16, 2023
The Iraqi authorities announced on Sunday that they have discovered a Captagon production factory in the southern part of the country. This is a significant development in a country that has become a transit point for the smuggling of these narcotics in recent years. However, the Director of Relations and Media at the Ministry of Interior, stated in a short video posted on social media, "Today, perhaps for the first time, a laboratory for the production of drugs, especially methamphetamine, has been discovered."

Syrians in rebel-held northwest fear Assad will soon choke off aid
The Arab Weekly/July 16/2023
Syrians who fled President Bashar al-Assad’s rule fear he may soon be able to choke off badly needed aid as Damascus acts to establish sway over UN assistance into the rebel-held northwest, the last major bastion of the Syrian opposition. A tussle at the UN Security Council over the aid operation has played to Assad’s advantage, with his ally Russia vetoing an extension of its mandate this week and paving the way for Damascus to approve one itself, but on its terms. Aid workers said the outlook for one of the world’s biggest humanitarian operations had been thrown into doubt, with Syria’s demands for “full cooperation and coordination” raising fears of big complications ahead for their work. “Ever since we heard about the decision, all the families in the camp have been lost, confused, scared,” Abu Ahmad Obeid, a father of seven who has lived in a camp in the northwest since fleeing his home in government-controlled territory in 2018, said by telephone from the region. “We rely on that aid for everything: medical support, food, everything,” he said. Khalid al-Idlibi, 27, who fled his home in 2019, said by phone that Assad “is the person responsible for the tragedy of these people, so how will he be responsible for the aid?”People poured into the northwest from all over Syria as Assad, backed by Russia and Iran, seized back rebel enclaves in the latter stages of the civil war that erupted in 2011. The northwest is home to 4.5 million people, 2.9 million of whom were displaced during a shattering conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people since it spiralled out of anti-government protests that were met by deadly force. Some 2 million live in camps, the UN says. NGOs and individual states have long organised unilateral aid convoys into the northwest. But UN agencies will not cross the border without government or Security Council approval, which lapsed on July 10 as members struggled to convince Russia to extend the operation for more than six months. Damascus then gave the nod for the operation to continue via the Bab al-Hawa border crossing from Turkey for six months. Damascus has long rejected the operation as a violation of sovereignty, saying aid should be delivered from within Syria. For Assad, it marks the latest in a series of developments that have gone his way on the international stage, after fellow Arab states brought him back in from the cold. The move is seen to offer him a potential source of leverage over Western states that largely finance aid operations, and gives him a way to put pressure on a rebellious region which is held by armed groups that have fought to topple him.
‘Worst-case scenario’
“This is a worst-case scenario,” said Abdelsalam Daif, senior strategy adviser at Syria Relief & Development, a US-based aid organisation. “If this is in the regime’s hands, then the regime could stop it at any time. It is trying to erase everything that was built over the last 10 years and take it into its own hands.”The Syrian government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the concerns raised. In a letter to the UN secretary general announcing its decision, Syria said it wanted to improve “humanitarian and living conditions of all Syrians” and to smooth aid deliveries. The letter also stipulated that UN staff members would be barred from communicating with “terrorist organisations and groups and their affiliated illegal administrative entities.”This included an opposition government affiliated with the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, formerly a branch of al Qaeda. The UN already designates HTS as a terrorist organisation. But a lack of clarity in the letter about what constitutes a terrorist organisation is one source of concern for aid workers. Damascus has broadly described anyone fighting it as a terrorist, while also applying the term to other organisations operating in rebel-held territory, such as rescue workers. “Based on past examples … we are concerned about how these will be interpreted,” said Sherine Ibrahim, Turkey country director for CARE, who works on cross-border aid deliveries. “We are deeply concerned by the implications of the non-renewal of the cross-border aid mechanism,” she said, adding that the full impact would become known in the coming weeks. Syria’s letter said the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) would be allowed to distribute aid in the country’s northwest. This also presents complications. The HTS has refused to collaborate with SARC in previous offers of aid, notably following the February earthquake. ICRC media adviser Jessica Moussan said the ICRC does not conduct cross-border aid in Syria under UN auspices, but stood “ready to support in ways that fall within our capabilities and in coordination with all actors on the ground.”

Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on July 16-17/2023
‘Christians Here Really Need Help’: The Persecution of Christians, June 2023
Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/July 16, 2023
قائمة بأحدات ووقائع اضطهاد المسيحيين في العديد من الدول خلال شهر حزيران/2023/ المسيحيون هنا يحتاجون حقًا إلى المساعدة
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/120158/120158/
ريمون إبراهيم/معهد جاتستون/ 16 تموز 2023 (ترجمة موقع غوغل)
The genocide of Christians at the hands of Muslims continued to rage throughout the month. Muslim “Fulani jihadists” slaughtered 2,500 Christians and “burned down or wantonly destroyed” 18,200 churches in just the first six months of 2023. Fifty million Christians have further been “forced out of their ancestral homes and lands into displacement and homelessness.” — news.band, June 3, 2023 – Nigeria.
 “All I can say is that war has been declared on Christians in Mangu [Plateau State, Nigeria]. The terrorists are just attacking and killing Christians in most of the communities around Mangu… Christians here really need help.” — Markus Artu, a member of the Mangu Local Government Council, after 150 Christians were killed in the first three weeks of June; Morning Star News, June 27, 2023 – Nigeria.
On June 7, the mutilated body of Shazia Imran Masih, a 40-year-old Christian widow, was found. Earlier, four Muslims had “abducted, gang-raped and killed” her “for refusing to convert to Islam and marry the primary suspect.” — Morning Star News, July 7, 2023 – Pakistan.
”The accused are very influential, and they have been persistently threatening us….” — Zafar Masih, a member of a local evangelical church, Moring Star News, July 3, 2023 – Pakistan.
”Indonesia’s Joint Ministerial Decree of 2006 (SKB) makes requirements for obtaining permits nearly impossible for most new churches. Even when small, new churches are able to meet the requirement of obtaining 90 signatures of approval from congregation members and 60 from area households of different religions, they are often met with delays or lack of response from officials. Well-organized radical Muslims secretly mobilize outside people to intimidate and pressure members of minority faiths.” — Morning Star News, June 23, 2023 – Indonesia.
”We…. are not building a church. So what’s the problem? When we pray, where is the problem?” — Elysson Lase, Christian woman, Morning Star News, June 23, 2023 – Indonesia.
Egypt’s “contempt of religion” law — supposedly meant to protect the sanctity not just of Islam, but of Christianity and Judaism as well, is a farce…. [T]his law exists solely for the benefit of Islam….” — Report, wataninet.com, June 19, 2023 – Egypt.
”Some of the more enlightened [Muslims] and Copts responded by asking why the alleged response by Abanoub Imad were to be considered as a reason to arrest him and put him under trial [even if he did indeed post them], when it was simply a reaction to insults against Christianity? Why are those who insulted Christianity in the first place not to be tried as well? And why are Christians always the only ones to be held accountable for contempt of religions, even though there are countless pages/sites that insult Christianity non-stop?” — Report, wataninet.com, June 19, 2023 – Egypt.
The following are among the murders and abuses inflicted on Christians by Muslims throughout the month of June 2023.
The Muslim Slaughter of Christians
Uganda: On the evening of June 16, Islamic terrorists crying “Allahu akbar!” (“Allah is the greatest!”) stormed a private high school, where students were closing the night by singing Christian hymns. Over the next 90 minutes, the attackers committed unimaginable horrors against the Christians — murdering, in the end, at least 42 people, 37 of them teenagers. Locked in their dormitory, most of the boys were burned alive after the Muslim terrorists poured fuel on the building and set fire to it.
Some of the boys were so “charred beyond recognition” that investigators had to use DNA samples from relatives to identify them. Most of the girls had been hacked and stabbed to death with machetes and knives. “It was a devastating and upsetting scene,” an investigative team visiting the site reported. “Lots of dried blood is still on the ground outside the girls’ dormitory.”
