Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 20-21/2023
Gallant: Hezbollah has fired 1,000 munitions but suffers more significant harm
Hezbollah targets Israel with Burkan missiles, attack drones
Hochstein in Israel for talks on 'preventing war with Lebanon'
Army chief file put on back burner as extension emerges as likely choice
Hezbollah attacks Israeli troops with drones, artillery, missiles
Why the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza has not sparked a full-scale conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon — so far
Lebanon-Israel border tensions: Amos Hochstein mediates amid fears of wider escalation
Russian Ambassador to Lebanon urges halt to military operations in the south
Hezbollah's move: Baranit Barracks attack raises doubts in Kiryat Shmona
Attack in Yaroun: Israeli artillery damages Saint Georges Church
Achkar warns: 2024 budget threatens Lebanon's tourism resurgence
MP Atieh to LBCI: Berri was responsive to the issue of appointments, and he set a timeframe
Mikati meets Caretaker Foreign Minister, World Bank’s Carre, Hungarian Ambassador, MP Al-Khazen, MIDEL delegation
Mawlawi discusses Syrian displacement file with UNHCR’s Ivo, meets UNRWA’s Klaus, broaches general situation with MP Chehayeb
Deputy Secretary-General Of Hizbullah Sheikh Naim Qassem: Advance Knowledge Of The October 7 Attack Wasn't Important To Us; Hizbullah’s Participation Is An Integral Part Of The Second Stage Of The War

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 20-21/2023
Israel’s Military Releases Video It Says Shows Hamas Tunnel at Shifa Hospital
Israeli ships ‘legitimate target’, Houthis warn after seizure
Biden 'Believes' Imminent Agreement for the Release of Hostages Held by Hamas
Israel reveals signs of Hamas activity at Shifa, but a promised command center remains elusive
Israel expands Gaza operation as mediator says hostage deal 'close'
CNN visited the exposed tunnel shaft near Al-Shifa Hospital. Here’s what we saw
Canadian MPs arrive in Israel for solidarity trip as tensions between Trudeau and Netanyahu remain high
Ministerial committee assigned by joint Islamic-Arab summit holds meeting with China vice president
Israel Recalls Ambassador from Pretoria over South Africa Hosting BRICS Summit Discussing Gaza War
Red Cross president meets with Hamas chief on Gaza war humanitarian issues
UN peacekeepers no ‘magic wand’ for crises, their chief says
China welcomes Arab and Muslim foreign ministers for talks on ending the war in Gaza
Heavy fighting breaks out around Gaza's Indonesian hospital
Hamas Threatens To Repeat October 7 Attack In Or From West Bank
Heavy fighting surrounds another Gaza hospital after babies evacuated from Al-Shifa
With the world's eyes on Gaza, the West Bank faces its own war
China welcomes Arab and Muslim FMs for talks on ending Gaza war
Turkey searches for 11 missing sailors after deadly storm

Titles For The Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 20-21/2023
The Obstacles to Hindering the Israeli War Machine/Sam Menassa/Asharq Al-Awsat/November 20/2023
Iran… The Profits of Incitement are Clear/Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/November 20/2023
More Than 500 US Officials Sign Letter Protesting Biden’s Israel Policy/Maria Abi-Habib, Michael Crowley and Edward Wong/The New York Times/Monday - 20 November 2023
Who Made the Flood?/Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al-Awsat/November 20/2023
Palestinians: 'Extreme' Support for Terrorist Group Hamas, Israel's Destruction/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute./November 20, 2023
Epiphany Moment: Tiktokers ‘Rediscover’ Long-Discredited al-Qaeda Propaganda/Raymond Ibrahim./November 20, 2023
Video/From the Washington Institute/Iranian Escalation in Iraq and Syria: Implications and U.S. Options/Michael Knights, Wladimir van Wilgenburg, Devorah Margolin, Andrew J. Tabler/November 20-21/2023
Houthi Ship Seizure, OPEC+ Meeting and COP28 Plans Could Spike Oil Prices/Simon Henderson/The Messenger/November 20/2023

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 20-21/2023
Gallant: Hezbollah has fired 1,000 munitions but suffers more significant harm
Naharnet/November 20, 2023
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has told reporters that Hezbollah has fired over 1,000 munitions at Israel since October 7. “Iran is the root of hostility and aggression against the State of Israel. The war is multi-front, even though its intensity is focused on Gaza,” Gallant said. “Since the beginning of the war, Hezbollah has fired more than 1,000 munitions at Israeli targets but suffers far more significant harm. We’re thwarting squads and hitting military assets and targets, Hezbollah pays a heavy price every day,” he added. He also said that in the West Bank, “there are many attempts to carry out terrorist attacks against Israelis that are thwarted every day by the IDF and the Shin Bet.”“In recent days, the defense establishment has identified a growing trend of Iran working to intensify attacks by the militias against Israel through its proxies in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. We are following, and will know how to act at the appropriate time, place and strength,” Gallant added.

Hezbollah targets Israel with Burkan missiles, attack drones
Naharnet/November 20, 2023
Hezbollah targeted Monday the Israeli Biranit post with four Volcano missiles (Burkan) and Israel retaliated by shelling several border towns including al-Labbouneh, al-Naqoura, Ain al-Zarqaa, Yaroun, Rmeish, Aita al-Shaab, Mays al-Jabal, Houla and Tayr Harfa. later on Monday, Hezbollah targeted other Israeli posts, including the Zebdine barracks in the occupied Shebaa Farms, Ramim, the Bar'am kibbutz, Hadb al-Bustan, Malkia and Hadb Yaroun. Hezbollah also targeted an infantry force near al-Dhaira and another force near al-Taihat, "inflicting casualties."the Israeli army for its part shelled several border towns including Rob Tlatine, Markaba, al-Jebbayn, Mhaibib, Maroun al-Rass, Aitaroun, Yarine, Odeisseh and Kfarkela, using helicopter gunships and warplanes in addition to artillery shelling. The house of Amal MP Qabalan Qabalan in Mays al-Jabal was targeted by Israeli artillery. Meanwhile, sirens sounded in Kiryat Shmona, Margaliot, Shlomi, and Manara as Hezbollah attacked Israeli troop gatherings west of Kiryat Shmona with three attack drones and twenty-five artillery shells. Hezbollah said the attacks inflicted direct casualties, while the Israeli Army claimed there were no casualties. Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged daily cross-border fire. Hezbollah has reportedly fired more than a thousand munitions at Israeli targets since. At least 90 people have been killed on the Lebanese side, most of them Hezbollah combatants but including at least 10 civilians.
Six soldiers and three civilians have been killed on the Israeli side, according to authorities there, while hospitals in northern Israel have reportedly received more than 1500 injured soldiers and civilians.

Hochstein in Israel for talks on 'preventing war with Lebanon'
Naharnet/November 20, 2023
Senior Biden adviser Amos Hochstein arrived in Israel on Monday for talks with senior Israeli officials on preventing a war between Israel and Lebanon, two U.S. and Israeli officials told U.S. news portal Axios. Hochstein arrived in Israel after another day of escalating skirmishes between Hezbollah and the Israeli army on the border, with heavy bombardments by the Lebanon-based group and airstrikes by the Israeli Air Force. Hochstein is expected to meet with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, Israeli army chief of staff Herzi Halevi, and Israeli national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, an Israeli official said. Israel wants the U.S. to work diplomatically to press Hezbollah to pull back its elite Radwan Force from the border with Israel, a senior Israeli official said. Israel has evacuated tens of thousands of residents from Israeli villages and towns close to the border as a precaution. The Israeli official said these civilians will not go back to their homes if they believe there is a threat on the other side of the border.

Army chief file put on back burner as extension emerges as likely choice
Naharnet/November 20, 2023
Calm contacts are taking place away from the spotlight regarding the issue of the army chief post, governmental sources said. “The issue of avoiding vacuum in the army command will be left to the last 15 minutes,” an informed political source told al-Joumhouria newspaper in remarks published Monday. “Hezbollah has requested patience in order not to strain the relation with Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil and in an attempt to keep the issue out of political wrangling and provocation and find a political solution away from political and media pressure,” the source added. “Extending the army chief’s term is still the most likely option, especially after the emergence of major Christian consensus over it, although the FPM is outside this consensus,” the source said. Sources meanwhile told the pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper that “extension has returned to the lead as a ‘necessity choice,’ especially that there are foreign pressures seeking it, particularly from Washington and Doha, in addition to the general Christian stance supporting the move with a cover from Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.”

Hezbollah attacks Israeli troops with drones, artillery, missiles
Arab News/November 20, 2023
BEIRUT: Hostilities carried out by Hezbollah against Israeli military outposts significantly escalated on Monday, with the group resorting to more developed destructive weapons.
Amid the qualitative military escalation on the southern front, Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Rudakov told Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib that “what was happening in the south is very dangerous and must be stopped.”
The Russian diplomat said, "Both parties mainly discussed the unfolding events in the region, especially in Gaza." The ambassador said Russia had been calling for peace and halting military operations in all international forums. “We are in constant contact, following up on an array of topics and interests, whether bilateral or international,” he added. The envoy’s reaction came as the Saydet El-Jabal group warned that the region is “heading toward a complicated and dangerous situation that requires the highest degrees of political vigilance and internal solidarity.”The group, which includes politicians and public activists, also believes that Hezbollah is, once again, jeopardizing unity among the Lebanese people.
The comment follows a statement delivered by Sheikh Naim Kassem, Hezbollah deputy secretary-general, who said two days ago that it “will continue to be armed and trained despite all the Lebanese opposition voices.”Saydet El-Jabal added: “How can Hezbollah say that it is protecting Lebanon’s national interest while it is placing itself above the constitution and the relevant international and Arab resolutions?”The Israel-Lebanon border has seen daily exchanges of fire since the Israel-Hamas war began. On Monday, Hezbollah announced hitting — for the first time — the Branit outpost with four Burkan missiles. A video published by Israeli media showed the massive destruction caused by the missiles. In two consecutive statements, Hezbollah confirmed that the purpose behind the shelling was “to support our resilient Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and endorse its resistance.”Israeli media reported that “25 missiles and artillery shells, in addition to a kamikaze drone, were launched from Lebanon toward the Kiryat Shmona and Margaliot settlements, causing damage to the place.”The Burkan missile is designed by Iran and produced in the workshops of the Syrian army’s fourth division.It is a short-range ballistic missile carrying an explosive payload of 500 kg — half a ton of explosives — with a range of up to 10 km. It is launched from short-range tactical launchers. Each battery carries three firing nozzles mounted on the body of a tank for any armored vehicle or truck. Hezbollah used this missile for the first time at the beginning of November when it targeted the Israeli Jal Al-Alam outpost opposite the Lebanese border village of Al-Dahira.Hezbollah’s confrontations with the Israeli military on the Lebanese southern front have been ongoing for 44 days. Hezbollah announced targeting “an Israeli infantry force on Al-Karantina Hill near the Hadeb Yaroun outpost, an Israeli infantry gathering in the vicinity of the Dahira outpost, and an Israeli infantry gathering in the Al-Tayhat Triangle, causing direct hits.” The group has also announced targeting “the Zibdeen outpost in the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms with appropriate weapons, in addition to targeting a gathering for the Israeli occupation forces in the west of Kiryat Shmona with three drones.”The Israeli army responded to Hezbollah’s operations through ground and aerial bombardment, targeting many locations in Lebanon.
The army said that “rocket-propelled grenades were launched from Lebanon toward Kiryat Shmona,” adding that “three drones were intercepted in the Upper Galilee.”
Artillery shelling has targeted the outskirts of the villages of Yarine, Al-Dahira, Tayr Harfa, Rab Al-Thalathin, Mhaibib, and Al-Jabin. Israeli artillery has also targeted the outskirts of the villages of Houla, Wadi Saluki, Yaroun, and Naqoura, in addition to a forest between Deir Mimas and Kfarkila. The fire caused by Israeli artillery has trapped a farmer in the valley located between Markaba and Houla. The region between the Rmaych and Ayta Al-Shaab villages was subject to direct artillery bombardment. The shelling also reached the house of MP Kabalan Kabalan in Mays Al-Jabal. Israeli helicopters also bombed the outskirts of the Maroun Al-Ras village. According to Israeli media outlets, Hezbollah has launched “over 1,000 missiles from Lebanon toward Israeli targets since the beginning of the operations.”
The Al-Manar website affiliated with Hezbollah published “a table showing that the number of Israeli army casualties scattered across hospitals of settlements bordering Lebanon amounted to 1,523.”Israeli bombing hit on Sunday afternoon a civilian car driving from the border village of Odaisseh to Kfarkila. Lebanese citizen Sanaa Hussein Rislan was with her son when the artillery shell landed near them.She was injured and transferred to a hospital for treatment. Almost all the border region residents have evacuated the area and fled north of the Blue Line. The Disaster Risk Management Unit in the Union of Tyre Municipalities announced that, as of Sunday, the number of displaced Lebanese reached 16,276, scattered across the villages of the district and four shelters. The unit added that it was working in cooperation with associations and international organizations to secure the needs of displaced people within the available means. As winter approaches, the number of displaced people is increasing daily, which adds a burden to securing heating in shelters.

Why the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza has not sparked a full-scale conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon — so far
DUBAI/Arab News/November 20, 2023
The latest spike in border violence between Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Israel has prompted concern that the war in Gaza could still ignite a broader conflict in the Middle East. On Saturday, Israel reportedly struck an aluminum factory in southern Lebanon some 15 km from the border, while Hezbollah claimed to have shot down an Israeli Hermes 450 drone and launched five other attacks. These recent exchanges of fire were among the heaviest since the war between Israel and Hezbollah in the summer of 2006, which left the Beirut government with a colossal reconstruction bill and entrenched the Iran-backed militia into the country’s fabric. “It’s very clear right now that Hezbollah and Iran both have a preference to avoid a larger direct confrontation with Israel,” Firas Maksad, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Arab News. “They are instead sort of managing what can be referred to as ‘gray zone warfare,’ short of a complete ceasefire or stalemate, but also short of a full-on war.”This is something Iran and Hezbollah, with their paramilitary allies across the region, excel in, according to Maksad. “They have the ability to dial this up or dial it down depending on the circumstance and what the situation in Gaza is, but it is not a full-on war,” he said. “One of the main reasons for that is that Hezbollah is the single largest investment Iran has made outside of its borders.”That investment has seen Hezbollah attacking Israeli troops since Oct. 8, a day after Hamas attacked Israeli towns killing 1,200 people and taking another 230 Israelis and foreigners hostage, according to Israel. Israel fought a five-week war with Hezbollah in 2006 after the group’s fighters kidnapped two Israeli soldiers during a cross-border raid. The conflict left an estimated 1,200 Lebanese and 157 Israelis, mostly soldiers, dead; displaced 4.5 million Lebanese civilians; and caused damage to civil infrastructure in Lebanon totaling $2.8 billion. UN Resolution 1701, which was intended to resolve the 2006 conflict, bars Israel from conducting military operations in Lebanon, but Israel has repeatedly accused Hezbollah of violating the resolution by smuggling arms into southern Lebanon.
INNUMBERS
• 90 People killed on the Lebanese side in cross-border hostilities since last month, at least 10 of them civilians.
• 9 People killed on the Israeli side, including six soldiers and three civilians, according to authorities there.
• 1,200 Number of Lebanese, mainly civilians, killed during the 2006 war with Israel.
“Hezbollah is the first line for deterrence and defense for the Iranian regime and its nuclear program if Israel decides to strike, and it is not going to waste that to try and save Hamas,” Maksad said.
While tensions along the Blue Line (policed by a UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL) separating Lebanon and Israel have not escalated beyond sporadic exchanges of fire, any miscalculation could potentially spark a regional conflict between Israel and Iran’s proxies. Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, has said “all options are open” but stopped short of declaring war. In Maksad’s opinion, it all indicates a clear preference from the relevant parties to avoid regional escalation.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Lebanese political analyst told Arab News: “The Americans, playing the role of mediator, don’t want a war, especially in a re-election year. The Gulf states are focused on economic growth and the price of oil, and so don’t want one. Neither does Iran or its proxies.”Buttressing this impression, Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s foreign minister, has publicly stated several times that Iran does not want the Israel-Hamas war to spread.
“Iran achieved most of its objectives, such as disrupting Israel-Saudi diplomatic normalization and shattering the myth of Israel’s invulnerability, on Oct. 7,” Ali Alfoneh, a senior fellow at Arab Gulf States Institute, told Arab News via email.
“Hezbollah’s small provocations against Israel serve the purpose of complicating the calculations of the Israel Defense Forces, but as apparent in the Lebanese militia’s low fatalities in Lebanon and Syria since Oct. 7 (only 72 according to my database), Iran has no interest in sacrificing Hezbollah for the sake of the more expendable Hamas.”
Sought after or not, fighting continues to erupt on multiple fronts. This has included the hijacking of an Israeli-linked cargo ship and its more than two dozen crew members on Nov. 19 by Yemen’s Houthis, another Iranian proxy. Per reports, the militia claimed the ship was targeted over its connection to Israel. Furthermore, American forces in Iraq and Syria have been subjected to 61 attacks by Iranian-backed militants since Oct. 17, according to the Pentagon. Keen to walk a tight line, the US has struck back just three times, but it has bolstered its regional military presence. In late October, it deployed 2,000 non-combat US troops, two aircraft carriers with around 7,500 personnel on each, two guided-missile destroyers, and nine air squadrons to the Eastern Mediterranean and Red Sea region as a deterrent force. Some are asking how long the US can afford to keep its aircraft carrier strike forces and nuclear submarines in the Middle East to deter a regional war while at the same time supporting the war in Ukraine.“I do not believe there is a clear time limit,” Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States in Washington, told Arab News by email. “These aircraft carrier strike groups are designed to be at sea for long periods of time. I think they can stay there for a tremendously long time.”
The consensus view of these analysts seems to be that the Biden administration’s strategy for preventing a regional war is working, at least for now.
“American efforts at deterrence have worked,” Maksad said. “Whether it is (via) the aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean or in the Gulf or the quiet diplomacy via messages that have been sent to Iran via various interlocutors warning of the consequences that America would very much get involved if the war spreads.”He believes all the above elements have yielded a result and are managing the fighting so that it remains short of an all-out war or confrontation. But what would change that equation? For one, might Israel turn toward Lebanon after settling scores with Hamas? “Lebanon has dodged a bullet — so far,” said Maksad. But a miscalculation could see Lebanon dragged into a larger war. In 2006, neither Hezbollah nor Israel wanted a war, but they ended up fighting for 34 days. And there is also a risk on the Israeli side, which has made it clear that it would not spare Lebanon were Hezbollah to join the war. “What we are doing in Gaza, we can do in Beirut,” Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defense minister, said on Nov. 11 in a warning to Hezbollah against escalating the violence along the border. Gallant has reportedly shared with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken his desire to strike Hezbollah preemptively, but he has evidently been overruled by his Israeli colleagues. If Hezbollah were to join the war, said Ibish, while Israel might be “badly hit with tens of thousands of casualties at a minimum,” Lebanon would be “utterly decimated and set back in generational terms.”
One turning point that could see Hezbollah dragged into the fighting would be Hamas’ impending destruction as a military organization. “Hezbollah would then have a tough choice to make: whether to sit back and watch the Palestinian leg of the alliance being dismantled or try and throw in their lot in an effort to save them,” said Maksad. “I think that they wouldn’t. They would stick to the sidelines.” Were Hezbollah to be sucked into the conflict more fully, though, the result would be devastating. “What Hamas did on Oct. 7 is kindergarten stuff compared to what Hezbollah can do if it were to get involved more fully and it can at any time, but it doesn’t want to,” a Lebanese political analyst based in the country’s south told Arab News. “Hezbollah’s job is to be a deterrent. Occupied Palestine wants to set a trap for Hezbollah to fall into. Hezbollah hasn’t fallen for it yet.”
Still, according to Ibish, an attack on the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied Jerusalem could see Hezbollah dragged in. “That would be a different story, but if the war remains contained to Gaza, I think Hezbollah will be able to stay out of it,” he said. “Indeed, one of the few things that all four actors who had the ability to make this a regional war — Israel, Iran, the US and Hezbollah — could agree upon from Oct. 7 is that this war must not spread to include Hezbollah or anything of the kind. “That is the main reason why it has not spread and why it probably will not spread.” This then leaves the actions of third parties — such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian factions — operating inside Lebanon. “Small groups might attack Israel with rockets or some such and have a ‘lucky strike,’ going further into Israel, well beyond the tacitly agreed upon one mile in each direction radius for contained skirmishing, and killing a significant group of Israeli soldiers, for example, 25 or more,” said Ibish. “If that (were to) happen, Israel might retaliate with a great deal of force, unsure if Hezbollah was involved or it tacitly tolerated the action and needed to be blamed. Once rockets are flying and paranoia begins to set in, it is very common for armed foes to begin to misrecognize and misread each other’s intentions and actions. It can easily degenerate into a conflict that nobody wants.” As if predicting a storm gathering on the horizon but whose course is still uncertain, the anonymous Lebanese political analyst said: “You can visit Beirut before the end of the year. I am sure there won’t be a war before then.”

Lebanon-Israel border tensions: Amos Hochstein mediates amid fears of wider escalation
LBCI/November 20, 2023
Amos Hochstein, the US Special Presidential Coordinator for Global Infrastructure and Energy Security, emphasized that what is happening in Gaza should not affect the borders of Lebanon. This came during the proceedings of the Manama Dialogue 2023, the 19th Regional Security Summit. Hochstein affirmed that the agreement to demarcate the maritime borders between Lebanon and Israel is in place, considering that the future plan should focus on delineating the land borders. In a related context, Amos Hochstein also traveled to Israel on Monday for talks with senior Israeli officials on issues regarding preventing a war between Israel and Lebanon, reported the American news website Axios. He is expected to meet with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, Israeli Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi. Israel urges the US to prompt Hezbollah to pull back the Radwan Force from the border area, an Israeli official said, reported Axios. The Israeli official also expressed that the civilians who evacuated from the area will not go back if they think there is danger on the other side of the border.
In this context, "US officials say there is growing anxiety in the White House that Israeli military action in Lebanon is exacerbating tensions along the border, which could lead to a regional war," said Axios. It stated that some in the current administration are concerned that "Israel is trying to provoke Hezbollah" to create a pretext for a broader war in Lebanon that "could draw the US and other countries further into the conflict," adding that "Israeli officials outrightly deny this."

Russian Ambassador to Lebanon urges halt to military operations in the south
LBCI/November 20, 2023
The situation in the south was discussed in a meeting that brought together the Russian Ambassador to Lebanon, Alexander Rudakov, and the Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdallah Bou Habib. After the meeting, Rudakov emphasized that the situation in the south is very dangerous and must be stopped. He pointed out that they call for peace and the cessation of military operations in all international forums.

Hezbollah's move: Baranit Barracks attack raises doubts in Kiryat Shmona
LBCI/November 20, 2023
Monday may be one of the days marked by an escalation in Hezbollah's operations against the Israeli army. Between eight and twenty-eight minutes in the morning, Hezbollah targeted the headquarters of the 91st Regional Division in the Israeli army in the Baranit barracks near the southern town of Rmeish. Four Burkan rockets launched in a different direction hit the barracks, causing significant damage. However, Israel acknowledged the operation and videos of the damage circulated without mentioning any injuries. Thus, its response was not delayed but came further into Lebanese territory, targeting the "Bustan Al-Hakeem" in Rmeish, an area close to populated neighborhoods, and targeting the outskirts of Ayta Al-Shaab. While Israeli media doubted the government's ability to convince the residents of Kiryat Shmona to return after what Hezbollah did in Baranit, the latter launched three attack drones at Israeli military gathering centers west of Kiryat Shmona, causing direct hits, coinciding with artillery shelling at the same site. Following these developments and after the airspace was violated by Hezbollah's drones for the third time since the start of the war, sirens were sounded in the settlements of Avivim and Baram in Upper Galilee, fearing the access of other drones.

Attack in Yaroun: Israeli artillery damages Saint Georges Church
LBCI/November 20, 2023
The Israeli army artillery targeted the Saint Georges Church in Yaroun, Bint Jbeil District, causing significant damage to it.

Achkar warns: 2024 budget threatens Lebanon's tourism resurgence
LBCI/November 20, 2023
Pierre Achkar, the President of the Lebanese Hotel Association, issued a distress call to rescue the tourism sector from an imminent disaster due to the catastrophic outcomes that the 2024 budget will inflict on tourism and the national economy. Achkar stated in a release: "The tourism sector was devastated by the pandemic and the Beirut Port explosion. With self-capabilities and resources, it managed to recover without assistance from the state, banks, or loans.""On the contrary, it expanded and flourished, as evidenced by Lebanon becoming a distinctive tourist destination in the region during the summer of 2023," he said. He added that the war in Gaza and the events in southern Lebanon resulted in the cancellation of all reservations and the undoing of all the efforts made by the private sector to put Lebanon back on the global tourism map. Affirming that the prolonged duration of the war will lead to disasters in tourism and various economic sectors. He continued: "Where was the state when the people in the tourism sector were struggling, investing, and rebuilding what was destroyed? All it did was prepare a budget without economic vision and without reforms—a disastrous and destructive budget for what remains of legitimate institutions and the economy."In the same context, Achkar accused the government of imposing new individual taxes to push them towards stumbling. "In doing so, it hinders investment, growth, job opportunities, and encourages companies to engage in illegitimate activities in an 'informal' economy, meaning not declaring or paying taxes."

MP Atieh to LBCI: Berri was responsive to the issue of appointments, and he set a timeframe
LBCI/November 20, 2023
MP Sagih Atieh announced that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri was responsive to their concerns, particularly regarding the issue of appointments, especially in the military and security leadership positions, given the current circumstances in Lebanon. On LBCI's "Nharkom Said" TV show, Atieh stated, "Berri has set a timeframe. If the government cannot expedite the appointments by the end of the month, then he will call for a parliamentary session to discuss an extension."

Mikati meets Caretaker Foreign Minister, World Bank’s Carre, Hungarian Ambassador, MP Al-Khazen, MIDEL delegation
NNA/November 20, 2023
Caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, on Monday met at the Grand Serail with Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Dr. Abdullah Bou Habib, who briefed the Premier on his upcoming European tour. Caretaker Premier Mikati also met at the Grand Serail with the World Bank’s Regional Director for the Middle East, Jean-Christophe Carré, over the World Bank’s projects in Lebanon. Carré welcomed the Lebanese government's adoption of the national social protection strategy, which the World Bank is interested in supporting and implementing. Mikati then received the Hungarian Ambassador to Lebanon, Ferenc Csillag, in the presence of the Prime Minister’s Advisors, Ambassador Boutros Asaker and Ziad Mikati. Talks reportedly touched on the bilateral relations between the two countries. Mikati also received at the Grand Serail, MP Farid Al-Khazen, who said on emerging that they discussed an array of national and public affairs, including the issue of real estate departments in Mount Lebanon. The PM later welcomed President of the International Confederation of Lebanese Businesspeople, Fouad Zmokhol, who visited him with an accompanying delegation. On emerging Zmokhol affirmed the Confederation’s willingness continue to invest in Lebanon, “but we need support from the government,” he added. Premier Mikati also had audience with a delegation representing the National Balance Gathering Association, over the country’s general situation.

Mawlawi discusses Syrian displacement file with UNHCR’s Ivo, meets UNRWA’s Klaus, broaches general situation with MP Chehayeb
NNA/November 20, 2023
Caretaker Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Judge Bassam Mawlawi, on Monday received in his office at the ministry, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative in Lebanon, IVO Freijsen, with whom he discussed the Syrian displacement dossier. Minister Mawlawi also welcomed in his office, the Director of UNRWA Affairs in Lebanon, Dorothy Klaus, with discussions touching on public affairs and the work of the Commission, in light of the current developments. Mawlawi then met with MP Akram Chehayeb, over the current general situation and services and developmental matters related to Mount Lebanon region.

Deputy Secretary-General Of Hizbullah Sheikh Naim Qassem: Advance Knowledge Of The October 7 Attack Wasn't Important To Us; Hizbullah’s Participation Is An Integral Part Of The Second Stage Of The War
MEMRI/November 20, 2023
Lebanon, Palestine | Special Dispatch No. 10967
Deputy secretary-general of Hizbullah Sheikh Naim Qassem said on a November 9, 2023 show on Al-Alam TV (Iran) that it doesn’t matter whether Hizbullah new in advance about the October 7 attacks as long as it was a success. He said that the October 7 attacks required secrecy in order to be successful. Qassem said that this does not mean that Hizbullah will not be part of the second stage of the war, and in fact Hizbullah’s cooperation "was an indivisible part of the resistance and defense." "What Happened [On October 7] Was Great, And Is Part Of Our Goal To Defeat Israel" Sheikh Naim Qassem: "We believe that the high secrecy was necessary for the success of the [October 7] operation. It is not important for us whether we knew about it before or after it took place, because the unique nature of the resistance in any specific place must be maintained in order for the operation to succeed. Indeed, the operation was greatly successful. "After the Al-Aqsa Flood, we are facing another stage. In this stage, should we cooperate with one another, or discuss what happened? We should cooperate, because what happened was great, and is part of our goal to defeat Israel. If any branch of the [resistance] axis is victorious, it is a victory for the entire axis. "Hizbullah's Participation In This War Was An Integral Part Of The Resistance And Defense, In The Second Stage" "We have started discussing together what we should do the following day. And thus, this cooperation and this involvement of Hizbullah has emerged, in support of the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the path of Palestine. Therefore, Hizbullah's participation in this war was an integral part of the resistance and defense, in the second stage."

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 20-21/2023
Israel’s Military Releases Video It Says Shows Hamas Tunnel at Shifa Hospital
The New York Times/November 20, 2023
JERUSALEM — Israel’s military on Sunday released video of what it said was a 55-meter section of a fortified tunnel running 10 meters beneath the Shifa Hospital complex in Gaza City, seeking to bolster its allegations that Hamas has used the largest medical center in the Palestinian enclave as a base for its military operations.The military released two videos, one of which appeared to have been filmed by a drone and shows parts of a metal spiral staircase. A longer video, which appeared to have been recorded by a robot or a camera carried by an animal, starts out above ground and shows the descent to a cloister-like tunnel with utility cables along one wall that leads to what Israeli officials described as a blastproof door. The door had a firing hole in it, the military said, adding that such doors are used by Hamas “to block Israeli forces from entering the command centers and the underground assets belonging to Hamas.
The New York Times verified that both videos were recorded at Shifa Hospital, which Israeli forces stormed last week. Hamas has denied Israeli accusations that it uses civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings, mosques and hospitals, to hide its military fortifications and command centers. The group says Israel is committing war crimes by targeting civilian centers. The Israeli military also released videos later Sunday that it said showed two hostages being taken inside the hospital on Oct. 7, when Hamas launched a cross-border attack from the Gaza Strip. They provide further evidence, Israeli officials said, that Hamas has used the hospital area for military operations. Israeli officials said the second set of videos — which appeared to be from cameras mounted inside the hospital — were recorded hours after the Hamas raid into Israel and that they showed two hostages, one Thai and one Nepali, being escorted by armed fighters. The officials said they had no idea where the two hostages are now. The Times verified the location of the footage as Shifa, but not the identities of those shown or the time stamps. Gaza’s Health Ministry said in a statement that the authenticity of the videos could not be verified and took the opportunity to renew its criticism of Israel over a blockade that has led to a collapse of health services in the enclave to the deaths of hundreds of sick and injured. “Given what the Israeli occupation reported, this confirms that the hospitals of the Ministry of Health provide their medical services to everyone who deserves them, regardless of their gender and race,” the ministry said. The videos were released on the fifth day of the military’s operation inside the Shifa Hospital compound. Earlier, on Friday, the Israeli military escorted journalists from the Times through a landscape of wartime destruction to a stone-and-concrete shaft on the grounds of Shifa, close to a perimeter wall. It was the same shaft that appeared in the videos released Sunday. The military said it was still working with the Shin Bet security agency to uncover the rest of the tunnel, but it said the findings so far were evidence of “the cynical manner” in which Hamas uses the residents of Gaza as human shields. That assertion is central to Israel’s defense of the heavy death toll caused by its military campaign in Gaza. More than 12,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave. Israel bombarded Gaza with airstrikes and subsequently launched a ground invasion of the territory in response to the surprise Hamas attack on southern Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and about 240 people were abducted and taken into Gaza.
The vast majority of those killed or taken hostage are civilians.The Israeli military has also displayed some weaponry it says it found in various parts of the Shifa compound, as well as a white Toyota pickup truck of the type used by many Hamas commandos who breached the border with Israel on Oct. 7.
But proof of an extensive Hamas command center under the hospital has yet to be revealed. The military says it has to move slowly and cautiously, lest the tunnels be booby-trapped. It said it was seeking ways to expose and destroy them without bringing down the hospital, where some 300 patients and medical staff remain in dire conditions.

Israeli ships ‘legitimate target’, Houthis warn after seizure
AFP/November 20, 2023
HODEIDA: Israeli ships are a “legitimate target,” the Houthi militia warned on Monday, after their seizure of an Israel-linked cargo vessel opened a new dimension in the Gaza war. Sunday’s capture of the Galaxy Leader and its 25 international crew came days after the Iran-backed Houthis threatened to target Israeli shipping over the Israel-Hamas war. The Houthis, declaring themselves part of the “axis of resistance” of Iran’s allies and proxies, have also launched a series of drones and missiles toward Israel. “Israeli ships are legitimate targets for us anywhere... and we will not hesitate to take action,” Major General Ali Al-Moshki, a Houthi military official, told the group’s Al-Massirah TV station. Analysts said Houthi threats to shipping around the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, a choke-point at the foot of the commercially vital Red Sea, were likely to rise. The Bahamas-flagged, British-owned Galaxy Leader is operated by a Japanese firm but has links to Israeli businessman Abraham “Rami” Ungar. The Houthis said the capture was in retaliation for Israel’s war against Hamas, sparked by the October 7 attack by the Palestinian militants who killed 1,200 people and took around 240 hostages, according to Israeli officials.More than 13,000 people have since been killed in Israel’s aerial bombardment and ground operations in the Gaza Strip, the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry says. Sunday’s ship seizure “is only the beginning,” Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Salam said Sunday in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, pledging further maritime attacks until Israel halts its Gaza campaign. On Monday the militia released a video purporting to show Sunday’s seizure. The footage showed masked armed men jumping onto the ship from a helicopter while the vessel was still moving, and holding crew members at gunpoint. Palestinian and Yemeni flags were raised on board. AFP could not independently verify the authenticity of the footage. The vessel headed from Turkiye to India was re-routed to the Yemeni port of Salif port in Hodeida province, according to maritime security company Ambrey. Ambrey said the owner of the Galaxy Leader, which transports cars and other vehicles, is listed as Britain’s Ray Car Carriers whose parent company belongs to Israeli businessman Ungar. Israel’s military said the seizure was a “very grave incident of global consequence,” while a US military official called it “a flagrant violation of international law.”The crew were reportedly “under investigation” by the Houthis, Ambrey said. They include Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Filipinos, Mexicans and a Romanian, according to Israeli and Romananian officials. Nippon Yusen, also known as NYK Line of Japan, said it had set up a task team to gather information and ensure the crew’s safety. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said Tokyo was “directly approaching the Houthis” as well as communicating with Israel. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu characterised the capture as an “Iranian attack against an international vessel,” an accusation dismissed by Iran. “We have repeatedly announced that the resistance groups in the region represent their countries and make decisions and act based on the interests of their countries,” said Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani. Yemen’s coastline overlooks the Bab Al-Mandab Strait — a narrow pass between Yemen and Djibouti at the foot of the Red Sea — which is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, and carries about a fifth of global oil consumption. “The threat of disruption to shipping in the wider region is likely to rise,” Torbjorn Soltvedt of the risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft told AFP. “If security concerns compel shipping companies to avoid the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, the result will be significantly higher costs due to the lack of alternative routes.”Mohammed Al-Basha, senior Middle East analyst for the US-based Navanti Group said the failure of Houthi missile and drone launches to hit targets inside Israel “might have influenced the decision to refocus on the Red Sea arena.”

Biden 'Believes' Imminent Agreement for the Release of Hostages Held by Hamas
AFP/November 20, 2023
President Joe Biden announced on Monday that he "believes" reaching an agreement for the release of hostages held by the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip is imminent. When asked by a journalist at an event held at the White House whether there is an imminent agreement to release the hostages, President Biden responded, "I believe so."

Israel reveals signs of Hamas activity at Shifa, but a promised command center remains elusive
JERUSALEM (AP)/Mon, November 20, 2023
Three weeks ago, the Israeli military unveiled a detailed 3D model of Gaza’s Shifa Hospital – showing a series of underground installations that it said was part of an elaborate Hamas command and control center under the territory’s largest health-care center. Days after taking control of the hospital, the military has yet to unveil this purported center. But it has released videos of weapons allegedly seized inside the hospital, a tunnel running through the complex and videos appearing to show Hamas militants dragging hostages through the hospital's hallways. Israel says there will be much more to come. What Israel finds – or fails to find – could play a large part in its efforts to rally international support for its war against Hamas, launched on Oct. 7 in response to a bloody cross-border attack by the Islamic militant group.
Here is a closer look at Israel’s raid on the Shifa Hospital.
WHY DOES IT MATTER?
Gaza’s hospitals have played a central role in the dueling narratives surrounding the war.
Hospitals enjoy special protected status under the international laws of war. But they can lose that status if they are used for military purposes. Israel has long claimed that Hamas uses hospitals, schools, mosques and residential neighborhoods as human shields. In particular, it says Hamas has hidden command centers and bunkers underneath the sprawling grounds of Shifa. The United States says its own intelligence corroborates those claims. Hamas denies the allegations. Israel says other hospitals are similarly used for military purposes. It has ordered the evacuations of a number of Gaza hospitals, including Shifa, as it presses ahead with its ground operation against Hamas. The U.N. and other international organizations say these evacuations have endangered patients and overwhelmed the remaining hospitals in the besieged territory. With Israel already facing mounting international criticism of its offensive, a failure to uncover a significant Hamas presence could step up the pressure to halt the operation. Israel has vowed to press ahead until it destroys Hamas.
WHAT HAS ISRAEL FOUND?
The Israeli military has released videos showing AK47s, ammunition and other military equipment it said was found in the hospital’s MRI unit. It also said it discovered a Toyota pickup truck filled with weapons in a hospital garage. The vehicle appears to be the same type of truck used by Hamas militants during the Oct. 7 incursion.
On Sunday, it released a video of a 55-meter (60-yard) tunnel in a hospital courtyard. The underground structure was heavily fortified and led to a blast-proof door with an opening that Israel says was meant to be used by Hamas snipers. It also released security-camera images of Hamas militants escorting what Israel said were two hostages – one from Thailand, the other from Nepal – who were seized in the Oct. 7 cross-border attack. One video showed a group of men forcefully dragging their hostage through the hospital's main entrance and down a hallway. The other showed a group of men, including at least one gunman, pushing a motionless man on a stretcher in a hallway. Hospital workers could be seen in both videos looking on. The videos had time stamps from the morning of Oct. 7, matching the time of the attack. But the faces of the two purported hostages were blurred, making it difficult to verify the authenticity of the videos. The army also released photos of what it said were two military jeeps stolen from the Israeli military. The photos showed the jeeps parked in the hospital complex on the morning of the attack. “By now the truth is clear: Hamas wages war from hospitals, wages terror from hospitals,” said the Israeli military’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari. “Everyone who cares about the future of humanity must condemn Hamas.” Hamas played down the images, saying it had been offering the men in its custody medical treatment. “We put our fighters at risk to guarantee the injured prisoners the best treatment possible in the Gaza Strip’s hospitals,” the militant group said in a statement. Osama Hamdan, a top Hamas leader based in Beirut, acknowledged that Israel could find a tunnel “here or there.”“We don’t deny there are hundreds of kilometers of tunnels in and around Gaza,” he told a news conference. But he said Hamas does not use hospitals for militant activities.
WHAT HASN'T ISRAEL FOUND?
Israel has not said where the Shifa tunnel leads to or given specifics on what it was used for. It also has not yet provided anything close to the images of underground bunkers and conference rooms it showed in that Oct. 27 illustration. Hamdan, the Hamas leader, mocked the Israeli discoveries so far. “The Israelis said there was a command and control center, which means that the matter is greater than just a tunnel,” he said. Israeli military officials say those initial illustrations were “conceptual” and not meant to be taken literally. They have also promised many more discoveries as troops continue the painstaking task of scouring a complex spread out over more than 10 acres (40,000 square meters). “It’s going to take time,” said Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, another military spokesman.

Israel expands Gaza operation as mediator says hostage deal 'close'
Agence France Presse/November 20, 2023
Israeli troops were "expanding" their operation in the Gaza Strip Monday, as Qatari mediators said they were inching closer to a deal to free some of the 240 hostages held by Hamas militants. Israel has warned residents of Gaza's largest refugee camp Jabalia and a nearby coastal camp to evacuate, as the military said Sunday it was "expanding its operational activities in additional neighbourhoods... of the Gaza Strip."After intense bombardment, an AFP journalist in Gaza saw columns of smoke rising from Jabalia on Sunday. A Hamas health official said more than 80 people were killed in twin strikes on Jabalia on Saturday, including on a UN school sheltering displaced people. Social media videos verified by AFP showed bodies covered in blood and dust on the floor of a building, where mattresses had been wedged under school tables. Israel's military has said Jabalia is among the areas of focus as they "target terrorists and strike Hamas infrastructure".Without mentioning the strikes, the Israeli army said "an incident in the Jabalia region" was under review. UN rights chief Volker Turk on Sunday condemned the purported strike on the school as "horrifying", adding that "the horrendous events of the past 48 hours in Gaza beggar belief."On Monday, Palestinian news agency Wafa said the Indonesian hospital near Jabalia had also come under shelling.
'Window of legitimacy'
Israel launched its offensive against Hamas after a wave of brutal cross-border raids on October 7 left 1,200 people dead. The death toll from Israel's aerial bombardment and ground operations in Gaza has reached 13,000, thousands of them children. Six weeks into the war, Israel is facing intense international pressure to justify its bloody toll. Israel officials have warned a "window of legitimacy" for the war to rout Hamas may be closing. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday called for urgent action to stop the "humanitarian disaster" unfolding in Gaza. "The situation in Gaza affects all countries around the world, questioning the human sense of right and wrong and humanity's bottom line," Wang told visiting diplomats from Arab and Muslim-majority nations. Israel on Sunday presented what it said was evidence Hamas gunmen used Gaza's largest hospital, Al-Shifa, to hide foreign hostages and to mask underground tunnels. The Israeli military released what was said to be CCTV footage from October 7 of two male hostages from Nepal and Thailand being brought into the hospital. "We have not yet located both of these hostages," army spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters. One clip showed a man in shorts and a pale blue shirt being dragged into an entrance hall by five men, at least three of whom were armed. In a second clip, an injured man in underwear is wheeled in on a gurney by armed men as several others wearing blue hospital scrubs look on. AFP could not immediately verify the footage. Israel also accused the Palestinian militant group of executing a 19-year-old Israeli soldier Noa Marciano at Al-Shifa and presented images of what it said was a 55-metre-long underground tunnel under the hospital. Israel has repeatedly claimed that Al-Shifa doubles as a base for Palestinian militants, a charge Hamas and hospital administrators deny. The World Health Organization has called the hospital a "death zone". Over the weekend, hundreds of people fled Al-Shifa hospital on foot as loud explosions were heard around the complex. Columns of sick and injured were seen leaving with displaced people, doctors and nurses. At least 15 bodies, some in advanced stages of decomposition, were strewn along the route, an AFP journalist said. The WHO on Sunday said it evacuated thirty-one premature babies from the facility. Al-Shifa head of surgery Marwan Abu Sada told AFP that Israeli troops were still in the hospital and it was surrounded by tanks. "I heard at least two explosions since this morning," he said Sunday. Other doctors said the troops were going from building to building and detonated explosives on the ground floors and hospital basements searching for Hamas tunnels.
'Big, big hole in our hearts'
Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas and to free around 240 people taken hostage by the militants during the worst attack in its history, most of them Israeli citizens but also dozens of foreigners. The bodies of two female hostages were recovered in Gaza this week, the Israeli military said. Four abductees have so far been released by Hamas and a fifth rescued by troops. On Sunday, Qatari mediators said they were inching closer to a deal to free some of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Qatar's prime minister said efforts to bring hostages "safely back to their homes" in return for a temporary ceasefire was now within reach, raising hopes that Israeli, Nepali, American or other captives could soon be free. "I'm now more confident that we are close enough to reach a deal," said Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, adding that only "minor" practical details remained unresolved. The hostages include infants, teens and pensioners. Their fate has racked not just their families but the Israeli public at large. US deputy national security adviser Jon Finer told US media that negotiators were "closer than we have been in quite some time" to securing a deal. But he added: "The mantra that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed really does apply." In London, the teary father of missing 9-year-old Emily Hand begged for her to be brought home. "There's just a big, big hole in all our hearts that won't be filled until she comes home again," he told AFP.

CNN visited the exposed tunnel shaft near Al-Shifa Hospital. Here’s what we saw
Oren Liebermann, CNN/November 20, 2023
Even in the darkness, the utter devastation in northern Gaza is clear as day. The empty shells of buildings, illuminated by the last shreds of light, lurch out of the landscape on the dirt roads across the Gaza Strip. At night, the only signs of life are the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) vehicles that rumble the landscape, tightening the military’s grip on the northern sector. On Saturday night, we traveled with the IDF into Gaza to see the newly exposed tunnel shaft discovered at the compound of Al-Shifa Hospital, the enclave’s largest medical facility. After crossing the border fence at around 9:00 in the evening, our convoy of Humvees turned off its lights, relying on night vision goggles to traverse the Gaza Strip. We would spend the next six hours inside Gaza, much of that time spent getting back and forth from the tunnel shaft. Along our path, virtually every building bore the scars of wartime damage. Many structures were destroyed entirely, while others were hardly recognizable as anything more than twisted metal. If there was life here, it had long since departed. Residents had either moved south or been killed during six weeks of war. Our first stop was a location on the beach where the IDF had set up a staging area. From there, we moved into armored personnel carriers with several other reporters for the last kilometer to the hospital. The only view outside came through a night-vision screen. But even in black and white, the level of destruction was shocking. Inside Gaza City, the skeletal remains of apartment towers and high-rise buildings packed the otherwise vacant city streets. Even if we could speak to Palestinians while embedded with the IDF, there was no one around to talk to. CNN reported from inside Gaza under IDF media escort at all times. As a condition for journalists to join this embed, media outlets had to submit footage filmed in Gaza to the Israeli military for review and agreed not to reveal sensitive locations and soldiers’ identities. CNN retained editorial control over the final report. As we stepped out of the armored vehicle, we were enveloped by utter darkness. We were only allowed to use our red lights to navigate to a nearby building, where we waited until Israeli forces already on the ground secured the area. The tunnel shaft was very close by, but it was entirely exposed. The commander in charge of our group, Lt. Col. Tom said this tunnel is significantly larger than others he had seen before. “This is a big tunnel,” he said. “I have encountered tunnels — in 2014 in [Operation] Protective Edge, I was a company commander — and this tunnel is an order of magnitude bigger than a standard tunnel.” We had expected to hear fighting once we entered Gaza City itself. Instead, we heard almost complete silence. Only once during our roughly 45 minutes at the hospital did we hear the distant sound of small arms fire, and it was impossible to tell how far away it was in the midst of an urban environment. The rest of the time, the silence made the darkness feel even more oppressive.
It was nearing midnight as we walked the last few feet to the exposed tunnel shaft. The IDF had promised “concrete evidence” that Hamas was using the hospital complex above ground as cover for what it called terror infrastructure underneath, including a command and control hub. Several days earlier, the IDF had released what it said was the first batch of evidence, which included weapons and ammunition they said they found inside the hospital itself. But the pictures were a far cry from proving that Hamas had a facility underneath, and a CNN investigation found that some of the guns had been moved around. The discovery of the tunnel shaft the next day was more compelling, showing an entrance to something underground. But even then, it was unclear what it was or how far down it went. This is what everyone has been trying to understand. Standing on the edge of the tunnel shaft, it was apparent that the structure itself was substantial. At the top, the remains of a ladder hung over the lip of the opening. In the center of the round shaft, a center pole looked like a hub for a spiral staircase. The shaft itself extended down farther than we could see, especially in the meager light of our headlamps. Video released by the IDF from inside the shaft showed what we could not see from the top of the opening. The video shows a spiral staircase leading down into a concrete tunnel. The IDF said the tunnel shaft extends downwards approximately 10 meters and the tunnel runs for 55 meters. At its end stands a metal door with a small window. “We need to demolish the underground facility that we found,” said IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. “I think the leadership of Hamas is in great pressure because we found this facility, and we are now going to demolish it. It’s going to take us time. We’re going to do it safely, but we’re going to do it.”
It is arguably the most compelling evidence thus far that the IDF has offered that there may be a network of tunnels below the hospital. It does not establish without a doubt that there is a command center under Gaza’s largest hospital, but it is clear that there is a tunnel down below. Seeing what connects to that tunnel is absolutely critical. For Israel, the stakes could not be higher. Israel has publicly asserted for weeks, if not years, that Hamas has built terror infrastructure below the hospital. The ability to continue to prosecute the war in the face of mounting international criticism depends to a large extent on Israel being able to prove this point. Hamas has repeatedly denied that there is a network of tunnels below Shifa hospital. Health officials who have spoken with CNN have said the same, insisting it is only a medical facility. As is so rarely the case in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this answer truly is black and white. Either there is an underground series of tunnels below the hospital. Or there is not.

Canadian MPs arrive in Israel for solidarity trip as tensions between Trudeau and Netanyahu remain high
Mon, November 20, 2023 at 7:00 a.m. EST
A group of Canadian MPs arrived in Jerusalem Monday for a quietly planned visit meant to show solidarity with Israel. The five MPs — two Liberals and three Conservatives — are part of a larger delegation of around 60 people that also includes Canadian Jewish leaders. They plan to meet with some of their Israeli counterparts and pay tribute to the victims of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. "I want to make sure that it is clear to Israelis that Canadians support them," said Anthony Housefather, a Liberal MP who is Jewish. In a phone interview with CBC News, Housefather said the goal of the visit is to give MPs a better understanding of what happened on Oct. 7 and what the Israeli government's plans are, to meet with the families of hostages and to demand their immediate release. The MPs are set to engage in a number of activities and meetings around Israel during the multi-day trip. The Conservative MPs on the trip are Melissa Lantsman — the party's deputy leader — Marty Morantz and Michelle Rempel Garner. Marco Mendicino is the other Liberal MP there. The visit was planned before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's call for Israel to take great care to avoid civilian casualties in its war against Hamas, a designated terrorist entity in Canada. "I wouldn't have used the language the prime minister has used," Housefather said. "I wouldn't have used the tone that he used."
High-level diplomatic tension
Last Tuesday, at an event in British Columbia, Trudeau called on "the government of Israel to exercise maximum restraint" in its military operations in Gaza. "The killing of women, and children, of babies — this has to stop."Netanyahu rebuked Trudeau on social media not long after."It is not Israel that is deliberately targeting civilians but Hamas that beheaded, burned and massacred civilians in the worst horrors perpetrated on Jews since the Holocaust." he wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. "While Israel is doing everything to keep civilians out of harm's way, Hamas is doing everything to keep them in harm's way," Netanyahu added. The death toll of the conflict continues to climb. Israel says around 1,200 people were killed during Hamas's Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, while around 240 people remain as hostages taken during that assault. Israel's subsequent campaign of airstrikes and ground operation in Gaza have killed more than 12,300 people, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry. When asked whether he's concerned about possible blowback over Trudeau's comments, Housefather said his response will be to explain "… how supportive the prime minister has actually been on Israel since 2015," when Trudeau was first elected. Housefather cited Canada's voting record at the UN as proof of the Trudeau government's support for Israel. "People are trying to read too much into one statement, versus an overall government approach," he said. "When I explain that to Israelis, I think that will definitely help Israelis understand that Canada is with them as an ally."'

Ministerial committee assigned by joint Islamic-Arab summit holds meeting with China vice president
Arab News/November 20, 2023
RIYADH: The ministerial committee assigned by the extraordinary joint Islamic-Arab summit held a meeting with China’s Vice President Han Zheng in Beijing on Monday, Saudi Press Agency reported. The members of the committee who participated in the meeting included the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Palestine, and Indonesia, and the head of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Han praised the efforts of the summit that was held in Riyadh on Nov. 11 and the resulting decisions aimed at reducing the escalation in Gaza, protecting civilians, and reviving peace efforts. He also stressed China’s support for the committee’s efforts. The vice president said China has been working, since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, to push for a ceasefire, protect civilians, allow humanitarian relief into the strip, and find a just solution to the Palestinian issue. He added that China is keen to coordinate and work with Arab and Muslim countries to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and ensure calm as quickly as possible. The members of the committee praised China’s position regarding the crisis in the Gaza Strip, which they said is consistent with the positions of Muslim and Arab countries. They also highlighted the positive role played by China at the United Nations Security Council aimed at achieving a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.The meeting also discussed the importance of reaching an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and protecting unarmed civilians and vital facilities including houses of worship and hospitals, including the Al-Shifa Hospital and the Indonesian Hospital, from Israeli attacks. The members of the committee stressed the importance of immediately halting Israeli military escalation, stopping the forced displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, and securing safe corridors for the entry of urgent humanitarian aid. They also highlighted the importance of reviving the peace process in accordance with international resolutions in order to guarantee the rights of the Palestinian people and establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital. The members of the committee stressed the importance of the international community fulfilling its responsibility to move toward stopping Israeli violations of international laws.

Israel Recalls Ambassador from Pretoria over South Africa Hosting BRICS Summit Discussing Gaza War
AFP/November 21, 2023
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday that it has recalled its ambassador from Pretoria on the eve of South Africa hosting a BRICS summit to discuss the war in the Gaza Strip.
The spokesperson for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Lior Haiat, wrote on the X platform, "In light of recent data from South Africa, the Israeli ambassador in Pretoria has been summoned to Jerusalem for consultations," without providing further details.

Red Cross president meets with Hamas chief on Gaza war humanitarian issues
AFP/November 21, 2023
GENEVA: The Red Cross said Monday that its president had traveled to Qatar to meet with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh “to advance humanitarian issues related to the armed conflict in Israel and Gaza.”“President Mirjana Spoljaric met with (Ismail) Haniyeh, Chair of Hamas’ Political Bureau, and separately with authorities of the state of Qatar,” the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement. The announcement came as negotiators worked to seal a deal for the release of some of the 240 hostages the Islamist militants took during their unprecedented October 7 attacks on Israel. Israeli authorities say the attack left around 1,200 people dead, mainly civilians. Israel’s withering air and ground campaign have meanwhile killed more than 13,300 people in Gaza, also mainly civilians and including thousands of children, according to Hamas authorities.The ICRC stressed that Spoljaric’s visit was part of efforts to hold “direct discussions with all sides to improve respect for international humanitarian law.”It pointed out that she has also met “multiple times in recent weeks with families of hostages held in Gaza, as well as senior Israeli and Palestinian leaders.”The Geneva-based organization stressed that it was continuing “to appeal for the urgent protection of all victims in the conflict, and for the alleviation of the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza strip.”“ICRC staff in Gaza have been delivering life-saving assistance, and an ICRC surgical team continues to perform operations,” it said, adding that it was “calling for sustained, safe humanitarian access so it can increase its work.”The organization stressed that it had “persistently called for the immediate release of hostages.”“The ICRC is insisting that our teams be allowed to visit the hostages to check on their welfare and deliver medications, and for the hostages to be able to communicate with their families,” it said. “Agreements must be reached that allow the ICRC to safely carry out this work. The ICRC cannot force its way in to where hostages are held, nor do we know their location,” it added.The ICRC, which has already helped facilitate the release of four hostages on two separate occasions, emphasised that it “does not take part in negotiations leading to the release of hostages.”But it added that “as a neutral humanitarian intermediary, we remain ready to facilitate any future release that the parties to the conflict agree to.”

UN peacekeepers no ‘magic wand’ for crises, their chief says
AFP/November 21, 2023
UNITED NATIONS, United States: The presence of United Nations peacekeepers, whose shortcomings can frustrate local populations, is not a “magic wand” for conflict zones, said their leader Jean-Pierre Lacroix, who supports an expanded tool kit to protect civilians in increasingly complex territory. From Lebanon to the Democratic Republican of Congo (DRC), from South Sudan to the Western Sahara, some 90,000 so-called Blue Helmets serve under the UN flag, engaged in 12 separate operations. These missions do not always meet with unanimous approval on the ground, as in Mali, where UN peacekeepers have been forced by the government to leave, or in the DRC where some inhabitants have expressed hostility. Yet the peacekeepers protect “hundreds of thousands of civilians” daily, Lacroix, the UN under-secretary-general for peace operations, told AFP in an interview. Sometimes such protection mandates “raise expectations that we cannot meet, because of the capacities that we have, because of the budget that we have, because of the terrain and the logistical constraint,” he acknowledged. “It raises frustrations from those who are not protected,” and such resentments are manipulated “by those who would prefer the continuation of chaos.”According to Lacroix, countries where UN peacekeepers operate face “the weaponization of fake news and disinformation.”Would conditions be better there if such missions were absent? “In most cases, it would probably be much worse,” he said. But “it doesn’t mean that peacekeeping operations are the magic wand, or the universal response to every kind of crisis.” The 15-member UN Security Council authorizes the Blue Helmets in “supporting political processes” that lead to sustainable peace, Lacroix said. But today “we have a more divided Security Council,” with members that “don’t put their weight behind the political processes” associated with UN peacekeeping, he added. Lacroix hopes a December 5-6 ministerial meeting in Ghana will prompt a recommitment by members toward the global body’s peacekeeping missions.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has already urged reconsideration of the future of such operations, particularly where there is no peace to keep. Blue Helmets can protect civilians when a cease-fire is already in place. “UN peacekeepers do not do peace enforcement,” Lacroix said. They are not counter-terrorist units, or anti-gang forces. Yet they are deployed in environments that are “becoming more dangerous,” he said, where “non-state actors, armed groups, private security companies,” crime syndicates and people involved in terrorism have little interest in creating peace. The idea then of making room for complementary but non-UN missions is gaining ground. The international community and multilateral system “need a more diverse set of tools” and responses to address widening challenges, Lacroix stressed. “New forms of peacekeeping operations to better address the drivers of conflict such as the impact of climate change or transnational criminal activities, peace enforcement operations conducted by the AU (African Union) or other regional (or) sub-regional organization, we need all of that,” he said. Could such forces serve as models in Gaza, after the Israel-Hamas war? The jury is out. “I think there are millions of scenarios that one can imagine” for a security mission in the ravaged Palestinian territory, Lacroix said. “But it’s very hypothetical up to now.”However missions look in the future, their immediate challenge is finding funding, and volunteers. After a year of equivocation, the Security Council last month finally approved deployment of a multinational force, led by Kenya, to help restore security in crime-plagued Haiti. Nairobi pledged 1,000 police but wants other members to help cover the cost.

China welcomes Arab and Muslim foreign ministers for talks on ending the war in Gaza
BEIJING (AP)/November 20, 2023
China’s top diplomat welcomed four Arab foreign ministers and the Indonesian one to Beijing on Monday, saying his country would work with “our brothers and sisters" in the Arab and Islamic world to try to end the war in Gaza as soon as possible. The ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and Indonesia chose to start in Beijing a tour to permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, a testament to both China's growing geopolitical influence and its longstanding support for the Palestinians. The tour aims to push for a cease-fire and propel the political process forward with the goal of lasting peace, as well as “hold the Israeli occupation accountable for the blatant violations and crimes in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank,” according to a statement published by the Saudi foreign ministry on X, formerly known as Twitter. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the foreign diplomats that their decision to start in Beijing shows their high level of trust in his nation.“China is a good friend and brother of Arab and Islamic countries,” Wang said in opening remarks at a state guest house before their talks began. “We have always firmly safeguarded the legitimate rights and interests of Arab (and) Islamic countries and have always firmly supported the just cause of the Palestinian people.”China has long backed the Palestinians and been quick to denounce Israel over its settlements in the occupied territories. It has not criticized the initial Hamas attack on Oct.7 — which killed about 1,200 people — while the United States and others have called it an act of terrorism. However, China does have growing economic ties with Israel. The Saudi foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, called for an immediate cease-fire and the entry of humanitarian aid and relief to the Gaza Strip.
“There are still dangerous developments ahead of us and an urgent humanitarian crisis that requires an international mobilization to deal with and counter it,” he said. He added they appreciated the resolution issued by the United Nations Security Council, calling for urgent and extended humanitarian pauses in Gaza, “but we still need more efforts and cooperation.”The visit came after Arab and Muslim leaders condemned the “brutal Israeli aggression” against the Palestinians at a rare joint summit of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation hosted by Saudi Arabia last week. The secretary general of the OIC, Hissein Brahim Taha, is also accompanying them on the trip. China — the world’s second-largest economy after the U.S. — has become increasingly outspoken on international affairs and even gotten directly involved in some recently, albeit cautiously. In March, Beijing helped broker an agreement that saw Saudi Arabia and Iran reestablish ties after seven years of tension in a role previously reserved for longtime global heavyweights like the U.S. and Russia. Israel's retaliatory strikes on the Gaza Strip have so far killed more than 11,500 people, according to Palestinian health authorities. Another 2,700 have been reported missing, believed buried in rubble. “This isn’t Israel’s first war against the Palestinian people,” said Riyad Al-Maliki, the Palestinian Authority foreign minister. “However, Israel wants this to be its last war, where it takes full control of the Palestinian people’s presence on what’s left of the historical land of Palestine.”Israel’s ambassador to China, Irit Ben-Abba, said Monday, that her country is allowing sufficient humanitarian aid into Gaza in collaboration with international organizations and that “putting pressure on Israel in this regard is politically motivated and is not conducive to the humanitarian assistance which is needed.” She also said that they hoped for “no one-sided” resolution by the Security Council and that they expected a clear statement calling for the “unconditional release of the 240 hostages" who were abducted by Hamas during its attacks, “rather than calling for a cease-fire.”

Heavy fighting breaks out around Gaza's Indonesian hospital
Associated Press/November 20, 2023
Heavy fighting erupted Monday around a hospital in northern Gaza where thousands of patients and displaced people have been sheltering for weeks, as Israeli forces focus on clearing out medical facilities that they say Hamas militants use for cover.
The advance on the Indonesian Hospital came a day after the World Health Organization evacuated 31 premature babies from Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the territory's largest, where they were among more than 250 critically ill or wounded patients stranded there days after Israeli forces entered the compound.
The plight of Gaza's hospitals is at the focus of a battle of narratives over the war's brutal toll on Palestinian civilians, thousands of whom have been killed or buried in rubble since the six-week-old war was sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7 rampage into southern Israel. Israel says Hamas uses civilians as human shields, while critics say Israel's siege and relentless aerial bombardment amount to collective punishment of the territory's 2.3 million Palestinians. Marwan Abdallah, a medical worker at the Indonesian Hospital, said Israeli tanks were visible from the windows. "You can see them moving around and firing," he said. "Women and children are terrified. There are constant sounds of explosions and gunfire."Al-Jazeera television aired footage apparently shot from inside the hospital showing tanks firing just outside the facility. Abdallah said the hospital had received dozens of dead and wounded in airstrikes and shelling overnight. He said medical staff and displaced people fear Israel will besiege the hospital and force its evacuation. The Israeli military, which rarely publicizes troop movements, had no immediate comment.
BABIES EVACUATED
U.N. bodies were able to safely evacuate the babies, who were in critical condition, from Shifa to a hospital in southern Gaza, and plan to transport them to a hospital in neighboring Egypt. Four other babies died in the two days before the evacuation, according to Mohamed Zaqout, the director of Gaza hospitals. Over 250 patients with severely infected wounds and other urgent conditions remain in Shifa, which could no longer provide most treatment after it ran out of water, medical supplies and fuel for emergency generators amid a territory-wide blackout. Israeli forces battled Palestinian militants outside its gates for days before entering the facility last Wednesday.
Israel's army said it had strong evidence supporting its claims that Hamas maintained a sprawling command post inside and under the hospital's 20-acre complex, which includes several buildings, garages and a plaza. The military released a video showing what it said was a tunnel discovered at the hospital, 55-meter (60-yard) long and about 10 meters (33 feet) below ground. It said the tunnel included a staircase and a firing hole that could be used by gunmen, and ended at a blast-proof door that troops have not yet opened. The Associated Press couldn't independently verify Israel's findings, which included security camera video showing what the military said were two foreign hostages, one Thai and one Nepalese, who were captured by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attack and taken to the hospital. The army also said an investigation had determined that Israeli army Cpl. Noa Marciano, another captive whose body was recovered in Gaza, had been injured in an Israeli strike on Nov. 9 that killed her captor, but was then killed by a Hamas militant in Shifa. Hamas and hospital staff have denied the allegations of a command post under Shifa. Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan dismissed the latest announcement, saying "the Israelis said there was a command and control center, which means that the matter is greater than just a tunnel."
THREE IN FOUR PEOPLE DISPLACED
Israel has repeatedly ordered Palestinians to leave northern Gaza and seek refuge in the south, which has also been under aerial bombardment since the start of the war. Some 1.7 million people, nearly three quarters of Gaza's population, have been displaced, with 900,000 packing into crowded U.N.-run shelters, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Their misery has worsened in recent days because of cold winds and driving rain. More than 11,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health authorities. Another 2,700 have been reported missing, believed buried in rubble. The count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, and Israel says it has killed thousands of militants. About 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mainly civilians during the Oct. 7 attack, in which Hamas dragged some 240 captives back into Gaza. The military says 63 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Hamas has released four hostages, Israel has rescued one, and the bodies of two were found near Shifa. Israel, the United States and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas, have been negotiating a much larger hostage release for weeks. Israel's three-member war cabinet is to meet with representatives of the hostages' families on Monday evening.
YEMEN REBELS SEIZE SHIP
Yemen's Houthi rebels seized a Israeli-linked cargo ship in the southern Red Sea and took its 25 crew members hostage Sunday, raising fears that regional tensions heightened by the war were spilling into the seas. The Iran-backed rebel group said it would continue to target ships connected to Israel. No Israelis were aboard the Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader, which was operated by a Japanese company with crewmembers from the Philippines, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Mexico. Public shipping databases associated the ship's owners with Ray Car Carriers, a company founded by Abraham Ungar, who is known as one of the richest people in Israel. Ungar told The Associated Press he was aware of the incident but couldn't comment as he awaited details. A ship linked to him experienced an explosion in 2021 in the Gulf of Oman. Israeli media blamed it on Iran at the time. The Galaxy Leader was taken to Yemen's port city of Hodeida, according to the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations. Japanese officials were negotiating with the rebels for the release of the ship and its crew, said Japan Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno.

Hamas Threatens To Repeat October 7 Attack In Or From West Bank
MEMRI/November 20, 2023
Palestine | Special Dispatch No. 10965
Hamas leaders continue to threaten a repeat of the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel[1] and to incite the people of the West Bank to attack Israelis and take part in terrorist activity. Telegram channels identified with Hamas' student organization, the Islamic Bloc, and especially with its branches in the West Bank, are especially active in spreading threats and incitement of this kind.[2] In a November 16 post on its Telegram channel, for example, the Islamic Bloc urged the people of the West Bank to emulate the October 7 attack by storming Israeli localities within their reach. Other posts on this channel likewise incite terrorism and provide operational advice on carrying out effective attacks.
The following are examples of Hamas' ongoing incitement to terrorism against Israel in and from the West Bank.
Hamas Student Organization: Israeli Localities Are Our Targets; We Will Storm Them, Operating Singly Or In Groups
As stated, on November 16 the West-Bank branch the Islamic Bloc, Hamas' student organization, posted a message calling on the people of the West Bank to emulate the October 7 attack. It posted a graphic showing masked terrorists breaching a fence and raiding an Israeli locality, with the text: "The settlements are our targets. Let us storm them, [operating] singly or in groups, and let them taste the might of our resistance. #To the settlements."[3]
It should be stressed that, in Hamas' parlance, all Israeli localities are termed "settlements," both the ones in the West Bank and those inside Israel.
Another post two days later also featured a threatening graphic, with the text: "Ambushes of death await you."[4]
A November 20 post featured a graphic showing armed terrorists preparing to attack an Israeli locality, with the text, "You have no security. Most of our resistance fighters are lying in wait for you. The [West] Bank is not a playground for the settlers."[5]
Hamas Student Organization: How To Carry Out A High-Quality Attack Causing Maximum Casualties
In addition, Hamas' student organization in the West Bank continues to post operational advice for carrying out terrorist attacks.[6] On November 18, for example, its Telegram channels posted a video titled "How to carry out a high-quality attack causing maximum casualties in the ranks of the occupation." The video presents the various stages of preparing and carrying out the attack: "research and planning," "learning the features of the [target] location," "surveilling the target of the attack," "obtaining the necessary weapons and keeping them safe," "securing the target location in an inhabited area," "maintaining absolute secrecy," "avoiding the use of digital devices," "maintaining your routine activities in your [everyday] surroundings," "planning a suitable escape route," "choosing the timing, based on the goals of the operation."[7]
Another post called to document the resistance actions, despite the danger this entails, in order to demoralize the Israelis and boost the Palestinian morale. [8]
Hamas Official: The People Of The West Bank, Jerusalem And The 1948 Territories Are Called Upon To Resist The Occupation
As stated, Hamas officials likewise continue to incite terror in the West Bank. On November 18, Hamas in the West Bank posted on its Telegram channel a statement by movement official 'Abd Al-Rahman Shadid, saying: "The people of the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem, and the people the Palestinian territories occupied in 1948 [i.e., Israeli Arabs] must mobilize, confront the crimes of the occupation and resist by every means. If victory could be attained just by uttering [the phrase] 'Sufficient for us is Allah , and [He is] the best Disposer of affairs' [Quran 3:173], Allah wouldn't have commanded us to prepare [for battle] and to fight…"[9]
'Abd Al-Rahman Shadid: "It is the duty of every free person in the [West] Bank and inside [Israel] to mobilize and join Operation Al-Aqsa Flood" (T.me/Hamaswestbank, November 20, 2023)
[1] See MEMRI TV Clip No. 10592 - Hamas Official Ghazi Hamad: We Will Repeat The October 7 Attack, Time And Again, Until Israel Is Annihilated; We Are Victims – Everything We Do Is Justified – October 24, 2023.
[2] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 10932 - Incitement To Jihad And Terrorism Against Israel In The West Bank – November 2, 2023.
[3] T.me/islamickutla22, November 16, 2023.
[4] T.me/islamickutla22, November 18, 2023.
[5] T.me/islamickutla22, November 20, 2023.
[6] See e,g,, MEMRI TV Clip No. 10562, Terror Tips: Hamas's Student Arm – The Islamic Bloc – Demonstrates How To Carry Out Vehicular Shooting Attacks, October 22, 2023.
[7] T.me/islamickutla22, November 18, 2023.
[8] T.me/islamickutla22, November 16, 2023.
[9] T.me/Hamaswestbank, November 18, 2023.

Heavy fighting surrounds another Gaza hospital after babies evacuated from Al-Shifa
AP/November 20, 2023
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip: Heavy fighting erupted Monday around a hospital in northern Gaza where thousands of patients and displaced people have been sheltering for weeks, as Israeli forces focus on clearing out medical facilities that they say Hamas militants use for cover.
The advance on the Indonesian Hospital came a day after the World Health Organization evacuated 31 premature babies from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the territory’s largest, where they were among more than 250 critically ill or wounded patients stranded there days after Israeli forces entered the compound. The plight of Gaza’s hospitals is at the focus of a battle of narratives over the war’s brutal toll on Palestinian civilians, thousands of whom have been killed or buried in rubble since the six-week-old war was sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7 rampage into southern Israel. Israel says Hamas uses civilians as human shields, while critics say Israel’s siege and relentless aerial bombardment amount to collective punishment of the territory’s 2.3 million Palestinians. Marwan Abdallah, a medical worker at the Indonesian Hospital, said Israeli tanks were visible from the windows. “You can see them moving around and firing,” he said. “Women and children are terrified. There are constant sounds of explosions and gunfire.”Al-Jazeera television aired footage apparently shot from inside the hospital showing tanks firing just outside the facility. Abdallah said the hospital had received dozens of dead and wounded in airstrikes and shelling overnight. He said medical staff and displaced people fear Israel will besiege the hospital and force its evacuation. The Israeli military, which rarely publicizes troop movements, had no immediate comment.
Babies evacuated
UN bodies were able to safely evacuate the babies, who were in critical condition, from Shifa to a hospital in southern Gaza, and plan to transport them to a hospital in neighboring Egypt. Four other babies died in the two days before the evacuation, according to Mohamed Zaqout, the director of Gaza hospitals.
Over 250 patients with severely infected wounds and other urgent conditions remain in Shifa, which could no longer provide most treatment after it ran out of water, medical supplies and fuel for emergency generators amid a territory-wide blackout. Israeli forces battled Palestinian militants outside its gates for days before entering the facility last Wednesday. Israel’s army said it had strong evidence supporting its claims that Hamas maintained a sprawling command post inside and under the hospital’s 20-acre complex, which includes several buildings, garages and a plaza. The military released a video showing what it said was a tunnel discovered at the hospital, 55-meter (60-yard) long and about 10 meters (33 feet) below ground. It said the tunnel included a staircase and a firing hole that could be used by gunmen, and ended at a blast-proof door that troops have not yet opened. The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify Israel’s findings, which included security camera video showing what the military said were two foreign hostages, one Thai and one Nepalese, who were captured by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attack and taken to the hospital. The army also said an investigation had determined that Israeli army Cpl. Noa Marciano, another captive whose body was recovered in Gaza, had been injured in an Israeli strike on Nov. 9 that killed her captor, but was then killed by a Hamas militant in Shifa.Hamas and hospital staff have denied the allegations of a command post under Shifa. Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan dismissed the latest announcement, saying “the Israelis said there was a command and control center, which means that the matter is greater than just a tunnel.”
3 in 4 people displaced
Israel has repeatedly ordered Palestinians to leave northern Gaza and seek refuge in the south, which has also been under aerial bombardment since the start of the war. Some 1.7 million people, nearly three quarters of Gaza’s population, have been displaced, with 900,000 packing into crowded UN-run shelters, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Their misery has worsened in recent days because of cold winds and driving rain. More than 11,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health authorities. Another 2,700 have been reported missing, believed buried in rubble. The count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, and Israel says it has killed thousands of militants. About 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mainly civilians during the Oct. 7 attack, in which Hamas dragged some 240 captives back into Gaza. The military says 63 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Hamas has released four hostages, Israel has rescued one, and the bodies of two were found near Shifa.Israel, the United States and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas, have been negotiating a much larger hostage release for weeks. Israel’s three-member war cabinet is to meet with representatives of the hostages’ families on Monday evening.

With the world's eyes on Gaza, the West Bank faces its own war
Associated Press/November 20, 2023
When Israeli warplanes swooped over the Gaza Strip following Hamas militants' deadly attack on southern Israel, Palestinians say a different kind of war took hold in the occupied West Bank. Overnight, the territory was closed off. Towns were raided, curfews imposed, teenagers arrested, detainees beaten, and villages stormed by Jewish vigilantes.With the world's attention on Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there, the violence of war has also erupted in the West Bank. Israeli settler attacks have surged at an unprecedented rate, according to the United Nations. The escalation has spread fear, deepened despair, and robbed Palestinians of their livelihoods, their homes and, in some cases, their lives. "Our lives are hell," said Sabri Boum, a 52-year-old farmer who fortified his windows with metal grills last week to protect his children from settlers he said threw stun grenades in Qaryout, a northern village. "It's like I'm in a prison."
In six weeks, settlers have killed nine Palestinians, said Palestinian health authorities. They've destroyed 3,000-plus olive trees during the crucial harvest season, said Palestinian Authority official Ghassan Daghlas, wiping out what for some were inheritances passed through generations. And they've harassed herding communities, forcing over 900 people to abandon 15 hamlets they long called home, the U.N. said.
When asked about settler attacks, the Israeli army said only that it aims to defuse conflict and troops "are required to act" if Israel citizens violate the law. The army didn't respond to requests for comment on specific incidents. U.S. President Biden and other administration officials have repeatedly condemned settler violence, even as they defended the Israeli campaign in Gaza. "It has to stop," Biden said last month. "They have to be held accountable." That hasn't happened, according to Israeli rights group Yesh Din. Since Oct. 7, one settler has been arrested — over an olive farmer's death — and was released five days later, the group said. Two other settlers were placed in preventive detention without charge, it said. Naomi Kahn, of advocacy group Regavim, which lobbies for settler interests, argued that settler attacks weren't nearly as widespread as rights groups report because it's a broad category including self-defense, anti-Palestinian graffiti and other nonviolent provocations. "The entire Israeli system works not only to stamp out this violence but to prevent it," she said. Before the Hamas assault, 2023 already was the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank in over two decades, with 250 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire, most during military operations. Over these six weeks of war, Israeli security forces have killed another 206 Palestinians, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, the result of a rise in army raids backed by airstrikes and Palestinian militant attacks. In the deadliest West Bank raid since the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, of the 2000s, Israeli forces killed 14 Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp Nov. 9, most of them militants. While for years settlers enjoyed the support of the Israeli government, they now have vocal proponents at the highest levels of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition. This month, Netanyahu appointed Zvi Sukkot, a settler temporarily banned from the West Bank in 2012 over alleged assaults targeting Palestinians and Israeli forces, to lead the subcommittee on West Bank issues in parliament. Palestinians who've endured hardships of Israeli military rule, in its 57th year, say this war has left them more vulnerable than ever. "We've become scared of tomorrow," said Abdelazim Wadi, 50, whose brother and nephew were fatally shot by settlers, according to health authorities.
Conflict has long been part of daily life here, but Palestinians say the war has unleashed a new wave of provocations, disrupting even their grim routine.
THE SETTLERS IN FATIGUES
Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza in the 1967 Mideast war. Settlers claim the West Bank as their biblical birthright. Most of the international community considers the settlements, home to 700,000 Israelis, illegal. Israel considers the West Bank disputed land, and says the settlements' fate should be decided in negotiations. International law says the military, as the occupying power, must protect Palestinian civilians. Palestinians say that in nearly six decades of occupation, Israeli soldiers often failed to protect them from settler attacks or even joined in.
Since the war's start, the line between settlers and soldiers has blurred further. Israel's wartime mobilization of 300,000-plus reservists included the call-up of settlers for duty and put many in charge of policing their own communities. The military said in some cases, reservists who live in settlements replaced regular West Bank battalions deployed in the war. Tom Kleiner, a reservist guarding Beit El, a religious settlement near the Palestinian city of Ramallah, said the Oct. 7 Hamas attack's brutality cemented his conviction that Palestinians are determined to "murder us." "We don't kill Arabs without any reason," he said. "We kill them because they're trying to kill us."Rights groups say uniforms and assault rifles have inflated settlers' sense of impunity. "Imagine that the military supposed to protect you is now made of settlers committing violence against you," said Ori Givati, of Breaking the Silence, a whistleblower group of former Israeli soldiers. Bashar al-Qaryoute, a medic from the Palestinian village of Qaryout, said residents from the nearby settlement Shilo, now wearing fatigues, have blocked all but one road out. He said they smashed Qaryout's water pipeline, forcing residents to truck in water at triple the price. "They were the ones always burning olive trees and creating problems," al-Qaryoute said. "Now they're in charge."
THE CURFEW
"Close it!" a soldier barked at Imad Abu Shamsiyya when he met the young man's eyes through his open window. Then, he pointed his rifle. Over 52 years, Abu Shamsiyya has witnessed crises strike the heart of Hebron, the only place in which Jewish settlers live amid local residents, not in separate communities.
He thought life in the maze of barbed wire and security cameras couldn't get worse. Then came the war. "This terror, these pressures," he said, "are unlike before." The Israeli military has barred 750 families in Hebron's Old City — where some 700 radical Jewish settlers live among 34,000 Palestinians under heavy military protection — from stepping outside except for one hour in the morning and one in the evening on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursday, said residents and Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem. Schools have closed. Work has stopped. Sick people have moved in with relatives in the Palestinian-controlled part of town. Israeli settlers often roam at night, taunting Palestinians trapped indoors, according to footage published by B'Tselem. Checkpoints instill dread. Soldiers who in the past just glanced at Abu Shamsiyya's ID now search his phone and social media. They pat him down, he said, gawking and cursing. "Hebron is a blatant microcosm of how Israel is exerting control over the Palestinians population," said Dror Sadot, of B'Tselem. The Israeli military didn't respond to a request for comment on the curfew.
THE SETTLER RAID
The grinding of a bulldozer's gears. The crack of a gun. With a glance, parents let each other know the drill: Grab the children, lock the doors, keep away from windows. Palestinians say settlers storm the northern village of Qusra almost daily, covering olive orchards in cement and dousing cars and homes in gasoline. On Oct. 11, settlers tore through dusty streets, shooting at families in their homes. Within minutes, three Palestinian men were dead. Israeli forces sent to disperse armed settlers and Palestinian stone-throwers fired into the crowd, killing a fourth villager, Palestinian officials said. The next day, settlers heeded social-media calls to ambush a funeral procession the village coordinated with the army. They cut off roads and sprayed bullets at mourners who sprang from cars and sprinted through fields, attendees said. Ibrahim Wadi, a 62-year-old chemist, and his 26-year-old son Ahmed, a lawyer, were killed. The funeral for four became one for six. Settlers' online posts rejoicing at the deaths, shared with The Associated Press, stung Ibrahim's brother, Abdelazim, almost as much as the loss. "The mind breaks down, it stops comprehending," he said.
THE GHOST TOWN
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Israel should "wipe out" Palestinian town Hawara after a gunman killed two Israeli brothers in February, sending hundreds of settlers on a deadly rampage. Another far-right religious lawmaker, Zvika Fogel, said he wanted to see the commercial hub "closed, incinerated." Today, Hawara resembles a ghost town. The army shuttered shops "to maintain public order" after Palestinian militant attacks, it said. Abandoned dogs roam among vandalized storefronts. Posters with a Talmudic justification for killing Palestinians adorn road blocks: "Rise and kill first."
From the war's start, much of the West Bank's main north-south highway has been closed to Palestinians, said anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now. Commutes that took 10 to 20 minutes now take hourslong detours on dangerous dirt roads. The restrictions, said Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti, "have divided the West Bank into 224 ghettos separated by closed checkpoints."The 160,000 Palestinian laborers who passed those checkpoints to work in Israel and Israeli settlements before Oct. 7 lost their coveted permits overnight, said Israel's defense agency overseeing Palestinian civil matters. The agency allowed 8,000 essential workers to return to factories and hospitals earlier this month. There's no word on when the rest can. "My grandfather relies on me, and now I have nothing," said Ahmed, a 27-year-old from Hebron who lost his barista job in Haifa, Israel. He declined to give his last name for fear of reprisals. "The pressure is building. We expect the West Bank to explode if nothing changes."
THE OLIVE HARVEST
Palestinians wait all year for the autumn moment that olives turn from green to black. The two-month harvest is a beloved ritual and income boost. Violence has marred the season. Soldiers and settlers blocked villagers from reaching orchards and used bulldozers to remove gnarled roots of centuries-old trees, they say. Hafeeda al-Khatib, an 80-year-old farmer in Qaryout, said soldiers shot in the air and dragged her from her land when they caught her picking olives last week. It's the first year she can remember not having enough to make oil. In a letter to Netanyahu this month, Smotrich called for a ban on Palestinians harvesting olives near Israeli settlements to reduce friction. Palestinians say settlers' efforts have done the opposite. "They've declared war on me," said Mahmoud Hassan, a 63-year-old farmer in Khirbet Sara, a northern community. He said reservist settlers have surrounded it. If he ventures 100 meters (yards) to his grove, he said, soldiers standing sentry scream or fire into the air. He needs permission to leave home and return. "There is no room anymore for talking to them or negotiating," he said. The military said it "thoroughly reviewed" reports of violence against Palestinians and their property. "Disciplinary actions are implemented accordingly," it said, without elaborating.
THE EVACUATION
Rights groups say the goal of settler violence is to clear Palestinians from land they claim for a future state, making room for Jewish settlements to expand. The Bedouin hamlet of Wadi al-Seeq was pushed to its breaking point by three detained Palestinians' ordeal over nine hours Oct. 12. The harrowing accounts were first reported by Israel's Haaretz daily. Weeks of vigilante violence had already forced 10 families to flee when masked settlers in army uniforms barreled through that day, slamming a Bedouin resident and two Palestinian activists onto the ground and shoving them into pickups, villagers said.
One of the activists, 46-year-old Mohammed Matar, told AP they were bound, beaten, blindfolded, stripped to their underwear and burned by cigarettes. Matar said reservist settlers urinated on him, penetrated him anally with a stick, and screamed at him to leave and go to Jordan. When released, Matar left. So did Wadi al-Seeq's 30 remaining families. They took their sheep to the creases of the hills east of Ramallah and abandoned everything else. The Israeli military said it fired the commander in charge and was investigating. Matar said that to move on, he needs Israel to hold someone accountable. "I'd be satisfied with the bare minimum," he said, "the tiniest shred of justice."

China welcomes Arab and Muslim FMs for talks on ending Gaza war
Associated Press./November 20, 2023
China's top diplomat welcomed four Arab foreign ministers and the Indonesian one to Beijing on Monday, saying his country would work with "our brothers and sisters" in the Arab and Islamic world to try to end the war in Gaza as soon as possible. The ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and Indonesia chose to start a tour of world capitals in Beijing, a testament to both China's growing geopolitical influence and its longstanding support for the Palestinians. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the foreign diplomats that their decision to start in Beijing shows their high level of trust in his nation. "China is a good friend and brother of Arab and Islamic countries," Wang said in opening remarks at a state guest house before their talks began. "We have always firmly safeguarded the legitimate rights and interests of Arab (and) Islamic countries and have always firmly supported the just cause of the Palestinian people."China has long backed the Palestinians and been quick to denounce Israel over its settlements in the occupied territories. It has not criticized the initial Hamas attack on Oct.7 — which killed about 1,200 people — while the United States and others have called it an act of terrorism. However, China does have growing economic ties with Israel. The Saudi foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, called for an immediate cease-fire and the entry of humanitarian aid and relief to the Gaza Strip. "There are still dangerous developments ahead of us and an urgent humanitarian crisis that requires an international mobilization to deal with and counter it," he said. He added they appreciated the resolution issued by the United Nations Security Council, calling for urgent and extended humanitarian pauses in Gaza, "but we still need more efforts and cooperation." China — the world's second-largest economy after the U.S. — has become increasingly outspoken on international affairs and even gotten directly involved in some recently, albeit cautiously. In March, Beijing helped broker an agreement that saw Saudi Arabia and Iran reestablish ties after seven years of tension in a role previously reserved for longtime global heavyweights like the U.S. and Russia. The five foreign ministers will visit a number of capitals in an effort to pursue a cease-fire, get aid into Gaza and end the war, Prince Faisal said last weekend. The secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Hissein Brahim Taha, is also accompanying them to Beijing. Israel's retaliatory strikes on the Gaza Strip have so far killed more than 11,500 people, according to Palestinian health authorities. Another 2,700 have been reported missing, believed buried in rubble. "This isn't Israel's first war against the Palestinian people," said Riyad Al-Maliki, the Palestinian Authority foreign minister. "However, Israel wants this to be its last war, where it takes full control of the Palestinian people's presence on what's left of the historical land of Palestine."Israel's ambassador to China, Irit Ben-Abba, said Monday, that her country is allowing sufficient humanitarian aid into Gaza in collaboration with international organizations and that "putting pressure on Israel in this regard is politically motivated and is not conducive to the humanitarian assistance which is needed."She also said that they hoped for "no one-sided" resolution by the Security Council and that they expected a clear statement calling for the "unconditional release of the 240 hostages" who were abducted by Hamas during its attacks, "rather than calling for a cease-fire."

Turkey searches for 11 missing sailors after deadly storm
Associated Press
Turkish rescuers on Monday recovered the body of a crew member of a cargo ship that sank off Turkey's Black Sea coast in severe storms, officials said. Eleven other crew were reported missing. The Turkish-flagged Kafkametler sank on Sunday after hitting a breakwater outside the harbor off the town of Eregli, some 200 kilometers (124 miles) east of Istanbul. Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said the vessel, which was on its way to the western Turkish port of Izmir, lashed into the breakwater several times before it sank. The search-and-rescue operation was delayed by several hours because of the severe weather. But as the condition eased, rescuers on Monday found the body of the ship's cook, Uraloglu said. The severe storms that hit northwestern Turkey caused widespread damage and disruption on Sunday, including the breakup of another cargo ship and the evacuation of a prison. The Cameroon-flagged Pallada broke into two due to heavy weather conditions after running aground in 5-meter (16-foot) waves off Eregli, the Maritime General Directorate said. All 13 crew were rescued safely. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said inmates had been transferred from Eregli's prison to surrounding facilities due to rising water levels. Elsewhere in Turkey, four people were killed after being swept by floodwaters caused by heavy rains in the southeastern provinces of Diyarbakir and Batman, officials said. The victims included a mother and her two children. A third child was still missing. Some 50 people were hurt in the floods. In neighboring Bulgaria, gale-force winds and heavy rain and snow claimed the lives of two people on Sunday and disrupted power supplies. Officials declared a state of emergency in the Black Sea city of Varna.

The Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 20-21/2023
The Obstacles to Hindering the Israeli War Machine
Sam Menassa/Asharq Al-Awsat/November 20/2023
It is now reasonable, after the thousands of civilian casualties and indescribable destruction we have seen, to ask how effectively the United States could pressure Israel, which is determined to continue its hysterical war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Almost every country and international organization in the world has called for a ceasefire, humanitarian truces, and respect for the laws of war. However, their demands have fallen on deaf ears in Israel. Even the appeals and pressure of Washington, Israel's main supporter and ally, for a humanitarian truce, aid for civilians, limiting civilian casualties, and avoiding an expansion to other fronts, have also been ignored. It seems that the Resolution of the Security Council issued last Wednesday calling for "truces and humanitarian corridors" will meet the same fate.
The answer to why American pressure is ineffective is complex and multifaceted. Domestic US and Israeli factors must be considered, as do considerations tied to Hamas and its allies in the Iranian axis.
Is it conceivable that the United States cannot contain Israel’s madness, even when its leaders and officials have been making visits since the beginning of the war, fleets to protect Israel and deter its enemies were deployed, and the US provided - and continues to provide - Israel with the latest weaponry, as well as sending it $14 billion in aid?
Firstly, we should not underestimate the significance of domestic US factors. The sharp polarization in the country and the divergence of opinions within the administration, which have become public, limit the administration's room for maneuver. These considerations are particularly relevant 12 months away from the presidential elections. Beyond the domestic American context, we see a conviction in the US - one that is shared by the West in general - that the pre-October 7 status quo in Gaza has become untenable and that Hamas cannot remain a political and military force in the Strip.
Non-state actors like Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah have made a habit of declaring victory merely because they survived and built their policies around this professed victory, regardless of the human and material cost of the conflict. For the Americans, Europeans, and others, the survival of Hamas is tantamount to a victory for the Iranian Axis of Resistance, with all the implications that come with it for the security and stability of the region, and it would leave Israel and other countries in the region vulnerable to attacks like the "Al-Aqsa Flood" in the future.
A Hamas victory would also have implications for the future of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority. The Islamization of the Palestinian cause would be bolstered, as would violent and ideologically driven extremism, limiting the potential for peace and settlements in the region with Israel. That would undermine the political, economic, and social interests of the moderate Arab states and could well open doors to civil conflicts in the region. Many domestic Israeli factors must also be considered. First, we have the shock of the army and Israeli citizens after the Hamas operation and the high number of casualties it left in its wake. The Israelis were also surprised at the military and planning capabilities of Hamas, as Israeli civilian and military officials have an arrogant view of themselves and their enemy.
Israel’s domestic disagreements became obvious following the protest movement against the policies of the right-wing government and its leader, and some have blamed Israel's current plight on these policies. Preoccupied with personal concerns, Benjamin Netanyahu is worried about his future once the war ends, and this could be driving him to prolong it and maximize its brutality. He could even seek to implicate the United States in a regional war that includes Iran, making his mistakes seem insignificant compared to the outcomes of that war.
If we delve into the mindset of most Israelis, especially that of Israeli decision-makers, we find two main problems or obstacles hindering a cessation of hostilities and thus sustainable peace in the future. The first is the chronic and pathological apprehensions about even a demilitarized Palestinian state that shares borders with Israel and the broad conviction that the Palestinian people do not have rights and should never have independent control over their land. The rhetoric of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich about deporting Palestinians and compensating them afterward reflects the unspoken attitudes of a significant number of Israelis.
The second issue or obstacle is Israel’s inability or unwillingness to understand the importance of the two-state solution and granting Palestinians some of the legitimate rights they have been deprived of for containing Iran's influence and mitigating the threat that Iran poses to Israel and the countries of the region. Indeed, the majority of Israelis are convinced that undermining Iran’s ability to manipulate the Palestinian cause would have significant consequences.
They do see the importance of depriving Iran and its allies with a pretext for arming and creating factions and militias and fostering ideologically extreme and radical groups. They do not understand that Iran would lose much of its proxies and political weight in the region. Israelis are also not convinced that, regardless of the anticipated risks from a Palestinian state on their borders, it would remain less dangerous than the threat Iran poses to them and to peace and moderation in the region.
The war in Gaza and its calamities have not changed Hamas’ and Iran’s proxies’ lexicon or rhetoric in the slightest. The ink had not dried on the resolutions of the Arab and Islamic summit in Riyadh before the spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced Iran's opposition to four items from the summit's final statement: the two-state solution, a return to the 1967 borders, the recognition of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority as the legitimate representatives of the Palestinians, and the 2002 Arab initiative.
Naturally, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the rest of the Resistance Axis are no less extreme than the Supreme Leader in Tehran. Therefore, no initiatives or understandings that can be built upon will be put forward to Washington, Western countries, and thus Israel, by Tehran, Hamas, or Hezbollah. The positions of the Resistance Axis are nothing more than an updated version of the positions and slogans that the likes of Gamal Abdel Nasser, Hafez al-Assad, Saddam Hussein, and Muammar Gaddafi have been raising over more than sixty years. All of them have led to failure, regression, and tragedies for the Palestinian people.
As a result, we must go back to the moderate Arab states, especially after the joint Arab-Islamic Summit in Riyadh. Despite the reservations of Iran and Syria, these states remain the only ones capable of clearly announcing to the Americans, the West, and Israel what they accept and reject once and for all, giving the Americans and Europeans a deadline to pressure Israel. What is acceptable and unacceptable to Arabs is now known: an independent Palestinian state on the land of Palestine, encompassing the West Bank and Gaza under the leadership of the Palestinian Authority, "special status" for the holy sites, discussions of a settlement for refugees, and an immediate halt to settlement expansion and plans for the displacement of Palestinians. The "Clinton Parameters of 2000 can be taken as a benchmark for further negotiations.
Now, the moderate Arab states can proclaim: "Bear witness that I have conveyed the message."

Iran… The Profits of Incitement are Clear
Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/November 20/2023
A popular Arabic proverb teaches us that “The profits in gratuity are clear” - that is, it is easy to calculate profits when there are no costs. However, in our region, the profits of incitement are also clear, and the simplest example is Iran’s relationship with what is falsely called the axis of “resistance and defiance.”
Since October 7, Iran has had two narratives. One, it pushes publicly, glorifying the Hamas operation and preaching about the victory of the “resistance.” The second narrative is being voiced through diplomatic channels, and it is that Tehran has nothing to do with what happened and that Hamas had not informed it of the operation. Then Hassan Nasrallah came out with his first speech, in which he stressed this point and explained that militia leaders in the region take their decisions, without asking for the input of Tehran. All of this was said despite the fact that the Iranian Foreign Minister had been threatening for three weeks that “fingers are on the trigger” across the region. Today, the situation has changed. We are faced with two inseparable developments. First, the Iranian Supreme Leader has told Hamas that since it had not informed his country of its operation in Israel, Iran would not be entering this war on its behalf. The second was Washington’s announcement of releasing $10 billion to Tehran.
Regarding the news reported by Reuters, the agency quoted three senior officials as saying that the Iranian leader sent a clear message to Ismail Haniyeh when they met in Tehran, telling him that Hamas did not inform Iran of its attack on Israel, and therefore Tehran would not enter the war on its behalf.
The Supreme Leader told Haniyeh that Iran would continue to provide political and moral support, but would not be intervening directly. He also asked Haniyeh to silence the voices openly calling on Iran and Hezbollah to enter the battle against Israel.
Although Hamas has denied the reports - this is a game the region is familiar with, information is leaked and then denied - three sources close to Hezbollah have also told Reuters that the group was surprised by the attack. A party leader said: “We woke up to war.”
Reuters quoted Karim Sajadpour, an Iran specialist at the Carnegie Endowment, as saying that in the current crisis, the voice of political realism could prevail in Tehran. “Iran has shown a four-decade commitment to fighting America and Israel without entering into direct conflict. The regime's revolutionary ideology is based on opposition to America and Israel, but its leaders are not suicidal, they want to stay in power."
Accordingly, it can be said that Iran was the first Muslim country to condemn the Hamas misadventure, doing so publicly through the leak. We saw how Mohammad Javad Zarif, the former Iranian Foreign Minister, welcomed the wise decision to not enter the war.
Iran did all of this although it has been the exclusive and permanent financier of Hamas arms. This militia, considered to be among Iran's proxies in the region, has allowed the Quds Force to avoid firing a single bullet to protect Palestine, or the Aqsa Mosque itself. It even helped Iran obtain $10 billion.
As Gaza continues to face the brutal Israeli killing machine, Hamas leaders remain in hotels or tunnels. Meanwhile, the Arabs continue to condemn and denounce the assault, but none have told Hamas that enough is enough and that steps must be taken to save the lives that can be saved.
Thus, the profits of incitement are clear, while championing rationality and reason is expensive and difficult in this region.

More Than 500 US Officials Sign Letter Protesting Biden’s Israel Policy
Maria Abi-Habib, Michael Crowley and Edward Wong/The New York Times/Monday - 20 November 2023
More than 500 political appointees and staff members representing some 40 government agencies sent a letter to President Biden on Tuesday protesting his support of Israel in its war in Gaza.
The letter, part of growing internal dissent over the administration’s support of the war, calls on the president to seek an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and to push Israel to allow humanitarian aid into the territory. It is the latest of several protest letters from officials throughout the Biden administration, including three internal memos to Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken signed by dozens of State Department employees as well as an open letter signed by more than 1,000 employees of the US Agency for International Development.
The signatories of the letter submitted on Tuesday and the one circulating among USAID employees are anonymous, the USAID letter explains, out of “concern for our personal safety and risk of potentially losing our jobs.” The signatories of the State Department dissent cables must disclose their names, but those cables have not been released publicly.
Although the Biden administration has recently started voicing concern over the high numbers of Palestinian civilians killed while urging Israel to show restraint, that budding criticism does not appear to be placating many in the US government.
The letter, a copy of which was reviewed by The New York Times, began by denouncing the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas, then urged Mr. Biden to stop the bloodshed caused by Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza.
“We call on President Biden to urgently demand a cease-fire; and to call for de-escalation of the current conflict by securing the immediate release of the Israeli hostages and arbitrarily detained Palestinians; the restoration of water, fuel, electricity and other basic services; and the passage of adequate humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip,” the letter states.
Organizers continued to collect signatures even after the letter was delivered to Mr. Biden, and by Tuesday afternoon the letter had about 100 more names than the 402 with which it was formally submitted. The letter’s organizers said they intended to inform the White House daily of updated signature counts.
Two political appointees who helped organize the letter to Mr. Biden said the majority of the signatories are political appointees of various faiths who work throughout government, from the National Security Council to the F.B.I. and the Justice Department.
Some of the signatories helped Mr. Biden get elected in 2020 and said in interviews they were concerned that the administration’s support of Israel’s war in Gaza clashed with Democratic voters’ stance on the issue.
“The overwhelming majority of Americans support a cease-fire,” the letter states, linking to a poll from October that shows that 66 percent of Americans, including 80 percent of Democrats, believe the United States should put pressure on Israel for a cease-fire.
“Furthermore, Americans do not want the US military to be drawn into another costly and senseless war in the Middle East.”
Israel launched a ground invasion last month in Gaza in response to bloody attacks by Hamas on Oct. 7 that killed about 1,200 people, according to the Israeli government. So far, more than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military offensive according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Mr. Biden and Mr. Blinken, like Israel’s leadership, say they oppose a cease-fire — a long-term halt in fighting, typically accompanied by political negotiations — on the grounds that it would spare Hamas and allow it to reconstitute for future attacks. They have instead called for “pauses,” short interruptions in the fighting lasting perhaps a few hours, to allow for clearly defined humanitarian missions like aid delivery into Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. US officials say they have done more than any other nation to ensure that at least some aid enters Gaza.
The two people who helped organize the letter to Mr. Biden said they had agreed to serve the administration because the president stressed that he wanted a government that was more representative of American voters. But, they said, their concerns and those of other political appointees have largely been dismissed.
Some US officials said privately that while senior officials welcome disagreement, government workers must understand and accept that they will not always agree with US policy. The dissent over Gaza reflects a generational divide and comes mostly from employees in their 20s and 30s, the officials said — though many older people have also signed dissenting documents, according to people who have collected signatures.
The letters of protest come after a contentious meeting on Oct. 23 at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where 70 Muslim and Arab political appointees gathered with senior Biden administration officials, including Jeffrey D. Zients, the chief of staff, and Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris.
The meeting started with a general question: How many of the appointees have faced pressure from family or friends to resign over the Biden administration’s support of Israel in the conflict? Dozens of hands shot up, according to one attendee and another who was briefed about the meeting.
Senior administration officials opened the floor to take questions and comments. Some attendees cried as they demanded that the administration call for a cease-fire, curb weapons shipments to the Israeli military and stop disregarding Palestinian civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip.
The State Department memos to Mr. Blinken were cables sent internally, through what is known as the dissent channel. The channel was created during the Vietnam War to encourage department employees to share disagreements with official policy. Under State Department rules, dissenters are protected from retaliation.
On Monday, Mr. Blinken responded to the internal dissent in a message emailed to department employees. “I know that for many of you, the suffering caused by this crisis is taking a profound personal toll,” he wrote, adding that he was aware that “some people in the department may disagree with approaches we are taking or have views on what we can do better.”
He added: “We’re listening: What you share is informing our policy and our messages.”

Who Made the Flood?
Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al-Awsat/November 20/2023
More important than the Al-Aqsa Flood operation is the situation that will prevail after the war on Gaza ends. What will the situation be like on the present and future of Gaza, the West Bank, Israel and the region?
Retaliation for the Flood with a new Nakba will only fuel instability. Tackling the Flood with the two-state solution will return the Palestinian file to its people and allow the diseased Middle East to catch its breath.
It quickly became evident that Hamas’ Al-Aqsa Flood operation, launched on October 7, was a declaration of war, not just a widescale military operation. This was confirmed by the news that first emerged from the scene of the crime and the number of victims and hostages. It was evident that the attack was broader and more dangerous than all the confrontations that had been waged between Israel and Hamas over the past two decades. It was expected for Israel to retaliate to the war with a war, especially since the first blow revealed its security lapses and slow response by its military.
Hours after the attack was launched, I recalled remarks made years ago by a man who operated along the Beirut-Tehran route that passes through Damascus. We used to speak of the need for stability to be restored in Lebanon and the region. He predicted that greater conflicts were in store for the region.
Prompted for more information, he said that the journalist must always keep in mind that a confrontation with Israel will always be in the cards and that it will one day awaken to a major blow. I asked him what this blow may be to which he explained that it could be salvoes of missiles fired at Israel from Lebanon and Gaza, perhaps even Syria, Iraq and Yemen. The purpose of the attack would be to reduce Israel’s strategic importance and force some of its residents to consider returning to the countries from which they came from. He revealed that Qassem Soleimani’s friends and students shared a firm conviction that the major battle was imminent and that it will force Israel, the United States and the West to contend with a new reality.
During that same period, former leader of the Islamic Jihad Dr. Ramadan Abduallah Shalah declared that Israel’s settlement policies and disregard for Palestinians will only speed up the eruption of confrontations that will inevitably be fiercer than previous ones because the resistance fighters have been supplied with better weapons, as have their allies. I thought about the “major blow” when Hezbollah began fighting Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, when a handful of rockets were fired from Syria and when the Houthis launched rockets and drones from Yemen. I also paused at the attacks launched by Iraqi groups on American bases in Iraq and Syria.
After more than 40 days since Hamas’ attack and in spite of the massive losses caused by Israel’s barbaric war on Gaza, the conflict has not yet expanded to other fronts and not yet developed into a regional war. There is no doubt that the international community’s top priority should be reaching an immediate ceasefire and the delivery of aid to the besieged enclave.
This demand will be conveyed to influential capitals by the ministerial committee that was formed at the Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh. The committee will try to convince major countries that allowing the conflict to persist and escalate will lead to massive dangers to the Palestinian people and gravely harm regional countries and the interests of major powers in them. It will stress the need to resolve the conflict through firmly and seriously adopting the two-state solution.
Faced with the new Nakba looming in Gaza that is claiming civilian lives, hospitals, schools and houses, the observer finds himself confronted with difficult questions. Who planned the Al-Aqsa Flood operation that took years of training, information gathering and technology, and misleading Israeli intelligence and drones hovering over Gaza? Could Hamas alone have taken the decision to wage such a war on such a scale? Were Hamas’ allies really surprised by the operation or just by its timing? Did Hamas really believe that the operation will lead to dealing the “major blow” and that rockets will rain down on Israel all winter? Did Yehya al-Sinwar and Mohammed al-Dayf believe that Israel’s response will be less barbaric than this? Did they expect tensions to flare up even more in the West Bank or for a regional war to erupt? Could Hamas accept a ceasefire if one of the conditions was Israeli and western refusal that it return to power in Gaza? What if Gaza’s reconstruction was tied to Hamas being removed from the equation entirely? Would Hamas be willing to sacrifice its military presence in Gaza for returning the two-state solution option to the list of priorities of major countries and the international community?
Hamas could not have launched the Al-Aqsa Flood operation without the planning of other parties. A quick review of the negotiations carried out by Yasser Arafat with various Israeli prime ministers reveals the extent of Israel’s political blindness. None of these governments tried to reach a settlement with Arafat. They instead preoccupied themselves with trying to defeat him and unleashing settlements and settlers, brusquely slapping away the hand that was extended to them.
Israel believed that the September 11 attacks, invasion of Iraq and emergence of ISIS were opportunities to eliminate Palestinian rights and Palestinians as partners. One could even go so far as to say that it rejoiced at the division between Gaza and the West Bank. It saw the weakening of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ authority as a strategic goal, even if it led to the empowerment of factions in Gaza.
Perhaps the greatest element that paved the way for the launch of the Al-Aqsa Flood was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his idiotic government’s suicidal decisions. One must not forget the role of Palestinian factions’ suicide operations that undermined the Oslo Accords.
Other partners inadvertently contributed to paving the way for the operation. The US ended its role as honest mediator and didn’t try to seriously mend the peace process so that it could be resumed at a later time. Israeli incursions in the West Bank continued to eat away at Abbas’ authority and weaken Palestinian institutions. The weakness of the Palestinian Authority is now a main obstacle in finding a Palestinian solution to Gaza after a ceasefire is reached.
Hamas itself committed a major error when it believed that it would not need cover from Abbas and the Palestine Liberation Organization. Now, the region is paying the price of the barbaric response to the flood launched by Hamas and which other parties helped facilitate after they shunned peace and the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.

Palestinians: 'Extreme' Support for Terrorist Group Hamas, Israel's Destruction
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute./November 20, 2023
A public opinion poll published on November 14 showed that 75% of Palestinians support Hamas's murder spree, including rape and beheadings, as opposed to only 13% who disapprove. Surprisingly, the poll found that support for Hamas and its "military operation" is even higher in the West Bank, where Abbas's Palestinian Authority is based, than in the Gaza Strip. If such a large number of Palestinians in the West Bank support the murder of Israelis and Hamas, it is safe to assume that a new "Palestinian state" would be controlled by Hamas or another genocidal, antisemitic terror group.
Another, but less-surprising, result of the poll is that 80% of the Palestinians reject both the "one-state" and "two-state" solutions, and instead demand all the territory, between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea – in short, the entire State of Israel within any borders. That a majority of Palestinians want to replace Israel with an Iran-backed terror state also shows that the Biden administration and most European governments are engaging in extreme self-deception when they talk about the need to promote the concept of a "two-state solution."How can any rational person talk about a "two-state solution" when a majority of Palestinians believe there is nothing wrong with burning, beheading and raping Jews, or baking a Jewish baby to death in an oven?
The results of the poll confirm what most Arabs and Muslims already know: that the only solution most Palestinians are willing to accept is one that leads to the murder of all Jews and the destruction of Israel. It remains to be seen whether the latest Palestinian slaughter of Jews serves to awaken the Biden administration and the Europeans to this inconvenient, uncomfortable fact.
A public opinion poll published on November 14 showed that 75% of Palestinians support Hamas's murder spree, including rape and beheadings, as opposed to only 13% who disapprove. One of the reasons why Palestinian leaders refuse to condemn Hamas's October 7 massacre of Israelis is because they know that many Palestinians support the atrocities committed by the Iran-backed Palestinian terrorist group.
Unlike the Biden administration and many Europeans, these leaders, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, are fully aware of the widespread support among their people for any group whose goal is to murder Israelis and destroy Israel. The Palestinian leaders, in addition, are also aware that a majority of the Palestinians are opposed to the deluded Western fantasy of a "two-state solution."
In a region as volatile as the Middle East, if, say, Islamic State, Al Qaeda or the Islamic Republic of Iran -- on the cusp of having nuclear bombs to threaten the region, Europe and the United States -- were to take over a Palestinian State, the way Hamas took over the Gaza Strip by force from the Palestinian Authority in 2007 -- those terrorist machines, not Finland or Denmark, would be Israel's immediate neighbors. Whatever your country is, it would not permit that, either – nor should it.
A public opinion poll published on November 14 showed that 75% of Palestinians support Hamas's murder spree, including rape and beheadings, as opposed to only 13% who disapprove.
The poll, conducted by the Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD), covered 668 respondents across the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
According to the results, 59.3% of the Palestinians expressed "extreme support" for the actions of Hamas on October 7, while 15.7% said they "somewhat" favored the massacre. Fewer than 13% of the Palestinians opposed the massacre.
Surprisingly, the poll found that support for Hamas and its "military operation" is even higher in the West Bank, where Abbas's Palestinian Authority is based, than in the Gaza Strip. In the past two years, the West Bank, controlled by Abbas's security forces, have seen the emergence of several terrorist groups affiliated with Hamas, as well as another Iranian proxy, Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Abbas has done nothing, ever, to rein in the terrorists, who are responsible for countless attacks on Israelis. Unfortunately, this is the same West Bank where the Biden administration and the European Union want to establish a Palestinian state. If such a large number of Palestinians in the West Bank support the murder of Israelis and Hamas, it is safe to assume that a new "Palestinian state" would be controlled by Hamas or another genocidal, antisemitic terror group.
The poll also showed that 68% of the Palestinians in the West Bank said they "extremely support" the butchering of Israelis, while another 14.8% said they "somewhat" support it. In total, 87.7% of the Palestinians in the West Bank have a positive sentiment toward Hamas. Only 10.2% of the Palestinians living in the West Bank have a negative sentiment toward Hamas.
Another, but less-surprising, result of the poll is that 80% of the Palestinians reject both the "one-state" and "two-state" solutions, and instead demand all the territory, between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea – in short, the entire State of Israel within any borders.
The findings of the poll shatter the claim made by US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Hamas is not representative of most Palestinians. Sadly, the results of the poll show, without doubt, that the Biden administration is completely clueless about the anti-Israel sentiment among a large majority of the Palestinians.
That a majority of Palestinians want to replace Israel with an Iran-backed terror state also shows that the Biden administration and most European governments are engaging in extreme self-deception when they talk about the need to promote the concept of a "two-state solution."
This is not the first survey to show that a majority of Palestinians are vehemently opposed to a "two-state solution" and support an armed struggle against Israel. It is also not the first poll to show that most Palestinians prefer Hamas and other terrorist groups to the Palestinian Authority.
One month before the Hamas massacre, the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research published a poll that showed that 67% of the Palestinian public opposes the idea of a "two-state solution" as opposed to 32% who support it. The poll showed that a majority of 53% of the Palestinians support armed struggle against Israel. Twenty percent said they support negotiations with Israel, while another 24% expressed support for a "popular non-violent resistance." The poll, in addition, showed that if new presidential elections were held at the time, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh would receive 58% of the votes as opposed to 37% for Abbas.
The findings of the polls do not really come as a surprise to those who have been closely monitoring Palestinian affairs over the past few decades. Support for Hamas and terrorism against Israel is the direct result of a decades-long campaign of incitement against Israel by Palestinian leaders and factions, including those from both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.
When Abbas tells his people that Jews are "defiling with their filthy feet" the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, he is not only lying, but inciting the murder of Jew. Abbas, in fact, pays the murderers of Jews or their families a monthly stipend as part of his "Pay-for-Slay" policy, a jobs program like Murder, Inc.
A 2017 analysis by The Washington Post revealed that $160 million was paid to 13,000 beneficiaries of "prisoner payments" ($12,307 per person) and $183 million was paid to 33,700 families in "martyr payments" ($5,430 per family) annually. Of the total amount, the newspaper estimated that $36 million was paid to prisoners serving sentences of 20 years in Israeli prison. Another $10 million was paid to the families of 200 suicide bombers.
It is worth noting that Hamas named its massacre "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood," presumably in response to peaceful and routine visits by Jews to Jerusalem's Temple Mount, which are permitted, by mutual agreement, to open-air areas that are outside of the mosque. Hamas claimed that the name of the massacre came in response to supposed "Israeli violations in the courtyards of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque." There were, of course, no "violations" by Jews. Their only "crime" was that they visited the Temple Mount in accordance with all agreements.
"The [Israeli] enemy desecrated the Al-Aqsa Mosque and dared to visit prophet Mohammed's place of worship," said Hamas arch-terrorist Mohammed Deif, one of the masterminds of the October 7 massacre. Addressing Palestinians, he added:
"Start marching now toward Palestine, and do not let borders or restrictions deprive you of the honor of Jihad (holy war) and participating in the liberation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque."
The rhetoric and actions of the Palestinian Authority show that it shares responsibility with Hamas for the October 7 massacre. The Palestinian Authority and Hamas have raised an entire generation of Palestinians on the glorification of terrorism and the imperative of murdering Jews and eliminating Israel. How can any rational person talk about a "two-state solution" when a majority of Palestinians believe there is nothing wrong with burning, beheading and raping Jews, or baking a Jewish baby to death in an oven?
The results of the poll confirm what most Arabs and Muslims already know: that the only solution most Palestinians are willing to accept is one that leads to the murder of all Jews and the destruction of Israel. It remains to be seen whether the latest Palestinian slaughter of Jews serves to awaken the Biden administration and the Europeans to this inconvenient, uncomfortable fact.
*Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East.
© 2023 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Epiphany Moment: Tiktokers ‘Rediscover’ Long-Discredited al-Qaeda Propaganda
Raymond Ibrahim./November 20, 2023 
Osama bin Laden is back, opening American eyes to the innumerable ills of their society.
A 21-year old letter from the former al-Qaeda chief recently went viral on Tiktok, prompting many of its denizens—primarily Gen Z’s and not a few Millennials—to “see the light.” A few reactions to reading bin Laden’s so-called “Letter to Americans” (2002) follow:
“It’s wild and everyone should read it. If you haven’t read it yet, read it. However, be forewarned that this has left me disillusioned and I feel the same exact way I felt when I was deconstructing Christianity.”
“I will never look at life the same again; I will never look at this country the same.”
“I feel like I’m going through an existential crisis right now.”
“I guarantee you it’s going to blow your mind.”
“[The letter] is actually so mind-fuc*ing to me, that terrorism has been sold as this [false] idea to the American people.
What revelations, pray tell, did Mr. Laden make in this “mind-blowing” letter? Originally titled “Why We Are Fighting You,” Osama listed all of the (“official”) reasons that prompted al-Qaeda to strike the U.S. on September 11, 2001, including: U.S. support for Israel at the expense of Palestinians; U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq; U.S. support for dictatorial regimes throughout the Muslim world; and any number of other political and social criticisms. Indeed, not one to leave any stones unturned, bin Laden, now in the guise of a tree-hugger, even accused Americans of “destroy[ing] nature with your industrial waste and gases more than any other nation in history. Despite this, you refuse to sign the Kyoto agreement.”
Thus, al-Qaeda attacked the U.S. only because it was making Muslim life—indeed, the world’s life—miserable. As bin Laden was fond of saying, “Reciprocal treatment is part of justice.”
The problem with Osama’s litany list against America (and, in other letters, the West in its entirety) was that, true or false, none of his accusations were the ultimate reason that al-Qaeda hated the U.S. and Europe. As I have been showing since 2005, bin Laden and al-Qaeda were notorious for saying one thing to the West (“we attacked you because you attacked us”) and another to Muslims (“we must hate and attack the West because it is infidel”).
This was the entire basis of my 2007 book, The Al Qaeda Reader. I, like today’s Tiktok users, knew of bin Laden’s constant accusations, including his “Letter to the Americans.” In 2004, however, I came across a number of Arabic documents that were written by the al-Qaeda leader, as well as his then second, Ayman Zawahiri, while working at the Library of Congress.
As I explained in “The Two Faces of Al Qaeda” published by The Chronicle of Higher Education (I was not yet “canceled” then),
[T]he documents struck me as markedly different from the messages directed to the West, in both tone and (especially) content. It soon became clear why these particular documents had not been directed to the West. They were theological treatises, revolving around what Islam commands Muslims to do vis-à-vis non-Muslims. The documents rarely made mention of all those things — Zionism, Bush’s “Crusade,” malnourished Iraqi children — that formed the core of Al Qaeda’s messages to the West. Instead, they were filled with countless Koranic verses, hadiths (traditions attributed to the Prophet Muhammad), and the consensus and verdicts of Islam’s most authoritative voices. The temporal and emotive language directed at the West was exchanged for the eternal language of Islam when directed at Muslims. Or, put another way, the language of “reciprocity” was exchanged for that of intolerant religious fanaticism. There was, in fact, scant mention of the words “West,” “U.S.,” or “Israel.” All of those were encompassed by that one Arabic-Islamic word, “kufr” — “infidelity” — the regrettable state of being non-Muslim that must always be fought through “tongue and teeth.”
To document this discrepancy, I translated and juxtaposed al-Qaeda’s many Arabic writings that were meant for Muslim eyes only, with the group’s writings meant for Western consumption (respectively in the “theology” and “propaganda” sections of The Al Qaeda Reader).
The “Letter to Americans” (pp. 196-208) is an example of the latter.
As for examples of the real, ultimate problem between Islam and the West, consider: soon after 9/11, an influential group of Saudi apologists wrote an open letter to the United States saying, “The heart of the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims is justice, kindness, and charity.” Outraged by such a claim, Bin Laden discretely wrote to the Saudis the following:
As to the relationship between Muslims and infidels, this is summarized by the Most High’s Word: “We renounce you. Enmity and hate shall forever reign between us — till you believe in Allah alone” [Koran 60:4].” So there is an enmity, evidenced by fierce hostility from the heart. And this fierce hostility — that is, battle — ceases only if the infidel submits to the authority of Islam, or if his blood is forbidden from being shed, or if Muslims are at that point in time weak and incapable. But if the hate at any time extinguishes from the heart, this is great apostasy! Allah Almighty’s Word to his Prophet recounts in summation the true relationship: “O Prophet! Wage war against the infidels and hypocrites and be ruthless. Their abode is hell — an evil fate! [9:73].” Such, then, is the basis and foundation of the relationship between the infidel and the Muslim. Battle, animosity, and hatred — directed from the Muslim to the infidel — is the foundation of our religion [p. 43]
Even if the West were to do everything he demanded, short of converting to Islam, terror would still to be its lot, said bin Laden, citing history:
When the king of the Copts of Egypt tried improving relations with the Prophet by dignifying his messenger and sending him back on a beast of burden laden with clothing, and a slave-girl, did such niceties prevent the Companions from raiding the Coptic realms, forcefully placing them under Islamic rule? [p.48]
The answer is no. As both Islamic theology commands and history attests, concessions or “niceties” are never enough: submission to Islam is the price for peace. Christian Egypt, through atrocities that now boggle the mind (see Chapter 1), was violently conquered and Islamized in the seventh century.
Put differently, and despite this newfound and “life changing” shock at bin Laden’s 21-year-old accusations against America, it has long been known that al-Qaeda, unlike the more forthright ISIS, was actively trying to manipulate and demoralize Western opinion through leftist talking points, while inciting Muslims through standard jihadist talk. Even Wikipedia’s entry for “Motives for the September 11 attacks” (surprisingly) states that,
*Raymond Ibrahim, as a researcher at the Library of Congress, found a significant difference between Al Qaeda’s messages in English directed to a Western audience and al Qaeda’s Arab messages and documents directed to an Islamic audience. The Western-directed messages listed grievances as grounds for retaliation employing the “language of ‘reciprocity.’” Literature for Islamic audiences contained theological motivations bereft of references to the acts of Western nations.[55][56]
In short, these poor Tiktokers really need to catch up and get with the times.
Note: For more older articles that closely examine and show the contradiction between al-Qaeda’s words to the West and its words to fellow Muslims click here, here, here, here, here, or here.

Video/From the Washington Institute/Iranian Escalation in Iraq and Syria: Implications and U.S. Options
Michael Knights, Wladimir van Wilgenburg, Devorah Margolin, Andrew J. Tabler/
https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/iranian-escalation-iraq-and-syria-implications-and-us-options
November 20/2023
Four experts discuss what Washington can do about the latest spike in militia attacks against U.S. bases and local partners—even as they try to sustain the counterterrorism mission against the Islamic State.
On November 15, The Washington Institute held a virtual Policy Forum with Michael Knights, Wladimir van Wilgenburg, Devorah Margolin, and Andrew J. Tabler. Knights is the Institute’s Bernstein Fellow and cofounder of its Militia Spotlight platform. Van Wilgenburg is coauthor of the book The Kurds of Northern Syria: Governance, Diversity, and Conflicts. Margolin is the Institute’s Blumenstein-Rosenbloom Fellow, focusing on terrorism governance and the role of women in violent extremism. Tabler is the Institute’s Martin J. Gross Senior Fellow and former director for Syria at the National Security Council. The following is a rapporteur’s summary of their remarks.
Michael Knights
The so-called “Islamic Resistance in Iraq” is responsible for much of the kinetic activity against U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria over the past month. This umbrella brand includes all the usual Iran-backed militia suspects in Iraq. Indeed, The Washington Institute’s Militia Spotlight team has kept a running tally of their attacks by tracking social media and other outlets where such claims are made.
The groups carrying out these strikes have divided them into two main areas of responsibility. One portion focuses on U.S. bases south of the Euphrates River, in western Iraq (e.g., al-Asad Air Base) and southern Syria (al-Tanf garrison). The other focuses on U.S. targets north of the Euphrates, in northern Iraq (e.g., Harir Air Base) and eastern Syria (al-Shadadi, Rmelan), launching their attacks from areas in Sinjar, Mosul, the Nineveh Plains, and Kirkuk. In addition, a mix of Iran-backed groups on the west bank of Syria’s Middle Euphrates River Valley have been firing short-range rockets at U.S. bases and adjacent elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) around oil fields in Deir al-Zour province. Some longer-range drone attacks on Shadadi, Rmelan, and Tal Baidar are also launched from this valley.
On the Israel-Lebanon border, the rules of the game—acceptable targets, red lines, et cetera—are well understood. The same is true between the United States and Iran in Syria and Iraq. There is a level of militia harassment that Washington considers acceptable, but other Iran-backed kinetic actions will elicit a stronger U.S. response. The specific trigger often depends on the sophistication of a given attack and whether or not it results in casualties. This March, for example, U.S. forces conducted an airstrike immediately following a militia attack, partly because an American contractor was killed and also because the attack displayed a qualitative rise in capability.
Today, Iran-backed militias are continuing to test Washington’s restraint by increasing their attacks, mostly in Syria. In response, U.S. forces have undertaken three airstrikes and an indeterminate number of counter-battery artillery strikes (in general, U.S. officials publicly disclose only the airstrikes). Although the latest base attacks are intended to be nonlethal, they still run the risk of accidentally killing Americans and greatly escalating the situation. Under those circumstances, the United States might strike much harder in Syria—or even against militia leaders in Iraq, broader Iranian targets in the region, or economic interests in mainland Iran.
Wladimir van Wilgenburg
The current situation in northeast Syria poses multiple challenges for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). As the main territorial battle against the Islamic State (IS) wound down in past years, the Kurdish-led SDF were not initially interested in occupying areas around Raqqa and Deir al-Zour city. Yet the United States encouraged them to enter those cities, even though Raqqa has only a small Kurdish population and Deir al-Zour has none at all.
This situation spurred the SDF to work with Ahmad Hamid al-Khubayl (better known as Abu Khawla), an unpopular figure but someone whom the Kurds believed could help them control Deir al-Zour. Over time, however, local anger toward the SDF intensified due to Abu Khawla’s abuses of power and failure to provide basic services such as access to clean water.
In August, these grievances led to an Arab tribal insurgency against the SDF. Although limited at first, the insurgency spread as casualties mounted, eventually reaching Diban, a town under the control of tribal leader Ibrahim al-Hifl. In the end, the insurgency failed because the majority of local Arabs did not join; after Diban was recaptured, other areas surrendered without a fight.
The Assad regime tried to exploit the insurgency and has continued sowing dissent among the Deir al-Zour population. After the initial fighting wound down, several signs of regime support became evident: Abu Khawla asked Damascus for help in removing the SDF from Deir al-Zour; Ibrahim al-Hifl called for more attacks on the SDF from regime territory; the SDF captured multiple members of the pro-regime National Defense Forces while they were operating in the area; and new attacks against SDF units emerged in October.
Iran and the Assad regime want the United States to leave Syria, and they are using Arab tribal unrest against the SDF as an opportunity to achieve that goal. Without U.S. support, the SDF could not have quelled the tribal insurgency. Hence, while the U.S. presence in Syria remains centered on combating IS, Washington must formulate a strategy that extends beyond that counterterrorism mission—one with more focus on strengthening the SDF’s position. Many locals still prefer the SDF over the Assad regime, but their numerous grievances remain ripe for exploitation by Tehran and Damascus.
Devorah Margolin
The Islamic State has managed to maintain some degree of “shadow governance” in parts of northeast Syria—it still collects taxes, issues administrative documents, and maintains moral policing units. More important, it never gave up its ambition to regain territorial control. These IS governance activities indicate that the group may be stronger than many observers assume.
Regarding terrorist activity, IS has claimed fewer attacks so far this year. Through August, U.S. Central Command reported eighty-seven anti-IS operations conducted in partnership with the SDF and three unilateral U.S. operations. Additionally, the coalition arrested senior IS leader Muhammad Sakhr al-Bakr earlier this month in Raqqa. Repatriation of IS detainees and family members has increased in 2023, with 3,200 Iraqis sent home (mainly women and children) along with 590 other foreign nationals.
Following the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, IS refrained from any explicit references to the incident. There is no love lost between the two terrorist organizations—IS leaders still view Hamas as an apostate group because of its Palestinian national aspirations. Yet IS has called for more attacks against Jews since October 7, specifically mentioning targets in North America and Europe.
In the coming months and years, the United States and its partners will have a lot of “known unknowns” to keep an eye on in northeast Syria. For one, it is unclear how the Hamas-Israel war will affect the coalition presence and counter-IS mission in the long term. Sabotage and general unrest in SDF-controlled territory are already distracting partner forces from that mission. Climate change may also have growing effects on the ground, as various factions fight over resources. The looming U.S. presidential election makes the future of the American presence uncertain as well.
Andrew J. Tabler
U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria have faced more than fifty attacks in the current wave of violence, resulting in injuries to fifty-nine American personnel. Fortunately, all of these personnel have returned to service, but as attacks continue, the possibility of Americans getting killed becomes increasingly likely. That scenario would no doubt generate more calls back home to withdraw U.S. forces, which is exactly what Iran, the Assad regime, and Russia want. In Syria, these actors are especially keen on stirring the pot in areas controlled by the SDF. The U.S. presence gives the SDF strength to act in Deir al-Zour, but the Kurdish-led force would have difficulty operating there alone given its local demographic disadvantage.
Regarding the Gaza situation, some believe that the Hamas assault was part of an Iranian plan to encircle Israel and suck the United States into a regional crisis. This is not necessarily the case. Yet Iran does view the U.S.-Israel alliance as being so close that attacking one country is virtually the same as attacking the other. It also understands how sensitive the United States is to American casualties—a sensitivity that will only increase amid the upcoming U.S. election year. Accordingly, Tehran may soon step up its efforts to push U.S. forces out of the region.
In this regard, attacking U.S. targets in Syria presents lower risks and greater rewards than attacking in Iraq or elsewhere. Syria has greater freedom of maneuver and more malleable rules of the game. Yet this same lack of firm rules could lead to unintended escalation between the multiple foreign militaries and proxies still operating in Syria.
This summary was prepared by Kyle Robertson. The Policy Forum series is made possible through the generosity of the Florence and Robert Kaufman Family.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Michael Knights
Michael Knights
Michael Knights is the Jill and Jay Bernstein Fellow of The Washington Institute, specializing in the military and security affairs of Iraq, Iran, and the Persian Gulf states. He is a co-founder of the Militia Spotlight platform, which offers in-depth analysis of developments related to the Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.
Wladimir van Wilgenburg
Wladimir van Wilgenburg is the coauthor of the recently published book The Kurds of Northern Syria: Governance, Diversity and Conflicts. He is a contributor to Fikra Forum.
Devorah Margolin
Devorah Margolin is the Blumenstein-Rosenbloom Fellow at The Washington Institute.
Andrew J. Tabler
Andrew J. Tabler is the Martin J. Gross Senior Fellow in the Linda and Tony Rubin Program on Arab Politics at The Washington Institute, where he focuses on Syria and U.S. policy in the Levant, and Director of the Institute's Junior

Houthi Ship Seizure, OPEC+ Meeting and COP28 Plans Could Spike Oil Prices
Simon Henderson/The Messenger/November 20/2023
With the OPEC+ oil cartel meeting scheduled for the weekend, this week was always going to be “interesting” for the energy world, but the seizure of a merchant ship in the Red Sea on Sunday by pro-Iran Houthi tribesmen in Yemen has made it doubly so.
The Houthis seem to justify their action because the ship, en route from Turkey to India, was partially owned by an Israeli businessman. But this sidebar to the continuing fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip has immediate consequences for energy, and therefore the price of oil.
The interception of the “Galaxy Leader” took place after it had transited through the Suez Canal and steamed past the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah. It still had to go through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the narrow waterway between the Arabian peninsula and the Horn of Africa.
Both the strait and the Suez Canal are, in military parlance, “choke points,” as is the Strait of Hormuz between the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean, on the northern side of Arabia. In terms of oil exports, the Hormuz passage accounts for greater volumes but the Bab and the Suez Canal are also crucial. The Pentagon no doubt has been re-examining its contingency plans to ensure international trade is not imperiled. At the very least, this probably will entail a show of naval force. Fortunately, the U.S. Navy has two carrier strike groups in the area. But it could also involve a more “kinetic” response.
We shall see how this plays out in the oil markets. On Nov. 16, energy guru Daniel Yergin wrote an opinion article in the Wall Street Journal, entitled “All Is Quiet in Oil Markets — for Now,” with a notation: “That would change if the war [in Gaza] were to spread, but Iran and China have a stake in keeping it contained.”
A day later, the energy editor for the Financial Times reported “OPEC+ weighs further production cuts as anger mounts over Gaza,” quoting an unnamed person close to senior Gulf OPEC figures that “You should not underestimate the level of anger there is and the pressure leaders in the Gulf feel from their populations to be seen to respond in some manner.”
Kuwait, Algeria and Iran were described as being the “most agitated by the conflict.” Cutbacks were expected there, or at least pressure for them, but the Financial Times also speculated that Saudi Arabia would extend its own voluntary cut of 1 million barrels per day into the new year.
The challenge would appear to be being able to predict how Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will balance his status in the world with any pressure from ordinary Saudis. His ambitious Vision 2030 economic plan needs an oil price of at least $80 per barrel, and more likely $100 per barrel. MbS, as he is known, has spent the past couple of years trying to make a deal with the Houthis in Yemen, having failed to defeat them in battle. A further twist in the story may be the environmental summit COP 28, which starts on Nov. 30 in Dubai, the main commercial city of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Bad news out of Gaza could distract leaders at this meeting, which already faces the possibility of “green protests” by observers who will fly in from across the world. Overt forms of political expression, other than praise for the ruling family, typically do not occur in the UAE.
The oil price rose a surprising few dollars ahead of the market close on Friday, to around $81 for the widely traded Brent crude. But it is still down significantly from a few months ago, when it seemed to be heading toward $100 a barrel. The next few days could push it back into that territory, or beyond.
*Simon Henderson is the Baker Fellow and director of the Bernstein Program on Gulf and Energy Policy at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.