Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 18-19/2023
US Embassy in Beirut: Department of State urges nationals against travel to Lebanon
Saudi Embassy Urges Immediate Departure of Citizens from Lebanon Amid Regional Tensions
France warns against Lebanon travel
Tenenti: UNIFIL peacekeepers remain in their positions and on task
Protests Erupt near US Embassy in Awkar Against Israeli Attacks on Al-Maamadani Hospital in Gaza
Lebanon’s Hezbollah says two members killed on Wednesday
Lebanese protesters direct anger at US embassy over Gaza hospital blast
Israel shells south Lebanon areas after fresh Hezbollah attack
Hezbollah hits Israeli tank, 'inflicting casualties'
Red Cross transfers bodies of 4 Hezbollah fighters killed in border clashes
Day of rage and mourning in Lebanon after Gaza hospital massacre
Don't warn us, beware of us,' Saffieddine tells Israel, US, Europe
France, US warn against Lebanon travel, joining Western states
No safe place in Gaza: Jumblat urges ceasefire instead of more US weapons
Saudi FM discusses military escalation in Gaza with Iranian, Lebanese counterparts
Bou Habib from Jeddah: Continuation of aggression on Gaza could ignite fires that may engulf entire region
Mikati participates in solidarity stand denouncing Israeli massacre at Gaza Hospital
Bou Habib meets Saudi and Iranian counterparts
Lebanon's Hezbollah says it is stronger than before as border clashes rage
For Hezbollah and Israel, the Stakes in Any Broader War Are High/Ben Hubbard and Aaron Boxerman/The New York Times/October 18, 2023

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 18-19/2023
Link For A Video Round Table Discussion from Washington Institute addressing The Israel-Hamas War and U.S. Policy:/Participants: David Makovsky, Zohar Palti, Grant Rumley, Neomi Neumann, Ghaith al-Omari
Biden says Israel agreed to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza
Israel-Hamas war live updates: Biden visits Israel and suggests Gaza hospital explosion 'done by the other team'
Biden from Israel blames Palestinians for deadly hospital bombing
Three clues the Ahli Arab Hospital strike came from Gaza
Israel blames Islamic Jihad for Gaza hospital blast that killed nearly 500
US vetoes UN resolution condemning Hamas' attacks on Israel and all violence against civilians
Biden pledges solidarity with Israelis and suggests 'other team' to blame for Gaza hospital blast
Egypt rejects displacement of Palestinians into Sinai, says Sisi
Ex-Treasury Secretary Lew, Biden's pick to be US envoy to Israel, faces Senate confirmation hearing
Gaza's doctors struggle to save survivors as Middle East rage grows
Riyadh meeting aims to boost GCC-ASEAN strategic cooperation before Friday’s summit
Sisi suggests that Israel move Gazans to Negev, not Sinai
Iran looms over confirmation of U.S. ambassador to Israel
Drone attack on US troops intercepted in Iraq, heightening fears of regional flare-up
US targets Iran missile, drone programs as UN measures lapse
Russia says it has a 'glaring issue:' More than half of its wounded soldiers are amputees

Titles For The Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 18-19/2023
Biden enriched Iran by more than $50 billion. Here’s how to turn off the spigot/Rep. Darrell Issa and Richard Goldberg/Fox News/October 18/2023
Israel war: Why wouldn’t Egypt want Gazan refugees?/Haisam Hassanein/Washington Examiner/October 18/2023
Islam or Israel: Which Normalizes the Killing of Women and Children?/Raymond Ibrahim/October 18/2023
The Israel-Hamas war is the latest proof Russia is a global agent of chaos/Aleksandar Đokić, Political scientist and analyst/Euronews/October 18, 2023
Hamas Is Known To Use Hospitals, Ambulances, Mosques, Churches And Schools As Shields For Its Military Activity/MEMRI/October 18, 2023
Saudi Journalists Slam Hamas: It Commits Atrocities, Brings Disaster Upon Palestinians To Serve Iran And Thwart Peace/MEMRI/October 18, 2023
Hamas: Genocidal Hatred and Jihad against All 'Unbelievers'/Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute./October 18, 2023

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 18-19/2023
US Embassy in Beirut: Department of State urges nationals against travel to Lebanon
NNA/October 18, 2023
The US Embassy in Beirut on Wednesday issued the following security alert: “The Department of State urges U.S. citizens not to travel to Lebanon. We recommend that U.S. citizens in Lebanon make appropriate arrangements to leave the country; commercial options currently remain available. We recommend that U.S. citizens who choose not to depart prepare contingency plans for emergency situations.”

Saudi Embassy Urges Immediate Departure of Citizens from Lebanon Amid Regional Tensions
LBCI/October 18, 2023
The Saudi Arabian Embassy in Lebanon called on Wednesday all its citizens to adhere to the travel ban and leave Lebanese territories immediately for those currently present in Lebanon. This comes after monitoring the ongoing developments in the southern region of Lebanon.

France warns against Lebanon travel
NNA/October 18, 2023
France on Wednesday warned its citizens against travelling to Lebanon, citing security reasons. "Given the security tension in the region, especially on the Lebanese southern border, French citizens planning to travel to Lebanon are not advised to do so," the French Foreign Ministry said. It also asked the French nationals currently in Lebanon to avoid the rallies that would take place in various neighborhoods in Beirut.

Tenenti: UNIFIL peacekeepers remain in their positions and on task
NNA/October 18, 2023
UNIFIL Spokesperson, Andrea Tenenti, delivered the following statement on Wednesday: “UNIFIL peacekeepers remain in their positions and on task. Our work continues, including regular activities like rotation of troops in and out of Lebanon. We have no plans to leave and we are doing our utmost 24/7 to defuse tension and prevent further deterioration of the situation.”

Protests Erupt near US Embassy in Awkar Against Israeli Attacks on Al-Maamadani Hospital in Gaza
LBCI/October 18, 2023
The vicinity of the US Embassy in Awkar witnessed on Wednesday angry protests condemning the Israeli shelling of Al-Maamadani Hospital in the heart of Gaza. Security forces deployed tear gas to disperse the protesters. Demonstrators attempted to breach the iron barrier around the embassy. Later on, the Lebanese army intervened, successfully removing the protesters from the embassy's entrance, leaving the Awkar area free of demonstrators.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah says two members killed on Wednesday
Reuters/October 18, 2023
Lebanon’s Hezbollah said on Wednesday that two of its members were killed in southern Lebanon while “they were engaging in fighting,” the group’s Telegram channel said.

Lebanese protesters direct anger at US embassy over Gaza hospital blast
Arab News/October 18, 2023
BEIRUT: Lebanese protestors and Palestinian refugees have taken to the streets throughout Lebanon to express their anger after the blast at Al-Ahli Al-Arabi Hospital in the Gaza Strip. Amid national mourning, flags were raised at half-mast over official administrations and institutions, and educational and trade union institutions were closed. Palestinian refugees, in demonstrations that swept through the camps, repeated chants demanding that they be armed and sent to Gaza. Some demonstrations targeted UN House in Beirut and the US embassy in the Awkar area, while the southern suburb of Beirut witnessed a Hezbollah demonstration. Medical teams in Lebanese hospitals observed a minute’s silence in front of hospital entrances in a gesture of solidarity. Protesters near the US embassy denounced US President Joe Biden. A violent confrontation ensued between the protesters and riot police and Lebanese army units. Tear bombs and water cannons were used to disperse the protesters who tried to penetrate the barbed wire fence, throwing stones at the security forces.A similar demonstration took place on Tuesday night near the embassy, during which violence erupted and shops in the area were destroyed. Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati participated in a sit-in in solidarity (with the Palestinians) outside the Ministry of Health headquarters. Mikati said: “Today we have become subject to the law of the jungle; the strong devour the weak, and the international community stands with the executioner.”
Mikati said that “human values are being violated in Gaza, and justice is being struck at the core” and asked: “Where does the UN stand regarding what is happening? What about the Security Council? The UN Charter?”
Head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council Hashim Safi Al-Din spoke to demonstrators in the southern suburb of Beirut. “We say to US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the project to displace the people of Gaza will not pass,” he said. “You must beware of us, as the mistake you may make with our resistance will be answered resoundingly. Today we are thousands of times stronger, and be careful not to make any mistakes.”The demonstrators in the Lebanese regions, including women dressed in black, raised Palestinian flags and chanted slogans against Israel and the US, denouncing what they considered “double standards” in dealing with the attack. The events in Beirut and other regions were accompanied by strict security measures adopted by the Lebanese army. Mufti of Baalbek-Hermel Governorate Sheikh Bakr Rifai told protesters in Baalbek: “The reaction of the free world is what encouraged the Israeli enemy to continue its aggression and assault on innocent people. It is escaping forward by committing massacre after massacre.”
The city of Sidon and its camps witnessed marches in which participants raised Palestinian flags and repeated chants denouncing the attack. The popular movements extended to Tripoli and the Beddawi Palestinian refugee camp with marches in vehicles and on foot, in support of Palestine and in solidarity with the victims in Gaza.After news and pictures of the Baptist Hospital massacre circulated, hundreds of citizens on Tuesday night in Beirut and other regions took to the streets to express their anger. Protesters smashed the iron barriers that were placed around UN House. They wrote slogans in red paint on the walls surrounding the headquarters. In the wake of the demonstrations inside Lebanon, Hezbollah targeted an Israeli army Merkava tank at the Al-Raheb site on the southern border, “killing and injuring soldiers on board,” the party reported.
The forested area on the outskirts of the town of Alma Al-Shaab was subjected to Israeli bombing while Israeli warplanes flew over the border areas.
UNIFIL official spokesman, Andrea Tenenti, confirmed that “UNIFIL peacekeepers remain in their positions and on task. We have no plans to leave and we are doing our utmost 24/7 to defuse tension and prevent further deterioration of the situation.”
Hezbollah mourned five of its members, bringing the number killed during the confrontations in the south to 10 since the start of the border escalation. The US embassy in Lebanon recommended that “US citizens make appropriate arrangements to leave the country.”The French embassy in Lebanon advised its nationals against “traveling to and staying in Lebanon, except for urgent reasons.”

Israel shells south Lebanon areas after fresh Hezbollah attack
Naharnet/October 18, 2023
A fresh exchange of gunfire erupted Wednesday afternoon between Israel and Hezbollah on the Lebanese-Israeli border. “Hezbollah is targeting Israeli surveillance infrastructure on the border with Lebanon,” Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV reported, adding that guided missiles were also fired at the Ras al-Naqoura and Jal al-Alam Israeli military posts. Al-Jazeera television meanwhile said that Israeli shelling was targeting the area around Aita al-Shaab in south Lebanon. A Lebanese farmer was meanwhile wounded by Israeli gunfire in the outskirts of the Lebanese border town of Aitaroun, al-Manar had earlier reported. Hezbollah had earlier claimed a dawn attack on an Israeli military post. Moreover, Hezbollah announced the death of another one of its members in the confrontations that have been raging for days on Lebanon’s border. The clashes had started a day after the eruption of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7.

Hezbollah hits Israeli tank, 'inflicting casualties'
Associated Press/October 18, 2023
Hezbollah said wednesday its fighters have hit an Israeli Merkava tank with an anti-tank missile, inflicting casualties among the troops. The group said the attack early Wednesday targeted an Israeli army position across the border from the Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab. The Israeli army said it is checking reports that an anti-tank missile was fired from Lebanon. On Tuesday, Hezbollah said five of its fighters have been killed in south Lebanon, bringing to ten the number of its members killed in intensifying border skirmishes with Israel.
Later on Tuesday, the group called for a "day of rage" Wednesday to condemn a strike on a Gaza Strip hospital, blaming Israel for what it called a "massacre". The strike has killed at least 500 people, provoking outrage and condemnation from around the world, with protests on the streets of Amman, Tunis, Beirut and Tehran.

Red Cross transfers bodies of 4 Hezbollah fighters killed in border clashes
Associated Press/October 18, 2023
A Hezbollah spokesperson said Wednesday the Lebanese Red Cross has collected the remains of four of the group’s militants. An AP photojournalist saw three body bags and a bag of remains transferred from the Lebanese Red Cross to Hezbollah’s Islamic Health Unit at Hiram Hospital, which is near southern Lebanon’s city of Tyre. The Hezbollah spokesperson said the bodies belonged to militants who were pronounced dead Tuesday. He did not provide details of how they died. The Lebanese Red Cross had said it was on its way to Lebanon's tense southern border with Israel to collect the bodies. The Israeli military said Tuesday that its forces killed four militants who were allegedly carrying an explosive device and suspected of attempting a cross-border operation.

Day of rage and mourning in Lebanon after Gaza hospital massacre
Associated Press/October 18, 2023
Security forces fired Wednesday tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters who rallied outside the U.S. embassy in the Beirut suburb of Awkar to condemn an Israeli strike on a Gaza hospital. Protestors hurled stones, many of them wearing Palestinian keffiyeh scarves and raising the Palestinian flag. Local media outlets reported cases of suffocation, amid heavy tear gas fire that made it difficult for medics to help the suffocating protesters. Army troops later advanced towards the protesters and managed to disperse them after firing rubber bullets and beating up some of them. Al-Manar television said several protesters were injured by tear gas and batons. Hezbollah had called for a "day of rage" to condemn the strike on Gaza's Al-Ahli hospital, blaming Israel for what it called a "massacre" and a "brutal crime". "Let tomorrow, Wednesday, be a day of rage against the enemy," Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, said in a statement, calling on fellow Muslims and Arabs to "move immediately to streets and squares to express intense anger".Hezbollah's call came as hundreds of demonstrators scuffled with Lebanese security forces outside the U.S. embassy, where protesters chanted "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" , many of them covering their faces with Palestinian keffiyeh scarves. Stones were hurled and a building was set on fire. Police fired several rounds of tear gas to disperse protesters, with medics rushing in to treat cases of suffocation. The U.S. State Department authorized the departure of "some non-emergency" personnel from the Beirut embassy, citing the "unpredictable security situation". Other Lebanese parties, including the Lebanese Forces, the Kataeb party, the Free Patriotic Movement, the Progressive Socialist Party and Amal have also condemned the bombing. The massive strike Tuesday night on Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City killed at least 500 people, after intensifying bombardments near towns in southern Gaza rattled civilians where Israel had ordered them to take refuge. Across the region, the response was quick and furious as protesters tried to storm the Israeli embassy in Jordan, a country home to millions of Palestinian refugees. Hundreds also gathered Tuesday at the French embassy in Beirut, raising Hezbollah flags and hurling stones which piled up at the embassy's main entrance. Palestinian refugee camps in the southern cities of Sidon and Tyre erupted in anger as Palestinian factions in Lebanon called for mass rallies on Wednesday to condemn the hospital strike. On wednesday, protestors rallied in Tripoli, Beqaa, Sidon city, and outside the ESCWA's headquarters in Beirut to condemn the Israeli deadly strike on the hospital, while Hezbollah called for two protests in Baalbek and Haret Hreik in the southern suburb of Beirut. Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati declared Wednesday a national day of mourning.

Don't warn us, beware of us,' Saffieddine tells Israel, US, Europe
Naharnet/October 18, 2023
Hezbollah Executive Council head Sayyed Hashem Safieddine on Wednesday expressed strong condemnation and outrage over Tuesday’s massacre at a Gaza hospital, blaming the U.S. and the West for “spilling the blood of the peoples.”
“The bombardment that targeted the hospital yesterday confirms that the attack was premeditated,” Safieddine told a Hezbollah rally in Beirut’s southern suburbs that was organized to condemn the hospital carnage. “This era is not like the past, it is rather the era of resistance, peoples, the Palestinian resistance factions and the resistance forces in the region,” the Hezbollah official added, noting that his party has information that “Israel with its entire military and security leadership is confused, weak and scared” and that “the Americans came to calm its fear.”“We tell U.S President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the scheme of displacing Gaza’s residents shall not pass,” Safieddine warned. Addressing Netanyahu, Biden and the Europeans, the Hezbollah official said: “If you are warning us, our answer is that you should beware us, seeing as any mistake that you commit against our resistance will be met with a resounding and loud response.” “You once came to Lebanon with your fleets and our decision was confrontation, and when we confronted you, you ran away from Lebanon like mice. We are still a present and strong resistance, today we are thousands-fold stronger and don’t you dare make a mistake,” Safieddine added.

France, US warn against Lebanon travel, joining Western states
Associated Press/October 18, 2023
The State Department has raised the travel advisory for Lebanon, urging people not to travel to the country “due to the unpredictable security situation related to rocket, missile, and artillery exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah or other armed militant factions.”The advisory issued on Tuesday also urged people to reconsider travel to Lebanon “due to terrorism, civil unrest, armed conflict, crime, kidnapping” and the U.S. Embassy in Beirut’s limited capacity to provide support to U.S. citizens. The State Department authorized the voluntary, temporary departure of family members of U.S. government personnel and some non-emergency personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Beirut due to the unpredictable security situation in Lebanon. The advisory was hiked to Level 4, “Do not travel” — the highest level — from Level 3, “Reconsider travel.”The United States also authorized non-essential personnel and their families to leave their embassy near Beirut, citing the unpredictable security situation in Lebanon due to the Israel-Hamas war. Hundreds of demonstrators scuffled Tuesday night with Lebanese security forces outside the U.S. embassy in the Beirut suburb of Awkar, where protesters chanted "Death to America" and "Death to Israel," following a strike on a Gaza Strip hospital, that killed at least 500 people, provoking outrage and condemnation from around the world, with protests on the streets of Amman, Tunis, Beirut and Tehran. France has also urged its citizens to avoid travel to Lebanon, while several Western airlines have suspended flights. "Given security tensions in the region and particularly on Lebanon's southern border, French travellers planning a trip to Lebanon are not advised to go there," the French foreign ministry said in a statement on its website. Britain's foreign office has told its nationals in Lebanon to "consider whether you need to remain and, if not, leave by commercial means while they are still available." Canada, Spain, Germany and Australia have also issued travel warnings. Swiss International Air Lines said Monday it was suspending flights between Switzerland and Beirut initially until October 28 due to unrest on the border. Germany's Lufthansa has suspended flights until October 22, the airline's website says. Middle East Airlines, Lebanon's national carrier, relocated five of its 24 planes to the Istanbul airport as a temporary "pre-emptive step" in light of regional developments, it said Monday.

No safe place in Gaza: Jumblat urges ceasefire instead of more US weapons
Associated Press/October 18, 2023
Fromer Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has blamed the U.S. for sending weapons and equipment to Israel. "Can’t you propose a ceasefire instead of bringing more troops and equipment?" Jumblat asked U.S. President Joe Biden who arrived Wednesday in Tel Aviv on a solidarity visit, on the X platform. Within hours of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, the U.S. began moving warships and aircraft to the region to be ready to provide Israel with whatever it needed to respond. On Tuesday, more ships and forces were heading toward Israel, and other troops in the U.S. were preparing to deploy if called on. Jumblat asked where the people of Gaza should go with no more homes left in the enclave. Even the "safe zones" of Gaza aren't safe for Palestinians. Intense Israeli strikes Tuesday destroyed homes, hit a U.N. school sheltering the displaced and killed dozens of people in south and central Gaza.
Israel had told Palestinians over the weekend to evacuate northern Gaza and Gaza City in advance of an expected ground invasion of the territory following an attack by Hamas militants last week that reportedly killed 1,400 Israelis. An estimated 600,000 people complied, packing what belongings they could and rushing to the south, where they squeezed into overcrowded U.N. shelters, hospitals, and homes in the approximately 14-kilometer long area south of the evacuation zone. But Israel bombed areas of southern Gaza where it had told Palestinians to flee to, killing dozens of people. On Tuesday, Israel bombed a Gaza hospital compound, killing at least 500 people. The strike provoked outrage and condemnation from around the world, with protests on the streets of Amman, Tunis, Beirut and Tehran. Israel denied it had bombed the hospital. In a separate X post, Jumblat called for the opening of the Rafah border crossing. "Better to have a United Nation resolution for a ceasefire to stop the destruction of Gaza which will lead to total chaos in the region," Jumblat said, calling on U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to open the Rafah crossing without preconditions.
The U.N. Security Council had rejected a Russian resolution Monday night that condemned violence and terrorism against civilians but made no mention of Hamas. Only four countries joined Russia in voting for the resolution — China, United Arab Emirates, Mozambique and Gabon. Four countries voted against it — the United States, Britain, France and Japan. The other six countries abstained. Adoption needs a minimum of nine "yes" votes in the 15-member council. Pressure had mounted for aid to be allowed in through Egypt's Rafah crossing with Gaza, the only access to the besieged territory not controlled by Israel. Egypt said it "did not close" the crossing, but that "developments on the ground and the repeated bombings by Israel of the Palestinian side of the crossing have prevented its operation". Hundreds of lorries carrying aid have been waiting for six days on the Egyptian side of the crossing, which Israeli aircraft has bombed four times.

Saudi FM discusses military escalation in Gaza with Iranian, Lebanese counterparts
Arab News/October 18, 2023
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan discussed the current military escalation in Gaza and its surroundings with his Iranian counterpart in Jeddah on Wednesday. In a meeting with Hossein Amirabdollahian on the sidelines of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s emergency session on the situation in Gaza, Prince Faisal said the Kingdom is making efforts to communicate with all international and regional parties to stop the ongoing escalation. He also stressed the Kingdom’s position of rejecting the targeting of civilians.The foreign minister reaffirmed that Saudi Arabia remains steadfast in its commitment to the Palestinian cause and supporting efforts aimed at achieving a comprehensive peace plan that guarantees the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. Prince Faisal met with Lebanese and Turkish counterparts Abdallah Bou Habib and Hakan Fidan on Wednesday and they also discussed the military escalation in Gaza.

Bou Habib from Jeddah: Continuation of aggression on Gaza could ignite fires that may engulf entire region
LBCI/October 18, 2023
Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdallah Bou Habib emphasized that today, the international community has a major responsibility to end double standards and blind support for the occupier. Bou Habib, participating in the exceptional ministerial meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Jeddah, considered the imposed blockade on Gaza, affecting more than two million Palestinians, a blatant crime against humanity. He affirmed that "Lebanon, this peace-loving country, issues a loud warning today: the continuation of aggression on Gaza could ignite fires that may engulf the entire region."
This as Bou Habib has conducted earlier a series of consultative consultations and meetings with foreign ministers of Palestine, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Pakistan, and Indonesia.

Mikati participates in solidarity stand denouncing Israeli massacre at Gaza Hospital
LBCI/October 18, 2023
The Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati participated in a solidarity gathering on Wednesday in front of the Ministry of Health to express condemnation and disapproval of the Israeli massacre at the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza on Tuesday, which resulted in hundreds of martyrs and wounded.

Bou Habib meets Saudi and Iranian counterparts
LBCI/October 18, 2023
After meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdallah Bou Habib affirmed that Lebanon "relies on the pivotal role of the Kingdom to restore balance to the Middle East."
On another note, after he met with his Iranian counterpart Hussein Amir Abdollahian, Bou Habib expressed "concern about the absence of serious Western diplomatic pressure on Israel to stop the escalation.

Lebanon's Hezbollah says it is stronger than before as border clashes rage
BEIRUT (Reuters) /Wed, October 18, 2023
Lebanon's Hezbollah warned its adversaries on Wednesday it was "thousands of times stronger" than before, as its fighters exchanged fire at the border with Israeli forces in violence fuelled by the war between Hamas and Israel. The United States has warned Iran, which backs Hezbollah and the Palestinian group Hamas, against getting involved in the crisis, and deployed two aircraft carriers which it says aim to deter any state or non-state actor seeking to escalate the war. Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, in a speech to thousands of supporters, said U.S. President Joe Biden, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and "malicious Europeans" should be careful. "The response to the mistake you might make with our resistance will be resounding," he said. "Because what we have is faith, and God is stronger than you, all your battleships, and all your weapons," he said, speaking at a rally called in response to a strike that killed hundreds of people at a Gaza hospital. Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire at the frontier on an almost daily since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel responded with fierce air strikes on Gaza. Hezbollah said it had attacked five locations on Wednesday including an Israeli barracks in Zar'it and a position across the border from Lebanon's Ras Naqoura area, using guided missiles in several of the strikes. The Israeli army said it was responding to shots fired at its military posts in the area of Zar'it, and also responding after militants fired anti-tank missiles towards Israel's Kibbutz Manara and Rosh HaNikra near the border. The army said it would "continue to strike terror targets belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization". The fighting has been the deadliest at the border since Hezbollah and Israel went to war in 2006. Hezbollah announced on Wednesday a fighter had died of wounds sustained on Tuesday, increasing to six the number of its fighters killed in Tuesday's violence. Sources said last week Hezbollah's attacks so far had been contained, avoiding a major war. Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassem said on Oct. 13 the group would act when the time comes. Israel's defence minister said on Oct. 15 that Israel had no interest in waging war on its northern front, and that if Hezbollah restrained itself then Israel would also keep the situation along the border as it is.

For Hezbollah and Israel, the Stakes in Any Broader War Are High
Ben Hubbard and Aaron Boxerman/The New York Times/October 18, 2023
BEIRUT — The sounds of battle echo on both sides of Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. Sirens blare in Israeli towns, warning of incoming rockets fired by Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group. Lebanese civilians have fled their villages, fearing Israeli shelling and the possibility of a new war.
Since Hamas launched its deadly attack in southern Israel, tensions have surged along Israel’s northern border, increasing fears of a new conflagration between Israel and Hamas’ Iranian-backed ally Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon.
Such a war poses great risks to everyone involved, experts say. Israel, which appears poised to launch a ground invasion in the Gaza Strip, could struggle to fight on two fronts and defend itself against Hezbollah’s skilled guerrillas. Lebanon, already reeling from a deep economic crisis, could face intense Israeli airstrikes that destroy infrastructure and could kill large numbers of people.
The potential for international involvement raises the stakes even further. The United States has dispatched two aircraft carriers to the Mediterranean in support of Israel that could strike targets on land. And other groups in the so-called axis of resistance, the network of Iranian-backed forces across the Middle East, could be drawn into a new war.
“The calculations in great wars are not calculations about states,” Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, Lebanon’s former security chief, said in an interview Monday. “This is a war of existence: Either Israel remains, or this axis remains.”
Leaders on both sides of the divide have issued stark warnings, emphasizing the stakes.
On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel told Hezbollah not to get involved. “I have a message for Iran and Hezbollah: Don’t test us in the north,” he told Israeli lawmakers. “Don’t repeat the same mistake, because today, the price you’ll pay will be much heavier.”
Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, warned in an interview on Iranian state television late Monday that Iran’s allied regional militias could attack Israel if it continued its attacks on Gaza.
“Time is running out very fast,” he said. “If the war crimes against the Palestinians are not immediately stopped, other multiple fronts will open, and this is inevitable.”
One motivation for the Biden administration’s bringing the aircraft carriers closer to Israel is to try to persuade Hezbollah to stay out of the fighting to avoid any possible intervention by the United States.
Changes in the Middle East in recent years have made it more likely that violence in one place could ignite violence elsewhere. That’s because Iran has worked to knit anti-Israel forces in different countries into an increasingly tight web.
Armed groups in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen that once largely fought separately now see themselves as being on the same team. Many of their commanders have received similar training from Iran or Hezbollah, and their members share knowledge on how to increase the firepower of rockets and to surveil their enemies with drones.
Iran may lead the network, but Hezbollah, which was formed in Lebanon by the Islamic Republic more than three decades ago, is the primary enforcer. Its members played a key role in helping Syria turn the tide against anti-government rebels during the country’s civil war, which began in 2011. And its operatives have increased the fighting abilities of pro-Iranian militias in Iraq and the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Israel, the United States and other countries have designated Hezbollah and some of its regional partners, including Hamas in Gaza, as terrorist organizations.
Israel has viewed Hezbollah as its most formidable foe since they fought to a standstill in a monthlong war in 2006 that killed more than 1,000 Lebanese and 165 Israelis. Hezbollah’s members are highly trained, have an arsenal of tens of thousands of rockets and possess precision-guided missiles that can pummel targets deep in Israeli territory.
While Hezbollah’s precise capabilities are unknown, analysts say they have increased substantially since 2006, partly because its members gained experience fighting the jihadis of the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.
Hezbollah’s arsenal, which includes air-defense capabilities, makes it much more dangerous to Israel than Hamas, the Palestinian group that controls the Gaza Strip, said Orna Mizrahi, a retired Israeli deputy national security adviser. “They have long-range missiles, precision-guided missiles, well-developed cybercapabilities,” she said, all handing Hezbollah the ability to cause “much wider harm to the civilian population” in Israel.
She added, however, that Israel’s newfound unity after months of division over the Netanyahu administration’s moves to weaken Israel’s judiciary would help if Hezbollah attacked.
Despite the high tensions in the region, both Israel and Hezbollah want to avoid an all-out war at this point because each has a lot to lose, according to analysts and former Israeli and Lebanese officials.
Israel, suffering deep trauma from the Hamas attack Oct. 7 that killed more than 1,400 and saw nearly 200 abducted to Gaza, wants to focus on what Netanyahu has called Israel’s effort to destroy Hamas.
Hezbollah’s leaders frequently call for the destruction of Israel, but the group has avoided war with the Israelis for more than a decade, suggesting that it prefers to invest its efforts elsewhere.
“I see Hezbollah as more interested in showing layers of power and deterrence against Israel and having a seat at the table at the regional level than in engaging in an all-out conflict,” said Mohanad Hage Ali, the deputy director for research at the Carnegie Middle East Center. “They are more interested in a long-term strategy that brings them more power and influence.”
Firas Maksad, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said a war between Israel and Hezbollah “is going to be increasingly likely, particularly as we approach a ground invasion of Gaza.” But he stressed that if both sides proceeded cautiously, “there is a pathway to avoid that.”
The problem, analysts suggest, is that the more forcefully Israel pursues its goal of attempting to wipe out Hamas, the more pressure there will be on Hezbollah to intervene.
Hezbollah called for protests on Wednesday in the suburbs of southern Beirut, the group’s stronghold, according to Al Manar, the Hezbollah-owned Lebanese broadcaster, after an explosion killed hundreds at a hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday.
Many people had already taken to the streets of Lebanon’s capital on Tuesday evening after the explosion, which the Gazan authorities blamed on an Israeli airstrike and the Israeli military blamed on an errant rocket launched by an armed Palestinian group.
Over the past week, Hezbollah and Israel have launched tit-for-tat attacks across the border, killing relatively small numbers of people on both sides while avoiding greater violence. On Tuesday, the Israeli military said it had targeted fighters attempting to infiltrate Israeli territory, killing some. Hezbollah announced Tuesday that five of its fighters had been killed, according to the group’s official Al-Manar broadcaster.
Hezbollah is likely seeking to distract the Israeli military from its planned invasion of Gaza by drawing their attention northward, while still avoiding full-blown war, Mizrahi said.
But the greater the tension, the greater the chances that one side will make a deadly miscalculation, Maksad said — for example, by striking an unintended target or killing a larger number of enemy forces than planned, putting pressure on the other side to respond.
And some in Israel’s security establishment may believe that now is the time to strike Hezbollah, to ensure that the group can’t take the initiative against Israel, said Sima Shine, a former head of research for Israel’s intelligence agency.
“They say, ‘We made the mistake once with Hamas,’” assuming that the threat the group posed could be managed, she said.
But so far, Netanyahu has vetoed such proposals, according to U.S. officials and others briefed on the discussions.
For now, both sides appear to be in a waiting game to see how the dynamics of Israel’s expected invasion of Gaza will play out.
Ibrahim, the former Lebanese security chief, said he believed that Hezbollah’s “red lines” included any Israeli effort to eliminate the Hamas leadership or a Palestinian death toll in the tens of thousands. Israeli officials have already announced their intention to get rid of top Hamas officials, and Gaza officials say the death toll is now more than 2,800.
As the war proceeds and images of Israeli airstrikes destroying Gazan cities and rescuers pulling the dead and wounded from the rubble flood Arabic news channels, calls will most likely increase among Hezbollah supporters for a response.
“The key issue will be the scale of the violence that the Israel occupation army will impose on Gaza and particularly on the structures of Hamas,” said Joseph Daher, the author of a book about Hezbollah.

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 18-19/2023
رابط حلقة فيديو من معهد واشنطن تحاكي مجريات حرب غزة والسياسة الأميركية
Link For A Video Round Table Discussion from Washington Institute addressing The Israel-Hamas War and U.S. Policy:
Participants: David Makovsky, Zohar Palti, Grant Rumley, Neomi Neumann, Ghaith al-Omari
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/123307/123307/
Since the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks, President Biden has projected profound sympathy and support for Israel in his public remarks and ordered substantial U.S. forces to the region to deter threats by the group’s supporters in Tehran, Damascus, and Beirut. At the same time, the message from the White House includes a stern warning about avoiding civilian casualties in the push against Hamas’s leadership, as well as a signal that any military operation should have a clear political objective.
To discuss the strategic, political, and military aspects of U.S. policy toward the growing crisis, The Washington Institute hosted a virtual Policy Forum with:
David Makovsky, Ziegler Distinguished Fellow and director, Koret Project on Arab-Israel Relations, The Washington Institute
Zohar Palti, the Institute’s Viterbi International Fellow and former head of the Israeli Defense Ministry’s Policy and Political-Military Bureau
Grant Rumley, the Goldberger Fellow in the Institute’s Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation Program on Great Power Competition and the Middle East; former Pentagon official on Middle East policy
Neomi Neumann, a visiting fellow at the Institute and former head of the research unit at the Israel Security Agency/Shin Bet
Ghaith al-Omari, the Institute’s Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Senior Fellow and former advisor to the Palestinian Authority
The Policy Forum series is made possible through the generosity of the Florence and Robert Kaufman Family.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
David Makovsky
David Makovsky is the Ziegler Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute and director of the Koret Project on Arab-Israel Relations.
Zohar Palti
Zohar Palti is the Viterbi International Fellow at The Washington Institute.
Grant Rumley
Grant Rumley is the Goldberger Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where he specializes in military and security affairs in the Middle East.
Neomi Neumann
Neomi Neumann is a visiting fellow at The Washington Institute, focusing on Palestinian affairs. She formerly served as head of the research unit at the Israel Security Agency, or Shin Bet, and with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Neumann recently began her doctoral studies at Tel Aviv University.
Ghaith al-Omari
Ghaith al-Omari is the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Senior Fellow in The Washington Institute's Irwin Levy Family Program on the U.S.-Israel Strategic Relationship.

Biden says Israel agreed to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza
Yahoo News Staff/October 18, 2023
Israel has agreed to let “life-saving” humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, President Biden said on Wednesday during his trip to the war-torn nation. Biden also announced the U.S. would provide $100 million in funding to help civilians in Gaza and the West Bank. Following his whirlwind, high-stakes visit to the Middle East, Biden is now heading back to the U.S. He was initially supposed to travel from Israel to Jordan to meet with King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. However, Abbas withdrew from the meeting after the Palestinian Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas, claimed hundreds of Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a hospital. Biden's trip to Jordan was then canceled in what the White House said was a "mutual" decision. Israel has blamed the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, a Hamas ally, for the attack. Biden also claimed Israel was not responsible, citing data from the U.S. Defense Department he was shown.

Israel-Hamas war live updates: Biden visits Israel and suggests Gaza hospital explosion 'done by the other team'
The conflict has entered its 12th day.
Yahoo News Staff/October 18, 2023
President Biden suggested on Wednesday that Hamas was responsible for the Gaza hospital explosion that killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians. Speaking in Tel Aviv alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden declared his “outrage” over the blast at al-Ahli Hospital and echoed Israeli claims that it was done by Palestinian militants. “Based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you,” Biden told the Israeli leader. “But there’s a lot of people out there not sure, so we’ve got to overcome a lot of things.”After his trip to Israel, Biden planned to visit Jordan, where he was supposed to meet with King Abdullah II, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. But the blast caused Abbas to pull out of the meeting, which was then canceled. The Palestinian Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas, said the hospital was hit by an Israeli airstrike. More than 4,700 people have been killed on both sides since the war began, with tens of thousands of others injured. U.S. officials have said at least 31 Americans are among the overall death toll, with another 13 missing.

Biden from Israel blames Palestinians for deadly hospital bombing
Associated Press/Naharnet/Agence France Presse/October 18, 2023
U.S. President Joe Biden vowed to show the world that the U.S. stands in solidarity with Israelis during his visit there Wednesday, and offered an assessment that the deadly explosion at a Gaza Strip hospital apparently was not carried out by the Israeli military.
"Based on what I've seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you," Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting. But Biden said there were "a lot of people out there" who weren't sure what caused the blast.
Asked by reporters in Tel Aviv what made him sure that Israel was not responsible for the strike, Biden replied, "the data I was shown by my defense department."
The Gaza Health Ministry said an Israeli airstrike caused the destruction and hundreds of deaths. The Israeli military denied involvement and blamed a misfired rocket from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another militant group. However, that organization also rejected responsibility. Biden told Netanyahu he was "deeply saddened and outraged" by the hospital bombardment. He stressed that "Hamas does not represent all the Palestinian people and it has brought them only suffering."Biden also spoke of the need to find ways of "encouraging life-saving capacity to help the Palestinians who are innocent, caught in the middle of this." But he also said Hamas had "slaughtered" Israelis in the Oct. 7 attack that reportedly killed 1,400 people. "Americans are grieving, they really are," Biden said, expressing sympathy with the Israelis. "Americans are worried."“I want you to know you're not alone. We will continue to have Israel's back as you work to defend your people," Biden said during the larger meeting with Netanyahu and Israeli officials. "We'll continue to work with you and partners across the region to prevent more tragedy to innocent civilians." Netanyahu thanked Biden for coming to Israel, telling him the visit was "deeply, deeply moving." "I know I speak for all the people of Israel when I say thank you Mr. President, thank you for standing with Israel today, tomorrow and always."
Netanyahu said Biden had rightly drawn a clear line between the "forces of civilization and the forces of barbarism," saying Israel was united in its resolve to defeat Hamas.
"The civilized world must unite to defeat Hamas," he said.
Netanyahu talked about the hospital carnage during a subsequent meeting with Biden and Israel's war cabinet. “The entire world was rightfully outraged but this outrage should be directed not at Israel but at the terrorists,” he said. Biden also planned to meet Israeli first responders and the families of victims and captives. Netanyahu met Biden at Ben Gurion Airport and the two embraced. It was almost exactly a month ago that they sat together at the United Nations General Assembly, where Netanyahu marveled that a "historic peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia" seemed within reach. The possibility of improved relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors appears to be dimming; Israel has been preparing for a potential ground invasion of Gaza in response to Hamas' attacks.
Roughly 2,800 Palestinians have been reported killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza. Another 1,200 people are believed to be buried under the rubble, alive or dead, health authorities said. Those numbers predate the bombardment at the al-Ahli hospital on Tuesday.
Protests swept through the region after the massacre at the hospital, which had been treating wounded Palestinians and sheltering many more who were seeking a refuge from the fighting. Hundreds of Palestinians flooded the streets of major West Bank cities including Ramallah. More people joined protests that erupted in Beirut, Lebanon and Amman, Jordan, where an angry crowd gathered outside the Israeli Embassy.
Outrage scuttled Biden's plans to visit Jordan, where King Abdullah II was to host meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. But Abbas withdrew in protest, and the summit was subsequently canceled outright. Ayman Safadi, Jordan's foreign minister, told a state-run television network that the war is "pushing the region to the brink." Jordan declared three days of mourning after the hospital explosion and Safadi said the summit was canceled after speaking with all leaders. He said they had wanted the meeting to produce an end to the war, which seems unlikely now, and to give Palestinians the respect they deserve. Kirby said Biden understood the move was part of a "mutual" decision to call off the Jordan portion of his trip. He said Biden would speak to the Arab leaders by phone as he returned to Washington. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, said Tuesday that Biden was "capable of telling Israel, Enough is enough."
"You have to stop this carnage against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. Let this stop. Let humanitarian assistance take place," he said. "Do not displace two million Palestinians and push them in the direction of Jordan and then let's begin a political horizon."There are also fears that a new front could erupt along Israel's northern border with Lebanon, where Hezbollah operates. The Iran-backed organization has been skirmishing with Israeli forces. Always a believer in the power of personal diplomacy, Biden's trip will test the limits of U.S. influence in the Middle East at a volatile time. It's his second trip to a conflict zone this year, after visiting Ukraine in February to show solidarity with the country as it battles a Russian invasion.
The visit to Israel coincides with rising humanitarian concerns in Gaza, where Israel has cut off the flow of food, fuel and water. Mediators have been struggling to break a deadlock over providing supplies to desperate civilians, aid groups and hospitals.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, bouncing back and forth between Arab and Israeli leadership ahead of Biden's visit, spent seven and a half hours meeting Monday in Tel Aviv in an effort to broker some kind of aid agreement and emerged with a green light to develop a plan on how aid can enter Gaza and be distributed to civilians. Although only a modest accomplishment on the surface, U.S. officials stressed that Blinken's talks led to a significant change in Israel's position going in — that Gaza would remain cut off from fuel, electricity, water and other essential supplies.
U.S. officials said it has become clear that already limited Arab tolerance of Israel's military operations would evaporate entirely if conditions in Gaza worsened. Their analysis projected that outright condemnation of Israel by Arab leaders would not only be a boon to Hamas but would likely encourage Iran to step up its anti-Israel activity, adding to fears that a regional conflagration might erupt, according to four officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration thinking.

Three clues the Ahli Arab Hospital strike came from Gaza
Joe Barnes/The Telegraph/October 18, 2023
Hamas, the Islamist terror group that controls Gaza, immediately blamed an Israeli airstrike for an explosion at the Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital on Tuesday night. Israeli officials soon hit back with counter-claims that a rocket fired by militants from Islamic Jihad that failed shortly after launch was responsible instead. Three main clues from open source intelligence investigations have provided an insight into who might have been behind the explosion that killed hundreds of people.
‌Trajectory
Footage taken of rockets fired east from Gaza in the direction of Israel show one appearing to burst into flames mid-flight, which could have showered shrapnel onto the ground below. Initial reports suggested the rocket could have been shot down by Israel’s Iron Dome air-defence system. But weapons experts say video clips seem to show a missile failure, which may have led to parts of it falling out of the sky. The hospital is located between the apparent rocket launch area and the Israeli border. Fabian Hoffman, a defence and missile technology expert from the University of Oslo, said a “Hamas rocket experiencing some type of systematic error causing it to fall on the hospital” was the “most plausible explanation so far”.
Sound of impact
The noise made by the projectile as it fell from the sky and hit the ground was not consistent with an Israeli missile, some commentators believe. Justin Bronk, a leading air power expert at the Rusi think tank, said the object sounded under-powered in video footage posted online. He also believes that the explosion on the ground appeared to be a fireball, likely caused by part of the rocked holding the fuel exploding on impact.
“Incoming projectile sounds like it’s under power[ed] and the explosion frames visible look like largely propellant fire rather than high explosive detonation,” Mr Bronk wrote on Twitter. Hamas usually creates rockets out of improvised materials because of a blockade preventing military shipments into Gaza. Mr Hoffmann suggested the rocket’s warhead may not have detonated in the car park of the hospital, suggesting it was shrapnel and rocket fuel that caused the blast.
Aftermath
Images of the hospital car park, which bore the brunt of the strike, showed only three cars with signs of major structural damage from impact, rather than a subsequent fire
One had been flipped by the blast, while the others had been dented and thrown a short distance from their parked positions by the impact. Nearby vehicles were charred with damage consistent with a fire, which may have been caused by fuel in nearby vehicles being ignited. “This is the most noticeable damage to the ground, which, if it were the impact point of the munition used, would mean it’s pretty small payload,” Eliot Higgins, founder of Bellingcat, the leading open source investigation agency.
Nathan Ruser, a researcher at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, wrote on Twitter: “The photos of the scene are, to me, not consistent with an airstrike and are not consistent with claims that 500 plus people were killed.”Within the 10-metre impact site, most of the cars were undamaged and structurally untouched by the arriving munition.
There also appeared to be very minimal damage to the nearby hospital building, which is around 20 metres from the impact site. A high-powered bomb dropped by Israel’s Air Force would likely have a blast radius of around 370 metres, with a kill zone of up to 33 metres. Drone footage published by Israel’s armed forces, and analysed by Mr Ruser, showed limited damage to tiles on the hospital’s roof. The researcher added: “This would be consistent with an object that broke apart in midair,” although he cautioned the damage may have been inflicted at an earlier date.
Fog of war
Western leaders have been cautious in attributing blame in the immediate aftermath.
Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, warned MPs on Wednesday there should be no “rush to judgement” over responsibility.
Charles Michel, the European Council’s president, earlier said it was “imperative that all the facts surrounding this incident are thoroughly investigated”.
However, Joe Biden, the US president, was willing to publicly blame the “other team, not you” when landing in Israel on Wednesday.
Any investigation into the explosion will likely be complex because of issues accessing Hamas-controlled Gaza.

Israel blames Islamic Jihad for Gaza hospital blast that killed nearly 500
Agencies/October 18, 2023
JERUSALEM: The Israeli military on Wednesday has denied involvement in an explosion that killed hundreds of people at a Gaza City hospital and that the blast was caused by a misfired Palestinian rocket. Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, has blamed the blast on Israel. But Israel said it was a result of a failed rocket launch by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another militant group in the enclave.
At least 471 people were killed and more than 300 others wounded by the strike on the Gaza hospital, the Hamas-controlled health ministry said Wednesday.
“The death toll of the largest and most violent massacre committed by the criminal Israeli occupation inside the Baptist Hospital reached 471 martyrs, and 28 critical cases remain, in addition to 314 people with various injuries,” the ministry said in a statement.
In an English-language briefing, chief Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said an investigation had “confirmed that there was no IDF (Israel Defense Forces) fire from the land, sea or air that hit the hospital.”
He said there was no structural damage to buildings around the Al-Ahli Al-Arabi hospital and no craters consistent with an air strike.
“The evidence – which we are sharing with you all – confirms that the explosion at the hospital in Gaza was caused by an Islamic Jihad rocket that misfired,” Hagari said.
“Our radar system tracked missiles fired by terrorists in Gaza at the time of the explosion and the trajectory analysis of the rockets shows the rockets were fired in close proximity to the hospital.”Asked to explain the size of the explosion at the site, Hagari said it was consistent with unspent rocket fuel catching fire. “Most of this damage would have been done due to the propellant, not just the warhead,” he said.
Hagari also accused Hamas of inflating the number of casualties from the explosion and said it could not know as quickly as it claimed what had caused the blast.
The death toll from the hospital explosion was by far the highest of any single incident in Gaza during the current violence, triggering protests in the occupied West Bank and in the wider region, including in Jordan and Turkiye.
Hagari said some 450 rockets fired from Gaza had fallen short and landed inside the Strip within the last 11 days. “We have intelligence about communication between terrorists talking about rockets misfiring,” Hagari said, without elaborating.
Islamic Jihad earlier denied Israel’s claim that it was behind the deadly blast at Al-Ahli hospital. It accused Israel of “trying hard to evade responsibility for the brutal massacre it committed.”“The accusations promoted by the enemy are baseless,” Islamic Jihad said, adding that the group “does not use places of worship or public facilities, especially hospitals, as military centers or weapons stores.”
The group said details such as “the angle of the bomb’s fall and the extent of destruction it left behind” confirm it was similar to Israeli strikes.
Islamic Jihad is a smaller, more radical Palestinian militant group that often cooperates with Hamas in their shared struggle against Israel.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to offer condolences over a deadly blast at a Gaza hospital and voice support for Palestinians’ “legitimate aspirations,” the State Department said Wednesday.
Blinken, who was in Amman on a regional tour, spoke late Tuesday by telephone with Abbas “to express profound condolences for the civilian lives lost in the explosion” at the Gaza hospital, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
British intelligence services are analyzing evidence to independently establish the facts about Tuesday’s deadly blast at a Gaza hospital, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Wednesday. “We should not rush to judgments before we have all the facts,” Sunak told lawmakers. “Our intelligence services have been rapidly analyzing the evidence to independently establish the facts. We are not in a position at this point to say more than that.”Israeli account deletes post on hospital strike
Hanania Naftali, the official digital spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wrote in a tweet on his account on the “X” platform, Tuesday evening, that Israeli forces have attacked the hospital because they believed it was harboring a base for Hamas militants. However, he quickly deleted it later and replaced it with a clarification, in which he claimed that an error had occurred, as he wrote that what he said earlier was based on a report by Reuters News Agency that falsely claimed that Israel had bombed the hospital.

US vetoes UN resolution condemning Hamas' attacks on Israel and all violence against civilians
UNITED NATIONS (AP)/October 18, 2023
The United States vetoed a U.N. resolution Wednesday that would have condemned violence against all civilians in the Israel-Hamas war including “the heinous terrorists attacks by Hamas” against Israel, and would have urged humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza. The vote in the 15-member Security Council on the resolution sponsored by Brazil was 12 votes in favor, the United States against, and Russia and the United Kingdom abstaining. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said after the vote that President Joe Biden is in the region engaging in diplomacy to secure the release of hostages, prevent the conflict from spreading and stress the need to protect civilians. “We need to let that diplomacy play out,” she said. She said resolutions are important and the Security Council must speak out, “But the actions we take must be informed by the facts on the ground and support direct diplomacy efforts that can save lives -- the council needs to get this right.” She also criticized the resolution for not saying anything about Israel’s right to self-defense following Hamas’ surprise Oct. 7 attacks that killed more than 1,400 people in Israel. Since then, the Gaza Health Ministry says nearly 3,500 people have been killed in Gaza and more than 12,000 wounded. Before the vote on the resolution, council members voted on two proposed Russian amendments. Both were rejected because they failed to get the minimum nine “yes” votes. One called for a “humanitarian cease-fire” and the other would condemn indiscriminate attacks on civilians and “civilian objects” in Gaza, which include hospitals and schools. On Monday, the Security Council rejected a Russian-drafted resolution that included those amendments but made no mention of Hamas.
The voting and debate followed Tuesday’s huge explosion and fire at a Gaza City hospital packed with patients, relatives and Palestinians seeking shelter. The Hamas-run health ministry said at least 500 died. Israel and the Palestinians accused each other of being responsible for the hospital carnage. Hamas said it was from an Israeli airstrike. Israel blamed a misfired rocket by the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad. Islamic Jihad denied any involvement. Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said the Brazil resolution, which called for “humanitarian pauses” to deliver aid, wouldn’t have helped to avoid Tuesday’s explosion at a Gaza hospital that killed hundreds. “It is only a cease-fire that will help to do this," he said.
He told council members who abstained or opposed the amendments – the U.S. voted against both – that they will have to “bear responsibility” for what happens now to people in their own countries, the region, “and the people who are living under this deadly threat.”After the U.S. veto of the resolution, Nebenzia accused the United States of “hypocrisy” and “double standards,” saying the Americans didn’t want a solution in the Security Council. The divided Security Council has been even more polarized since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and the votes on the Brazil resolution reflected the divisions. Immediately after the votes and speeches, the council started an emergency meeting to discuss the explosion at the Gaza hospital. Russia, the United Arab Emirates and China called for the emergency session. The council vote took place amid frantic diplomatic efforts to prevent the Israeli-Hamas conflict from spreading and Biden’s lightning trip to Israel where he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. After the hospital blast, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas backed out of a meeting with Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and King Abdullah II of Jordan, leading the Jordanians to cancel the meeting, The 22-member Arab Group at the United Nations expressed “outrage” at the hospital deaths and called for an immediate cease-fire to avoid further Palestinian casualties, the opening of a corridor to safely deliver aid to millions in Gaza, and the prevention of any forced evacuation of people from the territory. Egypt’s U.N. ambassador, Osama Mahmoud, told reporters that a summit will take place Saturday in Cairo as scheduled with regional leaders and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The five permanent Security Council nations are also invited, he said. Mahmoud said the summit will address the humanitarian crisis sparked by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, how to achieve a cease-fire, and whether “any serious attempt to have a political horizon” exists to tackle the issues blocking an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.
*Edith M. Lederer, The Associated Press

Biden pledges solidarity with Israelis and suggests 'other team' to blame for Gaza hospital blast
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP)/October 18, 2023
President Joe Biden vowed to show the world that the U.S. stands in solidarity with Israel during his visit there Wednesday, and offered an assessment that the deadly explosion at a Gaza Strip hospital that prompted mass protests in Arab nations apparently was not carried out by the Israeli military. “Based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you,” Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting. But he said there were “a lot of people out there” who weren't sure what caused the blast, which sparked protests throughout the Middle East.
Biden later said he based his conclusion on “the data I was shown by my Defense Department."Israel said Wednesday its radar as well as independent video showed a rocket in a barrage fired by Palestinian militants misfired and caused a large explosion just as the blast hit the hospital. It said there was no crater, which would have been present with an airstrike, and it released a recording it said was between two Hamas militants who said the blast was believed to be an Islamic Jihad misfire. Islamic Jihad dismissed Israel’s claims, pointing to Israel’s order that the hospital be evacuated in recent days and reports of a previous strike at the hospital that wounded four people as proof that it was an Israeli target. Biden had also been scheduled to visit Jordan to meet with Arab leaders Wednesday, but the summit was called off after the hospital explosion. His remarks in Tel Aviv spoke both to the horrors that the Israelis had endured, but also the growing humanitarian crisis for Palestinian civilians in Gaza. He told Netanyahu he was “deeply saddened and outraged” by the hospital explosion. But he also stressed that “Hamas does not represent all the Palestinian people, and it has brought them only suffering.” And he spoke of the need to find ways of “encouraging life-saving capacity to help the Palestinians who are innocent, caught in the middle of this.”Biden's overarching messge was that the U.S. was firmly behind Israel following the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 that killed 1,400 people.
“I want you to know you're not alone. We will continue to have Israel's back as you work to defend your people," Biden said. "We'll continue to work with you and partners across the region to prevent more tragedy to innocent civilians."Netanyahu again said Israel was not to blame for the hospital attack. “The entire world was rightfully outraged but this outrage should be directed not at Israel but at the terrorists,” Netanyahu said during a subsequent meeting with Biden and Israel’s war cabinet. He called the president's visit “deeply, deeply moving," adding, "I know I speak for all the people of Israel when I say thank you Mr. President, thank you for standing with Israel today, tomorrow and always.”
Netanyahu said Biden had rightly drawn a clear line between the “forces of civilization and the forces of barbarism,” saying Israel was united in its resolve to defeat Hamas.
“The civilized world must unite to defeat Hamas," he said. Biden also planned to meet Israeli first responders and the families of victims and those being held hostage by Hamas.
The grim tone of Wednesday's meetings between Biden and Netanyahu stood in stark contrast to their optimistic meeting just a month ago on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, where Netanyahu marveled that a “historic peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia” seemed within reach. The possibility of improved relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors has dimmed considerably with the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. Israel has been preparing for a potential ground invasion of Gaza in response to Hamas' attacks. Roughly 2,800 Palestinians have been reported killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza. Another 1,200 people are believed to be buried under the rubble, alive or dead, health authorities said. Those numbers predate the explosion at the Al-Ahli hospital on Tuesday. No clear cause has been established for the blast.
Protests swept through the region after the blast at the hospital, which had been treating wounded Palestinians and sheltering many more who were seeking a refuge from the fighting. Hundreds of Palestinians flooded the streets of major West Bank cities including Ramallah. More people joined protests that erupted in Beirut, Lebanon and Amman, Jordan, where an angry crowd gathered outside the Israeli Embassy.
Outrage scuttled Biden's plans to visit Jordan, where King Abdullah II was to host meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. But Abbas withdrew in protest, and the summit was subsequently canceled outright. Ayman Safadi, Jordan’s foreign minister, told a state-run television network that the war is “pushing the region to the brink.” Jordan declared three days of mourning after the hospital explosion and Safadi said the summit was canceled after speaking with all leaders. He said they had wanted the meeting to produce an end to the war, which seems unlikely now, and to give Palestinians the respect they deserve.
Kirby said Biden understood the move was part of a “mutual” decision to call off the Jordan portion of his trip. He said Biden would speak to Abbas and el-Sissi by phone Wednesday as he returned to Washington. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, on Tuesday urged Biden to use the visit to tell Israel that " Enough is enough."“You have to stop this carnage against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. Let this stop. Let humanitarian assistance take place,” he said. “Do not displace two million Palestinians and push them in the direction of Jordan.”
There are also fears that a new front could erupt along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, where Hezbollah operates. The Iran-backed organization has been skirmishing with Israeli forces.
Always a believer in the power of personal diplomacy, Biden's trip will test the limits of U.S. influence in the Middle East at a volatile time. It's his second trip to a conflict zone this year, after visiting Ukraine in February to show solidarity with the country as it battles a Russian invasion. The visit to Israel coincides with rising humanitarian concerns in Gaza, where Israel has cut off the flow of food, fuel and water. Mediators have been struggling to break a deadlock over providing supplies to desperate civilians, aid groups and hospitals. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, bouncing back and forth between Arab and Israeli leadership before Biden's visit, worked to broker some kind of aid agreement and emerged with a green light to develop a plan on how aid can enter Gaza and be distributed to civilians.
Although only a modest accomplishment on the surface, U.S. officials stressed that Blinken's talks led to a significant change in Israel’s position going in — that Gaza would remain cut off from fuel, electricity, water and other essential supplies.
U.S. officials said it has become clear that already limited Arab tolerance of Israel’s military operations would evaporate entirely if conditions in Gaza worsened.
Their analysis projected that outright condemnation of Israel by Arab leaders would not only be a boon to Hamas but would likely encourage Iran to step up its anti-Israel activity, adding to fears that a regional conflagration might erupt, according to four officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration thinking.

Egypt rejects displacement of Palestinians into Sinai, says Sisi
CAIRO (Reuters)/October 18, 2023
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Wednesday that Egyptians in their millions would reject the forced displacement of Palestinians into Sinai, adding that any such move would turn the peninsula into a base for attacks against Israel. The Gaza Strip is effectively under Israeli control and Palestinians could instead be moved to Israel's Negev desert "till the militants are dealt with", Sisi told a joint news conference in Cairo with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The border between Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip is the site of the only crossing from the Palestinian territory that is not controlled by Israel.
Israel's unprecedented bombardment and siege of Gaza to destroy Hamas militants who control the strip has raised fears that its 2.3 million residents could be forced southwards into Sinai. "What is happening now in Gaza is an attempt to force civilian residents to take refugee and migrate to Egypt, which should not be accepted," said Sisi. "Egypt rejects any attempt to resolve the Palestinian issue by military means or through the forced displacement of Palestinians from their land, which would come at the expense of the countries of the region," he said. Sisi said the Egyptian people would "go out and protest in their millions... if called upon to do so" against any displacement of Gaza's residents to Sinai. Referring to the Egyptian position, Hamas official Osama Hamdan called "for rallying around this position and supporting it on the popular and Arab official level because this represents real protection for our Palestinian people," at a Beirut news conference. Egypt is wary of insecurity near its border with Gaza in northeastern Sinai, where it faced an Islamist insurgency that escalated a decade ago. Any transfer of Palestinians to Sinai would mean "that we move the idea of resistance, of combat, from the Gaza Strip to Sinai, and so Sinai would become the base for launching operations against Israel", Sisi said. Jordan, which shares a border with the Israeli-occupied West Bank and absorbed most of the Palestinians who fled or were driven from their homes after the creation of the state of Israel, has also warned against Palestinians being forced off their land. Egypt has been trying to channel humanitarian relief through its Rafah crossing with Gaza, but aid has been piling up on the Egyptian side because Egypt says Israeli bombardments on the Gazan side have made the crossing inoperable. The United States has said it is working with Israel on a plan for sending in aid, and White House spokesperson John Kirby said they were getting close to a framework for the plan. The plan is likely to involve the evacuation of some foreign passport holders from Gaza, but Egyptian officials say that has to be accompanied by the delivery of aid.
Two Egyptian security sources said that talks had faltered, blaming Israeli obstinacy on allowing the crossing to operate safely. Israel says it is bombing Gaza to eliminate Hamas militants who massacred Israeli civilians earlier this month. Sisi's comments came after a blast hit a hospital in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday evening, killing large numbers of Palestinians and unleashing new fury across the Middle East just as U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in Israel. Volunteers waiting on the Egyptian side of Rafah performed a funeral prayer for those killed in the blast, many of them dressed in black. Sisi and other Arab leaders have pulled out of a planned meeting with Biden in protest over the blast and what they see as Washington's pro-Israel bias. Israel denied responsibility for the blast and said it was caused by a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, which denied blame.

Ex-Treasury Secretary Lew, Biden's pick to be US envoy to Israel, faces Senate confirmation hearing
WASHINGTON (AP)//Wed, October 18, 2023
The Senate is moving quickly to confirm Jacob Lew as ambassador to Israel, holding a hearing on his nomination Wednesday as President Joe Biden visits the region to reinforce U.S. support for Israel and try to ease tensions in its new war with Hamas. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing comes as the White House has told lawmakers that it is considering a request of between $90 billion and $100 billion for the wars in Israel and Ukraine and for Taiwan as it faces threats from China, according to four people familiar with the conversations. The request to Congress would cover a year, according to another person familiar with the Biden administration’s expected request. They were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter because the amount of the funding request is not final and they spoke on condition of anonymity. Lew, a treasury secretary under President Barack Obama, was nominated by Biden last month after Tom Nides left as ambassador in July. Democrats say Lew’s wealth of government experience — he also was chief of staff to Obama and White House budget director under Obama and President Bill Clinton — makes him the right person to fill the post at an important moment in the two countries’ relationship. The committee chairman, Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said Lew, who goes by Jack, is “an outstanding, qualified person” and that it is urgent to have a confirmed ambassador to help Israel as it navigates the war, works to release hostages held by Hamas and deals with increasing concerns about tensions on the northern border with Hezbollah. Cardin said it is also important to “to keep normalization talks alive” that could improve diplomatic relations between Israel and Arab countries in the region. “It is as critical as ever” to fill the post quickly, Cardin said. The White House could make a formal request for the foreign war aid as soon as this week. Though there is near-unanimous support for Israel in Congress, a $100 billion package, if that is what the Democratic administration requests, could face major obstacles because some Republicans have balked at linking the money for Israel with the war in Ukraine. Also, the House has been in chaos since Republicans unexpectedly ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., two weeks ago and is for now unable to pass legislation. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has strongly supported linking aid for the two countries and Taiwan but said it would have to come with additional measures to help control immigration at the U.S. border.
“Republicans are going to want something serious about the border” in the foreign aid spending bill, McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday after meeting with his GOP conference. “And so we’ll take a look at the package when they send it up, make suggestions to improve it if needed, but clearly the world has changed dramatically in the last 10 days.” McConnell would not say whether he supported Lew’s confirmation. Some Republicans have criticized Lew for his role in the Obama White House as it negotiated the Iran nuclear agreement in 2015, among other foreign policy moves under Obama, and that opposition could slow Lew's nomination. The deal with Iran was sealed in 2015 but later scuttled by President Donald Trump. Biden has sought to resurrect the pact, which would provide Tehran with billions of dollars in sanctions relief in exchange for the country agreeing to roll back its nuclear program. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., has said he views Lew as too sympathetic to Iran — Hamas’ chief sponsor — and will fight his nomination. “Democrats are saying we need to confirm Jack Lew quickly to show our support for Israel, but I would say the exact opposite,” Cotton said on “Fox News Sunday” last weekend. “We need to defeat Jack Lew’s nomination to show we have a new approach to Iran.”Lew has been visiting senators' offices to shore up support. Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, a committee member, said he met with Lew on Tuesday and discussed with him the humanitarian crisis developing in Gaza amid Israeli strikes. “Our ability to support Israel at this pivotal moment is significantly hamstrung by the fact that we don’t have a U.S. ambassador on the ground," Murphy said.

Gaza's doctors struggle to save survivors as Middle East rage grows
Associated Press/October 18, 2023
Doctors in Gaza City faced with dwindling medical supplies performed surgery on hospital floors, often without anesthesia, in a desperate bid to save badly wounded victims of a massive blast that killed civilians sheltering in a nearby hospital amid Israeli bombings and a blockade of the territory.
At least 500 people were killed, the Health Ministry said.
Rage at the hospital carnage spread through the Middle East as U.S. President Joe Biden landed in Israel in hopes of stopping a spread of the war, which started after Hamas militants attacked towns and cities across southern Israel Oct. 7.
Biden embraced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his arrival and later said the blast appeared not to be Israel's fault. "Based on what I've seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you," he told Netanyahu in remarks in front of the media. Shortly before Biden's arrival, Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel resumed after a 12-hour lull. Israeli strikes on Gaza also continued on Wednesday, including on cities in south Gaza that Israel had described as "safe zones" for Palestinian civilians.
After the hospital blast, Jordan canceled a meeting between Biden, Jordan's King Abdullah II, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. Biden will now visit only Israel, a White House official said.
The war between Israel and Hamas was "pushing the region to the brink," Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told state-run television. The blast left gruesome scenes. Hundreds of Palestinians had taken refuge in al-Ahli and other hospitals in Gaza City, hoping they would be spared bombardment after Israel ordered all residents of the city and surrounding areas to evacuate to the southern Gaza Strip.Ghassan Abu Sitta, a plastic surgeon working at al-Alhi, said he heard a loud explosion and the ceiling of his operating room collapsed.
"The wounded started stumbling toward us," he wrote in an account posted to Facebook. He saw hundreds of dead and severely wounded people. "I put a tourniquet on the thigh of a man who had his leg blown off and then went to tend to a man with a penetrating neck injury."
Video that The Associated Press confirmed was from the hospital showed the hospital grounds strewn with torn bodies, many of them young children, as fire engulfed the building. The grass was strewn with blankets, school backpacks and other belongings. On Wednesday morning the blast scene was littered with charred cars and the ground was blackened by debris.
Hospital director Suhaila Tarazi said the aftermath of the blast was "unlike anything I have ever seen or could ever imagine.""Our hospital is a place of love and reconciliation," she said. "This war must end."Ambulances and private cars rushed some 350 casualties to Gaza City's main hospital, al-Shifa, which was already overwhelmed with wounded from other strikes, said its director, Mohammed Abu Selmia. Doctors there resorted to performing surgery on floors and in the halls, mostly without anesthesia.
"We need equipment, we need medicine, we need beds, we need anesthesia, we need everything," Abu Selmia said. He warned that fuel for the hospital's generators would run out within hours, forcing a complete shutdown, unless supplies enter the Gaza Strip.
The bloodshed unfolded as the U.S. tried to convince Israel to allow the delivery of supplies to desperate civilians, aid groups and hospitals in the tiny Gaza Strip, which has been under a complete siege since Hamas' deadly rampage. Hundreds of thousands of increasingly desperate people were searching for bread and water. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken secured an agreement with Netanyahu to discuss creation of a mechanism for delivering aid to the territory's 2.3 million people. But as of Wednesday morning, no humanitarian aid was passing through the Rafah crossing, Gaza's only connection to Egypt, where truckloads of aid have been waiting to enter.
The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 3,200 people have been killed in Gaza and 11,000 wounded. Another 1,200 people across Gaza are believed to be buried under the rubble, alive or dead, health authorities said.
More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly civilians who were slain in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. The assault also resulted in some 200 being taken captive into Gaza. Militants in Gaza have launched rockets every day since, aiming at cities across Israel. Protests erupted across the Middle East. In Amman, a palace statement said Jordan's king condemned "the ugly massacre perpetrated by Israel against innocent civilians." The king "warned that this war, which has entered a dangerous phase, will plunge the region into an unspeakable disaster."
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian called on Muslim nations to expel their Israeli ambassadors and impose an oil embargo on Israel in protest of the blast. With troops massed along the border, Israel has been expected to launch a ground invasion into Gaza. In the meantime, it has kept up steady airstrikes against the territory, even in the southern half of the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli military told fleeing Palestinians to go. A strike on a three-story building in Gaza City on Wednesday killed 40 people and wounded 25 others, survivors said. In the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, an airstrike hit a bakery, igniting a massive fire that killed four bakers, according to witnesses at the scene.
Aid workers warned the situation was growing perilous.
"It's not just that people are going hungry, people are at the risk of starvation," said Alia Zaki, a spokesperson for the World Food Program. "There is a major shortage of essential items that will run out within days."More than 1 million Palestinians have fled their homes — roughly half of Gaza's population — and 60% are now in the approximately 14-kilometer long area south of the evacuation zone, the U.N. said. The Israeli military again called on Palestinians to move out of Gaza City and head south, saying that if aid were to be delivered it would be near the city of Khan Younis in south Gaza.

Riyadh meeting aims to boost GCC-ASEAN strategic cooperation before Friday’s summit
Arab News/October 18, 2023
RIYADH: A meeting on relations between the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations was held on Wednesday at the Al-Faisaliah Hotel ahead of a summit involving the two blocs on Friday. Organized by the Gulf Research Center, the meeting was attended by GCC and ASEAN representatives, members of the business community and journalists. Among the topics discussed were political, security, and economic cooperation. Although the GCC and ASEAN established relations back in 1990, this will be the first summit between the two blocs. Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Uwaisheg, GCC assistant secretary-general for political affairs and negotiations, said: “The timing of this participation is crucial, especially in terms of the events and circumstances the region is going through.” The main goal of this meeting is to boost strategic cooperation between leaders from the Gulf and Asia, he added. “The trade exchange of goods (with ASEAN countries) exceeds $110 billion, representing a high portion of the volume of foreign trade between GCC countries and others,” he said. Abdulaziz Sagr, chairman of the Gulf Research Center, told Arab News that a memorandum of understanding between the Federation of Gulf Chambers and ASEAN will enhance cooperation. “In January of 2024, we will arrange another closed meeting between the Gulf and Asia so that there is a follow-up from the upcoming summit on Friday,” he said. “There is a vast and very real potential that must be exploited. ASEAN occupies an important strategic location between the countries of the Arabian Gulf, the Indian Ocean, countries of Southeast China, and the China Sea.”The Strait of Malacca, located between Indonesia and Malaysia, “is considered the second most important for oil trade after the Strait of Hormuz. This also gives great importance to the logistics for sea traffic and maritime security,” he said. Rommel Romato, charge d’affaires of the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, said the Kingdom and GCC community “have important regional partners such as the United States, China, and Central Asia.” Romato added: “We can say that the GCC is an epicenter of growth and change. There are a lot of changes here not only in the Kingdom but in the neighboring countries. So, this presents a lot of opportunities for everyone — not only for this region but for the world.” He said that the Philippines is equally committed to making the proposed political and economic collaborations a reality. “We want to promote cooperation in trade and investment, healthcare, tourism, and education,” Romato said. He said he appreciated the fact that Saudi Arabia has provided employment to workers from Southeast Asia who need jobs and support for their families. “We are very grateful for that. There is a need to strengthen our security cooperation,” Romato added.

Sisi suggests that Israel move Gazans to Negev, not Sinai
Associated Press/October 18, 2023
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday said his country rejects what he calls efforts to force Palestinians in Gaza to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, warning that such an effort would jeopardize his country’s peace with Israel. Speaking at a joint press conference in Cairo with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, al-Sisi said Wednesday that his government views Israel’s siege on Gaza, including cutting off water, food and fuel and preventing humanitarian aid from flowing into the territory as a scheme to expel the Palestinians to Egypt. “We are rejecting the liquidation of the Palestinian cause and the expulsion of Palestinians to Sinai,” the Egyptian leader said, adding that Sinai would be turned into a launching ground for “terrorist attacks” against Israel, which would in turn blame Egypt for such attacks. He proposed that Israel move the Palestinians to Negev in Israel until it ends “its announced mission” of destroying Palestinian militant groups.

Iran looms over confirmation of U.S. ambassador to Israel
WASHINGTON (Reuters)/October 18, 2023
U.S. President Joe Biden's nominee as ambassador to Israel, former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, was expected ultimately to win Senate confirmation, but Republicans promised he would first face intense questioning about Iran at a hearing on Wednesday. Washington has not had an ambassador to Israel since July, when Tom Nides left the post, and rising concern over the conflict between Israel and Hamas has drawn attention to the vacancy. Lew is due to testify on Wednesday at his Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing, where Republicans promise to probe him closely about a 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran reached during his time in former President Barack Obama's cabinet, who like Biden is a Democrat. Committee aides said they expected Lew would be approved in both the committee and full Senate, with bipartisan support. Senator Ben Cardin, the committee's Democratic chairman, said he thought Lew would be able to handle any questions from Republicans. "The issues the Republicans are going to raise, whether they're Iran or other issues, he has an answer to. So I think he'll do just fine. I have a great deal of confidence in him," Cardin told Reuters. One Republican committee member, Senator Bill Hagerty, wrote on social media, "Jack Lew, Biden’s nom to be USAMB to Israel, was key point man in negotiations & disinfo campaign for Obama’s dangerously flawed deal w Iran." Republicans - and some Democrats - objected to the international nuclear pact, in which Iran agreed to halt its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Before being elected to the Senate, Hagerty was ambassador to Japan for former Republican President Donald Trump, who pulled Washington out of the Iran nuclear pact in 2018. U.S.-Iranian relations have been in the spotlight since Oct. 7, when fighters from the Iran-backed Islamist militant group Hamas stormed through parts of Israel in a shock attack that left 1,300 Israelis dead. The attack prompted fierce Israeli retaliation against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Health authorities in Gaza said at least 3,000 people had been killed in Israel's bombardment, even before about 500 Palestinians perished on Tuesday in a blast at a Gaza hospital. Some Republicans blamed the Biden administration's dealings with Iran, especially the release of $6 billion of Iranian assets in a prisoner swap deal, for the assault by Hamas. Administration officials say Iran has not had access to that money and could only use it for humanitarian purposes approved by the United States. A budget expert, Lew served as chief of staff for Obama before being confirmed as Treasury secretary in February 2013 by 71-26 in the 100-member Senate, with support from both Republicans and Democrats. In the 2013 vote, some of the "no's" came from lawmakers who are still in the Senate and on the foreign relations committee, including ranking Republican Jim Risch as well as Senators Marco Rubio, John Barrasso, Ted Cruz and Tim Scott.

Drone attack on US troops intercepted in Iraq, heightening fears of regional flare-up
Associated Press/October 18, 2023
Two suicide drones launched at a base hosting U.S. troops in Iraq were intercepted Wednesday, a defense official said. Hours later, an Iranian-backed militia in Iraq announced it had launched another drone attack on a second base. No injuries were reported in either incident. The salvos came at a time of increasing tension and fears of a broader regional war in the wake of the latest Hamas-Israel war. Since the beginning of the war on Oct. 7, all eyes have been on Hezbollah, the powerful Hamas ally across Israel's northern border in Lebanon and its formidable arsenal. The group has traded so-far limited strikes with Israel on the border in recent days. But Iranian-backed militias in Iraq have also threatened to attack U.S. facilities over American support for Israel. "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 last Wednesday. He also threatened to launch missiles at Israeli targets. Following Tuesday night's blast that killed hundreds at a hospital in Gaza, the group issued another statement in which it blamed the U.S. and its support for Israel for the catastrophe and called for an end to the U.S. presence in Iraq. "These evil people must leave the country. Otherwise, they will taste the fire of hell in this world before the afterlife," the statement said. No group claimed responsibility for the first drone attack Wednesday. A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment to the press, confirmed the attack and interception but would not say which base was targeted. Tashkil al-Waritheen, another Iranian-backed militia, claimed responsibility in a statement for a second drone attack, which they said had targeted the al-Harir airbase in northern Iraq. U.S. officials did not immediately comment on the claim of a second attack. Also on Wednesday, Iran-allied groups in Iraq announced that they had formed a "joint operations room" to help Hamas in its war effort.
Two officials with Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the issue, said that the armed groups were on alert and prepared to join the battle, but that Iran had not yet given approval for them to open a new front. Leadership figures from some of the factions are now in Lebanon and Syria in case they get orders to proceed, one of the officials said.
Officials with the U.S. embassy in Baghdad declined to comment.

US targets Iran missile, drone programs as UN measures lapse
WASHINGTON (Reuters)/October 18, 2023
The United States took a series of steps on Wednesday to signal that Iran's missile program will remain restricted after the expiration of U.N. Security Council sanctions and to curb Iran's drone transfers to Russia. Russia said on Tuesday that transfers of missile technology to Iran no longer needed Security Council approval as of Wednesday, when the U.N sanctions lapse, without saying whether it now planned to support Tehran's missile development. The U.S. effort to limit Iran's missile and drone programs comes amid renewed American criticism of Tehran for backing Hamas, which carried out an Oct. 7 rampage against communities in southern Israel in which at least 1,300 people died. The expiration of the U.N. sanctions falls under a "sunset" clause of the defunct 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which gave Tehran relief from American, European Union and U.N. sanctions in exchange for limiting its nuclear program. Former U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned that deal in 2018 and restored U.S. on Iran sanctions. While efforts by U.S. President Joe Biden's administration to revive the deal's restrictions on Iran's nuclear program have failed, the U.N. sanctions are still expiring as called for under the deal. The U.S. Treasury Department said it imposed sanctions on 11 individuals, eight entities and one vessel based in Iran, Hong Kong, China and Venezuela that enable Iran's "destabilizing ballistic missile and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) programs." The United States also issued an advisory to businesses designed to prevent dual-use technologies getting to Iranian actors. "These sanctions will exert pressure on Iran's missile and UAV program in addition to constraining Iran's conventional arms transfers and ongoing military relationships with countries like Venezuela and Russia, including Iran's provision of UAVs that Moscow is using against civilian targets in Ukraine," a senior State Department official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity. The State Department also planned to publish a statement from more than 45 countries that committed to countering Iranian missile-related activities via the so-called Proliferation Security Initiative, a program begun during George W. Bush's presidency designed to prevent shipments of weapons of mass destruction. A second U.S. official said that despite U.N. sanctions expiring, "the kind of statements that are coming out of most capitals around the world make clear that Iran and Russia will remain pariahs when it comes to this situation." The Biden administration has faced criticism from U.S. Republicans for a prisoner swap with Tehran just weeks before the Iran-aligned Palestinian militant group Hamas launched deadly attacks on Israel, sparking a major conflict that threatens to engulf the Middle East. Under the September deal, five U.S. citizens detained by Iran were allowed to leave in exchange for the transfer of $6 billion in Iranian funds that had been frozen in South Korea to Qatar. U.S. officials have said that the funds now in Qatar can be spent by Iran only on humanitarian goods. U.S. officials have said they do not have evidence tying Iran to ordering or planning the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, but added that Tehran is complicit because of its long-term support for Hamas.

Russia says it has a 'glaring issue:' More than half of its wounded soldiers are amputees
Natalie Musumeci/Business Insider/October 18, 2023
More than half of Russian troops injured in the Ukraine war have had amputations, a Russian official said. "This is really a glaring issue," said Russian government official Alexey Vovchenko, Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported. Hundreds of thousands of Russian troops have been injured or killed since the start of the war. More than half of the Russian troops wounded in the Kremlin's grinding war against Ukraine are now amputees, according to a Russian government official who called the situation a "glaring" problem. Alexey Vovchenko, the deputy minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation, revealed that roughly 54% of Russian soldiers who were injured in the war and are receiving treatment have had a limb amputated, Russian government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported on Tuesday. "That is, this is really a glaring issue, it's a large number. We don't have such a [high] percentage of amputations among disabled civilians," Vovchenko said at a round table discussion on the rehabilitation of wounded soldiers at the Federation Council, the upper house of Russia's parliament, according to the newspaper. Upper limb amputations account for 20% of the amputations that Russian soldiers wounded on the battlefields in Ukraine have had, Vovchenko noted, Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported. Vovchenko said that an average of three prosthetic and medical care products have been prescribed to injured Russian troops seeking treatment. "These are not only prosthetics, but also wheelchairs of various types, special clothing, and orthopedic shoes," Vovchenko said, according to the newspaper. "The appointments for all the necessary equipment required for individual rehabilitation and habilitation programs are already underway." Roughly 500,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or wounded since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, US officials told The New York Times in a report published in August. The US officials said at the time that Russia's military casualties were nearing 300,000, and included as many as 120,000 deaths and up to 180,000 injuries.

Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 18-19/2023
Biden enriched Iran by more than $50 billion. Here’s how to turn off the spigot
Rep. Darrell Issa and Richard Goldberg/Fox News/October 18/2023
الرئيس بايدن قدم لإيران أكثر من 50 مليار دولار. بهذه الوسائل يمكن إيقاف هبات بايدن لإيران
النائب داريل عيسى وريتشارد غولدبرغ/فوكس نيوز/18/تشرين الأول/2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/123303/123303/
The folly of Team Biden's relentless Iran appeasement has been revealed by the Hamas attacks. It's clear that an anti-Hamas, pro-Iran policy cannot coexist.
The shocking news came just over a week ago, on October 7: Iran’s proxy terror force Hamas had flooded across Israel’s border and within hours had slaughtered hundreds of Israelis.
While the Biden administration was no doubt shocked too, it shouldn’t have been surprised that its relentless appeasement of Iran is now exposed for the folly it is.
Others are noticing as well, which is why Biden is being pressured to re-freeze the $6 billion hostage ransom payment made to Iran last month. A good start perhaps, but it doesn’t address Biden’s months-long Iran sanctions relief campaign totaling more than $50 billion that only emboldened Tehran’s commitment to sponsor terrorism.
Congress should now demand an end to all of it, not just the $6 billion.
Here’s why:
In May, White House Middle East Coordinator Brett McGurk secretly traveled traveled to Oman to pass a message along to Iran: America will pay the Ayatollah’s price to keep Tehran from producing weapons-grade uranium. Later that month, the Sultan of Oman traveled to Iran to broker the deal while the governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) — an institution subject to U.S. sanctions for its role in terror financing — unexpectedly departed for Washington.
With dozens of Americans living in Israel dead at Hamas’ hands, and many more missing or held hostage in Gaza, how can the president of the United States look those families in the eye and tell them it’s in America’s interest to appease the regime that sponsored this massacre?
In June, leaks to Israeli media revealed the extraordinary concessions Biden made to the Ayatollah: Iran would “stop the process of enriching uranium to high levels” in exchange for sanctions relief.
The Biden administration then issued a sanctions waiver to provide Iran with at least $10 billion frozen in Iraq – and allow the money to be deposited in Iranian bank accounts in Oman.
Unnamed officials would soon admit the U.S. had already stopped enforcing oil sanctions on Iran – tacitly approving a million barrel per day increase in exports from Iran to China and generating tens of billions in annualized revenue. By the time the administration authorized the much-discussed $6 billion from South Korea, a full-blown appeasement and enrichment effort towards Iran had been underway for months.
This is why fixating only on the $6 billion obscures how Biden has financed Iran’s nuclear protection racket, emboldened its murderous regime, and enabled the mullahs to focus their resources on destroying Israel, the one country conducting operations to stop Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons.
The Biden message sent to the ayatollah is that the U.S. fears escalation and will pay any price to avoid a direct confrontation. That was a green light for Iran to activate its terror subsidiaries and commence the kind of barbaric slaughter we witnessed last week.
While Biden’s words condemn Hamas’ heinous crimes against humanity, he continues to enrich Hamas’ parent company, Iran. And while Biden is correctly giving Israel the time, space, and resources it needs to prepare for Hamas’ destruction, he’s simultaneously giving Iran the time, space, and resources it needs to rebuild that which Israel destroys.
With dozens of Americans living in Israel dead at Hamas’ hands, and many more missing or held hostage in Gaza, how can the president of the United States look those families in the eye and tell them it’s in America’s interest to appease the regime that sponsored this massacre?
Does the White House still believe it can trust a handshake deal with the ayatollah to stop developing nuclear weapons even after their negotiating partner just sponsored a horrific slaughter?
Put simply, an anti-Hamas policy and pro-Iran policy cannot coexist. Reversing course starts by locking down all funds made available for Iran this year – in Iraq, Oman, and Qatar. It also includes enforcing oil sanctions already on the books, which the White House has refused to do.
With only days remaining before the U.N.’s missile embargo on Iran expires, too, the administration and our European allies should be pressed to immediately trigger the snapback of all U.N. sanctions on Iran.
But after all that has happened, if the White House still won’t shut down its campaign of Iran appeasement, the Congress should show them how.
*Richard Goldberg is senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former National Security Council official. Republican Darrell Issa represents California’s 48th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives where he serves as a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/biden-enriched-iran-50-billion-turn-off-spigot

Israel war: Why wouldn’t Egypt want Gazan refugees?
Haisam Hassanein/Washington Examiner/October 18/2023
As Israel prepares to invade Gaza to destroy the terrorist group Hamas, Jerusalem is calling on civilians living in the coastal enclave to seek refuge in Egypt. Cairo, however, has denied entry to Gazans and has taken additional measures to secure the Egypt-Gaza border. Egypt’s refusal stems from its long-standing concerns about Palestinian resettlement on its territory. But Cairo is missing the big picture: Egypt can better advance its long-term interests by aligning with Israel on the Gaza issue.
Egypt’s approach to the Gaza crisis resembles its policy on past conflicts between Israel and Hamas. The Egyptians have released statements blaming the “Israeli occupation” for provoking Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, calling for a two-state solution, and urging the parties to agree to a ceasefire to allow for deliveries of humanitarian aid. Meanwhile, Egyptian media are mobilizing the public against the Jewish state to distract from Egypt’s economic woes and to boost President Abdel Fattah el Sissi’s waning popularity.
Cairo’s main concern is to prevent a refugee crisis that could spill over to its territory and “liquidate” the Palestinian issue. The Egyptians have long believed that the Jewish state wants to resettle Palestinians in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula as an alternative to the two-state solution. On Thursday, Sissi declared that although his country already hosts 9 million immigrants and foreigners from various countries in the Middle East and Africa, Egypt will not accept Gazans. “It’s important for [Gaza’s] people to stay steadfast and exist on its land,” Sissi asserted.
Cairo also worries that hosting Palestinian refugees could pose a national security threat. