Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 23-24/2023
Lebanon’s Confiscated Independence/Elias Bejjani/November 22/2023
Etiene Saqr - Abu Arz: The Catastrophe of the Maronites
Letter of excommunication from the Maronite Patriarch Antoine Arida (1922 - 1955), excommunicating Lebanese president Bechara El Khoury for treason, by entering Lebanon into the Arab League
Journalists killed in southern Lebanon: What the images show us about Israeli involvement
Clashes on border with Israel uproot thousands in Lebanon - again
Hezbollah fires rockets at north Israel after an airstrike kills 5 of the group's senior fighters
Israeli foreign minister says Hezbollah attacks may lead to war in Lebanon
Interplay of ceasefire: Examining the impact in southern Lebanon
South Lebanon under fire: Israeli airstrike targets Hezbollah outpost in Beit Yaroun, resulting in five members killed
Politicians react to Israel’s killing of Raad's son
Iran top diplomat meets Hezbollah chief in Lebanon
Border clashes intensify after killing of Raad's son
Le Drian returning to Lebanon 'very soon'
Defiant Raad says son killed to achieve 'dignity of our people'
Abdollahian meets Nasrallah hours before Gaza truce
Salam opens Lebanese pavilion at Expo Qatar: We desperately need a positive window in these circumstances
Interplay of ceasefire: Examining the impact in southern Lebanon
Celebrating Lebanon's 80th Independence Day amidst a Tapestry of Regional Complexities

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 23-24/2023
German police raid homes of Hamas members in crackdown on 'glorification of terror'
Gallant: Gaza fighting to resume with intensity after temporary truce
Israel-Hamas truce will begin Friday morning: Qatar
Gaza truce and hostage release now expected to start Friday
Yehya Sinwar at top of Israel's hit list after Oct. 7 attack
At least 27 killed in Israeli strike on UNRWA school in Gaza Strip: Medical source
US intercepts multiple attack drones launched from Yemen
Pro-Palestinian protesters briefly interrupt Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
‘This is collective punishment:’ West Bank Palestinians under curfew say they are being punished for something they did not do
US Special Ops now fighting Iran must take care to avoid a return of ISIS
Musicians for Palestine: Thousands of musicians sign letter for Gaza ceasefire
Why is Spain one of the few EU voices supporting Palestine?
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh leads group's diplomacy as Gaza war rages
Democratic divide over Israel-Hamas war looms over Biden’s reelection
Netanyahu should be thrown out now, says ex Israeli PM Olmert
In daughter's empty bedroom, an Israeli hopes for her return from Gaza captivity
Susan Sarandon, Melissa Barrera dropped from Hollywood companies after comments on Israel-Hamas war
New attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria: US official
Two suspects detained in Istanbul on suspicion of spying for Israel
South Korea says Russian support likely enabled North Korea to launch spy satellite
3 Ukrainians killed by Russian shelling, Russian journalist killed by drone

Titles For The Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 23-24/2023
Islam vs. The West: Conflict Unfortunately Seems Inevitable/Drieu Godefridi/Gatestone Institute/November 23, 2023
The US may no longer be able to fight more than one major war at a time/Tom Porter/Business Insider/ November 23, 2023
How a diplomatic paradigm shift could bring peace/Mohammed Abu Dalhoum/Arab News/November 23, 2023
Argentina set for foreign policy shift under radical new president/Dr. Amal Mudallali/Arab News/November 23, 2023
Shared US-China interests likely to prevent decoupling/Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/November 23, 2023
Cost of global inaction on Sudan could be extremely high/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/November 23, 2023

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 23-24/2023
Lebanon’s Confiscated Independence
Elias Bejjani/November 22/2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/124563/124563/
Today, November 22/2023, the Lebanese sadly remember their country’s eighty Independence Day. The Independence that actually does exist at all, by any standard, because Lebanon unfortunately is totally occupied by the Iranian Axis Of Evil through its proxy the militant terrorist Hezbollah.
Meanwhile all the current Lebanese officials, on all levels, and in all positions, especially the high-ranking ones; The President, The Prime Minister and al minister and the House Speaker, are all either Iranian puppets, or cowards who have no guts to execute their duties and national obligations.
The current Lebanese government headed by Mr. Najeb Mikati has nothing at all to do with Lebanon or its people. In reality it is Hezbollah’s puppet government no more, no less.
In the mean time, the Lebanese subservient officials are in fact mere mercenaries who have sold Lebanon, its people, and its independence to Iran and to its terrorist proxy Hezbollah.
With no shame or dignity, these Lebanese subservient officials and the majority of the politicians openly take their orders directly from Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah and from his Iranian masters.
These low class Lebanese officials and politicians must be arrested and put on trial for being actual obstacles for reclaiming the confiscated independence and sovereignty.
All sorts of gratitude, on this sad day must go to Lebanon’s martyrs and their families who offered themselves on the country’s alter so the Lebanese people can still live with dignity, and freedom.
Yes, celebrating the Independence Day is a must and surely a national obligation, but only, and only, when occupied Lebanon is again free, independent and Sovereign.
Until the Independence Day becomes a reality, all patriotic Lebanese must not succumb to Hezbollah’s occupation by all means.
In this realm of treason, sin and camouflage, it is worth mentioning that the current Lebanese governing bodies with no one exception are all under the full control of Iran and Hezbollah.
Accordingly all countries who really want to help Lebanon and the Lebanese people to reclaim their confiscated independence need to exert all available and possible pressures on Iran to dismantle and disarm Hezbollah and advocate for the implementation of all UN Resolutions related to Lebanon.
May Almighty God bless the Souls of all Lebanon’s martyrs and safeguard Lebanon and its people.

Etiene Saqr - Abu Arz: The Catastrophe of the Maronites
A statement issued by the Lebanese Forces Party - Lebanese National Movement
November 23, 2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/124607/124607/
The war is raging on our borders and southern boundaries, and its flames may extend to all Lebanese regions. War fleets fill our seas, signaling a potential regional war that could reshape the entire Middle East. Lebanon, afflicted with immunity loss and plagued by its rulers, fate has placed it in the eye of the storm to fight death with the will to live. In these atmospheres clouded with dark clouds, we find "leaders" of Lebanon, especially among the Maronites, engaging in fierce battles of a different kind, all revolving around narrow personal interests and endless conflicts over positions that have nothing left but the crumbs.
Instead of the "leaders" of the Maronites coming together to unify ranks, opinions, and words to seek a lifeline that rescues this nation from the depths of hell, they have resorted to fighting over positions they have emptied of their influence. It is as if the harsh lessons of the past, represented by massacres in Ehden, Zgharta, and the "Cancellation" war that annulled all the achievements of the Lebanese resistance, have taught them nothing. We cannot find a description for this curse that struck the Maronite sect at its core, turning most of its spiritual and political leaders from creators of Lebanon's glory into contributors to its destruction. Nations, gentlemen, are built on noble values, high morals, and pure intentions, or they fall and vanish. Therefore, we say you do not deserve this great nation; it does not belong to you and does not need your services because it has a God in heaven to save it at the right time. Until then, you can continue your petty conflicts for as long as you wish.
Long Live Lebanon,
Etiene Saqr - Abu Arz
*Free Translation from Arabic by: Elias Bejjani)

Letter of excommunication from the Maronite Patriarch Antoine Arida (1922 - 1955), excommunicating Lebanese president Bechara El Khoury for treason, by entering Lebanon into the Arab League
Roger Edde/November 23/2023
1/ Source: Book of "Mar Maroun Foundation" (The Maronite Nation - Maronite Patriarchate), the text was written by Fouad Frem al-Boustani.
2/ Patriarch Arida rejected crossing the line against the Lebanese heritage and principles from either the East or the West. The Patriarch was nervously doubtful of the known independence that came at the hand of the British, year 1943.
3/ He was worried of its goal, which was only to install British hegemony to replace the French one. He knew by his common sense what disaster will strike Lebanon as a result to the plan prepared by the British covered by an Arabist package.
4/ So he raised his voice against the Alexandria protocols and fought the annexation of Lebanon into the Arab league, when he discovered the intentions of president Bechara El Khoury to insert Lebanon into this institution.
5/ We found later that this is not an Arab league but an Islamist league, Its target was the Islamization of Lebanon by erasing its civilizational, democratic and free features by drowning Lebanon into this theocratic, totalitarian and tyrannical status.
6/ The Patriarch was certain of the president’s treason against his country and its constitution by joining the Islamo-Arabist advocators in order to erase the special Lebanese characteristics that was engraved among the years.
7/ For this reason, and because he was a good preacher, defender of his community and guardian of his nation & its total independence, liberty and sovereignty, the Patriarch decided to excommunicate president Bechara el-Khoury.
8/ Patriarch Arida acted the same way as his Patriarchal predecessors, and how the strong Maronite Patriarchs treated treasonous leaders.
https://twitter.com/frontlebanon/status/1327978791893934081?s=48&t=phqggvYIve0LUYrkkGPmWQ'

Journalists killed in southern Lebanon: What the images show us about Israeli involvement
Nathan Gallo/The Observers/November 23, 2023
On the morning of November 21, two journalists from the Lebanese channel Al Mayadeen – correspondent Farah Omar and cameraman Rabih Me'mari – were killed by an anti-tank missile. After analysing photos and videos that emerged after the incident, a military expert says that the strike came from the Israeli military. The two journalists were killed while covering tensions in southern Lebanon. The list of journalists killed on the border between Israel and Lebanon since October 7 just got longer. Two journalists from Al Mayadeen, a conservative Lebanese channel with close links to the group Hezbollah, were killed alongside two civilians on the morning of November 21. The two journalists Farah Omar and Rabih Me'mari were killed by a missile strike while covering tensions in southern Lebanon between the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah. Journalists killed a few minutes after a live broadcast. The strike, which occurred late in the morning, took place between the villages of Tayr Harfa and Jebbayn. The location was verified by GeoConfirmed, a group specialised in geolocation, by analysing images posted online before and after the strike.
At 9:50am, Al Mayadeen posted the last live broadcast by journalist Farah Omar on X (formerly Twitter). She was reporting from the site of the strike. Omar, who was wearing a vest that said “Press”, was being filmed by cameraman Rabih Me'mari.
The director of Al Mayadeen, Ghassan Ben Jeddou, accused Israel of “intentionally targeting” the two journalists.

Clashes on border with Israel uproot thousands in Lebanon - again
BEIRUT (Reuters)/November 23, 2023
Rose Rostom, Nahida Mashouz and Ammar Hajeh have had their lives uprooted many times - by Palestinian militants, Syrian warplanes, Islamic State, Western-backed forces or the Israeli army. Between them, they have fled their homes 20 times, most recently following border clashes between Israeli forces and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group sparked by Israel's war with Hamas militants in Gaza. Rostom is Lebanese, Mashouz is a refugee from Syria and Hajeh is a Palestinian refugee. Israeli bombardment forced Rostom from her home in south Lebanon and drove Mashouz from her temporary accommodation nearby. Hajeh has fled his crowded refugee camp four times this year during fighting between militant groups. Their circumstances differ, but all three worry about the future in a country that has repeatedly been rocked by civil strife and was in dire straits and racked by social tensions even before the latest violence compounded economic problems. Since the Israel-Hamas war began seven weeks ago in Gaza, the clashes on Lebanon's border with Israel have displaced nearly 50,000 people, according to U.N. figures, and at least 13 civilians have been killed in Lebanon, Lebanese officials say. "The Gaza war began, Hezbollah started firing at Israel, and then shells began landing around our house. Conflict drove me from home for the third time in my life," Rostom said. She and her husband, two sons and grandchildren are now staying at her brother-in-law's home in the coastal city of Sidon. During Lebanon's civil war in the 1980s she moved twice, once under Israeli bombardment and once fleeing Palestinian militant attacks. Mashouz left the Syrian city of Raqqa when it was held by Islamic State, departing shortly before her house there was bombed as U.S.-backed forces began an assault. Israeli shelling this month next to the building where she and her family lived, in an area near Rostom's home - a cluster of towns at the Lebanon-Israel border - wounded her teenage daughter. "We thought we'd finally found a stable life in southern Lebanon. Those hopes are shattered. We don't know where to go," she said, speaking from a crowded house in the Bekaa valley where three other newly displaced Syrian families were also sheltering.
A STRUGGLING STATE
Lebanon is a country of perpetually displaced people.
The influx of Palestinians after the creation of Israel in 1948 helped spark the Lebanese civil war decades later, redrawing its sectarian map as people fled fighting. A 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah displaced hundreds of thousands. The arrival of 1.5 million Syrian refugees during Syria's civil war which started in 2011 put new strain on Lebanon, and spilled into Europe as refugees migrated via dangerous sea routes. Recent displacements are fewer but likely to increase if conflict continues, and this time the country is less prepared. A 2019 financial collapse destroyed Lebanon's economy and left its institutions in tatters. Israeli strikes and shells have destroyed farmland and homes, wiping out income, savings and jobs. "My husband's car parts shop has now closed during fighting," Rostom said, checking news to see if her house was among the latest hit by rockets. Another Lebanese family, whose home was destroyed by a rocket, said they cannot afford renovations and were in effect homeless.Mashouz's three sons have lost their jobs at a local bakery by moving. Her wounded daughter's hospital treatment all but wiped out their savings.
"We've got $750 left in the world," Mashouz said. Jacob Boswall, Leader of the Lebanon Crisis Analysis Team at aid agency Mercy Corps, said Lebanon was straining to absorb this latest shock. "If you look at the government's contingency plan, it doesn't have money to deal with this from a central point of view ... it's a whole host of different pressures on the state," he said.
'WHAT ABOUT US?'
Tension is rising between locals and refugees.
Information Minister Ziad Makary said this month that Lebanon was suffering from an exodus of Lebanese and was burdened by Syrians. "We're losing the best and getting the worst," he was quoted as saying by local media. Charbel Alam, a barber in the southern town of Rmeich which is regularly hit by shelling, said he has stayed to stop Syrian refugees who he says are trying to move into abandoned homes. "We've formed groups to stop that happening," he said, without giving details. "International organisations are helping Syrians but what about us?" Syrians and Palestinians are again eyeing Europe. Hajeh, the Palestinian refugee, left Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria in 2013 under the bombs of Syrian warplanes. In Ain El Hilweh, a Palestinian camp in southern Lebanon where Hajeh now lives, he, his mother and sister depend on $250 a month in aid from the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency, he says. Work is scarce and he has fled his apartment to stay with relatives outside the camp 15 times since 2013 during clashes among rival Palestinian factions.He says anti-Palestinian and Syrian racism is intensifying, and worries that when the Gaza war ends, infighting between Palestinian factions will resume in Ain El Hilweh.
"People don't like us, they don't like Syrians, and Palestinian gunmen will turn on each other again at some point," he said. "Everyone wants to leave. They're ready to take the sea route."

Hezbollah fires rockets at north Israel after an airstrike kills 5 of the group's senior fighters
BEIRUT (AP)/November 23, 2023
The militant Hezbollah group fired more than 50 rockets at military posts in northern Israel on Thursday, a day after an Israeli airstrike on a home in southern Lebanon killed five of the group’s senior fighters. The waves of rockets sent over the border represented one of the most intense bombardments since Hezbollah started attacking Israeli posts in the country's north at the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war. Hezbollah has said that by heating up its actions on the Israel-Lebanon border, it is easing pressure on the Gaza Strip, where Israel's crushing aerial, ground and naval offensive has left more than 13,300 Palestinians dead and caused wide destruction in the sealed-off enclave. The war was triggered by an Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel that left about 1,200 people dead, most of them civilians, and resulted in about 240 hostages getting taken to Gaza. An agreement for a four-day cease-fire in Gaza and the release of dozens of hostages held by the militants and Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, was set to take place Thursday but appeared to have hit a last-minute snag. Hezbollah said in a series of statements released Thursday that the volleys it fired toward Israeli posts included 48 Katyusha rockets that were directed at an Israeli army base in Beit Zeitem, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of the border. The group said its fighters also struck tanks and locations where Israeli troops were taking positions. The intense fire followed an Israeli airstrike on a house in Beit Yahoun, a village in southern Lebanon, that killed the five senior fighters, including Abbas Raad, the son of the head of Hezbollah’s 13-member parliamentary bloc in Lebanon, Mohammed Raad. The deaths bring the number of Hezbollah fighters who have been killed in seven weeks of fighting to at least 83. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah met in Beirut in Thursday with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian. They discussed the ongoing war in Gaza and efforts to “stop the Israeli aggression,” as well as the situation at the tense Lebanon-Israel border, according to a statement released by Hezbollah. Amirabdollahian warned in comments to journalists upon his arrival in Lebanon Wednesday that the ongoing Israel-Hamas war could “spiral out of control” if a truce does not last. Iran-backed factions in Iraq, including the militant group Kataib Hezbollah, have carried out more than 60 and rocket or suicide drone attacks at bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria. Kataib Hezbollah is allied with Lebanon's Hezbollah but the groups have different leaders. The U.S. military said Thursday that one of its warships in the Red Sea shot down bomb-carrying drones launched from territory controlled by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The American military’s Central Command said the USS Thomas Hudner, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, shot down the drones early Thursday morning. “The ship and crew sustained no damage or injury,” Central Command said.

Israeli foreign minister says Hezbollah attacks may lead to war in Lebanon
Naharnet/November 23, 2023  
For the second consecutive day, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen has warned that ongoing attacks by Hezbollah against Israeli targets could lead to all-out war in Lebanon. “The attacks by Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy, could lead to war in Lebanon,” Cohen says in a briefing to the media. “Israel has no interest in opening another front but we cannot continue to tolerate such attacks. The responsibility of the international community is to fully implement Resolution 1701 in order to prevent a war in Lebanon,” he continued. U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which brought an end to the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, calls for all paramilitary groups not to be present in the area south of Lebanon’s Litani River. On Tuesday, Cohen wrote to the U.N. Security Council warning that a regional war could break out due to Hezbollah’s repeated attacks, calling on the body to implement Resolution 1701 to avoid such a scenario.

Interplay of ceasefire: Examining the impact in southern Lebanon
LBCI/November 23, 2023
The field reality in southern Lebanon cannot be separated from the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel. Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amir Abdollahian sought, through his talks in Beirut, to encourage efforts to stabilize and extend the ceasefire. His prominent meeting was with Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. This agreement, mediated by Qatar and sponsored by Egypt and the United States, with Iranian involvement due to the strong relationship between Iran and Palestinian factions, confirms that there is no interest for either party to enter into a comprehensive war.However, what can be expected from Hezbollah, especially after the significant strike by Israel on Wednesday night, assassinating a military group of five members, including Abbas Raad, the son of the head of the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc, MP Mohammed Raad, in Beit Yahoun? It is clear that Hezbollah does not deal with the field developments on a personal basis; instead, it leaves it to the field, as its Secretary-General previously emphasized, considering Lebanon to be in a state of war now. Thus, the group's members were martyred as a result of targeting a military site. Therefore, the response came in a series of attacks on Israeli sites and gatherings of Israeli soldiers, starting from 8:30 in the morning. The retaliation is likely to remain within these limits. Therefore, the pace of the strikes remains controlled based on a tit-for-tat principle. However, regarding the scenario of the next phase and the extent of Hezbollah's commitment to the ceasefire, once it comes into effect, concerned Lebanese sources believed that it is natural for the ceasefire to be extended to include Lebanon. Furthermore, the Hamas movement in Lebanon asserts that any calming of things in Gaza will have repercussions on southern Lebanon and that the developments are being coordinated with Hezbollah. Therefore, both parties, Hezbollah and Hamas, leave matters open, depending on how the Israeli occupation deals with the Gaza field and the principle of the ceasefire.

South Lebanon under fire: Israeli airstrike targets Hezbollah outpost in Beit Yaroun, resulting in five members killed
LBCI/November 23, 2023
Amid attention focused on the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and its implications for southern Lebanon, Israeli forces carried out an airstrike targeting a Hezbollah position in Beit Yahoun. This town, relatively secure and has not been previously targeted, witnessed the attack on a Hezbollah outpost, consisting of a single-story house with a basement, hit by three missiles at around 9 PM on Wednesday. The strike's aftermath revealed evident destruction, which was documented by the LBCI team comprising George Lichaa and Haidar Hawila. The Israeli airstrike resulted in the death of five Hezbollah members, including Abbas Raad, the son of Resistance Bloc leader Mohammad Raad, and another key figure in the southern axis. Other martyrs held lesser field responsibilities within Hezbollah. According to sources familiar with the matter, the targeting was based on military surveillance. The selected target was well-known to the Israelis, and the movement of personnel behind the frontlines was also discernible.

Politicians react to Israel’s killing of Raad's son
Naharnet/November 23, 2023
A number of Lebanese politicians and spiritual leaders on Thursday reacted to the killing of the son of Hezbollah’s top MP Mohammed Raad in an Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati held phone talks with Raad to offer their condolences. Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi meanwhile told a delegation from the Higher Islamic Shiite Council that he will call Raad to offer condolences. “Let the blood of the martyrs be for the sake of Lebanon and redemption, protection and preservation for the country, so that it remains the land of rapprochement and coexistence,” al-Rahi added. Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil meanwhile called Raad and stressed that “his son’s martyrdom is an example for the Lebanese,” hoping it will be “on the path of protecting Lebanon and its rise.”Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh for his part wrote on the X platform, formerly Twitter, that Raad’s words about firmness and faith are “not strange or surprising.”MP Neemat Frem meanwhile offered condolences to Raad over “the martyrdom of his son above the precious land of the South, along with his comrades.”“May God have mercy on the souls of those who have left us and may God grant patience to their families and to all Lebanese, as we strongly condemn the repeated Israeli attacks against every citizen and against every defender of a message and a cause. May God protect the South, Lebanon and the Lebanese,” Frem added.

Iran top diplomat meets Hezbollah chief in Lebanon
AFP/November 23, 2023
BEIRUT: Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has met with Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah which has traded deadly cross-border fire with Israel since the start of the Gaza war, the Lebanese movement said Thursday. Since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7, the border between Lebanon and Israel has witnessed escalating exchanges of fire, primarily involving Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah, along with Palestinian groups. The clashes have raised fears of a broader conflagration. In a statement, Hezbollah said Amir-Abdollahian and Nasrallah “reviewed the latest developments in Palestine, Lebanon and the region, and... the efforts made to end the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip.”Amir-Abdollahian, who warned on Wednesday that the war could spiral out of control, left Beirut for Doha after their meeting, Iran’s Nour news agency reported.
Hezbollah said on Thursday morning that it fired 48 Katyusha rockets at military base at Ein Zeitim, near the town of Safed in northern Israel, about 10 kilometers (six miles) from the border. It said it also carried out at least 10 other attacks on Israeli positions near the frontier, and claimed to have caused casualties. The Israeli army shelled several locations in southern Lebanon in response, said Lebanon’s National News Agency. Hezbollah says it has been acting in support of Hamas since the Palestinian Islamist movement’s October 7 attacks on Israel, which Israeli officials say killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw about 240 people taken hostage. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and its retaliatory air and ground offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 14,000 people, thousands of them children, according to the Hamas government that rules the Palestinian territory.
The violence between Israel and Hezbollah has claimed at least 108 lives in Lebanon, most of them Hezbollah fighters, but also at least 14 civilians, including three journalists, according to an AFP count. Six Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed on the Israeli side, according to the authorities.

Border clashes intensify after killing of Raad's son
Naharnet/November 23, 2023  
Hezbollah fired 48 rockets at an Israeli military base on Thursday and carried out at least 10 other attacks on Israeli positions near the frontier, a day after an Israeli strike killed five Hezbollah fighters, including the son of the head of the group’s parliamentary bloc. Air raid sirens sounded across northern Israel as Hezbollah fired 48 Katyusha rockets at the Ein Zeitim Israeli military base near the town of Safed in northern Israel, about 10 kilometers from the border. The Israeli military said it was striking the sources of the launches. Hezbollah said its fighters also struck tanks and locations where Israeli troops were taking positions, including the Raheb post, the Ramim forest, Sa'sa', al-Marj and Tal Shaar. The group also hit two buildings where Israeli soldiers had gathered in the Manara settlement, and targeted several Israeli military posts, including Berket Risha, Jal al-Alam, Dhaira and Horbat Ma'ar. Hezbollah said all attacks were "direct hits" and inflicted casualties. Israeli artillery and warplanes meanwhile bombed several border towns including al-Naqoura, Ramia, Rmeish, Aita al-Shaab, Tayr Harfa, al-Khiam, Mays al-Jabal, Markaba, Wadi Slouki, Rchaf and Maroun al-Ras. The waves of rockets sent over the border represented one of the most intense bombardments since Hezbollah started attacking Israeli posts in the country's north at the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war. Hezbollah has said that by heating up its actions on the Israel-Lebanon border, it is easing pressure on the Gaza Strip, where Israel's crushing aerial, ground and naval offensive has left more than 13,300 Palestinians dead and caused wide destruction in the sealed-off enclave. On Wednesday, five Hezbollah fighters, including the son of Hezbollah lawmaker Mohammed Raad, had been killed in an Israeli strike on a house in south Lebanon's Beit Yahoun. Since the cross-border exchanges began, 107 people have been killed on the Lebanese side, according to an AFP tally. At least 75 are Hezbollah fighters but the toll also included at least 14 civilians, three of them journalists. Seven Hezbollah fighters have also been killed in Syria. On the Israeli side, six soldiers and three civilians have been killed, according to authorities.

Le Drian returning to Lebanon 'very soon'
Naharnet/November 23, 2023  
French special presidential envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian is returning to Lebanon "soon". "The country is on the brink of war," Le Drian said in an interview with France Info, stressing the presidential and governmental void. "The Lebanese officials must overcome their rivalries and reach an agreement in order to establish a constitutional system that works,” he added. "The sense of responsibility must return to the leaders in Lebanon."The French envoy said that he will return to Lebanon "very soon" at the request of French President Emmanuel Macron "to convey this message."Le Drian expressed his concern over the situation in south Lebanon. "Tensions are growing," Le Drian said, mentioning the killing of two al-mayadeen journalists in south Lebanon, as he warned of a "conflagration" if tensions continue and get out of control.

Defiant Raad says son killed to achieve 'dignity of our people'
Naharnet/November 23, 2023  
The head of Hezbollah’s Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc, MP Mohammed Raad, has said that his son Abbas has been slain while seeking to “lift injustice and resist tyranny and Zionist savagery and the savagery of all the enemies of humanity.”“We are firm on this path, we will carry on … and we want the pride and dignity of our people and nation,” Raad said as he received the coffin of his slain son. “Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has taught us how fathers of martyrs should be: patient, faithful, strong and steadfast on this jihadist and resistance path,” Raad added. His son Abbas and four other Hezbollah fighters were killed in an Israeli airstrike overnight on a house in the southern town of Beit Yahoun. Nasrallah’s son Hadi, also a Hezbollah fighter, was killed alongside three other Hezbollah fighters in a 1997 Israeli ambush near the southern town of Mlikh. Since the current cross-border exchanges began on October 8, more than 100 people have been killed on the Lebanese side, according to an AFP tally, most of them Hezbollah combatants but including at least 14 civilians, three of them journalists.
On the Israeli side, six soldiers and three civilians have been killed, according to authorities.

Abdollahian meets Nasrallah hours before Gaza truce
Agence France Presse/November 23, 2023
Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met Thursday with Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah at an undisclosed location in Lebanon. In a statement, Hezbollah said Amir-Abdollahian and Nasrallah "reviewed the latest developments in Palestine, Lebanon and the region, and... the efforts made to end the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip".Amir-Abdollahian left Beirut for Doha after their meeting. On Wednesday Amir-Abdollahian had warned that the threat of the Gaza war spreading would grow unless a truce between Israel and Hamas lasts, in an interview as he visited Beirut. "If this ceasefire starts tomorrow, if it does not continue... the conditions in the region will not remain the same as before the ceasefire and the scope of the war will expand," Amir-Abdollahian told the Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen television channel, according to Iran's Fars news agency. "We do not seek to expand the scope of the war," he added. "If the intensity of the war increases, every possibility is conceivable for the expansion of the scope of the war."Israel and Hamas said Wednesday they had agreed a four-day truce in the Gaza war. The Palestinian militants would free at least 50 hostages taken in their deadly October 7 attack. In return, Israel would release at least 150 Palestinian prisoners and allow more humanitarian aid into the coastal territory after more than six weeks of bombardment. Amir-Abdollahian said Iran saw two options: "First, a humanitarian ceasefire that turns into a permanent ceasefire." "The second way is to threaten the Palestinian people, then the Palestinian people will decide for themselves," he said, adding that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Netanyahu cannot fulfil his dream of destroying Hamas.""We support whatever decision Hamas makes," he added in the interview, according to Fars.
'Intentional crime'
In his second visit to Lebanon since the Israel-Hamas war started, Iran's top diplomat met with senior Lebanese and Palestinian officials. The frontier between Lebanon and Israel has seen escalating exchanges of fire, mainly between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, but also Palestinian groups, raising fears of a broader conflagration. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati emphasised the need for a total ceasefire and to "stop the Israeli aggression on Gaza", a statement from his office said after his meeting with Amir-Abdollahian. Mikati also urged "influential countries to pressure Israel to stop its attacks on south Lebanon, and stop its targeting of civilians and journalists in particular". The Iranian diplomat also met with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, discussing the war and "strengthening the stability and security of the region", Iran's foreign ministry said. He also met with the secretary general of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad Ziyad al-Nakhalah, and senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya. They discussed "the impending ceasefire process", according to the Iranian ministry. Earlier Wednesday, Hezbollah said its chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had met with Hamas's Hayya and Osama Hamdan, another senior official from the Palestinian group, to discuss "coordination", according to a statement. The Shiite Muslim movement claimed a string of cross-border attacks on Israeli positions on Wednesday, as Lebanon's official National News Agency reported Israeli bombardment along the southern border. Israeli attacks on south Lebanon on Tuesday killed eight people, official media said, including two journalists from Al-Mayadeen. Lebanon's foreign ministry said Beirut had filed a complaint with the U.N. Security Council over the journalists' deaths, calling it an "intentional crime". Hamas's armed wing meanwhile said that a senior leader in its military wing in Lebanon, Khalil al-Kharraz, had been killed in south Lebanon on Tuesday. In a separate statement, Hamas said two Lebanese citizens and two Turkish nationals were also killed Tuesday in south Lebanon.

Salam opens Lebanese pavilion at Expo Qatar: We desperately need a positive window in these circumstances
LBCI/November 23, 2023
On Thursday, the caretaker Economy and Trade Minister, Amin Salam, officially opened the Lebanese pavilion at "Expo Qatar" in the Qatari capital, Doha. The inauguration ceremony was attended by Qatar's Minister of Municipality, Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie, and Badr Al-Dafa, the General Commissioner of Expo Doha 2023, as well as Lebanon's Ambassador to Qatar, Farah Berri, and the General Commissioner of the Lebanese Pavilion, Dr. Mohammad Abou Haidar. Following the opening, Salam, accompanied by officials from the Lebanese Pavilion and a delegation of business leaders, welcomed visitors from various Arab and foreign nationalities attending the exhibition. The event provided an opportunity for close exchanges and discussions with Lebanese expatriates and Arab and foreign businessmen, focusing on topics and issues relevant to Lebanon and its citizens.
Salam expressed his gratitude and thanked the State of Qatar, its Amir, and its people for their "support and sponsorship in presenting the Lebanese Pavilion at Expo Doha." Salam remarked, "Thank you, Qatar, for giving Lebanese producers and the Lebanese people, whether farmers, industrialists, or innovators, the opportunity to showcase their best globally among more than 80 countries. In these circumstances, we are in dire need of a positive window, and with your support, we are here."Salam told the General Commissioner of Expo Doha that "the opening of the Lebanese Pavilion was one of the most successful and prestigious events at Expo Doha."

Interplay of ceasefire: Examining the impact in southern Lebanon
LBCI/November 23, 2023
The field reality in southern Lebanon cannot be separated from the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel. Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amir Abdollahian sought, through his talks in Beirut, to encourage efforts to stabilize and extend the ceasefire. His prominent meeting was with Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. This agreement, mediated by Qatar and sponsored by Egypt and the United States, with Iranian involvement due to the strong relationship between Iran and Palestinian factions, confirms that there is no interest for either party to enter into a comprehensive war. However, what can be expected from Hezbollah, especially after the significant strike by Israel on Wednesday night, assassinating a military group of five members, including Abbas Raad, the son of the head of the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc, MP Mohammed Raad, in Beit Yahoun? It is clear that Hezbollah does not deal with the field developments on a personal basis; instead, it leaves it to the field, as its Secretary-General previously emphasized, considering Lebanon to be in a state of war now. Thus, the group's members were martyred as a result of targeting a military site. Therefore, the response came in a series of attacks on Israeli sites and gatherings of Israeli soldiers, starting from 8:30 in the morning. The retaliation is likely to remain within these limits. Therefore, the pace of the strikes remains controlled based on a tit-for-tat principle. However, regarding the scenario of the next phase and the extent of Hezbollah's commitment to the ceasefire, once it comes into effect, concerned Lebanese sources believed that it is natural for the ceasefire to be extended to include Lebanon. Furthermore, the Hamas movement in Lebanon asserts that any calming of things in Gaza will have repercussions on southern Lebanon and that the developments are being coordinated with Hezbollah. Therefore, both parties, Hezbollah and Hamas, leave matters open, depending on how the Israeli occupation deals with the Gaza field and the principle of the ceasefire.

Celebrating Lebanon's 80th Independence Day amidst a Tapestry of Regional Complexities
Our New Lebanon/November 23/2023
"Lebanon's 80th Independence Day is an awaited occasion marking the nation's resilience in the face of old and current challenges. As the country commemorates eight decades of independence, Lebanon still faces different obstacles, working as a "barrier" towards a prosperous future. With its rich cultural and religious diversity and unique blend of traditions and communities, Lebanon has long yearned for stability and peace.
In recent years, the country has been facing an exacerbated socio-economic crisis, lack of accountability regarding the 2020 Beirut Port explosion investigation, and vacuum in leading positions, including the presidency, which is intertwined with uncertainties in the fate of the Army Commander's, aspects affecting Lebanon to maintain its sovereignty, which has been both a historical achievement and an ongoing challenge. Historically, Lebanon gained independence from the French mandate on November 22, 1943, and sovereignty has been a central tenet of its national ethos ever since. However, the country has faced numerous challenges in preserving its sovereignty, particularly in the context of regional conflicts and geopolitical dynamics. The ongoing tensions with Israel in the south, which have intensified since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Flood operation, caused significant losses in Lebanese civilians and journalists, who are paying the price for a wider regional conflict. The relationship between Lebanon and its southern "neighbor," Israel, has been a significant factor influencing Lebanon's sovereignty. Ongoing tensions, border disputes, and historical conflicts have challenged its ability to fully protect its territory. The Line of Withdrawal, or the Blue Line, established by the United Nations in 2000, was intended to delineate the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon. Moreover, international involvement and regional dynamics have played a role in shaping its sovereignty, trying to balance relationships with various external actors while safeguarding national interests, which remains a delicate task.
However, a "glimmer of hope" still stands as the Lebanese people have demonstrated resilience and a commitment to preserving their sovereignty in recent years. Calls for political reform, social justice, and economic stability reflect the desire for a Lebanon that can independently chart its course and address internal challenges without external interference. As Lebanon navigates these intricacies, the 80th Independence Day serves as a call for renewed commitment to preserving its hard-fought sovereignty and working towards a future defined by unity, peace, and prosperity." As seen on LBCI
Our New Lebanon believes that at this occasion, every Lebanese person must honor Lebanon by contributing to its salvation, achieving adequate reforms, and asserting the role of its institutions and its leading role in the world arena. We present the following solutions to the current issues:
The state before religion
Schedule a national conference with the participation of expatriates from the Diaspora.
All agreed to put Lebanon first with the desire to control any weapons except the weapons of the Lebanese army.
Reform the law so that corruption is controlled and the positions of the presidency and corresponding governmental titles are always occupied.
Have a blessed and Happy Thanksgiving!

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 23-24/2023
German police raid homes of Hamas members in crackdown on 'glorification of terror'
UPI/November 23, 2023
German federal police mounted dawn raids Thursday on the homes of 15 alleged Hamas members and supporters in Berlin and three other states across the north and east of the country, national security officials said. Search warrants were also executed at properties linked to the newly banned pro-Palestinian Samidoun organization in a crackdown on Islamic groups authorities believe are a threat to peace and stability in Germany in the wake of Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the Interior Ministry said in a news release. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution believes there are at least 450 Hamas sympathizers in Germany involved in disseminating propaganda and financing or fund-raising for the group. The Samidoun Palestinian Solidarity Network, the ministry said, endangered "peaceful coexistence, advocates the use of violence as a means of asserting political interests and supports associations that advocate and threaten attacks."Neither of the groups, both of which were banned Nov. 2 by Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, has carried out any acts of violence in Germany. "We are continuing our consistent action against radical Islamists. With the bans on HAMAS and Samidoun in Germany, we have sent a clear signal that we will not tolerate any glorification or support of the barbaric terror of HAMAS against Israel," Faeser said following Thursday's raids. "Islamists and anti-Semites cannot and must not feel safe anywhere here. These extremists must expect the full force of the rule of law. We are continuing our consistent action against radical Islamists," Faeser said Hamas' activities in Germany were illegal and sought to undermine international understanding enshrined in the country's laws also alleged members and supporters were "committed to influencing the political and social discourse in Germany in the spirit of Hamas."Samidoun was banned over demonstrations in which Israel's right to exist was "systematically denied" and anti-Israel and anti-Jewish incitement through chanting "From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free." The ministry said the "glorification of Hamas' terror" had been particularly serious since its attacks on Israel on Oct. 7.

Gallant: Gaza fighting to resume with intensity after temporary truce
Naharnet/November 23, 2023
Ahead of a slated several-day pause in fighting in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Thursday that once the “short” temporary truce with Hamas ends, the Israeli military will resume “with intensity” for at least two more months. “What you will see in the coming days is first the release of hostages. This respite will be short,” Gallant told troops of the Navy’s Shayetet 13 elite commando unit. “What is required of you in this respite is to organize, get ready, investigate, resupply arms, and get ready to continue.”“There will be a continuation, because we need to complete the victory and create the impetus for the next groups of hostages, who will only come back as a result of pressure,” he added. The hostage release deal, which was mediated by Qatar and the U.S., is set to begin Friday. It would see Hamas release at least 50 Israeli women and children it took hostage on October 7, over the course of four days, in exchange for a lull in the fighting during those four days and the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel for security offenses, all of them women or minors. Israeli army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi echoed Gallant’s comments earlier in the day, saying that the military is “not ending the war.”“We are trying to connect the goals of the war, so that the pressure from the ground operation brings about the ability to also achieve the [other] goal of this war to create the conditions for the release of the abducted hostages,” Halevi told commanders during a visit to Gaza. “We are not ending the war. We will continue until we are victorious, going forward and continuing in other Hamas areas,” he added. The comments came hours after a spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry confirmed that the temporary truce between Israel and Hamas will go into effect Friday at 7 a.m. The first group of 13 Israeli hostages will be freed on Friday at 4 p.m. During the temporary ceasefire, Israeli troops will hold their positions inside the Gaza Strip, Israeli army Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari confirmed Thursday evening. “Taking control of northern Gaza is the first stage of a long war, and we’re preparing for the coming stages,” he said. Hagari also warned that there may be unexpected developments amid the pause, and that Hamas will attempt to use “psychological terror” against the Israeli public.

Israel-Hamas truce will begin Friday morning: Qatar
Lauren Irwin/The Hill/Thu, November 23, 2023
A temporary cease-fire between Israel and Hamas will begin Friday at 7 a.m. local time, Qatar said. Majed al-Ansari, a spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry, made the announcement in a news conference Thursday morning and said humanitarian aid will be delivered to civilians in Gaza “as soon as possible.”According to al-Ansari, the first batch of captive civilians, including 13 women and children, will be delivered around 4 p.m. Israel and the militant group Hamas reached an agreement earlier this week to pause fighting for four days to exchange hostages and allow aid to be delivered to the Gaza Strip. The agreement, which was expected to take effect Thursday, was delayed after hitting a last-minute snag, Israeli officials said. It was announced Tuesday that Hamas agreed to release 50 women and children held hostage. Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, took 240 people hostage during a surprise attack on Israel that left at least 1,200 people dead in early October.Israel has agreed to release 150 Palestinian prisoners as part of the agreement. According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, more than 12,000 Palestinians have been killed in retaliatory Israeli strikes. After the four-day pause, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war against Hamas.

Gaza truce and hostage release now expected to start Friday
Associated Press/November 23, 2023
An agreement for a four-day cease-fire in Gaza and the release of dozens of Hamas-held hostages and Palestinians imprisoned by Israel appeared to have hit a last-minute snag when a senior Israeli official said it would not take effect until Friday, a day later than originally announced. The diplomatic breakthrough promised some relief for the over 1.7 million Palestinians who have fled their homes under weeks of Israeli bombardment, as well as families in Israel fearful for the fate of their loved ones captured during Hamas' Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war.
Israel's national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, announced the delay late Wednesday, without providing a reason. Israeli media reported that some final details were still being worked out. The Persian Gulf nation of Qatar, which played a key role in mediating with Hamas, said early Thursday that a new time for the agreement to go into force would be announced "in the coming hours." It was originally set to begin at 10 a.m. (0800 GMT) Thursday. The U.S. and Egypt also helped negotiate the deal. The Gaza Health Ministry meanwhile resumed its detailed count of Palestinian casualties from the war, saying over 13,300 have been killed. The figures do not include updated numbers from hospitals in the north, where services and communication largely broke down earlier this month. The Health Ministry stopped publishing casualty counts after Nov. 11, saying later that they had lost the ability to produce accurate counts as communications collapsed.
NETANYAHU SAYS TRUCE WON'T END WAR
The agreement had raised hopes of eventually winding down the war, now in its seventh week, which has has leveled vast swaths of Gaza, fueled a surge of violence in the occupied West Bank, and stirred fears of a wider conflagration across the Middle East.
But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a nationally televised news conference that the war would resume after the truce expires, with the goal of destroying Hamas' military capabilities, ending its 16-year rule in Gaza and returning all of the estimated 240 captives held in Gaza by Hamas and other groups.
"The war is continuing. We will continue it until we achieve all our goals," Netanyahu said, adding that he had delivered the same message in a phone call to U.S. President Joe Biden. Washington has provided extensive military and diplomatic support to Israel since the start of the war. Israeli troops hold much of northern Gaza and say they have dismantled tunnels and much of Hamas' infrastructure there. Israeli forces on Wednesday revealed what they said was a major Hamas hideout in a tunnel beneath Shifa Hospital. The territory's largest medical center has been at the heart of a fierce battle of narratives over both sides' allegedly reckless endangerment of civilians.
Shifa's director, Mohammed Abu Selmia, was detained by Israeli soldiers, according to Medhat Abbas, the director of the Gaza Health Ministry. There was no immediate comment from the army. Israel meanwhile ordered the full evacuation of the Indonesian Hospital in the north, Dr. Munir al-Boursh, a Health Ministry official inside the facility, told Al-Jazeera. He said hospital officials were trying to organize buses to evacuate some 200 patients, including children with burn injuries. Fighting has raged outside the hospital for days, and hundreds of people have already been evacuated to the south.
Despite the advances in the north, Israeli officials acknowledge that much of Hamas' infrastructure remains intact. Israel has threatened to launch wider operations in southern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people who fled the north have crammed into overflowing U.N.-run shelters with dwindling food, water and basic supplies.
For Hamas, the cease-fire would provide an opportunity to regroup after weeks of apparently heavy losses. Hamas leader Yehya Sinwar, who is believed to be alive and in hiding in Gaza, is likely to claim the release of Palestinian prisoners as a major achievement and declare victory if the war ends.
HOSTAGES TO BE FREED IN STAGES
Under the truce deal, 50 hostages will be freed in stages, in exchange for the release of what Hamas said would be 150 Palestinian prisoners. Both sides will release women and children first, and Israel said the truce would be extended an extra day for every additional 10 hostages freed by Hamas. The return of hostages could lift spirits in Israel, where their plight has gripped the country. Families of the hostages have staged mass demonstrations to pressure the government to bring them home. Qatar said the cease-fire would allow a "larger number of humanitarian convoys and relief aid" to enter Gaza, including fuel, but it gave no details on actual quantities. Israel cut off all fuel imports at the start of the war, causing a territory-wide blackout and leaving homes and hospitals reliant on generators, which have also steadily been forced to shut down.
Netanyahu said the deal includes a provision for the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit the hostages in captivity. Israel's Justice Ministry published a list of 300 prisoners eligible to be released, mainly teenagers detained over the past year for rock-throwing and other minor offenses. The war erupted when several thousand Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel, killing at least 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking scores of hostages, including babies, women and older adults, as well as Israeli soldiers. Israel has a long history of agreeing to lopsided prisoner swaps with militant groups, and Hamas is expected to demand a large number of high-profile Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the soldiers.
HEAVY TOLL ON GAZA
The Health Ministry in Gaza does not differentiate between civilians and militants, but says some two-thirds of the dead have been identified as women and minors. It says some 6,000 people have been reported missing and are feared to be buried under rubble. The ministry says it has been unable to update figures from northern hospitals since Nov. 11, so the true toll from the war is likely higher than the 13,300 it reported Thursday. Israel says it has killed thousands of Hamas fighters, though it has presented no evidence for its count. Three-fourths of Gaza's population of 2.3 million have been displaced in the war. Many, if not most, will be unable to return home because of the vast damage and the presence of Israeli troops in the north. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, said that more than 1 million Palestinians were seeking shelter in 156 of its facilities in Gaza, where many have been forced by overcrowding to sleep on the streets outside as a cold, rainy winter sets in. Israel has barred imports to Gaza since the start of the war, except for a trickle of aid entering through Egypt's Rafah crossing. Humanitarian aid groups operating in Gaza said the truce was too short and the Rafah crossing's capacity was insufficient to meet urgent needs.

Yehya Sinwar at top of Israel's hit list after Oct. 7 attack
Associated Press/November 23, 2023
The mastermind of the Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the worst Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed in generations is a secretive figure, feared on both sides of the battle lines. In Gaza, no figure looms larger in determining the future trajectory of the war than Yehya Sinwar. Obsessive, disciplined and dictatorial, he is Hamas' top leader inside the Palestinian territory, a rarely seen veteran militant who learned fluent Hebrew during years in Israeli prisons and carefully studied his enemy. Israeli officials have vowed to kill him and crush the militant group that has ruled Gaza since 2007. But seven weeks into the war, the 61-year-old Sinwar remains alive, in hiding and at the helm of Hamas' fighters as they battle Israeli forces. He also controls the group's negotiations over the fate of nearly 240 hostages that militants captured during the Oct. 7 attack. With the devastating toll from Israel's bombardment and ground invasion, Sinwar's political fate may now depend on how the war ends and whether Palestinians feel they gained anything from their immense losses. If he can win the release of all Palestinian prisoners and the lifting of the 16-year blockade of Gaza, people will feel they obtained something, said Hani al-Masri, a veteran Palestinian analyst. Otherwise, "it will be a big problem" for Sinwar personally "because people will say that there was destruction, and we got nothing in return."Sinwar was able to claim an apparent political victory — although one that came at a staggering cost in Palestinian lives — with the announcement Wednesday of plans for a temporary cease-fire and a hostage-for-prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel. The exchange, which had been scheduled to begin Thursday, was then postponed until at least Friday. Israel offered no immediate explanation for the delay.
The wiry, grey-haired Sinwar is believed to have engineered the surprise Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel, along with the even more shadowy Mohammed Deif, head of Hamas' armed wing. The attack caught Israel's military and intelligence establishment off guard and shattered the image of Israeli invincibility.
Hamas said it launched the attack in retaliation for increasing Israeli depredations against Palestinians and the continuing occupation of the West Bank and blockade of Gaza — and to push the Palestinian cause back onto the world agenda.
What it brought was devastating Israeli retaliation, killing thousands and leveling swaths of Gaza. To Israelis, Sinwar is a nightmarish figure. The Israeli army's chief spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, called him a murderer "who proved to the whole world that Hamas is worse than ISIS," referring to the Islamic State group.
Among fellow Palestinians, some respect Sinwar for standing up to Israel and for remaining in impoverished Gaza, in contrast to other Hamas leaders living more comfortably abroad. In a show of defiance two years ago, Sinwar ended one of his few public speeches by inviting Israel to assassinate him, proclaiming, "I will walk back home after this meeting." He then did so, shaking hands and taking selfies with people in the streets. But he is also deeply feared for his iron grip in Gaza, where public dissent is suppressed. In contrast to the media-friendly personas cultivated by some of Hamas' political leadership, Sinwar has not sought to build a public image. He is known as the "Butcher of Khan Younis" for his brutal approach to Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel. Sinwar was born in 1962 in Gaza's Khan Younis refugee camp to a family that was among thousands of Palestinians driven from what is now the city of Ashkelon during the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation. He was an early member of Hamas, which emerged from the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in 1987, when the coastal enclave was under Israeli military occupation. Sinwar convinced the group's founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, that to succeed as a resistance organization, Hamas needed to be purged of spies for Israel. They founded a security arm, then known as Majd, which Sinwar led.
Arrested by Israel in the late 1980s, he admitted under interrogation to having killed 12 suspected collaborators. He was eventually sentenced to four life terms for offenses that included the abduction and killing of two Israeli soldiers. Michael Koubi, a former director of the investigations department at Israel's Shin Bet security agency who interrogated Sinwar personally, recalled the confession that stood out to him the most: Sinwar recounted forcing a man to bury his own brother alive because he was suspected of working for Israel. "His eyes were full of happiness when he told us this story," Koubi said. But to fellow prisoners, Sinwar was charismatic, sociable and shrewd, open to detainees from all political factions. He became the leader of the hundreds of imprisoned Hamas members. He organized strikes to improve conditions. He learned Hebrew and studied Israeli society. "Being a leader inside prison gave him experience in negotiations and dialogue, and he understood the mentality of the enemy and how to affect it," said Anwar Yassine, a Lebanese citizen who spent about 17 years in Israeli jails, much of the time with Sinwar.
Yassine noted how Sinwar always treated him with respect even though he belongs to the Lebanese Communist Party, whose secular principles conflict with Hamas' ideology. In 2008, Sinwar survived an aggressive form of brain cancer after treatment at a Tel Aviv hospital. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released him in 2011 along with about 1,000 other prisoners in exchange for Gilad Schalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas in a cross-border raid. Netanyahu was harshly criticized for releasing dozens of prisoners held for involvement in deadly attacks. Back in Gaza, Sinwar closely coordinated between Hamas' political leadership and its military wing, the Qassam Brigades. He also cultivated a reputation for ruthlessness. He is widely believed to be behind the unprecedented 2016 killing of another top Hamas commander, Mahmoud Ishtewi, in an internal power struggle. In 2017, he was elected head of Hamas' political bureau in Gaza. Sinwar worked with Hamas' leader in exile, Ismail Haniyeh, to realign the group with Iran and its allies, including Lebanon's Hezbollah. He also focused on building Hamas' military power. For Hamas, surviving the war in any form would defy Israel and offer a victory of sorts. Sinwar himself may not survive. "I'm sure we will eventually kill him," Koubi said. "But to destroy the ideology he planted, that's not so easy."

At least 27 killed in Israeli strike on UNRWA school in Gaza Strip: Medical source
AFP/November 23, 2023
At least 27 people have been reported dead and 93 injured following an Israeli airstrike on an UNRWA school in the Jabalia refugee camp, where thousands of displaced individuals sought refuge in northern Gaza. A medical source at the Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia disclosed the grim toll, stating, "27 martyrs and 93 injuries so far in the Abu Hussain School in Jabalia following an Israeli shelling targeting the school." Jabalia camp stands as the largest refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.

US intercepts multiple attack drones launched from Yemen
Naharnet/November 23, 2023
A U.S. warship patrolling the Red Sea intercepted multiple attack drones launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen on Thursday, the U.S. Central Command said. "On the morning (Yemen time) of November 23, the USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116) shot down multiple one-way attack drones launched from Houthi controlled areas in Yemen," CENTCOM said on X. "The ship and crew sustained no damage or injury," it added. The Houthis have declared themselves part of an "axis of resistance" of Iran's allies and proxies retaliating against Israel's war with Hamas. The conflict has raised the spectre of a broader Middle East conflagration, with the frontier between Lebanon and Israel also seeing near-daily exchanges of fire. The Houthis in Yemen have launched a series of drones and missiles towards Israel since the October 7 start of the Israel-Hamas war. On Wednesday, Israel said it had intercepted a "cruise missile" heading for the south of the country, a shot claimed by the Houthi rebels. "Our forces launched missiles at various military targets" in southern Israel, Yahia Saree, spokesman for the armed wing of the Houthis, wrote on X. "We will continue to carry out military operations until the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank stops," he added. The Houthis have also threatened to target Israeli shipping and on Sunday said they seized the Galaxy Leader, an Israel-linked cargo vessel and its 25 international crew, at the entrance to the Red Sea. Israel's military said the seizure was a "very grave incident of global consequence", and a U.S. military official said it was "a flagrant violation of international law". On Wednesday, Israel and Hamas said they had agreed on a four-day ceasefire during which there will be a hostage and prisoner swap. Around 240 hostages were taken by Hamas and other Palestinian gunmen during bloody raids into Israel on October 7, which also killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to Israeli authorities. The attack prompted a major Israeli offensive into Hamas-run Gaza, which authorities there say has killed more than 14,000 people, two thirds of them women and children.

Pro-Palestinian protesters briefly interrupt Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Olafimihan Oshin/The Hill./November 23, 2023
More than two dozen pro-Palestinian protesters briefly disrupted the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas. New York ABC affiliate WABC reported the protest happened at Sixth Avenue at West 45th Street about 10 a.m. Thursday. Protesters reportedly jumped over the barricades, ran into the streets and glued themselves to the parade route. The demonstrators, about 30 of them, wore white jumpsuits sprayed with fake blood and labeled with words like “colonialism” and “consumerism,” according to WABC.
Their protest began 90 minutes after the annual parade began. Spectators started to jeer the demonstrators once they realized what was happening. Authorities arrested the demonstrators and took them into custody after they refused to leave the area. Disturbances were also reported at two locations at West 49th and West 59th streets, WABC reported. This staged protest is similar to one that occurred in 2014, where police arrested seven people protesting the court’s decision to indict a police officer in the fatal shooting of Black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., WABC noted. The Hill has reached out to the NYPD for more information. It’s been a month since Hamas’s surprise attack against Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people and the taking of around 240 hostages by the militant group. In response, Israel has launched a series of airstrikes and a ground invasion in Gaza, resulting in the death of at least 13,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. The incident comes days after Israel and Hamas agreed to implement a temporary cease-fire for four days to allow for the safe transfer of hostages and the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The militant group has agreed to release 50 hostages, all women and children. With the transfer of hostages, Palestinian prisoners will also be released from Israeli jails.

‘This is collective punishment:’ West Bank Palestinians under curfew say they are being punished for something they did not do
Tara John, CNN/November 23, 2023
Palestinian educator Tarik Betar has known only a life of repression and indignity, he told CNN, with longstanding restrictions, checkpoints and curfews, put in place by the Israeli military in the 1990s, meaning he is unable to walk across his street in the West Bank city of Hebron. Betar, who works at the local polytechnic college, said those restrictions became a chokehold the day Hamas militants from Gaza attacked Israel, killing at least 1,200 people. The 47-year-old is one of thousands of Palestinians living in nearly a dozen neighborhoods in Israeli-controlled areas of Hebron, who have been effectively “imprisoned at home” by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) since October 7, according to Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. A full curfew was imposed that day on those neighborhoods, which surround Hebron’s old city, where Palestinians were not allowed to leave their homes, according to B’Tselem and other residents. It was partially lifted two weeks later, allowing Palestinians to leave the area between 8 and 9 a.m. and return home between 4 and 5 p.m. on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, said Betar. Residents and activists have complained about running out of food, adults missing work, of being fearful and facing threats from settlers for opening their windows or letting their children out onto the street, and being prevented from returning home in time for curfew as they attempt to pass some of the dozens of checkpoints that populate the area. When Betar’s wife fell ill and was struggling to breathe last week, the curfew prevented the couple from walking out to see a doctor, so an ambulance had to be called. “I am not allowed to open my door or my window… I called the ambulance, and they arrived after two hours and 57 minutes exactly,” he said, explaining that the medics had to gain Israeli permission to enter the area and navigate a series of checkpoints to get to his home. B’Tselem describes the “blanket movement ban” as a “collective punishment” against Palestinians “because we’re talking about taking civilians, who did nothing wrong, and placing extreme limitations that disrupts every aspect of their daily lives with no reason,” Dror Sadot, B’Tselem’s spokesperson, told CNN. The IDF said there had been “a significant increase in terrorist attacks” in the West Bank since the war began and that its troops had been conducting “nightly counterterrorism operations to apprehend suspects, some of them are part of the Hamas terrorist organization.”While it did not address the curfew directly in the statement, the IDF said that “as part of the security operations in the area, dynamic checkpoints have been put up over different places. The mission of the IDF is to maintain the security of all residents of the area, and to act to prevent terrorism and activities that endanger the citizens of the State of Israel.”
Increased separation
Israel has occupied the West Bank since seizing the territory from Jordanian military occupation in 1967. It later agreed to transfer limited control over parts of the territory to the Palestinian Authority, after agreements signed in the 1990s. But Israel has continued to build settlements there, considered illegal under international law, encroaching into land that Palestinians and the international community view as territory for a future Palestinian state. Israel views the West Bank as “disputed territory,” and contends its settlement policy is legal. The West Bank has seen a surge in settler attacks this year, including one that an Israeli military commander called a “pogrom.” The issue has concerned United States officials, with President Joe Biden saying that the US was prepared to issue visa bans against “extremists attacking civilians in the West Bank,” in a Washington Post op-ed over the weekend. Even by the standards of the West Bank, the situation in Hebron is complicated. A predominantly Palestinian city, it has Israeli settlements right in the center. The result is both a physical and legal segregation between the hundreds of Jewish settlers and the thousands of Palestinians who live on the streets around the old city. As Betar’s home is meters away from one of the West Bank’s most contested and holiest places, known to Jews as the Cave of the Patriarchs and to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque, he is restricted from turning right when he exits his front door. His neighborhood began to hollow out after a 1994 massacre when a Jewish settler walked into the Ibrahimi Mosque and killed 29 people, say residents, prompting Israel to introduce a policy of separation in the area, according to a 2019 United Nations report. That policy hardened following the second Palestinian intifada between 2000 and 2005 and increasing Jewish settler-Palestinian violence that saw the deployment of new checkpoints, restrictions on the movement of Palestinians and closure of shops. Thousands of Palestinians have since been forced to leave the area amid the settler attacks and “constant raids and incursions into their homes by Israeli forces, which often include the temporary takeover of parts of the homes,” the report added. The old city is now a warren of restrictions and limits for the Palestinians living there. Some areas around Israeli settlements and the Jewish side of the Cave of Patriarchs, close to Betar’s home, have been entirely closed off to Palestinians for decades, according to a map by B’Tselem and conversations with residents. The Palestinian population in the area has meanwhile shrunk to an estimated 33,000 people, says Sadot, B’Tselem’s spokesperson, and she and other activists worry restrictions are being used as a pretext to push Palestinians out altogether. The post-October 7 restrictions are “not happening in a political vacuum,” Sadot said. Last year, Israel gained its most right-wing government in history, with some government ministers, like National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, supporting the annexation of the West Bank. Ben Gvir himself lives in Kiryat Arba, a settlement on the outskirts of Hebron. “My worry is that more people will leave,” Hisham Sharibati, a human rights activist who lives outside Hebron’s old city, told CNN. He explained a curfew was previously installed during the second Palestinian intifada, which saw shop owners leave by the droves. “Now we are having curfew again – it’s a big risk.”
‘An unannounced war’
The restrictions on Palestinians’ movement are in stark contrast to the freedoms afforded an estimated 700 hardline Jewish settlers, living in areas of the old city and still free to move about with the military’s protection. They are also accused of behaving with impunity and violence towards Palestinians and their property. Palestinian human rights activist Issa Amro, who lives in the area and campaigns against Israeli occupation, told CNN that on October 7 Israeli soldiers and settlers detained him for 10 hours and physically abused him, sharing pictures with CNN of his swollen and cut wrists, injuries which he says were caused by plastic zip-ties. “We sent activists to try find him, and a lawyer called the army to find his whereabouts,” his attorney Michael Sfard told CNN on the phone. Since his release, Amro has barricaded himself into his house, in fear of further violence from soldiers and settlers. He said they attempted to evict him the week of October 20. “There is an unannounced war in the West Bank,” Sfard told CNN. When asked about Amro’s allegations, the IDF in a statement to CNN said: “Issa Amro’s application regarding the restriction of his presence in the territory was received and is under consideration. The IDF operates in accordance to international law.” On a hill in Tel-Rumaida, close to Amro’s home, Yishai Fleisher, the international spokesperson for the Jewish Community of Hebron, approached CNN’s team with a rifle slung over his soldier. Fleisher agreed that Amro had been detained, but said he had been held by IDF soldiers. “They were IDF soldiers,” he said, adding that Amro “should be behind bars, he’s a criminal of the worst kind – just happens to be a front, a slick with liberal language.” Amro’s attorney, Sfard, said in the statement that “if there was a shred of evidence that he has been engaging in any criminal activity he would immediately be sent for a long time in prison. The fact that Issa is not in prison means that all the efforts by the settlers and their supporters and by the occupation to frame him have all failed. All they have left is to incite and spread lies about Issa.”
The West Bank has thousands of years of Jewish history and many Jewish holy sites; religious-national settlers, like those in Hebron, believe these have always been part of the Land of Israel, as promised to the Jewish people in the Old Testament. Settlers believe Hebron should be under Israeli sovereignty as “it is an integral part of Jewish history,” Fleisher said. About 500,000 Jewish settlers now live in the West Bank, according to Peace Now, an Israeli group that advocates for peace and monitors settlements. Many of these settlements are heavily guarded, fenced-off areas that are completely off limits to Palestinians. Most of the world considers these settlements illegal under international law and Israel has been criticized for allowing their expansion – and, in some cases, supporting them with tax breaks and state-funded security.
A ghost town
The Israeli-controlled area feels like a town with no people. During CNN’s visit to the desolate and heavily guarded old city last week , the only signs of life came from the Israeli soldiers at their posts, a few reservists, and a handful of settlers and their children. One Muslim family emerged later in the evening, passing a guard post. The once-bustling market streets and thoroughfares now stand empty, apartment windows are closed and covered in metal grates, and a dead cat lies decomposing on a road. Palestinian resident Ahmad, who declined to provide his last name for fear of repercussions, says his family moved to the area when he was seven. Even back then, it was too dangerous for Palestinian children to play outside, he said, adding: “It was not a childhood.”In “normal” times, the threat of settler attacks was high, but now his family is too scared to leave their home, he said. “It’s a really dangerous thing, the settlers really hate us,” he said. The curfew introduced after October 7 left him unable to work until November, depleting his savings, he said. He now stays with relatives in the Palestinian-controlled side of Hebron during the week, so he can earn an income as a barista, and bring home food when the checkpoints open on Sunday. “They are doing collective punishment,” he told CNN. “I know the media attention is on Gaza, for good reason, but the world does not know what the settlers and the IDF are doing over here,” he said. Betar grew up in the home he currently lives in, as did his father and grandfather. It is why he is refusing to leave. The past month has however pushed him to the brink. His house has no yard, so he had fenced up the roof so his five children could run around. But since the Hamas attacks, soldiers on roof positions have told them to remain inside the house. “Eat, go to the bathroom and study on Zoom – this is their lives now,” he told CNN. “My home is very small, we have no space to play, no space to go walk freely now.” It now takes him hours to do a simple supermarket shop due to the three checkpoints he has to pass to get home, in narrow timeslots.He could instead walk across the road from his house to the café and souvenir shop. But Betar is not allowed in as the road itself is closed to Palestinians. Meanwhile, visitors, settlers and soldiers freely use the cafe. “We’ve had enough ­­–– we want to enjoy our lives as any person in the West,” he said.

US Special Ops now fighting Iran must take care to avoid a return of ISIS
George Allison/The Telegraph/November 23, 2023
The US military has made retaliatory strikes against Iran-backed militias in Iraq. This move comes in response to a series of attacks on US and coalition forces across Iraq and Syria, and such strikes will need to be carefully managed so as not to derail ongoing efforts to suppress the remnants of Islamic State/ISIS in the region. Since October 17, US forces have faced 66 attacks in both Iraq and Syria. The bulk of these attacks involved one-way suicide drones or rockets and they result from the ongoing violence between Israel and Hamas. The escalation began following Hamas’ incursion into Israel on October 7, leading to an overwhelming Israeli military response. This in turn has triggered attacks on US and allied forces by various Iran-backed groups. On Tuesday evening, US combat aircraft launched targeted strikes on two facilities in Iraq with the aim of dismantling critical operations of the Kataeb Hezbollah militia, a group closely linked to Iran. This operation followed an earlier incident where US forces retaliated against an attack at Ain al-Asad air base. The vaunted AC-130J Ghostrider, a highly advanced variant of the AC-130 gunship, played a pivotal role in the US action at Ain al-Asad. Known for its formidable firepower, the AC-130J is a heavily modified C-130 transport aircraft equipped with the ‘Precision Strike Package’. It is operated only by the US Special Operations Forces. The Ghostrider’s special equipment includes a mission management console, special communications suite, two highly advanced electro-optical/infrared sensors, advanced fire control equipment, precision-guided munitions delivery capability, and huge, trainable 30mm and 105mm cannons. The primary missions of this aerial behemoth are close air support, air interdiction, and armed reconnaissance, making it particularly suited for urban operations and delivering precision low-yield munitions against ground targets. Despite its power, the AC-130J is precise and surgical compared to typical air weaponry: it can take out individual gunmen on the ground without harming other people nearby.
The aircraft’s presence in the air during a missile attack on Al-Asad Airbase provided a massive advantage for the Americans. Its immediate availability allowed for quick identification of the attack’s origin and swift action against the perpetrators. The Ghostrider’s surveillance capabilities were crucial in tracking the militants’ movements. The fighting comes at a very delicate time for the Iraqi government, as the country has a large Shi’ite population and the ruling coalition is very much reliant on the support of Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias for stability. The recent attacks have put Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in a difficult position. Any overly aggressive US action against the Shi’ite militias could inadvertently destabilise the government. But while al-Sudani relies on the support of Iranian-backed groups, he also seeks continued good relations with the US and has backed the ongoing presence of American troops in his country. The US maintains about 2,000 troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria. In addition to countering ISIS/Islamic State, the US uses the al-Tanf garrison in Syria to monitor Iranian proxies moving weapons across the border. The Biden administration has increased military assets in the Middle East, including warships, fighter jets, and air defence systems, to discourage militant groups from widening the conflict. UK special operations troops, particularly the Special Air Service (SAS), have also been actively involved in operations in Iraq. A notable incident occurred in January 2021 when an SAS soldier was critically wounded during a secret night-time operation against Islamic State near Baiji, 130 miles north of Baghdad. While news of operations is infrequent due to troops on the ground being mostly special-ops personnel, UK and US forces are said to be increasing their operational tempo against IS after a Covid-induced lull.
Any withdrawal by US and allied forces from Iraq and/or Syria would invite a resurgence by ISIS: thus both the Iraqi government and the US are keen to keep Western troops there. But overly aggressive action against the Shi’ite militias now attacking US bases might fracture the fragile Iraqi government, conceivably leading to civil war or at least internecine dispute, which would hamper Western operations and create a vacuum for a resurgent ISIS to exploit. It’s a delicate situation calling for carefully targeted action by the US to defend its bases without doing more than the minimum necessary amount of damage. This is, of course, the sort of mission the special forces are supposed to excel at: and weapon systems such as the AC-130J Ghostrider fit into that philosophy conveniently.

Musicians for Palestine: Thousands of musicians sign letter for Gaza ceasefire
David Mouriquand/November 23, 2023
Zack de la Rocha, Tom Morello, Bikini Kill, Pulp, Lucy Dacus, Mogwai, Kali Uchis are among the thousands of musicians who have signed an open letter calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. More than 4000 artists have come together under the collective Musicians for Palestine, demanding a ceasefire as the war in Israel and Gaza continues. “We speak out together in solidarity with the Palestinian people’s struggle for freedom, justice and equal rights,” reads the letter. “We uphold the freedom of grassroots activists and artists worldwide to advocate and engage in peaceful means to achieve accountability, to fight injustice, and to pursue freedom, a just peace, and dignity.” It continued: “Today, we demand an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian aid in Gaza, and an end to the siege. The day after, our vision of a just and peaceful future for all must be our most urgent task. We urge everyone who shares that vision to join us.”
Many artists have spoken out about the conflict in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Dua Lipa, Run The Jewels' Killer Mike, Michael Stipe and more wrote an open letter to President Biden, demanding “an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Gaza and Israel before another life is lost”. Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Mark Hamill and Jamie Lee Curtis were among 700 Hollywood figures who signed an open letter voicing their support for Israel. Over 2,000 names from the arts world, including Tilda Swinton and Massive Attack‘s Robert Del Naja, signed an open letter calling for ceasefire.
A group of Jewish celebrities and influencers also met with execs of the video app TikTok to voice their concerns regarding an apparent surge of antisemitic content and misinformation on app, following the 7 October Hamas attack. During the call, actor Sacha Baron Cohen told the TikTok execs: “What is happening at TikTok is, it is creating the biggest antisemitic movement since the Nazis. Shame on you.” Then there's the recent news that two actresses have been dropped and fired over statements related to the Israel Hamas war. Once again, these events have revealed the challenges Hollywood and the entertainment world faces over the extremely divisive geopolitical issue.

Why is Spain one of the few EU voices supporting Palestine?
Saskia O'Donoghue/Euronews/November 23, 2023
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is visiting the Middle East this week but, in the wake of the Israel-Hamas conflict, his trip perhaps won’t be as formulaic as those of other European leaders. Spain has been historically close to the Arab world and, as such, the nation is actively trying to push a line more favourable to Palestinian aspirations within the European Union. It’s an approach that Sánchez will likely defend during his visit to the conflict-hit region. Reappointed just a week ago for a new four-year term, the Prime Minister will meet with his counterparts Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel, and the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank. Sánchez will then travel to Egypt, where he will hold meetings with President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi and Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the secretary general of the Arab League. These encounters provide the Spanish Prime Minister with an opportunity to renew his call for a lasting ceasefire in Gaza as well as the holding of an urgent peace summit. Spain hopes there will be a political solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians - on the basis of two states. Why is Spain so outspoken on its recognition of the Palestinian State? In a speech last Wednesday, Sánchez promised that his new government's "first commitment" on foreign policy would be to "work in Europe and Spain to recognise the Palestinian state”. At the same time, he said he was "on the side of Israel" in the face of "the terrorist attack" committed by Hamas on 7 October, but also called on the Jewish state to put an end to the "indiscriminate killing of Palestinians."According to Isaías Barreñada, a professor at the Complutense University of Madrid, Sánchez hopes his position will have "a ripple effect" on the rest of the EU.
The stance comes at a time when many Western countries are facing criticism in the Arab world for being seemingly too favourable towards Israel. In 2014, under a conservative government, the Spanish Parliament adopted a resolution calling for the recognition of the Palestinian state, supported by all political parties. The vote, though, was non-binding and not followed by any action. In Europe, several countries have taken this step in a more effective way. They include Sweden, Hungary, Malta and Romania - but none of the main EU member states have done so, meaning that Spain could become a pioneer. Earlier this week Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy - and a former minister under Sánchez - told El Pais that Spain was a country with "a clearer sympathy for the Arab world”. A brief history of Spanish-Arab relations
Geographically close to the Maghreb region of North Africa, Spain turned to Arab countries during the Franco dictatorship which ran from 1939 to 1975 in order to circumvent its isolation in the West. It was not until 1986, however, that the nation established official relations with Israel. The relatively late date was a consequence of tensions born from the Hebrew State's opposition to Spain's entry into the UN at the end of the Second World War, due to its proximity to Nazi Germany. In 1993, they played a role in the Oslo Accords, through which Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation mutually recognised each other as part of the peace process. Overall, though, Spain remains perceived by many as a pro-Arab country. At the end of October, a mini-diplomatic crisis even broke out with the Israeli embassy after controversial statements by a far-left Spanish minister who spoke of a "planned genocide" in Gaza. With much of Europe firmly pro-Israel, though, Isaías Barreñada explains it will be an uphill battle for Sánchez. “It is difficult to imagine that Spain has the capacity to reorient the European position," Barreñada tells AFP, but "it can contribute to showing that there are sensitivities within the EU different.”

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh leads group's diplomacy as Gaza war rages
(Reuters)/Thu, November 23, 2023 at 11:14 a.m. EST
Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader based in Qatar, has been the tough-talking face of the Palestinian group's international diplomacy as war has raged back in Gaza where his family home was destroyed in an Israeli air strike in November. Appointed to the militant group's top job in 2017, he has moved between Turkey and Qatar's capital Doha, escaping the travel restrictions of the blockaded Gaza Strip and enabling him to act as a negotiator in the latest ceasefire deal or talk to Hamas' main ally Iran. "All the agreements of normalisation that you (Arab states) signed with (Israel) will not end this conflict," Haniyeh declared on Qatar-based Al Jazeera television shortly after Hamas fighters launched their assault on Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 200 people hostage. Israel's response has been a fierce military campaign that has killed more than 14,000 people inside Gaza so far. Two of Haniyeh's grandchildren are among those killed, his family said. For all the tough language in public, Arab diplomats and officials in the region view him as relatively pragmatic compared with more hardline voices inside Gaza, where the military wing of Hamas planned the Oct. 7 that shocked Israel to its core. While telling Israel's military they would find themselves "drowning in the sands of Gaza", he and his predecessor as Hamas leader, Khaled Meshaal, have shuttled around the region for talks over a Qatari-brokered ceasefire deal with Israel that includes exchanging hostages held by Hamas for Palestinians in Israeli jails, as well as more aid for Gaza. Israel regards the entire Hamas leadership as terrorists, accusing Haniyeh, Meshaal and others of continuing to "pull the strings of the Hamas terror organisation." But how much Haniyeh knew about the Oct. 7 assault beforehand is not clear. The plan, drawn up by the Hamas military council in Gaza, was such a closely guarded secret that some Hamas officials seemed shocked by its timing and scale. Yet Haniyeh, a Sunni Muslim, has had a major hand building up Hamas' fighting capacity, partly by nurturing relations with Shi'ite Muslim Iran, which makes no secret of its moral and material support for the group. During the decade in which Haniyeh was Hamas' top leader in Gaza, Israel accused his leadership team of helping to divert humanitarian aid to the group's military wing. Hamas denied it.
SHUTTLE DIPLOMACY
When he left Gaza in 2017, Haniyeh was succeeded by Yahya Sinwar, a hardliner who spent more than two decades in Israeli prisons and whom Haniyeh had welcomed back to Gaza in 2011 after a prisoner exchange. "Haniyeh is leading the political battle for Hamas with Arab governments," said Adeeb Ziadeh, a specialist in Palestinian affairs at Qatar University, adding that he had close ties with more hardline figures in the group and the military wing. "He is the political and diplomatic front of Hamas," he said. Haniyeh and Meshaal have met officials in Egypt, which has also had a mediation role in the ceasefire talks. Haniyeh travelled in early November to Tehran to meet Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iranian state media reported. Three senior officials told Reuters that Khamenei told the Hamas leader in that meeting, that Iran would not enter the war having not been told about it in advance. Hamas did not respond to requests for comment before Reuters published its report, and then issued a denial after its publication. As he has shuttled around the region, Israel said on Nov. 16 its warplanes hit Haniyeh's house in Al-Shati, the Gaza refugee camp where he was born in 1962. It said his home "often served as a meeting point for Hamas' senior leaders to direct terror attacks." As a young man Haniyeh was a student activist at the Islamic University in Gaza City. He joined Hamas when it was created in the First Palestinian intifada (uprising) in 1987. He was arrested and briefly deported.
Haniyeh became a protégé of Hamas' founder Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, who like Haniyeh's family, was a refugee from the village of Al Jura near Ashkelon. In 1994, he told Reuters that Yassin was a model for young Palestinians, saying: "We learned from him love of Islam and sacrifice for this Islam and not to kneel down to these tyrants and despots." By 2003 he was a trusted Yassin aide, photographed in Yassin's Gaza home holding a phone to the almost completely paralysed Hamas founder's ear so that he could take part in a conversation. Yassin was assassinated by Israel in 2004. Haniyeh was an early advocate of Hamas entering politics. In 1994, he said that forming a political party "would enable Hamas to deal with emerging developments". Initially overruled by the Hamas leadership, it was later approved and Haniyeh become Palestinian prime minister after the group won Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006 a year after Israel's military withdrew from Gaza.
The group took control of Gaza in 2007.
In 2012, when asked by Reuters reporters if Hamas had abandoned the armed struggle, Haniyeh replied "of course not" and said resistance would continue "in all forms - popular resistance, political, diplomatic and military resistance".

Democratic divide over Israel-Hamas war looms over Biden’s reelection
Alexander Bolton/The Hill/November 23, 2023
The growing divide within the Democratic Party over President Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war is becoming a serious political problem for the 81-year-old president, who has trouble appealing to young voters and energizing his party’s base.
Democratic strategists and progressive activists say growing disenchantment among liberals, especially younger Democrats and minority voters, over the war and graphic images of Palestinian civilian casualties could hurt Democratic turnout in the 2024 election. “I think it’s a real issue because whenever an important part of the base of your support is upset with you substantively, which I think is happening with young people and what’s going on in Israel and the Middle East, that’s an issue,” said Tad Devine, a longtime Democratic strategist who has worked on several presidential and vice presidential campaigns. “How big of a problem is it? If the election were in two weeks, it would be a really big problem. Fortunately, the election is in 11 months. I do think there’s a lot of room for the president and his administration to improve on a lot of these issues, not just the issue of the moment in Israel,” he said.
Biden scored a victory Tuesday, when after weeks of pressure from his administration, Israel accepted a deal with Hamas to pause the fighting for four days to allow for the exchange of 50 hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners. Israel says the truce could be extended if more hostages are released. But, an NBC News poll of 1,000 registered voters conducted by Hart Research Associates and Public Opinion Strategies found that 70 percent of voters ages 18 to 34 disapprove of Biden’s handling of the war. The poll found that only 51 percent of Democratic voters approve of how he’s navigated the issue. The divisions within the party over the conflict have grown steadily worse as it’s dragged on. That was laid bare last week, when 22 House Democrats joined Republicans in voting to censure Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), who is Palestinian-American, for “promoting fake narratives” about the war after she accused Israel of practicing “apartheid” and repeated the pro-Palestinian slogan “from the river to the sea.”
Another ugly scene played out last week in front of the Democratic National Committee headquarters when pro-Palestinian protestors clashed violently with Capitol police. And a massive crowd protest of protesters calling for a cease-fire in Gaza forced the California Democratic Convention to shut down for several hours on Saturday. Biden pointedly refused to call for a cease-fire in a Nov. 18 Washington Post op-ed and insisted that Israel has a right to defend itself. “As long as Hamas clings to its ideology of destruction, a cease-fire is not peace. To Hamas’s members, every cease-fire is time they exploit to rebuild their stockpile of rockets, reposition fighters and restart the killing by attacking innocents again,” he wrote. Strategists say the conflict poses several significant problems for the president. On one hand, Biden’s refusal to call for a cease-fire is becoming a point of significant tension with many progressives.
Two Senate Democrats have broken with Biden on that point, including Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the No. 2-ranking member of the Senate Democratic leadership. In a CNN interview earlier this month, Durbin called for pausing hostilities to free hostages, urging: “An effort should be made to engage in conversations between Israelis and Palestinians.”On Monday, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) called for “a cessation of hostilities on both sides.” He said a cease-fire should be followed by negotiations to release hostages and allow humanitarian aid into Israel. More than 40 House Democrats have called for a cease-fire. Among the latest to do so is Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), whose office was occupied by a group of activists after he initially refused to sign onto a cease-fire resolution.
On the other hand, Biden’s calls for restraint, which have been largely ignored by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, risk making him look weak if they fail to curb the violence. The longer the conflict drags on, the more it threatens to pull the United States into a broader regional conflict, which would force Biden to confront a variety of other political complications. The Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah claimed responsibility this week for a rocket attack on an Israeli military base, heightening concerns that Iran and its proxies will get more involved in the fighting. The United States launched a second round of airstrikes early Wednesday on Iranian proxies operating in Iraq in retaliation for those militants targeting American and coalition troops. “If it drags on and Israel continues the course they’re on, the outcry here will grow, the divisions here will grow, particularly in the Democratic Party. The outcry across the world will grow and the war could quietly likely spread, so I think it’s a big problem for the administration,” said Bob Borosage, a leading progressive activist and co-director of Campaign for America’s Future. He said that while Biden has urged the Israel Defense Forces to show restraint to minimize civilian casualties and called for the Palestinian Authority to ultimately govern the West Bank and Gaza, those requests have had little impact on Netanyahu and his allies.
“What’s happened is Netanyahu’s basically blown Biden off,” Borosage said. “Netanyahu has said Israel will govern Gaza after the war. So the disconnect between what Biden is saying … and the reality that is going where Israel is taking [U.S.] money and doing what it wants is very damaging for Biden.”He said Biden needs the conflict and the streaming images of bombed out neighborhoods and injured civilians to abate quickly to avoid lasting political damage. “The policy of the administration to hug Netanyahu and talk both first privately and now publicly [about restraint] but without any pressure is a mistake,” he added. Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, acknowledged that “Biden has problems with progressives and young people, who do not share all of his policy objectives.”But he predicted they will rally to vote for him next year if former President Trump is the Republican nominee.
“Trump will mobilize the Democratic base for Biden. Seeing the stark contrasts between Trump and Biden will bring progressives and young people back to Biden,” he said. “The possibility will scare most Democrats back to the Biden option.”Devine said Biden has reason to hope the situation in Israel and Gaza will improve before next year’s general election, given Israel’s military superiority and the prospect that its forces could wrap up their campaign within a few weeks or months. “I don’t think, for example, that people will disagree with him about some aspect of Middle East policy, like whether Palestinians have been treated fairly for the last 30, 40 years, will be nearly as important about whether or not he’s seen as a guy who’s making progress on issues they care most about,” he said.

Netanyahu should be thrown out now, says ex Israeli PM Olmert
Arab News/November 23, 2023
LONDON: A former prime minister of Israel said on Thursday that current premier Benjamin Netanyahu should be removed from power for being a “real danger” to the country, despite the ongoing conflict with Hamas in Gaza. Ehud Olmert told Sky News that Netanyahu and his administration were a “real danger” to Israel’s stability and he should be “thrown out” of office during an interview with the channel’s international affairs editor, Dominic Waghorn. Speaking ahead of a ceasefire coming into effect in Gaza alongside a hostage release brokered by Qatar, scheduled to start Friday morning, Olmert said a break in hostilities could inspire widespread protests within Israel against Netanyahu. “(The Israelis) can’t stand him, if there will be a break of a couple of days, they will change direction and move out into his home or his office and, you know, there will be demonstrations the like of which we’ve never seen in our country,” he said. “The amount of rage, which has been built up inside the people, is just unbelievable,” he added. Olmert said Netanyahu would face serious pressure and should leave office immediately. “As far as I’m concerned, based on my judgement of what is good for Israel or not, he should go today. He should go this minute. He should be thrown out any minute,” he said. “He is a real danger to the stability, to the solidarity, of the Israeli society and to the ability of the Israelis to return again to a normal pace of life, which is something we need after this terrible disaster we have experienced,” he added.
Olmert said he did not shy away from expressing his opinion and added that “elder statesmen” of Israeli politics were “aware of what I think.”He continued: “I said it time and again, at this moment and at this second, he has to leave. And I really think that Netanyahu, in the words of Thomas Friedman of the New York Times, (is) the worst leader in the history of the Jewish people.”

In daughter's empty bedroom, an Israeli hopes for her return from Gaza captivity
Avi Ohayon/Reuters/November 23, 2023
KFAR VRADIM, Israel (Reuters) - Eitan Gonen sits in his daughter Romi's bedroom. Outside, the world waits for Israel's temporary truce with Hamas to take effect and for the release of some of the hostages held in Gaza. He prays his daughter will be among those coming home.
Gonen raises his head and holds back tears. On a shelf behind him are framed pictures, nail polish and a collection of cosmetics arranged as they had been when Romi, 23, left their home in northern Israel before a rave festival in the south where Palestinian Hamas gunmen rampaged on Oct. 7.
"It was very, very hard for me to enter Romi's room for 47 days. And now we are in this room and emotions are very, very high," he says. "But we are very optimistic that Romi will come back home. We are even convinced that Romi will be back home, alive."He holds up a picture of his younger self holding his daughter as a baby. The last time they spoke, the morning of Oct. 7, Romi, a dancer, was running for her life with her best friend Gaya, hiding in bushes, begging for rescue, as Hamas gunmen rampaged the outdoor party they attended. The whole time, Romi was on the phone with her family. After hours of hiding and the gunmen closing in, they managed to ping a colleague, Ben, who had also been at the party. He picked them up and tried to drive off, Gonen said. "They murdered Ben and Gaya who were sitting in the front seat. And this was online, live. We heard the shots," he said. "Romi was shot in the hand by a bullet. She was screaming. She was afraid. She basically said to her mother: 'I am going to die, today'."The last thing they heard, he said, was the attackers, in Arabic, saying, "She is alive, let's take her." Her phone was later traced and located in the Gaza Strip. The Hamas attack, in which Israel says 1,200 people were killed, sparked the nearly seven-week-old war in Gaza. Israel says its mission is to eradicate Hamas and return the roughly 240 hostages held in Gaza. Since then, more than 14,000 people have been killed in Israel's bombardment and ground attack, according to health authorities in the Hamas-ruled territory. Under Qatari mediation, Israel and Hamas have agreed to a temporary ceasefire during which some Gaza hostages will be repatriated in exchange for the release of three times the number of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. It has been delayed at least until Friday. But it remains unclear which hostages will be freed. Officials have said the focus is on the dozens of children and women. "We are confident with the Israel Defence Forces and the government of Israel that they are doing all they can to bring our Romi back home, and all the rest of the kidnapped," Gonen said. "I miss her voice. I miss her hugs. I miss the high energy. I miss the great vibes she brings to every place."

Susan Sarandon, Melissa Barrera dropped from Hollywood companies after comments on Israel-Hamas war
NEW YORK (AP)/November 23, 2023
Oscar-winning actor Susan Sarandon and “Scream” star Melissa Barrera were each dropped by Hollywood companies after making comments on the Israel-Hamas war that some deemed antisemitic. Spyglass Media Group, the production company behind the upcoming “Scream VII,” acknowledged Barrera's exit from the horror franchise. The Mexican-born actress, who starred in “In the Heights” and the two recent “Scream” installments, had posted statements on Instagram Stories calling the war “genocide and ethnic cleansing.”“Gaza,” she wrote, “is currently being treated like a concentration camp.”Spyglass said in a statement that its position “is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.”
Late Wednesday, Barrera posted a statement on Instagram Stories about her firing. “First and foremost I condemn antisemitism and Islamophobia. I condemn hate and prejudice of any kind against any group of people," she wrote. “I believe a group of people are NOT their leadership, and that no governing body should be above criticism," she added. “I pray day and night for no more deaths, for no more violence, and for peaceful co-existence. I will continue to speak out for those that need it most and continue to advocate for peace and safety, for human rights and freedom.”Earlier Wednesday, Deadline reported that Jenna Ortega, who played Barrera’s sister in the two previous “Scream” films, has exited the seventh installment. Ortega earlier departed the franchise because of her “Wednesday” schedule, the trade reported. A spokesperson for Ortega didn’t immediately respond to queries. A spokesman for the United Talent Agency said Sarandon, the five-time Oscar nominee, is no longer represented by the agency. Sarandon's exit from UTA followed comments she's made about Israel, most recently in an appearance Nov. 17 at a pro-Palestinian rally in New York. “There are a lot of people afraid of being Jewish at this time, and are getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country, so often subjected to violence," Sarandon said, according to the New York Post. The Post reported that Sarandon joined the crowd in chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” — a slogan some see as antisemitic because it suggests the eradication of Israel. Sarandon could not be reached for comment Wednesday. At the rally, she also was quoted as saying: “There’s a terrible thing that’s happened where antisemitism has been confused with speaking up against Israel. I am against antisemitism. I am against Islamophobia.” The Israel-Hamas war has caused rifts throughout Hollywood. Earlier, when many groups were issuing statements condemning Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the Writers Guild of America ultimately didn't after failing to come to an agreement. Maha Dakhil, a prominent agent with Creative Arts Agency, last month resigned her board seat after sharing a social media post accusing Israel of genocide. Dakhil apologized. Israel and Hamas on Wednesday agreed to a four-day cease-fire in the war in Gaza.

New attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria: US official
AFP/November 23, 2023
In the last 48 hours, US forces and the international coalition against the Islamic State group faced new attacks in Iraq and Syria involving drones and missiles. This follows US strikes that targeted Iran-affiliated fighters, as reported by a US military official on Thursday. On Wednesday, the US Central Command in the Middle East announced that it had conducted "precision strikes" on two locations in Iraq in response to repeated attacks by Iran-backed factions against US and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria. The US strikes targeted positions belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an alliance of armed factions integrated into the Iraqi regular forces. The raids resulted in the death of eight fighters, according to a statement by Kataeb Hezbollah, a prominent faction within the PMF. On both Wednesday and Thursday mornings, drones attacked "US and coalition forces" stationed at Erbil International Airport in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, according to a US military official cited by AFP.  The official added that the attacks did not cause "casualties or damage to infrastructure."Additionally, several drones targeted US and coalition forces at the Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq's Anbar province on Thursday. No injuries or damages were reported, according to the US military official. On the same day, "several rockets" struck a base in eastern Syria housing US military and coalition forces, causing no casualties or damages, the same official reported. "Islamic Resistance in Iraq" claimed responsibility for some of these attacks in statements posted on the Telegram app. Overall, Washington has recorded 72 attacks since October 17, ten days after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, according to an updated tally provided by the US military official. These missile and drone attacks have resulted in approximately sixty US military personnel being injured, according to the Pentagon. In response, the US has targeted Iranian-affiliated sites in Syria three times.

Two suspects detained in Istanbul on suspicion of spying for Israel
Arab News/November 23, 2023
ISTANBUL: Two suspects have been detained in Istanbul on suspicion of “military and political espionage” for Israeli intelligence. The suspects contacted Palestinian software engineer Omar A. on the pretext of doing business in Turkiye, it was reported on Thursday. The investigation was conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and was based on years-long scrutiny. It found that Raed Gazzal was working for a company linked to the Israeli Intelligence Service, and that Turkiye-based Palestinian software engineer Omar A. received a job offer from Gazzal. The suspects, Nikola Radonjic and Fouad Osama Fouad Hijaz, were identified as working for Israeli intelligence, and they came to Istanbul to meet Omar A. about the job offer. They transferred money into the Palestinian programmer’s account as a trial for the project they had prepared.
According to Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah, Omar, born in 1991, graduated from the Islamic University of Gaza’s Department of Computer Science. He also wrote a hacking program for Gaza Interior Ministry.
This program was reportedly able to hack into phones, and attracted Israel’s attention. He reportedly received several “suspicious” job offers, including from a Norwegian software company. Omar is considered to be one of the world’s best software developers and hackers. He moved to Istanbul from Cairo in March 2020 for work. He provided remote lessons in computer programming and software through the LinkedIn application. In Turkiye, he came under close surveillance by Mossad, whose operatives have tried to recruit him several times since April 2021 by sending different spies to Istanbul. The Israeli operatives reportedly tried to first take the young programmer to Europe and then smuggle him to the capital of Israel, Tel Aviv. Turkish National Intelligence intervened once it became clear that Omar would be smuggled abroad. Turkish authorities warned him not to leave the country. Omar decided to travel to Malaysia in September 2022 for 15 days, and Turkish intelligence again cautioned Omar over any suspicious job offer and put a tracking program on his phone. After Omar landed in Malaysia, it was reported that a team took him to a mountain house where they interrogated and tortured him. He was reportedly asked about the details of his computer programs and hacking system, and was interrogated about whether he was working with other computer programmers in Istanbul. After the intervention of Turkish intelligence, who accessed his coordinates from the program installed on his phone, the young Palestinian was rescued by Malaysian special teams. Those who had tortured and interrogated him were arrested in Malaysia. Following the joint operation, Turkish national intelligence, with the support of counter-terrorism teams in Istanbul, apprehended the other two Mossad operatives who had contacted Omar. Omar has reportedly been placed in a safe house under Turkish national intelligence control. In July, the Turkish national intelligence organization uncovered a Tel Aviv-operated spy ring with 56 members, including an Arab Israeli, Turkish nationals and Syrians. The seven operatives apprehended were reportedly tasked for working for Mossad by hacking phones, tracking vehicle movements through GPS and hacking into networks.  In May, Turkish intelligence arrested several Mossad operatives in Istanbul for spying on Iranian targets for Israel. The arrest decision coincided with Turkish and Israeli diplomatic ties hitting a new low amid the Gaza war, after both countries had agreed to reappoint ambassadors last year.

South Korea says Russian support likely enabled North Korea to launch spy satellite
Associated Press/November 23, 2023
South Korea has concluded that Russian support likely enabled North Korea to put a spy satellite into orbit for the first time this week, and it should be clear in several days whether it is functioning properly, officials said Thursday. The launch has deepened regional animosities, with both Koreas threatening to breach a past reconciliation deal and take hostile actions along their heavily armed border. After two launch failures earlier this year, North Korea said it successfully placed its "Malligyong-1" satellite into orbit on Tuesday night. South Korea's military has confirmed that the satellite entered orbit, but said it needs several more days to verify whether it is working properly. In a closed-door briefing, South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers on Thursday that Russian assistance was likely the main reason the launch was successful, according to lawmakers who attended the meeting.
The National Intelligence Service cited Russian President Vladimir Putin's earlier mention of a promise to support North Korea's satellite program. It said it also obtained intelligence that North Korea had sent Russia the design and other data for its new "Chollima-1" rocket used in the two previous failed launches. The intelligence showed that Russia returned its analysis of the North Korean data, according to lawmaker Yoo Sang-bum, who attended the NIS briefing. South Korean Defense Minister Shin Wonsik told a separate parliamentary committee meeting Thursday that Russia appears to have been providing technological assistance for North Korea's satellite program. The same satellite and rocket were used in all three launches. The two earlier attempts in May and August failed due to technical problems with the rocket.
There has been speculation that Russia is providing technological support for North Korea's satellite and other programs since leader Kim Jong Un traveled to Russia to meet Putin and visit key technology and military sites in September. The Kim-Putin summit was held at Russia's main space launch center.
Asked whether Russia would help North Korea build and launch satellites, Putin told Russian state media at the time that "that's why we have come here." "The (North Korean) leader shows keen interest in rocket technology. They're trying to develop space, too," Putin said. The U.S., South Korea and Japan accuse North Korea of seeking to obtain high-tech Russian military technologies in return for supplying conventional arms for Russia's war in Ukraine. Both Russia and North Korea have denied the alleged deal. North Korea said its Malligyong-1 satellite will begin its official mission on Dec. 1. But it said the satellite has already transmitted images of military facilities in the U.S. territory of Guam and that Kim saw them. North Korea hasn't released the images. Many foreign experts are skeptical about the satellite's ability to take high-resolution images and whether it is militarily meaningful. After recovering debris from the first failed launch attempt, South Korea's military said the satellite wasn't sophisticated enough to perform military reconnaissance. Defense Minister Shin said he worries that Russia could help North Korea produce higher-resolution satellite photos.
Shin said South Korean, U.S. and Japanese authorities will be able to determine whether the satellite is functioning normally as early as this weekend or early next week.
South Korea, the U.S. and Japan strongly condemned the satellite launch, saying North Korea is using it to improve its missile technology as well as acquire a space-based surveillance system. U.N. Security Council resolutions ban any satellite launches by North Korea, viewing them as disguised tests of long-range missile technology. North Korea says it has a sovereign right to launch spy satellites to cope with what it calls U.S.-led military threats. It says spy satellites would allow it to better monitor its rivals' moves and enhance the precision-strike capability of its nuclear-capable missiles.
In response to the satellite launch, South Korea said it has partially suspended a 2018 agreement to reduce tensions with North Korea and will resume flying surveillance aircraft and drones along their border. North Korea's Defense Ministry slammed the South Korean decision on Thursday, saying it will deploy more powerful weapons at the border in a tit-for-tat measure. It said it won't be bound by the 2018 deal any longer and will reverse all the steps it has taken to ease front-line military tensions under it. South Korea's military replied that it would "strongly punish" North Korea if it acts provocatively. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the sea on Wednesday, but the launch likely failed. It was North Korea's first known weapons launch in more than two months. Kim has publicly vowed to acquire spy satellites and other high-tech weapons systems. Since last year, North Korea has test-fired about 100 ballistic missiles in an effort to expand its nuclear arsenal. Experts say Kim ultimately wants to use his enlarged arsenal to wrest greater concessions from the United States if they resume diplomacy.

3 Ukrainians killed by Russian shelling, Russian journalist killed by drone
Associated Press/November 23, 2023
Russian shelling killed three civilians in southeastern regions of Ukraine, Kyiv authorities said Thursday, while a Russian television journalist was reported to have died from injuries he sustained in a Ukrainian drone attack. Southern Ukraine's Kherson region received eight nighttime artillery barrages, killing a 42-year-old man in his apartment building and wounding another man, the Ukrainian presidential office said. Russian shelling also killed two people in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, the office said. It was not possible to independently verify the reports. Long-range Russian shelling that hits civilian areas has been a hallmark of Moscow's 21-month war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russian state media reported that TV journalist Boris Maksudov died after being wounded in a drone attack while working in southern Ukraine's Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region. Maksudov, who worked for Russian state television channel Russia 24, was hit Wednesday while working on a story about Ukraine allegedly shelling civilians, according to Russia's Ministry of Defense. Zaporizhzhia is one of the four Ukrainian regions that Russia illegally annexed last year. A stepped-up Russian bombardment of civilian infrastructure has prompted Ukraine and its Western allies to beef up air defense systems. Officials fear the Kremlin's forces will repeat their aerial attacks on the Ukrainian power grid this winter in an effort to break the country's will. The grid is already showing signs of strain. Ukrainian national electricity operator Ukrenergo reported an energy deficit Wednesday due to a steep rise in consumption caused by a drop in temperatures after a spell of mild weather, a company statement said. Ukrenergo asked system operators in Romania, Slovakia and Poland to provide emergency assistance. At a meeting Wednesday of some 50 countries supporting Ukraine's war effort, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said they were placing extra emphasis on ground-based air defense, with Germany and France leading the European effort to furnish equipment. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a Telegram post that "Ukraine's sky shield is getting more powerful literally every month."

The Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 23-24/2023
Islam vs. The West: Conflict Unfortunately Seems Inevitable
Drieu Godefridi/Gatestone Institute/November 23, 2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/124599/124599/
To many on the so-called "Left", it sometimes appears as if there is no insurmountable conflict between Islam and the West, or between any differing cultures, just old bits of conflict inherited from an obscure past, which will eventually be overcome by greater material equality.
This thesis, which is in fact Marxist — wherein any conflict is always caused by unequal material situations — also is based more on wishful thinking than on historical evidence. Muslims do not massacre Christians, Jews and Hindus because they are richer, but because they are non-Muslims. At least, that is what many mass murderers have been stating for more than ten centuries...
The "clash of civilizations" seems to be about religion, a topic that many in the West thought had been put to bed ages ago.
The "no-go" Islamic zones in Europe, the attacks on 9/11, London's 7/7 attacks... the murder of Theo Van Gogh, the massacre at the Bataclan, the constant censorship (blasphemy laws), and more: a brief look at recent history of the immigrants bears witness to what seems a pervasive inability, or lack of desire, to adapt to the values of their new host countries.
That, sadly, may be one of the reasons multiculturalism in the West has been such a failure -- a failure of the West. When westerners stopped having children, they started importing people en masse, indiscriminately, as if people were all the same. People are not all the same. Many Muslims, or at least a significant proportion of them, seem to have no intention of integrating, or of discarding the values they brought with them, which they appear to prefer to Western values.
Muslims do not massacre Christians, Jews and Hindus because they are richer, but because they are non-Muslims. At least, that is what many mass murderers have been stating for more than ten centuries. The "clash of civilizations" seems to be about religion, a topic that many in the West thought had been put to bed ages ago.
Samuel Huntington's insight into the clash of civilizations is brilliant and true, but a few details in his thesis might benefit from a bit of updating. Moreover, some of his critics, especially on the "Left", might wish to rethink a few of their "conclusions".
According to Huntington, since 1989 the clash between civilizations has been essentially cultural, rather than economic or political. The collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 marked the transition from a world dominated by ideological oppositions -- between communism and capitalism, imperialism and its counter-movement -- to an era of cultural divergence, with the international political scene simultaneously verging on the multipolar and multicultural.
Huntington, in support of his conjecture, explained that the decadence of ideologies has coincided with a revival of aspirations to identity, both in the Muslim world, which has witnessed a revitalization of radical Islam, in Asia, and in Eastern Europe, such as Poland, where revolutions took place in tune with their national and cultural heritage.
Huntington's thesis of a "clash of civilizations" has been shown to be true. The opposition between Islam and the West is an obvious example; the uninterrupted massacre of Christians by Muslims is another, and the re-awakening of China and Chinese cultural pride is a third. From this point of view, Huntington is right: we live in a world structured by tensions between profoundly divergent cultures.
Huntington, however, may have overlooked that the core of the global economic and cultural world is Western. The globalization of trade has not taken place by using categories and means that are equally derived from different civilizations, as if each culture had contributed its share. Even though China and Egypt were trading before there was a 'West', modern globalization is based solely on the categories, modes and means of Western civilization, down to the smallest detail. To take just one example, the new generation of Russian or Chinese international action films is a simple iteration of the Hollywood concept, with an absence of local specificity that can be embarrassing and does not do justice to the three thousand years of the rich and specific Chinese culture. Other Chinese films, however such as those by Zhang Yimou and others, are glories of which China should be immensely proud.
It is not true, therefore, that the world is divided up between different civilizations, as we would speak of equal, or even unequal, partners, like parts of a cake, one with pineapple, the other with strawberry. The common language of this world, which is indeed fragmented for the most part, still seems strictly Western. Perhaps that is one of the reasons Communist China's President Xi Jinping would openly like to upend it.
This circumstance does not alter the truth of Huntington's findings, which lie in what the ancient Greeks called the antagonistic, or oppositional, character of the world. The ancient Greek world was defined as much by the conflict between cities as by the commonality of its culture.
To many on the so-called "Left", it sometimes appears as if there is no insurmountable conflict between Islam and the West, or between any differing cultures, just old bits of conflict inherited from an obscure past, which will eventually be overcome by greater material equality.
This thesis, which is in fact Marxist — wherein any conflict is always caused by unequal material situations — also is based more on wishful thinking than on historical evidence. Muslims do not massacre Christians, Jews and Hindus because they are richer, but because they are non-Muslims. At least, that is what many mass murderers have been stating for more than ten centuries, starting with the Quran:
"But once the Sacred Months have passed, kill the polytheists ˹who violated their treaties˺ wherever you find them, capture them, besiege them, and lie in wait for them on every way. But if they repent, perform prayers, and pay alms-tax, then set them free. Indeed, Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful." – Surat At-Tawbah, 9:5
In his book Histoire de l'Inde, Alain Danielou writes:
"From the time Muslims started arriving [in India], around 632 AD, the history of India becomes a long, monotonous series of murders, massacres, spoliations, and destructions. It is, as usual, in the name of 'a holy war' of their faith, of their sole God, that the barbarians have destroyed civilizations, wiped out entire races."
Perhaps we should finally listen to them? Give them credit for honesty? Read the fiqh, the legal schools of Islam, where all agree on celebrating the future hegemony of Islam. It is hard to argue that Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which are extremely rich, are motivated by envy. The economic, Marxist thesis, which has been discredited by history, is now only being bandied about by the Left. The "clash of civilizations" seems to be about religion, a topic that many in the West thought had been put to bed ages ago.
To return to Huntington's thesis, the values of Islam and those of the West, unfortunately, do appear irreconcilable. Even if the Arab, Turkish and Persian Muslim worlds have been welcomed into the Western culture, many of those immigrants to the West retain their own Islamic identity, which they apparently do not intend to dim or negotiate, as can be seen from Europe's many "no-go zones".
This movement to "return to true Islam" seems, sometimes, an illusion. Without oil and gas, in today's world Islam is, sadly, often a religion of poverty, misery and defeats. There may be a wish to "return" to the old Islam, but what we are witnessing is the galvanization of an idealized vision of the old Islam, the Islam of the first conquest, the Islam of the Taj Mahal, the Alhambra and the Ottoman Empire.
Even this reinvention of radical Islam, however, seems radically incompatible with the West. The "no-go" Islamic zones in Europe (here, here and here), the attacks on 9/11, London's 7/7 attacks , Berlin's Christmas Market terror attack, the violence triggered by the Muhammad cartoons, the slaughter at Charlie Hebdo, the murder of Theo Van Gogh, the massacre at the Bataclan, the constant censorship (blasphemy laws), and more: a brief look at recent history of the immigrants bears witness to what seems a pervasive inability, or lack of desire, to adapt to the values of their new host countries.
That, sadly, may be one of the reasons multiculturalism in the West has been such a failure -- a failure of the West. When westerners stopped having children, they started importing people en masse, indiscriminately, as if people were all the same. People are not all the same. Many Muslims, or at least a significant proportion of them, seem to have no intention of integrating, or of discarding the values they brought with them, which they appear to prefer to Western values.
There are 45 million Muslims in Europe. Some have chosen and will choose the West. Others -- possibly the vast majority – will, in the event of conflict, remain faithful to Islam at the moment of truth.
**Drieu Godefridi is a jurist (University Saint-Louis, University of Louvain), philosopher (University Saint-Louis, University of Louvain) and PhD in legal theory (Paris IV-Sorbonne). He is an entrepreneur, CEO of a European private education group and director of PAN Medias Group. He is the author of The Green Reich (2020).
© 2023 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20173/islam-vs-west-conflict

The US may no longer be able to fight more than one major war at a time
Tom Porter/Business Insider/ November 23, 2023
During the Cold War, the US had the capacity to fight two wars simultaneously.
Amid rising global conflict, US military planning is again under scrutiny.
An analyst told Business Insider that US had shifted its doctrine in response to new threats. At the summit of US power, the Pentagon had a clear task: ensure the US could fight and win against two adversaries at the same time.
That strategy enabled America to deter the Soviet Union and its allies and emerge triumphant from the decades-long Cold War. It then fought in Afghanistan and Iraq simultaneously in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. But a recent proliferation in threats facing the US, ranging from terror groups to a resurgent China, has prompted a rethink.
A shift after the Soviet collapse
US Army Iraq
US Army 3rd Division 3-7 Bradley fighting vehicles took up a position along a road on March 19, 2003, inside the demilitarized zone between Kuwait and Iraq.Scott Nelson
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the US cut its military spending with the world seemingly headed toward a new era of stability.
The Pentagon retained the ability to battle two adversaries at once, a capacity tested after the 9/11 terror attacks when the US invaded Afghanistan and Iraq in a bid to reshape the region and reduce the threat of Islamist militants. But toward the end of the 2000s, the US faced daunting new threats, and Pentagon officials began redrawing their plans.
The threat from China and Russia
Chinese army
Chinese soldiers practice marching in formation ahead of military parade to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China ON September 25, 2019 in Beijing, China.Pool
Now, the Pentagon faces the possibility of war with resurgent major powers Russia and China which can deploy huge militaries and sophisticated weapons.
Over the past decade, both have signaled their hostility to the US' global dominance, and their willingness to extend their power by force, with Russia waging a campaign to conquer US ally Ukraine and China menacing Taiwan with invasion.
They've made the prospect of the US triumphing in two simultaneous conflicts increasingly improbable, unless it massively increases its defense spending and expands its military, Raphael Cohen, an analyst with the RAND Corporation think tank told BI.
"That's going to be a hard sell in this political climate," said Cohen.
"Fighting two wars simultaneously: That's a fairly sizable commitment, particularly once powers become on the scale of China or Russia," he continued.
A new doctrine
The US military had been stretched when fighting at the same time in Afghanistan and Iraq. It prompted a 2009 rethink of US military doctrine under President Barack Obama that was rubber-stamped by then-President Donald Trump and later President Joe Biden. Instead of winning two wars, it's now committed to being able to win against one major adversary such as China, and to present a serious deterrent to attacks from other enemies, Cohen said. The Pentagon's 2022 US National Defense Strategy, the most recent, commits the US to being able to "prevail in conflict" yet still "deter opportunistic aggression elsewhere."In planning for the possibility of a new world war, the US must look at the global picture.
The US has long relied on its enemies being divided, and unlikely to join forces to attack the US simultaneously. But China, Russia, Iran, and other US adversaries are drawing closer together, sharing weapons technology and drawing up new alliances, magnifying their threat. In a worst-case scenario in which various nation-state adversaries of the US attacked simultaneously, the US would likely be fighting alongside its allies in various regions. European allies could help to push back Russia, allies in the Middle East, such as Israel or some Arab states, would fight against Iran, while US allies in the Pacific region, such as Australia and Japan, would likely play an important role in repelling Chinese aggression, said Cohen. The Ukraine war is providing important new lessons to the US in what it and its allies need to do to prepare for this scenario, said Cohen.
For example, both Russia and Ukraine have burned through vast amounts of ammunition in the conflict, highlighting the need for the US to increase defense industrial capacities to support allies. "That's still an expensive proposition," but one less expensive than vastly expanding the US military, said Cohen.
Planning to counter today's threats, said Cohen, comes down not just to military might, but to political will and the careful cultivation of alliances. "If there's a World War, you know, it won't be the sort of single-handed conflicts that we've sort of gotten used to," he said.

How a diplomatic paradigm shift could bring peace
Mohammed Abu Dalhoum/Arab News/November 23, 2023
After nearly seven weeks of war, a breakthrough finally arrived with the four-day temporary pause that was announced by Israel and Hamas on Wednesday. This truce is a reduced version of what Hamas implied when it released two hostages a month ago.
The release of Yokheved Lifshitz and Nurit Yitzhak on Oct. 20 happened “under humanitarian grounds” and was “mediated” by Qatar, as indicated by Hamas. This was a message from Hamas that it wanted to negotiate, what it wanted to negotiate on and who it wanted to be represented by at the table.
It took the international community a month to give those messages their necessary weight. While Hamas would not have been very bothered without a truce, given the minimal damage it has suffered, the same cannot be said for Gaza’s civilians, who face an existential fate — a matter of life and death.
Maintaining the truce or extending it will require tremendous efforts from the international community. Since the start of this war, the international community has been divided between two poles: a humanist duty to stop the death toll among Palestinian civilians and a political objective to dismantle Hamas and eliminate the threat it poses to Israel.
The decision by Western governments to overlook their values, diminish citizens’ rights and disregard the finding of the truth was the product of a failing, centralized foreign policy-making framework, which afforded Israel unwavering support and placed blind trust in a state that had little incentive to abide by international laws. This is indicative of a framework that relies on amplified inputs solicited from one side of the conflict, while overlooking the other. Often, this framework undermines states’ own objectives, especially as many have vested interests, and demonstrated action, in attending to the needs of both the conflicting parties. For instance, the US attempts to maintain a double-pivot, balanced stance in the conflict. It remains Israel’s biggest supporter, but it also provides significant humanitarian aid to Palestinians, averaging $600 million per year.
Despite America’s humanitarian support to the Palestinians, Jordanian public opinion — as indicated by early results from a poll currently being conducted by NAMA Strategic Intelligence Solutions — does not perceive the US as a major aid provider to the Palestinians. Instead, the prevailing belief is that Washington takes a fully pro-Israel stance. Secretary of State Antony Blinken last month attempted to illustrate the US’ dual position in an op-ed for The Washington Post that was titled “Defending Israel is essential. So is aiding civilians in Gaza.” However, the statements he had earlier made in Israel, where he identified himself “as secretary of state, as a Jew, as a husband and a father,” deviated from that impartial position. Granted, Blinken has the right to identify himself in that manner, but the Palestinians also deserve a similar level of understanding, compassion and representation.
Urging representatives to be unbiased is not realistic, especially in the context of this particular conflict. One single mediator cannot possibly represent both sides of a conflict, at least not this one. Even for impartial bodies such as the UN, the use of one special representative, or an envoy, to mediate between conflicting parties does not enjoy an attractive record of success. It only takes one party to perceive a mere iota of bias to render the envoy’s efforts inept.
Hence, to address the challenges of this framework, fundamental reform is necessary. Such a paradigm shift ought to begin with depersonalizing foreign policy-making, with the aim of representing the interests of conflicting parties through different individuals, whose biases can be seen as valuable assets.
The key is to acknowledge that biases — all biases — can be constructive and should be taken into account. Therefore, rather than entrusting one representative with the impossible responsibility of acting impartially, the use of two envoys can effectively navigate this challenge, especially for states that believe in the two-state solution. In the case of the US, a proponent of the two-state solution and a proven supporter of both the Palestinians and the Israelis, such a revamped framework would not only be consistent with its foreign policy priorities and its stance in the conflict, but it would also spare it the challenge of balancing all the internal and external pressures. A twofold stance, which ought to be the prime objective of an institutional mediator, should be mirrored by the use of two envoys, who can then convey inputs and feedback to and from the centralized decision-maker.
The current framework relies on amplified inputs solicited from one side of the conflict, while overlooking the other. In the context of the US, there are many distinguished Arab Americans who hold key political and diplomatic positions, such as Hady Amr, the current State Department special representative for Palestinian affairs. Amplifying the role of someone of that caliber and profile to represent the pro-Palestine component of the US’ twofold stance would likely be embraced by Palestinians and Arabs.When a group is represented by one of its own, their sense of affinity, understanding and trust is strengthened, knowing that their best interest is safeguarded. Once they feel adequately represented in such a manner, they are more likely to consider alternative solutions to their primary demands, transforming a fundamentally zero-sum conflict into a situation conducive to win-win outcomes.
This principle holds true for the two-state solution, which is the best win-win scenario brought to the table thus far. The success of a two-envoy effort hinges on the ability of the unitary decision-maker to consider both inputs equally. If and when a group’s interests or suffering are to be deemed more important than the other, then there is no discussion to be had and no resolution will ever be achieved.
*Mohammed Abu Dalhoum is the president of MENAACTION and a senior research analyst at NAMA Strategic Intelligence Solutions.

Argentina set for foreign policy shift under radical new president
Dr. Amal Mudallali/Arab News/November 23, 2023
Argentina on Sunday chose a new president and a new course, pivoting away from decades of Peronist policy domestically and, if new president-elect Javier Milei sticks to his campaign rhetoric, toward a new neighborhood policy that might jolt Latin America and a new foreign policy in the Middle East and toward China. The results of the presidential election runoff were not surprising, knowing the depth of the anger of the electorate at the economic crisis in the country. Inflation has hit 140 percent and poverty affects 40 percent of the population, while a $44 billion debt program with the International Monetary Fund did not even scratch the surface of solving the problems of Argentina. People wanted and demanded change, even if it came in the form of a right-wing populist and self-described “anarcho-capitalist,” who even brandished a chainsaw during the election campaign, vowing to cut the government down to size. An economist and former TV personality, Milei won with 56 percent of the vote, compared to the 44 percent of his opponent, the current Economy Minister Sergio Massa. He promised Argentines that there is “no room for lukewarm measures” and vowed to purge the government of corrupt establishment politicians. His platform is very radical even for Argentines, who are willing to forgive his style for the sake of change and a new beginning. He has said he will dollarize the economy, abandoning the national currency, the peso; eliminate the central bank; shut down the ministries of education and health; privatize the state-controlled energy firm YPF, after making it better to get a good price; and privatize the state-owned media, which he described as “a covert ministry of propaganda” as it gave him negative coverage during the campaign. Sound familiar?
The incoming Argentine president is an admirer of former American President Donald Trump and some see a resemblance between them, including the mop of hair. He is even referred to as the “Trump of Argentina.” He is also a friend of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and both congratulated him, with Trump telling Milei: “You will make Argentina great again.” Bolsonaro said: “You represent a lot for Brazil.”
However, Argentina’s relationships with its two largest trading partners, Brazil and China, seem to be heading into uncharted waters with Milei’s presidency. During his campaign, he attacked Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, calling him an “angry communist” and a “socialist with a totalitarian vocation,” prompting a Brazilian official to demand an apology before any talks between the two leaders can start.
The president-elect softened his position on some domestic measures in the last days of the campaign, such as retreating from his vow to abolish the ministries of education and health, signaling that reality might sink in and a more pragmatic approach might be contemplated, especially as his party does not control the Congress and he cannot pass any of his promised measures without its approval.
The question is though, how will he handle his relationship with Brazil, or any of his Latin American neighbors, especially since some of them did not hide their disappointment at his election?
The biggest change from Argentina’s previous policies is predicted to be in his China policy. The president-elect advocated during the campaign breaking off relations with Beijing in favor of ties with “the civilized side of the world,” meaning the West. His Middle East policy might also bring a sea change to Argentina’s traditional policy for the region. China is the second-largest trading partner of Argentina and their relationship has warmed recently, with Beijing investing billions of dollars in projects in different sectors of the economy. China even helped the country avoid default by offering a $6.5 billion loan to help it make its debt payments one month before the elections, according to Bloomberg.
The growing relationship between Argentina and China was a matter of concern in Washington, especially after Buenos Aires joined the Belt and Road Initiative in 2022 and accepted the invitation to join BRICS next year.
The Chinese have expanded their influence in Latin America with the billions invested in the region through its Belt and Road Initiative. Seven countries in South America were participating in the initiative as of 2022, with projects ranging from the construction of infrastructure to energy, challenging the US in its backyard. According to World Economic Forum figures, trade between China and Latin America grew 26-fold between 2000 and 2020, increasing from $12 billion to $315 billion. It is expected to double by 2035, reaching more than $700 billion, which is about the same as the current trade between China and the US. According to the House Foreign Affairs Committee website on China’s influence in South America, in 2021 alone, Chinese state-owned companies “funded $11.3 billion worth of projects in South American countries.” But the committee adds that the “US still provides more foreign direct investment in Argentina than any other country, totaling $131.6 billion in the past decade.”
Other Chinese projects in Argentina have added to the anxiety in Washington, such as talks on setting up a port in the southern Tierra del Fuego province, as well as the satellite tracking station in Patagonia that Reuters has referred to as a Chinese “military-run space station” and a “black box.”
Washington was not a mere spectator in all of this. It has continued to seek close relations with Argentina to counter China’s influence. Argentine President Alberto Fernandez visited Washington earlier this year and, after a visit to Argentina, Colombia and Brazil by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, these countries all signed NASA’s Artemis Accords. Nelson was clear when he talked about the motive, as he noted “all of these countries have had entreaties from the Chinese government.” And, with Argentina in particular, he said the US wanted to “keep the ties, the information, flowing between our two countries.”
Milei might try to decouple from China, as he promised, but experts echo what a Chinese spokesman said after the elections — that such a move would be “a serious mistake” on Argentina’s part.
Both the US and China today need Argentina for a precious resource: lithium, which they need because it is essential for electric cars and the energy transition. Argentina has one of the world’s largest lithium reserves and it needs trading partners to get out of its economic crisis. Milei might soon learn that it is better for Argentina to keep all its options open. Milei’s platform is very radical even for Argentines, who are willing to forgive his style for the sake of change.
Meanwhile, Argentina’s Middle East policy appears to be heading for a sharp turn toward Israel. Milei reportedly said that he plans to travel to the US and Israel before he takes office on Dec. 10. American and Israeli media outlets have written about his close ties to rabbis in Miami and New York, as well as his spiritual attachment to and his admiration of Israel. He has reportedly considered converting to Judaism and has supported Israel’s right to self-defense during its attack on Gaza. He has often waved Israeli flags at his campaign rallies. He has previously said he wants to move the Argentine Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, following in Trump’s footsteps, according to Politico. With Argentina’s turn to the right, the great power competition between China and the US is reminding people that America never likes to be challenged in its backyard. During their last debate, Republican presidential hopefuls spoke about reviving the Monroe Doctrine, which holds that any intervention in the political affairs of the Americas by foreign powers is a potentially hostile act. The Dallas Morning News warned that “reviving the Monroe doctrine is a dangerous idea” and cautioned that the Republican candidates’ posturing “will push Latin America into China’s arms.” Countering China’s influence is a bipartisan issue in Washington and Latin America will find that out soon.
*Dr. Amal Mudallali is a consultant on global issues. She is a former Lebanese ambassador to the UN.

Shared US-China interests likely to prevent decoupling
Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/November 23, 2023
The list of US business executives attending last week’s dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping could not have been more impressive. It included Tim Cook of Apple, Stephen Schwarzman of the Blackstone Group, Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio, Robert Goldstein of BlackRock and Joseph Bae of KKR, to name just a few. These are companies that have revenues that exceed the gross domestic product of entire regions. They have global impacts and influence. Despite the daily dose of news stating that US-China relations are deteriorating, this gathering tells a different story. The sheer economic power of these businessmen raises the question: Can the US and China really divorce? Are they not too interconnected to go through a full decoupling? Has Henry Kissinger not succeeded in making war impossible?
The US-China marriage will always be associated with Kissinger. In 1971, he became the first high-ranking US official to visit China. As national security adviser, his secret meetings paved the way for then-US President Richard Nixon to visit the following year. What followed perhaps became key to the collapse of the Soviet Union and economic prosperity for China and the West. It allowed the emergence of China as an economic and political superpower.
The US and China have been great trade partners ever since. US goods and services trade with China totaled an estimated $758.4 billion in 2022. Exports were $195.5 billion, while imports were $562.9 billion. The US goods and services trade deficit with China was $367.4 billion in 2022. This does not include financial instruments and, here too, there are great links. Tougher global economic conditions, along with increasing regional conflicts, have strained the relationship
Nevertheless, there have been many worsening signs geopolitically in recent years. Tougher global economic conditions, along with increasing regional conflicts, have strained the relationship. The discussions of decoupling following the COVID-19 pandemic arose from the realization of just how reliant on China Western economies had become. The past year has seen mutual economic trade-related restrictions and sanctions, which have been interpreted as warning signs of an inevitable broader confrontation. Indeed, US President Joe Biden signed an executive order in the summer aimed at restricting American investments into Chinese semiconductor, quantum computing and artificial intelligence companies over national security concerns. And Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who attended last week’s dinner, has stated that US companies have complained to her that China has become “uninvestible,” pointing to fines, raids and other actions that have made it risky to do business in the world’s second-largest economy. However, the overwhelming sentiment when reading news of last week’s meeting is that US executives are still eager to do business in China and that no such complaints will make a difference.
So, President Xi’s visit to San Francisco for a China-US summit and the 30th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum leaders’ meeting at Biden’s invitation had the objective, according to the US president, of restoring normal communications with Beijing, including military-to-military contacts.
On this occasion, San Francisco, which has become known for its homelessness problem, was cleaned up by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who, along with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, greeted the Chinese leader as he exited his plane. This welcoming committee says a lot. First, Newsom is rumored by several media outlets to be preparing his candidacy for the Democratic primaries. Then, Yellen was present while China’s stash of US treasuries dropped to $821.8 billion, the lowest since May 2009. The overwhelming sentiment of last week’s meeting is that US executives are still eager to do business in China
There were many signals within this visit. One thing that was made clear — as emphasized by the presence of the business titans at the meeting — was that the two sides have too many interdependencies and shared interests to ignore. This does not mean that there will not be efforts to rebalance the supply chain toward countries other than China. But none of these executives want to be forced to replace all their suppliers from China and, despite current challenges, be kept out of the domestic Chinese market.
Raytheon head Gregory Hayes declared in June that, while it is possible to reduce the risks associated with China, complete separation is not a viable option. He added that, if Raytheon — a leading US aerospace and defense company — had to pull out of China, it would take many years to reestablish that capability either domestically or in other friendly countries.
If a company like Raytheon cannot decouple from China, why and how would any other business do so? And, in case of war with China, how is this viable? Hayes’ declaration indicates that the industrial capacity of China has a clear advantage over the US and the entire West. This conveys the same message as the strong executive presence in honor of Xi, which clearly emphasizes the importance of avoiding confrontation between the US and China and having stable bilateral relations.
In July, when Kissinger visited China, Xi extended a warm welcome to the former US secretary of state. During his visit, Kissinger met with China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, and Defense Minister Li Shangfu. Kissinger foresaw during his first visit that China’s growth story and strong trade links with the US would make war impossible. We are now witnessing these ties and the wealth created on both sides acting as real deterrents to an escalation. Perhaps his visit in 2023 will serve as a renewed agreement that acknowledges China’s new dimension.
*Khaled Abou Zahr is the founder of SpaceQuest Ventures, a space-focused investment platform. He is chief executive of EurabiaMedia and editor of Al-Watan Al-Arabi.

Cost of global inaction on Sudan could be extremely high
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/November 23, 2023
In the seven months since the conflict in Sudan broke out between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces militia, the tensions and fighting have continued to escalate and there remains no resolution in sight. The continuation and cumulative impact of the war could have several devastating consequences that may last for generations. The conflict as it has played out so far has revealed that the likelihood of either warring party completely defeating the other and taking control of all territory in the country is extremely slim. This is the conclusion after the two sides’ respective military capabilities, the nature of the war and logistical issues are taken into consideration.
This leads us to the fact that the failure to end the war will only deepen divisions in Sudan, further tear the country apart, increase hatred and inflict more suffering and pain on ordinary people.
In addition, due to the nature of the conflict, it was evident from the outset that its escalation was not going to be confined to certain areas in Sudan. At the beginning of the war, the fighting was largely concentrated around the capital, Khartoum, and Darfur, but it soon spread to other areas in the country. Recently, the war has spread even further, affecting the Gezira, White Nile and West Kordofan states.
This situation undoubtedly exposes innocent civilians, medical staff and humanitarian workers to greater risk
This situation undoubtedly exposes innocent civilians, medical staff and humanitarian workers to greater risk, as indiscriminate attacks will continue to rise. The war between the army and paramilitaries has already left more than 9,000 people dead, while nearly 25 million people are currently in need of humanitarian aid and women and girls have been subjected to sexual violence, such as rape. In addition, about 7.1 million people are displaced, making this the largest domestic displacement crisis in the world.
It should be noted that Sudan was already a fragile state even before the war began in April and, in fact, it had been ever since it became independent in 1956. This means that the odds of Sudan officially becoming a failed state are high. In other words, Sudan might experience what Somalia went through between 1990 and 1992. There, as factional fighting intensified, the rule of law collapsed and Somalia officially became a failed state. It took nearly two decades before a central government was formed again. Rebuilding the country will most likely take decades.
There is also the possibility that the continuation of the war in Sudan will create a situation where the warring parties will settle down in different regions and announce themselves as the official government of Sudan. This would lead to a country with several governments, meaning Sudan would lose its ability to function properly, provide social services, effectively manage the country’s affairs and even receive international recognition. Another consequence of a long war in Sudan is that ethnic violence might escalate. There is also the possibly of a large-scale genocide — an intent to destroy an ethnic, racial, religious or national group — taking place.
Darfur, a region in western Sudan, is particularly vulnerable when it comes to ethnic cleansing. The Masalit, the largest local ethnic group, is primarily based in the capital of West Darfur, Geneina. It is important to point out that, nearly two decades ago, Darfur witnessed one of the world’s most horrific instances of ethnic cleansing, as hundreds of thousands of people were killed and millions fled for their safety amid fighting between rebel groups and a militia known as the Janjaweed.
Sudan is in a very vulnerable position when it comes to civil wars and being exploited by terror groups
There have already been reports and evidence of brutal ethnic violence, such as the discovery of a mass grave outside Geneina that contained the bodies of 87 ethnic Masalit. The EU issued a statement this month, pointing out that there were “credible eyewitness reports (that) more than 1,000 members of the Masalit community were killed in Ardamta, West Darfur, in just over two days.” And the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell added: “These latest atrocities are seemingly part of a wider ethnic cleansing campaign.”
An intensified war in Sudan could also spill over to other countries, some of which are particularly prone to civil wars, are chaos-stricken and are already suffering from economic stagnation and poverty. This could have severe repercussions for the entire Horn of Africa. Sudan shares borders with seven countries: Libya, Egypt, Chad, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea. The total disintegration and collapse of the state in Sudan would not only be a significant threat to the Sudanese people, but it would also threaten these neighboring countries, as well as regional and global security and stability.
The continuation of the war in Sudan could also provide a ripe environment for terror groups to emerge, mobilize, recruit new members, grow and gain power. Sudan, in particular, is in a very vulnerable position when it comes to civil wars and being exploited by terror groups due to its socioeconomic status, its lack of a powerful security apparatus, its widespread poverty and its location and geography.
In conclusion, the international community must wake up and prevent Sudan from becoming a failed state, stop ethnic-based and gender-based violence and prevent the country from experiencing yet another large-scale genocide. Action needs to be taken immediately because the alternatives are much more catastrophic.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. X: @Dr_Rafizadeh