As for the incinerated boys’ dormitory, “the smell of death is unmistakeable—beds have been reduced to wire mesh with pieces of flesh still stuck to them.”
“The rebels asked for Muslims among the students, but there were none,” a survivor recounted, further positioning the massacre along religious lines. “The rebels said they do not kill fellow [Muslim] believers. [Then] they slaughtered every student in their sight using pangas [machetes], axes, and sharp objects.”
As detailed here, separating Muslims from Christians during a jihadist raid, and then murdering only the Christians, is a common practice—with examples from many nations (such as here and here), including the U.S. — but underscores that the attack was entirely about religion: killing Christians.
Four days later, on June 20, machete-wielding Muslims stormed a church in Uganda, where they “hacked one member to death.” A Christian official said of the incident, “It is an evil from the pits of hell to shed blood of innocent people inside a church.” According to the report, the murders occurred around 1 am, following an all-night prayer vigil. Once inside the church, the invaders “started hacking people who had dozed off during overnight prayers.” In the words of an official:
“After the night prayers, they [Christians] decided to sleep in the church. However, shortly after sleeping, people armed with pangas [machetes] raided the church and started randomly hacking members of the congregation. One died on [the] spot while others are nursing grave injuries. Others fled the church to save their lives.”
After pointing out that the Muslim murderers consisted of three men, a later report quotes the pastor of the church:
“The police cannot quickly ascertain the nature of the attack since the three assailants have not been arrested. But we know that there has been increasing friction between Christians here and the Muslims. Some of them claim that the churches are making a lot of noise—as if we do not have Mosques here that have prayers five times a day.”
The pastor added that this cannot be categorized as a generic crime: “if they were just thieves, they would have stolen something. The three stormed in, attacked [and murdered] worshipers, and left.”
Nigeria: The genocide of Christians at the hands of Muslims continued to rage. According to a June 3 report, Muslim “Fulani jihadists” slaughtered 2,500 Christians and “burned down or wantonly destroyed” 18,200 churches in just the first six months of 2023. Fifty million Christians have further been “forced out of their ancestral homes and lands into displacement and homelessness.”
Between mid-May and the first few days of June, Muslim Fulani slaughtered over 300 Christians and destroyed 28 churches in Plateau State alone, according to a June 7 report.
Thereafter, during the first three weeks of June, the Muslims slaughtered an additional 150 Christians in Plateau. Discussing one of these raids, which claimed 15 Christian lives, an area resident said:
“The attackers of our villages are Muslims who are Fulani herdsmen. They attacked our villages of Bwoi and Chisu while we were sleeping at about 11 p.m. The herdsmen burnt down our houses, including a church worship building… Some of the Christian victims were burnt alive in their houses as the herdsmen set fire on their houses.”
After 150 Christians were killed in the first three weeks of June, Markus Artu, a member of the Mangu Local Government Council, said:
“All I can say is that war has been declared on Christians in Mangu. The terrorists are just attacking and killing Christians in most of the communities around Mangu… Christians here really need help.”
In Benue state, between June 3-4, Muslims butchered 46 more Christians in a number of villages. According to a statement from local officials,
“Altogether, 46 Christians were killed by the terrorists in the two days of attacks on our communities. Most disturbing also is the fact that the identity of the perpetrators is known to security agencies and the Nigerian government, and yet nothing has been done to end this carnage.”
Democratic Republic of Congo: On June 8, members of the Allied Democratic Forces (an Islamic terror group affiliated with ISIS), hacked 12 people to death — four children, four women, and four men — in the Christian nation. According to officials, the Muslims “were opening doors and decapitating people with hatchets and machetes.”
Pakistan: On June 7, the mutilated body of Shazia Imran Masih, a 40-year-old Christian widow, was found. Earlier, four Muslims had “abducted, gang-raped and killed” her “for refusing to convert to Islam and marry the primary suspect,” according to the report.
