Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 11-12/2023
Lebanon's Hezbollah on war footing but moves carefully as conflict widens
Israeli Army Reports Suspected Infiltration from Lebanon, Issues Alarms in Northern Border Towns
Lebanon's Security Quandary: Militant Operations and International Implications
What did Shea tell Berri in Ain el-Tineh meeting?
Could Israel-Hamas conflict descend into wider regional war?
Hezbollah targets Israeli military post, Israel hits back
Hezbollah to US: Aircraft carrier shows Israel weakness, it doesn't scare us
Hezbollah condemns US open support for 'Zionist aggression'
US, allies warn Hezbollah to stay 'out of conflict'
Israel, Hezbollah exchange fire for 3rd day after Hamas fires rockets from Lebanon
Israeli Army Reports Suspected Infiltration from Lebanon, Issues Alarms in Northern Border Towns
Bou Habib to Visit Damascus to Discuss Common Issues, Especially Syrian Displacement
Army Units Foil Attempted Infiltration of 1500 Syrians across Lebanese-Syrian Border
Shelling in Dahira: Three Injured, One Critical, Significant Property Damage
Geagea: We'll exert utmost effort to prevent ignition of South front
Jumblat hopes Hezbollah won't be 'dragged into war'
Bassil warns against return to 'Fatah Land' era
Several Palestinian militants are active in southern Lebanon, a stronghold of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.
Lebanese Politicians To Hizbullah: Don't Involve Lebanon In A War Against Israel

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 11-12/2023
Netanyahu, opposition agree on unity government and war cabinet
Israel pounds Gaza as death tolls on both sides rise sharply
Day 5 of the latest Israel-Palestinian war
The US is thinking about sending another aircraft carrier into waters near Israel, possibly to back up the Ford strike group: reports
If Israeli bombs fall on Iran's facilities, Iran's ruling clergy have themselves to blame.
Israel’s only option is overwhelming force
Israel’s history suggests the clock is ticking for Netanyahu after Hamas attack failures
Israeli strikes demolish entire Gaza neighborhoods as only power plant in territory runs out of fuel
Israel’s Netanyahu, Gantz reach deal to form emergency government
Gaza war tests fragile Israel-Turkey rapprochement as Erdogan ups rhetoric
As strikes devastate Gaza, Israel forms unity government to oversee war sparked by Hamas attack
Gazans Trying to Flee War Have Egypt Weighing Aid and Security
Some Israelis abroad aren't running from war at home, but to it
Israel says fires artillery after munitions launched from Syria
US Congress member: Egypt “warned” Israel three days before the Hamas attack: AFP
Rise of drones and rockets: Hamas' technological advancements
Hamas attack raises questions about Iran influence
Canada will airlift people from Tel Aviv this week, Joly says
Erdogan vows to intensify strikes on Kurd fighters in Iraq, Syria
Syrian Kurds accuse Turkey of war crimes as Erdogan vows escalation
Zelensky visits neighboring Romania to discuss security and boost ties
Zelensky at NATO defense ministers meeting seeks more support to fight Russia

Titles For The Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 11-12/2023
What Starts in Gaza - and Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Venezuela - Starts in Iran/Pete Hoekstra/Gatestone Institute./October 11, 2023
To Win a War, Fight One/Daniel Greenfield/Gatestone Institute./October 11, 2023
Israel Focused on the Wrong Iranian Threat, With Deadly Results/David Schenker/The Washington Institute/October 11/2023
Polls Show Majority of Gazans Were Against Breaking Ceasefire; Hamas and Hezbollah Unpopular Among Key Arab Publics/Catherine Cleveland and David Pollock/The Washington Institute/October 11/2023
What Starts in Gaza - and Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Venezuela - Starts in Iran/Pete Hoekstra/Gatestone Institute./October 11, 2023
16 Years Later, Israel is Paying the Price of the 2007 Gaza Conflict/Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al Awsat/October 11/2023
Warning of Changing Maps/Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al Awsat/October 11/2023
Gaza… An Israeli Hiroshima?/Bakir Oweida/Asharq Al Awsat/October 11/2023

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 11-12/2023
Lebanon's Hezbollah on war footing but moves carefully as conflict widens
Wed, October 11, 2023
BEIRUT (Reuters) -Lebanon's Hezbollah has moved carefully since Hamas and Israel went to war, keeping Israeli troops busy with attacks at the Lebanese border but not opening a big front, sources familiar with its thinking say. The Iran-backed group is on a war footing, deploying special forces and priming its rockets in preparation for the possibility of war.Tensions are higher than at any point since it fought a 2006 conflict with Israel, the sources said. Three Hezbollah fighters have already been killed. Hezbollah's Palestinian allies, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have also entered the fray, attacking Israel from Lebanon for the first time, including a cross-border infiltration on Monday in which the Israeli army says three of its soldiers and two gunmen were killed. But while Hezbollah is not ruling out war, the sources said its moves so far have been designed to be limited in scope, preventing a big spillover into Lebanon while keeping Israeli forces occupied in northern Israel. One of the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Hezbollah was mounting strikes here and there and responding to Israeli fire into Lebanon while closely observing the situation in the Gaza Strip and the south. Hezbollah was taking things "day by day", the source said. A major war between Israel and Hezbollah, battled hardened by wars across the region including Syria, would leave the Israeli army fighting on two fronts as it seeks to crush Hamas some 200 km away in Gaza. Hamas ignited the war on Saturday when its gunmen infiltrated Israel from Gaza, killing 1,200 people and abducting dozens more. Israeli bombardment of Gaza has killed 1,055 Palestinians. Founded by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in 1982 to fight Israeli forces that invaded Lebanon, Hezbollah has long served as a model for other Tehran-backed groups in the region including Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The United States has warned Iran not to get involved and has sent an aircraft carrier strike group closer to Israel, describing this as a "strong message of deterrence" to stop the conflict from broadening. The U.S. ambassador to Lebanon and other Western officials have been telling Lebanese state officials that Hezbollah must not get involved, a senior Lebanese politician and a U.N. source said. The U.S. Embassy referred Reuters to the State Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Hezbollah did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
NASRALLAH FOLLOWING
Mohanad Hage Ali of the Carnegie Middle East Center said Hezbollah's next steps would be shaped by Israel's plans for a Gaza ground incursion. The prospect of Hamas being dealt a killer blow would "propel Hezbollah to intervene, along with Palestinian factions (in Lebanon), and increase the possibility of things going out of hand," he said. Hezbollah has said it is in direct contact with Palestinian militants in Gaza and expressed its support for them. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, known for threatening Israel in fiery televised addresses, has not delivered a speech since the violence began on Saturday. The sources said he is following events in Gaza and the south by the minute. Earlier this year, Hezbollah invited media to watch its elite Radwan forces simulate an invasion of northern Israel. Israel has long seen Hezbollah as the biggest threat at its borders. The 2006 war killed 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 157 Israelis, mostly soldiers. Lebanon took years to rebuild from the 2006 war and can ill afford another one, four years into a financial crisis that has impoverished many Lebanese and paralysed the state. All-out war would likely derail Lebanon's offshore oil and gas exploration efforts, for which Hezbollah has voiced strong support. Last year, it gave the nod for a U.S.-brokered deal between Lebanon and Israel to draw a disputed maritime boundary. Ibrahim al-Amin, editor of the pro-Hezbollah Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar, wrote on Wednesday that "matters will witness a big change" if Israel "widened the battle to displace the people of the Gaza Strip, or carried out any crazy act" against the Palestinian armed groups.

Israeli Army Reports Suspected Infiltration from Lebanon, Issues Alarms in Northern Border Towns
LBCI/October 11/ 2023
The Israeli army announced on Wednesday “suspected infiltration from Lebanon into Israeli airspace,” triggering alarm sirens in cities and towns in the northern border region of the Hebrew state. The army requested residents of the towns of Beit She'an, Safed, and Tiberias to take cover until "further notice," fearing a "broad-scale attack."

Lebanon's Security Quandary: Militant Operations and International Implications
LBCI/October 11/ 2023
An infiltration operation from Dahira was carried out by the Al-Quds Brigades, affiliated with the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine. The Al-Qassam Brigades, affiliated with the Palestinian Hamas movement, executed a missile launch operation. These organizations are not Lebanese and do not receive any official political coverage in Lebanon for using Lebanese territory to carry out military operations against Israel. In clearer terms, no official ministerial statements, government declarations, or military permits from the Lebanese army allow such operations. In contrast, Hezbollah, which is a Lebanese organization resisting the Israeli occupation of Lebanese territories, operates with official coverage and clear engagement rules. The greater danger in what the Islamic Jihad and Hamas are doing is that their military operations originate from an area where UN Security Council Resolution 1701 is supposed to be implemented. This means that the Lebanese army and UNIFIL are supposed to prevent illegal weapons or unauthorized armed individuals not approved by the government from moving into this area. Security information indicates that neither Hamas nor Islamic Jihad informed the Lebanese army about their military operations. Hezbollah refuses to confirm or deny whether these operations are coordinated with them. Even the Lebanese government, specifically Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, has not received any answers from Hezbollah regarding the military path of the party, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad. He even did not receive any answers from Hamas or Islamic Jihad regarding their military actions in southern Lebanon. What is happening in the south, especially by Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, undermines UN Security Council Resolution 1701, issued after the July war between Hezbollah and the Israelis in 2006. If Israel does not respect this resolution, the international community, especially the permanent members of the Security Council, will find more justifications in what Hamas and the Islamic Jihad are doing to argue that Lebanon does not respect this resolution and that the rules of UNIFIL's operation either need to be strengthened or amended or they need to leave.

What did Shea tell Berri in Ain el-Tineh meeting?
Naharnet/October 11/ 2023
U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea met Tuesday with Speaker Nabih Berri and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati to “relay the U.S. stance” over the developments in Gaza and south Lebanon, media reports said. Shea “warned against dragging Lebanon or Hezbollah’s entanglement of the country through opening a new front in the South,” al-Liwaa newspaper reported on Wednesday. “Shea relayed yesterday to Speaker Nabih Berri, caretaker PM Najib Mikati and caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib the stance of her country’s administration over the rapid developments in Gaza, warning against the consequences of Hezbollah’s participation in the ongoing clashes between Israel and the Hamas Movement,” political sources told the daily. “This would subject Lebanon and the Lebanese to uncalculated dangers,” Shea reportedly warned, while stressing the United States’ “keenness on Lebanon security and stability.”

Could Israel-Hamas conflict descend into wider regional war?
Agence France Presse/October 11/ 2023
A potential intervention by Hezbollah and uncertainty over the role played by Iran itself are risk factors that could push the unprecedented conflict between Israel and Hamas into a wider regional war, analysts say. For now, there is no indication of an impending offensive by Hezbollah against Israel, despite growing border tensions. Iran, officially at least, has insisted it has no involvement in the Palestinian militant group's assault on Israel. While some neighbouring Arab countries -- which have been keen to improve relations with Israel -- see a chance to play a role as mediator. But the situation is extremely volatile.
Thousands have already been killed on both sides since Hamas on Saturday launched its devastating attacks against Israeli civilian targets, prompting massive Israeli retaliatory strikes on the densely-packed Gaza Strip. But even as Israel contemplates a ground offensive in Gaza, it could face a nightmarish second front on its northern border against Hezbollah, with which it went to war in 2006. On Wednesday, the two sides traded fire for a fourth day. Earlier this week, Hezbollah said three of its members had been killed in Israeli strikes on south Lebanon. "We are deeply concerned about Hezbollah making the wrong decision and choosing to open a second front to this conflict," a senior U.S. defense official, who asked not to be named, told journalists in Washington.
'Contained reaction'
So far there is no sign of Hezbollah, which analysts say is a more formidable fighting force than its Palestinian ally Hamas, launching a similar offensive of its own. "A conflagration is not in the interest of Lebanon which is going through a major political and economic crisis", said Hosni Abidi, director of the Geneva-based Center for Studies and Research on the Arab World and the Mediterranean (CERMAM). "Yes, there is a risk of spillover but even Hezbollah has a contained and calibrated reaction," he said. For Agnes Levallois, vice-president of the Institute for Mediterranean Middle East Research and Studies (IREMMO), Hezbollah's activity in southern Lebanon is a warning. "But I don't think it's in their interest for this to escalate," she said. Key regional powers such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia also appear more eager than in the past to seek to calm tensions and boost their international prestige by playing the role of mediator. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de-facto ruler who had been seeking a normalization of ties with Israel, told Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in telephone talks he was working to prevent "an expansion of the conflict". Steven Cook, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations said it's "unlikely" there would be any kind of "interstate conflict" between an Arab army and Israel. But he added there is "a real danger" of an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, a "nightmare scenario"."It's something that I think everybody should be on high alert for," he added.
'Taking the risk'?
The greatest risk may be from Iran's clerical leadership, which has always refused to recognize Israel and regards it as the Islamic republic's arch regional enemy. Iran has long backed Hamas financially and militarily but supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday denied "rumors" that Tehran was involved in the Hamas assault, while urging "the whole Islamic world" to support the Palestinians. The intervention was unusually swift and explicit by Khamenei, who often waits days before commenting on such issues. French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday said he considered it "likely" that Hamas had received outside "help" in its attack against Israel while stressing there was "no formal trace" of any "direct involvement" by Iran. For its part, Israel has never ruled out military action to thwart Iran's nuclear program and is believed to have been behind several operations inside Iran in recent years including the November 2020 assassination of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. "Iran's cooperation with Hamas is not new but I do not see Tehran taking the risk of a regional conflagration," said Levallois. For Denis Bauchard, advisor for the Middle East at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), the key issue is who is Israel's main enemy in this conflict: "Is it only Hamas or is it Iran?" "There is above all a risk of a conflagration if Israel considers -- rightly or wrongly -- that this operation was instigated by Iran," he said.

Hezbollah targets Israeli military post, Israel hits back
Agence France Presse/October 11/ 2023
Israel shelled south Lebanon Wednesday after Hezbollah fired rockets from the border area, the latest exchange on Israel's northern border as it battles Hamas militants in Gaza. "The area around Dhayra is being bombarded by enemy artillery, while the area around Yarin is being hit with phosphorus shells," Lebanon's National News Agency said, earlier reporting "two rockets fired from Lebanese territory". The exchange of fire came as Israel massed troops and heavy armour around Gaza in its retaliatory campaign against Hamas militants in a conflict that has left hundreds dead on both sides. Hezbollah said it fired the missiles on Israel Wednesday in retaliation for the killing of three members earlier this week amid soaring tensions as Israel battles Gaza militants. Hezbollah "targeted a Zionist (Israeli) position... facing Dhayra village, with guided missiles," in a "firm response to Zionist attacks... which led to the martyrdom of a number of brothers," the group said in a statement.The Israeli military said that "in response to the anti-tank missiles that were launched at... soldiers a short while ago, the army is currently striking in Lebanese territory". The two guided missiles fired from Lebanon targeted a military tower in northern Israel and caused casualties among the Israelis, media reports said. On Tuesday, Hezbollah fighters targeted an Israeli armored personnel carrier (APC) in the Avivim settlement with two guided missiles, "in response to Israeli attacks" on a number of the group's observation points.On Monday, Hezbollah struck two Israeli barracks in an "initial" retaliation to Israeli strikes that killed three of its members by striking. Hezbollah warned of a "decisive" response to Israeli attacks "targeting our country and the security of our people, especially when these attacks lead to the deaths of martyrs". On Sunday, Hezbollah fired artillery shells and guided missiles at Israel, "in solidarity" with Gaza. Israel's army hit back with artillery into southern Lebanon. Palestinian factions have also fired rockets from Lebanon into Israel, since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, and three Palestinian militants attempted on Monday to infiltrate into Israel, killing three Israeli soldiers. Israel's army said its "killed a number of armed suspects" who had crossed the frontier from Lebanon. Two civilians sustained "light injuries" in the border village of Dhayra, where shelling close to residential areas triggered fires in nearby groves. The NNA said Israeli fire on several locations along the border had been "countered by resistance (Hezbollah) machine guns". Both Israel and its closest ally the United States have warned Hezbollah against opening a second front as Israel battles Hamas in Gaza. The Israeli army is "prepared for any scenario", spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters. "Hezbollah is observing what Israel is doing in Gaza, it sees the volume of the destruction. Hezbollah sees this and understands," he said. In Israel, the death toll from Hamas's shock cross-border assault rose to 1,200, the great majority of them civilians, while Gaza officials reported 1,055 people killed as Israel pounded the territory with air strikes. In 2006, Hezbollah and Israel fought a devastating 34-day war that left more than 1,200 people dead in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 in Israel, mostly soldiers.

Hezbollah to US: Aircraft carrier shows Israel weakness, it doesn't scare us
Naharnet/October 11/ 2023
Hezbollah considered Wednesday the U.S. "a full partner to the Israeli aggression on Gaza," holding it fully responsible for the killing, siege, destruction, and massacres "against defenseless civilians, including children, women, and elderly.""We were not surprised by the U.S. support for the Zionist aggression against the Palestinian people," Hezbollah said in a statement. The U.S. had sent a carrier strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean to assist Israel after the attack by Hamas. "Sending an aircraft carrier to the region will not scare the peoples of our nation nor the resistance factions that are ready to fight until victory," Hezbollah's statement said, adding that the move reveals the weakness of Israel and its need for foreign support. Hezbollah urged the Arab and Islamic nations to condemn the U.S. intervention and to expose it regionally and internationally at all forums and through politics and media. "We call on the masses of our Arab and Islamic nation, who know the truth of the U.S. aggression against Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, to condemn the U.S. intervention in every possible way," Hezbollah said.

Hezbollah condemns US open support for 'Zionist aggression'
LBCI/October 11/ 2023
Hezbollah has stated that they were "never surprised by the political stances and field actions taken by the US administration, particularly the recent statements of the US President openly endorsing and declaring open support for the Zionist killing machine and aggression against the Palestinian people." They consider this to be the "true essence of US policy, providing continuous support for aggression and terrorism since the inception of the occupying entity." In a released statement, Hezbollah asserts that the "United States is a full partner in Zionist aggression," holding it "fully responsible for the killings, crimes, blockades, destruction of homes, and horrifying massacres against innocent civilians, including children, women, and the elderly." Hezbollah calls upon "the masses of our Arab and Islamic nation, who are well aware of the gruesome reality of America and its aggression against our people in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, to condemn US intervention and its international and regional partners, exposing this intervention on all political, popular, media, and legal levels, in various regional and international forums and gatherings."Hezbollah considers "the deployment of aircraft carriers to the region, aimed at boosting the morale of the enemy and its demoralized soldiers, as revealing the weakness of the Zionist military machine despite its crimes and massacres." Thus, they emphasize "its continuous need for external support to sustain this transient occupying entity."They further affirm that "such a move will not deter the peoples of our nation or the resistance factions, which are prepared for the confrontation until achieving final victory and full liberation."

US, allies warn Hezbollah to stay 'out of conflict'
Naharnet/October 11/ 2023
Israel is not interested in starting a war with Hezbollah but is ready to fight if necessary, Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported Wednesday. The daily claimed that Israel has sent this message to Hezbollah through France on Saturday and that Hezbollah responded that it is too "not concerned" with starting a war but is ready for it if necessary. On Monday, Hezbollah said three of its members had been killed in Israeli strikes on south Lebanon after Palestinian militants tried to slip across the border. After the infiltration Monday, Israel sent a different message in which it said that it will hold Hezbollah responsible for any attack from Lebanon, the daily said. It later bombed a Hezbollah post, killing the three Hezbollah members. Hezbollah fired missiles on Israel Wednesday drawing retaliatory Israeli fire, in a "firm response" to Monday's attack. The CNN also said Wednesday that the U.S. and its allies are warning Hezbollah against escalating the conflict in Israel through a number of channels, including France, the Lebanese government and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. "France has conveyed to Hezbollah, at Israel’s request, that they must stay out of the war and not escalate further or Israel will respond significantly," the CNN said. After ordering the Ford carrier strike group to sail to the Eastern Mediterranean, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the U.S. did not move the carrier for Hamas but "to send a clear message of deterrence to other states or non-state actors that might seek to widen this war.""Let me say again, to any country, any organization, anyone thinking of taking advantage of the situation, I have one word: Don’t." Austin said.

Israel, Hezbollah exchange fire for 3rd day after Hamas fires rockets from Lebanon
Agence France Presse/October 11/ 2023
A fresh salvo of rockets was fired from south Lebanon towards Israel on Tuesday, prompting Israeli attacks on positions belonging to Hezbollah and retaliatory fire, in the third consecutive day of cross-border tensions. The rocket launch, which was claimed by Hamas' armed wing, comes amid a raging war between Israel and the Hamas in and around the Gaza Strip. "Rockets were fired from... southern Lebanon towards the Galilee" region in northern Israel, Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) said. A Lebanese military source, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media, said the rockets were fired from the town of Qlayleh, located in the south Lebanon district of Tyre. "In response to the launches identified from Lebanese territory toward Israeli territory, IDF (Israeli army) soldiers are currently responding with artillery fire," Israeli forces said. Israeli army tanks bombed Hezbollah "two observation posts" in response to the rocket fire, the military added on X, formerly Twitter, adding that Israel is ready "for all scenarios in all arenas."The Israeli army also said one of its helicopters struck another Hezbollah observation post in response to an "anti-tank missile launched from Lebanon toward a military vehicle." Hezbollah said in a statement that "in response to Israeli attacks" on a number of the group's observation points, its fighters targeted an Israeli armored personnel carrier (APC) in the Avivim settlement "with two guided missiles." The group said the APC was "totally destroyed."Tuesday's exchange of fire comes a day after Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed three Hezbollah members. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which acts as a buffer between Lebanon and Israel, said it was in contact with both sides "to de-escalate this very dangerous situation." There were no immediate reports of casualties on the Lebanese side, according to the NNA, which said areas targeted included the village of Dhayra near the border. An AFP photographer said Israeli fire also struck areas further west in Kfarshouba and near the occupied Shebaa Farms.
'Insignificant' -
Hours earlier, AFP correspondents in the Goren area in northern Israel saw soldiers moving tanks and manning roadblocks. "Things are tense here. The atmosphere is bad, it's like a war situation," said Yaakov Regev, 67, a resident of Kalanit in northern Israel. "We are not afraid," said Aharon Hillel, 62, from the community of Alma, close to the border. "We don't care about (Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan) Nasrallah or Hezbollah or anything," he said. "To us, they are dust, insignificant," he added. On Monday, Hezbollah said it retaliated to Israeli strikes that killed three of its members by striking two Israeli barracks. Also Monday, Israel's army said its soldiers had "killed a number of armed suspects" who had crossed the frontier from Lebanon. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group's armed wing, which claims to be fighting Israel alongside Hamas, said it was behind the thwarted infiltration bid. On Sunday, Hezbollah said it had fired artillery shells and guided missiles at Israel, "in solidarity" with attacks launched from Gaza by its ally Hamas. Israel's army said it hit back with artillery into southern Lebanon. In 2006 Hezbollah and Israel fought a 34-day war that left more than 1,200 dead in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 in Israel, mostly soldiers. The two sides remain technically at war. Israel and the U.S. have warned Hezbollah against involvement in the war with Gaza.

Israeli Army Reports Suspected Infiltration from Lebanon, Issues Alarms in Northern Border Towns
LBCI/October 11/ 2023
The Israeli army announced on Wednesday “suspected infiltration from Lebanon into Israeli airspace,” triggering alarm sirens in cities and towns in the northern border region of the Hebrew state. The army requested residents of the towns of Beit She'an, Safed, and Tiberias to take cover until "further notice," fearing a "broad-scale attack."

Bou Habib to Visit Damascus to Discuss Common Issues, Especially Syrian Displacement
LBCI/October 11/ 2023
Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdallah Bou Habib agreed on Wednesday with his Syrian counterpart, Faisal Mekdad, to schedule a visit to Damascus on October 23rd at the head of a delegation. The purpose of the visit is to discuss common issues, particularly the Syrian refugee situation. Bou Habib and Mekdad met on the sidelines of their participation in the extraordinary Arab ministerial meeting held today in Cairo to address the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people. The ministers also consulted on the current situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Army Units Foil Attempted Infiltration of 1500 Syrians across Lebanese-Syrian Border
LBCI/October 11/ 2023
The Army command - Directorate of Guidance, reported on Wednesday that units from the Lebanese Army successfully thwarted an attempt to infiltrate around 1,500 Syrians across the Lebanese-Syrian border at various dates during the current week.
In a statement, it warned citizens against participating in smuggling activities, emphasizing the legal consequences they may face. The Army assured that it would intensify its efforts to apprehend those involved and hand them over to the appropriate authorities.

Shelling in Dahira: Three Injured, One Critical, Significant Property Damage
LBCI/October 11/ 2023
Three people were injured, with one in critical condition, as a result of the shelling on buildings in Dahira. The incident also caused significant damage to properties, agricultural fields, and some affected homes.

US Embassy in Lebanon Denies Evacuation, Affirms Normal Operations
LBCI/October 11/ 2023
There have been reports circulating that the US authorities have initiated the evacuation of the US embassy in Lebanon and have advised its citizens to leave the country as soon as possible. In response, the US embassy clarified on the "X" platform that the embassy has not been evacuated and is operating normally. It stated that all reports suggesting otherwise are false.

Geagea: We'll exert utmost effort to prevent ignition of South front
Naharnet/October 11/ 2023
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has said in an interview with MTV that the Lebanese opposition will “exert utmost effort” to prevent a major ignition of Lebanon’s southern front with Israel. “We can do without adding to all the miseries of the Lebanese people,” Geagea said. “Can someone imagine the tragedy that might happen? If for example a glass facade shatters in a home in the south? Who will repair the damage? In the past all countries used to scramble to help us, but today there is no state that wants to do so, and accordingly this issue should be outside any vision,” Geagea added. The LF leader also lamented “the major absence of the Lebanese government.”“What’s happening is totally unacceptable and they cannot consider themselves to be a municipality. Is this absence reasonable? We must all focus our efforts to spare Lebanon this inferno, for a simple reason which is that it will not make any difference in the present balances of power,” Geagea added.

Jumblat hopes Hezbollah won't be 'dragged into war'
Naharnet/October 11/ 2023
Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat reiterated Wednesday his call on Hezbollah to stay out of the Israeli-Palestinian war. "Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is a key player in the region and I reiterate my appeal for him not to be dragged into the war," Jumblat told LBCI. Jubmlat expressed his support for the southerners and said he fears for the Lebanese citizens' safety. "If we have to fight a war after all, we have to be united," he said, calling for "repairing the government," and putting an end to domestic disagreements.

Bassil warns against return to 'Fatah Land' era
Naharnet/October 11/ 2023
Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has warned against a return to the so-called “Fatah Land” era in south Lebanon, in the wake of the attacks launched by Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad from south Lebanon. “As much as we support the right of the Palestinian resistance to fight Israel on Palestine’s land, we refuse any use of Lebanese territory as a launchpad for military actions by any non-Lebanese party,” Bassil said on a post on the X platform. “No to a return to the Fatah Land era,” Bassil added. “Fatah Land” refers to the southern Lebanese areas where Palestinian militants set up their bases after being expelled from Jordan following the 1970 Black September conflict. A year earlier, Yasser Arafat, then-leader of the Fatah Movement, signed the Cairo Agreement with Lebanon. The agreement granted Palestinians the possibility of launching operations against Israel from their Lebanese bases. That southern region was eventually dubbed “Fatah Land”. The recent Palestinian attacks on Israel on Monday and Tuesday drew Israeli shelling of southern Lebanese border areas and an Israeli attack on a Hezbollah post that left three fighters dead. Hezbollah has retaliated three times against the attacks, the last of which today, Wednesday, when it attacked an Israeli post in northern Israel and said it caused deaths and injuries among Israeli troop.

Several Palestinian militants are active in southern Lebanon, a stronghold of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.
Beatrice Farhat/Al-Monitor/October 11, 2023
BEIRUT — As the Hamas-Israel war rages on for its fourth day, tensions in southern Lebanon are brewing amid cross-border fire between the heavily armed Hezbollah group and Israel and an intense Israeli military buildup on its northern border.
Since Sunday, Hezbollah has fired multiple rockets and artillery shells toward Israeli military positions in the area in solidarity with Hamas. Israel responded with heavy fire, targeting several southern towns and villages in Lebanon. The exchange of fire resumed on Tuesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, al-Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility for a militant entering Israel from southern Lebanon on Monday.
“As part of Al-Aqsa Flood battle, a-Quds Brigades declares its responsibility for the operation carried out this afternoon in southern Lebanon on the border with occupied Palestine, which resulted in the injury of seven Zionist soldiers, including one in serious condition,” the group said in a statement.
Earlier, the Israeli army said that one officer and two soldiers were killed in clashes with gunmen who attempted to cross into Israel from southern Lebanon. The army identified the officer as Alim Abdullah, the deputy commander of its 300th “Baram” Regional Brigade.
The armed activity on the Lebanese-Israeli border has raised questions about the groups operating in the area and their capacities to open a new front with Israel.
Hezbollah
Lebanon’s south is a stronghold of the Shiite Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy in the country. Hezbollah emerged in the 1980s at the height of the Lebanese civil war to fight off the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon. Since then, thanks to Iran’s unwavering support, the Shiite group has expanded its arsenal, which now includes a large number of rockets.
Lebanon and Israel remain technically at war, though the two countries have not engaged in any armed confrontations in decades. However, in 2006, Hezbollah and Israel fought a devastating war for more than a month. Despite the presence of UN peacekeeping forces patrolling the border demarcation line, sporadic skirmishes between Hezbollah and Israel often occur in the area. The two sides have each claimed to down each other’s drones.
Several other armed Palestinian groups are active in southern Lebanon. Israel has in the past warned of the growing influence of Hamas in Lebanon. In 2018, Israel sent a letter to the UN Security Council saying that Hamas has been working closely with Hezbollah to build missile factories in Lebanon and establish camps to recruit and train fighters there. In July, two rockets were fired from Lebanon toward Israel, with one falling inside Lebanese territory, according to state media. No group claimed responsibility for the attack. Israel launched at least 15 artillery shells that landed in Lebanese territory. No casualties were reported.
Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades
In April of this year, Hamas’ armed wing the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility for a rocket attack launched from southern Lebanon toward Israeli territory. The Israeli army said a total of 34 rockets had been fired from Lebanon, 25 of which it intercepted. In response, Israel fired a round of artillery shells targeting the areas from where the rocket launches originated.
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Other Palestinian groups including Fatah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine are present in Lebanon’s refugee camps.
After the 1948 Palestinian Nakba, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled to Lebanon, which now hosts some 489,292 Palestinian refugees living in 12 camps across the country. In recent years, another wave of Palestinian refugees entered Lebanon from neighboring Syria as they fled the war there. Some camps became a hotbed of extremism amid the proliferation of arms.
In late July, violent clashes erupted between rival factions inside the country’s largest camp of Ain al-Hilweh in the southern city of Sidon. Back in 2007, Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in the north was the scene of a violent confrontation between Islamists holed up inside the camp and the Lebanese army.
The question now remains whether Hezbollah is ready to engage in a new war with Israel and whether other Palestinian groups will drag the country into an unwanted war.

Lebanese Politicians To Hizbullah: Don't Involve Lebanon In A War Against Israel
MEMRI/October 11, 2023
Lebanon, Palestine | Special Dispatch No. 10852
https://www.memri.org/reports/lebanese-politicians-hizbullah-dont-involve-lebanon-war-against-israel
Against the backdrop of Hizbullah's threats to become involved in Hamas's war against Israel, as part of the resistance axis plan to "unite the fronts" of the resistance, Lebanese politicians and officials have called on the organization to stay out of the Israel-Hamas conflict and not to involve Lebanon in a mistake that will cost the country dearly.
Lebanese Interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib even warned that Lebanon does not want Hizbullah to become involved in the current war.
Likewise, Ali Hamada, columnist for the Lebanese Al-Nahar daily, called on the Lebanese Armed Forces to prevent any attempt by Hizbullah to join in the fighting against Israel.
The following are excerpts from several statements on the subject:
Lebanese Foreign Minister: Hizbullah Promised Us That There Would Be No Involvement In Al-Aqsa Flood War
Relating to he possibility of Lebanese involvement in the Al-Aqsa Flood war (aka Al-Aqsa Storm), Lebanese Interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati has said in communications with international, Arab, and local elements that “the government's preference is to maintain security and stability in southern Lebanon, to continue the quiet on the blue line, and to be committed to Resolution 1701...”[1]
After a meeting with Mikati, Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib stated that “we do not want Lebanon to enter the current war... All the international elements are also calling on us not to enter the war, and this is Lebanon's position."[2] He told the London-based daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat on October 8: "The prime minister [Mikati] was promised that Hizbullah would not intervene in what is happening. If Israel does not provoke us, there will be no provocation of it, and [Hizbullah members] will not interfere at this time..."[3]
Former Lebanese Prime Minister Siniora: We Support The Palestinians But Lebanon Should Not Be Involved In The Hostilities
Former Lebanese prime minister Fouad Siniora wrote in an October 8, 2023 message: "Alongside our emphasis on strengthening and supporting the Palestinian fighters on their land and their struggle to achieve their legitimate rights, we are at the same time stressing that Lebanon should not be involved in any hostilities with the Israeli enemy because Lebanon's endurance is exhausted and it cannot bear this due to [Lebanon's] descent into three very major crises that have made the situation fragile and very shaky..."[4]
The leader of the Christian "Lebanese Forces," Samir Geagea, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on October 7: "The most important thing is not to involve the Lebanese in anything that they cannot deal with, in light of the difficult situation they are experiencing.”
Pierre Bou Assi, a member of the Lebanese Forces' "Strong Republic" bloc, told Free Lebanon Radio on October 9: "There is no trust in the promises of Hizbullah or of this despicable government that is observing everything that is happening. In 2006, [Hizbullah leader] Hassan Nasrallah promised, in early July, that the summer would be quiet and thriving – but a few days later, the 'party [of God, i.e. Hizbullah]' kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and the July war broke out, hell was opened upon us, and infrastructure in Lebanon was destroyed. Hizbullah will destroy Lebanon if it enters the battle in Gaza. I hope that the political echelon and the Lebanese people will refrain from entangling Lebanon in the current battle."[5]
Lebanon's Kataeb (Phalanges) Party took a similar stand: “What occurred yesterday [October 9] in the South [of Lebanon, i.e. the mortars launched from Lebanon into Israel] threatens to lead to Lebanon sliding into a new war that it doesn’t need in the service of a plan whose objective is to strengthen the balance of power in the region and to grant priority to external interests to the detriment of the Lebanese interest. The use of Lebanese territory and linking it to the Palestinian arena is manifestly unacceptable. Neither Hizbullah or any one of the Palestinian factions may speak for Lebanon, in matters of war or peace, because this decision is in the hands of the country of Lebanon and all its institutions. Therefore, the Phalanges Party warns against dragging Lebanon into confrontations in Gaza and considers Lebanese sovereignty a red line. Any hasty step will lead to consequences that Lebanon does not need to bear, particularly in its current situation when all the sectors and institutions are collapsing.”[6]
At the same time, “Change Forces” bloc member Mark Bahjat Daou wrote on X: "Defending Lebanon from any attack is absolutely top priority. Neither Hizbullah nor Iran have the right to entangle Lebanon in the furnace of all-out war in service of a regional agenda..."[7]
Lebanese Anti-Iran Organizations: We Will Become Sandbags If Iran Decides To Bring Lebanon Into The War
The Lebanese Christian organization Saydet Al Jabal and the National Council to Lift the Iranian Occupation of Lebanon announced that they would demand that Lebanese Interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati immediately convene a government plenum in order to establish a national emergency unit to maintain the necessary contacts in order to defend the Lebanese people and "to warn Hizbullah not to drag Lebanon into military adventurism that will surely bring killing and destruction upon all Lebanese. All the Lebanese understand the bitter truth – that their homeland has become captive to Iran's aspirations in the region and we will all become sandbags – in all the regions and all the ethnic communities – if the Tehran regime decides to bring Lebanon into the current war."[8]
Al-Nahar Columnist: Hizbullah Must Not Interfere In The War And Embroil Lebanon In The Conflict; The Lebanese Army Must Prevent Any Armed Movement On The Border
In the Lebanese Al-Nahar daily, columnist Ali Hamada wrote: "Whoever believes that what is taking place in Gaza is not a war is mistaken. The Hamas movement's Al-Aqsa Flood operation is a war in the full sense of the word, and there is no other option for Israel – which has absorbed the most powerful blow to its military and morale since its establishment – than to declare all-out war on the Gaza Strip. What concerns us here in Lebanon is that no Lebanese group should err regarding its reading of the arena...
"Therefore, I suggest to whoever hijacked the decision regarding war and peace in Lebanon [i.e. Hizbullah], who imposes its rule on all the sovereign decisions in the country and drags along all those who work here, from senior to junior, that they do not make any mistake for which Lebanon will pay massively... This is because most residents, from all segments [of Lebanese society], oppose bringing Lebanon into the furnace of a regional war against Israel and the U.S. that was decided upon in Tehran and is led today by the Palestinian people.
"It is true that the operation carried out by Hamas last Saturday morning [October 7, 2023] is unprecedented. It is true that it will enter the annals of global military history and be taught in military academies as a model for wars that are qualitatively unique regarding planning, execution, and tactical success. It is also true that [the attack] has damaged Israel to the depths of its soul, first with [the blow to] society, through [the blow to the] country, to [the blow to] the military and the security apparatuses. But it is also true that Lebanon is not interested in an armed struggle with Israel or any other [country]. Therefore, it is important for Hizbullah to understand that it must not make a mistake and intervene in the war in any way, so as not to embroil the entire country and all the people [in it].
"At this stage the Lebanese army must do its duty with regard to preventing any questionable armed move on Lebanon's side of the border. I reiterate my opposition to a farce that presents the factions as reckless when in fact the [Palestinian] Islamic Jihad, which is subordinate to Iran, is not a reckless faction but a Palestinian [organization] at the forefront of the agenda to 'unite the arenas' in Lebanon – [an agenda] led by Hizbullah on behalf of Iran.
"I take this opportunity to ask: Where is the Lebanese government? Why is there no official Lebanese position against efforts to embroil Lebanon and the Lebanese in war that is bigger than them and bigger than their country? In light of all the abovementioned, do not make a big mistake – this is war!"[9]
[1] Al-Arabi Al-Jadid (London), October 9, 2023.
[2] Al-Arabi Al-Jadid (London), October 9, 2023.
[3] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), October 8, 2023.
[4] Al-Nahar (Lebanon), October 9, 2023.
[5] Al-Quds Al-Arabi (London), October 9, 2023.
[6] nidaalwatan.com, October 10, 2023.
[7] Twitter.com/DaouMark, October 8, 2023.
[8] Al-Nahar (Lebanon), October 10, 2023.
[9] Al-Nahar (Lebanon), October 10, 2023.

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 11-12/2023
Netanyahu, opposition agree on unity government and war cabinet
Associated Press/October 11/ 2023
A top opposition Israeli politician said Wednesday that he has reached an agreement to enter a wartime unity government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Benny Gantz, a former defense minister and military chief of staff, released what he said was a joint statement with Netanyahu. The statement said they would form a five-member "war-management" Cabinet. It will consist of Netanyahu, Gantz, current Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and two other top officials serving as "observer" members. It said the government would not pass any legislation or decisions that are not connected to the war as long as the fighting continues. It was not immediately clear what would happen to Netanyahu's existing government partners, a collection of far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties.

Israel pounds Gaza as death tolls on both sides rise sharply
Agence France Presse/October 11/ 2023
The death toll from five days of ferocious fighting between Hamas and Israel rose sharply overnight as Israel kept up its bombardment of Gaza Wednesday after recovering the dead from the last communities near the border where Palestinian militants had been holed up.
In Israel, the death toll from Saturday's shock cross-border assault by Hamas militants rose to 1,200, making it the deadliest attack in the country's 75-year history, while Gaza officials reported more than 900 people killed as Israel pounded the territory with air strikes.
Hamas said two of its top officials had been killed, while Israel's military said the bodies of roughly 1,500 Hamas infiltrators had been found. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Israel's military response to Saturday's attack is only the start of a sustained war to destroy the Islamist group and "change the Middle East". Fears of a regional conflagration have surged ahead of an expected Israeli ground incursion into Gaza. At least 30 people were killed and hundreds wounded as Israel pounded the Gaza Strip with hundreds of air strikes overnight, a Hamas government official said Wednesday. The strikes destroyed several buildings of the Hamas-linked Islamic University in Gaza City, a university official said. The Israeli military confirmed it had hit dozens of Hamas targets during the night. It said fighter jets destroyed "advanced detection systems" that Hamas used to spot military aircraft. They also hit 80 Hamas targets in the Beit Hanoun area of the northeastern Gaza Strip, including two bank branches used by the Islamist group to "fund terrorism" in the enclave, the military said. In response to Saturday's attack, Israel imposed a "total siege" on Gaza, suspending supplies of food, water, electricity and fuel to the already blockaded enclave. Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, is threatening to execute hostages kidnapped in Israel, including young people captured during a music festival where around 270 died.
- 'Discovering bodies' -
Israel has been left reeling by Hamas's unprecedented ground, air and sea assault, likening it to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. In announcing Israel's latest death toll on Wednesday morning, army spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said the figure was rising not because of the ongoing fighting, but because "we are discovering bodies of dead Israelis in the various communities that Hamas infiltrated and where they conducted their massacres". During Saturday's attack, Hamas gunmen killed more than 100 people in the kibbutz of Beeri alone, said Moti Bukjin, a volunteer with the charity Zaka. U.S. President Joe Biden condemned the Hamas attacks as "sheer evil", and Netanyahu said the militants committed "savagery never seen since the Holocaust", including the beheading of soldiers. Condemnation from Western leaders contrasted with some pro-Palestinian demonstrations in support of "resistance" to Israel. "My entire life, I have seen Israel kill us, confiscate our lands and arrest our children," said Farah al-Saadi, 52, a coffee vendor from Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank who praised the Hamas assault. The Israeli army has called up 300,000 reservists and massed tanks and other heavy armour both near Gaza and on the northern border with Lebanon. The military said its forces had dislodged holdout Hamas fighters from more than a dozen communities near the border and were largely back in control. But late Tuesday, in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, troops backed by helicopters and drones exchanged fire with several militants, leaving three fighters dead, the army said. "Around 1,500 bodies of Hamas (fighters) have been found in Israel around the Gaza Strip," army spokesman Richard Hecht said earlier.
'Blackmail'
In a speech on Tuesday, Biden confirmed at least 14 Americans were killed, and others were missing. The U.S. has sent an aircraft carrier and other warships to the eastern Mediterranean as part of efforts to deter any expansion of the conflict, and is also providing other assistance, including sharing intelligence with Israel. Relatives of Americans believed held in Gaza called on the Biden administration to bring them home safely. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected in Israel on Thursday. Many other nations have reported citizens killed, abducted or missing, including Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Ireland, Mexico, Nepal, Panama, Paraguay, Russia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Ukraine. On Monday, Hamas warned it would start killing its hostages every time Israel launches a strike on a civilian target in Gaza without warning. French President Emmanuel Macron called the threat "unacceptable blackmail."
Israeli munitions have continued to hammer Gaza, a densely populated territory of about 2.3 million people. Hamas said the strikes killed two of its senior figures: Zakaria Muammar led its economics section, and Jawad Abu Shamala coordinated ties with other Palestinian factions. Eight Palestinian journalists have also been killed in the strikes, according to media unions and officials. The United Nations said more than 263,000 people had been displaced inside Gaza, most taking shelter in UN schools. White smoke billowed from among fishing boats after an air strike on Gaza's port, and in Jerusalem the deserted streets were targeted by Hamas rocket fire. "Israeli people they are scared of the Arabs and the Arabs are scared of the Jews... everybody is scared of each other," said Ahmed Karkash, a shopkeeper in the Old City. In Gaza City, streets are clogged with rubble and littered with shards of glass. Mazen Mohammad and his family slept on the ground floor of their apartment block, huddling together as explosions rang out around them. What they woke up to the next day was unrecognisable. "We felt like we were in a ghost town, as if we were the only survivors," Mohammad, 38, told AFP. After Israel imposed a total siege on Gaza, European Union foreign ministers called for humanitarian corridors for those trying to flee. U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk said such sieges are prohibited under international humanitarian law. Medical supplies, including oxygen, were running low at Gaza's overwhelmed Al-Shifa hospital, said Mohammed Ghonim, a doctor in the emergency room.
Taken 'by surprise' -
Soldiers who were on guard duty along the hi-tech security barrier around Gaza recounted how Hamas's attack began with an effort to cripple observation cameras and communications. "They took us by surprise and we weren't ready for it," a lookout soldier said in testimony posted on Instagram. Israel faced the threat of a multi-front war after three days of clashes with militants on the northern border with Lebanon. For the first time since the Hamas attack, there was an exchange of fire between Israel and forces in Syria, after Israel's military said munitions were fired towards the Golan Heights it has occupied since 1967. On Tuesday, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades claimed a fresh salvo of rocket fire from Lebanon towards Israel, the Israeli army said, adding it retaliated with artillery fire. "It's like a state of war," said Yaakov Regev, sipping coffee at a petrol station in northern Israel, a few kilometers from the Lebanon border. Unrest has also surged in the West Bank, where 15 Palestinians have been killed since Saturday. Netanyahu, the veteran leader at the helm of Israel's hard-right coalition, has called for an "emergency government of national unity" after his administration's proposal for judicial reforms split the nation.

Day 5 of the latest Israel-Palestinian war
AP/October 11/ 2023
Residents in Gaza are facing an imminent loss of electricity as fuel supplies run dangerously low in the sealed-off territory. Israeli airstrikes left entire neighborhoods demolished Wednesday, and hospitals in the Gaza Strip are struggling to treat the injured with dwindling medical supplies.
The war, which has claimed more than 2,200 lives on both sides, is expected to escalate. The weekend attack that Hamas said was retribution for worsening conditions for Palestinians under Israeli occupation has inflamed Israel's determination to crush the group's hold in Gaza.
The Israeli military said more than 1,200 people, including 155 soldiers, have died in Israel since Saturday's incursion. In Gaza, the health ministry says more than 1,050 have been killed and over 5,100 injured. The United Nations Palestinian refugee agency says 250,000 people have been displaced in Gaza.
Here's what's happening on Day 5 of the latest Israel-Palestinian war:
A PROMINENT MILITIA THREATENS TO ATTACK US BASES IF THE COUNTRY INTERVENES IN THE LATEST GAZA WAR
BAGHDAD — The leader of a prominent Iranian-backed militia in Iraq threatened Wednesday to attack American bases in retaliation if the United States intervenes in the latest war between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.
"Our missiles, drones, and special forces are ready to direct qualitative strikes at the American enemy in its bases and disrupt its interests if it intervenes in this battle," Ahmad "Abu Hussein" al-Hamidawi, head of the Kataib Hezbollah militia, said in a statement. He also threatened to launch missiles at Israeli targets.
Al-Hamidawi called on Iraqis to demonstrate and collect donations in support of the Hamas military campaign.
9 UN STAFFERS ARE KILLED IN AIRSTRIKES IN GAZA SINCE SATURDAY
JERUSALEM — The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees told the AP on Wednesday that nine of its staffers have been killed in airstrikes since the the start of the Israeli bombardment on Gaza on Saturday, with several killed late Tuesday.
"The protection of civilians is paramount, including in times of conflict," said Juliette Touma, director of communications of the agency, known as UNRWA. "They should be protected in accordance with the laws of war."
Touma said the strikes killed the U.N. staffers at their homes across the territory. She also said that 18 UNRWA schools-turned-shelters were damaged in the bombing, and that its headquarters in Gaza City was also damaged, without causing casualties.
POPE FRANCIS CALLS ON HAMAS TO RELEASE HOSTAGES IMMEDIATELY
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Wednesday called for the immediate release of hostages taken by Hamas fighters in the most serious assault on Israel in half a century.
Francis said during a weekly audience that he is following events in Israel and the occupied territories with "pain and apprehension," with "many dead and injured,'' and said he is praying for those who saw "a day of celebration transformed into a day of mourning."
The pope said that "whoever is attacked has the right to defend himself. But I am very worried about the total siege under which the Palestinians in Gaza are living, where there are also many innocent victims."
GERMAN DEFENSE MINISTER OFFERS HIS ISRAELI COUNTERPART SUPPORT
BERLIN — Germany's defense minister has offered his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Galant, support from Germany following the major attack by Hamas.
The German government made that offer also to the Israeli military attaché in Berlin, Boris Pistorius told reporters on Wednesday. "Both have said so far that they do not need support of a military or technical nature. It is about political support," the German defense minister said, adding that Germany's political support for Israel was self-evident.
Pistorius also said that "as soon as we can help in a humanitarian way, the offer is there, too, but so far it has not been asked for."
RAFAH BORDER CROSSING IS STILL CLOSED, EGYPT SAYS
CAIRO — The Rafah border crossing remains closed on both sides as of Wednesday morning, according to an Egyptian security official. The official told The Associated Press that a number of Egyptian aid convoys loaded with fuel, construction materials and food were unable to enter the Gaza Strip through Rafah on Wednesday. Meanwhile, dozens of Palestinian families remain stranded in the Sinai city of el-Arish. No other details were immeditaely available. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not briefed to speak.
YELLEN SAYS THE LATEST GAZA WAR PRESENTS CONCERNS, BUT INFLATION CAN STILL BE CONTAINED
MARRAKECH, Morocco — United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says the war between Israel and Hamas militants poses "additional concerns" to the American economy, but she still expects inflation can be contained without causing a recession.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in Marrakech, Morocco, Yellen said the Biden administration's focus was on people "affected by these barbaric attacks on Israel" and reiterated support for Israel. A day earlier, IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said it was "too early" to assess the impact on global economic growth from the days-old war between Israel and the militant Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza. He did note that oil prices have risen by about 4% in the past several days.
CATHAY PACIFIC CANCELS WEEKS OF TEL AVIV FLIGHTS
HONG KONG — Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways said all its flights flying between the city and Tel Aviv from Wednesday to Oct. 29 will be canceled "in view of the latest situation in Israel."
ISRAEL STRIKES THE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF GAZA, IDF SAYS
Aircraft struck the Islamic University of Gaza on Wednesday, Israel Defense Forces said.
According to Israel, the university was being used as a Hamas training camp for military intelligence operatives, as well as for the development and production of weapons. The IDF also says Hamas used university conferences to raise funds for terrorism, and that the university maintained close ties with the senior leadership of Hamas.
HEZBOLLAH FIRES MISSILES AT AN ISRAELI MILITARY POSITION
BEIRUT — Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fired missiles at an Israeli military position in a northern border town of Aramsha. The group claimed in a statement Wednesday that the attack led to a "large number" of wounded as well as some killed troops, without specifying any numbers. The Israeli military said that anti-tank missiles were fired at a position in the northern border town of Aramsha, but did not mention anything about casualties. The Israeli army shelled the Lebanese border town of Duhaira and surroundings where the missile attack came from. Hezbollah said the attack was in response to Israeli shelling Sunday that killed three Hezbollah militants. The Iran-backed group, a key ally of Hamas, has endorsed the Palestinian groups' attacks on Israel, but has not officially joined the war.
SPAIN RECEIVES 200 PEOPLE EVACUATED FROM ISRAEL IN A MILITARY PLANE
MADRID — Spain's defense ministry says its first military plane arrived early Wednesday carrying 200 people evacuated from Israel. It says the passengers included Spaniards, other citizens of European Union countries, and foreigners with residences established in Spain who had been visiting Israel. The ministry added that a second military plane was heading to Tel Aviv to evacuate more Spaniards whose commercial flights were canceled.
GAZA IS SET TO RUN OUT OF ELECTRICITY WITHIN HOURS
Gaza's power authority says its sole power plant will run out of fuel within hours, leaving the territory without electricity after Israel cut off supplies. Israel said it would cut off all electricity to the territory after Hamas' bloody rampage over the weekend. All of Gaza's crossings are closed, making it impossible to bring in fuel for the power plant or the generators on which residents and hospitals have long relied. The power authority said Wednesday that the plant would shut down in the afternoon.
AT LEAST 30 KILLED IN AN AIRSTRIKE ON A LAW EXPERT'S HOUSE, HAMAS SAYS
A respected expert in international law was visiting family in Gaza when an Israeli airstrike struck his home in central Gaza City late Tuesday and killed everyone inside, authorities said. Saeed al-Dahshan was on his way to Cairo, where he primarily lives.
Health officials did not immediately give a number of those killed but al-Dahshan's friends said that his entire immediate family along with his brother and his family were killed, with Hamas official Bassem Naim estimating the death toll to be at least 30 people.
"This level of death and destruction is unprecedented," said Hamas spokesperson Ghazi Hamad, whose house was razed by airstrikes late Tuesday along with the homes many other members of the Hamas political bureau.
HAMAS OFFICIAL SAYS ISRAELI AIRSTRIKES KILLED FAMILY MEMBERS OF LEADER MOHAMMAD DEIF
Hamas officials say Israeli airstrikes late Tuesday struck the family house of Mohammad Deif, the shadowy leader of Hamas's military wing. The attack killed his father, brother and at least two other relatives in the southern town of Khan Younis, senior Hamas official Bassem Naim confirmed to The Associated Press. The whereabouts of Deif himself have long been unknown.
SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRIES OFFER EVACUATION FOR THEIR CITIZENS CAUGHT IN THE CONFLICT AREA
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — The three Scandinavian countries said Wednesday that they will offer to evacuate citizens permanently living in Norway, Sweden and Denmark via the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, stressing that those who want to be evacuated must pay for themselves. Sweden's Foreign Minister, Tobias Billström, told Swedish news agency TT that they have been "following the situation in Israel and Palestine hour by hour, together with the other Nordic countries.""Last night a decision was made that assisted exit should be carried out, in cooperation with other countries," Billström said according to TT. The foreign ministry in Oslo called it "an offer in addition to the scheduled flights that still depart from Israel."In Copenhagen, the foreign ministry said that the opportunities to leave "are still present, but are dwindling."
HOSPITALS IN GAZA ARE RUNNING DANGEROUSLY LOW ON FUEL AND SUPPLIES
CAIRO — Aid group Doctors Without Borders said Wednesday that fuel and medical supplies in the enclave are running dangerously low. "In the Al Awda Hospital, we consumed three weeks' worth of emergency stock in three days, partly due to 50 patients coming in at once from Jabalia camp after it was struck," said Matthias Kannes, MSF Head of Mission in Gaza. Meanwhile, Gaza's biggest hospital, Al-Shifa, only has enough fuel for three days, he said.
GAZA CAN'T REACH PEOPLE WHO ARE TRAPPED UNDER RUBBLE, OFFICIALS SAY
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — As airstrikes are reported nonstop in the Karama district north of Gaza city, many dead and injured are stuck under rubble that Gaza lacks the equipment to handle, officials said Wednesday. With streets badly damaged and the ongoing and intense nature of the airstrikes, ambulances and civil defense teams are unable to approach areas where people were reported trapped under crumbled infrastructure, Eyad Bozum, the Interior Ministry spokesperson, said in a statement.
Bozum said that heavy airstrikes were also reported in the southern town of Khan Younis and in an area east of the Jebaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza.
20 THAI NATIONALS ARE FEARED DEAD WITH DOZENS INJURED OR KIDNAPPED
BANGKOK — There are 20 Thai nationals feared dead, 13 injured and 14 kidnapped, the country's Foreign Affairs Ministry said Wednesday during a news briefing, citing reports from workers and their employers. About 30,000 Thais have been working as low wage laborers in Israel, especially engaged in farm work. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Kanchana Patarachoke says 5,019 have registered so far to be evacuated back to their homeland.

The US is thinking about sending another aircraft carrier into waters near Israel, possibly to back up the Ford strike group: reports
Chris Panella/Business Insider/October 11, 2023
A large aircraft carrier at sea.
The US is considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean, reports say. The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower is set to pass through the area but could be tasked to waters near Israel.
Aircraft carriers are often moved around as a show of force and a means of deterrence. After sending its newest and most advanced aircraft carrier and the accompanying warships in its strike group to the eastern Mediterranean in a show of strength and support for Israel amid its war with Hamas, the US is said to be considering sending a second aircraft carrier into the area. The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and its escorts could join the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group in waters near Israel in the coming weeks, US defense officials told The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. ABC News also reported the discussions. The Eisenhower is already set to head to the Middle East this week for a deployment that was planned months ago, but officials are now apparently debating whether the carrier should join the Ford or replace it. The Ford, which has been operating in the Mediterranean as part of its first full deployment, arrived in the eastern part of the waterway Tuesday.
"The arrival of these highly capable forces to the region is a strong signal of deterrence should any actor hostile to Israel consider trying to take advantage of this situation," said Gen. Michael "Erik" Kurilla, the commander of US Central Command.
The US Department of Defense declined to comment to Insider on whether there were conversations on tasking the Eisenhower with a mission outside its original deployment plans. If the Eisenhower does join the Ford, it'll be the first time two carriers have been deployed in the area since March 2020, when rocket attacks aimed at Camp Taji, an Iraqi military installation north of Baghdad, killed two American soldiers and one British soldier. The retasking of the Ford and reported considerations surrounding the Eisenhower speak to growing concerns about the crisis unfolding in Israel after surprise attacks by Hamas on Saturday were said to have left more than 800 civilians dead and injured significantly more. Israel responded by officially declaring war on Hamas and conducting devastating airstrikes on Hamas targets within the Gaza Strip. There are also expectations that an Israeli ground assault could be coming, which could wreak havoc on the densely populated area where many have already been killed or injured in the retaliatory strikes. In response to the attacks by Hamas, the US pledged full support for Israel — overall the largest receiver of US military aid — and moved its newest and most advanced aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, into waters near Israel. It was an unexpected change in the carrier's first full deployment, which the Ford spent mostly conducting exercises with partners and calls in friendly ports.
A large ship with a helicopter hovering above it.
The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower is a nuclear-powered Nimitz-class aircraft carrier that was commissioned in 1977. Unlike the younger first-in-class Ford, the Eisenhower has seen action with deployments during the Gulf War in the 1990s and the later wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Were the US to move the Eisenhower into position near Israel, it would be a flex of US naval might in a hostile area, providing both logistics and humanitarian support while also unnerving enemy forces. "Often the presence of an aircraft carrier has deterred potential adversaries from striking against US interests," the Navy says on its website. "Aircraft carriers support and operate aircraft that engage in attacks on airborne, afloat and ashore targets that threaten free use of the sea and engage in sustained power projection operations in support of US and coalition forces."That's especially noteworthy in Israel right now, as fighting has broken out along the country's border with Lebanon, and Hezbollah — an Iran-backed independent group that, like Hamas, is designated as a terrorist organization by the US State Department — has been exchanging fire with Israeli forces. There has also been troubling rhetoric from Tehran.

If Israeli bombs fall on Iran's facilities, Iran's ruling clergy have themselves to blame.
Kaveh Afrasiabi/USA TODAY /October 11, 2023
As an Iranian American political scientist and author of books on Iran, Islam and the Middle East, I am horrified by the cold-blooded slaughter and kidnapping of hundreds of Israeli citizens by the Iran-backed Palestinian groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
No enlightened Muslim should conflate the legitimate grievance of Palestinians vis-a-vis the state of Israel with the utterly abhorrent and, fully unlawful from the prism of international humanitarian laws, massacre of Israeli civilians, deserving the strongest unequivocal condemnation. What Hamas did with its massacre of innocent civilians was to rob the Palestinian movement of its moral rightness. Those who praise these acts of terror have no conscience. Iran must use its influence to gain the freedom of Israeli hostages. I also fully support the United Nations secretary-general’s call for an immediate end of Gaza’s siege.
Contrary to the misguided celebration of some people in Iran and elsewhere in the Muslim world, the moral standard of any decent Muslim can only guide us to nothing but strong denunciation of the abominable atrocities visited on innocent Israelis in the hands of Palestinian militants openly supported by Iran's hard-liners. The latter have now exposed Iran to potential retaliatory strike by Israel, which has done absolutely nothing to Iran, except helping Iran fight its Iraqi invaders during the eight-year Iran-Iraq war, without which Saddam Hussein might have prevailed and wrested away a large chunk of Iranian territory.
Indeed, the last time I looked at the Middle East map, Iran and Israel are distant from each other and there is no direct Iranian national security interest at stake in the long-standing Israel-Palestinian conflict, except the zealous religious ideology, resulting in Iran's hard-liners' overcommitment to an issue not germane to Iran's national interests at all. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who nowadays boasts about Iran's full support for Hamas, needs to explain to the Iranian nation what is the connection between the Palestinian issue and Iran's national interests? And has he a short memory and forgotten that when the Iran-Iraq war ended, there were upwards of 15,000 Palestinian prisoners of war in Iran's camps, as many Palestinians volunteered in Hussein's army invading Iran.
To open a caveat, this author once taught at Tufts University and had a conversation with a great Palestinian writer, the late Edward Said, who never criticized Hussein and even questioned, in his piece in Sunday London Times, the accuracy of reports that Hussein had killed hundred of Kurds by using chemical weapons, asking him why he never condemned Hussein's invasion of Iran, since the UN had found him guilty of starting the war in 1980? Said's answer shocked me. "I am an Arab nationalist, what do you think?" Until that moment I had thought that Said was beyond such petty nationalisms and was a cosmopolitan intellectual, apparently not.
So, the question remains: Why should Iran overcommit itself to a cause directly unrelated to Iran's national interests, to the point of Tehran's leaders jeopardizing the nation's peace and security by providing full support for a brutal terroristic assault on Israeli civilians, irrespective of how badly the current Israeli government has been mistreating the Palestinians? The Iranian government has not been installed in power to represent the Palestinians or any other nation, only the Iranian nation, which has a proud historical legacy related to Cyrus the Great's liberation of Jews and allowing them to return to their homeland and rebuild their temple. That enduring legacy of Iran's proud history ought to militate, theoretically speaking, against any religious-inspired tendency to succumb to the logic of exterminism vis-a-vis Israel put on full display by the Hamas militants terrorizing the civilians in southern Israel. So, should in the next days or weeks, Israeli bombs begin to fall on Iran's nuclear facilities in retaliation, Iran's ruling clergy have only themselves to blame. Kaveh Afrasiabi has taught political science at Tehran University, Boston University and Bentley College. Afrasiabi has been a visiting scholar at Harvard University, UC Berkeley, Binghamton University, Center For Strategic Research, Tehran and Institute For Strategic Studies in Paris. He is the author of several books – on Iran, Islam, ecology, Middle East, UN reform, as well as poetry and fiction – and numerous articles in international newspapers and journals.
*This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why would Iran support a terroristic assault on Israeli civilians?

Israel’s only option is overwhelming force
Colonel Richard Kemp/The Telegraph/October 11/ 2023
Israel must use whatever force it can bear to strangle the terrorist groups who massacred, brutalised and kidnapped its citizens and are willing to do the same again. That may sound like callous warmongering, but it is not. When a country faces a vicious enemy that is intent on the murder of its people, a responsible government has no choice other than to stop it in any way it can. And please don’t say that, in Israel’s case, it can only be resolved with a political solution – because there won’t be one in the foreseeable future. Hamas doesn’t want peace and prosperity for its people. It doesn’t want a two-state solution. What it does want is the annihilation of the Jewish state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea – in other words, all of it. Read its founding document, where this is spelt out in black and white; the events of the last few days show conclusively that the Hamas charter isn’t just hyperbole.
Like Islamic State, which the group resembles in both method and ideology, Hamas is not susceptible to any form of political bargaining, compromise or negotiation. That much has been proved time and again in previous rounds of violence, when it was handed political concessions only to unleash terror again once it had rebuilt its military capabilities. Thus Hamas can only be stopped by being defeated. That means crushing its will to resist, something which is only attainable by eliminating fighters in large numbers and destroying combat capability through devastating military force. If Israel fails to do that, it can only result in interminable conflict in which many more people on both sides will die. The consequences of such an outcome go well beyond this immediate conflict. We saw how the West’s humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 emboldened Vladimir Putin to launch an invasion in Ukraine six months later. Now we risk emboldening terrible actors in the Middle East, who seek not just to strike but permanently destroy our allies. The US and the rest of Nato wield the greatest military capability in the world by a huge margin, and Israel has one of the most powerful armed forces in the Middle East. But power is made up not just of tanks, guns, combat planes and warships. It is underpinned by the political will to use them.
Israel is surrounded by a ring of fire, just waiting to be ignited. In the north, in Lebanon, there is Hizbollah, also funded by Iran, with huge stockpiles of missiles primed and ready to be fired into the civilian population the length and breadth of Israel. In the east there is Syria, with Iran working hard to replicate a similar base of attack to the one it has so painstakingly developed in Lebanon. The West Bank, too, is a powder keg, already smouldering fiercely and ready to explode. Failure by Israel to crush Hamas in Gaza now, after the outrages in the past few days, would provoke each of these factions to greater violence than we’ve seen so far. Their leadership has to understand the devastating consequences of taking on Israel in a fight. Use of overwhelming force may increase the violence in the short-term, but it is ultimately de-escalatory. It would help prevent a multi-front war and save lives on all sides. The need for a demonstration of hard military power has consequences even further than Israel’s immediate ring of fire. Iran threatens not only Israel but the entire region. Saudi Arabia has been interested in normalising relations with Jerusalem predominantly because of its strength against Iranian aggression. If Israel does not come out of this war victorious, what is Saudi’s motivation to go through with the negotiations process? And normalisation now holds out pretty much the only prospect of an eventual settlement of the Israel-Palestine conflict, assuming that is even possible. No matter what Saudi might say publicly, it also has a direct interest in seeing Hamas defeated, given its fear of similar Islamist threats to itself and its Arab neighbours.
Let’s not underestimate the immense challenges and complexities in defeating Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza. But it must be done, and done quickly, in order to restore Israel’s credibility as a state with protected borders. The alternative would be an ever more volatile region on the verge of explosion.
Of course, overwhelming force is not always a clean process; there will be narrative and PR difficulties. That is why Israel needs the understanding and the backing of Western governments now more than ever.
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Israel’s history suggests the clock is ticking for Netanyahu after Hamas attack failures
New drone video shows Israel pounding GazaScroll back up to restore default view.
CNN/Analysis by Elliott Gotkine/Wed, October 11, 2023
In his more than three decades in politics, Benjamin Netanyahu has accrued almost as many nicknames as he has election wins. There’s “The Magician” for his uncanny ability to grab victory from the jaws of defeat. “King Bibi” for staying atop Israeli politics longer than anyone else. And, universally, though not necessarily affectionately: plain old “Bibi.” But there is another one he revelled in, and which now appears in tatters: “Mr Security.” How did it all go so wrong? It remains unclear as to how more than 1,000 Hamas militants managed to take Israel by such devastatingly deadly surprise, murdering – as President Isaac Herzog wrote – more Jews in one day than at any time since the Holocaust. And for now, Netanyahu’s opponents are not calling for Netanyahu to step down. “I’m not dealing now with who is to blame or why we were surprised,” said former Prime Minister Yair Lapid, now leader of the opposition. “It’s not the time, it’s not the place.”But that time and place will come. Indeed, according to Amit Segal, chief political commentator for Israel’s Channel 12, the surprise would be if Bibi’s prime ministership survives this war. “It would set a national precedent,” he told CNN. “Israeli history has taught us that each and every surprise and crisis led to the collapse of the government. That was the case in 1973 [after the Yom Kippur War] with Golda Meir, in 1982 with Menachem Begin in the first Lebanon war, and in 2006, with Ehud Olmert, in the second Lebanon War. The clock is ticking.”
History certainly provides a useful comparison: the last time Israeli intelligence failed to anything like this degree – and with so many casualties – was almost 50 years ago to the day, when Egypt and Syria invaded Israel on Yom Kippur.
That, though, was a war “that followed some kind of logic of norms and rules”, said Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute. “We negotiated peace with [Egyptian] President Sadat a few years later, with majority support of the Knesset. We’re not going to negotiate any peace with Hamas. It’s a different ballgame altogether.”
Some kind of negotiation – probably through intermediaries, such as Egypt – is inevitable. Even as Israel pummels Gaza with airstrikes, imposes a “complete siege” on the enclave, and prepares for a possible ground invasion to decimate Hamas, Netanyahu also needs to find a way to free the 150 or so hostages being held by the militants inside Gaza. This would have been a tall order in Netanyahu’s prime. But after 10 months of facing down protests against his controversial and divisive judicial overhaul, his corruption case – and a near-death experience – this is battered and beaten Bibi, not the vintage version.
It may come as scant consolation to him that Hamas has managed to reunite Israel. “The last thing Israelis care about right now is Netanyahu’s political career,” said Plesner, who also serves in the reserves of the Israeli special forces, where he is a major.
It’s also worth remembering that Bibi has been written off countless times before – only for him to return, Terminator-like, to trounce his opponents. This time, though, feels different. This time, he’s been forced into a war he didn’t choose when he may have been distracted by other things.
Focusing on the judicial overhaul “didn’t help”, said Channel 12’s Segal. But this invasion by Hamas, he said, would have been planned 12 to 18 months ago – when Netanyahu was in opposition. The miscalculation, he said, was that Hamas was after economic concessions, and a softening of Israel’s blockade on Gaza. “At the end of the day it’s a Nazi regime looking to destroy us all. And you can’t live with a monster in your backyard.”Whether Netanyahu and the Israel Defense Forces are able to slay the monster may become clearer in the coming days and weeks. He might succeed in forming a national unity “emergency” government that would insulate him from any calls to step down. In the short term, this could marginalise what Lapid describes as the more “extreme” and “dysfunctional” elements of Netanyahu’s coalition. But even if they do move to the sidelines, their ideas may live on. Such has been the shock and anger over Hamas’ spectacular assault that Israeli voters may ben open to more extreme ideas. “A certain portion of the population will expect a very, very harsh response,” said Plesner, “and it will be based on a zero-sum game: it’s either us or them.” And this time, “Mr Security” may fail to deliver.

Israeli strikes demolish entire Gaza neighborhoods as only power plant in territory runs out of fuel
JERUSALEM (AP)/October 11, 2023
Palestinians in the sealed-off Gaza Strip struggled to find any safe area Wednesday, as Israeli strikes demolished entire neighborhoods, hospitals ran low on supplies and the territory's only power plant ran out of fuel, deepening the misery of a war sparked by a stunning and deadly assault by Hamas militants.
Airstrikes smashed entire city blocks to rubble in the tiny coastal enclave and left unknown numbers of bodies beneath mounds of debris. The bombardment raged on even though militants are holding an estimated 150 people snatched from Israel — soldiers, men, women, children and older adults.Israel has vowed unprecedented retaliation against the Hamas militant group ruling the Palestinian territory after its fighters stormed through the border fence Saturday and gunned down hundreds of Israelis in their homes, on the streets and at an outdoor music festival. Since then, militants have continued to fire rockets at Israel, including a heavy barrage at the southern town of Ashkelon on Wednesday. The war, which has already claimed at least 2,200 lives on both sides, is expected to escalate — and compound the misery of people living in Gaza, where basic necessities and electricity were already in short supply. After the attack, Israel stopped the entry of food, water, fuel and medicine into the territory — a 40-kilometer-long (25-mile) strip of land wedged among Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea that is home to 2.3 million Palestinians. The sole remaining access from Egypt was shut down Tuesday after airstrikes hit near the border crossing. As Palestinians crowded into U.N. schools and a shrinking number of safe neighborhoods, humanitarian groups pleaded for the creation of corridors to get aid in, warning that hospitals overwhelmed with wounded people were running out of supplies.
“There is no safe place in Gaza right now,” journalist Hasan Jabar said after three Palestinian journalists were killed in the bombardment of a downtown neighborhood home to government ministries, media offices and hotels. “I am genuinely afraid for my life.”
Gaza’s only power plant ran out of fuel Wednesday afternoon, forcing it to shut down after Israel cut off supplies, the Energy Ministry said. That leaves only generators to power the territory — but they also run on fuel that is in short supply. The U.N.’s World Health Organization said that supplies it had pre-positioned for seven hospitals have already run out amid the flood of wounded. Doctors Without Borders said surgical equipment, antibiotics, fuel and other supplies were running out at two hospitals it runs in Gaza.
In one, “we consumed three weeks worth of emergency stock in three days, partly due to 50 patients coming in at once,” Matthias Kannes, the aid group’s head of mission in Gaza, said Wednesday. He said the territory's biggest hospital, Al-Shifa, only has enough fuel for three days. Israel has mobilized 360,000 reservists and appears increasingly likely to launch a ground offensive into Gaza, with its government under intense public pressure to topple Hamas, which has ruled the territory since 2007 and remained firmly in control through four previous wars. That would likely require a prolonged ground assault and reoccupying Gaza, at least temporarily. Even then, Hamas has a long history of operating as an underground insurgency in areas controlled by Israel.
“We will not allow a reality in which Israeli children are murdered,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a meeting with soldiers near the southern border on Tuesday. “I have removed every restriction — we will eliminate anyone who fights us, and use every measure at our disposal.”
Israeli airstrikes late Tuesday struck the family house of Mohammed Deif, the shadowy leader of Hamas’ military wing, killing his father, brother and at least two other relatives in the southern town of Khan Younis, senior Hamas official Bassem Naim told The Associated Press. Deif has never been seen in public and his whereabouts are unknown.
Exchanges of fire over Israel’s northern borders with militants in Lebanon and Syria, meanwhile, pointed to the risk of an expanded regional conflict.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday warned other countries and armed groups against entering the war. The U.S. is already rushing munitions and military equipment to Israel and has deployed a carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean as deterrence.
On Wednesday, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fired anti-tank missiles at an Israeli military position and claimed to have killed and wounded troops. The Israeli military confirmed the attack but did not comment on possible casualties. The Israeli army shelled the area in southern Lebanon where the attack was launched. In a new tactic, Israel is warning civilians to evacuate whole neighborhoods —rather than just individual buildings — then inflicting devastation, in what could be a prelude to a ground offensive. “The objective is for this war to end very differently from all of the previous rounds. There has to be a clear victory,” said Chuck Freilich, a former deputy national security adviser in Israel. “Whatever has to be done to fundamentally change the situation will have to be done.”Hamas officials have said they planned for all possibilities, including punishing Israeli escalation. Desperation has grown among Palestinians, many of whom see nothing to lose under unending Israeli military occupation and increasing settlements in the West Bank, a 16-year-long blockade in Gaza and what they see as the world’s apathy. The Hamas-run Interior Ministry said Israeli airstrikes destroyed the entire al-Karama neighborhood in Gaza City, with a “large number” of people killed or wounded. It said medical teams were unable to reach the area because all roads to it were destroyed. Rescue officials say they have struggled to enter other areas as well. In another neighborhood on Tuesday, Palestinian Civil Defense forces pulled Abdullah Musleh out of his basement together with 30 others after their apartment building was flattened. “I sell toys, not missiles,’’ the 46-year-old said, weeping. “I want to leave Gaza. Why do I have to stay here? I lost my home and my job.”On Wednesday, an AP reporter witnessed waves of rockets rain down on Ashkelon, with shrapnel slamming into the street and Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system intercepting at least one overhead. Residents screamed and wept as they heard the explosions. On Tuesday night, a group of militants entered an industrial zone in Ashkelon, sparking a gunbattle with Israeli troops, the military said. Three militants were killed, and troops were searching the area for others. The Israeli military said more than 1,200 people, including 155 soldiers, have been killed in Israel, a staggering toll unseen since the 1973 war with Egypt and Syria that lasted weeks. In Gaza, 1,055 people have been killed, according to authorities there; Israel says hundreds of Hamas fighters are among them. Thousands have been wounded on both sides. The bodies of roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were found on Israeli territory, the military said. It wasn’t clear whether those numbers overlapped with deaths reported by Palestinian authorities. Days of clashes between rock-throwing Palestinians and Israeli forces in the West Bank have left 15 Palestinians dead. The violence also spread into east Jerusalem, where Israeli police said they killed two Palestinians who hurled stones at police late Tuesday. In Gaza, more than 250,000 people have fled their homes, the U.N. said, the most since a 2014 air and ground offensive by Israel uprooted about 400,000. The vast majority are sheltering in schools run by the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. Damage to three water and sanitation sites have cut off services to 400,000 people, the U.N. said.
Tens of thousands of people in southern Israel have been evacuated since Sunday.

Israel’s Netanyahu, Gantz reach deal to form emergency government
Rina Bassist/Al-Monitor/October 11, 2023
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and head of the National Unity party Benny Gantz have reached an agreement to form an emergency government on Wednesday as the war against Hamas enters its fifth day and a Gaza invasion looms. Gantz will join the Netanyahu-led government and be part of a war cabinet, a small forum of ministers tasked with shaping Israel’s strategy in the battle against Hamas, Israeli news outlets reported.  Gantz, a former defense minister and military chief of staff, will take part in the war cabinet alongside Netanyahu and current Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Former IDF Gen. Gadi Eisenkot and Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer will serve as observers in the war cabinet. Three other members of Gantz’s party will serve as ministers without portfolio. The cabinet will last for the duration of the war, during which no legislation or non-Gaza government resolutions will be advanced in the Israeli Knesset, the statement said. Gantz has stressed that the priority now lies in Israel winning the war. Opposition head Yair Lapid has conditioned joining an emergency government on far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich distancing themselves from handling any security issues. Yisrael Beitenu head Avigdor Liberman said he would join such a government if its stated goal were to eliminate Hamas. For the moment, neither Lapid nor Liberman announced they were joining the Netanyahu-Gantz emergency government. Netanyahu came under fire for seemingly taking his time in setting up an emergency government. Gantz declared he was ready to enter an emergency government hours after the Hamas attack started, as did Lapid. Netanyahu and Gantz were scheduled to meet Tuesday evening to seal the deal, but the prime minister delayed the meeting until Wednesday, saying security briefings lasted much longer than expected.
Netanyahu’s priority, besides the obvious consultations with Israel’s security chiefs, was clearly the international community. His efforts in the first days of the war were to a large extent focused outward. He has spoken to President Joe Biden spoke several times since Saturday, including on Wednesday evening. Netanyahu also spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron twice, as well as British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. They all pledged to stand by Israel and declared that Israel has the right to defend itself.
It was only after securing international support that Netanyahu turned his attention to the formation of an emergency government. Haaretz reported that Ben-Gvir had objected to Gantz and Eisenkot joining the government and being members of a war cabinet, claiming that as former IDF chiefs of staff, both were responsible for the military failure. The report also said that Netanyahu insisted on getting the approval of his coalition partners before sealing a deal with Gantz, explaining the delay. Former Labor Knesset member Emilie Moatti slammed both the intelligence and the security failures, which happened under Netanyahu’s watch, as well as the time he took to establish an emergency cabinet.  "The failure is colossal. So many Israelis lost their lives, other Israelis were kidnapped to Gaza and the public currently has no answers. Netanyahu, directly responsible for this failure, took five days to form an emergency government," said Moatti. The former legislator added, "Netanyahu, along with his ignorant, racist and inexperienced ministers, have brought upon us the greatest disaster since the establishment of the state. In an organized and responsible country, this entire government of failure would have resigned that very night. The only bright spot is the Israeli public, who show much greater responsibility than its leadership and help each other in many acts of heroism."
Netanyahu and Gantz met Wednesday morning for about three hours before concluding an agreement.

Gaza war tests fragile Israel-Turkey rapprochement as Erdogan ups rhetoric
Ezgi Akin/Al-Monitor/October 11, 2023
ANKARA — As Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday shifted away from his initial moderate tone on the conflict between Israeli forces and the militant group Hamas, recent rapprochement between Ankara and the Jewish state appears to be increasingly fragile. Erdogan's latest statement on Wednesday accused Israel of "preventing people from accessing their most fundamental needs, by destroying the buildings in which civilians live with bombs." He described the latest actions in Gaza as "not a war, but a massacre."
His remarks are a departure from the de-escalatory tone he struck in the first few days of the conflict, and a return to the image he built over the years as a champion for the Palestinian cause. Unlike the United States and the United Kingdom, Turkey does not recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization, and is known to have open channels with the group. Last July, Erdogan hosted a rare meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Turkey and in an effort to reconcile the two sides. Hamas’ unprecedented attack came at a time when Ankara is seeking to deepen its rapprochement with Israel, eyeing economic cooperation, particularly in the energy field. After Turkey and Israel fully restored their diplomatic ties last year, Israeli President Isaac Herzog traveled to Ankara to meet with Erdogan. The Turkish leader and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met last month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly amid plans for the latter to pay an official visit to Ankara. The meeting marked their first ever official face-to-face talk. Ties between the two countries were highly strained during Netanyahu's previous term between 2009-2021, stemming from Ankara's alleged support for Hamas and Israel’s repression of Gaza. Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said last week that he was planning to visit Israel in November to revive a project to carry Israeli natural gas to Turkey and on to Europe. He hoped to meet with his Israeli counterpart, Israel Katz, and representatives of natural gas companies. That visit is up in the air now, given the escalation on the ground and Turkey's opposition to the war.
Erdogan’s change in rhetoric exposes the difficulties he faces in balancing efforts to rekindle ties with the Jewish state and his global image as a champion of the Palestinian cause. Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said Ankara’s moderate tone in the first days of the conflict, as well as its restrained reactions to Israeli raids on the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the spring, reflect its determination to reset ties. More broadly, Turkey has also normalized relations with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Cagaptay contended the Turkish Foreign Ministry’s statement on the first day of the conflict condemning the death of civilians on both sides was “quite significant.” However, maintaining that tone will be more challenging. Cagaptay told Al-Monitor, “I think [the approach] will change very fast. As more Palestinians die and suffer and fewer Israelis die going forward — that's going to be the imbalance in the conflict in my view, that will significantly shape Erdogan's rhetoric.”
Gallia Lindenstrauss, a senior research fellow at the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies, agrees that Erdogan’s latest statements call into question "the ability of the sides to maintain the momentum in the Turkish-Israeli rapprochement,” she told Al-Monitor.
Lindenstrauss said Erdogan’s criticism of Washington for dispatching the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group to the region was of particular concern. Erdogan argued Tuesday that the aircraft carrier's mission was to bomb Gaza, despite repeated rebuttals from Pentagon officials that the move is to deter other actors’ involvement in the conflict.  The US and Turkey both want to keep the Gaza war from spreading, Lindenstrauss said, and the Turkish position is influenced by "Erdogan’s own sympathies toward the Palestinians and Hamas, as well as the push from Turkish public opinion and the political opposition to be unequivocally on the side of the Palestinians.”Turkey’s public opinion largely rallied behind the Palestinians. However, many Turks, shocked by the killing of civilians, including babies, young women and elders, have aired solidarity with Israel, prompting the Israeli Embassy in Ankara to post a “thank you” message on social media. “Since Saturday morning, we have been receiving non-stop messages via phone, email and social media. You standing with Israel and your support in these difficult times gives us strength. Thank you for the thousands of messages of support that have reached us,” the video message said.

As strikes devastate Gaza, Israel forms unity government to oversee war sparked by Hamas attack
JERUSALEM (AP)/ October 11, 2023
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a leading opposition figure on Wednesday created a war-time Cabinet to oversee the fight against Hamas militants after their stunning weekend attack. In the sealed-off Gaza Strip ruled by Hamas, Palestinians struggled to find safety as Israeli bombardment demolished entire neighborhoods and the territory's only power plant ran out of fuel. The new war-time Cabinet will consist of Netanyahu, Benny Gantz — a senior opposition figure and former defense minister — and current Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, a statement released by Gantz said. The Cabinet will focus only on issues of the war. It appeared that the rest of Netanyahu’s existing government partners, a collection of far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties, would remain in place to handle other issues.
The unusual arrangement cobbles together a degree of unity after years of bitterly divisive politics, as the military appears increasingly likely to launch a ground offensive into Gaza. The government is under intense public pressure to topple Hamas, after its militants stormed through the border fence Saturday and gunned down hundreds of Israelis in their homes, on the streets and at an outdoor music festival. Israel's chief opposition leader, Yair Lapid, was invited to join to new Cabinet but did not immediately respond to the offer. The war has already claimed at least 2,200 lives on both sides, and a ground offensive in Gaza is likely to dramatically hike casualties. Already, Israeli airstrikes in Gaza smashed entire city blocks to rubble in the tiny coastal enclave and left unknown numbers of bodies beneath mounds of debris.
Militants in Gaza are holding an estimated 150 people snatched from Israel — soldiers, men, women, children and older adults. They continued to fire rockets at Israel on Wednesday, including a heavy barrage at the southern town of Ashkelon.
Israel stopped entry of food, water, fuel and medicine into Gaza — a 40-kilometer-long (25-mile) strip of land wedged among Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea that is home to 2.3 million Palestinians. The sole remaining access from Egypt was shut down Tuesday after airstrikes hit near the border crossing.
As Palestinians crowded into U.N. schools and a shrinking number of safe neighborhoods, humanitarian groups pleaded for the creation of corridors to get aid in, warning that hospitals overwhelmed with wounded people were running out of supplies.
“There is no safe place in Gaza right now,” journalist Hasan Jabar said after three Palestinian journalists were killed in the bombardment of a downtown neighborhood home to government ministries, media offices and hotels. “I am genuinely afraid for my life.”
Gaza’s only power plant ran out of fuel Wednesday afternoon, forcing it to shut down after Israel cut off supplies, the Energy Ministry said. That leaves only generators to power the territory — but they also run on fuel that is in short supply.
The U.N.’s World Health Organization said that supplies it had pre-positioned for seven hospitals have already run out amid the flood of wounded. Doctors Without Borders said surgical equipment, antibiotics, fuel and other supplies were running out at two hospitals it runs in Gaza. In one, “we consumed three weeks worth of emergency stock in three days, partly due to 50 patients coming in at once,” Matthias Kannes, the aid group’s head of mission in Gaza, said Wednesday. He said the territory's biggest hospital, Al-Shifa, only has enough fuel for three days. Israel has mobilized 360,000 reservists and appears increasingly likely to launch a ground offensive into Gaza, with its government under intense public pressure to topple Hamas, which has ruled the territory since 2007 and remained firmly in control through four previous wars. That would likely require a prolonged ground assault and reoccupying Gaza, at least temporarily. Even then, Hamas has a long history of operating as an underground insurgency in areas controlled by Israel.
“We will not allow a reality in which Israeli children are murdered,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a meeting with soldiers near the southern border on Tuesday. “I have removed every restriction — we will eliminate anyone who fights us, and use every measure at our disposal.”Israeli airstrikes late Tuesday struck the family house of Mohammed Deif, the shadowy leader of Hamas’ military wing, killing his father, brother and at least two other relatives in the southern town of Khan Younis, senior Hamas official Bassem Naim told The Associated Press.
Deif has never been seen in public and his whereabouts are unknown. Exchanges of fire over Israel’s northern borders with militants in Lebanon and Syria, meanwhile, pointed to the risk of an expanded regional conflict.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday warned other countries and armed groups against entering the war. The U.S. is already rushing munitions and military equipment to Israel and has deployed a carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean as deterrence.
On Wednesday, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fired anti-tank missiles at an Israeli military position and claimed to have killed and wounded troops. The Israeli military confirmed the attack but did not comment on possible casualties. The Israeli army shelled the area in southern Lebanon where the attack was launched. In a new tactic, Israel is warning civilians to evacuate whole neighborhoods —rather than just individual buildings — then inflicting devastation, in what could be a prelude to a ground offensive. “The objective is for this war to end very differently from all of the previous rounds. There has to be a clear victory,” said Chuck Freilich, a former deputy national security adviser in Israel. “Whatever has to be done to fundamentally change the situation will have to be done.”
Hamas officials have said they planned for all possibilities, including punishing Israeli escalation. Desperation has grown among Palestinians, many of whom see nothing to lose under unending Israeli military occupation and increasing settlements in the West Bank, a 16-year-long blockade in Gaza and what they see as the world’s apathy.
The Hamas-run Interior Ministry said Israeli airstrikes destroyed the entire al-Karama neighborhood in Gaza City, with a “large number” of people killed or wounded. It said medical teams were unable to reach the area because all roads to it were destroyed. Rescue officials say they have struggled to enter other areas as well. In another neighborhood on Tuesday, Palestinian Civil Defense forces pulled Abdullah Musleh out of his basement together with 30 others after their apartment building was flattened. “I sell toys, not missiles,’’ the 46-year-old said, weeping. “I want to leave Gaza. Why do I have to stay here? I lost my home and my job.”On Wednesday, an AP reporter witnessed waves of rockets rain down on Ashkelon, with shrapnel slamming into the street and Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system intercepting at least one overhead. Residents screamed and wept as they heard the explosions. On Tuesday night, a group of militants entered an industrial zone in Ashkelon, sparking a gunbattle with Israeli troops, the military said. Three militants were killed, and troops were searching the area for others. The Israeli military said more than 1,200 people, including 155 soldiers, have been killed in Israel, a staggering toll unseen since the 1973 war with Egypt and Syria that lasted weeks. In Gaza, 1,055 people have been killed, according to authorities there; Israel says hundreds of Hamas fighters are among them. Thousands have been wounded on both sides. The bodies of roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were found on Israeli territory, the military said. It wasn’t clear whether those numbers overlapped with deaths reported by Palestinian authorities. Days of clashes between rock-throwing Palestinians and Israeli forces in the West Bank have left 15 Palestinians dead. The violence also spread into east Jerusalem, where Israeli police said they killed two Palestinians who hurled stones at police late Tuesday. In Gaza, more than 250,000 people have fled their homes, the U.N. said, the most since a 2014 air and ground offensive by Israel uprooted about 400,000. The vast majority are sheltering in schools run by the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. Damage to three water and sanitation sites have cut off services to 400,000 people, the U.N. said. Tens of thousands of people in southern Israel have been evacuated since Sunday.

Gazans Trying to Flee War Have Egypt Weighing Aid and Security
Bloomberg/October 11, 2023
Opening an escape route for thousands of Palestinians trying to flee Israeli strikes on Gaza isn’t an easy proposition for neighboring Egypt, as it struggles to balance humanitarian support with national security concerns. The North African nation’s stance is increasingly in focus as the US and others discuss with Egypt the possibility of safe passage for civilians, as well as providing vital aid to Gaza’s 2 million residents after Israel’s decision to cut off access to food, water and power. After Hamas Attack, Middle East Braces for Another War .A safe route “is something we are focused on and we are working on,” US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Tuesday, according to a transcript. He declined to give details on specific locations. Still, Israeli shelling near the border post has complicated any attempts for people or aid to cross. Israeli officials have warned that any trucks bringing in supplies could be targeted, according to Israeli media. More than 1,200 Israelis and 1,000 Palestinians have been killed since Saturday’s surprise attack against Israel by Gaza-based militants Hamas, which the US and Europe have declared a terrorist group.Meeting with United Nations officials on Wednesday, Egypt’s foreign ministry said it voiced full support for UN efforts to ensure the continuation of vital services and the arrival of relief supplies to Gazans. But fully opening Egypt’s tightly controlled Rafah border crossing, which connects the Sinai peninsula with Gaza, and letting in sizable numbers of refugees is another issue — and something, local media and a populist lawmaker suggest, the country neither wants nor can afford. State-run Ahram Online on Tuesday revived fears of what it called “a frequently proposed Israeli scheme” to resettle Gazans in Sinai, with a story citing Egyptian security sources rejecting the “historically and politically corrupt” idea.Israel Latest: Top US General Warns Iran to Stay Out of Conflict. President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has said guarding Egypt’s national security is his “top responsibility, and there will be no compromise or complacency under any circumstances.” He warned Tuesday that further escalation between Israel and Hamas could cause regional instability. Egypt, which in 1980 became the first Arab country to normalize relations with Israel, has mediated between the warring sides during previous conflicts in Gaza. Ahram Online on Monday reported Cairo was working to facilitate a prisoner-exchange deal.
IMF Boss Says Egypt to ‘Bleed’ Reserves Unless It Devalues
But any escalation that sees Palestinians flee to Egypt is seen by authorities as posing fresh challenges just as the country is grappling with its worst economic crisis in decades. El-Sisi spearheaded a war against militants in northern Sinai after taking office in 2014 and has touted ambitious plans to develop and invest in the region. An Egyptian humanitarian organization on Tuesday said it was preparing a convoy of food and medical assistance for Gaza. It wasn’t clear if it would be able to cross. Egyptian lawmaker Mostafa Bakry, who’s widely seen as close to El-Sisi, wrote on X that neither Egypt nor the Palestinians would accept Palestinians being displaced to Sinai. “Egypt’s security and Egypt’s land are not permissible,” Bakry said.

Some Israelis abroad aren't running from war at home, but to it
Associated Press/October 11, 2023
At the most harrowing of times, some Israeli citizens living overseas aren't running from the war at home, but to it. From Athens to New York, they're rushing to airports and diving into online chat groups for help, desperate to make their way to the country after Hamas militants attacked.
Some of these Israelis abroad are yearning to serve, whether that means fighting in a military reserve unit or volunteering to shuttle supplies to those in need, even as the war has already claimed at least 1,800 lives and shows no signs of abating. On Tuesday, Israel's military expanded its mobilization of reservists to 360,000, according to the country's media, as it ramped up its retaliation for the surprise attacks. Yaakov Swisa, a 42-year-old father of five, said nobody called and asked him to return to Israel to fight, but he feels he has no choice. He served for 15 years, and he said he learned his army roommate was among at least 260 killed at a music festival. Swisa wants to rejoin his reserve unit, even if that means leaving his family and his construction-business job in Los Angeles."I've been crying for two, three days. Enough. That's it. I am ready to fight," he said. "What else would I do ... while my friends are being buried in Israel?"Some of the Israelis living, working or just traveling abroad who were trying to make it back said their reserve units were among those called up. Others said they hadn't yet been called or couldn't reach their commanders but expected to be asked soon. In other cases, Israelis who are too young to serve in the military, as well as non-Israelis with close ties to the country, have been trying to travel to assist family members or volunteer. Adam Jacobs, an 18-year-old community college student in New Jersey, said he was born and raised in the U.S. and for years traveled every summer to visit family in Israel. He said he learned his cousin was among those killed, and he wants to make his way to Israel to take on volunteer work, possibly shuttling supplies.
"I couldn't live with myself if I stayed here," Jacobs said. "It's never been this bad."
Eric Fingerhut, a former U.S. congressman who now leads The Jewish Federations of North America, said he's not surprised by how many people want to help. "As soon as we can possibly enable that, we certainly will," he said from Tel Aviv, where he'd arrived just before the weekend attacks. "There are many Israeli reservists who are abroad. And so getting them back home to join the fight, you know, has been a priority. And it should be a priority. So people are just scrambling."The war began after Hamas militants stormed into Israel Saturday during a major Jewish holiday, killing people and abducting others. In response, Israeli warplanes have hammered the Gaza Strip, destroying buildings and sending Palestinian residents scrambling to find safety in the tiny, sealed-off territory. Travel has been challenging, with major airlines suspending flights in and out of Israel. The U.S. State Department issued travel advisories for the region. Some reservists in the United States, home to more than 140,000 people born in Israel, were trying to get on charter flights. Ofer Cohen, a New York businessman, said he learned there were more than 200 reservists traveling through South America on vacation at the time of the attacks. They've been called back to base but unable to get there, thanks to canceled flights. So Cohen is trying to cobble together hundreds of thousands of dollars to hire a plane to pick them up, as WhatsApp messages describing their troubles keep rolling in. "I just saw one after another," he said, "and I thought about this idea of getting a charter plane and get them back to Israel."In Greece, hundreds of people waited hours to board emergency flights at Athens International Airport, many without a ticket and most traveling from other European destinations after cutting holiday and work trips short. As officers patrolled the area to provide security, volunteers handed travelers apples, bananas and bottled water. Nir Ekhouse, a 19-year old from near Nazareth, had been in the Maldives with family. They reached Athens via Istanbul as they tried to make it home. Once there, Ekhouse said, he plans to volunteer for an organization that supports the military. "This is the first time in the history of Israel that something like that has happened. It's very shocking," he said, standing in line with his parents and younger siblings. Israel Lawrence, 27, was born in Israel and grew up in London. He said that although he hasn't been formally called up, he's making the trip to join his fellow soldiers, many already on the front lines, and help his family members, who are living in terror and chaos. "I want to be honest with you, I'm scared," said Lawrence, a trained rifleman who was on his way to Israel via Cyprus. "All the guys I'm with are terrified, but we are trained, and we'll do the best we can."

Israel says fires artillery after munitions launched from Syria
Agence France Presse/October 11, 2023
Israel's military said it has responded with artillery fire from the Golan Heights after munitions were launched toward territory it has occupied since 1967. "Soldiers are responding with artillery and mortar shells toward the origin of the launching in Syria," an Israeli military statement said, on the fourth day of a war with Gaza-based Hamas militants that has sent regional tensions soaring. The military said there had been "a number of launches from Syria into Israeli territory". A military spokesman told AFP it appeared to have been mortar fire. This was the first exchange of fire between Israel and Syria since Hamas carried out an unprecedented assault on Israeli territory from the blockaded Gaza Strip on Saturday. Fears of another front opening in the conflict have grown after days of clashes with militants on the northern border with Lebanon. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based NGO with an extensive network of sources in Syria, the shells were fired by "Palestinian factions working with the Lebanese Hezbollah". Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967. Its 1981 annexation of the strategic area is not recognised by the United Nations.

US Congress member: Egypt “warned” Israel three days before the Hamas attack: AFP
AFP/October 11, 2023
A member of the US Congress reported that Egypt “warned” Israel three days before the Hamas attack.

Rise of drones and rockets: Hamas' technological advancements
LBCI/October 11, 2023
How did Hamas transition from "primitive" confrontation methods to advanced weaponry? With the beginning of the Israeli preparations to withdraw from the Gaza Strip to the settlements surrounding the Strip at the beginning of the 2000s, planning began to reach deep into Israeli territory, especially since the Israelis began building a huge fence equipped with warning devices, keeping the Israeli settlements away from Gaza by at least four kilometers. Here, a new phase began. Hamas entered a phase of missile manufacturing.The first attempt was in 2001 with a "primitively" prepared "Qassam-1" rocket. At the time, Palestinian engineer Nidal Farhat led the development of these rockets, but the first attempt to launch the rocket failed, and its flight distance did not exceed the barbed wire fence by less than 2 kilometers. Over the course of two decades, it worked its way up to rockets like the "Ayyash" rocket, which has a range of 220 kilometers. During these twenty years, a significant development occurred in 2014 when advanced weapons, such as "Kornet," a Russian anti-tank guided missile, entered Gaza, specifically from Libya, Sudan, Yemen, and Egypt through the Rafah Crossing. In addition to rockets, Hamas also acquired drone technology. They began experimenting with drones in 2008 for photography purposes, eventually developing armed drones in 2014, the most prominent of which was the “Shehab” drone, which is a copy of the Iranian "Ababil" drones, until 2021, the day the "Zouari" drone was announced, which was also used in the Al-Aqsa Flood operation. In addition to rockets and drones, Hamas used tunnels as a primary weapon against the Israeli army. The construction of tunnels began in the early 2000s, initially for defensive purposes, to hide and protect weapons. Later, they transformed into "offensive" tunnels used by Hamas primarily for incursions into Israeli territory and transporting prisoners. The "Al-Aqsa Flood" operation revealed new and advanced weapons. What capabilities will Hamas develop in the future?

Hamas attack raises questions about Iran influence
Associated Press/October 11, 2023
Hamas' unprecedented attack on Israel and the war it launched has raised new questions about the influence of its main sponsor, Iran, and whether it had anything to do with the assault. From Tel Aviv to Washington, however, no one is willing to directly blame Iran as they say they lack direct evidence. Tensions between the Islamic Republic and the West remain high over its rapidly advancing nuclear program. In Tehran, even its supreme leader has denied the country being involved while praising what he described as the "capable, smart and courageous" militants who killed more than 1,000 Israelis and for the first time took over 100 civilians and soldiers as hostages. Yet the suspicion of Iranian involvement remains — and how it shakes out could threaten to morph what has been the most-shocking deadly attack on Israel in 50 years into a wider regional war that drags in the United States.
WHY IS THERE SUSPICION OF IRANIAN INVOLVEMENT?
Hamas grew out of the the first intifada, or Palestinian uprising, which was marked by widespread protests against Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1987. Its name is an Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement and an acknowledgment of its early ties to the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood. Sworn to Israel's destruction, it has launched numerous suicide bombings and other attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers, leading Israel and other nations including the U.S. to describe it as a terrorist organization. Although Sunni, it has grown increasingly close to the Mideast's Shiite powerhouse, Iran. For Tehran, Hamas fits into a pattern it has followed since its 1979 Islamic Revolution of backing regional proxies as a hedge against the superior firepower of archenemy Israel and its main backer, the U.S. Sunday's attack showed a level of sophistication and scale so far unseen in previous Hamas attacks on Israel. Airborne militants flew into southern Israel on paragliders. Bomb-carrying drones dropped ordinance precisely on Israeli robotic gun positions. Within hours, militants detonated bombs to tear open Israel's separation fence, body cam footage showed. Some of these militant techniques have been used by Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, whose Quds, or Jerusalem, force serves as an expeditionary unit that long has liaised with proxy militia groups across the Middle East.
IS THERE ANY DIRECT EVIDENCE SUPPORTING AN IRANIAN HAND IN THE ATTACK?
As of now, no government worldwide has offered direct evidence — whether images, electronic surveillance or satellite imagery — supporting that Iran orchestrated the attack. However, many have pointed to Iran's long sponsorship of the group through extensive training, funding and smuggled rockets. "On Iran, let me start by saying no question that there's a degree of complicity here. Iran has been supporting Hamas for many, many years," White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Monday. "That said, we haven't seen hard, tangible evidence that Iran was directly involved in participating in or resourcing, planning these sets of complex attacks that Hamas pulled off over the weekend." Even Israel, which long has been suspected of carrying out out a covert campaign of sabotage and targeted killings to slow Iran's nuclear program, hasn't directly blamed Tehran. "We have no evidence, no intelligence proof of Iranian involvement in this situation," said Maj. Nir Dinar, an Israeli military spokesperson. Dinar, however, hinted at Iranian involvement in the same breath. "You have to be very naive in order to think that someone in Iran woke up at 6:30 on Shabbat, on Simchat Torah, and was surprised to see this," he said, referring to the Jewish holiday that was commemorated last Saturday. Ali Barakeh, a member of Hamas' exiled leadership in Lebanon, denied that Iran helped plan the attack or gave the go-ahead for it in an interview with The Associated Press. However, the extent of Iranian influence on Hamas was at one point a source of "internal conflict" that got "papered over in the last few years" as Iran became the group's "main funder," said Randa Slim from the Washington-based Middle East Institute. Iran remains closer to Hamas' military wing than its political wing, Slim added.
WHAT'S THE RISK OF IRAN BEING INVOLVED OR BLAMED FOR THE ATTACK?
For Israel, it already appears to be gearing up for what looks like a massive military operation including a possible ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. That urban fighting is incredibly dangerous for its troops, as well as the Palestinian civilians inevitably caught between them and Hamas fighters. Israel also has faced some sporadic missile fire and fighting from Hezbollah, Iran's main regional partner in neighboring Lebanon since the violence erupted. The conflict expanding into a two-front war would make the situation even more dangerous. Adding Iran into the mix would escalate it further. Keeping that from happening is likely an American priority. The Washington-dispatched aircraft carrier group USS Gerald R. Ford reached the eastern Mediterranean on Tuesday. President Joe Biden warned other countries not to get involved the conflict in hopes of exploiting the chaos. "For any anyone thinking advantage of the situation," he said in a speech Tuesday, "I have one word: Don't."However, given the grief and outrage in Israel over Saturday's attack, anything linking Iran to the assault would drastically increase pressure on long-embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to retaliate against Tehran. Netanyahu, who has campaigned as being Israel's self-described protector, has pointed at Iran as his nation's No. 1 regional enemy. He has repeatedly warned he wouldn't allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon — something his nation possesses. And while Iran maintains its program is peaceful, it enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels. That makes those facilities, as well as military bases in Iran and abroad, possible targets for Netanyahu. "Citizens of Israel, we are at war, not in an operation or in rounds, but at war," Netanyahu told the nation after Saturday's attack. How wide that war will become remains in question.

Canada will airlift people from Tel Aviv this week, Joly says
The Canadian PressThe Canadian Press/October 11, 2023
OTTAWA — The federal government will begin to airlift Canadian citizens, permanent residents and their families from Tel Aviv by the end of the week, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Wednesday.Joly would not confirm whether any Canadians are being held hostage in Gaza, where militants are holding an estimated 150 people snatched from Israel, but she said three people are missing. "This is a standing approach we take in any hostage negotiation we don't confirm. Why? Because we don't want to increase the value of that person in the eyes of their tyrants," Joly said. Global Affairs Canada's top bureaucrat for consular cases said two Canadians have died and a third is presumed dead. The war, sparked after Hamas conducted surprise attacks across the Israeli border from Gaza on Saturday, has already claimed more than 2,200 lives. Canadian Armed Forces flights from Tel Aviv to Athens will be scheduled in the coming days, and the federal government says it will help arrange passage on flights from Athens back to Canada. "Usually when there are still commercial flights, we don't do assisted departure," Joly said. "This is quite rare."She said the government felt it needed to step in because so many commercial flights from Israel were cancelled or delayed. Chief of the defence staff Gen. Wayne Eyre said Wednesday morning the first Polaris plane would land in Athens within an hour. Polaris planes will then run a shuttle service between Tel Aviv and Athens, with the frequency of the flights dependent on demand, he said. As of Tuesday night, Joly said there were 4,249 Canadians registered in Israel and another 476 in the West Bank and Gaza. Officials said a minority of those 476 people are registered in Hamas-controlled Gaza, where Israel is conducting airstrikes in retaliation for the weekend assault. Israel has also cut access to water and power in what its officials describe as a total siege. Canada lists Hamas as a terrorist group and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has asserted that Israel has a right to defend itself. Joly said Canada aims to work with the United Nations if there is an evacuation from Gaza. "But at this point there has been no information coming from the UN regarding an evacuation," she said, adding that she has been in touch with her counterpart in Jordan to discuss options for people in the West Bank. Officials urged Canadians in the region to register with Global Affairs in order to receive information on the airlift. This report from The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2023.

Erdogan vows to intensify strikes on Kurd fighters in Iraq, Syria
Agence France Presse/October 11, 2023
Turkey's president on Wednesday vowed to intensify strikes against Kurdish fighters in Syria and Iraq. "We have already intensified air operations and we will continue, and show the terrorists that we can destroy them anywhere and at any moment," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, referring to fighters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) -- listed as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies.

Syrian Kurds accuse Turkey of war crimes as Erdogan vows escalation
Amberin Zaman/Al-Monitor/October 11, 2023
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to escalate Ankara’s ongoing military campaign against a Kurdish-allied military group in northeast Syria on Wednesday as the United States aired concern about its impact on the civilians and the US-led coalition’s battle against the Islamic State (IS).
Addressing members of his Justice and Development Party in the Turkish parliament, Erdogan said, “With air operations, with our artillery units and if required with our land forces,” Turkey will show “members of the terrorist organization that we are ready to destroy them at any moment at any place.”
Erdogan also warned the United States over its continued alliance with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, the Pentagon’s top partner in the fight against IS and the target of Turkey’s assault. “Nobody should doubt that sooner or later, we will respond to those who stand by the terrorists during our struggle [against them]," Erdogan said.
Turkey insists that the SDF is no different from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the Kurdish group that is waging an armed insurgency against the Turkish state and is designated as a terrorist organization by the State Department and the European Union.
Since Oct. 4, Turkey has been pounding the Kurdish-governed zone with drones, fighter jets and artillery in response to a suicide bomb attack on Turkey’s national police headquarters in Ankara by a pair of PKK militants. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Ankara has proof that the assailants traveled to Turkey from northeast Syria and declared all SDF-linked facilities “legitimate targets.” Turkey’s Defense Ministry stated that as of Oct. 9, it had “neutralized” 150 “terrorists” since the launch of the operation that also covered northern Iraq.
Yet even as Erdogan bragged after a Cabinet meeting Sunday that, unlike Israel, “Turkey does not kill children,” Syrian Kurdish officials charged that as of Wednesday, 11 civilians were among the victims of Turkish strikes, including five women and two children.
Mazlum Kobane, the SDF commander-in-chief, tweeted, “The Turkish president’s statement naming the war that leads to cutting off water, electricity and roads and destroying infrastructure, places of worship and schools as ‘massacres’ is exactly what his government is doing in northeast Syria. Turkish occupation commits 'massacres' and war crimes every day.” “These Turkish airstrikes against us are war crimes against all international laws and regulations,” Bedran Ciya Kurd, foreign affairs spokesperson for the SDF’s civilian arm known as the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, said in a news conference Tuesday. Al-Monitor has documented at least three cases in which children were killed in previous Turkish drone strikes against alleged PKK targets in northeast Syria. Turkey’s targets have also included oil installations, power grids and potable water sources, part of a concerted effort to cripple economic life in the Kurdish-led zone and weaken popular support for the administration, which Turkey insists poses a threat to its national security because of the large number of former PKK cadres in its ranks. Kurd denied there were any links between the SDF and the PKK attack, saying that Ankara was using the incident as “a pretext” to “justify their attacks on us.” Kurd said 180 civilian infrastructure targets have been bombed by Turkey so far, including 14 oil stations, nine power stations, eight water stations and 48 schools. More than 10,000 children are being deprived of education and entire communities of potable water as a result. Al-Monitor could not independently corroborate any of the claims, though aid workers on the ground say that the attacks have caused major damage to infrastructure critical to civilians across the targeted region, with at least 800,000 people impacted.
The Kurdish Red Crescent has confirmed that the Suweida power station is offline. It is the sole source of around-the-clock power in the Hasakah governorate, home to more than 1.5 million people. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Tuesday that the United States remained “concerned about military activity in northern Syria, its impacts on the civilian population and infrastructure, and the impact on the effectiveness of our operations to ensure the last defeat of [IS]." Miller went on, “We continue to support the current cease-fire lines and call for a de-escalation of violence. It is crucial for all sides to maintain and respect cease-fire zones and to de-escalate violent activity to enhance stability in Syria and work toward a political solution to the conflict.”
US backpedaling
Syrian Kurdish officials were not impressed. SDF spokesperson Farhad Shami called the remarks “insufficient in effectively addressing and putting to an end to the ongoing Turkish aggression.”“They do not provide the assurance needed to hold Turkey accountable for its destructive actions against vital infrastructures and civic services,” Shami told Al-Monitor. "We are hopeful for a clearer stance from the American side.”It seemed that Washington was finally drawing a line when a US F-16 shot down an armed Turkish spy drone on Oct. 5 after it came within close proximity of a coalition base in Hasakah. Within hours, however, the Biden administration scrambled to play down the affair with a Pentagon spokesperson calling it “regrettable” and asserting there were “no indications” that the drone was intentionally targeting US personnel.
In a similar display of backpedaling, a statement posted by the US Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) condemning civilian harm and acknowledging the threat Turkish strikes posed to itself and the SDF was swiftly deleted.
“Was this weak reaction due to Washington’s careful calculation regarding Turkey’s influence elsewhere — potentially in the context of Sweden’s NATO admission, in which developments are expected at a ministerial meeting this week? And what further messaging would this convey to its SDF partners, who are balancing among regional and international actors on the ground? Might they one day be pushed to reevaluate their counter-[IS] partnership?” asked Syrian Kurdish reporter Hoshang Hassan in an essay for the Kurdish Peace Institute in Washington.
Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler took part in the meeting that kicked off today in Brussels. There was no word on its outcome as of time of publication. Whatever the calculus, after Saturday’s attack on Israel by the Gaza-based militant group Hamas, Syria’s beleaguered Kurds will likely slip even further down Washington’s list of priorities, acknowledged Salih Muslim, the co-chair of the Democratic Unity Party that shares power in the autonomous administration. “This will likely give Erdogan even further latitude to carry out his plans to destroy us while the world’s gaze is focused on Gaza and Ukraine,” Muslim told Al-Monitor. Meanwhile, Erdogan said Sunday that the downing of Turkey’s military drone by its NATO ally was “seared in our national memory” and that “appropriate action will be taken when the time comes.”

Zelensky visits neighboring Romania to discuss security and boost ties
Associated Press/October 11, 2023
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to neighboring Romania on Tuesday for talks with his counterpart on regional security and strengthening bilateral ties against the backdrop of Russia's invasion of his country. Zelensky met with President Klaus Iohannis in the capital, Bucharest. The two are also expected to discuss security cooperation in the Black Sea region, Zelensky said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. After he arrived in Romania, Zelensky described the NATO and European Union member country as "a friend who came to our help on our darkest day and whose support gets stronger with time."In recent weeks, Russia has carried out sustained attacks on Ukraine's Danube River ports — located just across the river from Romania — as Moscow aims to disrupt Ukraine's ability to export grain to world markets. Romania has confirmed drone fragment findings on its territory, the type used by the Russian army near its border with Ukraine. Ukraine and Romania signed an agreement in August to try and boost Kyiv's grain exports through Romania after Russia withdrew from a wartime agreement a month earlier that ensured safe passage through the Black Sea. Romania's Black Sea port of Constanta has become a key transport route for the war-torn nation's grain amid the war."Ukraine is grateful for Romania's support, which strengthens our state, as well as its constructive solidarity, which enables our nations to be security donors for the world, notably in food security," Zelensky said on Tuesday. Ukraine is a major global supplier of wheat, barley, corn and vegetable oil and has struggled since Russia's invasion to get its food products to parts of the world in need. After Russia blocked the grain's Black Sea passage, that left more expensive overland routes through Europe as the main path for Ukraine's exports. The Ukrainian president's trip to Romania is his first official visit since Russia launched its full-scale invasion last year. In the wake of the invasion, millions of Ukrainian refugees fled to Romania before moving on to other countries.
Around 85,000 Ukrainian refugees are currently registered in Romania, under the EU's temporary protection scheme.

Zelensky at NATO defense ministers meeting seeks more support to fight Russia
Associated Press/October 11, 2023
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived at NATO for Wednesday's meetings with alliance defense ministers to further drum up support for Ukraine's fight against Russia. "It's very important that there are priorities. There are air defense systems. These are not just basic words. These are very concrete things and we need them," Zelensky said on arrival, insisting that long-range missiles were just as essential. He also called for more ammunition, making for the three types of military aid he was looking for. The U.S. is hosting a meeting of the Ukraine contact group to seek more weapons and ammunition for the war-ravaged country. NATO allies and partner countries will be waiting to hear precisely what kinds of military equipment Kyiv needs. Following that meeting, the 31 allies and Ukraine will take part in the first NATO-Ukraine Council at this level. The forum was formally established in July as part of efforts to bring Kyiv closer to the alliance. It allows NATO and Kyiv to discuss issues of common interest and concern. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters traveling with him to Brussels that a number of allies will announce they are sending additional weapons and other support to Kyiv. A key demand has been more air defense systems and munitions. "The energy, in my view, is still there," said Austin. "And I will reassure them that we are we remain committed to this."The meeting comes as Ukraine is desperately seeking more weapons to help its troops regain ground from Russian forces before the muddy weather sets in. But political chaos in Congress and divisions over continued Ukraine funding combined with new pressure to provide U.S. weapons to Israel fuel uncertainty and will likely dominate many of the conversations. According to a U.S. official, the new package of U.S. aid includes AIM-9M missiles for air defense, counter-drone systems, munitions for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), artillery, electronic warfare equipment, demolition munitions, anti-armor systems and more than 16 million rounds of small arms ammunition. The weapons are provided under presidential drawdown authority, so will be taken from Pentagon stocks and delivered quickly to the battlefield. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the aid before the official announcement.

Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 11-12/2023
What Starts in Gaza - and Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Venezuela - Starts in Iran
Pete Hoekstra/Gatestone Institute./October 11, 2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/123072/123072/
There should be little doubt that the war that began when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, actually originated in Iran. The multi-pronged, highly coordinated and murderous attacks could not have happened without Iranian government assistance and approval.
Leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, according to the Wall Street Journal, have acknowledged that the Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been working with Hamas since August in planning these attacks.
The pattern of actions is clear: the Iranian regime, now funded by the Biden administration -- who carefully looked the other way while Iran acquired $60 billion by evading US sanctions, then threw in an additional fungible $6 billion on top of that -- has been, and continues to be, a state actor sponsoring terrorists, terrorist organizations and terrorist attacks.
The Hamas attacks on Israel were sanctioned by Tehran to help fuel tension in the region, probably to disrupt the possibility of an Abraham Accords-style normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Such an agreement would have had a seismic positive impact on the geopolitics of the Middle East. It appears, at least for the moment, any agreement between Israel and the Saudis is tabled. Ironically, after seeing the Israeli Defense Force in action, the Saudis might wish to have Israel as an ally more than ever.
Canceling this transfer makes even more sense in light of the Iranian president bragging that Iran would spend the funds as it saw fit, and not just for humanitarian purposes as the Biden administration disingenuously insists it will. Having a line of credit simply means taking funding already allocated for humanitarian purposes and re-purposing it for terrorism and the nuclear weapons program
Iran, while still advocating "Death to America," is not only exporting its military hardware but also its battle-tested military tactics, techniques and procedures, including to Latin America.
Will the Biden administration really continue to do everything possible -- as it has with inflation, the fentanyl crisis and migrants pouring over America's southern border -- to avoid saying that what everyone can see in plain sight is not so?
There should be little doubt that the war that began when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, actually originated in Iran. The multi-pronged, highly coordinated and murderous attacks could not have happened without Iranian government assistance and approval. Pictured: Iran's "Supreme Leader" Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (right) greets Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on February 12, 2012. (Image source: khamenei.ir/AFP via Getty Images)
There should be little doubt that the war that began when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, actually originated in Iran. The multi-pronged, highly coordinated and murderous attacks could not have happened without Iranian government assistance and approval.
Leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, according to the Wall Street Journal, have acknowledged that the Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been working with Hamas since August in planning these attacks.
Hamas's unprovoked aggression on October 7 follows a pattern of terrorist attacks aided by Iran around the world. In 1983, a suicide bombing at the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon killed 241 American service members. In 1994, Iran was implicated in the bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, Argentina in which 85 people were killed and more than 300 people were wounded. In 2006, the U.S. identified that Iran was arming opposition fighters in Afghanistan, going as far as offering a bounty of $1,000 for every American killed. The Netherlands and Belgium have both arrested and expelled Iranian officials implicated in terrorist plots in their countries.
Iran has instigated scores of attacks on American assets in the Middle East, attempted to assassinate a Saudi diplomat on American soil, and may still be trying to murder Americans who served as officials in the Trump administration.
The pattern of actions is clear: the Iranian regime, now funded by the Biden administration -- who carefully looked the other way while Iran acquired $60 billion by evading US sanctions, then threw in an additional fungible $6 billion on top of that -- has been, and continues to be, a state actor sponsoring terrorists, terrorist organizations and terrorist attacks.
The Hamas attacks on Israel were sanctioned by Tehran to help fuel tension in the region, probably to disrupt the possibility of an Abraham Accords-style normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Such an agreement would have had a seismic positive impact on the geopolitics of the Middle East. It appears, at least for the moment, any agreement between Israel and the Saudis is tabled. Ironically, after seeing the Israeli Defense Force in action, the Saudis might wish to have Israel as an ally more than ever.
The Hamas attack is consistent with Tehran's most recent activity in Europe, where it has become the biggest military sponsor of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In the last 18 months, Iran has provided Russia with hundreds of drones, including suicide, attack, and surveillance drones. Iran also has provided hundreds-of-thousands of artillery shells and at least a million rounds of ammunition. The ties between Russia and Iran are so close that the U.S. has sanctioned dozens of entities and individuals because of these relationships.
Iran also has benefited from its close ties with Russia. Russia reportedly has offered to share critical information on missiles and air defense with Tehran. But perhaps most importantly, Iran has received direct feedback from the battlefields in Ukraine on the most effective ways to employ the weapons systems Iran has provided the Russians to fight in Ukraine. These lessons learned were evidently shared with Hamas as it planned and executed its brutal attack against Israel, including the use of overwhelming rocket attack barrages, drone-dropped munitions, and kamikaze drones. Iran, while still advocating "Death to America," is not only exporting its military hardware but also its battle-tested military tactics, techniques and procedures, including to Latin America.
The question now is how the U.S. and the West will respond to the attack, especially as Israel engages in a military response that might last longer than the unaffected international community thinks. The U.S. has sent its newest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford and its strike group to the eastern Mediterranean along with other ships, aircraft and equipment.
While some nations in the European Union (EU) have suspended assistance to Gaza, the European Commission as a whole could not reach the consensus it needed to act as a bloc. Germany and Austria are among those who have announced a halt to bilateral assistance, while Italy and Luxembourg have indicated they will continue to provide humanitarian aid.
As EU member states collectively and individually debate how much assistance to provide the Palestinians, it will answer in part the question of the West's resolve to confront, contain and defeat the threat posed by Hamas as well as its regime-backers in Tehran. Another answer will come from the U.S. if it decides, as it should, to withhold the planned $6 billion ransom payment the Biden administration planned to make to Tehran as part of a prisoner exchange that included unfreezing Iranian funds and transferring them to Qatar.
Canceling this transfer makes even more sense in light of the Iranian president bragging that Iran would spend the funds as it saw fit, and not just for humanitarian purposes as the Biden administration disingenuously insists it will. Having a line of credit simply means taking funding already allocated for humanitarian purposes and re-purposing it for terrorism and the nuclear weapons program.
Also watching how the West responds will be China, as it continues to bluster about its plans for Taiwan. The West, given its catastrophic abandonment of Afghanistan and its failure to halt Russia's invasion of Ukraine, may no longer be seen as a credible deterrent. A confused or muddled response to the Hamas attack could further the perception that the West does not have the resolve to support its allies and partners in major conflicts.
After almost 45 years of repeated Iranian acts of terrorism, the West hopefully will unite to finally address the danger posed by Iran and its support for terrorists and destabilization around the world. The decisions being made by Western leaders in the coming days will determine whether Iran is held accountable for its state sponsorship of terrorism or whether we risk increased Iranian-backed terror expanding in North America and Europe? Will the Western alliance of freedom-loving countries stand firm against evil or will a lack of resolve and conviction embolden Iran, China, Russia and North Korea. The answer to these questions will determine the safety and security of the West and our allies worldwide in the coming years.
Even Hamas has admitted Iran's involvement. Will the Biden administration really continue to do everything possible -- as it has with inflation, the fentanyl crisis and migrants pouring over America's southern border -- to avoid saying that what everyone can see in plain sight is not so?
Peter Hoekstra is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute. He was US Ambassador to the Netherlands during the Trump administration. He also served 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives representing the Second District of Michigan and served as Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee.
© 2023 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20039/gaza-iran

To Win a War, Fight One
Daniel Greenfield/Gatestone Institute./October 11, 2023
For Israel, winning this war means destroying Hamas, its leaders, its terrorists and its supporters by any means necessary, and securing the territory they operated from so that it cannot be used to stage more attacks. Pictured: IDF soldiers prepare to remove the bodies of four Israeli civilians who were murdered Saturday by Hamas terrorists in Kfar Aza, Israel, on October 10, 2023.
As highly civilized people, we're lost touch with some basic concepts. Like war.
We complain that we never win wars anymore, but that's because we don't fight them. Instead, we have limited interventions against insurgents. We try to stabilize failed states. Sometimes we go in, take out a few terrorists, and then go back home. Veterans, whose wounds are very real, sit around wondering what it was all for. So do the families of the men who died fighting in a war that was never a war.
To win a war, you have to fight one.
If your enemy is fighting a war and you're fighting something less than a war, the enemy will win.
Police actions, nation-building exercises, and the like have vague and poorly defined objectives, while wars have very clear ones.
Wars are either won or lost. That's why modern governments rarely like fighting them.... Once you declare a war, you know you have to win.
We fight things that are not wars to 'stabilize' regions. Wars are not fought for stability, but destruction. To win a war, destroy the enemy. That's what the United States did in WWII, raining mass death and destruction on Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in ways that still make modern liberals cringe.
"The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everyone else, and nobody was going to bomb them," said Arthur Harris, the Royal Air Force chief of Bomber Command, in 1940.
"The harder we push, the more Germans we kill. The more Germans we kill, the fewer of our men will be killed. Pushing harder means fewer casualties. I want you all to remember that," General Geroge Patton told the Third Army.
Franklin D. Roosevelt's obsession with taking the war to Japan led to the Doolittle Raid. One of the bombs from that raid hit a school. "It is quite impossible to bomb a military objective that has civilian residences near it without danger of harming the civilian residences as well. That is a hazard of war," Doolittle had warned.
That is what war is. It's why wars should not be fought lightly. But when you fight them, fight to win.
A just war is based on a fundamental moral clarity about your enemies, not your tactics. War crimes are a meaningless term except when applied to violations of an agreement between the two combatants or civilians that are not a party to the conflict. That is not the case in Gaza. And is rarely the case when fighting Islamic terrorists.
The United States met the Japanese torture, execution, abuse, medical experiments and cannibalism of our troops with increased determination to win at any cost. This was the cost for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These were not war crimes, this was how a regime of monsters that committed unspeakable atrocities was finally forced to surrender.
That is what fighting to win means.
Winning against Hamas does not mean dropping a few bombs on buildings, staging a limited incursion, taking out a few Hamas leaders and then letting Turkey and Egypt negotiate a truce. That's not a war.
Winning means destroying Hamas, its leaders, its terrorists and its supporters by any means necessary, and securing the territory they operated from so that it cannot be used to stage similar attacks.
Can Israel fight and win such a war? Yes, it can. Will it? That's the question.
Israel, like America, has tried not fighting wars. That is what led to the horrors of the High Holy Day attacks. It may want to fight and win a war before it's too late.
*Daniel Greenfield is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. This article previously appeared at the Center's Front Page Magazine.
© 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 Focused on the Wrong Iranian Threat, With Deadly Results
David Schenker/The Washington Institute/October 11/2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/123085/123085/
Although the existential nature of the nuclear threat understandably demanded attention, Hamas and other Iranian proxies have dramatically increased their capabilities in the meantime.
Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel is a watershed moment. Not only did the intelligence failure rival that of 1973, the long-term implications of this bloody assault are as consequential as the 1967 war.
One early take away from this outrage is that Israel’s longstanding strategy of “wars between the wars”—the plan to constrain its Iranian proxy adversaries through limited kinetic action—was insufficient. The other is that the “money for calm” arrangement in Gaza, predicated on the notion that Hamas actually cared about ruling the territory, was flawed. In the aftermath of October 7, Israel’s security paradigm should change.
For more than a decade, Israel’s political and security establishment has been narrowly focused on the threat posed by the Iranian nuclear weapons program. While the IDF periodically targeted Hamas assets and personnel as well as Iranian forward operating positions in Syria, Israel has largely avoided largescale operations against Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah. The reticence to seriously militarily degrade these terrorist organizations was understandable; an Iranian nuclear weapon is an existential threat, while Hezbollah and Hamas were considered a deadly, but tactical challenge.
Since the 2006 war with Hezbollah, Israel has experienced a prolonged period of relative quiet and economic prosperity. While Jerusalem was focused on the priority of Iran’s nuclear program, however, both Hamas and Hezbollah dramatically increased their capabilities. For a time during the Obama Administration, every Israeli official passing through Washington would raise urgent concerns about Hezbollah’s Precision Guided Munitions or PGM program, the effort to upgrade its 150,000-strong missile arsenal from dumb to accurate weapons. More recently, the topic dropped off the bi-lateral agenda. No apparent IDF action has been taken to impede Hezbollah’s progress.
Meanwhile, under Iranian supervision, these organizations increased their cooperation. Hamas can now be firmly counted among Iran’s proxies, actively coordinating with Tehran and Hezbollah. Since August, according to the Wall Street Journal, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Commander Ismail Qaani has been meeting biweekly in Beirut with Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad leadership to plan the October 7 attack. Qaani is now reportedly in Lebanon, helping to orchestrate the Hamas campaign from the front. Given the close ties, it’s difficult to imagine that Hamas did not secure a commitment from Hezbollah to mobilize—much like it did in 2006 after Hamas kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.
Regrettably, the increased capabilities of these terrorist groups coincide with diminished Israeli deterrence. Over the past seven months or so, Palestinian groups fired missiles into Israel from Hezbollah-controlled areas in south Lebanon; Hezbollah launched drones into Israel and shot an anti-tank missile across the frontier; Hezbollah operatives attempted to compromise the border fence; and the group detonated a roadside bomb in the Israeli town of Megiddo, 64 kilometers south of Lebanon. IDF responses to these provocations were, in all cases, proportional. At the same time, these groups see political divisions in Israel related to judicial reform as a sign of weakness.
Rising Palestinian frustration in the West Bank this year, along with support from Tehran has resulted in a spike in terrorism in Israel. Gazans, according to polling, loathe both the authoritarian Hamas regime and Israel. But Hamas’ attack is clearly part of an Iranian strategy to scuttle the potential normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Tehran has condemned the initiative, and less than two weeks ago, the Iranian proxy Houthi militia in Yemen shot missiles into Saudi Arabia, killing several Bahraini troops. That strike, the first in months, was a clear message to Riyadh not to make peace with Israel.
In the coming weeks and months, as Israel mourns the unimaginable loss and contends with the challenge of securing the hostages, Jerusalem will have to craft a new approach to Iran that treats Hamas and PIJ, in addition to Hezbollah, as tools of the Islamic Republic. These proxies, which have limited popularity at home, also demonstrate little regard for the well-being of their countrymen. As a result, Israel’s deterrent strategy, which relies on the threat of bombing Lebanon and Gaza back to the Stone Age—i.e., the “Dayhia doctrine”—needs to be revisited. So too will tactical truces, like Israel has repeatedly pursued in recent years with Hamas.
Notwithstanding the risk of conflagration with Hezbollah and the attendant international approbation vis-a-vis ongoing operations against Hamas, Israel is going to have to be more proactive in its dealings with Iranian proxies on its borders. The campaign in Gaza, after its initial stages, will have to be sustained over time using precision munitions to limit civilian causalities. Jerusalem will also have to consider changing the current guidelines on kinetic military engagements in Lebanese territory.
In just one day, the more than 900 killed in Israel would, in terms proportionate to population, be equivalent to a body count of over 32,000 Americans—which is over 10 times more than were actually killed on 9/11. And remember, that number could keep rising. Regrettably, in the current environment, the standard IDF operating procedure of “mowing the grass” increasingly seems to be kicking the can down the road. On October 7, the proxy problem became strategic for Israel.
*David Schenker is the Taube Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute and director of its Rubin Program on Arab Politics. This article was originally published on the Haaretz website.

Polls Show Majority of Gazans Were Against Breaking Ceasefire; Hamas and Hezbollah Unpopular Among Key Arab Publics
Catherine Cleveland and David Pollock/The Washington Institute/October 11/2023
Recent Washington Institute polls have tracked Gazans’ views on Hamas and the ceasefire with Israel, along with a wider regional decline in popularity for Hamas and Hezbollah.
According to the latest Washington Institute polling, conducted in July 2023, Hamas’s decision to break the ceasefire was not a popular move. While the majority of Gazans (65%) did think it likely that there would be “a large military conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza” this year, a similar percentage (62%) supported Hamas maintaining a ceasefire with Israel. Moreover, half (50%) agreed with the following proposal: “Hamas should stop calling for Israel’s destruction, and instead accept a permanent two-state solution based on the 1967 borders.” Moreover, across the region, Hamas has lost popularity over time among many Arab publics. This decline in popularity may have been one of the motivating factors behind the group’s decision to attack.
In fact, Gazan frustration with Hamas governance is clear; most Gazans expressed a preference for PA administration and security officials over Hamas—the majority of Gazans (70%) supported a proposal of the PA sending “officials and security officers to Gaza to take over the administration there, with Hamas giving up separate armed units,” including 47% who strongly agreed. Nor is this a new view—this proposal has had majority support in Gaza since first polled by The Washington Institute in 2014.
Open imageiconGaza: Support for Hamas
Nevertheless, there is widespread popular appeal for competing armed Palestinian factions, including those involved in the attack. Overall, 57% of Gazans express at least a somewhat positive opinion of Hamas—along with similar percentages of Palestinians in the West Bank (52%) and East Jerusalem (64%)—though this is fewer than those who support Fatah (64%).
But it is organizations like Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Lion’s Den that receive the most widespread popular support in Gaza. About three quarters of Gazans express support for both groups, including 40% who see the Lion’s Den in a “very positive” light, an attitude shared by a similar percentage of West Bank residents. Moreover, when it comes to Iran, which has strongly supported and potentially helped coordinate the attack, about half of Gazans view Tehran as either a “friend of the country” (29%) or security partner (28%), compared to less than a third of West Bankers who would say the same.
Open imageiconGazan views on various Palestinian groups
Hamas Unpopular in Key Arab States
In contrast, the reputation of Hamas among a number of Arab states has been on a much more significant decline—slowly in some cases and more rapidly in others. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia both stand out as countries where support for Hamas has virtually evaporated. When first polled in 2014 (and again in 2017), about half of Emirati citizens (44% and 48%, respectively) expressed positive opinions of Hamas. Yet the percentage of positive responses has dropped in every subsequent year polled. In August 2023, just 17% expressed a positive view. A similar trajectory can be seen in Saudi Arabia, where just 10% expressed a positive view in August—whereas 48% say their opinion is very negative.
In other Arab countries, including Qatar, Bahrain, and Egypt, a more modest ten-point drop in popularity is visible over a shorter period, last polled in late 2020. In this case, Jordan in particular stands out: whereas almost three quarters (72%) expressed a positive attitude toward Hamas in 2014, this percentage had dropped to 44% in November 2020.
Open imageiconShows chart of declining support for Hamas
Hezbollah and Iran Even More Unpopular in Arab States
As another self-styled defender of the Palestinian cause and “axis of resistance” member, Hezbollah is also deeply unpopular in these Arab countries outside of its core followers in Lebanon. This has become all the more so the case over the past several years. Those who express a positive view of the group are in the single digits in Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE as of November 2020. Outside Jordan, at least two thirds in each country say that they have a “very negative opinion” of the group. In Bahrain, positive views are only slightly higher at 17%; and even in Lebanon, approval has been steadily shrinking since 2017—from 50% to 34% when last measured in 2020.
Open imageiconHezbollah chart
Moreover, polls in most of these countries over the past several years demonstrate that only small minorities in most locales believe that good relations with Iran are even “somewhat important” to their country. In the most recent poll in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, for example, just 19% of Saudi citizens voiced that view; among Emirati citizens, the corresponding figure was 17%. As such, while expressions of support for the Palestinian cause are widespread throughout the Arab world, attitudes toward the terrorist groups attempting to claim it are decidedly unpopular in a number of Arab countries.
But Saudis and Emiratis See Israel as Internally Divided
At the same time, majorities in Saudi Arabia and the UAE view Israel as internally weak and divided, a viewpoint that may have impacted Hamas’s calculations as well. When asked in August, 70% of Saudis and 72% of Emiratis agreed at least “somewhat” that “the mass protests by Israelis against the Netanyahu government show that Israel really is a weak and deeply divided country that can be defeated someday.” By comparison, about 17% in either country support the proposition that the protests show Israel as “a strong and resilient country, where different opinions are respected.” Nevertheless, the same Saudi survey revealed that around a third of citizens there wanted business ties with Israel, even without a formal agreement on normalizing ties.
Methodology
This analysis is based on findings from surveys commissioned by The Washington Institute and conducted by PCPO and a highly qualified, experienced, and independent regional commercial survey firm. The survey comprised face-to-face interviews with representative national samples of 1,000 citizens in Arab countries polled and at least 500 each in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, selected according to standard geographic probability procedures. The contractor provided strict quality controls and assurances of confidentiality throughout the fieldwork, coding, and data processing. Additional methodological details, including full questionnaire, marginal results, and demographic breaks, are readily available upon request.

16 Years Later, Israel is Paying the Price of the 2007 Gaza Conflict
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al Awsat/October 11/2023
In 2007, Israelis were scornfully gloating about the infighting between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip. Hundreds were killed during those three months of fratricidal conflict. Hamas took control of the entire strip and expelled Fatah leaders to Ramallah. Israeli media had a field day with pictures of Fatah members fleeing to the West Bank, donning nothing but their underwear.
Israel was on cloud nine. The Palestinians were busy killing each other, and instead of “Palestine versus Israel,” the equation was “Palestine versus Palestine.”
The Palestinian national unity government collapsed. Hamas appointed its own judges and police force and named Ismail Haniyeh as prime minister, while the Palestinian Authority named Salam Fayyad as PM in Ramallah. The Arab League and European Union backed Ramallah, while Iran funded Hamas in Gaza, enshrining the divide and dissipating the dream of a Palestinian state.
Palestinians were condemned to a life of misery. Borders were closed and livelihoods were disrupted. Tunnels were dug, and Iran cemented its presence in the strip, fostering and equipping proxy groups to serve its interests.
The Hamas authority was there, but the vacuum remained, indirectly fostered by Israel, which did not enable the legitimate authority to return to Gaza and establish its power. Yet this should come as no surprise. Five years before Hamas’ takeover of the strip, Israel had destroyed the capacities of the nascent authority in Bethlehem and Ramallah instead of enabling it.
Since 2007, Gaza has been living in a vacuum, except for a military organization that competes with and does not recognize the Islamic Jihad. As in Libya, Yemen, Lebanon, or even Afghanistan, this vacuum is the archenemy of stability, for it threatens the whole region, not only Gaza or Israel.
Some of those who carried out armed attacks against Egypt in recent years infiltrated Sinai from Gaza. Hamas no longer held the reins after the rise of the Islamic Jihad and al-Qaeda groups.
If Israel wants stability, it will need to take a long, hard look at its policies, which have failed to uphold the Oslo Accords. It must also reconsider how it deals with the Palestinian Authority. Without a legitimate Palestinian government armed with real authority and international support, peace and stability will remain a far-fetched dream.
Currently, all eyes are turned to Hamas and Israel, while the Palestinian Authority stands by idly. But in fact, the disruption and weakening of the Ramallah government contributed to the growing influence of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad in Gaza, and even in the West Bank.
Since the divide, the capabilities and power of the Ramallah authority have only waned. The noose around the Palestinian Authority’s neck kept tightening to prevent it from establishing a state and limit its authority to a mere 1,000 square kilometers, a significant cutback from the 5,000 square kilometers agreed in the Oslo Accords – not to mention the Gaza Strip, which is also not under its control.
A weak Palestinian Authority cannot be expected to enforce its power and shoulder its responsibilities as it should. Israel’s safety is contingent on the security of Palestinian regions, as in all states around the world. As such, Israel must allow Palestinians to run their own regions, and this requires supporting the Palestinian Authority and building its capacities over many years.
Israel cannot take a page out of Bashar al-Assad’s book and send two and a half million Palestinians to its only neighbor, Egypt.
Nor can it bear to block off the Gaza Strip any longer and leave it under the authority of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.

Warning of Changing Maps
Tariq Al-Homayed/Asharq Al Awsat/October 11/2023
Amid unprecedented international support for Israel after the Al-Aqsa Flood operation, and a quintet of leaders from the United States, France, Germany, Italy, and Britain pledging to support “Israel’s ability to defend itself,” and affirming their “steadfast and united” backing for Israel, there must be extreme caution.What is certain is that we are witnessing a situation similar to post-September 11 in the United States. But this time, it’s in Israel, where the strategic rule is madness, and where there is no place for the voice of reason. Things are going according to what George W. Bush said at the time: “Either with me or against me.”
Therefore, we must warn against changing the maps and returning to ground zero, and later negotiating on what was in our hands physically and geographically. The fear today is that Israel is seeking to conduct a ground operation in Gaza. This is not a fear for Hamas, but rather for the cause.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, the growing consensus in Israel, including much of the opposition, is that unlike previous incursions, the current operation cannot end with a ceasefire that leaves Hamas in power in the Gaza Strip.
“There will be a strong temptation to conquer all of Gaza, root out Hamas... Islamic Jihad’s tens of thousands of rockets and even topple Hamas,” wrote Chuck Freilich, former Israeli deputy national security adviser, in Haaretz, adding: “The cost of doing so will be heavy, but the cost of not doing so even heavier. Iran, Hezbollah and others will be watching Israel’s response intently, weighing whether it justifies their joining the fray at this time,” or, on the contrary, constitutes a source of deterrence.
What we must remember is that Israel has always boasted about its ability to deter, and what is certain today is that it will seek to confirm this ability following Al-Aqsa Flood operation – a fact that Hamas and the factions did not realize, not only in this battle, but in all the senseless wars that amount to approximately seven or more.
Hamas and the factions have a habit of starting wars without thinking about the next day. Former US President Lyndon Johnson is credited with saying: “Never tell a man to go to hell unless you can send him there.” This is what Hamas did not understand with all its absurd wars.
The Egyptians are right as they warn of “the dangers of the repercussions of the current crisis on the constants of the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian right,” and that some parties serve “the occupation plan and provide it with fait accompli justifications to endorse historically and politically corrupt propositions.”
The reason for the Egyptian warning is the calls for the mass exodus of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Egyptian territory, which means a change in the maps and the reality on the ground. These fears are also justified if the Lebanon front explodes, especially with Netanyahu’s pledge that the repercussions of this battle will last for generations to come.
What is happening is dangerous, and may change the maps and reality on the ground. It may bring us back to negotiating what we had geographically, and is more dangerous than what “some” Arabs are preoccupied with, especially “some” academic theorists and emotional intellectuals, who have proven that in the school of the mind, in every crisis, not many succeeded!

Gaza… An Israeli Hiroshima?
Bakir Oweida/Asharq Al Awsat/October 11/2023
The Israeli army, given its war machine's extraordinary destructive capacities, can crush the Gaza Strip in its entirety. If the Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu wants, he could fulfill the hope once publicly voiced by his late rival, Israeli Labor Party leader Yitzhak Rabin, to wake up one day and find that the sea had swallowed Gaza and everyone in it.
Netanyahu, who had ripped Israeli domestic politics apart by launching a battle with the Israeli judiciary, has the power to turn Gaza into Israel's Hiroshima. He could be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize afterward, and he could even win it. That would come as no surprise. Indeed, on several occasions – to avoid absolute generalization – this prize was politicized for all to see.
However, assuming all of this actually happens despite the speculation about hypotheticals it involves, it would not erase the shameful stain on the myth of Israeli security, nor would it change anything about the impact of what happened on the seventh of October, 50 years and one day to when Egypt crossed into Sinai and Syria launched its assault. Israel and all its allies were gripped by the same sense of shock that they felt after the unexpected “incursion” by Hamas and other factions.
We ask ourselves: has all the pain inflicted upon these two peoples been inevitable? The straightforward answer is: No, it is not at all necessary. This question then leads us to another: Could both sides have been spared the pain they have both endured? Yes, absolutely. This is also a short answer that avoids circumvention and beating around a matter as clear as the midday sun.
However, this hasn't been the case since the wars of the time of Judea and Samaria in ancient Israel. Some they fought against one another, and others they waged against the ancient Palestinians. That is, we did see peace thousands of years ago, nor have we seen it since the State of Israel was built over most of historic Palestine 75 years ago.
However, it is probably better to avoid drowning in the depths of a distant past and remain focused on the present and the events unfolding before our eyes. Can we find a convincing answer to the question: Why all this pain?
As we go through history in search of an answer to this question, we must begin with the role of the British. Going through Britain's involvement in various phases of the Arab region’s history before the emergence of Israel as a state, it is easy to pinpoint why British governments, since the early 19th century, share the lion's share of responsibility for everything that eventually transpired in Palestine: from the Balfour Declaration on November 2, 1917, through to opening the doors to Jewish migration to Palestine, up to the end of the British Mandate on April 29, 1948, weeks before the establishment of Israel.
Before London stuck its nose in Palestinian affairs, followers of all religions in Palestine coexisted in peace. London's alliance with the founders of the Zionist movement, who laid the groundwork for the trajectory that would eventually unfold, played a direct role in undermining this coexistence and paved the way for the establishment of Zionist terrorist organizations that even targeted British soldiers themselves.
Given this context, it could be said that Britain's abdication of its responsibilities as an occupying power in Palestine will always mean that it is largely responsible for the subsequent developments.
Some may argue that all this has no direct bearing on the course of events that have been seen since last Saturday. Yes, that is true. However, remembering the past allows for understanding the present, in the hope that this could be of some use.
In any case, the most important question now is: Where will this violent course of events lead? Certainly, to more destruction. That is clear and obvious. What we do not know about are the clandestine understandings that may have been agreed upon before the "Al-Aqsa Storm" that engulfed the Gaza and shocked us all.