Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 26-27/2023
Sunday Quote of the Day: Mother Teresa's Favorite - Found written on the wall in /Mother Teresa's home for children in Calcutta.
Al-Rahi warns against harming 'army’s unity and stability'
Al-Rahi to officials: We do not accept continuing to violate the constitution at the expense of institutions while you do not intentionally elect a...
Bishop Aoudi: We stress the importance of the role of our army and the necessity of rallying around it and not tampering with everything related to it because it is the last pillar standing.
Le Drian to meet Wednesday with Berri and Mikati
UNIFIL says Israeli gunfire hit one of its patrols
Lebanese return to find bombed-out houses near Israel border
Kaouk: Israel's defeat in Gaza, a testament to unyielding resistance
Mikati: We do not want war and we seek peace, but at the same time we do not want anyone to desecrate Lebanese land
Presidential file: Qatar's special envoy discusses Lebanese presidential crisis in recent Beirut visit
MP Ghada Ayoub supports Army Commander’s term extension, advocates for Resolution 1701 implemenation
Lebanese Banking Reform Draft: Banks Oppose Foreign Branch References and Deposit Recovery Provisions
Skaf: I expect that Israel will expand its ground operation towards Lebanon, establish a buffer zone
Is Lebanon’s UN Resolution 1701 still applicable today?/Adnan Nasser/The National/November 26/2023

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 26-27/2023
Syria says an Israeli airstrike hit the Damascus airport and put it out of service
Gaza truce back on track after hourslong delay in 2nd hostage-for-prisoner swap
Israeli forces kill at least 8 Palestinians in surging West Bank violence
Hamas releases third group of hostages in Gaza as part of truce
Frankly Speaking: How challenging is Gaza humanitarian aid delivery?
Tea in the moonlight as truce brings respite but not normality for Gazans
Biden Indicates ‘Genuine Possibilities’ for Prolonging Gaza Ceasefire
The ceasefire in Gaza continues into its second day, with further exchanges of hostages planned and essential supplies being distributed
Qatari and Egyptian mediators bridge Gaza truce implementation gaps
Hamas announces release of a Russian hostage, hands him over to Red Cross
Netanyahu's Gaza Visit: Pledges Persistence Until Victory
As Ceasefire Sets In, Hamas and Israel Proceed with Prisoner Swap
Gaza’s Landscape Resembles a Lunar Terrain, Raising Concerns About Its Future Habitability Post-War
Characteristics of the Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement
4-year-old Israeli American hostage is released
Israel's use of 'really big' bombs to strike tiny Gaza Strip might only compare to Vietnam or World War II, military analyst says
Egypt’s foreign minister begins tour that includes Spain, US in push to end Gaza violence
Israel's Mossad hosts Qatari counterparts on Gaza talks -official
Qatar says location of Hamas leader thought to have planned Oct. 7 attack is unknown
Human Rights Watch says rocket misfire likely cause of deadly Gaza hospital blast
"Wall Street Journal": Possibility of extending temporary truce in Gaza for another four days
El-Sisi: I thank the Emir of the State of Qatar for his efforts that integrated with Egyptian efforts to complete the humanitarian truce in Gaza
Israel-linked tanker seized off Yemen: US official
Russia offered to end its invasion of Ukraine if it dumped plans to join NATO, but Kyiv feared a double-cross, says negotiator
Russian forces are crashing headlong into another city using some of the same catastrophic tactics that bloodied its army in Bakhmut
Drought Imposes Restrictions on Water Use for Agriculture in Iraq: Organization

Titles For The Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 26-27/2023
Hostage Taking, Hostage States and Human Shields/Charles Elias Chartouni/November 26/2023
Don't Dismiss Trump II/Amir Taheri/Gatestone Institute/November 26, 2023
Israel’s ‘White Knight’ Strategy/Raymond Ibrahim/November 26, 2023
Rousing the sleeping giant of climate philanthropy/Badr Jafar/Arab News/November 26, 2023
Biden About To Betray Israel?/Con Coughlin/Gatestone Institute/November 26, 2023

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 26-27/2023
Sunday Quote of the Day: Mother Teresa's Favorite - Found written on the wall in Mother Teresa's home for children in Calcutta.
“People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies. Succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you. Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight. Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God. It was never between you and them anyway.”
*Posted on the Facebook by Eblan Farris
*Mother Teresa

Al-Rahi warns against harming 'army’s unity and stability'
Naharnet/November 26/2023
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday voiced rejection of “confining the election of a president to a person, a project or an influence-related motive.”Moreover, al-Rahi said he does not accept any attempt to “harm the army’s unity and stability and its confidence in itself and in its command, especially that the country and its security are on the mouth of a volcano.” “The constitution in its 49th article stipulates that ‘the president of the republic is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces,’ so how are some exerting efforts to appoint an army chief and impose him on the new president?” al-Rahi wondered. “Go to the easier option according to the constitution and elect a president, so that all of your political problems can be solved and all state institutions can remain sound,” the patriarch added.

Al-Rahi to officials: We do not accept continuing to violate the constitution at the expense of institutions while you do not intentionally elect a...
NNA/November 26/2023
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, praised the humanitarian truce in Gaza, saying: “We pray that the truce will become a permanent ceasefire, and the beginning of resolving problems through negotiation. We also thank God for stopping the tension in southern Lebanon, and we pray that the south will regain its calm.”Al-Rahi addressed in his sermon the Lebanese officials by saying: “Deprive yourself of your personal, factional, and sectarian interests, so that the Lebanese family will regain the beauty of living with its unity in diversity and coexistence, Christians and Muslims, with mutual respect and cooperation.”He stressed: "We do not accept the continued violation of the Constitution, specifically Article 49 of it, at the expense of the establishment of the state and its institutions. You have deliberately not elected a President of the Republic for a year and a month, while the very delicate regional conditions require the presence of protection for the state in the person of the President."The Patriarch also emphasized that “the winds are moving towards arrangements in the region, and we do not accept that the election of the President of the Republic is dependent on a person, project, or purpose linked to influence,” explaining that Article 49 of the Constitution stipulates that the President of the Republic is the symbol of the nation’s unity. "When the Taif Agreement transformed the President of the Republic from a procedural authority, it wanted him as the head of state, that is, the state with its land, its people, and its institutions, especially the two basic institutions, the Parliament and the Council of Ministers, in terms of controlling the coordination of its work," he went on. Al-Rai also stressed that “[the Patriarchate] will not accept, even for a single day, the absence of the President of the Republic, the chaos of the government, and the multiplicity of presidents, nor will it accept attempts to undermine the unity of the country and the army, its stability, self-confidence, and its leadership, especially since the country and its security are on the brink of a volcano.”He addressed the officials, saying: “Venture immediately in accordance with the Constitution and elect a president of the republic, then all political problems will be solved and all state institutions will return.”

Bishop Aoudi: We stress the importance of the role of our army and the necessity of rallying around it and not tampering with everything related to it because it is the last pillar standing.
NNA/November 26/2023
Bishop Aoudi in his sermon today said, "Once again, Independence Day comes while the country is without a head, and it is floundering in problems for which those concerned have not found solutions for years, to which has been added the specter of war, which Lebanon cannot bear in light of the collapse of the state and the collapse of the economy, and which most of the Lebanese who have suffered from the scourges do not want.” Wars, and they paid a heavy price with their lives, their property, and the future of their country. They do not want any gamble with their fate, but rather look forward to the day when a president is elected for the country, with whom the process of the country’s recovery from its prolonged decline begins, and a comprehensive reform process begins that eliminates corruption, attacks on sovereignty and the constitution, the violation of borders, and curbing... Freedoms and exploitation of the judiciary, confining the state’s decisions to the hands of the state, and restoring to the citizen his dignity, to the state its prestige, and to the law its sovereignty. Only then will independence regain its meaning and the Lebanese will feel that they are holding their fate in their hands because their state, with all its elements, is the sole ruler, the sole spokesman for them, and the sole author of internal and foreign policy.” .He continued: “On this occasion, it is necessary to stress the importance of the role of our army, and the necessity of rallying around it, and not tampering with everything related to it, as it is the last remaining pillar. It is also necessary to stress the awareness of citizens and their duty to hold their representatives accountable so that they can carry out the role they were elected to do.” with it".He concluded: "Our call today is to be liberated from the slavery of money and its power, and to use what it has given us to help our fellow human beings, so that we may inherit eternal life and deserve to have Christ the Word incarnated for our salvation."

Le Drian to meet Wednesday with Berri and Mikati
Naharnet/November 26/2023
French Presidential Envoy for Lebanon Jean-Yves Le Drian will visit Beirut next week in a bid to reactivate the presidential election file, media report said on Sunday. "Meetings have been scheduled with Lebanese political officials and leaders and he will meet Wednesday with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati," an informed source told ad-Diyar newspaper. "The atmosphere ahead of his visit does not signal that he is carrying a new initiative," the source added. French Ambassador to Lebanon Hervé Magro meanwhile told the Lebanese-French Parliamentary Friendship Committee that France is coordinating with Saudi Arabia and Qatar on the presidential file and that Le Drian's visit enjoys the support of the five-nation group on Lebanon, which comprises the U.S., France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt.

UNIFIL says Israeli gunfire hit one of its patrols
Agence France Presse/November 26/2023
The U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon said Israeli fire hit one of its patrols in the country's south on Saturday, despite a Hamas-Israel truce largely quietening the Lebanon-Israel frontier. "At around 12:00 pm, a UNIFIL patrol was hit by IDF (Israeli army) gunfire" in the vicinity of Aitaroun, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said in a statement. "No peacekeepers were injured, but the vehicle was damaged," it said, adding that "this incident occurred during a period of relative calm" along the border between Israel and Lebanon. Since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7, the frontier between Lebanon and Israel has seen intensifying exchanges of fire, mainly between Israel and Hezbollah, but also Palestinian groups, raising fears of a broader conflagration. A four-day truce between Israel and Hamas began on Friday, and a source close to Hezbollah told AFP that the group would also adhere to the ceasefire if Israel did. UNIFIL said "this attack on peacekeepers, dedicated to reducing tensions and restoring stability in south Lebanon, is deeply troubling," adding: "We condemn this act."Late last month, shelling lightly wounded a U.N. peacekeeper near the border village of Houla, just hours after UNIFIL said a shell hit its headquarters in Naqoura near the Israel-Lebanon frontier. The force said it was investigating those incidents. "We strongly remind the parties of their obligations to protect peacekeepers and avoid putting the men and women who are working to restore stability at risk," Saturday's UNIFIL statement said. Cross-border fire has killed 109 people in Lebanon, including 77 Hezbollah fighters and 14 civilians, three of them journalists, according to an AFP count. Six Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed on the Israeli side, according to the authorities. Since the Israel-Hamas truce went into effect, calm has largely returned to Lebanon's southern border. UNIFIL was set up in 1978 to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli forces after they invaded Lebanon in reprisal for a Palestinian attack. It was bolstered after Hezbollah and Israel fought a devastating war in 2006, and its roughly 10,000 peacekeepers are tasked with monitoring the ceasefire between the two sides.

Lebanese return to find bombed-out houses near Israel border
Agence France Presse/Associated Press/November 26/2023
Lebanese farmer and minibus driver Abdallah Abdallah went back to his village near the Israeli border on Saturday to find that weeks of bombing had badly damaged his house and destroyed his tractor. "What can I say? Israel has always been criminal, it has always targeted our houses," said Abdallah, 50, his face weary as he pointed to gaping holes in the walls of his two-story home in Aitaroun, just across from an Israeli military position. Since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7, the frontier between Lebanon and Israel has seen intensifying exchanges of fire, mainly between Israel and Hezbollah, but also Palestinian groups, raising fears of a broader conflagration.
Abdallah fled after the cross-border skirmishes began, and like others, timidly returned on Saturday to inspect his home, under the incessant buzz of Israeli surveillance drones. Few frontier residents told AFP they intended to stay, fearing renewed violence after the end of the four-day truce between Israel and Hamas that began on Friday. A source close to Hezbollah told AFP that the group would adhere to the truce if Israel did. "My tractor was destroyed and also the van I used to take the children in the area to school," said Abdallah, a father of six. The ground around his house was strewn with shrapnel, and burnt fruit trees stood in the garden. Hezbollah says it has been acting in support of Hamas after the Palestinian movement's October 7 attacks, which Israeli officials say killed 1,200 soldiers and 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 nearly 15,000 people, thousands of them children. Across south Lebanon, houses with smashed walls, shattered windows or doors ripped off their hinges bear witness to the violence of recent weeks. In some villages, Hezbollah has put up banners paying homage to its fighters who have been killed. The cross-border exchanges have killed 109 people in Lebanon, at least 77 of them Hezbollah fighters and 14 civilians, according to an AFP count. The International Organization for Migration says more than 55,000 people have fled their homes, mainly in south Lebanon, since the hostilities began. Fatima Taha, 55, breathed a sigh of relief when she discovered her house in the village of Mays al-Jabal was mostly intact, with just a few broken windows. "We came back when they announced the truce but everyone is afraid," she said, picking lemons from a tree in her garden.
'Won't leave' -
"Some people came just for the olive harvest but don't want to stay" because they fear renewed bombing, she added. In many villages near the border, authorities have put up signs asking residents not to use roads close to Israeli positions. On Saturday, Israeli soldiers fired into the air to frighten farmers who were working on their land, according to Lebanon's official National News Agency. Authorities have also warned farmers against harvesting their olives near the border, fearing the harmful effects of what Lebanon says is the Israeli use of the incendiary substance white phosphorus.
In Kfarkila, just a few meters from the frontier, Yahya Ahmad, 62, inspected the damage at his cafe, whose front and windows had been smashed. "I want to clean things up and put the tables outside. I can't wait to sit here again," he said near a large tree in the courtyard. The 62-year-old, who has lived through previous conflicts in the area, decided to stay, despite the risks.
"It's our country," he said.
"I won't leave here."
A family on an outing posed for photos in front of brightly colored block letters proclaiming "I (HEART) ODAISSEH" in one border town, with the tense frontier as a backdrop. Abdallah Quteish, a retired school principal, and his wife, Sabah, fled their house in the village of Houla — directly facing an Israeli military position across the border — on the second day of the clashes. They went to stay with their daughter in the north, leaving behind their olive orchard just as the harvest season was set to start. They returned to their house on Friday and to an orchard where the unharvested olives were turning dry on the branches. "We lost out on the season, but we're alright … and that's the most important thing," Sabah said. "God willing, we'll stay in our house if the situation remains like this." Others were less optimistic. On the western side of the border in the village of Marwahin, Khalil Ghanam had come on Saturday to pack up the remaining stocks from his cafe on the frontier road and take them to Beirut. The cafe has been closed since Oct. 13, the day that Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah was killed and six other people were wounded in an Israeli strike in nearby Alma al-Shaab. Shells also fell next to the cafe, leaving mangled remnants of what used to be its outdoor seating. "We say God willing nothing bad will happen, but the situation now is difficult, and as I see it we're heading into a long difficult period," Ghanam said.
Others never left their villages.
In Kfarkila on Saturday, iron worker Hussein Fawaz picked through the charred shell of his house, hit by an airstrike two days earlier — no one was inside at the time, but the family's furniture, school books and household goods were destroyed. Fawaz had sent his wife and three children to stay with relatives soon after the war began, but he stayed in the village because his parents refused to go. He still has no plans to leave. "Where would we go? This is our land and our home. We're staying here," he said. "No one knows what will happen, but we hope things will stabilize and the war will end." The general calm of the cease-fire was punctuated by scattered moments of tension. The Israeli military said Saturday that its air defenses intercepted a "suspicious aerial target" that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon and that it had shot down a missile launched from Lebanon at an Israeli drone.

Kaouk: Israel's defeat in Gaza, a testament to unyielding resistance
LBCI/November 26/2023
Sheikh Nabil Kaouk, a member of Hezbollah's Central Council, affirmed that "Israel was defeated in Gaza, and the defeated cannot impose its conditions. What the enemy failed to achieve in 2006, it is even more incapable of achieving today.”
He said: “Those attempting to promote Israeli objectives should despair because, in the era of victories, we will not allow the enemy to gain any advantages at the expense of Lebanese dignity. We will not permit any changes to the equations established with blood in July 2006."Kaouk’s statements came during a commemoration organized by the party for “Martyrs on the Road to Jerusalem," Bassam Ali Kanjo, in the southern town of Shaqra. He pointed out that "the series of failures continues from Olmert to Netanyahu. Olmert set two goals for the 2006 war on Lebanon: crushing Hezbollah and retrieving the captives without any concessions. The war ended, and he could not crush Hezbollah or retrieve the captives as promised. Instead, he brought them back through negotiation at a high cost. “Today, Netanyahu waged a war on Gaza with two goals: crushing Hamas and retrieving captives without conditions. However, after 48 days, he began negotiating for the captives and failed to crush Hamas as promised,” Kaouk continued. In addition, he stated: “All the talk in the Israeli entity today indicates that it is not the head of Hamas that will fall but the head of Netanyahu because he lost the battle despite all the American support."Kaouk said that residents of settlements near the Lebanese border filed a complaint with the Israeli court, requesting to move these settlements 5 kilometers backward because they fear Hezbollah. “They stated they would not return as long as Hezbollah is in the south. This is good news. We are the owners and sons of the land, and we will remain in it. As for the settlers, it is better for them not to return because it is not their land,” Kaouk concluded.

Mikati: We do not want war and we seek peace, but at the same time we do not want anyone to desecrate Lebanese land
NNA/November 26/2023
Prime Minister Najib Mikati said today that “the rules of engagement at the southern border between Lebanon and Israel remain the same, but there are no international guarantees that we can be assured of.”Speaking in an interview with the Turkish “TRT” Station, Mikati wondered what guarantees can be given amidst the Israeli enemy’s criminal psychology in killing children, women and the elderly, and causing displacement and destruction? He said: “We see this aggression against Gaza taking place daily, and no one cares about it nor are there any international reactions.” He added: "We do not want war and we are seeking peace, but at the same time we do not want anyone to desecrate Lebanese land."In response to a question, Mikati said: “We fully support the Palestinian cause, but we are trying as much as possible to spare Lebanon from entering into bloody battles.”

Michel Helou to LBCI: Decisions for Lebanon’s future must remain national
LBCI/November 26/2023
The Secretary-General of the National Bloc Party, Michel Helou, emphasized the necessity of protecting Lebanon through unity of decision, solidarity, and serving the supreme national interest. Helou said in an interview on LBCI's "Nharkom Said" TV show: “We do not want Hezbollah to drag Lebanon into a comprehensive war, and it is good that it did not do that, and it adhered to the rules of engagement despite all that happened of targeting civilians that led to martyrdom, and the unity of the arenas remained limited.”Helou called for the implementation of Resolution 1701 through government and state decisions, rejecting handing over decisions to Iran and emphasizing the need for a sovereign president respecting the Lebanese people's decisions. Regarding the presidency, he viewed Sleiman Frangieh as representing Iranian and Syrian interests, advocating for the election of a sovereign president capable of economic institutional reforms. In addition, Helou stressed that the solution lies in electing a parliament president with open sessions and consecutive terms, suggesting qualified names like Ziad Baroud and Nassif Hitti. Regarding the army's leadership, he highlighted the government's authority over decisions, criticized informal appointments, and noted that the army's leadership is currently influenced by specific political interests, including the Free Patriotic Movement led by Gebran Bassil.

Presidential file: Qatar's special envoy discusses Lebanese presidential crisis in recent Beirut visit
LBCI/November 26/2023
Qatar's special envoy, Sheikh Jassim Al Thani, recently visited Beirut with a primary focus on a crucial file that has become the centerpiece of his diplomatic efforts.
Unlike previous visits, this time, the Qatari envoy strategically limited his meetings, engaging with MP Ali Hassan Khalil and representatives from Hezbollah, according to LBCI's sources. While touching on the issue of the leadership of the Lebanese Armed Forces and its fate after the tenure of General Joseph Aoun, the key topic for the Qatari side is the Lebanese presidency. LBCI sources suggest that Qatar aims to reinvigorate discussions around the Lebanese presidency, seeking a solution to end the vacuum through these diplomatic initiatives. Despite not presenting any new presidential proposals, the Qatari envoy reiterated a specific candidate during his meetings, the Acting Director-General of the General Security, Brigadier General Elias al-Baysari, as Qatar's potential presidential candidate. The envoy justified this choice based on the lack of opposition to Baysari's candidacy from most political factions, including key figures like Gebran Bassil, the head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), and the Amal-Hezbollah duo. Qatar's envoy highlighted that the Amal-Hezbollah duo's continued support for the Marada movement head, Sleiman Frangieh, signifies their resistance to any potential breakthrough or solution in the presidential file. This Qatari initiative aligns with French efforts, as Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French special envoy, is expected to visit Beirut next week. The purpose of his visit is to reevaluate the Lebanese file, with a particular focus on the presidential crisis, in an attempt to steer it toward a viable solution.

MP Ghada Ayoub supports Army Commander’s term extension, advocates for Resolution 1701 implemenation
LBCI/November 26/2023
Member of the Strong Republic Bloc, MP Ghada Ayoub, warned that war is at the doorstep, stating that "Lebanon cannot bear the consequences and repercussions of this war." This article was initially published in, translated from the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Anba. She emphasized the importance of “returning to the constitution and legitimacy, implementing international resolutions, and electing a president for Lebanon is the solution to protect Lebanon. Let us go back and bring our viewpoints closer, instead of deepening this difference and political division that is increasing day by day.”
Ayoub mentioned to Al-Anba: "Amid the negative repercussions of the Israeli war on Gaza, in addition to the suffering endured by the Lebanese people, the primary call remains the election of a president for the republic to restore the regularity of constitutional institutions and the supreme public authorities.”
“However, practically and over the past year, 14 sessions were held, but unfortunately, we have not been able to elect a president. It has become clear which group obstructs the election sessions and withdraws from them, and which group contributes to the election of a president with a clear name and candidate supported by more than one faction,” Ayoub said. She continued: “Hence, the direction of obstruction is known, and today, with a single candidate from the resistance team and no change in the rules of the game or addressing the obstacles, Lebanon risks remaining in presidential vacuum, especially as we may witness a vacuum in the leadership of the army. Therefore, the fundamental cry today for the right path to salvation is for the MPs to come together, placing the nation's interest above all considerations."
Responding to a question about the possibility of electing a president in these turbulent circumstances, Ayoub said: "The more we immerse ourselves in the Gaza war, the greater its negative effects on the Lebanese internal situation, increasing assassinations and aggression in targeting civilians and journalists by Israel." Ayoub continued: “Therefore, the call is to prioritize the nation's interest above all considerations. Since Lebanon is not a priority for most countries, MPs, parties, and political currents must gather to open the parliament for the president's election and not wait for foreign decisions."
Furthermore, regarding the possibility of candidate Sleiman Frangieh reaching the presidency in these circumstances and the progress of the extension options for Army Commander General Joseph Aoun, Ayoub considered that Frangieh cannot reach the presidency because, until now, the number of votes in his favor has not changed.
On the contrary, there is increased division regarding the role of Hezbollah and its weapon and project. There is a sharp division in Lebanon, and this must be addressed because there is a possibility of getting involved in a war, given the significant security threat to its stability. Ayoub considered that “it is impossible to change the army commander in these circumstances. Therefore, the national interest requires us to propose a law to delay the retirement of the army commander in parliament if he is not extended due to the defense minister's refusal to sign the extension decree. “
“Consequently, we will go to parliament to extend it, preserving the military institution and the stability of the security situation. This aligns with the Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rahi's call for the invalidity of appointing a new army commander through a caretaker government and the absence of a president,” Ayoub stated. In addition, she said that based on the law and in line with all legal principles, the extension law proposal may be correct, despite the rejection of the Free Patriotic Movement team and Defense Minister Maurice Slim and their reference to the Free Patriotic Movement.
Ayoub said: “They want appointments for personal interests and personal animosities with the army commander.”Regarding the confrontations in the south between Israel and the resistance, Ayoub affirmed that the criminal acts and killings adopted by the Israeli war machine have no description, saying, “This prompted us, as the Strong Republic Bloc, to call for the necessity of implementing Resolution 1701, which was supposed to be implemented since 2006, to prevent the possibilities of war from returning and not give Israel pretexts for aggression against Lebanon. “Ayoub explained: “Despite many violations by both parties over the years, we believe that today is the right time to implement this resolution to neutralize the area south of the Litani from any action and reaction, whether by Palestinian factions or the Qassam Brigades, Al-Fajr Forces, and others.”She concluded: “Every day, a new armed group appears on the southern scene. Official Lebanon is urged to prevent signs of illegal weapons to protect the south and ensure that Lebanon is shielded from any war if Israel decides to wage one against it.”

Lebanese Banking Reform Draft: Banks Oppose Foreign Branch References and Deposit Recovery Provisions
LBCI/November 26/2023
The draft law to reform and reorganize the banking sector in Lebanon is the pathway that would enable banks to resume normal operations if approved by the government and the parliament. The draft is ready for discussion within the government, and banks have reviewed it, identifying loopholes that could become a crisis for depositors and the economy. A banking source clarified to LBCI that banks reject the provisions outlined in Article 4 of the draft law because it includes a reference to the law covering the branches of banks abroad. The government recognizes that these branches are subject to the laws of the countries where they operate and cannot be subjected to Lebanese law. Therefore, there is no need for such a reference to avoid causing trust issues with those dealing with these institutions abroad. The draft law also addresses the recovery of deposits, with banks urging a unified ceiling of $100,000 for all depositors to be covered by the banks. They argue that the wording in the draft law, especially in Article 46, does not ensure this demand and leads to inequality among depositors.
As a result, they call for amendments and the removal of any ambiguity in this provision, with the Deposit Recovery Fund to be established through the return of deposits exceeding $100,000, expected to be funded jointly by the state, the Central Bank of Lebanon, and the banks.

Skaf: I expect that Israel will expand its ground operation towards Lebanon, establish a buffer zone
NNA /November 26/2023
MP Ghassan Skaf expected that “the Lebanese people’s reassurance that Lebanon will not enter the war will be shattered, as Netanyahu might resort to expanding the scope of ground war operations towards Lebanon because it will save him politically,” referring to the “deployment of 100,000 Israeli soldiers on the northern borders to impose a buffer zone between the settlements and southern Lebanon.”Speaking in an interview with “Voice of Lebanon” Radio Channel on Sunday, Skaf touched on the series of truces and the need for Hezbollah to adhere to the state of calm, commending the self-restraint policy it has demonstrated since the beginning of the Gaza war. Skaf considered that Tehran is searching for a seat in the upcoming negotiations, out of its wish not to lose Hamas, pointing to Israel’s attempt to transform the Palestinian issue from a matter of liberating the land into a religious war (Christian-Jewish-Islamic, Sunni-Shiite), pointing to Russia’s success in transferring the war from Russia-Ukraine to the Middle East. In regards to the presidential vacuum, the MP criticized the "Lebanese diplomacy and its failure to carry out its duties and its reliance on American diplomacy and foreign initiatives to end the presidential vacuum.”Skaf advised Hezbollah to take a step back and allow the Lebanese army to deploy south of the Litani, which will relieve the international community and allow for condemnation of Israel for attacking Lebanese and international legitimacy (UNIFIL) if Israel expands ground operations towards Lebanon.
Asked about French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian’s visit to Lebanon next week, Skaf considered that the goal is to shorten the duration of the presidential vacuum, calling on Lebanese officials to “rise above personal gains and render the nation’s interest above all other considerations.”Skaf expressed his fear that a new Middle East would be established without Christians, and that Lebanon would be present at the international negotiating table without a president, noting that “the French president was behind Lebanon’s exclusion from international conferences due to Lebanon’s obstruction of French efforts to end the vacuum.”At the financial level, Skaff considered that “an emergency plan without funding is not a plan,” calling for “a complete restructuring of the public sector,” explaining the vertical division of the Lebanese people and their inability to manage crises, and the concern of failing to address the issue of displaced Syrians and the new Palestinian displacement from Gaza, which will lead to Lebanon’s demise.

Is Lebanon’s UN Resolution 1701 still applicable today?
Adnan Nasser/The National/November 26/2023
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/lebanon-watch/lebanon%E2%80%99s-un-resolution-1701-still-applicable-today-207487
As the Israel-Gaza War continues, the legitimate government of Lebanon is losing control of the country.
The loss of Lebanese sovereignty has put ordinary Lebanese citizens in danger of war. Hezbollah and Israel’s duel on the border is vanquishing any hope for long-term stability in Lebanon, which has resulted in the loss of more innocent lives. Many people want to see the bloodshed cease, with some calling for the full implementation of United Nations Resolution 1701—so that the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) can take on its responsibility as the sole defender of Lebanon. However, after seventeen years since its inception in 2006, is it still a viable option?
First, it should be understood why 1701 was formulated and adopted originally. On August 11, 2006, the United Nations (UN) Security Council unanimously voted in favor of the resolution, with all fifteen members supporting its implementation. The vote included an endorsement from all five permanent members—The United States, Great Britain, France, Russia, and China. It was necessitated as a consequence of the Lebanon 2006 July war—when Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas organized and executed a raid on Israeli soldiers patrolling the border. In total, eight Israeli soldiers were killed, and two captured. The mission sought to kidnap Israeli servicemen in exchange for Lebanese prisoners held in Israel. Rather than enter negotiations, Israel decided to launch a war to defeat Hezbollah and retrieve the two captives. It failed on both accounts and was forced to enter into in-direct talks with Hezbollah in 2008 for the release of two dead Israeli soldiers. The outcome was a political humiliation for Israel’s government, but it also led to the destruction of Lebanon’s infrastructure and over a thousand people killed. The war finally ended with a UN-brokered ceasefire. This laid the foundation for Resolution 1701.
One should bear in mind that Hezbollah made this decision to attack Israel without discussion or approval from the LAF or the government. At the time, Fouad Siniora was the Prime Minister of Lebanon and part of the March 14 political movement – the opponents of Hezbollah’s March 8 bloc. He is seen as the “father” of 1701.
He introduced a seven-point truce plan that included two important stipulations. One was the demand for Israeli forces to withdraw from all Lebanese territories. The United Nations demarcated the border region between Lebanon and Israel as the “Blue Line”—to which Mr. Siniora said Tel Aviv must respect and return to its side. Mr. Siniora’s office was reached out for comment but declined. The second was the declaration that the government and Lebanese army must have the sole authority to protect Lebanon. He cited the Taef Accord (the agreement that ended Lebanon’s civil war 1975–1990) to legitimize his strategy further. It mandated that the LAF is responsible for the defense of Lebanon’s sovereignty and that all civil war militias must hand over their weapons.
The Taef Accord stipulates,
Disbanding of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias shall be announced. The militias’ weapons shall be delivered to the State of Lebanon within a period of 6 months, beginning with the approval of the national accord charter. The president of the republic shall be elected. A national accord cabinet shall be formed, and the political reforms shall be approved constitutionally…The armed forces shall be unified, prepared, and trained in order that they may be able to shoulder their national responsibilities in confronting Israeli aggression.”
The only militia that did not give up its arms was Hezbollah. It was left alone as a “resistance” group to fight against Israel’s occupation. Eventually, Israel withdrew from the south in 2000—leaving Hezbollah as the strongest force in the area.
Today’s Regional Dynamics
From October 8, Hezbollah joined the Gaza-Israel War on the side of Hamas, and it has shaken the region with trepidation that the conflict will spread. As casualties are mounting, the situation in the south is becoming more hazardous for the local civilians. Villages are exposed to the onslaught of Israeli retaliatory attacks on Hezbollah targets—as the group fires missiles into Israel’s northern Galilee region. As of Friday, Hamas and Israel have agreed to a four-day truce. Hezbollah has announced it will adhere to the truce but will respond to any Israeli “escalation.” There are already reports of violations, as Hezbollah fired a surface-to-air missile that failed to hit an Israeli drone. This action prompted an Israeli military response.
Demands for the Implementation of 1701
In Beirut, some Lebanese political actors have publicly called for the immediate restoration of 1701 as the means to break Hezbollah’s war powers. The Lebanese Forces (LF), formerly part of the March 14 Alliance and head of the largest Christian bloc in Parliament, held a press conference on November 21 at Citea Apart Hotel in the neighborhood of Achrafieh—titled “1701 NOW.” The National Interest was present at the gathering.
Marc Saad, head of LF media foreign affairs relations, answered questions to TNI on the historical importance of 1701 and its present relevance.
Saad said, “1701 provided stability and security to Lebanon for seventeen years and it’s in the core values and principles of the successive governments since 2006. It has allowed the reconstruction of Lebanon and turned the border areas into a prosperous touristic destination.” Lebanon has seen a significant downturn in tourists since the flare-ups on the border, with tens of thousands of people leaving the country out of fear. Prior to the war, tourism served as the only real source of income for the Lebanese economy—as the country still requires an IMF deal to bail out the financial sector by unlocking billions of dollars in aid and investments.
Saad emphasized it was the responsibility of the state, not Hezbollah, to protect Lebanon’s borders: “The solution is simple: the government should assume its role and order the LAF to deploy and restore stability with the support of UN forces. No one can defy them. They (Hezbollah) may oppose this move because it will retain their action and freedom of movement; but no one can challenge the LAF; the only remaining trustworthy institution.”
When asked if such a policy would require the disarmament of Hezbollah to see it through, Mr. Saad provided the final comments. “With the right political will, we can save the country; and saving the country does not really mean applying force onto Hezbollah. However, Hezbollah’s application of force has been a source of pain for the country and its economy.”
Currently, the caretaker government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati does not seem prepared to make such a drastic shift in Lebanon’s defense strategy. The will is missing. He may not even have the power to enact such a decision. It should be made clear that the LAF is present in the south. However, it does not have the final say regarding peace and war. All of this is happening while Lebanon remains with no president to rally behind and lead it. Every international agreement from Taef to 1701 carries all appropriate measures to protect Lebanon, at least on paper. If 1701 or its equivalent is not fully implemented, the future of Lebanon’s security remains grim. Now, everyone waits to see what the ceasefire will produce.
*Adnan Nasser is an independent foreign policy analyst and journalist with a focus on Middle Eastern affairs. Follow him on Twitter @Adnansoutlook29.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 26-27/2023
Syria says an Israeli airstrike hit the Damascus airport and put it out of service
BEIRUT (AP)/Sun, November 26, 2023
An Israeli airstrike Sunday hit the international airport in the Syrian capital of Damascus and put it out of commission, Syrian state media said. Israel has struck Syria's Damascus and Aleppo international airports several times since the onset of the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza on Oct. 7. Israel has also struck parts of western Syria after rocket fire landed on the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights. SANA, citing an unnamed military official, said Israel fired missiles from the direction of the Golan Heights, striking Damascus International Airport and other areas in the Damascus countryside causing material damage. There was no mention of casualties. Britain-based opposition war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the strikes came just hours after the airport resumed flights after a monthlong hiatus following a previous Israeli strike. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of war-torn Syria in recent years. It does not usually acknowledge its airstrikes on Syria. However when it does, it says it is targeting Iranian-backed groups there that have backed President Bashar Assad's government.

Gaza truce back on track after hourslong delay in 2nd hostage-for-prisoner swap
Associated Press/November 26, 2023
The tense cease-fire between Israel and Hamas appeared to be back on track early Sunday after the release of a second group of militant-held hostages and Palestinians from Israeli prisons, but the swap followed an hourslong delay that underscored the truce's fragility. The exchange was delayed Saturday evening after Hamas accused Israel of violating the agreement, which has brought the first significant pause in seven weeks of war marked by the deadliest Israeli-Palestinian violence in decades, vast destruction and displacement across the Gaza Strip, and a hostage crisis that has shaken Israel.
The deal seemed at risk of unraveling until Qatar and Egypt, which mediate with Hamas, announced late Saturday that the obstacles to the exchange had been overcome. The militants released 17 hostages, including 13 Israelis, while Israel freed 39 Palestinian prisoners. Thousands of people gathered in central Tel Aviv late Saturday to call for the release of all the estimated 240 people captured by Hamas in its Oct. 7 rampage across southern Israel, which ignited the war. They accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of not doing enough to bring them back.
Pressure from the hostages' families and lingering anger over Israel's failure to prevent the attack have sharpened the dilemma facing the country's leaders who seek to eliminate Hamas as a military and governing power while bringing all the captives back safely. The war has already claimed the lives of alledly more than 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians reportedly killed by Hamas in the initial attack. More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed, roughly two thirds of them women and minors. Hamas announced Sunday that one of its top commanders, Ahmed al-Ghandour, had been killed, without providing further details. He was in charge of northern Gaza and is the highest-ranking militant known to have been killed in the fighting. He had survived at least three Israeli attempts to kill him, going back to 2002, according to the Counter Extremism Project, an advocacy group based in Washington. The four-day cease-fire, which began Friday, was brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States. Hamas is to release at least 50 Israeli hostages, and Israel 150 Palestinian prisoners. All are women and minors. Israel has said the truce can be extended by an extra day for every additional 10 hostages freed, but has vowed to quickly resume its offensive once it ends. Israel said early Sunday that it had received a new list of hostages slated to be released later in the day, in the third of four scheduled swaps.
AID AND RESPITE IN GAZA
The pause has given Gaza's 2.3 million people, still reeling from relentless Israeli bombardment that has driven three-quarters of the population from their homes and leveled residential areas, a few days of calm. Rocket fire from Gaza militants into Israel also went silent. War-weary Palestinians in northern Gaza, where the offensive has focused, returned to the streets to survey the damage Entire city blocks in and around Gaza City have been gutted by airstrikes that hollowed out buildings and left drifts of rubble in the street. In southern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people from the north have sought refuge, residents lined up outside gas stations for a second day, hoping to stock up on fuel. Palestinians who have tried to return to the north to see if their homes are still intact have been turned back by Israeli troops. "Many are desperate to return to their homes, but they open fire on anyone approaching from the south," said Rami Hazarein, who fled from Gaza City last month. The United Nations said the truce has made it possible to scale up the delivery of food, water, and medicine to the largest volume since the start of the war. It was also able to deliver 129,000 liters (about 35,000 gallons) of fuel, just over 10% of daily pre-war volume, as well as cooking gas, a first since the war began. Aid also reached northern Gaza, for the first time in a month. In holding up the hostage release on Saturday, Hamas alleged that aid deliveries fell short of what was expected and that not enough was reaching the north. It also said Israel was not releasing enough long-serving prisoners. Many Palestinians view prisoners held by Israel, including those implicated in deadly attacks, as heroes resisting occupation.
A BITTERSWEET MOMENT FOR HOSTAGE FAMILIES
Shortly before midnight, Hamas released the second group of hostages, 13 Israelis and four Thais. They were turned over to Egypt and then transferred to Israel, where they were taken to hospitals. Hamas released a video showing the hostages appearing shaken but mostly in good physical condition as masked militants led them to Red Cross vehicles. Some of the hostages waved goodbye to the militants. One girl was on crutches and wore a cast on her left foot. The Israeli hostages freed on Saturday included seven children and six women, Netanyahu's office announced. Most were from Kibbutz Be'eri, a community Hamas militants ravaged during their Oct. 7 cross-border attack. The children ranged in age from 3 to 16, and the women ranged from 18 to 67. It was a bittersweet moment for the residents of Be'eri, who have been living in a Dead Sea hotel since their community was overrun. A kibbutz spokesperson said all the released hostages either had a family member killed in the Oct. 7 rampage or a loved one still in captivity in Gaza.
A HERO'S WELCOME IN WEST BANK
Some of the Palestinian prisoners were released in east Jerusalem, while the bulk returned home to a hero's welcome in the occupied West Bank. Among those released was Nurhan Awad, who was 17 in 2016 when she was sentenced to 13 1/2 years in jail for attempting to stab an Israeli soldier with a pair of scissors. Israa Jaabis had been imprisoned since 2015 after being convicted of a bomb attack that wounded an Israeli police officer and left Jaabis with severe burns on her face and hands. In the West Bank town of Al-Bireh, newly released teenage boys were paraded through the main square where they waved Palestinian flags as well as green banners of Hamas and yellow banners of the rival Fatah party of President Mahmoud Abbas. According to the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, an advocacy group, Israel is holding 7,200 Palestinians, including about 2,000 arrested since the start of the war.
The war in Gaza has been accompanied by a surge in violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Palestinian health authorities said early Sunday that five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli military raid in the northern West Bank city of Jenin that began the day before. The military said it had arrested a suspect in the killing of an Israeli father and son at a car wash in the West Bank earlier this year. The army has conducted frequent military raids and arrested hundreds of Palestinians since the start of the war, mostly people it suspects of being Hamas members.

Hamas military wing confirms northern brigade commander, 3 other leaders dead
Agence France Presse/November 26, 2023
Hamas' military wing on Sunday confirmed the commander of its northern brigade, Ahmed Al-Ghandour, and three other senior leaders had been killed during Israel's offensive against the Palestinian movement. In a statement, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades said Ghandour was a member of its military council and named three other leaders who had died, including Ayman Siyyam, who Israeli media reports said was head of the Brigades' rocket-firing units.

Israeli forces kill at least 8 Palestinians in surging West Bank violence
Associated Press/November 26, 2023
Israeli forces operating in the occupied West Bank killed at least eight Palestinians in a 24-hour period, Palestinian health officials said Sunday, as a fragile pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip entered its third day. Violence in the West Bank has surged in the weeks since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, setting off a devastating war in the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces have killed dozens of Palestinians and arrested hundreds in the West Bank. Jewish West Bank settlers have also stepped up attacks. The Palestinian Health Ministry said that five Palestinians were killed in the militant stronghold of Jenin, while three others were killed in separate areas of the West Bank since Saturday morning. One of those killed, in al-Bireh in the central West Bank, was a teenager, the ministry said. The Israeli military said it killed five Palestinians in a gunbattle during its operation in the Jenin refugee camp, where it was arresting a Palestinian suspected of killing an Israeli father and son at a West Bank car wash earlier in the year. The military said those killed were militants, but no group immediately claimed them as members. The military said, without specifying further, that it was backed by air power that struck and wounded Palestinians.
The military said it was looking into the reports of the other incidents. In the refugee camp, debris was strewn along the streets of the densely populated urban neighborhood and the wall of one house had a large hole in it. The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said Israeli snipers were positioned on roofs and that military bulldozers were damaging roads and infrastructure. The reports could not immediately be independently verified, but the Israeli military said it was using "engineering equipment" to uncover explosive devices buried under roads. In its bid to pursue militants, Israel clamped down on the West Bank immediately after the Hamas assault, closing crossings and checkpoints between Palestinian towns. The intensified violence in the territory follows more than a year of escalating raids and arrests in the West Bank and deadly Palestinian attacks on Israelis. Before the Hamas assault, 2023 already was the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank in over two decades. Israel and Hamas have briefly halted fire to allow for more aid to enter Gaza and permit a hostage release in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. The Israeli offensive has killed more than 13,300 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza government, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. Vast swaths of the Gaza Strip have been flattened and some 1.7 million Palestinians have fled their homes. In last month's surprise attack, Hamas and other Gaza militants allegedly killed some 1,200 people in Israel and took about 240 hostage. Several dozen soldiers have been killed since Israel began its ground invasion into Gaza shortly after the attack. Israel captured the West Bank, along with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek those territories as part of their hoped-for independent state.

Hamas releases third group of hostages in Gaza as part of truce
AP/November 26, 2023
RAFAH: Hamas militants on Sunday freed 17 more hostages, including 14 Israelis, in a third set of releases under a ceasefire deal. Red Cross representatives transferred the hostages out of Gaza late Sunday. Some were handed over directly to Israel, while others left through Egypt. The army said one of the hostages was airlifted directly to an Israeli hospital. Israel was to free 39 Palestinian prisoners later Sunday as part of the deal. It was the third consecutive day in which Hamas released Israeli hostages it has been holding in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. A fourth exchange is expected to take place on Monday – the last day of the four-day cease-fire between the enemies. A total of 50 hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners are to be freed. Israel declared war on Hamas after the Islamic militant group carried out a cross-border attack on Oct. 7 that killed some 1,200 people and took 240 people hostage. An Israeli offensive in Gaza has left over 13,300 people dead, according to health authorities in the Hamas-run territory. International mediators led by the U.S. and Qatar are trying to extend the cease-fire.

Frankly Speaking: How challenging is Gaza humanitarian aid delivery?
Arab News/November 26, 2023
DUBAI: Despite donations to assist the people of embattled Gaza, there is a need for “more sustained humanitarian access” to Palestinians in need, according to Clare Dalton, head of delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the UAE.
Appearing on the Arab News current-affairs show “Frankly Speaking,” shortly before a four-day humanitarian pause in the fighting between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas went into effect on Friday, Dalton said the needs of the Gazan population were not being met by the limited number of trucks permitted to enter the territory. “There is a need for more sustained humanitarian access inside Gaza, because that is where people need the help,” she said, adding that until Israel allows a greater number of trucks to enter Gaza via the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, civilian needs cannot be met. “I think the big challenge is that a lot of aid has been sent to help people, however not much is actually getting in,” Dalton told Katie Jensen, the host of “Frankly Speaking.”“The number of trucks that have been able to access Gaza since the beginning of this terrible crisis is really limited. “All aid is really needed and important. It’s just not enough. And, if you look at the numbers of trucks that were coming into Gaza before Oct. 7 … it was about 500 a day. Since this crisis, I think we’ve only seen 1,200 trucks come in. That’s a huge gap.”Dalton added: “Not only are the normal needs of people not being met; on top of this has been this devastating conflict where infrastructure has been destroyed, people have been killed, they’re injured, they’re fleeing, and there’s not enough. And there’s even less humanitarian aid for them.”The humanitarian pause, negotiated through American, Qatari and Egyptian intermediaries, was primarily instituted to allow for the safe release of Israeli and foreign hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. The hostages were seized by the militant group when it launched its cross-border attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, during which 1,200 people were killed and around 230 Israelis and other foreign nationals were abducted and taken back to Gaza. It was this attack that triggered Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip, a crackdown on humanitarian and commercial shipments entering the territory, and a military ground offensive with a view to eliminating Hamas.
The ICRC, as a neutral party, played a crucial role in the exchange of the first batch of hostages on Friday. In advance of the humanitarian pause, Mirjana Spoljaric, the ICRC’s president, traveled to Qatar, where she met with Ismael Haniyeh, chair of Hamas’ political bureau.
“As the International Red Cross, we always talk to all parties to the conflict in order to pass messages on the way that civilians are treated and all these humanitarian issues we’re discussing,” Dalton said.
“Now, we don’t negotiate with parties. What we can do is, if parties come to an agreement, we can help facilitate that. I don’t actually know about the details of these meetings. However, as the ICRC, our job is always to do the best that we can for the people on the ground, the civilian needs.
“And we have a specific mandate under international law to do that, but also like many actors, we’re trying our best to deliver humanitarian assistance.” The ICRC has medical teams working inside Gaza, where health infrastructure has been overwhelmed by the number of wounded civilians amid shortages of electricity, potable water, medicines and anesthetics. Throughout the conflict, Israel has accused Hamas of using tunnels, arms caches and command centers burrowed beneath Gaza’s major hospitals — effectively turning medical staff and their civilian patients into human shields.
Asked whether the ICRC’s teams working in Gaza were aware of any such tunnels, Dalton said the organization has a very different mandate. “It’s not our job to verify these kinds of claims. That’s a different thing. For us, what’s important is the needs of people suffering,” she said.
As the weather is getting colder in Gaza, ICRC has been distributing blankets and tarpaulins to nearly 5,000 displaced people in Khan Younis. (Supplied)
Asked whether she believed civilians were being used as human shields by Hamas, Dalton said: “That I don’t know. I feel what we’re concerned with as well is, indeed, what are the needs, what do people need, what can we do to our best ability to support them.”She added: “As an international humanitarian organization, we don’t take sides. It’s not our job to do that. Those are political questions and I’m sure there are people out there who have opinions or can answer them.”She reiterated ICRC’s role as a neutral party to the conflict. “As humanitarian actors, if we are going to do our jobs, (we have) to be able to give people aid on an impartial basis,” she said. “And as the ICRC, we operate along this principle of neutrality. We can’t be seen to take sides and that’s really important for our humanitarian access.”Critics of Israel’s campaign to destroy Hamas say its response to the Oct. 7 attack has been disproportionate, exacting a far greater toll on Gaza’s civilian population and the enclave’s infrastructure. According to the local health authorities, who report to the Hamas government, more than 14,000 people have been killed in Gaza under Israeli bombardment, the majority of them women and children. Meanwhile, some 1.7 million have been displaced by the fighting. “It’s a devastating situation,” said Dalton. “People are facing immeasurable difficulty and civilians in particular are really, really suffering. Since this started, the situation has been getting gradually worse. The situation civilians find themselves in is very difficult. “Gaza is a very highly densely populated city. And so, of course, people don’t have many places they can flee or evacuate to.
“The damage to critical infrastructure is going to be very bad. And then when people move, where do they go? I think all of these things are compounding the difficulty people face anyway in a situation where there’s a conflict.”Asked whether this was the worst humanitarian disaster she had witnessed in her 15 years at ICRC, Dalton said it was wrong to make comparisons, but acknowledged that the hardships imposed on Gaza went well beyond acceptable limits in warfare. “War is terrible and the impact on people is devastating,” she said. “Whoever you are and whichever side you’re on, I think it’s really hard to make these comparisons. “We like to say there’s no hierarchy in suffering. If you’re a mother whose child is being killed, wherever that is or whichever situation, that’s just terrible. And our message is always, wars take place, but they should have limits.”On Nov. 7, ICRC confirmed that one of its humanitarian aid convoys had come under fire in Gaza City. Two trucks were damaged and a driver lightly wounded as the convoy, which was carrying “lifesaving medical supplies to health facilities, including to Al-Quds hospital of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society,” came under fire, the organization posted on X.
The ICRC said it was “deeply troubled” by the incident and reminded the warring “parties of their obligation under international humanitarian law to respect and protect humanitarian workers at all times.” The statement did not identify the source of the fire on the convoy, which consisted of five trucks and two ICRC vehicles.
“I don’t know who we came under fire from,” said Dalton. “In the end, perhaps, that’s not the important fact. It’s that medical workers, trying to carry out lifesaving work, risking their lives and the lives of patients, in trying to do their jobs. That shouldn’t be the case. “If we’re not able to deliver lifesaving assistance, people will die unnecessarily. So, our message is always that doctors, humanitarian workers, medical personnel should be protected when carrying out their jobs.”The UN has called the Gaza conflict the deadliest ever for its humanitarian workers, with reports of more than 100 fatalities among the ranks of aid agencies since the war began. “It’s so difficult to be able to do our jobs, humanitarian actors in these kinds of conditions,” said Dalton.
“We have a field surgical team, a medical surgical team in a hospital in the south of Gaza, the European Gaza Hospital, who’ve been there for about three weeks. And when we hear the stories of what they’re trying to do, the patients that they’re trying to treat, of course, it’s immense suffering they’re seeing all around them. “There’s no electricity. It’s often dark. It’s extremely overwhelming. Medical supplies are not enough. Patients are continually coming with very devastating injuries, burns, things that need very specialized treatment. So it’s incredibly difficult.
“And without electricity, many other essential services don’t function. There’s not enough water. People don’t have enough food. Now it’s starting to get colder. It’s raining. Families are on the move trying to find safety. “We, as humanitarian actors, have to try and do our best to provide people with the assistance that they need. It’s very, very difficult. The security conditions are hard for everyone. Equally, there’s not enough aid getting in, given the immense scale of the needs.”Part of the ICRC’s mandate is to monitor whether combatants are abiding by international humanitarian law. Since the outset of the conflict, both Israel and Hamas have been accused of committing war crimes. “We see examples, every day, that look like, in cases, maybe there are challenges to that (international humanitarian law),” said Dalton. “But we try to be the guardian of these rules, to talk to the parties of the conflict about them, to remind everyone of their obligations. We’re not a guarantor.”
But is that message getting through?
“I guess if you’re a civilian on the ground experiencing the impact of all of this, you probably don’t think it’s getting through,” said Dalton. “I think for us, we can just do what we can. And it is very important to keep reminding parties of their obligations. “It may seem a bit dry and not particularly directly able to impact people’s terrible conditions. However, it is and it can make a difference. “If critical infrastructure is not damaged unnecessarily, it has less impact on people’s ability to have water, electricity, all of these things.”Unless further humanitarian pauses are agreed, or, as aid chiefs hope, a permanent ceasefire is implemented, the need for donations and convoys will continue to grow. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council countries have been deploying aid flights and shipments, while their citizens have given generously to charity. “Given the devastating level of need that we’ve been discussing, a lot of support is needed,” said Dalton. “As ICRC, we have a humanitarian appeal, as do many organizations, and there are many different ways that people could support us. “We’re here in the UAE, and the GCC countries have been very generous, as well, in sending aid, in funding humanitarian actors. This is very important.”

Tea in the moonlight as truce brings respite but not normality for Gazans
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (Reuters)/Mohammed Salem/November 26, 2023
Under a night sky illuminated by moonlight rather than flares and explosions, Gaza resident Ibrahim Kaninch sat by a small bonfire outside his partially destroyed house, feeding the flames with bits of cardboard as he heated up water for tea. The peaceful scene, on the second night of a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas, was a moment of respite and reflection for Kaninch, who like other Gazans has endured fear and hardship since the war began on Oct. 7. "We’re living days of calm, where we are stealing moments to make tea," he said, his face lit in warm colours by the glow of the fire. "These truce days have allowed people to have a bit of social communication and to check on their families and friends and their houses."Kaninch lives in Khan Younis, a town in the southern Gaza Strip where tens of thousands of people have sought refuge in tents, schools and residents' homes after fleeing heavy bombardment in the northern half of the territory. However, air strikes have also hit many targets in the south, and Kaninch said the constant terror and the sound of military jets and explosions made it impossible to have a quiet evening whether inside or out, until the truce. He was enjoying the break from the fear and noise, but with his home badly damaged by a strike the situation was still very far from normal. Kaninch mused that the war had revived aspects of the lifestyle of earlier generations. "We’ve lost this kind of gathering around the fire years ago, but the exceptional status of war that we’re currently experiencing has brought back some of the heritage and the social culture that our ancestors used to have," he said. Nearby, a man pushing a bicycle and a woman carrying a baby strolled side by side in the darkened street as the call to prayer could be heard faintly in the distance. The headlights of a passing car briefly lit up piles of rubble on the street and graffiti on the walls. The war began when Hamas militants broke out of Gaza on Oct. 7 and rampaged through southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, among them babies and children, and seizing 240 hostages. Vowing to destroy Hamas in response, Israel launched an all-out assault on Gaza which has killed 14,800 people, of whom about four in 10 were children, according to health authorities in the Hamas-controlled territory. The military campaign has also levelled much of northern Gaza and displaced hundreds of thousands of people, while a tight blockade has caused shortages of food, water, medicines, electricity and other supplies. "We ask ourselves what's next? There's no electricity or water, there are shortages of all basic human needs," said Kaninch. "We ask God to let people's lives resume and go back to safety, peace and prosperity."

Biden Indicates ‘Genuine Possibilities’ for Prolonging Gaza Ceasefire
Daily Star/November 26/2023
U.S. President Joe Biden, addressing the media in Nantucket, Massachusetts, where he was celebrating Thanksgiving with his family, referred to the recent release of hostages by Hamas as just the beginning. He highlighted the substantial opportunity to extend the temporary ceasefire in Gaza. Biden also mentioned the need to refocus efforts on establishing a two-state solution as a path to peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

The ceasefire in Gaza continues into its second day, with further exchanges of hostages planned and essential supplies being distributed
Daily Star/November 26/2023
On Saturday, the second day of a ceasefire, Hamas was poised to continue exchanging hostages for prisoners held by Israel. This truce has not only enabled the crucial delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza but also provided civilians a much-needed reprieve after seven weeks of intense conflict. The ceasefire’s first day saw significant developments: Hamas released 24 of the approximately 240 hostages taken during its Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which ignited the war. In return, Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners. Among those freed from Gaza were 13 Israelis, 10 Thai nationals, and a citizen of the Philippines.
According to the terms of the agreement, for every three prisoners released, Hamas will free one Israeli hostage. The Israel Prison Service’s preparations to release 42 prisoners indicate that Hamas may release 14 Israeli hostages, though official numbers for Saturday’s release have not been confirmed. The specific details of non-Israeli captives’ release remain uncertain. Over the four-day truce, Hamas is committed to releasing at least 50 Israeli hostages, while Israel will free 150 Palestinian prisoners, all women and minors. Israel has stated that the truce could be extended by a day for every additional 10 hostages released, a prospect that U.S. President Joe Biden has expressed hope for. Friday, the truce’s commencement, marked the first respite for Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians, who have suffered under relentless Israeli bombardment resulting in thousands of deaths and widespread displacement. Rocket fire from Gaza militants into Israel also ceased. For Gaza resident Emad Abu Hajer, the ceasefire allowed him to search the ruins of his home, destroyed in an Israeli attack, where he discovered the bodies of his cousin and nephew, increasing the attack’s death toll to 19. He continued searching for his sister and two other missing relatives. The United Nations capitalized on the ceasefire to enhance the delivery of food, water, and medicine, reaching its highest volume since Oct. 21. Additionally, it managed to provide 129,000 liters of fuel and cooking gas, marking a significant achievement since the war began. In Khan Younis, a southern city in Gaza, residents lined up for newly delivered fuel. Hossam Fayad expressed his wish for the truce to extend beyond four days to improve people’s conditions. The ceasefire also facilitated aid delivery to northern Gaza, heavily impacted by Israel’s ground offensive. The U.N. and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society evacuated patients from a Gaza City hospital to one in Khan Younis. However, the ceasefire’s brevity tempers its relief for both Israelis and Palestinians. The short duration leaves Gaza in a humanitarian crisis and under the threat of renewed fighting. In Beitunia, in the West Bank, the release of 24 Palestinian women and 15 teenage boys, previously held for minor offenses like stone-throwing, sparked celebrations. With over 7,200 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, including around 2,000 arrested since the war’s start, the prisoner exchange holds deep significance for Palestinian society. The conflict, which began with Hamas militants entering southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people, and taking numerous hostages, has led to extensive casualties and displacement. Qatar, the U.S., and Egypt, playing mediator roles, hope the ceasefire will lead to lasting peace. However, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned troops of a short respite and a potential continuation of the war. The Israeli offensive has resulted in over 13,300 Palestinian deaths, including a significant proportion of women and minors. The Health Ministry in Gaza, run by Hamas, reports around 6,000 missing people, feared trapped under debris. Israel claims to have eliminated thousands of Hamas fighters, though it has not provided evidence to support this claim.

Qatari and Egyptian mediators bridge Gaza truce implementation gaps
LBCI/November 26/2023
Until late last night, the Qatari and Egyptian mediators were exerting efforts to resolve the delay in continuing the implementation of the truce agreement in Gaza. This article was initially published in, translated from the online newspaper Al-Anbaa.
This was due to the Israeli occupation's non-compliance with its commitments in the exchange agreement, especially the failure to enter the agreed-upon number of trucks carrying food, medical aid, and fuel into the northern strip and manipulating the list of Palestinian prisoners. The truce was on the verge of collapsing if not for the intense efforts that led to resolving the issue in the final hours. These efforts accompanied the Israeli pressures and threats to return to military operations if Hamas did not release the second batch before midnight. Meanwhile, the movement maintained its stance on the issue of admitting more aid. On the second day of the truce, Israeli violations occurred, especially in the northern areas of Gaza, where shots were fired to prevent citizens from inspecting their homes and belongings. The extensive damage in these areas due to the bombings and airstrikes over the past forty-five days became evident.
Similar violations continued in southern Lebanon, with Israel firing toward farmers attempting to inspect their livelihood and crops. This gunfire also hit a UNIFIL vehicle. As for the West Bank, the occupying forces continued their incursions into several cities and towns, resulting in casualties and injuries, along with the arrest of more Palestinian youths. Despite the obstacles on the second day of the truce, security sources told Al-Anbaa that the truce would be extended for an additional four days if it proceeded peacefully. In addition, the sources pointed out that Qatar, Egypt, Russia, and China are working to make this initiative successful, and communications with the United States and Israel have continued in this regard. Regarding Lebanese political affairs, the meeting between Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul was notable.
Political sources have told Al-Anbaa that Mikati's visits to several Arab and regional countries, along with his meetings with their leaders, aimed at neutralizing Lebanon and preventing Israel from dragging it into a wide-ranging war that cannot endure in these circumstances. Additionally, these efforts aimed to help Lebanon overcome its crises, particularly resolving the presidential vacuum and electing a president. Commenting on Mikati's visit to Istanbul, former MP Ali Darwish said to Al-Anbaa that Turkey, as an influential country in the region, has taken positive initiatives to assist Lebanon several times, whether that was at the level of Lebanon as a country or at the level of the city of Tripoli in particular.
Moreover, he highlighted the need for Mikati's meetings to encourage Turkey to help Lebanon positively, play a positive role in prolonging the truce in Gaza and its impact on the situation in the south, and contribute to Lebanon, similar to China's assistance of one million dollars for the treatment of victims of Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon. Notably, China had previously provided $6 million to install solar energy for all Ogero centers in Lebanon. Darwish added: “In light of the continuing war on Lebanon, this meeting between Mikati and Erdogan was necessary to encourage Turkey to help Lebanon on the one hand and to conduct a reading of the reality at the level of the Middle East and propose sustainable solutions within an international formula to stabilize the truce."Simultaneously, political sources mentioned the return of French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian to Lebanon to continue his contacts with political forces, urging them to elect a president and work towards restoring political life in Lebanon—a rare opportunity. According to the sources, the chances of Army Commander General Joseph Aoun for the presidency are high despite the ongoing controversies. If the efforts to elect a president succeed, appointing the army commander, the military council, and the chief of staff becomes possible. The sources believe Hezbollah will not object to the army commander's candidacy this time and may seek to convince its ally, MP Gebran Bassil, to accept it. Darwish considered Le Drian's visit a continuation of the French initiative, hoping it would bring some ideas to put the presidential file back on track. Efforts are racing against time on all paths, hoping to soften rigid positions and push toward solutions that fortify the internal front against external storms.

Hamas announces release of a Russian hostage, hands him over to Red Cross
AFP/November 26/2023
Hamas declared on Sunday that it has released a Russian hostage who was among those held in Gaza since its attack on Israel on October 7, and handed him over to the Red Cross. In a statement on its official website, Hamas stated, 'In response to the efforts of Russian President Vladimir Putin and in appreciation of Russia's supportive stance on the Palestinian cause, the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas has released one of the detainees of Russian nationality.'

Netanyahu's Gaza Visit: Pledges Persistence Until Victory
AFP/November 26/2023
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made his first visit to the Gaza Strip since the start of the war with Hamas, addressing soldiers. He stated, 'We will continue until the end until victory is achieved.' Netanyahu, as shown in a video released by his office, said, 'Every possible effort will be made to retrieve our captives, and ultimately, we will bring them all back.' He added, 'I say to the fighters and to the citizens, we will persist until the end until victory is achieved.

As Ceasefire Sets In, Hamas and Israel Proceed with Prisoner Swap
Daily Star/November 26/2023
On Friday, under a ceasefire agreement, Hamas released the first group of hostages taken during a devastating attack in Israel, marking the deadliest assault in the nation’s history. In exchange, Israel freed 39 Palestinian women and children from its prisons.
Thirteen Israeli hostages, including four children and six elderly women, returned to Israeli territory. They were to undergo medical examinations before reuniting with their families. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to ensure the return of all hostages, citing it as a key war objective.
A convoy of Red Cross vehicles was observed crossing from Gaza into Egypt, carrying the released hostages, after Hamas transferred them to the humanitarian organization. In a reciprocal move, Israel released a significantly higher number of Palestinian prisoners, consisting of women and teenage boys. This release was part of a deal facilitated by weeks of negotiations involving Israel, Palestinian militant groups, Qatar, Egypt, and the United States. In the West Bank and East Jerusalem, a total of 39 Palestinian prisoners were released amid tight security.
The Palestinian Authority’s department for detainees’ affairs released a list of 24 women and 15 minors freed, including Malak Salman, arrested at age 16 for an attempted stabbing incident. Qatar, playing a key role in mediation, confirmed that Hamas had released 24 hostages, and Israel had freed 39 Palestinian prisoners. This group included 13 Israeli citizens, some holding dual citizenship, 10 Thai citizens, and a Filipino citizen. The White House anticipated that Americans might be among the larger group of 50 hostages expected to be released during the truce. Israeli forces had prepared for the arrival of the released hostages with amenities like headphones and toys at a reception center. Hamas’s incursion into Israeli territory on October 7 led to the death of approximately 1,200 Israeli soldiers and civilians and the capture of around 240 hostages. The four-day truce is expected to see the release of at least 50 hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners. The ceasefire prompted a significant movement of people seeking refuge in Gaza, escaping the relentless Israeli bombardment that began following Hamas’s attacks. This conflict has resulted in about 15,000 deaths, predominantly civilians, according to the Hamas government in Gaza.
With the truce in effect, humanitarian aid, including fuel, food, and medicine, began flowing into Gaza through the Rafah crossing, marking the largest convoy since the war’s onset. Despite this temporary pause in hostilities, Israeli authorities warned of the war’s continuation and advised against returning to the heavily targeted northern regions of Gaza. The ceasefire’s observance was noted in the afternoon, with only a few disturbances reported in northern Gaza. The hostages’ release process was meticulously organized, with the Red Cross facilitating their transfer and the Israeli army prepared to receive potentially traumatized individuals. Among the approximately 240 hostages, identities of 210 have been confirmed, including at least 35 children, with 18 aged 10 or under at the time of abduction. Two captives, including a female soldier, were found deceased in Gaza by Israeli forces, while Hamas had previously released four women and Israeli forces had rescued another. The mother of two young hostages, Ela and Dafna Zin, shared her anguish on social media upon learning that her daughters were not included in the initial release.

Gaza’s Landscape Resembles a Lunar Terrain, Raising Concerns About Its Future Habitability Post-War
Daily Star/November 26/2023
Israel’s military operations have drastically transformed much of northern Gaza into a desolate landscape, akin to a lunar surface. Entire neighborhoods have vanished, with homes, schools, and hospitals demolished by airstrikes and scorched by tank fire. While some structures still stand, they are largely hollowed-out remnants. The conflict has driven nearly a million Palestinians from their homes, including those in Gaza City, the region’s urban center. The war’s conclusion will bring little solace as these displaced families confront the enormity of the devastation and grapple with questions about their future living arrangements and governance. Yousef Hammash, an aid worker, expressed a desperate desire to return home, despite the destruction, but remained pessimistic about his children’s future in the area. Israel’s strategy of using heavy ordnance in densely populated residential zones has resulted in over 13,000 Palestinian casualties and extensive ruin. Israel defends these actions as necessary due to Hamas’s alleged use of civilian areas for military purposes, a claim Hamas denies, accusing Israel instead of indiscriminately targeting civilians. Mahmoud Jamal, a taxi driver, recounted the unrecognizable state of his hometown Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, likening damaged buildings to open-air parking structures. According to Emily Tripp, director of Airwars, Israel’s aerial bombardment in this conflict has been one of the most intense since World War II. The U.N. describes it as the deadliest urban campaign since that time.
The conflict has rendered northern Gaza akin to a ghost town, as observed by Mkhaimer Abusada, a political scientist. Analysis of satellite data indicates significant damage to roughly half of the buildings in northern Gaza. The U.N. estimates that 1.7 million people are now homeless, leading to concerns about the region’s potential recovery. Raphael Cohen of RAND Corporation predicts long-term displacement for many residents. The war has also severely impacted essential infrastructure, including the majority of Gaza’s hospitals, according to the World Health Organization. The destruction extends to critical facilities like bakeries, grain mills, and water and sanitation systems. The U.N. reports that over 41,000 homes in Gaza are uninhabitable. Mohammed al-Hadad, a party planner, described his harrowing departure from Shati refugee camp, a heavily damaged area. While southern Gaza has been relatively spared, recent satellite data indicates increased destruction in Khan Younis, raising alarm among residents. The ceasefire has provided some respite, but displaced Palestinians feel the duration is insufficient. The devastation has drawn parallels to the “nakba” of 1948, a term Palestinians use to describe their mass displacement during the war that led to Israel’s creation. Reconstruction efforts in Gaza have been slow and incomplete since the 2014 conflict. The recent destruction, far more extensive, presents an enormous challenge. The question of who will spearhead the reconstruction remains unresolved. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu focuses on security restoration, while U.S. officials suggest the Palestinian Authority might take charge, a prospect President Mahmoud Abbas dismisses without progress toward a two-state solution. Despite the grim situation, there are hopes for a future Gaza with improved living conditions and infrastructure. However, Palestinians emphasize that the rebuilding must extend beyond physical structures to address a society deeply scarred by trauma and loss.

Characteristics of the Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement
Daily Star/November 26/2023
An interim truce agreement, intended to facilitate the release of numerous hostages taken during Hamas’ incursion into Israel, is expected to provide much-needed relief to the beleaguered residents of Gaza and offer a ray of hope to the families of those held captive. The deal, which faced last-minute challenges, was activated a day later than initially planned. It stipulates a four-day cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas. Additionally, Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody are set to be released as part of this agreement. The truce, orchestrated by Qatar, the United States, and Egypt, was announced on Wednesday. It culminated weeks of intermittent indirect talks and has set a critical stage that could shape the trajectory of the ongoing conflict triggered by Hamas’ attack on October 7. Details of the agreement, shared separately by Israel, Hamas, and Qatar, vary but do not contradict each other.
Under the agreement, Qatar stated that in return for the release of 50 hostages by Hamas, Israel would free 150 Palestinian prisoners. Those liberated by both sides will primarily be women and minors. The plan involves the phased release of hostages, who are part of the 240 people abducted last month, throughout the duration of the ceasefire. Following the release of the first group of hostages, Israel is anticipated to liberate the first batch of Palestinian prisoners. These prisoners, many of them teenage boys, were detained for actions like stone-throwing or public disorder during the violence in the West Bank in 2022 or 2023. Israel has proposed to extend the truce by one day for every additional 10 hostages released. As part of the deal, Qatar mentioned that Israel would allow increased quantities of fuel and humanitarian aid into Gaza, though specifics were not provided. Hamas stated that the agreement includes the daily entry of hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian aid and fuel into Gaza, marking the first such supply to reach northern Gaza, the focus of Israel’s ground offensive. While the Israeli government’s statement did not mention increased aid and fuel deliveries, Israeli Channel 12 TV reported that a substantial amount of fuel and humanitarian supplies would be allowed into Gaza as part of the deal. The conflict is expected to pause temporarily: Israeli forces and jets will cease fire, and militants will refrain from launching rockets into Israel.
Hamas claimed that during the truce, Israeli warplanes would halt flights over southern Gaza and reduce them over northern Gaza. Israel did not confirm this, and it remains unclear if this includes surveillance drones. The deal, however, does not address all hostages, leaving a significant number still in Hamas custody, including men, women, older people, and foreign nationals. Families not covered in the current agreement are expected to continue pressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for further negotiations to secure their loved ones’ release. While Netanyahu assured that the International Committee of the Red Cross would visit the remaining hostages to provide necessary medical assistance, neither Hamas nor the Red Cross has confirmed this. Despite the ceasefire bringing a brief respite to Gaza, displaced individuals are not expected to return home immediately. Israeli troops will maintain their positions in northern Gaza. This agreement represents only a short hiatus in the fighting. Israel aims to resume its military operations to dismantle Hamas and save the captives once the ceasefire concludes. Netanyahu stated that the ceasefire would allow the military to prepare for continued combat, indicating the war’s continuation after the truce. The temporary halt in hostilities also gives Hamas an opportunity to re-strategize and possibly increase its demands, potentially leading to extended negotiations for a longer ceasefire. Such an extension would make it more challenging for Israel to reinitiate the war, considering both operational logistics and global public opinion. The Israeli government, under increasing domestic pressure, may face further demands to secure the release of more hostages, especially from families not included in the current agreement.

4-year-old Israeli American hostage is released
Arlette Saenz, Betsy Klein and MJ Lee, CNN/November 26, 2023
Abigail Edan, the 4-year-old American dual citizen abducted by Hamas on October 7, has been released – marking the first successful release of an American hostage since the start of a truce between Israel and Hamas. Edan is one of the 17 hostages released Sunday. President Joe Biden welcomed Abigail’s release, saying in a speech from Nantucket, Massachusetts, that she is receiving love, care and “the supportive services she needs” and adding that he was “hopeful this is not the end of the temporary truce.” Biden said the girl “has been through a terrible trauma.” Her mother was killed in front of her, the president said. She then ran to her father, Biden said, who used his body to shield his daughter and was killed. “What she endured was unthinkable,” he said. Biden added that Abigail was now in Israel but said that he did not have details on her condition. Abigail will be taken to Schneider Children’s Medical Center, where the other child hostages have been transferred, a spokesperson with the Hostage and Missing Families Forum told CNN. Biden said he would speak shortly with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying the two would discuss implementation of the existing deal and efforts to extend it to bring additional hostages home. News of Abigail’s release comes after national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN’s Dana Bash that the Biden administration had “reason to believe” one of the Americans held hostage would be released Sunday. “We’re dealing with Hamas. We are in a ‘don’t trust, but verify’ situation here. And so we have reason to believe that there will be an American release today,” Sullivan said on “State of the Union.”“Today should be a good day, a joyful day, but until we actually see it happen, we are going to remain really at the edge of our seat,” Sullivan said.
Two American women who are unaccounted for are also expected to be part of the group of 50 women and children hostages released as part of a four-day truce, now in its third day. “She turned 4 just two days ago,” Sullivan said of Edan. “She has been through hell. She had her parents killed right in front of her and has been held hostage for the last several weeks.”No Americans were released as part of the deal on Friday or Saturday. There are 10 Americans who are unaccounted for at this time. Twenty-four hostages – including 13 Israeli civilians and 11 foreign nationals – were freed on Friday, followed by 17 more – 13 Israelis and four Thai nationals – on Saturday as part of the brokered deal between Hamas and Israel. All 41 foreign nationals released by Hamas from captivity in Gaza are stable, according to medical professionals. Sullivan said that it is difficult to know the true status of the Americans who were taken captive in Gaza during Hamas’ brutal cross-border assault on October 7. “We cannot say for certain whether all three of them are still alive. But we do know this: We have reason to believe that today, one American will be released,” he said.
Omer Neutra, a dual US-Israeli citizen, is among the Israel Defense Forces soldiers kidnapped by Hamas, his parents have told CNN. Sullivan said he has been “candid” with Neutra’s parents and the parents of other American hostages.
“I told them directly … that we do not know the specific whereabouts or condition of Omer or other Americans because until the end of this deal, until the end of tomorrow we will not have, from the Red Cross, proof of life or other information. … So, as we learn that information, we will absolutely share it with the parents,” Sullivan said. Sullivan also spoke about Hamas agreeing to allow the Red Cross to visit the remaining hostages in Gaza and said the US is leaning on Qatari and Egyptian officials to ensure that happens by the end of Monday.
“We do believe that Hamas has obliged to maintain its part of the commitment on Red Cross visitation of the hostages and we expect Qatar and Egypt and other countries to hold Hamas accountable to hold that commitment by the end of tomorrow,” Sullivan said. Sullivan said Israel is prepared to extend the pause in fighting in exchange for Hamas releasing 10 hostages each day, adding, “The ball is really in Hamas’ court.”“If Hamas wants to see an extension of the pause in fighting, it can continue to release hostages,” Sullivan said. “If it chooses not to release hostages, then the end of the pause is its responsibility, not Israel’s, because it is holding these hostages completely illegitimately and against all bounds of human decency or the laws of war, so really we will see what Hamas ends up choosing to do.”Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Sunday that in the original agreement there would be an extra day of ceasefire for every 10 hostages released. But he said it was up to Hamas to free more hostages. “It was agreed in the original agreement, which has been violated constantly by Hamas but still implemented piecemeal, that if they bring another 10 prisoners or so … there will be an extension of another day of humanitarian pause,” Herzog said. While Israeli officials work to care for the released hostages and reunite them with their families, Sullivan said, they will also look to glean any information about Hamas in hostage debriefings on their time in captivity. “Israel is focused on learning anything it can about whereabouts, locations and other information based on conversations they have with the released hostages in the days ahead,” he said. Sullivan also detailed some of the inspection mechanisms involved with getting humanitarian aid into Gaza. Before aid goes into the Rafah crossing into Gaza, Sullivan said, it is checked by Israelis “to make sure that it is in fact humanitarian supplies and not goods that could help Hamas in its military campaign.” The aid trucks then go to United Nations depots and other humanitarian organizations that, he said, are “vetted and trusted partners.”
From there, he said, the aid is “distributed directly to the people.”“As humanitarian assistance has ramped up, we’ve seen it work – that it’s actually getting to people and that it’s not being diverted into the hands of Hamas,” Sullivan said.
The United Nations said Friday that 137 trucks carrying aid, including 129,000 liters of fuel and four trucks of gas, were offloaded in Gaza on the first day of the pause, marking the largest humanitarian convoy to enter the strip since October 7. Another 70 trucks carrying food, water, fuel and medical supplies entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing on Saturday, according to a border crossing spokesperson. Biden is in “close touch” with Israel and UN leadership to ensure “the aid is getting to where it belongs, which is the innocent people who are suffering.”Sullivan declined to weigh in on Israeli politics, but said Biden’s engagement with Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu “has paid dividends.”“He’s going to continue to focus on that high level direct leader to leader diplomacy and leave others to determine the politics, the political considerations,” Sullivan said.

Israel's use of 'really big' bombs to strike tiny Gaza Strip might only compare to Vietnam or World War II, military analyst says
Alia Shoaib/Business Insider/November 26, 2023
Most of the bombs Israel is using in Gaza are exceptionally big, weighing 1,000 to 2,000 pounds. The use of such large bombs on such a small area might only compare to Vietnam or World War II, an analyst said. The size and scale of the bombing is raising the civilian death toll, analysts told The New York Times. Israel's nearly seven-week-long aerial bombardment of Gaza has killed around 12,000 people and flattened large swathes of the small but densely populated strip. Analysts say that the scale of destruction is partly due to the scope of Israel's bombing campaign but also due to the size of its bombs. "It's beyond anything that I've seen in my career," Marc Garlasco, a military advisor for the Dutch organization PAX and a former senior intelligence analyst at the Pentagon, told The New York Times. He said that to find a historical comparison for so many large bombs being used on such a small area, we may "have to go back to Vietnam, or the Second World War." Around 90% of the munitions Israel dropped in Gaza in the first two weeks of the war were 1,000 to 2,000-pound satellite-guided bombs, a senior US military official told The Times. Garlasco noted that these bombs are "really big" and are being used on a large scale despite Israel also having thousands of smaller bombs from the United States that are designed to minimize damage. By comparison, US military officials felt that the 500-pound aerial bomb was too large to use on most Islamic State targets in urban parts of Mosul, Iraq, and Raqqa, Syria.
The Gaza Strip is just 141 square miles with a population of around two million people, making it one of the most densely populated places in the world. Israel's military says that Hamas fighters live among civilians in Gaza and that they use a complex network of tunnels under the city to shelter and transport weapons, making it a unique battlefield. The Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said that Hamas' strategy of embedding itself in Gaza is "the main reason why there are civilian casualties." The large bombs being used in Gaza are suited to striking underground infrastructure like tunnels, Brian Castner, a weapons investigator for Amnesty International and a former explosive ordnance disposal officer in the US Air Force, told The Times. While international laws of war do not prohibit the killing of civilians, they do say that militaries do not indiscriminately bomb civilian areas and should minimize the harm. Israel's aerial campaign appears to be moving too quickly to reduce harm to civilians, Castner said. The US has killed thousands of civilians in aerial bombardments in recent years but tries to minimize harm by spending time observing and assessing whether civilians are inside a building, per The Times. That kind of care "is literally not possible for the Israelis to do if they're doing this many strikes in as much time," Castner said. "They are using extremely large weapons in extremely densely populated areas," Castner said. "It is the worst possible combination of factors."

Egypt’s foreign minister begins tour that includes Spain, US in push to end Gaza violence
Arab News/November 26, 2023
CAIRO: The eighth Regional Forum of the Union for the Mediterranean takes place in the Spanish city of Barcelona on Monday. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry was setting off on Sunday to join the talks which will this year focus on the developments in Gaza. Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid said that the Arab-Islamic Ministerial Committee would meet in Barcelona for dialogue with the Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares. The ministers were expected to explore the outcomes and decisions at the recent Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh.
They were also joining a ministerial roundtable discussion organized by the Union for the Mediterranean and called “Developments in Israel and Palestine — Gaza and the Region.”Shoukry is set to travel to New York on Tuesday to join other committee members in a briefing session held by the UN Security Council on the situation in the Middle East. This will review the Arab and Islamic positions in calling for an end to the war, and in urging the Security Council to assume its responsibility to promote a comprehensive ceasefire and end Israeli violations of international law.
The committee is expected to make clear the crucial Palestinian issues during its meetings in New York. The Chinese presidency of the Security Council has decided to hold the ministerial-level session to address developments in the Gaza Strip. The ministerial committee will highlight the need to immediately revive the peace process on a serious basis, without procrastination, and in a way that guarantees the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, within a specific period, and in a way that ensures the realization of the vision of the two-state solution and the establishment of permanent peace. Slovenian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Tanja Fajon has praised Egypt’s efforts to obtain a humanitarian truce and its part in trying to facilitate the release of Palestinian hostages and prisoners from Israeli prisons. She was speaking after her meetings on Sunday with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, and Shoukry. The minister said she had held in-depth discussions about the Gaza crisis and exchanged views on how to deal with the conflict. She added: “We agreed on the need to urgently reach a permanent ceasefire and provide protection for civilians, as well as concrete steps towards a two-state solution.”Fajon affirmed her rejection of the forced displacement of Palestinians, saying that they must maintain their rights, and parties must ensure that favorable conditions were created for them to live in dignity. She added: “We discussed within the European Union the plan for development aid and financial support provided to the Palestinians.”She said that Slovenia was currently studying the possibilities of providing psychological support to Palestinian children, and rehabilitation when conditions improved.

Israel's Mossad hosts Qatari counterparts on Gaza talks -official
JERUSALEM (Reuters)/November 26, 2023
Israel's Mossad intelligence service is hosting its Qatari counterparts to confer on the recovery of hostages held by Hamas and other elements of a Gaza truce that was mediated by Doha, an Israeli security official said on Sunday. Qatari intelligence officers arrived on Saturday for an indefinite stay in Israel, the official said, adding that cooperation between the agencies is "traditionally close", despite the lack of formal relations between the countries. Qatar's international media office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Qatari delegation travelled to Israel on Saturday to discuss a possible extension to the truce, another official briefed on the visit told Reuters on Saturday, but it was unclear if intelligence officials were involved in the talks.Gas-rich Gulf state Qatar hosts several top Hamas officials and the group's political office. Qatar also has cordial relations with Iran, Israel's arch-foe, which backs Hamas.

Qatar says location of Hamas leader thought to have planned Oct. 7 attack is unknown
Lauren Sforza/The Hill/November 26, 2023
Qatar’s prime minister said Sunday that the location of the Hamas leader believed to have planned the Oct. 7 attack in Israel is currently unknown, saying that information was likely only known by those close to him. CBS’s Margaret Brennan asked Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Sunday if he knew where Hamas commander Yahya Sinwar, who is thought to have planned the attack on Israel, is currently located. “Well, I don’t think that this information is available with anyone except you know, the people who are close to him,” al-Thani responded. “And this is information really that doesn’t relate much to what we are doing right now and on the ongoing negotiations.”Al-Thani was referring to negotiations related to the release of dozens of hostages in recent days, an agreement he helped broker with U.S. and Israeli officials that included President Biden. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has said that it will continue to pursue Sinwar in the wake of the attacks. The Oct. 7 attack left more than 1,400 Israelis dead and resulted in about 240 Israeli and foreign nationals taken hostage by the militants. Al-Thani emphasized that Qatar’s communication with militant group has been “very exclusive to the political wing” of Hamas, not its military arm. He reiterated that Qatar does not “deal directly with” or has ever had dealt with the military wing of Hamas, a group which the United States designates as a terrorist organization. Qatar has been at the center of negotiations for the four-day truce and the hostage deal struck between Hamas and Israel last week, where 50 hostages are expected to be released. Brennan asked al-Thani about calls by some U.S. Republicans who are asking Qatar to turn over the Hamas political leaders they are in communication with and whether they would remain in Qatar. Al-Thani responded that his country had a “solid relationship” with the United States. “[O]ur relation with U.S. is a very solid relationship and alliance that being established throughout the decades, we’ve been working together very closely in ensuring peace and stability in the region. And in several occasions, Qatar has been always stepping up to this partnership,” he said.

Human Rights Watch says rocket misfire likely cause of deadly Gaza hospital blast
GENEVA (Reuters)/Sun, November 26, 2023
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Sunday that evidence suggested a misfired rocket was the likely cause of an explosion that resulted in heavy casualties at a hospital in Gaza on Oct. 17.The explosion at the Al-Ahli hospital triggered outrage across the Arab world. Palestinians blamed an Israeli air strike, while Israel said it was caused by a misfiring Palestinian rocket launch. The health ministry in Gaza said 471 people were killed. Israel disputes this figure. An unclassified U.S. intelligence report estimated the death toll "at the low end of the 100 to 300 spectrum".
"The explosion that killed and injured many civilians at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza on October 17, 2023, resulted from an apparent rocket-propelled munition, such as those commonly used by Palestinian armed groups..," HRW said.
It said the findings of its investigation into the explosion were based on a review of photos and videos, satellite imagery and interviews with witnesses and experts. The Al-Ahli hospital blast was one of the most fiercely disputed incidents in a war marked by accusations from both sides of disinformation and war crimes. Senior Hamas official Basem Naim told Reuters all indications pointed to Israel's responsibility, adding that the HRW report was biased towards Israel and was not "decisive". "HRW hasn't come up with any evidence to support their findings nor eyewitness testimonies nor opinion of independent military exports," he said, adding that Hamas received questions from HRW two weeks ago but asked it to delay its report until after the war had ended. Emmanuel Nahshon, deputy director general for public diplomacy at Israel's Foreign Ministry, criticised the time it took HRW to release its opinion.
"More than a month to reach half heartedly the conclusion the whole world reached after two days," he said on X social messaging network. Naim said Hamas had offered HRW or any other international investigation committee full cooperation if they were willing to visit Gaza and conduct a thorough probe.
HRW said reports of 471 dead and 342 injured "displays an unusually high killed-to-injured ratio" and appeared to be "out of proportion" with the damage visible on the site. "Authorities in Gaza and Israel should release the evidence of munition remnants and other information they have regarding the Al-Ahli hospital explosion to allow for a full investigation," HRW crisis and conflict director Ida Sawyer said. Hospitals have come under bombardment in the Israel-Hamas conflict and all those in the northern part of the enclave have effectively ceased functioning normally, although they continue to house some patients who could not flee as well as people displaced from their homes. Palestinians accuse Israel of targeting hospitals and schools, while Israel says Hamas uses ordinary Gazans as human shields by placing military positions in civilian buildings.

"Wall Street Journal": Possibility of extending temporary truce in Gaza for another four days
NNA/November 26, 2023
A source familiar with the negotiations between Israel and Hamas revealed that talks are currently underway with the aim of extending the temporary truce currently in place, which expires tomorrow, Monday, for another four days, according to what an American newspaper reported today. The "Wall Street Journal" quoted the source familiar with the talks on extending the truce, who did not reveal his identity, as saying that the negotiators hope that the current temporary ceasefire in Gaza can be extended for another 4 days, with the release of between 40 to 50 detainees of women and children. This number will be in addition to the 50 detainees whom Hamas agreed to release during the first four-day period, meaning that the number of those who may be released in the event of an agreement to extend the truce will range between 90 and 100 detainees. Hamas had initially indicated that it was ready to release 100 of its detainees, in addition to foreign detainees of other nationalities, according to Sky News Arabia.

El-Sisi: I thank the Emir of the State of Qatar for his efforts that integrated with Egyptian efforts to complete the humanitarian truce in Gaza
NNA/November 26, 2023
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi wrote today on platform “X”: “I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to His Highness Prince Tamim bin Hamad, Emir of the sisterly State of Qatar, for his undertaken efforts with his work team, which were integrated with the Egyptian efforts to complete the humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip and the success of the prisoner and detainee exchange process, and I look forward to more joint cooperation to meet the aspirations of the brotherly Palestinian people and establish a comprehensive and just peace in the region.”

Israel-linked tanker seized off Yemen: US official
AFP/November 26, 2023
DUBAI: A tanker linked to an Israel-affiliated company was seized off the coast of Yemen on Sunday by unidentified armed individuals, a US defense official confirmed, following a series of incidents on the same shipping route. “There are indications that an unknown number of unidentified armed individuals seized the M/V Central Park in the Gulf of Aden Nov. 26. US and coalition forces are in the vicinity and we are closely monitoring the situation,” the official told AFP. The maritime security firm Ambrey said that “US naval forces are engaged in the situation” after the incident involving the Central Park vessel, owned and managed by a UK-based, Israel-linked company. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis had previously threatened to attack the tanker if it did not divert to the port of Hodeida, it said. Communications from a US coalition warship had been intercepted warning the Central Park to disregard the messages, Ambrey added. The boarding took place offshore from the Yemeni port city of Aden, with another vessel in the area reporting “an approach by eight persons on two skiffs wearing military uniforms,” Ambrey said. It comes after a US defense official said an Israeli-owned cargo ship was damaged in a suspected Iranian drone attack in the Indian Ocean on Friday, and a week after Houthis seized an Israel-linked cargo ship in the southern Red Sea. The Houthis, declaring themselves part of the “axis of resistance” of Iran-affiliated groups, have launched a series of drone and missile strikes targeting Israel since October, following an unprecedented attack by Hamas militants on Israel. Israel has vowed to “crush” Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, after the Palestinian militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took around 240 hostages on October 7, according to Israeli authorities.
Gaza’s Hamas government says nearly 15,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Israeli aerial bombardment and ground operations in the Palestinian territory since then.

Russia offered to end its invasion of Ukraine if it dumped plans to join NATO, but Kyiv feared a double-cross, says negotiator
Rebecca Rommen/Business Insider/Sun, November 26, 2023
Russia proposed ending the war if Ukraine abandoned its NATO ambitions, a Ukrainian politician said. The proposal was made during peace talks soon after the full-scale invasion. "There is no, and there was no, trust in the Russians that they would do it," said the senior politician. Russia offered to stop its invasion of Ukraine on the condition that Zelenskyy's government abandoned its ambition to join NATO, The Kyiv Post reports. David Arakhamiya, leader of the Servant of the People party and head of the Ukrainian delegation in the talks, said that Russia had proposed a resolution to the conflict in spring 2022. The peace talks took place during the early stages of the full-scale war in Belarus and Turkey. The Russian delegation reportedly proposed ending the war if Ukraine dropped its NATO aspirations and took a neutral position.
Arakhamiya said that a shift toward neutrality would require a constitutional change, considering Ukraine's current constitutional commitment to NATO membership. Arakhamiya told Ukrainian journalist Natalia Moseychuk that Russia saw Ukraine's neutrality as a key condition for a potential peace agreement. "They really hoped almost to the last that they would put the squeeze on us to sign such an agreement so that we would take neutrality. It was the biggest thing for them," he said. The Ukrainian leader said there was a lack of trust in Russia's sincerity. "There is no, and there was no, trust in the Russians that they would do it. That could only be done if there were security guarantees," he explained. Signing an agreement without such assurances, Arakhamiya argued, would leave Ukraine vulnerable to a potential second incursion, as it would have provided Russia with an opportunity to regroup and prepare for another round of military aggression. Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's unexpected visit to Kyiv on April 9 had an impact on the potential ceasefire. Johnson advised against signing any agreement with Russia, encouraging Ukraine to continue the fight. Arakhamiya recalled Johnson's stance, saying Ukraine "shouldn't sign anything with them at all – and let's just fight." While both sides expressed readiness for a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, discussions abruptly halted when Russian troops retreated from Kyiv. The withdrawal exposed the shocking extent of war crimes committed, including the Bucha massacre. Three days after Johnson's departure from Kyiv, Putin publicly declared that talks with Ukraine had "turned into a dead end."NATO expansion has been underway since the beginning of the war, with formerly neutral Finland joining the alliance in April. Business Insider reported in January that Putin's decision to invade Ukraine was a miscalculation, as the war backfired by uniting NATO in support of Ukraine. While the bloc has been a crucial ally to Ukraine, there is a reluctance to initiate Ukrainian membership while it is at war. The US opposes extending NATO membership to Ukraine in the immediate future to avoid escalating the West's tensions with Russia.

Russian forces are crashing headlong into another city using some of the same catastrophic tactics that bloodied its army in Bakhmut
Jake Epstein/Business Insider/November 26, 2023
Several weeks have passed since Russia began its renewed offensive in eastern Ukraine, and Moscow's relentless efforts to capture the city of Avdiivka are being met by a steadfast Ukrainian defense.
As the days go by, Russia's military losses continue to mount. War experts say the slaughter around Avdiivka bears similar hallmarks to the months-long battle for Bakhmut, where Moscow's catastrophic tactics badly bloodied its army, even though it eventually captured the city.
Avdiivka is one of a few areas across the sprawling front line that has seen "the most intense ground combat" in recent days, according to a November 18 intelligence update from Britain's defense ministry. There, it added, Russian forces are suffering "particularly heavy casualties."Mark Cancian, a retired US Marine Corps colonel and a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic International Studies, said Russia's quest for Avdiivka appears to be driven by the same intent as with Bakhmut, which is the opportunity to pinch off a Ukrainian salient (a pocket of territory surrounded by the enemy on three sides). "They've tried to do that many times," Cancian told Business Insider, including in Bakhmut and in other areas like the northeastern city of Izium. "That's a classic military maneuver, something that the Soviets did repeatedly in the latter days of the Second World War."
George Barros, a Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, said Avdiivka presents a similar situation for Ukraine as Bakhmut did. If Kyiv loses the city, it won't necessarily threaten to completely unravel Kyiv's defense of the broader Donetsk region, though Ukraine will want to avoid letting Russia surround and trap its forces there. Russia is also employing a military strategy in Avdiivka that's similar to what it did in Bakhmut, which is sending forward a tremendous amount of combat power in brutal attacks — "throwing good money after bad," Barros told Business Insider.
Shortly after Russia began its assault on Avdiivka, a top White House said in mid-October that Moscow was again relying on "human wave tactics" — a gruesome strategy that was widely seen in Bakhmut — for its renewed offensive and was back to sending poorly trained soldiers into battle without proper training or equipment. Combat footage that has since emerged from the area around Avdiivka shows what Ukraine says is destroyed armor, indicative of the heavy losses in personnel and equipment that Moscow has suffered during the fighting. Russian sources from the front lines of the slaughter have also pinned blame on a lack of coordination and preparation from military leadership, as well as unrelenting Ukrainian artillery attacks. War analysts estimated earlier this month that in a period of three weeks, Russia lost more vehicles fighting for Avdiivka than Ukraine lost in several months of intense fighting in the south. Britain's defense ministry said on November 18 that small drones and artillery — including deadly cluster munitions — are playing a "major role" in the fighting there, citing eyewitness reports.
Ukraine's commander-in-chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said on November 10 that in the month since Russia launched its offensive against Avdiivka, its armed forces have lost over 100 tanks, 250 other armored vehicles, 50 artillery systems, seven warplanes, and suffered around 10,000 casualties. Business Insider is unable to independently verify these figures. "That's a bad way to conduct military operations," Barros said, adding that it's a "needlessly costly" way to carry out offensives as Russia continues to fight attritional battles and incur more losses than necessary. "Bakhmut was like that too. It was a tactical victory — I'd argue operational failure — contributing to the continued Russian strategic failure," Barros said. "Avdiivka so far, they've not even yet achieved tactical victory, and it's unclear that they necessarily will. But even if they do at this price point, I would characterize it as an operational failure." But for all the similarities between the two bloody battles, Avdiivka is different from Bakhmut in several ways. For one, it's long been heavily fortified by Ukraine given its role as a strongpoint during the fighting between Kyiv's forces and Russia-backed separatists that began nearly a nearly a decade ago.
It's also a smaller city than Bakhmut (with a pre-war population of around 33,000 compared to 73,000) and is more operationally significant from a military perspective. While Bakhmut was a place for Ukraine to bleed and destroy Russian combat power, Avdiivka is right on the doorstep of Donetsk, a strategic region that's currently held by Moscow. Still from aerial video released November 2 by Ukraine shows a Russian armored vehicle exploding near Avdiivka, Donetsk, Region, Ukraine.
Aerial footage released November 2 by Ukraine shows a Russian armored vehicle exploding near Avdiivka.47th Separate Mechanized Brigade via Reuters Connect
Maintaining this forward presence by Donetsk is important for the planning and phasing of Kyiv's future operations, Barros said, adding that Avdiivka is also seen as a symbol of Ukrainian resistance having been on the front lines of the separatist fighting for years.
As for Moscow's motivations in taking Avdiivka, beyond anything strategic, Barros said that Russian President Vladimir Putin may be seeking some sort of political victory that he can point to ahead of the country's presidential elections next year.
For now though, Russian forces continue to conduct "failed assault operations" near Avdiivka, according to an update from Ukraine's military on November 16, and the effort doesn't look like it's going to let up anytime soon.
Just as it did when Bakhmut became the focus of the war, the battle for Avdiivka appears to represent a shift in the war and the coming culmination of the counteroffensive. "The offensive in Avdiivka indicates that the Russians now have the initiative, that the Ukrainian offensive is over," Cancian said, describing the current fighting for the city as another phase of the 21-month-long war. "These offensives don't go on forever."

Drought Imposes Restrictions on Water Use for Agriculture in Iraq: Organization
AFP/November 26/2023
Sixty percent of farmers in several Iraqi provinces are suffering due to reduced cultivated areas and decreased water quantities, according to a survey conducted by the non-governmental organization, the Norwegian Refugee Council. The organization calls on authorities to better manage water resources. The survey reveals that the income of some farmers increased in 2023 compared to 2022, attributing it to rainfall exceeding initial estimates, leading to improved crop yields.Conducted during July and August in four Iraqi provinces, the study assessed the impact of drought on households based on harvest results. It interviewed 1079 individuals, with 40% of the sample being women, and 94% of respondents residing in rural areas.

The Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 26-27/2023
أخذ الرهائن والدول التي تأخذ الرهائن والدروع البشرية
Hostage Taking, Hostage States and Human Shields
Charles Elias Chartouni/November 26/2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/124709/124709/
The enumerated notions are enduring features of the Iranian power politics and their replicas throughout the larger Middle East and within Iran. The Iranian regime fails to normalize by any standards, while diligently working on regional destabilization and terrorizing its national constituents. There is, indeed, a continuum between the two. The common behavioral pattern revolves around the nihilistic path of Islamist terrorism, targeted political assassinations, hostage-taking, geopolitical destabilization, ideological indoctrination, exponential nuclear militarization and organized criminality. What underlies this systemic political agency is a common ideological subtext (the spread of the Iranian brand of Islamism), an imperial strategy based on the creation of strategic nodes that aim at upending the regional inter-state system, a religious dystopia based on the whims of a Shiite global domination which likens the communist Cold War delirium, and a well-set moral callousness which blunts the sense of moral accountability.
These recapitulated features, far from being irregular oddities, characterize an enduring political pattern to safeguard the totalitarian regime and secure its purported legitimacy. The politics of subversion instrumentalized by the Iranian regime are predicated on intertwined notions: preventing normalization on the outside in order to contain liberalization on the inside is the predicate that accounts for Iran’s foreign policy stratagem. The hostage-taking syndrome is no coincidence, it partakes of the survival strategy of the regime. The Hezbollah and Hamas subversion strategies, systemic terrorism, trail of political assassinations, hostage-taking and deliberate destruction of regional stability are located on a continuum. The concatenated political strategy feeds on this notion of structural instability, radical Islamism and shifting alliances with regimes and political movements that aim at undermining the international liberal order, its institutional architecture, governance and economic pillars.
The manipulation of ethnopolitical conflicts, the metastatic proliferation of conflicts and proxy wars and the dissemination of post-factual narratives are nurtured by an ideological mainstream of systematic dissembling, epistemological relativism and telescoping of historical facts. The tragic events elicited by the October 7 pogrom and the Gaza war are typical cases that highlight how this subversive strategy operates at the crossroads between counter-factual narratives and dissembling and trivialized violence. The worst part of the unfolding tragedy is how a cynical and criminal undertaking based on sequenced mass killing, collective hostage taking (Israeli Jews) and hermetic human shields strategy (Palestinians of Gaza) transmutes into the moral exoneration of Hamas and its Iranian handler, puts the onus of responsibility on Israel and questions its right to self-defense after a security breakdown of this magnitude. The Israeli retributive strategy is a mixture of firm revenge whose aim is to annihilate a major existential threat, reorder geostrategic priorities and prepare for the forthcoming political scenarios. The strategic and moral dilemmas, on the Israeli side, are very hard to manage amidst the imbroglios of internal divisions, ideological disagreements, existential threats and the murkiness of the international environment. Palestinians must meet their overdue challenge: build their moral and political autonomy, overcome the sway of Muslim and Arab politics, and do away with the toxicity of belligerent self-pity and the high walls of their ideological panopticon.
The tragedy of this war lies in the vicious political narrative that underpins the war scenario: the pogrom in South Israel was initially plotted to trigger the predictable Israeli reaction, upend the regional dynamic propelled by the US-Saudi negotiations, the overseeing a new Israeli-Palestinian chapter within the Abraham accords, and unleash a new wave of radicalism structured around the stalemated peace process, the fallacies of wokism and its ideological tale spinning (intersectional domination rhetoric, US imperialism and Zionist scheming), and the rise of a counter-world order attempted repeatedly under the Ahmadi Nejad and Ra’issi presidencies. The fleeing ahead strategy is flouted by the resurgence of the rebellion in Iran, the firm reaction of the USA and the resetting of demarcation lines, the ambiguities of Chinese positioning and the delusions of Russian power projections. Meanwhile, civilians in Gaza and Lebanon are hostages to raw power politics, human shields instrumentalization and ideological humbug.
The destruction of Hamas, and the firm containment of Iran and its satellites, are essential preludes to restarting negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis, pioneering new venues of peace-making, and overseeing the completion of a legacy of international deals and agreements designed to find a working solution between the two people who fought each other but coexisted as well. The Cassandra scenario is propounded and advocated by psychotic ideologues, criminal power players should be proven wrong, the sooner the better.

Don't Dismiss Trump II
Amir Taheri/Gatestone Institute/November 26, 2023
Judging by what advisers are preparing on the Middle East, Trump II will focus on "closer ties" with allies, including Israel, and no more "favors" to the Islamic Republic in Iran and Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Turkey unless he is back in line.
Trump thinks that Marxists and other "crazy leftists" have seized control of US universities and are brainwashing whole generations thanks to tax-exempt private donations and public funding.
So far the Democrats continue to mock Trump and refuse to take him seriously. This could cost the Democrats dearly. For even if the solutions that Trump suggests appear weird the problems he raises are real.
Judging by what advisers are preparing on the Middle East, Trump II will focus on "closer ties" with allies, including Israel, and no more "favors" to the Islamic Republic in Iran and Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Turkey unless he is back in line. Pictured: Former President Donald Trump arrives to deliver remarks during a campaign rally in November 8, 2023 in Hialeah, Florida. (Photo by Alon Skuy/Getty Images)
"He is dangerously close to getting re-elected!" This is how, in a recent issue, the London weekly The Economist presented Donald Trump's chances of returning to the White House next year. This was based on a few polls indicating that, if nominated, Trump would have a chance of winning next November.
One must always be careful about predictions, especially by the press.
The Economist put Indonesian's ruler General Suharto on its cover and predicted he would emerge as the most powerful leader in Asia. Less than a year later, Suharto was swept away by a popular uprising.
However, let us not dismiss the magazine's prediction about a second presidential term for Trump because, even if he fails to win the nomination, he has already had a lasting impact on American politics.
Trump's first effect has been to de-sacralize the US presidency as an institution. On the negative side, by refusing the results of the last election and by treating President Joe Biden as a "usurper" he has brought the American political discourse closer to that used in the so-called "emerging nations" of the Third World.
Worse still, he has ended decades of manufactured consensus on a set of foreign and domestic policies by adopting a winner-take-all attitude.
On the positive side, however, Trump has given a voice to millions of voiceless Americans who feel uncomfortable within the status quo and harbor fears, genuine or imagined, about the future.
Trump won his presidential term by riding an emotional tsunami and without offering a coherent political program. This was partly why his term was as chaotic as it was, ending with his real achievements in both domestic and foreign policies occulted by peccadillos and scandals.
This is why Trump is now trying to seek a second term on the basis of a program.
He calls it Agenda 47 because; if he wins next November he would become the 47th president of the United States. And on 4 July 2026 he will preside over the 250th anniversary of the foundation of the United States
An army of researchers and analysts are already working on that agenda both in the US and across the world.
Judging by what is already known about "the agenda", Trump promises to introduce policies that would transform not only the Republican Party, which he still regards as his nominal base, but also the American political model as a whole.
Over the past two centuries, both the Republican and Democrat parties have undergone major changes.
Initially, the Democrats were the party of the southern states, seeking a confederal system and, representing the slave-owning cotton barons opposed abolition.
The Republicans represented the northern states with their industrial barons and working class. Democrats opposed free trade because they feared competition from the European nations and their imperial possessions. Confident that US industry could face any competition, Republicans were champions of free trade.Democrats wanted a small confederal government while Republicans urged a stronger central executive built around the presidential institution.
Over many decades, the two parties swapped positions in many domains. Republicans became the party of the south while Democrats developed strongholds in the north and states located on the shores of the two oceans and the Great Lakes on the Canadian border. The once slave-owning Democrats attracted the support of the black minority while the once rural Republicans attracted suburbanites.
Trump II could bring other major changes. If Agenda 47 is implemented the presidential institution will achieve greater powers by using Executive Orders and Presidential Findings on a range of issues, by-passing the Congress.
Under Agenda 47, the US will cease to be a champion of free trade and thus of globalization which Trump believes harm American interests. A policy of re-localization of industry and imposition of higher tariffs could shake relations with both the European Union and China.
Agenda 47 promises bilateral trade verging on a medieval barter system that, in theory, would always be advantageous to the US because it is Washington that controls the supply of dollars.
The promise of cheap and abundant energy could not only end Washington's promises under the Paris Accords, which Trump opposed, but also throw a challenge to both oil-exporting and oil-importing nations across the globe. Another blow to Paris accords is the promise of rebuilding and expanding the car industry at a time that the EU and liberal-left elsewhere hope to bring the car-age to an end.
Talking to those working on Agenda 47 it is not clear how far Trump wishes to go in reshaping NATO if not actually leaving it to become a pan-European military union. Although the US is too deeply involved in the Ukraine war to be able to simply walk out, it is clear that Agenda 47 will seek a "political settlement" rather than total victory over Russia.
Judging by what advisers are preparing on the Middle East, Trump II will focus on "closer ties" with allies, including Israel, and no more "favors" to the Islamic Republic in Iran and Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Turkey unless he is back in line.
Leaving aside conjectural items on the agenda, perhaps the most important project of Trump II would be the control of the American system of higher education by government. This would be done through an "American Academy" which will collect all private and public funds given to universities and redistribute them according to a set of "values.
Trump thinks that Marxists and other "crazy leftists" have seized control of US universities and are brainwashing whole generations thanks to tax-exempt private donations and public funding. Part of the funds thus brought under government control could be used to support "home schooling", a system in which parents educate their own children.
Needless to say a tough immigration policy and measures against illegal immigrants form key elements in Agenda 47.
Under Agenda 47 Trump II will aim at reducing national debt which means cutting the size of the public sector. However, this runs contrary to policies designed to bring about cheap energy, expand the car industry and finance private education. A massive reduction in immigration would also deny the US industry and agriculture of an endless flow of cheap labor thus feeding the monster of inflation through higher wages.
So far the Democrats continue to mock Trump and refuse to take him seriously. This could cost the Democrats dearly. For even if the solutions that Trump suggests appear weird the problems he raises are real.
Amir Taheri was the executive editor-in-chief of the daily Kayhan in Iran from 1972 to 1979. He has worked at or written for innumerable publications, published eleven books, and has been a columnist for Asharq Al-Awsat since 1987. He is the Chairman of Gatestone Europe.
This article originally appeared in Asharq Al-Awsat and is reprinted with some changes by kind permission of the author.
© 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.

Israel’s ‘White Knight’ Strategy
Raymond Ibrahim/November 26, 2023
In the wake of the massacres carried out by Hamas on October 7th, many in the West called for cease-fire and questioned the need for Israel to engage Hamas inside of Gaza. One reason for the IDF offensive may lie in the objectives of the antagonists—objectives that have long marked the historical conflicts between militant Islam and the West. In his book, Defenders of the West: The Christians Heroes Who Stood Against Islam, Raymond Ibrahim traces centuries of warfare between Western and Islamic armies, providing historical insight that may inform the rationale for Israel’s current riposte. Notably, one Christian warlord employed a very different strategic approach in his efforts to defend his nation from Islamic conquest. His name was Janko [John] Hunyadi.
The White Knight of Wallachia
Ottomans led by Murad II and his successor, Muhammed II, were at the helm of the 15th Century effort to Islamize Europe. A fractionated Europe had lost its resolve to liberate the surviving indigenous Christians of the Middle East and the holy city of Jerusalem, along with the requisite unity necessary to prevent the Ottomans from invading the West. As Europe lowered its collective guard, the Ottomans gained ground along the southeastern corridor framed by the Balkans and southern Hungary.
From this forward position, the Ottomans built forts and launched unrelenting raids to weaken both the physical defenses and the will to resist. The strategy was to move incrementally northwest into Europe with the objective of conquest, enslavement and destruction of Christianity through death or conversion. Using contemporaneous sources, Ibrahim details the reasons for Western fear as borne out of the ignominious magnitude of slaughter, rape, enslavement, and mass beheadings resulting in “great mountains of [Christian] heads.”
Using present-day parlance, the 15th Century Ottoman objective can be described as an all-encompassing goal of conquest, death or conversion “from the Danube to the sea [Atlantic].”
At that time, the strategic mindset of the various Western warlords was defensive in nature. This posture allowed the Ottomans to dictate the timing and manner of aggression, and, crucially, this also enabled the replenishment of troops and materiel—the key to offensive military campaign vivacity.
However, it was in this strategically pivotal frontier that the Ottomans would face a confounding foe. A man whose style of warfare was unusual, highly effective, and through which the strategic residue of Israel’s current actions can be traced. His name was Janko [John] Hunyadi, and through his military genius, his valor, and his bright armor, he became known as The White Knight of Wallachia. Ibrahim describes how Hunyadi was both a master of the implements of war and a keen student of the art of war. He was consummate military thinker who closely studied military strategy from ages past and was said to be “especially fond of Caesar’s military journal.”
In 1441, Hunyadi was named voivode (“warlord”) of Transylvania and placed in charge of the southeastern border of Hungary. In facing such a daunting and existential threat, Hunyadi reconfigured his fighting forces by adding an infantry element, some armed with firearms, to the existing cavalry regimens. More importantly, however, he viewed a defensive posture as de facto acquiescence to constant aggression—a strategic presupposition he found to be unacceptable. Instead, Hunyadi embraced a strategic approach that Ibrahim describes as “unthinkable” at that time: he went on offense.
Wasting little time, in the very year he was designated voivode, Hunyadi left the defensive ramparts behind and crossed the Danube to engage and rout a large Ottoman army camped along the frontlines.
The offensive strategy became the modus operandi of the White Knight who meted out defeats to the Ottomans not merely along the Hungarian frontlines, but deep within their own territory. In doing so, the Ottomans were unable to reorganize, resupply, and mount their continuous assaults on Hungary. It was a strategy of both preemption and of psychological warfare as the hunters became the hunted.
For a time, his actions and successes inspired other European nations to join in the efforts to ward off the Ottoman armies. Not surprisingly, the consequent response throughout Muslim-held lands was one of defense. The fear that Hunyadi may suddenly descend upon them was so great that defensive preparations were made as far off as Cairo.
Israel’s White Knight Strategy
Hunyadi left a long-lasting legacy of military strategy that kept the Ottomans at bay for decades following his death, and elements of his strategic approach is currently on display
As Israel faces a 21st Century embodiment of the militant Ottomans, it surely recognizes the string of historic proclivities exemplified by Hunyadi’s antagonists, as the stated overarching objective of Hamas is not merely land and spoils, but the eradication of the Jewish people “from the river to the sea.”
Similar to Hunyadi, Israel understands that it must respond when attacked or before they are attacked—that it must go on the offense and the concept of preemption must be sown into its military doctrine. Using what could be called “The White Knight Strategy,” Israel has repeatedly kept radical Islamists at bay from their modern rebirth in 1948 until the present. This strategy has clearly been adopted as manifest policy seen in the Six Day’s War, Operation Orchard, the ongoing efforts to cripple Iranian nuclear capabilities through a variety of means, and yes, in their current war with Hamas.
The Intent of ‘Cease-Fire’?
There is one more notable similitude tying past conflicts to the current war.
In the present, protestors angrily call for Israel to ‘cease-fire.’ A similar refrain calling for armistice came in 1451 when Muhammed II succeeded Murad II. In reality, the cease-fire was to buy time for the new Sultan to consolidate his power and amass a formidable fighting force. Once his power and military were primed, he reneged the agreement and besieged the Christian seat of the Byzantine Empire: Constantinople. An unprepared West had ignored Hunyadi’s warnings of the coming disaster and thus Constantinople fell in 1453. Eyewitnesses who recounted the scenes following this Ottoman victory, describe with eerie similarity the grotesque details that emerged from Israel on October 7th, 2023. In his works, Ibrahim details the constancy of making and breaking peace treaties to such a degree that it seems to be a counterstrategy rather than an intended settlement. In his book, Sword and Scimitar, lies a noteworthy description of Constantinople’s conqueror’s call for truce – “peace was on his lips while war was in his heart.”It would seem that past actions of Hamas and certainly the current inflamed tenor of the anti-Israel protests convey a similar sentiment.
*Joachim Osther is a multi-disciplinarian – a freelance writer focusing on the intersection of culture and Christianity. Osther holds a master’s degree in theological studies while working as a strategist, advisor, and published author in the life sciences.

Rousing the sleeping giant of climate philanthropy
Badr Jafar/Arab News/November 26, 2023
There’s a lot that will be different about COP28 in the UAE, and one of the most prominent innovations will be the inaugural Business & Philanthropy Climate Forum, being held from Dec. 1-2, as part of the World Climate Action Summit. Designed to engage the private sector more effectively in the COP process, the forum will bring 1,000 CEOs and leading philanthropists from all regions of the world together, along with policy heads, to share knowledge, exchange ideas, and agree on better ways of collaborating to address climate change.
The presence of global philanthropists at the forum is not an afterthought. Although a lot has been said in recent decades about the crucial role that government and business must play in the fight against climate change and nature degradation, much less attention has been paid to the increasingly important role that philanthropy plays in this effort. This is despite the fact that well over $1 trillion in philanthropic capital is deployed around the world every single year. To put this in perspective, this equates to 10 times the value of all the climate finance provided last year by richer nations to developing nations, and about the same as total global climate finance flows in 2021/22.
Right now, though, only a fraction of this philanthropic capital is allocated to climate-related causes. In fact, according to a recent analysis by ClimateWorks Foundation, philanthropic giving by individuals and foundations focused on climate change mitigation made up less than 2 percent of global giving in 2022. Encouragingly, the same study showed a broadening appetite among strategic philanthropists for funding more diverse approaches to climate change mitigation, even if the total amount of climate-focused philanthropy remains relatively low.
This is an important trend, because it is not just the quantity of philanthropic capital that makes it a transformative resource in the global response to climate change. Philanthropic capital also has several distinctive characteristics that make it a qualitatively uniquely powerful tool for pushing the boundaries of what is possible and achieving urgently required scale. Among other things, philanthropic funding is often more flexible, risk tolerant and patient than other forms of capital. When strategically deployed at an early stage, de-risking follow-on investments, it can generate a multiplier effect by unlocking even larger pools of government and business capital.
Achieving an equitable climate and nature transition by 2050 is going to require an “all hands on deck” response from every part of the global community
Philanthropy can be a particularly powerful tool in the deployment of nature-based climate interventions — including with reforestation, restoring mangroves, and protecting biodiversity — that may not offer an immediate financial return and have historically struggled to compete for business and government funding. The increasingly recognized reality is that our nature and climate goals are inseparable, with research finding that natural climate solutions could yield one-third of the emissions reductions required to achieve a 1.5 C limit pathway. These reductions will not come cheaply, however. To address biodiversity loss and land degradation alone, it is estimated that nature-positive investments of $8 trillion is needed between now and 2050. Philanthropists could play a pivotal role in filling that gap. Which is why a number of sessions at the COP28 Business & Philanthropy Climate Forum will focus specifically on unleashing the catalytic effect of climate and nature philanthropy.
Of course, there are many things that we should already be doing to ensure more philanthropic capital is channeled towards climate and nature-based outcomes. First and foremost, we need to treat philanthropy with the respect that it deserves, and seek to harness it in ways that takes advantage of its unique strengths. Second, we need to listen to and engage with the growing cadre of strategic philanthropists across the Global South, home to three-quarters of the global population, many of whom are already dealing with the all-too-real effects of climate change. Third, we must not overlook the scale and consistency of faith-based giving, and the significant potential that exists for interfaith collaboration to address the universal threat that climate change poses to humanity. Finally, we need to make a sustained effort to facilitate greater coordination between the sectors of philanthropy, government and business — not just during high-profile moments such as COP28, but also in the precious months and years in between.
Achieving an equitable climate and nature transition by 2050 is going to require an “all hands on deck” response from every part of the global community. For many government stakeholders, that will mean properly raising ambitions and making good on commitments that they and their predecessors have already made. For many business leaders, that will mean making the essential leap from simple pledges and declarations to tangible action and implementation. For many of the world’s philanthropists, that will mean coming off the sidelines and throwing more of their considerable weight and unique attributes behind global efforts to address climate change. More than mere financial donors, I am optimistic that philanthropy can be the glue that binds business, government and civil society together in concerted action to achieve our net zero and nature positive goals.
• Badr Jafar is the COP28 Special Representative for Business & Philanthropy, and CEO of UAE-based Crescent Enterprises

Biden About To Betray Israel?
Con Coughlin/Gatestone Institute/November 26, 2023
Seven weeks into Israel's military offensive to destroy Hamas as a military and political entity, the Biden administration now seems to be adopting a very different stance, one where it appears ready to scale down its commitment to supporting Israel's right to self-defence, and destroying Hamas, in favour of a ceasefire deal that would essentially gift victory to Hamas.
Netanyahu has made no secret of his personal reservations about the hostage deal, arguing that any pause in Israel's military offensive would simply allow Hamas to regroup. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in particular, had been opposed to the deal because they wanted to maintain the pressure against Hamas on the ground in Gaza.
Indeed, Washington's willingness to impose ceasefires on Israel when its forces have clearly established a military advantage on the battlefield against their enemies has been a constant feature throughout Israel's 75-year existence.
The Israelis will certainly be concerned at the role played by Qatar, which is one of Hamas's main military backers, in the negotiations. While the Qataris like to claim that they are simply using their contacts with Hamas to defuse tensions, the fact that Ismail Haniyeh, who masterminded the massacres, directed the attacks from his five-star hotel in Qatar, where he has been granted a safe haven, means the Israelis have every reason to be wary of Qatar's motives.
While the release of the first groups of hostages held by Hamas has inevitably raised hopes about the fate of the remaining Israeli hostages, it also exposes the Biden administration's worrying lack of commitment to supporting Israel's declared aim of destroying the Islamist terror group.
In the immediate aftermath of Hamas terrorists committing the worst terrorist atrocity in Israel's history on October 7, US President Joe Biden was quick to reassure Jerusalem that Washington fully supported Israel's right to defend itself.
After speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House issued a statement declaring:
"The United States unequivocally condemns this appalling assault against Israel by Hamas terrorists from Gaza, and I made clear to Prime Minister Netanyahu that we stand ready to offer all appropriate means of support to the Government and people of Israel.
"Terrorism is never justified. Israel has a right to defend itself and its people... My Administration's support for Israel's security is rock solid and unwavering."
Biden emphasised his commitment to Israel's defence by dispatching two aircraft carrier battle groups to the region to deter other malevolent actors, such as Iran, from seeking to exploit the crisis by escalating the conflict into a broader Middle East war.
Seven weeks into Israel's military offensive to destroy Hamas as a military and political entity, the Biden administration now seems to be adopting a very different stance, one where it appears ready to scale down its commitment to supporting Israel's right to self-defence, and destroying Hamas, in favour of a ceasefire deal that would essentially gift victory to Hamas.
The Biden administration has made clear that it pressured the Netanyahu government into accepting the Qatar-sponsored hostage deal, which has resulted in a number of Israeli women and children being released in exchange for the release of convicted Palestinian terrorists from Israeli prisons.
Biden also expressed hope that the four-day "pause" in Israel's military offensive, which is being observed to allow the hostage release deal to take place, might ultimately lead to a broader ceasefire. Asked by reporters whether the four-day pause could be extended, Biden replied, "I think the chances are real."
While conceding that Israel's quest to destroy Hamas was "legitimate", Biden revealed that his administration's key objective was to end the fighting at the earliest available opportunity.
"My expectation and hope is that as we move forward, the rest of the Arab world and the region is also putting pressure on all sides to slow this down, to bring this to an end as quickly as we can," Biden said.
Netanyahu has made no secret of his personal reservations about the hostage deal, arguing that any pause in Israel's military offensive would simply allow Hamas to regroup. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in particular, had been opposed to the deal because they wanted to maintain the pressure against Hamas on the ground in Gaza.
Israeli commanders certainly understood the fickleness of Washington's declared support for their military offensive from the start, as Washington has an undistinguished record of abandoning its Israeli ally in times of peril.
During the IDF's military incursions in Gaza in 2009 and 2014, for example, the Israelis were forced to stop fighting within three weeks, with ceasefires brokered on both occasions by Egypt and forced on Israel by Washington.
Indeed, Washington's willingness to impose ceasefires on Israel when its forces have clearly established a military advantage on the battlefield against their enemies has been a constant feature throughout Israel's 75-year existence.
And, judging from the Biden administration's current enthusiasm for a ceasefire, it appears Washington is determined to follow a similar path of appeasement with regard to the current Gaza crisis, even if the Israeli government remains determined to maintain its offensive until Hamas' terrorist infrastructure in Gaza has been completely eradicated.
Israel will certainly be under no illusions about the pitfalls of the hostage deal that has so far resulted in the release of only a small proportion of the estimated 240 Israeli hostages seized by Hamas during the October 7 attack.
The Israelis will certainly be concerned at the role played by Qatar, which is one of Hamas's main military backers, in the negotiations. While the Qataris like to claim that they are simply using their contacts with Hamas to defuse tensions, the fact that Ismail Haniyeh, who masterminded the massacres, directed the attacks from his five-star hotel in Qatar, where he has been granted a safe haven, means the Israelis have every reason to be wary of Qatar's motives.
Israel will also, with good reason, have concerns that the hostage deal as currently constructed, with Israel being obliged to release convicted terrorists in return for innocent Israeli civilians, will simply bolster Hamas' credentials.
The boost Hamas has received from the deal was evident when the first Palestinian prisoners were released from Israeli prisons and returned to their homes in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
IDF soldiers guarding Ofer Prison, near Ramallah, fired tear gas to disperse crowds of Palestinians who chanted "the people want Hamas" while awaiting the release of the first batch of 39 convicted Palestinian terrorists.
One of the reasons the US and its allies have previously ruled out negotiating with terror groups is that, by doing so, there is a danger of legitimising the terrorists' activities.
The Biden administration's willingness to abandon this long-held principle in favour of negotiating with Hamas, therefore, runs the risk of boosting support for Hamas at the very time that Israel is actively seeking to destroy the terrorist group, a policy that completely undermines Washington's claim that it supports Israel's right to self-defence.
*Con Coughlin is the Telegraph's Defence and Foreign Affairs Editor and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
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