Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 09-10/2023
Rising Violations by Hezbollah Against Journalists and Free Media in Lebanon/Elias Bejjani/November 10, 2023
Police in Brazil Foil Attack Allegedly Planned by Hezbollah
Israel says Brazil foiled Iran-backed Hezbollah attack on Israelis, Jews
3 pro-Iran fighters dead as Israel strikes Hezbollah sites in Syria
Fresh round of Israel-Hezbollah skirmishes on border
Shea's Dar al-Fatwa visit canceled after popular protest
Ibrahim says 'few hours left' before Gaza truce, confirms meeting Haniyeh in Qatar
Nasrallah's mistake could cost Hezbollah and Lebanon, warns Gantz
Two-state solution vital for regional stability, says Lebanese FM Abdallah Bou Habib
Hamas spokesperson in Lebanon: We entered a new phase in the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation
NNA: Metula settlement targeted with missiles, Israel responds with shelling on Marjayoun Plain, outskirts
Islamic Resistance strikes Israeli infantry force in Tarbikha: Direct hits confirmed
Lebanon’s grand mufti pins peace hopes on Gaza summits in Riyadh
Lebanon’s Half-Formed Peace Plan May Be Gaza’s Best Chance ...Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s tentative proposal needs Western backers.
Justin Ling, a journalist based in Toronto/The Foreign Policy/November 09/2023

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 09-10/2023
The White House: Israel to begin implementing a four-hour daily truce in northern Gaza
Israel agrees to pauses in Gaza attacks, US says, but no reports of lull in fighting
Pentagon confirms four new attacks on US bases after defensive airstrike
US Launches Airstrike in Syria in Response to Attacks by Iran-backed Groups
US launches 2nd round of airstrikes on Iran-backed groups it says attacked American troops
Palestinians leaving besieged Gaza City fear new Nakba
Iran Calls on US to ‘Stop Hypocrisy’ in Gaza War
Israel agrees to 4-hour war 'pauses' as US, Israeli spy chiefs hold talks in Doha
Biden says 'no possibility' of Gaza ceasefire
Jenin raid: 18 Palestinians killed in clashes in West Bank city
Israel agrees to daily 4-hour pauses in Gaza operations, White House says
Iraq struggles to thwart Iran proxies' attacks as US ups rhetoric
Families of Hamas Hostages Urge U.S. To Use Its 'Highest Leverage' To Bring Captives Home
Macron opens Gaza aid conference with appeal to Israel to protect civilians
Canadaian FM, Joly says Palestinians cannot be forced out of Gaza Strip, as 32 more Canadians leave

Titles For The Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 09-10/2023
Can Biden’s New ‘Islamophobia’ Strategy Explain Why American Muslims Are So Islamophobic?/Raymond Ibrahim/November 09/2023
Hamas vs. Western Civ ...Gaza is a significant battleground/Clifford D. May/The Washington Times/November 09/2023
What Remains of the Sudan Peace Agreement?/Osman Mirgani/Asharq Al Awsat/November 09/2023
Will we see a joint Iranian-Arab front on Gaza?/Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/November 10, 2023
Planet Earth also a victim in times of war/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/November 10, 2023
United Nations’ Bigotry Towards Israel: UNRWA Anti-semitism Poisons Palestinian Youth/Jonathan Schanzer/FDD/November 09/2023

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 09-10/2023
Rising Violations by Hezbollah Against Journalists and Free Media in Lebanon
Elias Bejjani/November 10, 2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/124119/124119/
From Diaspora, free and loving peace Lebanese expatriates closely follow with bitterness and deep pain the continued practices of repression, threats, fabrication of legal cases, defamation, incitement, and intimidation that targets journalists and free media in Lebanon, at the hands of the terrorist Hezbollah, its propagandists, Trumpets, cymbals, mouthpieces and Trojans. Lebanese free expatiates vehemently condemn and denounce such despicable acts that aim to restrain press freedom and human rights in occupied Lebanon.
Hezbollah, the Jihadist, terrorist, and Iranian proxy, occupies Lebanon, holds sway over its decision-making process, and enslaves the majority of its officials and politicians. In this subjugation realm it uses most media outlets as tools for disseminating misinformation and promoting hatred, a culture of violence, and the demonization of those who oppose and reject its Iranian nasty occupation.
Hezbollah's mouthpieces and Trojans work tirelessly to impose by force their fundamentalism, Jihadism concepts, violent culture and the Iranian Mullahs agenda on the majority of Lebanese media outlets. They spare no effort to distort and fabricate facts, assassinate, utter bold death threats, make false accusations, vilify and defame every free and sovereign Lebanese voice, terrifying journalists, activists, intellectuals, and even ordinary sovereign and free citizens, in an evil bid to subjugate, terrorize and tame them.
Recent examples of such intimidating practices includes prominent journalists and media figures like Layal Al-Ikhtiyar, Nadim Qteish, Dima Sadek, Rami Naaim, Charles Jabbour, and many others. These journalists have been threatened, insulted, subjected to arbitrary actions, vilified, intimidated, and morally assassinated because of their honest and professional coverage of events.
From the Diaspora countries, and on behalf of every expatriate Lebanese who shares our concepts of sovereignty, freedom, and Lebanese identity, we strongly condemn and denounce, all Hezbollah's and its mercenaries atrocities against media, journalists, activists, and citizens in Lebanon.
Meanwhile, what is actually worrisome, alarming, and fearful is that, most the Lebanese state institutions, especially the judiciary and security apparatus, have become tools of oppression and terrorism serving Hezbollah's agenda. They now represent a real threat to journalists, media professionals, sovereign activists, and free individuals. This misuse of the state manipulation, abuse and enslaving must stop immediately, allowing journalists and sovereign media to perform their professional duties freely and safely.
We call on the international communities, free Western nations, human rights organizations, the United Nations, and the Vatican, to act swiftly and effectively to protect press freedom and human rights in Lebanon, and to ensure accountability for those responsible for these serious violations.
A free and democratic society cannot tolerate such grave violations of basic human rights.

Police in Brazil Foil Attack Allegedly Planned by Hezbollah
Asharq Al Awsat/November 09/2023
Authorities in Brazil have arrested two people to foil an alleged attack, which the Israeli Prime Minister's office said was planned by Lebanon’s Hezbollah. The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that the thwarted attack was the result of collaboration with Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and other international security agencies. “The Mossad thanks the Brazilian security services for the arrest of a terrorist cell that was operated by Hezbollah in order to carry out an attack on Israeli and Jewish targets in Brazil,” the statement said. It said the attack was “planned by the Hezbollah terrorist organization, directed and financed by Iran.”A Brazilian official with information about the plot confirmed to The Associated Press that the two suspects were recruited and financed by Hezbollah. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. A statement from Brazil's Federal Police did not give details about the suspects or the alleged targets. It said police also executed 11 search warrants in the states of Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais and the Federal District that were aimed at obtaining proof of the possible recruitment of Brazilians to carry out extremist acts in the country, adding that it was targeting both recruits and recruiters. Local paper O Globo reported that police arrested one of the two suspects when they returned to the international airport in Sao Paulo from Lebanon with information in hand to carry out the attack. There are two additional targets for arrest in Lebanon, the paper reported, without saying how it obtained that information.

Israel says Brazil foiled Iran-backed Hezbollah attack on Israelis, Jews
Associated Press and Agence France Presse
Security forces in Brazil, in collaboration with Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency and its partners within the Israeli security community, as well as other international security and law enforcement agencies, have successfully foiled a planned attack by Hezbollah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Wednesday. The alleged foiled attack was “orchestrated and financed by the Iranian regime,” Netanyahu’s office said, adding that “this disruption targets a vast network that extends to several other nations globally.”"Mossad expresses gratitude to the Brazilian security forces for their role in detaining a terrorist cell operating under Hezbollah's directives, which intended to execute an attack against Israeli and Jewish targets within Brazil," the office added. It said that amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza with the Hamas Palestinian movement, Hezbollah and Tehran “persist in their global efforts to orchestrate attacks against Israeli, Jewish, and Western targets.”Brazil’s Federal Police meanwhile said that “terrorist plans” were foiled when two people were arrested in Sao Paulo state. The two suspects were recruited and financed by Hezbollah and planned to target buildings tied to the Jewish community, according to an official with information about the plans but who was not authorized to speak publicly. The police statement did not give details about the suspects. It said police also executed 11 search warrants in Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais and the Federal District that were aimed at obtaining proof of possible recruitment of Brazilians for carrying out extremist acts in the country, adding that it was targeting both recruits and recruiters. Brazilian news site UOL said the alleged targets for the attacks were synagogues and other buildings linked to Brazil's Jewish community, which numbers around 107,000 people. Local paper O Globo reported that police arrested one of the two suspects when they returned to the international airport in Sao Paulo, with information in hand to carry out the attack. There are two additional targets for arrest in Lebanon, the paper reported, without saying how it obtained that information.
The Brazilian Israelite Confederation celebrated the police operation on X, formerly Twitter. “We congratulate the Federal Police, the public prosecutor’s office and the justice ministry for their preventive action," said the group, known by its acronym Conib.
“The tragic conflicts in the Middle East cannot be imported into our country, where different communities live peacefully, harmoniously and without fear of terrorism," the group said. Brazil has one of the world's largest Lebanese populations; most estimates put their total well above that of Lebanon itself.

3 pro-Iran fighters dead as Israel strikes Hezbollah sites in Syria
Agence France Presse
Israeli air strikes killed three pro-Iran fighters on Wednesday as they hit sites belonging to Lebanon's Hezbollah near the Syrian capital Damascus, a war monitor said. Israel has struck Syria several times in the past month as regional tensions simmer over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. "Three non-Syrian pro-Iran fighters were killed in Israeli strikes on farms and other sites belonging to Hezbollah near Akraba and Sayyida Zeinab," said Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor. Akraba houses a military airport, the monitor said, more than 10 kilometers from Damascus International Airport. Israel also struck Syrian air defense sites in the country's southern Sweida province, said the monitor with a network of sources inside Syria. Syrian state media said Israeli air strikes had hit military sites in southern Syria, causing material damage. "At approximately 22:50 pm today, the Israeli enemy carried out an air attack from the direction of Baalbek in Lebanon, targeting some military points in the southern region, causing some material losses," official news agency SANA said, quoting a military source. On October 7, Hamas militants attacked Israel and, according to Israeli officials, killed about 1,400 people, mainly civilians, and seized 239 hostages. Israel retaliated with a relentless bombardment and ground invasion of the Gaza Strip which, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, has killed more than 10,500 people, also mostly civilians. Last month, Israeli strikes had put Syria's two main airports in Damascus and Aleppo out of service several times in two weeks. During more than a decade of civil war in Syria, Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on its northern neighbor, primarily targeting Hezbollah fighters and other Iran-backed forces as well as Syrian army positions. Israel rarely comments on individual strikes on Syria, but it has repeatedly said it won't allow arch-foe Iran, which backs President Bashar al-Assad's government, to expand its presence there.

Fresh round of Israel-Hezbollah skirmishes on border
Naharnet/November 09/2023
Hezbollah on Thursday fired anti-tank missiles at the Margaliot and Ramim Israeli military posts near Lebanon's border, as the Israeli army shelled southern border areas. An Israeli army spokesman meanwhile said that an Israeli drone came under fire over the occupied Shebaa Farms. An Israeli drone had earlier fired a missile on the outskirts of the Lebanese border town of Mhaibib as Israeli artillery shelling hit the outskirts of Ramia, Beit Lif, Rmeish and al-Hibbariyeh. The National News Agency said blazes erupted in the forests of Ramia and Aita al-Shaab after incendiary shells landed there. The Israel-Lebanon border has seen escalating tit-for-tat exchanges, mainly between the Israeli army and Hezbollah, since Hamas militants launched a shock October 7 attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, stoking fears of a regional conflagration.
According to an AFP tally, the violence has left 83 people dead on the Lebanese side, including 11 civilians and and 59 Hezbollah fighters.

Shea's Dar al-Fatwa visit canceled after popular protest
Naharnet/November 09/2023
The area around Dar al-Fatwa in Beirut witnessed a popular protest that forced the cancellation of a visit by U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea. Protesters in Lebanon have accused Washington of supporting the killing of civilians in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli army. A statement issued by Dar al-Fatwa said the visit was postponed based on a request from Shea’s office. Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan meanwhile issued a statement stressing “the need to halt the U.S. support for the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip.”He called on the U.S. administration to “press the Zionist entity (Israel) to stop its aggression on Gaza and the Palestinian people, impose a ceasefire, establish a humanitarian truce, pass relief aid to the aggrieved residents of Gaza and work on creating a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, after putting a permanent end to Zionist occupation.”Daryan also warned against “the continuation of the Israeli aggression against south Lebanon,” saying the Lebanese people stand united against “the brutal and barbaric crimes and the killing of children and women.”

Ibrahim says 'few hours left' before Gaza truce, confirms meeting Haniyeh in Qatar
Naharnet/November 09/2023
Former General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim has confirmed a role in the negotiations with Hamas over a prisoner swap with Israel. "Few hours separate us from the humanitarian truce in Gaza," Ibrahim said in a televised interview on Wednesday night. Abbas said he has met with Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Qatar and that he is mediating the prisoner swap issue for "humanitarian reasons." As Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is expected to deliver a speech on Saturday, Ibrahim expected the speech to be escalatory and sharp-toned. On another note, Abbas said that U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein's visit to Beirut aimed at keeping Hezbollah out of the Israel-Hamas war. He added that he also discussed with Hochstein other topics that will go public once the results are achieved. Hochstein had met Tuesday with caretaker Prime Mininster Najib Mikati, Speaker Nabih Berri, Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab and with Ibrahim, who had negotiated hostage cases in the past. Ibrahim had recently said that he is playing a role in the hostage situation and that he is in contact with Hamas and U.S. officials.

Nasrallah's mistake could cost Hezbollah and Lebanon, warns Gantz
LBCI/November 09/2023
Gantz warned, from the border with Lebanon, that if Nasrallah makes a mistake, Hezbollah and Lebanon will pay the price.

Two-state solution vital for regional stability, says Lebanese FM Abdallah Bou Habib
LBCI/November 09/2023
Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdallah Bou Habib, confirmed during his meeting with his British counterpart James Cleverly in Riyadh that the two-state solution is the only way to reach a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, stop the war, and prevent its expansion to neighboring countries. Bou Habib emphasized the need for Israel to cease its aggressions and provocative statements against Lebanon and the Palestinians. Regarding the Syrian issue, Minister Bou Habib told his British counterpart that the situation in Syria cannot continue as it is and that the West must reconsider its approach and stance on the Syrian crisis and assist in the early recovery in Syria.

Hamas spokesperson in Lebanon: We entered a new phase in the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation
LBCI/November 09/2023
The spokesperson for Hamas in Lebanon, Walid Kilani, stated that they have entered a new phase in the 'Al-Aqsa Flood Operation' with the announcement of an imminent ceasefire, the entry of relief aid into Gaza, and the signing of a partial prisoner exchange deal. On LBCI's "Nharkom Said" TV show, Kilani mentioned that the director of the US Intelligence Agency is arriving in Qatar to discuss a ceasefire with Qatari officials regarding Gaza. He also added that if a prisoner exchange deal is reached, they will demand a comprehensive deal with unanimous Palestinian support.
He revealed that Hamas' conditions for proceeding with the ceasefire include not attacking Islamic and Christian holy sites, not mistreating hostages, lifting the siege on the Gaza Strip, and releasing Palestinian prisoners through a prisoner exchange deal.
Kilani emphasized that before discussing a future vision for Gaza, they want a cessation of hostilities, and later, they can engage in politics to liberate Palestinian land.
He affirmed that the resistance is steadfast and the battle is progressing as planned despite the significant destruction in Gaza. He also noted a decline in the stances of the US administration, as Blinken stated that Israel would not be able to manage the Gaza Strip, and Washington rejected the forced displacement of Palestinians and hoped for an end to the war as soon as possible. Kilani pointed out that the Israeli army has advanced in some vacant and agricultural areas, including the Salah al-Din area, but has not been able to infiltrate densely populated residential areas.

NNA: Metula settlement targeted with missiles, Israel responds with shelling on Marjayoun Plain, outskirts
LBCI/November 09/2023
The National News Agency (NNA) reported that the Metula settlement was targeted with several missiles, and the [Israeli] enemy is shelling the Marjayoun Plain and the outskirts of the towns of Khiam, Kfarkela, Borj El Mlouk, and Wata el Khiyam.

Islamic Resistance strikes Israeli infantry force in Tarbikha: Direct hits confirmed
LBCI/November 09/2023
The Islamic Resistance announced in a statement that its fighters targeted, at 3:45 PM on Thursday, an Israeli infantry force stationed in the occupied Lebanese village of Tarbikha (Wadi Shomera) with rocket weapons, achieving direct hits.

Lebanon’s grand mufti pins peace hopes on Gaza summits in Riyadh
Arab News/November 09, 2023
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdel Latif Derian expressed hope on Thursday that summits of Arab and Islamic nations being hosted by Saudi Arabia this weekend to discuss the Gaza conflict will achieve positive results. Derian affirmed that Lebanon and its people stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people. His remarks came as dozens of people protested in front of Dar Al-Fatwa in Beirut on Thursday, forcing the US Ambassador to Lebanon, Dorothy Shea, to postpone a planned visit to the religious leader. Protesters raised Palestinian flags and chanted slogans accusing the US of “being complicit in Israel’s massacres against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.” A protester said: “We are here to prevent the US ambassador from meeting the mufti. She should not be received or welcomed.” Al-Fatwa’s press office said that Shea’s visit was postponed at her office’s request. The US ambassador is reported to have held talks with Lebanese officials to discuss Lebanon’s abstention from supporting Hamas during the Arab summit meeting. According to its declared official position, Lebanon “strongly condemns the genocidal war committed by Israel in Gaza and emphasizes the necessity to work internationally to push Israel to adopt an immediate cease-fire.”In a statement on Thursday, Derian said that it was important the US ended its support for Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip. He called on Washington to pressure Israel to impose a cease-fire, adopt a humanitarian truce, and allow relief aid to arrive to the affected people in Gaza. Threats to launch “seismic or atomic bombs on Gaza will not scare the Arab and Islamic nations, but will strengthen their belief in their rights,” Derian said. He added that the problems of the region will be solved only when the oppressed Palestinian people are treated fairly. “Justice will prevail only through establishing a free, independent Palestine, with Jerusalem as its capital, and with its mosques and churches, so Palestine can remain the land of peace and coexistence in the region.” Derian warned against continuing Israeli aggression in southern Lebanon, saying that the Lebanese people “are united against the brutal and barbaric criminality manifested in killing children and women.”The grand mufti’s remarks came amid heightened tension on Lebanon’s southern border, with Israeli artillery on Thursday targeting the outskirts of the Lebanese villages of Rmaych, Aayta Al-Shaab, Ramyeh, and Beit Lif. Israeli forces struck the Al-Kroum area on the outskirts of the Mhaibib village with a drone missile. Fires also erupted in the Ramyeh and Aayta Al-Shaab villages after Israeli incendiary shelling. Hezbollah targeted the Israeli Zarit outpost, setting it on fire. It also targeted an Israeli outpost in the occupied Lebanese village of Hounin and the Ramim outpost facing the Markaba village, prompting Israeli army shelling of the outskirts of Houla and Markaba villages. Israeli media outlets reported that an anti-armor missile was launched from Lebanon toward Margaliot in the Galilee Panhandle region. Israeli reconnaissance planes were seen over many southern Lebanese villages, as well as over villages adjacent to the Blue Line as far as Tyre, and over the Al-Litani river. Meanwhile, dozens of journalists, media personalities, and photographers gathered before the Martyrs’ Monument in downtown Beirut as part of a protest organized by the Press Order, the Press Editors’ Syndicate, and the Union of Press Photographers in Lebanon. The gathering took place after the death toll rose to 42 Palestinian journalists, including Lebanese reporter and photographer Issam Abdallah, who was killed by an Israeli army strike while working on Lebanon’s southern border.

Lebanon’s Half-Formed Peace Plan May Be Gaza’s Best Chance ...Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s tentative proposal needs Western backers.
Justin Ling, a journalist based in Toronto/The Foreign Policy/November 09/2023
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has a plan for peace in Gaza and Israel. If it has any hope of becoming reality, he’ll need Western backers. Thus far, he doesn’t have any. It’s time for Western leaders to step up.
As the death toll in Gaza grows, now over 10,000, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister has been trying to win allies for his three-step peace plan. First, Mikati proposes, would come a five-day pause in hostilities, during which Hamas would release some of its Israeli hostages and Israel would open its border crossings to more humanitarian aid. If the peace can hold for those 120 hours, negotiations would begin for the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for prisoners held by Israel. As that happens, work on an international summit for a permanent two-state solution would begin.
If it can get off the ground, Mikati’s proposal would channel the worst violence Israelis and Palestinians have seen in decades into the most serious peace effort since the collapse of the Oslo Accords.
It is a plan that is as ambitious as it is unlikely to succeed. But as Israel’s brutal incursion into the Gaza Strip continues, with indications that it could last indefinitely, Mikati’s plan may be the best one we have, and its odds of success are directly correlated with who chooses to join the effort. And it’s certainly better than the modest, fragmented, and incoherent positions of Western leaders to date.
While Mikati has been hobbled by political and economic catastrophe in Lebanon, he sits at a uniquely positioned nexus between various Arab powers. On Wednesday, Mikati met with the Iranian ambassador in Beirut, highlighting his ability to serve as an interlocutor with Tehran. On Saturday, he met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who has become the guarantor for aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip. Days earlier, Mikati met with the emir of Qatar, whose country has hosted Hamas’s senior political leadership for the past decade.
Getting these Arab leaders on board will be crucial, but it is also achievable. Lebanon is particularly anxious about avoiding broader regional conflict, particularly as it would likely involve Hezbollah, an armed group with 100,000 fighters that operates independent of Mikati’s government. But they’re not the only ones. Destabilization in the region could be ruinous for Iran’s regime, already facing pressure from years of domestic unrest. Qatar, meanwhile, is keen to flex its regional leadership.
Speaking to the Economist, Mikati was bullish on the idea that he could untangle the complex Arab politics, at least. “If we have [an agreement on] international and comprehensive peace, I am sure [Hezbollah] and Hamas will lay down their weapons,” he said. He further predicted that “the Iranians will be part of a comprehensive peace.”
Mikati may have connections, but he lacks clout. A staple of Lebanese politics for the past few decades, he is viewed as a vestige of an old political order and—given his $2.6 billion net worth—kleptocracy. “Nobody believes Mikati’s leadership is sustainable even in the medium term,” Anchal Vohra wrote in Foreign Policy in 2021, Two years on, amid total political dysfunction, he remains a caretaker prime minister. And now he is trying to do the hardest job in the world: creating lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
And his plan, thus far, has floundered. Mikati has found no converts in the West, at least so far. Given that Lebanon has no formal diplomatic relations with Israel—a reality that is unlikely to change, given that Beirut is pursuing war crimes charges for the deaths of civilians in Gaza—it will need to win over Israel’s friends.
On Saturday, he met face to face with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and the two discussed the need for a pause in hostilities to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. But while Mikati pressed on the need for a cease-fire, Washington’s position is unchanged. “That’s not policy we’re pursuing,” a State Department spokesperson said on Tuesday. A group of man stand in a rocky field. An Israeli soldier wearing green military fatigues reaches out to push a hand against the chest of another man, who wears a red T-shirt and baseball cap as he gestures toward his own head. The man in red is flanked by two other men dressed casually in blue shirts, and all four seem to be speaking intensely. A group of man stand in a rocky field. An Israeli soldier wearing green military fatigues reaches out to push a hand against the chest of another man, who wears a red T-shirt and baseball cap as he gestures toward his own head. The man in red is flanked by two other men dressed casually in blue shirts, and all four seem to be speaking intensely.
A young man walks across a ground of cracked stone in front of a cluster of small buildings below a clear blue sky. The buildings are covered with text painted in Arabic and English. One sign reads "Families, not firing zones," and another reads, "Where will I sleep?"A young man walks across a ground of cracked stone in front of a cluster of small buildings below a clear blue sky. The buildings are covered with text painted in Arabic and English. One sign reads "Families, not firing zones," and another reads, "Where will I sleep?" On the War’s Other Front, Palestinians Face Violence and Expulsion
Some Israeli settlers are exploiting the conflict to try to redraw the map in the West Bank. The U.S. position is no great surprise. The Biden administration has tried to leverage its close position to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to de-escalate the situation. On Wednesday, Blinken filled in more of his administration’s position, insisting that forcible displacement is not an option. “No reoccupation of Gaza after the conflict ends. No attempt to blockade or besiege Gaza. No reduction in the territory of Gaza,” he said following a G-7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Japan. Washington, however, has been supportive of Israel’s current operation and has resisted any calls for a cease-fire.
While critics have demanded the Biden administration go further, the soft diplomacy seems to be netting some results. The White House announced Thursday that Israel had agreed to a daily four-hour “humanitarian pause” to allow civilians to evacuate. It shows Israel is not intractable and that foreign advocacy can make a real impact.
Four hours of peace a day, however, is simply not good enough. Israel’s operations in Gaza threaten not only widespread destruction but potentially an even more aggressive occupation or blockade, which will only worsen a long-standing humanitarian crisis in the territory. It will be critical that other leaders put forward a more ambitious—and permanent—path to peace. And Mikati’s proposal is the only one on the table right now. Unfortunately, the United Kingdom and European Union have staked out quixotic positions on the matter. France is focusing on organizing international aid delivery to Gaza while delivering completely contradictory messages on whether it supports a cease-fire. London has refused to stake out a real position while musing whether a humanitarian pause is even possible. Germany has only edged toward supporting a modest humanitarian pause in recent days.
With the United States committed to its own position, and the EU unlikely to coalesce around a plan, it will fall to the world’s middle powers to pick up Mikati’s challenge.
Norway, as mediator of the original Oslo Accords, would be a logical quarterback for the Lebanese proposal. “Norway has a duty to speak up about the fact that the military actions against Gaza have gone too far,” Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide wrote in Al Jazeera this week. Aside from some sweeping calls for what Israel, Hamas, and the international community must do, Eide offered no particular road map for how to get there and did not mention Lebanon’s plan. It is a position shared by the leaders of all the Nordic countries.
Canada would, similarly, be an ideal champion for the proposal. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, to date, has supported only a humanitarian pause—despite abstaining from a vote calling for exactly that at the United Nations—but domestic support for a cease-fire is mounting. Trudeau is facing an internal revolt from within his Liberal Party over his soft stance on the conflict, while a sizable majority of Canadians support an immediate cease-fire. Australia finds itself in a similar spot.
Neither the Norwegian nor the Canadian foreign affairs offices responded to a request for comment. Mikati may find supporters for his plan outside the normal corridors of political power—he met with representatives from Brazil on Monday—but it seems certain that he will need at least one G-7 nation to take up his plan. There are limitations to Lebanon’s proposal. It offers little clarity about what would happen to Hamas and its fighters as the cease-fire is implemented. Israel has been steadfast that the militant group must be destroyed entirely after its massacre of civilians on Oct. 7, but former Palestinian Authority official Muhammad Dahlan has warned that governing without Hamas is impossible. Mikati has not detailed how to ensure the cease-fire holds, given that Hamas has a long record of breaching such agreements.
But even if Lebanon’s peace plan is far from perfect, the world is currently bereft of better options. The only meaningful attempt for talks thus far was supposed to bring Biden together with representatives from Egypt and the Palestinian Authority, but that was scuttled after the horrific blast at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City. Rather than relying on more perfectly measured statements and speeches from European capitals or via G-7 communiqué, the world’s middle powers need to help Mikati build a plan for peace.

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 09-10/2023
The White House: Israel to begin implementing a four-hour daily truce in northern Gaza
LBCI/November 09/2023
The White House reported that Israel will begin implementing a four-hour daily truce in northern Gaza.

Israel agrees to pauses in Gaza attacks, US says, but no reports of lull in fighting
Reuters/November 09, 2023
GAZA/WASHINGTON: Israel has agreed to pause military operations in parts of north Gaza for four hours a day from Thursday, the White House said, raising hopes of a respite in more than a month of fighting that has killed thousands and stoked fears of regional conflict. The pauses, that would allow people to flee along two humanitarian corridors and could be used for the release of hostages, were significant first steps, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said. But as night approached, there were no immediate reports of a lull in fighting raging among the ruined buildings in the north of the Gaza Strip.
There was also no direct confirmation from Israel, which spoke more generally of measures that appeared to correspond to arrangements already in place. “We are undertaking localized and pinpoint measures to enable the exit of Palestinian civilians from Gaza City southward, so that we do not harm them. These things do not detract from the war fighting,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said. Israeli forces completely encircled Gaza City in recent days and the military has been allowing civilians safe passage along the main route south for three or four hours each day, with ever growing numbers of families opting to escape. There would be no full cease-fire for now, Gallant told reporters. “We will not stop fighting as long as our hostages are in Gaza and as long as we have not completed our mission, which is toppling the Hamas regime and eliminating its military and governance capabilities,” Gallant said. Taher Al-Nono, a political adviser to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, said on Thursday that unspecified negotiations were continuing and no deal had been reached with Israel so far. Israel unleashed its assault on Gaza in response to a cross-border Hamas raid on southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which gunmen killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and took about 240 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. It was the single worst day of bloodshed in Israel’s 75-year history and drew international condemnation of Hamas and sympathy and support for Israel. But Israel’s retaliation in the Hamas-ruled enclave caused great concern as a humanitarian catastrophe unfolded. Palestinian officials said 10,812 Gaza residents had been killed as of Thursday, about 40 percent of them children, in air and artillery strikes while basic supplies are running out and areas laid waste by unrelenting Israeli bombardments. US President Joe Biden told reporters he had sought a longer pause than four hours. “I’ve asked for a pause longer than three days,” he said as he left the White House. Asked if he was frustrated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden said, “It’s taken a little longer than I hoped.”
DISPLACED PACK GAZA HOSPITALS
In northern Gaza, Israeli forces fought Hamas militants and inched their way closer to two big hospitals as the plight of civilians in the besieged Palestinian territory worsened. Thousands more Palestinians were fleeing from the embattled north to the south along a perilous frontline path littered with bodies after Israel told them to evacuate, people on the route said. But many are staying in the north, packed into the Al Shifa Hospital and Al-Quds Hospital as ground battles rage around them and more Israeli air strikes rain down from above. Israel says its Hamas foes have command centers embedded in the hospitals. In Paris, officials from about 80 countries and organizations were meeting to coordinate humanitarian aid to Gaza and find ways to help wounded civilians escape the siege, now in its second month. “Without a cease-fire, lifting of siege and indiscriminate bombarding and warfare, the haemorrhage of human lives will continue,” Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said before the White House announcement. Israel and its main backer the United States say a full cease-fire would benefit Hamas. Residents in Gaza City, a Hamas stronghold, said Israeli tanks were stationed around the area. Both sides reported inflicting heavy casualties on one another in intense street battles. Israel, which has vowed to wipe out Hamas, says 33 of its soldiers have been killed in its ground operation as they advanced into the heart of Gaza City. Hamas has long vowed to destroy Israel.
NOWHERE TO RUN
Thousands of Palestinians have sought refuge at Al Shifa hospital inside Gaza City despite Israel’s orders to evacuate the area it has encircled. They are sheltering in tents in the hospital grounds and say they have nowhere else to go. The UN humanitarian office OCHA said Israel had again told residents of the north to move south, and that shelling around the main road continued, endangering evacuees. “We saw decomposed bodies, people from civilian cars, civilians like us, not military cars or resistance men,” Khaled Abu Issa said after crossing into the south with his family at Wadi Gaza.Another resident, who asked not to be named, said he had crossed with his wife and six children. “You have to hold your ID card in your hand and raise it as you go past the Israeli tanks and then walk several more kilometers searching for a lift,” he said. Southern areas have also come under regular attack. In Khan Younis, Gaza’s main southern city, residents picked through the rubble and debris of a building destroyed by an Israeli air strike, hoping to find survivors, on Thursday morning, witnesses said. Tensions have also soared on other faultlines. Lebanese group Hezbollah said it fired missiles over the border into Israel, and Israel’s military said it responded with artillery fire. Ten Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in a raid on Jenin city and refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said. Israel’s military said it was conducting counter-terrorism raids.

Pentagon confirms four new attacks on US bases after defensive airstrike
The Hill./November 9, 2023
American troops were hit four times by Iranian-backed groups in the Middle East after a U.S. strike Wednesday on an Iranian facility in Syria. Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said Thursday the U.S. has now been attacked 46 times since Oct. 17, following the breakout of a major war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. That includes 24 attacks in Iraq and 22 in Syria, Singh said. The attacks have all involved explosive drones and rockets. “If these attacks continue against our personnel, we won’t hesitate at a time and place of our choosing to respond again,” Singh told reporters at a briefing. A total of 56 troops have been injured in the attacks, but most are minor injuries and every service member has since returned to duty, according to the Pentagon. The latest attacks follow a U.S. airstrike Wednesday, which took out a major weapons facility in Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iranian-backed militants. Singh said the strike inflicted significant damage on the storage facility. “We were able to render that building pretty much non-usable,” she said. The Wednesday strike came after the Houthis, who are also backed by Iran, shot down an MQ-9 Reaper drone off the coast of Yemen. The U.S. has bolstered its presence in the Middle East following the Israel-Hamas war and also struck an Iranian-backed militant site in late October. But the ongoing conflict has sparked fury on Capitol Hill, where Republicans have blamed the Biden administration for failing to stop the attacks. “The message to terrorists must be clear: attacks on U.S. servicemembers, assets, and interests will not be tolerated,” Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), chairman of House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement. “Hitting a storage facility should not be the final response by the U.S.”Singh said the U.S. is carrying out “proportionate” responses but did not seek to escalate the conflict, while the primary mission was to ensure the Israel-Hamas war does not widen. “We want to make sure we can contain this conflict to Israel and Hamas and we have not seen this conflict widen,” she said. “We are sending a message and I think the message has been received.”

US Launches Airstrike in Syria in Response to Attacks by Iran-backed Groups
Asharq Al Awsat/November 09/2023
The US carried out an airstrike on a weapons warehouse in eastern Syria used by Iranian-backed militias, in retaliation for what has been a growing number of attacks on bases housing US troops in the region for the past several weeks, the Pentagon said. In Wednesday's strike, two US F-15 fighter jets dropped multiple bombs on a weapons storage facility near Maysulun in Deir Ezzor that was known to be used by Iran's Revolutionary Guard, US officials said. “The President has no higher priority than the safety of US personnel, and he directed today’s action to make clear that the United States will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement. A military official told reporters in a call that people were seen at the warehouse during the day as the US military watched the site for hours, but the number decreased to about “a couple” overnight when the strike occurred. The official said the strike triggered secondary explosions, indicating the presences of weapons, but the US believes that no civilians were killed and any people at the warehouse were tied to the Revolutionary Guard or militia groups. The strike, said a senior defense official also on the call, was aimed at “disrupting and degrading the capabilities of groups directly responsible for attacking US forces in the region" by specifically targeting facilities associated with the Revolutionary Guard. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity to provide an assessment of the strike.

US launches 2nd round of airstrikes on Iran-backed groups it says attacked American troops
MATT SEYLER and LUIS MARTINEZ/ABC News/November 09/2023
The U.S. military on Wednesday said American warplanes struck a weapons storage facility in eastern Syria that officials said was being used by Iran-backed militants responsible for dozens of drone and rocket attacks against American troops in the region over the last three weeks. It was the second such counterstrike in the past two weeks. "Today, at President Biden’s direction, U.S. military forces conducted a self-defense strike on a facility in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement. Two F-15 fighters launched precision munitions at a weapons-storage warehouse in Deir el-Zour province, according to U.S. officials. "This precision self-defense strike is a response to a series of attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by IRGC-Quds Force affiliates. The President has no higher priority than the safety of U.S. personnel, and he directed today’s action to make clear that the United States will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests," Austin said. The U.S. blames Tehran for endangering its troops, a senior defense official told reporters Wednesday night. "We hold Iran accountable for these attacks, not just the militia groups," the official said. The U.S. airstrikes were part of a broader messaging effort for the Iranian leadership. "We want you to direct your proxies and militia groups to stop attacking us," the senior defense official said. Ten days after the Hamas terror attack on Israel, Iran-backed militants began what has become a spate of near-daily aggression. Since Oct. 17, American troops have been attacked at least 41 times in the region, according to U.S. officials. Though most of those attacks were thwarted, it wasn't from lack of trying, according to a senior military official. The Iran-linked attackers "in all cases were taking shots at what they believed to be very large numbers of U.S. personnel with the intent of killing them," the official said Wednesday. More than half of those attacks came after Oct. 26, when U.S. fighter jets struck two weapons and ammunition facilities in eastern Syria that officials said were used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and affiliated groups.
The senior defense official acknowledged that those strikes failed to stop the string of attacks on U.S. forces, adding that, "We just again demonstrated tonight our willingness and readiness to use military force, and no one should question the readiness of the Department of Defense with additional options to defend our forces and our interests, or President Biden's willingness to direct additional self defense strikes." "The United States is fully prepared to take further necessary measures to protect our people and our facilities. We urge against any escalation. U.S. personnel will continue to conduct counter-ISIS missions in Iraq and Syria," Austin said in his statement. So far, 46 U.S. service members have been identified as having signs of traumatic brain injuries, or minor wounds such as perforated eardrums, tinnitus and rolled ankles, Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters Monday. Most troops have returned to duty, but two were taken to U.S. hospital facilities in Landstuhl, Germany, for further examination and care, Ryder said. In a statement following the Oct. 26 American counterstrikes, Austin blamed the Iranian regime for the attacks on U.S. forces, and vowed further action if the aggression were to continue. "Iran wants to hide its hand and deny its role in these attacks against our forces. We will not let them. If attacks by Iran's proxies against U.S. forces continue, we will not hesitate to take further necessary measures to protect our people," he said. The U.S. could use its recently beefed-up military presence in the Middle East to dissuade militants from attacking, according to Mick Mulroy, former Marine, deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, and an ABC contributor. "Part of any good defense is a good offense, and to respond to the near-constant attacks by Iranian-backed and directed groups in a manner that deters further attacks," Mulroy said. Earlier on Wednesday, Houthi militants in Yemen, also backed by Iran, shot down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone as it flew a reconnaissance mission in international airspace, according to U.S. officials. US launches 2nd round of airstrikes on Iran-backed groups it says attacked American troops originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

Palestinians leaving besieged Gaza City fear new Nakba
Nidal al-Mughrabi/GAZA /Reuters/November 9, 2023
Palestinians trudging past Israeli tanks and decomposing corpses along a frontline passage out of encircled Gaza City on Thursday said they feared a new "Nakba", the "catastrophe" of their mass dispossession after Israel was founded in 1948. Thousands of people were moving south along Salah al-Din road out of Gaza City on Thursday, the only exit route for civilians escaping an intensifying siege as Israeli tanks rolled deeper into the Gaza Strip enclave. "What do things look like behind us? Destruction and death. We left in fear," said a woman who gave her name as Um Hassan. She had just crossed into southern Gaza from the north of the tiny, crowded territory. "We are the poor Palestinian people whose houses were destroyed," she said, calling it a second Nakba. The war of 1948, when Palestinians fled or were evicted from their homes, is seared into their collective memory. Many have voiced fears that if forced from their homes now they will, like their ancestors, never be allowed back. Israel's stated military objective is to destroy Hamas, which it says killed 1,400 people and abducted 240 others in an Oct. 7 attack. Health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza say Israeli bombardment has killed more than 10,000 people since then. Israeli forces have for weeks told Palestinians to quit northern Gaza for the south, which it is also bombing, saying they would be allowed back home once the conflict ended. Since Wednesday, as fighting has edged further into Gaza City, a large number of people have started moving south. Khaled Abu Issa, from Beach Refugee Camp adjoining Gaza City, said he had left after his neighbourhood was repeatedly pounded by artillery. "It was a very hard departure. I was sitting safely at home and Israel came and displaced me again," he said. Most Palestinians in Gaza are registered as refugees after their ancestors fled their homes within Israel's borders in 1948. Since Oct. 7 more than half the enclave's population has been displaced. Several people who made the journey south told Reuters they had seen corpses by the roadside, terrifying adults and children alike. "While walking we saw decomposed bodies. People (who had been travelling in) civilian cars, civilians like us, not military vehicles or Hamas men," said Abu Issa. Most fled on foot, carrying what they could. As they passed Israeli tanks at the frontline they raised their arms to show their identity cards. Beyond, in southern Gaza, there are few vehicles that still have fuel and many people have to continue walking until they can find a new place to shelter, they said.

Iran Calls on US to ‘Stop Hypocrisy’ in Gaza War
Asharq Al Awsat /November 09/2023
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian called on the United States to stop its “hypocrisy” in the Gaza war.
“More than 120 countries called for an end to the war. Millions of people took to the streets in cities around the globe, including Washington, in support of Palestine and to condemn ‘war crimes’. Yet, the White House prefers to be complicit and abet the collapsing regime of Israel at the expense of countering the global public opinion,” he said on X. “Since last week, America has been after a humanitarian ceasefire. We received their message. They are completely wrong... They are running the game of war against Gaza and the West Bank simultaneously. Stop hypocrisy and genocide against Gaza,” he continued. Abdollahian’s post came hours after Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia Al-Sudani met in Tehran with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Ibrahim Raisi, a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Baghdad. With the escalation of the war of words between Iran and Israel, US forces in Iraq and Syria have been subjected to almost daily attacks since Oct. 17 by Iranian-backed armed groups. In response, US forces launched air strikes last week on two unmanned weapons storage facilities in Syria. Meanwhile, Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said on Tuesday that Israel will not achieve any of its goals in Gaza. He added: “The support of America and the West for the crimes of the Zionist entity will increase the complications of the regional security situation,” Tasnim agency reported. In turn, Iranian Interior Minister Ahmed Vahidi said on Tuesday that the Gaza developments are an “indication of a radical change in regional equations.”The government-affiliated ISNA agency quoted the minister as saying: “The events in the Gaza Strip are taking place in an area of 350 kilometers, but they have brought about profound cultural changes.” Vahidi, a prominent leader in the Revolutionary Guards, added that this “profound development” was not limited to Palestine, stressing that the demonstrations at universities, such as Harvard and Oxford, are “manifestations of this change.”Iranian ambassador to Vienna Abbas Bagherpour warned of the consequences of the war in Gaza on Europe. “What we are witnessing in Palestine is a failed international system, a broken United Nations, and defective international law,” he said on X, adding: “This situation will lead to devastating chaos for the collective security system.”

Israel agrees to 4-hour war 'pauses' as US, Israeli spy chiefs hold talks in Doha
Agence France Presse/November 9, 2023
Israel has agreed to begin daily four-hour military pauses in northern Gaza to allow people in the area to flee the war with Hamas, the White House said on Thursday. "Israel will begin to implement four-hour pauses in areas of northern Gaza each day, with an announcement to be made three hours beforehand," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. Israeli and U.S. spy chiefs were meanwhile in Qatar for talks on "a potential humanitarian pause" to the war raging in Gaza since October 7, an official with knowledge of the visit said Thursday. CIA director Bill Burns and David Barnea, head of Israel's Mossad spy agency, "are both visiting Doha for trilateral talks with the Qataris to work through the details of a potential humanitarian pause that would see the release of hostages and more aid entering Gaza," the official told AFP requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue. "Talks have been progressing well towards a deal in the past few days," the official said. Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh meanwhile arrived in Egypt for talks about the war, the militant group said. Hamas said in a statement that its delegation had met with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel "for discussions on the current situation in the Gaza Strip."

Biden says 'no possibility' of Gaza ceasefire
Agence France Presse/November 9, 2023
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday there was currently "no possibility" of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. "None. No possibility," Biden told reporters as he left the White House for a trip to Illinois when asked about the chances of a ceasefire.

Jenin raid: 18 Palestinians killed in clashes in West Bank city
Raffi Berg - BBC News/November 9, 2023
Eighteen Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry says. It said at least 20 others were injured in the assault, which residents said involved two drone strikes. It is one of the deadliest recent incidents of its kind in Jenin, which has been repeatedly raided by Israel as part of a drive against militants. The Israeli military said it had sent in undercover units to arrest suspects. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched an assault on the camp overnight, using armoured bulldozers to destroy homemade bombs. Troops came under fire and a drone was used to attack a group of gunmen, the IDF said. The bulldozers ripped up the already badly damaged streets. The IDF said troops re-entered the camp hours later, coming under renewed gunfire. Another drone was used to attack gunmen again, it said. During the clashes, the air force reportedly dropped leaflets telling residents: "The IDF remains here and will return again and again until terrorism is completely eradicated. Stay away from terrorism, live in peace," the Jerusalem Post newspaper reported. The Israeli military has been carrying out near nightly arrest raids across the West Bank for a year and a half, following a wave of deadly attacks by Palestinians which killed more than 30 Israelis. According to the UN, this year more than 400 Palestinians - both militants and civilians - have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank, making it the deadliest there since the UN began recording Palestinian fatalities in 2005. A number of Palestinian attackers have come from Jenin, which has become a major base for Palestinian militants in the West Bank. Israeli-Palestinian tensions in the West Bank, which were already high, have been fuelled further by the war in Gaza, which began after an unprecedented deadly attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen on 7 October. More than 150 Palestinians and three Israelis have been killed in the West Bank since the war began.

Israel agrees to daily 4-hour pauses in Gaza operations, White House says
Elizabeth Hagedorn/Al-Monitor/November 9, 2023
WASHINGTON — Israel will implement daily four-hour pauses in its military operations in northern Gaza for civilians to evacuate and to increase the flow of aid, the White House announced Thursday. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the pauses in Israel’s battle against Hamas, which will be announced three hours beforehand, were the "direct result" of talks between US and Israeli officials. “We've been told by the Israelis that there will be no military operations in these areas over the duration of the pause, and that this process is starting today,” Kirby told reporters in an online briefing. An Israeli official speaking to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity described the halt in operations as a "tactical, localized pause" that Israel will implement each day in a specific area so that people can move south and access food and medicine. In recent days, the Israeli military has opened so-called humanitarian corridors for civilians to safely flee south on the main Gaza highway, Salah al-Din Road. Kirby said Thursday that Israel will also open a second evacuation route along the coast as it intensifies its air and ground campaign in Hamas’ stronghold of Gaza City. The United Nations estimates roughly 70% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million has been displaced by the war, now in its second month. COGAT, the Israeli Defense Ministry agency that coordinates with Palestinians on civilian affairs, said 80,000 Palestinians evacuated south on Thursday. David Satterfield, the newly appointed US special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues, told reporters Thursday that around 100 aid trucks per day are now reaching the besieged Palestinian enclave from Egypt. Satterfield said the United States hopes “to meet the minimum requirements of the population” in southern Gaza in the coming days. International calls for a cease-fire have intensified amid the growing humanitarian concerns and a mounting death toll in Gaza. At least 10,812 Palestinians, including 4,412 children, have been killed since Oct. 7, according to the latest figures from the Hamas-run Health Ministry. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out a cease-fire but told ABC News on Monday that Israel would consider pauses of “an hour here, an hour there” for the purpose of aid delivery and hostage releases. President Joe Biden told reporters on Thursday that he asked Netanyahu for a more than three-day pause in Gaza to allow for the release of hostages. When asked if he was frustrated with Netanyahu, Biden answered, “It’s taken a little longer than I hoped.”Hamas took an estimated 240 Israelis and foreigners hostage during its surprise attack last month that killed more than 1,400 people in southern Israel. Kirby said Thursday the militants are holding fewer than 10 Americans.
He said the four-hour breaks in Israel’s bombing could provide “brief windows of opportunity” for the safe passage of hostages out of Gaza. A senior administration official has previously said “a very significant pause” in the hostilities would be required for a deal involving numerous hostages.
The United States, Israel and Qatar are discussing a pause of up to 72 hours during which Hamas would release a small number of hostages, a source familiar with the talks confirmed to Al-Monitor. On Thursday, CIA Director William Burns and his Israeli counterpart, Mossad chief David Barnea, reportedly met with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Doha to discuss a potential hostage deal. The Gulf state, which has hosted Hamas’ political leaders in its capital for more than a decade, is the primary mediator in negotiations and played a role in the release of four hostages last month.

Iraq struggles to thwart Iran proxies' attacks as US ups rhetoric
Adam Lucente//Al-Monitor/November 9, 2023
Iran-backed militias in Iraq are continuing to claim attacks on US forces in the country despite diplomatic pressure from the Biden administration and subsequent US military action. The continuing attacks demonstrate the difficulties the Iraqi government faces as it seeks to avoid becoming a battleground in the Israel-Hamas war. The United States conducted airstrikes targeting a facility in eastern Syria that the Pentagon said was used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Islamic Resistance of Iraq, an umbrella term for Iran-backed militias operating in Iraq, claimed on Tuesday that they “targeted” US forces at the Erbil International Airport, Al-Harir and two sites in neighboring Syria, according to the group’s Telegram channels. The Kurdistan Region’s Counter Terrorism Department reported three drone attacks on the Erbil airport in a Facebook post on Tuesday. US forces in both countries have come under attack at least 41 times since Oct. 17, according to the Pentagon. American officials blame Iran-backed groups. The Islamic Resistance of Iraq says the attacks are a response to Israel’s strikes on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Roughly 2,500 US troops remain in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government as part of the global coalition to fight the Islamic State.
The escalation comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a surprise visit to Baghdad on Sunday to meet Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, where the secretary urged Sudani “to hold accountable those responsible for continuing attacks on US personnel in Iraq,” according to a State Department readout. The Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia in Iraq warned on Saturday that the expected visit by Blinken would be met with “an unprecedented escalation,” Reuters reported. On Monday, a defense official told Al-Monitor that there were several rocket and drone attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria over the weekend. Sudani then traveled to Tehran on Monday and met with its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameini, as well as Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. Khameini slammed the United States in remarks to Sudani, saying Americans are “accomplices of the Zionists in the crimes of Gaza.” The ayatollah further expressed appreciation for Iraq’s support of Gaza, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. Raisi said during his meeting with Sudani that the two share “common positions” on the Palestinian issue, according to the agency.
The official Iraqi News Agency reported after the meeting that Sudani’s conversations with the Iranian leaders focused on Gaza, including efforts to coordinate positions among countries in the region. Iraq called for a cease-fire and the establishment of aid corridors to the Palestinian enclave, per the agency. Sudani maintains friendly relations with both Iran and the United States and has tried to avoid further embroilment in the escalating regional situation. Political groups that are close to Iran such as the Fatah Alliance are part of his government, as are parties that have close ties to the United States, such as the Kurdistan Democratic Party. Bilal Wahab, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that Iraq does not want to be a participant in a regional war over Gaza, and that this desire compelled Sudani to go to Iran.
“I think he went to Tehran to communicate to Iran that Iraq doesn't want to be part of the conflict,” Wahab told Al-Monitor. Wahab added that Blinken’s trip to meet Sudani in person “reinforces the message quite forcefully” that the United States wants to avoid such a conflict but will also retaliate against attacks on its forces. Both Sudani and the Biden administration have made efforts to deter the militia attacks. On Oct. 23, Sudani called attacks on coalition forces “unacceptable” and ordered security forces to pursue the perpetrators, Reuters reported at the time. The same day, Sudani held a call with US Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin. The secretary thanked Sudani for the “announcement reaffirming his government's full commitment to protect US forces,” according to a readout from the Pentagon. Two days later, Iraq’s national security adviser Qasim Al-Araji said that Sudani issued orders to boost protection of diplomatic missions, according to the Iraqi News Agency. On Oct. 27, the US military said it struck facilities in Syria used by Iran's IRGC in response to the attacks on US forces. Pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli sentiment is strong in Iraq, and there have been protests against Israel since the war began, including by Iran-backed groups. The prime minister has limited control over the militias, according to Wahab. “Sudani realizes that Iran has reach inside Iraq and should Iran ask its proxies in Iraq to engage in the conflict, they may listen to what Tehran says more than what Baghdad says,” he said. Unlike his predecessor Mustafa al-Kadhimi, however, Sudani was agreed upon by the major Shiite political parties in Iraq when he came into office in October of last year. As a result, the militias are showing a “level of restraint” in their attacks, according to Wahab. For comparison, Iran launched a massive missile strike against US forces in Iraq in January 2020 in response to the US assassination of IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani. Some in Sudani's government are resentful that Iraq is experiencing violence due to the Israel-Hamas war, Wahab added. “Elements of the coalition feel this war is not their war; it was imposed on them by Hamas, a group that did not ask permission to start war,” said Wahab. “They are resentful that they have a government they run, they passed a budget, they took off their fatigues and put on suits, then all of a sudden this remote Sunni group starts a war and says ‘I started it, you go finish it.’”For its part, the Erbil-based Kurdistan Regional Government “does not have much agency” over the militia attacks, Wahab said. The KRG, led by the Kurdistan Democratic Party, has traditionally been aligned with the United States. The KRG is nonetheless concerned about the situation. On Tuesday, Kurdistan Region President Nechvirvan Barzani called the militia attacks “extremely dangerous,” the Kurdish news outlet Rudaw reported.
*Al-Monitor's Pentagon correspondent Jared Szuba contributed to this report.

Families of Hamas Hostages Urge U.S. To Use Its 'Highest Leverage' To Bring Captives Home
Akbar Shahid Ahmed/HuffPost/November 9, 2023
WASHINGTON ― After Hamas released two older hostages last month, Abbey Onn got a sliver of information: Her cousin Ofer Kalderon, a 50-year-old whom Hamas had also kidnapped, was still alive when his two fellow captives were freed. Neta Heiman wasn’t as lucky ― the released hostages knew her mother, 84-year-old Ditza, but they hadn’t seen her while detained. Meanwhile, Gili Roman has heard no details about the fate of his kidnapped 36-year-old sister, Yarden, beyond what her husband recalls from the moment when she was snatched away from him and their 3-year-old daughter.
The families of the estimated 240 people kidnapped in a vicious Hamas-led offensive inside Israel on Oct. 7 are one month into an ordeal of separation, uncertainty and fear. Many of them are increasingly worried that efforts to bring home their loved ones will be overlooked amid the global debate over Israel’s reprisal against Hamas, a campaign against the Palestinian militant group’s bases in Gaza that has killed more than 10,000 people so far.And they see one tactic as key to ensuring that doesn’t happen: winning international support for their cause, particularly in the U.S.
The U.S. “is the determinant factor,” Roman told HuffPost, going on to list the reasons why he traveled to Washington, D.C., and New York to highlight his family’s case for American officials and the general public. “The U.S. has the highest leverage over the actors that can pressure Hamas,” Roman said, in a reference to regional players such as the American ally Qatar, which hosts Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh. Washington can impose “a price tag… consequences for different actors whether they deliver or don’t deliver.”The U.S. is also heavily supporting Israel’s Gaza operation, he added, and so has influence over whether that offensive leads to military rescues of hostages, while the Biden administration’s choices about positioning U.S. forces in the Middle East and keeping a lid on regional tensions are focused on preventing a broader conflict. Roman met with more than a dozen lawmakers on both sides of the aisle last week. This week, Democratic and Republican members of the House of Representatives held news conferences with relatives of other Hamas hostages. In Israel itself, family members of captives have repeatedly met with visiting members of Congress to request U.S. assistance. Only a handful of the hostages hold American citizenship, but relatives of the group say they see the U.S. as crucial in helping all of them. Of the four released so far, two were Israeli Americans. On Wednesday, multiple news outlets reported that the U.S. and Qatar are working on a deal between Israel and Hamas to establish a dayslong pause in fighting that would involve the release of up to 15 hostages and more shipments of humanitarian aid into Gaza. CIA Director Bill Burns, a veteran diplomat, will visit the Qatari capital of Doha on Thursday.
Hamas has demanded a surge in supplies into the Gaza Strip and has spoken of a large-scale prisoner swap that would involve Palestinians detained by Israel. Many advocates for the hostages as well as officials involved in conversations about their fate say American involvement is vital because of questions about how heavily Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is prioritizing their release relative to other goals, such as dealing a decisive blow to Hamas. “Our administration is very focused on this, and I think they’ve been doing a really good job, including in their outreach to the families and their internal efforts to try and push other actors to play a helpful role. The Israelis have been more difficult: I think Netanyahu has written off the hostages,” a Senate aide told HuffPost, describing the Israeli leader as “unwilling to make any kind of concessions.” The aide requested anonymity to describe sensitive internal conversations.
Israel’s embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment for this story. Israeli negotiators are dominating behind-the-scenes discussions about agreements that could free the captives, according to a U.S. official familiar with diplomacy around the issue. Last month, Israel launched its ground invasion of Gaza amid delicate negotiations mediated by Qatar, The New York Times reported. The escalation of hostilities quashed the discussions. Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected American proposals for a “humanitarian pause” on the attacks on Gaza, saying Hamas must first release its hostages. His grip on power depends on his tenuous alliance with far-right politicians, some of whom have portrayed the return of the hostages as less important than avenging the Oct. 7 attack. On Sunday, Israeli Heritage Minister Amihai Eliyahu endorsed the idea of a nuclear attack on Gaza. When pressed on the consequences for kidnapped Israelis, he responded: “I pray and hope for their return, but there is a price to be paid in war.”Netanyahu called Eliyahu’s comments “disconnected from reality” and suspended him from cabinet meetings, but the far-right politician remains in the government.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), one of several prominent U.S. lawmakers who has met with hostages’ family members, told HuffPost he wants to bolster efforts to ensure Israel prioritizes the captives, whose kidnapping he described as “a war crime.”
“I am with the thousands of Israeli protesters who gathered in central Tel Aviv on Saturday night calling for Netanyahu to focus first and foremost on the immediate return of the hostages,” Raskin said in a Wednesday statement, praising the Biden administration’s push for a halt in fighting.
‘The Most Horrible Man’
Saying it is past time for their family members to be brought home, some relatives of hostages contrasted Israeli officials’ approach with that of other global leaders.
Onn, a Massachusetts native, said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) had personally reached out to her and that she’d had frequent interactions with French officials because part of her family is French. “We are on every side shocked ― that is what makes it a little bit more frustrating with the Israeli government,” Onn said. Heiman blasted the Netanyahu administration’s public narrative, saying: “Every time someone [from the government] talks, he says, ‘First destroy Hamas, destroy Gaza,’ and maybe the third sentence he’ll say, ‘Bring them home.’ I don’t think it’s the first priority.”She sees a negotiation with Hamas involving the U.S. and other governments like Egypt as essential, even though she sees the group’s Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar, whom Netanyahu freed in a previous prisoner swap, as “the most horrible man.”“The United States and all the world need to do anything that they can to bring them back,” Heiman said. “It must be not in a military way because there is no possibility to bring 240 people in a military way without damage for them and for the soldiers that will do it.”To Roman, Netanyahu’s formation of a special emergency cabinet to oversee the war along with some of his more moderate rivals is a positive sign. He feels Israel is now calibrating its military operation to ensure Hamas does not see the hostages as key to its battlefield strategy and to maintain the possibility of a pause that could allow the captives to be released. The Israel Defense Forces have called the hostages “our top priority.”Washington is focused on backroom talks and support for affected families. It sees freeing the detainees through military action as extremely unlikely, the U.S. official said. And it has a limited menu of alternative ways to encourage Hamas to free hostages, unlike other countries with affected citizens: The Senate aide noted that the Russian paramilitary organization Wagner Group is reportedly sending air defenses to Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based militia aligned with Hamas. The Palestinian group is thought to be holding at least eight Russian-Israelis, and Moscow has hosted a Hamas delegation, something the U.S. cannot do because it considers the group a terrorist organization. To some in the Biden administration and in Congress, the best way to support America’s effort to rescue hostages is to reiterate the call for a limited halt in hostilities.
“It’s going to be very difficult to get hostages out if a campaign is actively ongoing. In order to get hostages out and get humanitarian aid in, we think some type of pause would be really helpful and very likely necessary,” said an aide to a senator who has met with hostage families. The aide requested anonymity to speak of sensitive internal discussions. American legislators are also helping by highlighting the hostage issue in the numerous bills and statements that they are advancing related to the Israel-Hamas war, Onn said. She sees continued interactions with the captives’ relatives as essential to maintaining that support. “People need to hear firsthand testimony, they need to feel the pain in order to go back and do the work,” said Onn, who has met with multiple U.S. lawmakers who have visited Israel over the last month. “Sen. [Lindsey] Graham [R-S.C.] said, ‘I don’t sleep any more.’ Good ― neither do we.”
‘We’re Still Taking Rockets Every Day’
As families hope for their loved ones to return, they are leaning on each other.
Onn described daily check-ins with other relatives of hostages and directing them to opportunities to speak at public events or with journalists. “Every single time this story gets out, it helps all of us,” she said. Roman, who also holds German citizenship, has also traveled to Berlin to urge officials to help free his sister, saying he is trusting other families “to raise awareness inside Israel.”All the while, most families have yet to receive any proof of life regarding their kidnapped relatives ― and they are contending with the knowledge that they are in an active war zone. Hamas has claimed that Israeli airstrikes have killed dozens of the captives. “We are worried,” Roman said. “I don’t know how to divide my worries between what Hamas might do to her … maybe take her outside of Gaza to Iran. The list of worries we have is endless.”Onn said she tries not to think too much about what her three kidnapped relatives are going through. “Every single person in Israel knows someone with an awful story. If you actually feel them, you’ll stop moving,” she said. “We have to just put them aside for the moment. There will be a day after when the whole country goes to therapy.”She noted how other aspects of the war make any normalcy impossible: “We’re still taking rockets every day. Our children are not in school ― they’re asking if Hamas is coming for them also.”Thirty-one days after her mother was taken, Heiman is still making the same plea: that she get her essential medications. She told HuffPost she wants the Red Cross, which has facilitated the hostage releases that have taken place so far, to try to ensure that at least. “There is no time for the old people… we need to bring them home now,” she said.

Families of Hamas Hostages Urge U.S. To Use Its 'Highest Leverage' To Bring Captives Home
Akbar Shahid Ahmed/HuffPost/November 9, 2023
WASHINGTON ― After Hamas released two older hostages last month, Abbey Onn got a sliver of information: Her cousin Ofer Kalderon, a 50-year-old whom Hamas had also kidnapped, was still alive when his two fellow captives were freed. Neta Heiman wasn’t as lucky ― the released hostages knew her mother, 84-year-old Ditza, but they hadn’t seen her while detained. Meanwhile, Gili Roman has heard no details about the fate of his kidnapped 36-year-old sister, Yarden, beyond what her husband recalls from the moment when she was snatched away from him and their 3-year-old daughter.
The families of the estimated 240 people kidnapped in a vicious Hamas-led offensive inside Israel on Oct. 7 are one month into an ordeal of separation, uncertainty and fear. Many of them are increasingly worried that efforts to bring home their loved ones will be overlooked amid the global debate over Israel’s reprisal against Hamas, a campaign against the Palestinian militant group’s bases in Gaza that has killed more than 10,000 people so far.And they see one tactic as key to ensuring that doesn’t happen: winning international support for their cause, particularly in the U.S.
The U.S. “is the determinant factor,” Roman told HuffPost, going on to list the reasons why he traveled to Washington, D.C., and New York to highlight his family’s case for American officials and the general public.
“The U.S. has the highest leverage over the actors that can pressure Hamas,” Roman said, in a reference to regional players such as the American ally Qatar, which hosts Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh. Washington can impose “a price tag… consequences for different actors whether they deliver or don’t deliver.”The U.S. is also heavily supporting Israel’s Gaza operation, he added, and so has influence over whether that offensive leads to military rescues of hostages, while the Biden administration’s choices about positioning U.S. forces in the Middle East and keeping a lid on regional tensions are focused on preventing a broader conflict. Roman met with more than a dozen lawmakers on both sides of the aisle last week. This week, Democratic and Republican members of the House of Representatives held news conferences with relatives of other Hamas hostages. In Israel itself, family members of captives have repeatedly met with visiting members of Congress to request U.S. assistance. Only a handful of the hostages hold American citizenship, but relatives of the group say they see the U.S. as crucial in helping all of them. Of the four released so far, two were Israeli Americans.
On Wednesday, multiple news outlets reported that the U.S. and Qatar are working on a deal between Israel and Hamas to establish a dayslong pause in fighting that would involve the release of up to 15 hostages and more shipments of humanitarian aid into Gaza. CIA Director Bill Burns, a veteran diplomat, will visit the Qatari capital of Doha on Thursday.
Hamas has demanded a surge in supplies into the Gaza Strip and has spoken of a large-scale prisoner swap that would involve Palestinians detained by Israel. Many advocates for the hostages as well as officials involved in conversations about their fate say American involvement is vital because of questions about how heavily Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is prioritizing their release relative to other goals, such as dealing a decisive blow to Hamas. “Our administration is very focused on this, and I think they’ve been doing a really good job, including in their outreach to the families and their internal efforts to try and push other actors to play a helpful role. The Israelis have been more difficult: I think Netanyahu has written off the hostages,” a Senate aide told HuffPost, describing the Israeli leader as “unwilling to make any kind of concessions.” The aide requested anonymity to describe sensitive internal conversations.
Israel’s embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
Israeli negotiators are dominating behind-the-scenes discussions about agreements that could free the captives, according to a U.S. official familiar with diplomacy around the issue. Last month, Israel launched its ground invasion of Gaza amid delicate negotiations mediated by Qatar, The New York Times reported. The escalation of hostilities quashed the discussions. Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected American proposals for a “humanitarian pause” on the attacks on Gaza, saying Hamas must first release its hostages. His grip on power depends on his tenuous alliance with far-right politicians, some of whom have portrayed the return of the hostages as less important than avenging the Oct. 7 attack. On Sunday, Israeli Heritage Minister Amihai Eliyahu endorsed the idea of a nuclear attack on Gaza. When pressed on the consequences for kidnapped Israelis, he responded: “I pray and hope for their return, but there is a price to be paid in war.”Netanyahu called Eliyahu’s comments “disconnected from reality” and suspended him from cabinet meetings, but the far-right politician remains in the government.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), one of several prominent U.S. lawmakers who has met with hostages’ family members, told HuffPost he wants to bolster efforts to ensure Israel prioritizes the captives, whose kidnapping he described as “a war crime.”
“I am with the thousands of Israeli protesters who gathered in central Tel Aviv on Saturday night calling for Netanyahu to focus first and foremost on the immediate return of the hostages,” Raskin said in a Wednesday statement, praising the Biden administration’s push for a halt in fighting.
‘The Most Horrible Man’
Saying it is past time for their family members to be brought home, some relatives of hostages contrasted Israeli officials’ approach with that of other global leaders.
Onn, a Massachusetts native, said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) had personally reached out to her and that she’d had frequent interactions with French officials because part of her family is French. “We are on every side shocked ― that is what makes it a little bit more frustrating with the Israeli government,” Onn said. Heiman blasted the Netanyahu administration’s public narrative, saying: “Every time someone [from the government] talks, he says, ‘First destroy Hamas, destroy Gaza,’ and maybe the third sentence he’ll say, ‘Bring them home.’ I don’t think it’s the first priority.”She sees a negotiation with Hamas involving the U.S. and other governments like Egypt as essential, even though she sees the group’s Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar, whom Netanyahu freed in a previous prisoner swap, as “the most horrible man.”
“The United States and all the world need to do anything that they can to bring them back,” Heiman said. “It must be not in a military way because there is no possibility to bring 240 people in a military way without damage for them and for the soldiers that will do it.”To Roman, Netanyahu’s formation of a special emergency cabinet to oversee the war along with some of his more moderate rivals is a positive sign. He feels Israel is now calibrating its military operation to ensure Hamas does not see the hostages as key to its battlefield strategy and to maintain the possibility of a pause that could allow the captives to be released. The Israel Defense Forces have called the hostages “our top priority.”
Washington is focused on backroom talks and support for affected families. It sees freeing the detainees through military action as extremely unlikely, the U.S. official said. And it has a limited menu of alternative ways to encourage Hamas to free hostages, unlike other countries with affected citizens: The Senate aide noted that the Russian paramilitary organization Wagner Group is reportedly sending air defenses to Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based militia aligned with Hamas. The Palestinian group is thought to be holding at least eight Russian-Israelis, and Moscow has hosted a Hamas delegation, something the U.S. cannot do because it considers the group a terrorist organization. To some in the Biden administration and in Congress, the best way to support America’s effort to rescue hostages is to reiterate the call for a limited halt in hostilities.
“It’s going to be very difficult to get hostages out if a campaign is actively ongoing. In order to get hostages out and get humanitarian aid in, we think some type of pause would be really helpful and very likely necessary,” said an aide to a senator who has met with hostage families. The aide requested anonymity to speak of sensitive internal discussions. American legislators are also helping by highlighting the hostage issue in the numerous bills and statements that they are advancing related to the Israel-Hamas war, Onn said. She sees continued interactions with the captives’ relatives as essential to maintaining that support. “People need to hear firsthand testimony, they need to feel the pain in order to go back and do the work,” said Onn, who has met with multiple U.S. lawmakers who have visited Israel over the last month. “Sen. [Lindsey] Graham [R-S.C.] said, ‘I don’t sleep any more.’ Good ― neither do we.”
‘We’re Still Taking Rockets Every Day’
As families hope for their loved ones to return, they are leaning on each other.
Onn described daily check-ins with other relatives of hostages and directing them to opportunities to speak at public events or with journalists. “Every single time this story gets out, it helps all of us,” she said. Roman, who also holds German citizenship, has also traveled to Berlin to urge officials to help free his sister, saying he is trusting other families “to raise awareness inside Israel.”All the while, most families have yet to receive any proof of life regarding their kidnapped relatives ― and they are contending with the knowledge that they are in an active war zone. Hamas has claimed that Israeli airstrikes have killed dozens of the captives. “We are worried,” Roman said. “I don’t know how to divide my worries between what Hamas might do to her … maybe take her outside of Gaza to Iran. The list of worries we have is endless.”Onn said she tries not to think too much about what her three kidnapped relatives are going through. “Every single person in Israel knows someone with an awful story. If you actually feel them, you’ll stop moving,” she said. “We have to just put them aside for the moment. There will be a day after when the whole country goes to therapy.”She noted how other aspects of the war make any normalcy impossible: “We’re still taking rockets every day. Our children are not in school ― they’re asking if Hamas is coming for them also.”Thirty-one days after her mother was taken, Heiman is still making the same plea: that she get her essential medications. She told HuffPost she wants the Red Cross, which has facilitated the hostage releases that have taken place so far, to try to ensure that at least. “There is no time for the old people… we need to bring them home now,” she said.

Macron opens Gaza aid conference with appeal to Israel to protect civilians
Associated Press/November 9, 2023
French President Emmanuel Macron opened a Gaza aid conference on Thursday with an appeal for Israel to protect civilians, saying that "all lives have equal worth" and that fighting terrorism "can never be carried out without rules.""Civilians must be protected. It's absolutely essential. It is non-negotiable," Macron said. He reiterated calls for a humanitarian pause in Israel's operations against Hamas. He said that by attacking Israel on Oct. 7, Hamas "shouldered the responsibility for exposing Palestinians to terrible consequences" and he again defended Israel's right to defend itself. But he added that "fighting terrorism can never be carried out without rules. Israel knows that. The trap of terrorism is for all of us the same: giving in to violence and renouncing our values.""All lives have equal worth and there are no double standards for those of us with universal and humanist values," he said.

Canadaian FM, Joly says Palestinians cannot be forced out of Gaza Strip, as 32 more Canadians leave
The Canadian Press/November 9, 2023
OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says Canada is in line with Washington in saying Palestinians cannot be forced out of the Gaza Strip.
Joly made the comments as word emerged that 32 more Canadians had fled Gaza for Egypt, bringing the total so far to 107. Another 500 are still hoping to leave.
Joly says the numbers are consistent with other countries similar to Canada, and that Ottawa had called on Israel and Egypt to allow the evacuations to happen.
The Liberals say they hope now that Israel has agreed to allow daily four-hour pauses in its offensive, that will make it easier for Canadians to get out. Joly says those pauses should also allow humanitarian aid to get in to Gaza. She also says that Canada's head of consular cases is in the Middle East, trying to help secure the release of hostages being held by Hamas. Gaza, Joly said, is currently the most difficult place on earth to live.
"We've been ready since the first days following the attacks on Israel to evacuate Canadians in in Gaza," she said Thursday from Vancouver. Earlier in the day, Global Affairs Canada said 32 more people with links to Canada had been able to leave Gaza for Egypt by way of the Rafah border crossing. Originally, there were 40 Canadian names on the list of approved evacuees; the department did not explain what changed. But officialssay the situation at the border is volatile and chaotic, and that people are only asked to make their way to the crossing when it's clear they can get through.
Indeed, the crossing had been reported closed earlier in the day as hundreds of people with links to Canada awaited news of when — and whether — they would be able to escape the besieged Palestinian territory. On Tuesday, 75 Canadian citizens, permanent residents and their families were the first people with ties to Canada to leave the territory since the war between Israel and Hamas began a month ago. But no Canadians were able to cross on Wednesday, with a U.S. State Department spokesperson saying the border had been closed because of a "security circumstance," offering little additional detail. People coming from Gaza will be allowed to stay in Egypt for up to three days, and the Canadian government is providing them with accommodation and basic essentials during that time. Thursday's news came as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged Israel to ensure that the newly agreed-upon humanitarian pauses in the fighting would last long enough for people to leave the area and for aid to arrive.
The White House confirmed Israel had agreed to put in place a daily four-hour humanitarian pause in what has been a relentless assault on Hamas in northern Gaza.
U.S. President Joe Biden said that move came after he called on Israel to cease bombardment for three or more days in the hopes that Hamas would release hostages, though he said there was "no possibility" of a ceasefire. The Israelis have committed to announcing each four-hour window at least three hours in advance, said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. The first humanitarian pause to be announced Thursday, he added. Israel was also opening a second corridor for civilians to flee the areas that are the current focus of its military campaign against Hamas, Kirby said, with a coastal road joining the territory's main north-south highway. Trudeau said he's hopeful the latest developments can lead to deeper long-term discussions about how Israelis and Palestinians can live beside each other in peace. "We've been calling for weeks now for humanitarian pauses," he told a news conference. "They need to be significant; they need to last long enough to get people out (and) to get supplies in. And we have to start using them to start thinking about what the medium term and long term is."
Trudeau said that needs to include "a Jewish state of Israel" alongside "a viable Palestinian state … where they are both secure; where they are both able to protect their citizens and flourish." He said Canada would help in the efforts to secure a two-state solution. Early Thursday morning, some Canadian evacuees arrived at Toronto Pearson International Airport after fleeing through Rafah and boarding a 12-hour flight to Canada from Cairo. A couple in their 50s embraced their son, who was waiting for them at the arrivals area. The family then quickly left the airport, headed for their home in London, Ont. The Gaza Strip has been bombarded by thousands of Israeli airstrikes since Hamas militants stormed through the Gaza border on Oct. 7.
Israel's government says those surprise attacks killed 1,400 Israelis and another 240 people were taken hostage. The Health Ministry in Gaza, which has been governed by Hamas since 2007, has put the Palestinian death toll above 10,500 people, and it reports that more than 4,000 of them were children. Canada has listed Hamas as a terrorist organization since 2002. A worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which has been largely cut off from the delivery of aid, has international aid organizations calling for a ceasefire and for food, water and medical supplies to be allowed to enter the region.
Federal officials have said there are more than 400 Canadians, permanent residents and their families in Gaza and that Canada has no direct control over the evacuation from the enclave. Global Affairs Canada has also warned the situation is "fluid and unpredictable" and subject to rapid change. "Canada does not determine when or how many persons can cross each day," it said in a statement late Wednesday afternoon.
"Canada continues to engage all relevant parties to ensure that Canadian citizens, permanent residents and their eligible family members presently in Gaza can exit safely and promptly."

Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 09-10/2023
Can Biden’s New ‘Islamophobia’ Strategy Explain Why American Muslims Are So Islamophobic?
Raymond Ibrahim/November 09/2023
The White House recently announced the U.S.’s first “National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia.” It will aim to “counter the scourge of Islamophobia and hate in all its forms,” said press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a statement. “For too long, Muslims in America, and those perceived to be Muslim, such as Arabs and Sikhs, have endured a disproportionate number of hate-fueled attacks and other discriminatory incidents.”
Although the White House cited the recent Mideast conflict as creating a troubling rise in “Islamophobia”—hence the urgent need for a new strategy—Biden himself has long been lamenting anti-Muslim sentiment. Nearly a year-and-a-half ago, he complained that
so many Muslims [are] being targeted with violence. No one, no one should [be] discriminated against or be oppressed for their religious beliefs…. Muslims make our nation stronger every single day, even as they still face real challenges and threats in our society, including targeted violence and Islamophobia that exists. Usually defined as “unfounded fear of and hostility towards Islam,” Islamophobia is reportedly responsible for a number of negative stereotypes concerning Muslims—that they are violent, hostile, and uncivilized—prompting Americans to dislike and fear Muslims.
The problem, however, is that a 2022 poll has thrown a wrench in all of these claims. As it happens, Muslims—they who know Islam more than anyone else—are generally more Islamophobic than non-Muslims in America. They are more, not less, prone to believing that fellow Muslims are violent, hostile, and uncivilized.
The poll was conducted by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), a Muslim think tank headquartered in Dearborn. Its findings were so inescapable that ISPU—whose entire existence revolves around presenting Muslims as victims of Islamophobia in America—was forced to conclude that, “over time, Islamophobia has declined among other groups but has increased among Muslims.”
Consider the following excerpts from the report (while taking certain words and phrases employed by the Muslim think tank—such as “tropes” and “false notions”—with a grain of salt):
Muslims, themselves, are by far the most Islamophobic group when it comes to the false notion that Muslims are more prone to violence than others. One-quarter of American Muslims (24%) somewhat or strongly agree with this trope, which is at least about two times more likely than other groups. In comparison, 9% of Jews, 8% of Catholics, 11% of Protestants, 12% of white Evangelicals, 13% of the nonaffiliated, and 9% of the general public agree with the idea that Muslims are more prone to violence than others…. Roughly one-quarter of Arab Muslims (23%) agree that Muslims are more prone to violence than others….
American Muslims (19%) are more likely to agree with this idea [that “most Muslims living in the US are hostile to the US”] than are Jews (4%), Protestants (10%), the nonaffiliated (7%), and the general public (8%).…
[Then there is] the erroneous idea that most Muslims living in the United States are less civilized than other groups. Again, we find that Muslims exhibit higher levels of endorsement of this trope with American Muslims nearly three times more likely than white Evangelicals to do so. Nearly one in five Muslims (19%) agree with this trope, compared with 5% of Jews, 6% of Catholics, 5% of Protestants, 7% of white Evangelicals, 5% of the nonaffiliated, and 5% of the general public. The 19% of Muslims who agree with this idea includes 11% who ‘strongly agree’ compared with 1-2% of all other groups surveyed.
These findings are eye opening to say the least. Remember, the entire premise of Islamophobia is that, in their ignorance of “true Islam,” xenophobic Americans are prone to stereotyping Muslims as violent, hostile, and uncivilized.
Yet, behold the truth: no one segment of the American population sees Muslims as violent, hostile, and uncivilized as much as those who are best acquainted with everything to do with being Muslim—that is, Muslims themselves.
One wonders if Biden’s new “National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia” will address this unpopular fact—and if so, how?
Incidentally, we are always being admonished to “listen” to Muslims. When it comes to evaluating which aspects of Islam are “tropes” and which are not, perhaps we should start.

Hamas vs. Western Civ ...Gaza is a significant battleground/
Clifford D. May/The Washington Times/November 09/2023
“Hey hey, ho ho, Western Civ has got to go.” That chant, frequently heard on American college campuses in the 1980s, protested courses on Greece, Rome, the Renaissance, and the Enlightenment – the seeds from which the American experiment grew.
Students were demanding a curriculum based on “multiculturalism,” the assertion that all civilizations are equal – with one less equal than others. That would, of course, be the civilization that gave the world such revolutionary ideas as human rights, individual freedoms, representative democracy, and the self-determination of nations. It’s also the civilization that first came to regard slavery and racism as evils and took steps to combat them. Ignorant of that – or perhaps just ignoring it – champions of “social justice” soon declared Western civilization itself so malevolent that it, too, “has to go.” And that, in brief, is how the illiberal left that now dominates on American campuses became an ally of anti-Western tyrants abroad.
Among them: Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, whose ambition is to establish an Islamic empire to rival the great caliphates of the past and to defeat Western civilization. A central tenet of his theology is that America, the West’s leader, is the “Great Satan,” and Israel, the lone outpost of Western values in the Middle East, is the “Little Satan.”“When you chant ‘Death to America!’ it is not just a slogan,” Mr. Khamenei said in a speech just last week. “It is a policy.”
On Oct. 7, Hamas, one of Tehran’s several pit bulls, demonstrated what such a policy looks like in practice: mass murder, rape, decapitation of infants. Hamas terrorists proudly recorded their barbarism on GoPro cameras (a Western invention) and posted the images on the Internet (a Western invention). Days later, Ghazi Hamad, a senior member of Hamas’s politburo, told a Lebanese television interviewer: “We will repeat the October 7 attack, time and again, until Israel is annihilated.”
This threat of genocide (a word coined in the West) is being parroted by Hamas supporters, some of whom chant, “Gas the Jews!” (Australia), “2, 4, 6, 8, smash the Zionist settler state.” (Stanford University), and “From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free!” (multiple venues). That last chant refers to the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, between which lie Gaza – unfree under Hamas rule – and the West Bank – unfree under Palestinian Authority governance. There’s also Israel, a free country and imperfect democracy. (And which democracy isn’t?)
So, what do Israel’s enemies mean by “free”? They mean Jew-free. Judenfrei is the word the Nazis used. By the way, “From the river to the sea” is a loose translation from an Arabic chant: “From the water to the water, Palestine will remain Arab.” In other words, a call for ethnic cleansing. For the record, 25% of Israeli citizens are Arabs, Muslims, Druze, Bedouin, and other minorities.
Taking a page from the Soviet propaganda playbook, Hamas supporters accuse Israelis of ethnic cleansing and genocide. The truth, of course, is that the populations of both Gaza and the West Bank have grown enormously over recent decades.
The war launched by Hamas has put the lives of Gazans in jeopardy. Israelis have dropped more than a million pamphlets and made more than 6 million phone calls advising Gazans uninterested in killing or dying to head south, away from Hamas’s “center of gravity” in the northern section of the coastal enclave.
Hamas prefers they stay and die. We are “proud to sacrifice martyrs,” Mr. Hamad told the Lebanese TV interviewer. The use of human shields is a serious crime under international law (a Western concept). The Biden administration, which has steadfastly supported Israel’s right to self-defense, has begun pressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to declare temporary ceasefires. Mr. Netanyahu has said there will be no cessation of military operations “that does not include the release of our hostages.”
Among the hostages surviving (we hope) in Hamas’s tunnels are infants and toddlers.
And how exactly would a “humanitarian pause” work? Would Israeli troops in Gaza do crossword puzzles while keeping an eye out for terrorists popping out of holes to shoot them? To further assist Gazan non-combatants’ exodus from the north, Israeli forces last Saturday opened a humanitarian corridor. Hamas attacked the Israelis with mortars and anti-tank missiles and shot Gazans attempting to utilize the corridor. They then, of course, blamed the carnage on the Israelis.
The more Gazan ground Israelis manage to clear, the more safe spaces there will be for noncombatants, and the more aid that can be supplied. Already, about 100 truckloads are arriving daily. Meanwhile, more than 200,000 Israelis have been displaced from communities near the Gaza and Lebanon borders – the biggest internal displacement in Israel’s history. Northern Israel has been under sporadic attack from Lebanese Hezbollah, Tehran’s foreign legion. For now, at least, Hezbollah appears reluctant to open a full-fledged second front. I have a modest suggestion. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh lives, quite comfortably, in Qatar. American officials should ask Qatar’s leaders to choose: Are you with us or against us? If they are with us, they need to give Mr. Haniyah, an ultimatum: You have one week to get the hostages back from your Hamas friends.
Should that not happen, the U.S. would revoke Qatar’s status as a “major non-NATO ally” and designate Qatar as a state sponsor of terrorism. For Mr. Haniyeh, too, there must be consequences. Of course, Hamas’s surrender would save more lives more quickly. But I’m reminded of an old aphorism: “If you teach a cannibal to eat with a knife and fork, that’s progress.” And Western civ could use a little progress right now.
**Clifford D. May is founder and president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and a columnist for the Washington Times.

What Remains of the Sudan Peace Agreement ?
Osman Mirgani/Asharq Al Awsat/November 09/2023
Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan's decision to dismiss two armed movement officials in Darfur from their government positions a few days ago, created a sharp debate about the Juba Peace Agreement between the Sudanese government and several armed movements. The agreement, which had been controversial since it was signed in 2020, has been put under the microscope since the conflict began, with many questions raised about it.
Many believe that, instead of fortifying peace, the agreement has broadened the scope of the problem, especially in Darfur, and that it has pushed the disputes and conflicts to other regions, giving rise to a larger number of armed movements and groups. Others saw it as a means for distributing positions and gains rather than a real solution that addresses the roots of Sudan’s problems and ends its conflicts.
Since the agreement was signed, several of these leaders’ movements have made robust arguments, at several junctures over the turbulent years that followed, pushing back against the skeptics and to those who accuse them of prioritizing their positions of power and struggle for seats. Burhan dismissed Dr. Hadi Idris, who heads the Sudan Liberation Army Movement - Transitional Council, from his position in the Transitional Sovereignty Council. In his statement repudiating the decision, Dr. Idris stressed that his appointment was in line with the Juba Agreement and that violating it would mean the collapse of the agreement. Sudan Minister of Animal Resources Hafez Abdul-Nabi made the same argument after his dismissal. He claimed the decision was void because it had been issued by a party without constitutional legitimacy and it violates the Juba Peace Agreement, which he claimed is “at risk of collapse.”
The fact is that the Juba Peace Agreement was brought down by the armed movements when they joined the coup that overthrew the government of Dr. Abdalla Hamdok in October 2021 and the position they have taken during the war. The leaders of these movements were in agreement regarding the coup and all sought to maintain their positions and gains. However, they took divergent positions during the conflict, with some opting for neutrality, others choosing to join the Rapid Support Forces in their fight against the army, and a third group sided with the army, believing that doing so at this stage is to defend Sudan, whose existence and unity are under threat.
For the Darfur movements that signed the peace agreement, neutrality may have seemed comfortable, even, at first. The statement of Minni Arko Minnawi, the Governor of Darfur who heads the Sudan Liberation Army, was very clear in this regard. “At times we are with this side, and at others, we are with that side.” That is, he would side with the army sometimes and the Rapid Support Forces at others. This neutrality sums up their rationale: as their “rivals” in the army and Rapid Support Forces fight it out and weaken one another, they win.
Neutrality was no longer comfortable when the war in Khartoum stretched to Darfur and the Rapid Support Forces began expanding and taking control of army garrisons, entering Nyala, El Geneina, and Zalingei. With this expansion, and even before it, the United Nations and international humanitarian organizations warned of horrific massacres and human rights violations in Darfur by the Rapid Support Forces. The United Nations warned against further massacres, calling their actions in the city of El Geneina last June genocide. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed its “deep concern” regarding reports of women and girls being kidnapped and held captive in inhumane conditions akin to slavery, and that were being sexually assaulted and held for ransom in regions controlled by the Rapid Support Forces in Darfur.
Many began to ask themselves: Who do the leaders of these movements represent? And who do their forces protect if they are not defending the region and its people?
Minnawi, who was made Governor of Darfur through the peace agreement, has been watching on as human rights violations are being committed in the region. Meanwhile, the governor of North Darfur, Nimr Abdel Rahman, broadcasted an audio message, from outside the region, calling on citizens to seek refuge away from the city of El Fashir, as the city is expected to become an arena of clashes between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, which see the city as the last major arena to fight over in the region.
Minnawi’s position is particularly embarrassing because he had acknowledged the gravity of the situation months ago. In an interview he gave last August, Minnawi called the atrocities that unfolded in El Geneina and other areas in Darfur “genocide and ethnic cleansing;” his forces and the other armed movements in Darfur nonetheless refrained from taking actions to repel the attacks on their people. They stood by and watched as the cities of the region were pillaged and thousands of residents were displaced, adding to the three million citizens who had been forced to flee to neighboring countries, especially Chad.
The armed movements in Darfur are now in a tough spot. Neutrality is no longer convincing, and many are calling on them to join the fight, that is, to side with the army. On the other hand, some believe that these movements, or some of them, may choose or find themselves with no other option than to ally themselves with the Rapid Support Forces if developments lead to the secession of the region and the emergence of a parallel government there, as had been seen in Libya. My assessment is that such an alliance is unlikely. If it were to take shape, it would be temporary or opportunistic. Such an alliance would not be sustainable, it would turn Darfur into a furnace of devastating war more horrific than any of those that preceded it. Darfur is not homogeneous in its tribal composition. The Rapid Support Forces and some Darfur movements have fought wars and historically mistrust one another. Moreover, many people in Darfur oppose secession. This war has exposed many. It has revealed many flaws that must be looked into and resolved once the fighting ends. The Juba Peace Agreement is certainly among them.

Will we see a joint Iranian-Arab front on Gaza?
Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/November 10, 2023
It has been announced that Ebrahim Raisi will attend the Organization of Islamic Cooperation meeting in Riyadh on Sunday to discuss Gaza. This will be the first visit by an Iranian president to Saudi Arabia since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2012. The inclusion of Iran in the meeting on Gaza stems from the desire to make the Islamic Republic part of the solution and not part of the problem. However, there is a major trust issue between Iran and the Arab Gulf states and they each look at events from a zero-sum perspective. Will Raisi convince the Arab states that Iran has good intentions and cares for the well-being of the Palestinians, rather than using them as a card to improve its position vis-a-vis its neighbors and the US?
Iran has been invited to the Gaza discussion because its neighbors realize that, if it were not included and left isolated, Tehran could act as a spoiler. The Iranian participation should be examined against the Arab backdrop. Dennis Ross wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times last month that several Arab officials had told him they wanted Israel to eradicate Hamas because they perceived any win for Hamas as being a win for Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood. Here, it is important to analyze the Arab position.
Gaza is a dilemma for Arabs. On the one hand, they feel for the Palestinians and want a just solution to this problem, but on the other hand they despise Hamas. Arab states view Hamas as a dangerous actor. Its political wing is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and its military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, is linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and is part of the much-loathed “axis of resistance.”
When Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah gave his speech last week, he said that a win for Hamas was a win for the Palestinians and for surrounding Arab countries. He indirectly sent assurances to Arab states, insinuating that if Israel suffered a setback and did not achieve its objectives, then it would be forced to come to the negotiating table to discuss a state for the Palestinians, something it has been avoiding for years. While meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the Arab states expressed the need for a ceasefire and the resumption of negotiations to reach a two-state solution. However, according to sources, they wanted to keep Iran out of it and they also had divergent views on the role of Hamas.
The ideal scenario for many Arab states as well as the US would be as follows: Israel takes out Hamas and the Arabs then negotiate a two-state solution, taking the Palestine card away from Iran. However, things are not as simple as that. Iran cannot be ignored, as it can very much play the spoiler. It can complicate the situation for everyone. One thing is for sure: neither Iran nor the Arab Gulf states want war. Iran would probably want a situation from which it can improve its negotiating position with the US and the Arab states.
As the tragedy in Gaza unfolds, Arabs are realizing more and more that the Palestinian question cannot go unanswered and that the current situation is not sustainable. They want to find a solution; however, they have many questions regarding Iran. Will Iran accept the two-state solution? If Israel suffers a setback, will that reinforce the axis of resistance and increase Iran’s grip on Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen? Will Iran’s belligerence increase? The other issue is: If a political settlement is conceived in which Palestinians are given a sovereign state but part of the deal is to dismantle Hamas, would Iran accept it? Would Iran accept losing the Hamas card in exchange for the overall well-being of the Palestinians?
Obviously, if a deal is to be conceived with Israel, it will be difficult for Hamas — or at least its military branch that is affiliated with Iran — to remain in charge of the Gaza Strip. Would Iran accept the disbandment of the Al-Qassam Brigades? If so, what would it want in return? It is important to understand that Hamas, like Hezbollah, acts as deterrence for Iran against Israel. If it were to go, Iran would need to be compensated. What would it ask for in return?
If Iran convinces the Arab states that it is part of the solution and not part of the problem, then there is a good chance that together they can create a front that can pressure the US to seriously push Israel to accept a two-state solution. Nevertheless, Iran has to present a clear political vision. Its declared aim is to liberate Palestine. If the Palestinian problem is solved, what would its position be on other files?
The US also does not want war. President Joe Biden is trailing Donald Trump in the polls in major swing states and a prolonged war would definitely not help him. Accusations of supporting a genocide against Palestinians do not sit well with the principles Biden wants to convince the electorate he stands for. He needs a solution.
Iran cannot be ignored, as it can very much play the spoiler. It can complicate the situation for everyone.
In a way, if the Arabs and Iran were to agree on a solution, it would make life easier for the US. Despite the unequivocal US support for Tel Aviv and the emotional attachment that both the president and secretary of state have for Israel, they also want a solution and they know that the occupation is not sustainable. Though submarines and destroyers have been dispatched to the region, the US hopes not to use them.
So, what should Raisi present to the Arab states in order to appease them? What kind of reassurances do they need? Iran has to have a clear position on whether it will accept the Arab Peace Initiative. It also needs to explain what its endgame is with the Houthis, the Shiite militias in Iraq, Hezbollah and Bashar Assad. For example, will it pressure Assad to accept UN Security Council Resolution 2254 to end the Syrians’ suffering?
On the other hand, Iran needs to be clear about what security guarantees it wants in return. Saudi Arabia is very well positioned to offer Iran security guarantees. Tehran has always asked Riyadh for its position in case of a confrontation with Israel. The Kingdom could always give Iran a guarantee that it would close its airspace as a result of any Israeli aggression on Iran, but in return Tehran would have to cooperate with Saudi Arabia on the region’s files — and the most pressing file today is Palestine.
*Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on lobbying. She is co-founder of the Research Center for Cooperation and Peace Building, a Lebanese nongovernmental organization focused on Track II.

Planet Earth also a victim in times of war
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/November 10, 2023
In 2001, during Kofi Annan’s tenure as secretary-general of the UN, Nov. 6 was declared to be the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict by the UN General Assembly. As this important date passed again this week, it is necessary to examine the impact that wars have on our endangered planet. Wars destroy humanity and inflict unimaginable damage and pain on people, particularly children and the most vulnerable. But there are also other victims of armed conflicts, including the environment and other forms of life on our planet.
Firstly, heavy modern military vehicles, particularly those deployed by air forces, rely on a large quantity of petroleum to operate. The US Department of Defense is reportedly considered to be the single largest consumer of such fuel across the world.
The use of these heavy military vehicles in wars causes high levels of carbon dioxide emissions, in addition to nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide. In fact, some of the largest militaries in the world produce more carbon dioxide than entire nations — for example, the US military is thought to emit more than Denmark or Portugal. Carbon dioxide emissions are the primary driving force behind climate change and global warming. It is important to point out that climate change does not recognize borders and one country’s militaristic policies and actions can affect not only the country it is waging war on, but other nations too. Unfortunately, developing countries and communities with lower socioeconomic classes, older people, women and children disproportionately experience the impacts of losses and damages caused by global warming.
Secondly, wars can disrupt water systems, creating a significant impact not only on the environment but also on the well-being of humans and wildlife. For example, the oil from heavy military vehicles, weapons residue and attacks on water facilities can lead to the contamination of water sources. According to a report by the Watson Institute at Brown University, which studied the impact of the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and other conflict-affected zones, “the water supply in the war zones has been contaminated by oil from military vehicles and depleted uranium from ammunition. Along with the degradation of the natural resources in these countries and a radical destruction of forest cover, the animal and bird populations have also been adversely affected.”
Intentionally disrupting or cutting off water supplies is also used as a weapon of war by some parties. Another tool employed is targeting a country’s oil infrastructure in order to deliberately pollute water supplies and impose fear. The consequences of this have become critical as the world is now increasingly facing water stress or scarcity, with demand frequently being higher than supply in some areas. Today, about one in four people globally do not have access to safe drinking water. In addition, it is alarming that the UN estimated in 2016 that half of the world’s population could be living in areas facing water scarcity by 2025. Not only does this affect humans, but it also negatively impacts the overall ecosystem.
Thirdly, wars often play a key role in the destruction of forests. For example, the enormous repercussions of the destruction that the two world wars had on forests in Europe can still be felt to this day. Trees and forests play a vital role in absorbing carbon dioxide, lowering the quantity of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. In other words, increases in deforestation have severe consequences for people, the environment and the planet. Fourthly, bombs and other explosive weapons create a significant amount of debris and rubble and lead to air, land and soil pollution. The destruction of agricultural lands exacerbates food insecurity and increases starvation. This pollution of the land caused by war not only leads to soil erosion, impacting humans and their food production, but it also harms other species and can cause mass extinctions.
According to the Conflict and Environment Observatory, scorched earth techniques in wars include “the destruction of agricultural infrastructure like canals, wells and pumps and the burning of crops. Tactics like these threaten food security and livelihoods, increasing the vulnerability of rural communities.”
Armed conflicts not only destroy humanity but also create significant environmental harm.
Finally, wars can cause the massive displacement of people and lead to the creation of large refugee camps. The environmental impact of such developments should be noted, as large numbers of people try to flee to neighboring countries that often do not have the necessary resources to meet their basic needs, such as water, food and sanitation.
In a nutshell, armed conflicts not only destroy humanity but also create significant environmental harm. The environmental damage caused by wars include the contamination of water, soil and air, the harming of wildlife and biodiversity, and the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. They also negatively affect the ecosystems of the world by depleting resources and causing a rise in the rate of deforestation, along with the degradation of agricultural and natural landscapes. It is critical for us to reassert and reaffirm our duty and commitment when it comes to protecting our planet.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh

United Nations’ Bigotry Towards Israel: UNRWA Anti-semitism Poisons Palestinian Youth
Jonathan Schanzer/FDD/November 09/2023
Introduction
Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Wild, and distinguished members of the subcommittee, on behalf of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, thank you for the opportunity to testify.
The United Nations (UN) was founded nearly 80 years ago in the wake of the decimation of European Jewry, in part, to ensure that such horrors were never repeated. And yet just one month ago, Hamas carried out the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Rather than preventing such atrocities, the UN has enabled them. Anti-Israel bias and anti-Israel policies have spun out of control, undermining the UN’s very mission. At the UN today, the world’s leading human rights abusers emerge as leaders on human rights. Regimes that deny women’s rights masquerade as women’s advocates. Multiple agencies have succumbed to endemic corruption. And the prevention or cessation of conflict only seems to matter when Israel tries to defend itself from terrorist attacks. This, in many ways, is the buckling of the U.S.-led world order.
Throughout this testimony, I will highlight the important work of my colleagues at FDD, who have consistently highlighted the dysfunction and dangers of the UN. Our policy prescription can be summed up rather succinctly: the United Nations has failed. Either we undertake significant and meaningful reforms now, or the United States should take steps to dismantle entire agencies that have failed to do their jobs.
UN Reactions to the October 7 Massacre
Mr. Chairman, the Hamas pogrom that claimed the lives of 1,400 Israelis on October 7 should have been a wakeup call to the United Nations. It wasn’t. While UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said “Nothing can justify” the Hamas attacks, in the same breath, he made excuses for them, saying they “did not happen in a vacuum.”[1] UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Special Rapporteur on Palestine, Francesca Albanese — whose antisemitic record at the UN has been exhaustively documented by FDD — wrote, “Today’s violence must be put in context,” blaming it on “Almost six decades of hostile military rule over an entire civilian population.”[2]
Such statements, while predictable at this point for the UN, are beyond the pale. No context justifies the slaughter of women, children, and the elderly.
Admittedly, some officials and entities from the UN condemned the October 7 attack. However, none described the perpetrators of the massacre as a terrorist group. Many did not even mention Hamas by name. There’s a reason for that: The UN doesn’t recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization. Nor does it recognize Hezbollah either. That means UN resources can be and regularly are provided to members of those terrorist groups.
Most UN officials commenting on 10/7 tried to equate Hamas’s butchering of innocent civilians and Israel’s legitimate military response.[3] In doing so, the UN revealed the extent of its failure.
The United Nations secretary-general, and countless others who work for him, are now calling for a ceasefire. The UN General Assembly (UNGA) passed a resolution on October 27 calling for an immediate ceasefire.[4] While this may sound like a humanitarian gesture, it is a guaranteed recipe for more Hamas violence. Forcing the Israelis to stop now would allow Hamas the time and space to rearm and regroup; the group would be positioned to carry out future massacres, something Hamas leaders have pledged to do.[5]
It is further worth noting here that the UN resolution does not mention Hamas by name, and it calls for establishing “a mechanism to ensure the protection of the Palestinian civilian population.” There is no mention of mechanisms to protect the Israeli population, just weeks after the slaughter of 1,400 Israelis.
Bizarrely, the resolution also condemns Israeli efforts to enable Palestinians to leave the warzone temporarily, framing them as the “forced transfer of the Palestinian civilian population.” In fact, the Israelis are trying to save lives amidst a grueling war in a densely packed urban environment.
The commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) described Israel’s efforts to move the Gaza population to safety as “horrendous.”[6] In short, the agency supports and even facilitates Hamas’s use of Gazans as human shields rather than supporting an evacuation that would save Palestinian lives in a manner consistent with international law.[7]
UNRWA
No organization exemplifies the UN’s nurturing of Palestinian grievances at the expense of Palestinians better than UNRWA, whose nominal mission is to care for Palestinians displaced by the Arab-Israeli war of 1948. Though every other refugee in the world falls under the jurisdiction of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Palestinians get their own agency.
In the early years, UNRWA treated Palestinians as clients rather than refugees. They refused to settle the Palestinians displaced by the conflict — the conflict that they and the surrounding Arab states initiated. Over time, however, UNRWA began to lose clients. Refugees grew old and passed away. That was when UNRWA expanded the definition of Palestinian refugees to include all descendants of the original male refugees.
As my colleagues Richard Goldberg and Enia Krivine note, UNRWA’s refugee tally has ballooned from 700,000 in 1948 to 5.9 million today.[8] This figure includes more than 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, which are not foreign lands, but territories the Palestinians claim for a future state. Moreover, rather than improve the lives of these 5.9 million people through resettlement, UNRWA promotes a fictitious Palestinian right to claim Israeli land. UNRWA has perpetuated conflict through such rhetoric. And by creating new generations of Palestinians who are not refugees but claim refugee status, UNRWA has made the refugee issue an intractable one. The number of Palestinians on the UNRWA roster grows every year.
UNRWA also has blood on its hands. Despite decades of suicide bombings, and thousands of rockets launched indiscriminately at Israeli cities, the agency (along with the rest of the UN), does not recognize Hamas as a terrorist group. The UN body formerly known as the 1267 Committee, now known as the ISIL (Dae’sh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee, does not view Hamas (or any other Iranian proxy) as a terrorist group. This has had a direct influence on UNRWA’s hiring process.[9] The agency has over 30,000 employees. UNRWA doesn’t screen them for ties to terrorist groups, meaning that many employees are members of or affiliated with Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or other violent groups.[10] As far as UNRWA is concerned, Hamas affiliation is a political label, not a terror red flag.
Congress has raised concerns about an UNRWA school headmaster moonlighting as a terrorist.[11] His story is just one of dozens that have been reported over the years. UNRWA employees have promoted antisemitism online, including praise of Hitler.[12] This is not a case of a few rotten apples but rather an agency that openly promotes hatred and violence while masquerading as a humanitarian body. There was no other way to interpret UNRWA’s positions after January 2021, when the agency’s secretary-general acknowledged that UNRWA’s official educational curricula refer to Israel as the “enemy,” teach math by counting “martyred” terrorists, and include the phrase “Jihad is one of the doors to Paradise” in grammar lessons.[13]
UNRWA’s problems are not confined to Gaza. The same story plays out in the West Bank and Lebanon where so-called refugee camps become terror bases of operations.[14]
Unlike many UN agencies to which the United States contributes, UNRWA has no board of directors to conduct oversight and steer the organization.[15] This has contributed to corruption and inefficiency. UNRWA maintains a staff of over 13,000 just in Gaza to serve the territory’s 2.2 million Palestinians.[16] Meanwhile, the UNHCR serves more than nearly 90 million people worldwide with under 19,000 staff members.[17]
Criticizing UNRWA need not ignore the needs of destitute Palestinians or the intentions of well-meaning relief workers — some of whom have died during the current war. If the agency would simply acknowledge its problems, reform could be possible. However, the group appears content to play by Hamas’s rules. In 2021, after UNRWA employee Matthias Schmale, the head of UNRWA’s operations in Gaza, gave an interview calling Israeli military strikes “precise” and “sophisticated,” he was compelled to leave the territory.[18] Just a few weeks ago, on October 15, UNRWA posted on social media that “a group of people with trucks purporting to be from the Ministry of Health,” run by Hamas, “removed fuel and medical equipment from the Agency’s compound.” UNRWA quickly deleted this post.[19]
The UN’s Web of Bodies Dedicated to Harming Israel
Beyond UNRWA, the UN maintains a roster of organs and committees dedicating to validating Palestinian grievances and maligning the Jewish state. My colleague David May has done groundbreaking work on this constellation of UN agencies.[20]
In 1968, the year after Israel fought a six-day, pre-emptive war to preserve its existence, the UN General Assembly created the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories. The committee’s mandate is solely to investigate alleged Israeli abuses, and it produces annual reports cataloguing them.[21] This effort, which continues to this day, is part of a broader UN effort to label Israel as the aggressor when it defends itself.
The committee’s reports include wild claims that Israel requisitions Palestinian homes by placing ancient Hebrew coins in them to falsely claim Jewish heritage or that Israeli excavations undermine the structural foundations of the al-Aqsa Mosque.[22]
It doesn’t end there. In 1977, the UNGA created the Division for Palestinian Rights (UNDPR) to oversee the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP), created in 1975. No such body exists for Israelis or for any other people in the world, for that matter. It continues to echo the Palestinian narrative, which is more focused on maligning Israel than building toward Palestinian independence in the West Bank and Gaza.
The UNDPR oversees the United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine (UNISPAL), a propaganda arm dedicated to promoting the Palestinian agenda. The committee also oversees the “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.” Speakers at solidarity day events have promoted blood libels against Israel; compared Israel’s actions to those of the Nazis; and advocated a “free Palestine from the river to the sea.”[23] This call to ethnically cleanse Israel, a motto of Hamas, has been increasingly popular in the weeks following the 10/7 slaughter.
Anti-Israel Bias Throughout the UN
Palestinian-specific bodies are not the only UN entities promoting the Palestinian agenda. My colleagues Orde Kittrie, Richard Goldberg, and David May have done important research in this space.
The UN Human Rights Council, a body dominated by dictatorships, regularly attacks Israel for defending itself. The UNHRC has passed as many resolutions against Israel as the rest of the world combined, and it has a blacklist of companies operating in Israeli-controlled, disputed territories.[24] No other list exists for any other disputed territory in the world. This is a clear double standard.
These are all examples of antisemitism according to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). Thirty-six countries, including the United States and the European Union, endorse IHRA’s working definition.[25] IHRA’s examples of antisemitism include: “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor,” “Applying double standards” to Israel, and comparing Israel to Nazi Germany. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has praised the IHRA definition. So have former UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Ahmed Shaheed, and the UN’s lead in monitoring antisemitism, Miguel Moratinos.[26]
Consistent with its Israel obsession, the UNHRC has launched multiple commissions of inquiry (COIs) to investigate alleged Israeli crimes. One was launched after Hamas instigated a war in 2014, kidnapping and murdering three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank. The UNHRC launched a commission of inquiry to investigate possible Israeli war crimes when the country responded.[27] This framing reflects the UN’s continued commitment to whitewash Palestinian war crimes and violations of human rights while denying Israel’s right to defend itself. An even more insidious commission was established in 2021 with a mandate that never sunsets.[28]
The UNHRC also appointed a rapporteur devoted exclusively to investigating potential Israeli crimes. It is the only UNHRC special rapporteur with an open-ended mandate with no fixed duration.[29] Many of these rapporteurs have been embroiled in antisemitism controversies.[30] But none compares to the dystopian rhetoric of the current rapporteur, Francesca Albanese.
In February 2023, Albanese blamed Israel for a Palestinian terrorist attack that left six Israelis and one Ukrainian dead.[31] In July, Albanese released a report in which she dismissed Israeli security needs, called for punitive actions against Israel, and justified terrorism against Israelis. Her report won the praise of Hamas.[32] Albanese wrote that Palestinians “continuously rebel against their prison wardens.” Albanese recently justified Hamas’s October 7 pogrom that cut down 1,400 Israelis in cold blood, framing it as a response to Israeli “aggression.”
Albanese should never have been given her current post. In 2014, she described the United States as “subjugated by the Jewish lobby.”[33] Top U.S. officials recently condemned these remarks.[34] Separately that year, Albanese claimed that the “Israeli lobby,” directed by “Israel’s greed,” skewed media coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Albanese has also compared Israel to the Nazis, declared Israel to be a racist endeavor, and repeatedly voiced opposition to the IHRA working definition of antisemitism.[35]
Another opponent of the IHRA definition is Craig Mokhiber, who until recently worked for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which oversees the UN Human Rights Council.[36] In a letter last month announcing his retirement, Mokhiber called Israel’s operations against Hamas “a text-book case of genocide” and called Israel a “European, ethno-nationalist, settler colonial project in Palestine.”[37] This is consistent with his rhetoric over the years.[38] Not coincidentally, Mokhiber has called accusations of antisemitism among anti-Israel activists to be “a tired old trick” that obscures “the real struggle against antisemitism.”[39]
The World Health Organization
The UN’s disproportionate focus on Israel also impacts the priorities of agencies that have more urgent business. The World Health Organization (WHO), for example, singles out Israel for scrutiny at its annual conferences, a practice it began in 1968.[40] Even at the height of the pandemic, the agency dedicated a full day of its eight-day conference to bashing Israel. I refer you to the work of my colleagues Anthony Ruggiero, Richard Goldberg, David May, and others on this important topic.[41]
During the current hostilities, the WHO has emphasized the danger the fighting has posed to Palestinian healthcare facilities, but it hasn’t criticized Hamas for using those facilities as human shields. Nor has the WHO commented on Hamas’s reported use of ambulances to ferry its fighters and weapons, as has been widely reported during the current conflict.[42] It’s interesting to note, however, the extent to which the aforementioned Albanese parroted Hamas talking points surrounding the al-Ahli hospital bombing,[43] which was the result of an errant rocket fired by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Albanese has not retracted her comments blaming Israel for this incident. And the WHO has not weighed in, either.
It is now known that Hamas maintains its primary military command center beneath Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest and most important medical facility. The Washington Post has called Shifa Hamas’s “de facto headquarters.”[44] In previous conflicts, Hamas fired rockets from within the vicinity of the hospital and nearby and executed rivals receiving care at the facility. The group makes similar use of other hospitals. This is an unequivocal war crime, as my colleague Orde Kittrie has explained.[45] It is also key to Hamas’s strategy, which is to exploit Israel’s unilateral commitment to respecting the laws of war while weaponizing outrage over the civilian casualties caused by Hamas’s use of human shields. The WHO has chosen to ignore this problem, revealing a bias that can no longer be ignored.
UNIFIL
While Washington is understandably focused on the Gaza front, another battle could erupt on Israel’s northern border with the Lebanese Hezbollah. The Iran-backed group currently possesses an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 rockets. The group also possesses hundreds of precision-guided munitions (PGMs), which is the first time such lethal weapons have been wielded by a non-state actor. Hezbollah also has hundreds of deadly drones in its arsenal.
For the purposes of our discussion, it is important to ask: how was Hezbollah able to acquire so much weaponry? My colleague David Daoud has done important work on this subject.
The UN International Forces in Lebanon was established in the late 1970s to prevent such a scenario. UN Security Council Resolution 1701, issued after the last round of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, was designed to further clarify and reinforce this important mission of preventing nonstate actors such as Hezbollah from acquiring military capabilities now on full display. The Iran-backed group continues to fire anti-tank missiles at Israel every day without a word from the United Nations. It is further important to note that the group has built all across the border with Israel, without a word from the UN. A U.S. Treasury designation of “Green Without Borders” exposed the extent to which Hezbollah wielded a nonprofit front entity to build military outposts across Israel’s northern frontier. Meanwhile, the Lebanese Armed Forces, an army funded by the American taxpayer, has done nothing to halt any of this.
The uselessness of UNIFIL is on full display.[46] There is a legitimate discussion to be had about whether the UN simply failed or whether it actively enabled the crisis that is rapidly unfolding on Israel’s northern border. Either way, it is time for the United States to actively consider defunding and dismantling UNIFIL. Something else can be stood up to take its place if a mechanism for continued dialogue between Israel and representatives of the Hezbollah-dominated Lebanese state is needed.
Recommendations
The Orwellian focus of the United Nations on Israel has not only diverted important resources from other problems around the world, it has undermined the basic functions of the multilateral body that was designed to protect the U.S.-led world order. Either the UN begins to reform itself or it should be dismantled. My FDD colleagues and I recommend the following:
Overhaul UNRWA to ensure an accountable and transparent organization. Any further U.S. funding should be contingent upon:
Establishing an impartial board of directors capable of conducting effective oversight of operations.
Undertaking a full screening of UNRWA employees, contractors, and beneficiaries for terrorist affiliation.
Overhaul all educational material to remove antisemitism and incitement against Israel and replace it with a U.S.-supervised curriculum that promotes tolerance.
Apply refugee status only to individuals who fled their homes in 1948-1949.
Establish a clear plan for the phasing out of UNRWA and passing any legitimate refugee claims to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
The UN Security Council should add Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organizations to its list of sanctioned entities and individuals.[47] The same should be applied to Hezbollah, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and other Shi’ite militias sponsored by the Islamic Republic in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. If China or Russia object, U.S. taxpayers will have further evidence that their money is being abused.
The UN should dismantle the Special Committee, CEIRPP, UNISPAL, and other bodies that serve as Palestinian propaganda vehicles. Any agency dealing with the Palestinian cause should prioritize counter-radicalization and co-existence. U.S. funding should be contingent on such changes.
Establish the IHRA definition of antisemitism as the standard for all UN bodies. This should include the removal of any UN official who issues statements that are antisemitic, with a focus on those that embrace a double standard toward Israel, as defined by the IHRA. This should also prohibit agencies like the WHO from applying double standards to Israel, thus eliminating standing agenda items that only focus on criticizing Israel.
Reform the selection process at the Human Rights Council to block the worst violators of human rights from sitting in judgment of Israel or any other democratic country. Iran was recently the chair of the UNHRC social reform session. This cannot be allowed to continue.[48] Ballots for selecting council members should be open, not closed, so member states cannot conceal votes cast for repressive dictatorships. Human Rights Council mandates of all one-sided commissions of inquiry and special rapporteurs should be terminated. Washington should demand the removal of the standing agenda item that subjects Israel to perpetual discrimination. Absent these reforms, the U.S. must cease participation and support.
Dismantle UNIFIL. Another organization might be formed to take its place in order to facilitate dialogue between Israel and the Hezbollah-dominated Lebanese state. But this peacekeeping agency has failed to keep the peace. It may have even guaranteed war.
I would be happy to answer any questions you have on the topics explored above. On behalf of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, thank you for the opportunity to testify.
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[2] David May and Richard Goldberg, “More outrageous UN anti-Semitism: High-level official says Israel to blame for Palestinians murdering Jews,” New York Post, February 13, 2023. (https://nypost.com/2023/02/13/high-level-official-says-israel-to-blame-for-palestinians-murdering-jews); @FranceskAlbs, X, October 7, 2023. (https://twitter.com/FranceskAlbs/status/1710652725870874874)
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[8] Richard Goldberg and Jonathan Schanzer, “The U.N. Refugee Agency With Few Actual Refugees,” The Wall Street Journal, February 3, 2021. (https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-u-n-refugee-agency-with-few-actual-refugees-11612378415); “Where We Work,” UNRWA, accessed November 5, 2023. (https://www.unrwa.org/where-we-work)
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[10] Jonathan Schanzer and Richard Goldberg, “Congress must fix UNRWA’s Hamas problem,” Washington Examiner, July 31, 2021. (https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/congress-must-fix-unrwas-hamas-problem)
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[14] Richard Goldberg and David May, “Don’t give more money to the UN’s failed Palestinian refugee agency,” The Hill, September 12, 2023, (https://thehill.com/opinion/4197917-dont-give-more-money-to-the-uns-failed-palestinian-refugee-agency)
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[19] @BarakRavid, X, October 16, 2023. (https://twitter.com/BarakRavid/status/1713915954759889300)
[20] David May, “A Better Blueprint for International Organizations: Palestinian Organizations at the United Nations,” Foundation for Defense of Democracies, June 30, 2021. (https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2021/06/30/palestinian-organizations-at-the-united-nations)
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