“[T]he assailants slashed her neck and doused her with acid … though it was not known if the acid burns came before or after her death. The primary suspect has confessed to the killing… Shazia Masih’s husband also was killed a year and a half ago, and the family has seen no justice in that case either as police cast it as an accident…”
According to her brother, a Muslim man named Noman Gujjar:
“a notorious area criminal … had been pressuring her to convert to Islam along with her children and marry him… Shazia did not share this with us due to fears for our security, but three days before her abduction, she told [another relative] that Gujjar had threatened to kill her if she did not surrender to his demand.”
She then disappeared on June 7, and her family alerted police.
“Later in the day we received a call from the Hyer police station that they had found a body from a plot that matched Shazia’s description. We immediately went to the police station, but when we saw the body, we could not believe our eyes. Shazia’s jugular vein had been slit with a sharp object, and her body had been badly burnt by acid.”
The report adds:
“A forensic examination revealed that she had been gang-raped before being killed…. Police arrested Gujjar, and though he confessed to the murder, officers seemed uninterested in arresting three suspected accomplices, Gujjar’s brother and two cousins.”
The murdered woman’s brother continues:
“The accused are very influential, and they have been persistently threatening us to reconcile and withdraw the case. Due to these threats, we have been forced to go into hiding and are not even free to pursue the case. Gujjar is still in police custody, but we doubt that we’ll get justice for our sister, as the police’s bias is evident by its inaction against the remaining accused… We have lost all hope for justice and appeal to our church leaders and government officials to provide justice and security to us.”
Muslim Attacks on Christians and Churches in France:
Note: Only one of the following five incidents (the beating of an 80-year-old priest) occurred after the nation-wide protests linked to the June 27 police killing of Nahel Merzouk.
On June 20, a “gang of college students” entered the St. Roch Church in Nice, doused themselves with holy water, and began shouting “Allahu akbar!” [“Allah is the greatest!”] which the report notes is “regularly heard during Islamist attacks.” The first deputy mayor of Nice, Anthony Borré, responded by assuring the city that he takes such incidents “very seriously.” He further urged his superiors also to take such matters seriously. In a letter to the president of the Alpes-Maritimes, Charles-Ange Ginesy, Borré wrote:
“Since October 29, 2020 and the Islamist attack on the Notre-Dame Basilica in our city [when another “Allahu akbar” yelling Muslim slaughtered two French women—one by beheading—and a man inside a church], you are not unaware of how traumatic it can be for our fellow citizens to hear such remarks within a church and the painful memories that they can revive. Faced with these attempts to destabilize society and with the attacks on our secular Republic, we must provide a strong and collective response.”
Police sources, however, said that the teenagers did “not fall under any Islamist movement,” but had rather pulled a “joke” — one admittedly in “bad taste.”
On Friday, June 23, three young Muslims, aged between 12 and 13, broke into the St. Joseph Church in Nice, during an afternoon mass, and also began hollering “Allahu akbar.” Although they quickly ran away, police managed to track them down. “It still looks like a child’s joke in very bad taste,” insisted a French officer. Nice, of course, is where other Muslims, shouting “Allahu akbar!” murdered 84 people in 2016.
On June 3, invaders vandalized the Church of Mailhac. According to the report:
“Many candles lay broken on the floor, and there are clear signs that someone had tried to open the trunk. The sacristan had already filed a complaint for the destruction of candles in the past. As a consequence of this act, the church has been closed for an indefinite time.”
On June 12, a “group of young people” beat Fr. Joseph Eid of Notre-Dame-du-Liban parish, and called him a “dirty Christian.” Sometime after 8 pm, a dozen Muslims made a hole in the church fence and invaded the presbytery. When the priest confronted them, they claimed they were looking for their soccer ball. According to one report:
“The situation seems to have escalated and the priest was violently thrown to the ground, then grabbed by the back of the neck before being helped by witnesses. The assailants then fled, hurling anti-Christian insults.”
Responding to this latest incident of Muslims attacking Christians, several heads of mosques in France expressed their “indignation and anger,” adding that such behavior is “contrary to the values of Islam and the teachings of the Koran, which call for respect and protection of the ‘People of the Book,’ meaning Jews and Christians.”
Finally, on Friday, June 30, Muslims savagely beat an 80-year-old Catholic priest of Saint Vincent de Paul in Saint-Étienne. After knocking Fr. Francis Palle to the ground, they continued beating and kicking him until he fell unconscious, at which point they also stole his wallet and phone. In the words of one report,
“According to eyewitnesses, a group of rioters suddenly attacked Father Palle, surrounding and targeting him for no apparent reason. They hit him with extreme force, causing him to fall violently to the ground. Worse still, these individuals continued to beat him when he was already on the ground, leaving the priest in critical condition.”
Last reported, the elderly cleric had been hospitalized in the intensive care unit in serious condition.
Muslim Attacks on Christian Freedom and Worship
Uganda: On June 3, Muslim relatives of two brothers who converted to Christianity beat them after a funeral service for their sister. On the night before, one of their Muslim brothers found them offering Christian prayers for her. He quickly informed the rest of the family who hurried into the Christians’ room to see for themselves. The family then asked why they were “praying in the name of Christ rather than Muhammad.” The brothers remained silent. At that point, according to Kakembo, one of the brothers,
“They accused us that we are no longer Muslims. Our elder brother, Shaban, a teacher by profession at Ibun Bazi Islamic Center, got angry with us and started beating us with a blunt object which he had with him as the rest of the members also joined in and started beating us badly.”
Their father then came in and began shouting:
“Stop, don’t kill them in my house, just send them away from my home—from today on, I am no longer their father, and they are no longer my children.”
Kakembo continues:
“My brothers obeyed our dad and sent us away in the night. I was bleeding from a deep cut near the right eye and the forehead, while my brother suffered a deep cut on his forehead, an eye injury and a swollen neck…. We are ostracized and disowned—we need prayers so that God may comfort us as we feel rejected.”
Indonesia: Muslims forcibly prevented Christians from worshipping on several occasions:
On June 18 in Central Java, a group of Muslims hollering jihadist slogans, including “Allahu akbar,” blocked entry into a church building by sealing off the door with a banner saying the church had no right to exist. One report gives background on Indonesia’s harsh laws concerning non-Muslim places of worship:
“Requirements for obtaining permission to build houses of worship in Indonesia are onerous and hamper the establishment of such buildings for Christians and other faiths, rights advocates say. Indonesia’s Joint Ministerial Decree of 2006 (SKB) makes requirements for obtaining permits nearly impossible for most new churches. Even when small, new churches are able to meet the requirement of obtaining 90 signatures of approval from congregation members and 60 from area households of different religions, they are often met with delays or lack of response from officials. Well-organized radical Muslims secretly mobilize outside people to intimidate and pressure members of minority faiths.”
In a separate incident on June 18, nearly 500 miles away near Jakarta, other Muslims forcibly stopped Christian worship inside a private home. The Muslim group was led by a local official, and the house church was mostly attended by women. Video footage of the incident showed the official “using harsh language against a woman trying to defend the fellowship.” While trying to pacify the Muslim intruders, the Christian woman, Elysson Lase, insisted that they were not trying to turn the home into a formal church, but rather were privately and quietly trying to worship in a home:
“We want to hold a worship service—should I ask permission to worship from you when we want to hold worship?… The important thing has been conveyed to the village office, that we are not building a church. So what’s the problem? When we pray, where is the problem?”
While Indonesian law is severe concerning the building of churches, private home worship is (at least for the moment) still legal, though growing numbers of Muslims are resisting even this small concession. Responding to this incident, the Rev. Henrek Lokra of the Communion of Christian Churches said the disruption was “illegal, and that the government should take tough action and enforce the constitution against such vigilante acts”:
“The Christians don’t build churches. They only want to hold their routine Sunday worship. If it is not allowed, then where is this country heading?”
In yet another incident, more than a thousand miles from Jakarta, in Medan, another group of Muslims prevented Christians from using mall space they had earlier rented in which to worship. Due to the angry protests, organized by the influential Muslim Alliance (AUI), the property administrator of the city’s large Plaza Suzuya Marelan mall rescinded the rental agreement. According to a June 18 report, a Christian entrepreneur said that “the Muslim protests are part of broader opposition towards devoted Christians and Christian worship in her area.”
Egypt: Abanoub Emad, a Christian student of dentistry is, according to a June 22 report, “being accused of ‘contempt of religion,’ after publishing some social media posts, which were considered to be insulting to Islam. A campaign has been launched demanding to arrest and punish him.”
Even though the young man had “published evidence” showing that his own page had been stolen and manipulated, “certain extremists launched a hashtag against him, and went as far as publishing the phone numbers and addresses of his family, which is normally illegal as it puts them in high risk.”
The entire fiasco is a reminder that Egypt’s “contempt of religion” law — supposedly meant to protect the sanctity not just of Islam, but of Christianity and Judaism as well, is a farce. As the report explains, this law exists solely for the benefit of Islam:
“Investigating the matter, it turns out that certain [Muslim] individuals had published social media posts that mock the Bible. This prompted some Copts to respond with their own posts, including some in the alleged page of the young Abanoub… Some of the more enlightened [Muslims] and Copts responded by asking why the alleged response by Abanoub Imad were to be considered as a reason to arrest him and put him under trial [even if he did indeed post them], when it was simply a reaction to insults against Christianity? Why are those who insulted Christianity in the first place not to be tried as well? And why are Christians always the only ones to be held accountable for contempt of religions, even though there are countless pages/sites that insult Christianity non-stop? Furthermore, how can his family’s personal data be illegally leaked, thus endangering their lives, without any reaction by the authorities? And where does the law stand regarding these sites/pages that lure and provoke Coptic youth in order to trap them as they respond to insults to Christianity? Certain extremist individuals and organizations clearly stand behind such widespread activities, but sadly the security authorities appear to be quick to appease them by arresting Copts and prosecuting them, often without conclusive evidence. A case to remember is that of the Coptic young man, Sherif, who was sentenced to a year in prison, after he responded to comments by a woman named Nada Mahmoud who was mocking Christianity. Both were initially arrested and interrogated but, quite shockingly, Nada Mahmoud was released without charges while Sherif was sentenced. An obvious case of the policy of double standards.”
*Raymond Ibrahim, author of Defenders of the West, Sword and Scimitar, Crucified Again, and The Al Qaeda Reader, is the Distinguished Senior Shillman Fellow at the Gatestone Institute and the Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
About this Series
*While not all, or even most, Muslims are involved, persecution of Christians by extremists is growing. The report posits that such persecution is not random but rather systematic, and takes place irrespective of language, ethnicity, or location. It includes incidents that take place during, or are reported on, any given month.
© 2023 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19805/persecution-of-christians-june

NATO Summit produces signs of a sea change for Turkiye
Yasar Yakis/Arab News/July 16, 2023
At the NATO Summit that was held last week in Vilnius, the capital of the Baltic state of Lithuania, the agenda was dominated by the Ukraine war and Sweden’s bid to join the alliance.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan surprised NATO by announcing before his departure for Vilnius that he was prepared to accept a trade-off on the subject of Sweden’s membership. His proposal could be summarized as follows: “You resume Turkiye’s accession process to the EU and Turkiye will open Sweden’s accession process to NATO.” Erdogan’s statement made headlines in the Turkish press and in the media of many NATO and EU countries.
However, Turkiye’s EU accession process is a separate issue. Ankara has to fulfill several political and economic criteria before joining the bloc.
In fact, an important component was missing in this trade-off. Turkiye could unblock Sweden’s accession to NATO, but the other component of the equation, the EU, was missing. It is only the European Council that can decide whether Turkiye’s EU accession process will be resumed. And just as Turkiye was entitled to block the consensus in letting Sweden join NATO, so any EU member country can block the resumption of the accession negotiations with Turkiye.
The updating of the Turkiye-EU customs union is a major headache between the two parties. Turkiye is losing money because of the postponement of the upgrade.
So far, Turkiye has not been able to stop the activities of terrorist organizations that are operating in NATO countries, such as Germany and France. Bearing this precedent in mind, Sweden may also tolerate the resumption of the activities of terrorist organizations once its accession to NATO becomes a done deal.According to what Erdogan explained during the press conference after the summit, the procedure to be followed by Turkiye will unfold as follows: The foreign relations committee of the Turkish parliament will draft a report on Sweden’s NATO accession and incorporate it into its agenda; then, when the parliament resumes its work on Oct. 1, it will debate the report according to its work program.
In his press conference, Erdogan repeatedly mentioned: “We have a parliamentary holiday before we resume our work.” This gives the impression that Erdogan is not in a hurry to push through Turkiye’s approval of Sweden’s NATO accession. This is so that he will have plenty of time to pressure Stockholm to pass as many laws as possible to restrict the activities of the terrorist organizations operating in Sweden.
The pro-government media in Turkiye celebrated Erdogan’s performance at the NATO Summit with great fanfare, while the opposition circles claimed that the EU will again disappoint Turkiye.
Turkiye could unblock Sweden’s accession to NATO, but the other component of the equation, the EU, was missing.
Meanwhile, the Swedish Supreme Court, one day after the NATO Summit, refused Turkiye’s request to extradite two Turkish citizens. Turkiye claims that these two men were using a mobile telephone application that is used by the followers of Fethullah Gulen, a self-exiled Turkish Muslim cleric living in the US. This app is used by the Gulen group to communicate with each other without being detected. Swedish law provides that using an app is not sufficient reason for a person to be extradited. The court added that the people in question had acquired immigrant status in Sweden and stated that, if they were extradited to Turkiye, they may be tortured. This attitude of the Swedish Supreme Court suggests that mutual recriminations will continue between the two countries for a long time.
The extradition of alleged members of Gulen’s clan has been one of the key issues regarding Turkiye’s approval of Sweden’s NATO accession. So the refusal of the Swedish court in this case was the first test on this subject. The final decision on similar cases is made by the Swedish government but, as an established practice, it does not make decisions based on the request of a foreign government.
During the summit, Erdogan met with the leaders of several NATO countries, including the US, Germany, the UK, France, Spain, Greece and the Netherlands. In his talks with US President Joe Biden, the pair exchanged views about the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkiye and the upgrading of parts of its existing fleet. The US president put the ball in Congress’ court and promised that he would do his best to persuade some leading lawmakers to give their approval.
Meanwhile, promising progress has been achieved in the Turkish-Greek dialogue. As has happened on previous occasions, earthquakes in the region have brought the neighboring countries together. This time, Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis decided to resume discussions and hold a meeting in Thessaloniki in the autumn. The fact that both Erdogan and the Greek prime minister are at the beginning of their respective mandates suggests that, if their wavelengths match, concrete progress may be achieved. Even if the core issues cannot be addressed at an early date, they may begin by cooperating to solve some less controversial issues. Erdogan believes that the two countries have immense opportunities to cooperate.
The Greek media adopted an appeasing tone with Turkiye after the Vilnius summit. The foreign ministers of the two countries will probably play major roles. Erdogan will visit Greece for the first time in six years and will also co-chair the Turkiye-Greece High-Level Cooperation Council. Another possibility for the two leaders to meet will be in New York on the margins of the UN General Assembly in September. This warmer atmosphere may also allow the resumption of confidence-building measures in the Aegean Sea after an interval of more than three years.
There are signs of a sea change between Turkiye and Greece and between Turkiye and NATO. Let us hope that the atmosphere created by the Vilnius summit will further facilitate this more cordial atmosphere.
*Yasar Yakis is a former foreign minister of Turkiye and founding member of the ruling AK Party. Twitter: @yakis_yasar

Free speech no excuse for allowing religious hatred
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/July 16, 2023
Religious hatred unfortunately appears to be on the rise, making it very important for governments across the world to take the appropriate actions to adequately address this critical issue.
A recent incident in Stockholm — at a protest that was authorized by the Swedish authorities — saw the public burning of a copy of the Qur’an. This caused outrage among many governments. Turkiye condemned the decision by the Swedish authorities to approve the protest, while dozens of people stormed the compound of the Swedish Embassy in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad. Other Muslim countries, including Pakistan and Iran, called for Sweden to be held accountable. Saudi Arabia and Indonesia condemned the incident, with the latter describing it as an act of Islamophobia.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari last week told the UN Human Rights Council via a video link: “We must see this clearly for what it is: incitement to religious hatred, discrimination and attempts to provoke violence.” He added that such incidents happened under “government sanction and with the sense of impunity.”
Instead of bridging gaps between communities and promoting peaceful coexistence, such actions only promote violence, tear societies apart, escalate hatred toward a specific community and create rifts between different religions and ethnic groups.
First of all, it is important to point out that free speech should not be used as an excuse to allow the promotion of hatred toward a specific group or religion. While Germany’s ambassador to the UN Katharina Stasch called the acts in Sweden a “dreadful provocation,” she also pointed out that “freedom of speech sometimes also means to bear opinions that may seem almost unbearable.” However, burning a holy book must not be considered an act of free speech; instead, it should be regarded as hate speech. Just as the German penal code bans publicly denying the Holocaust and disseminating Nazi propaganda, burning a holy book should also be prohibited.
In a step in the right direction, a motion was filed at the UN Human Rights Council. The body approved a resolution that urges countries to “prevent and prosecute acts and advocacy of religious hatred.” It calls for accountability and condemns all kinds of religious hatred, including “public and premeditated acts of desecration of the Holy Qur’an.”
Pakistani Ambassador Khalil Hashmi pointed out that the opposition to the resolution of a few countries “emanated from their unwillingness to condemn the public desecration of the Holy Qur’an or any other religious book. They lack political, legal and moral courage to condemn this act, and it was the minimum that the council could have expected from them.”
To combat religious hatred, such actions should be taken seriously, exposed and denounced publicly. Silence will only empower and embolden those who attempt to divide society through hatred and violence.
Several Muslim countries in the Middle East have been leading the way with regard to interfaith dialogue.
This is why it is critical to pressure political leaders to take action in the fight against religious hatred. Rallies that advance hate should also be prohibited.
More fundamentally, acceptance, diversity and inclusiveness should be promoted. This important objective can be achieved through proper education and the raising of awareness of prejudices, stereotypes and bigotry. Education ought to be anchored in respecting different religions, ethnicities and faiths.
In addition, advancing interfaith and intercultural dialogue is vital. This is crucial when it comes to reducing tensions and conflicts across the globe. The more countries that pursue this fundamental goal, the more peace the world will experience.
Several Muslim countries in the Middle East have been leading the way with regard to interfaith and intercultural dialogue. For example, in the past few years, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has placed significant emphasis on interfaith dialogue and has played a key role in advancing and promoting this critical mission. Under his leadership, the Kingdom has been reaching out to other religious groups and faiths.
In 2020, for example, Saudi Arabia presided over a global interfaith forum that saw the participation of Muslim clerics, Jewish rabbis, Christian priests and other religious leaders. And a multifaith conference was held in Riyadh in 2022. It was titled the Forum on Common Values Among Religious Followers. The conference was the first of its kind and about 100 religious leaders, including more than 15 rabbis, attended.
Another Muslim country leading interfaith dialogue is the UAE. One critical development there was this year’s opening of the Abrahamic Family House, which brings together the three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The values and mission of the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi align with the important objective of interfaith dialogue, as it states that its vision is “for people to come together in peace, diverse in our faiths, yet common in our humanity. Our mission is to bridge our common humanity through the exchange of knowledge, dialogue, and the practice of faith. Our values are peaceful coexistence, curiosity, and the centrality of human fraternity.” It adds that these values “embody the multiculturalism and diversity of the UAE, where communities from more than 200 nationalities live together peacefully.”
In a nutshell, it is incumbent on the international community to strongly act against the rise of religious hatred and Islamophobia. Peaceful coexistence and interfaith and intercultural dialogue ought to be promoted. Religious hatred should be firmly confronted, as it accomplishes nothing except the promotion of violence, the division of societies and the creation of rifts between communities.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh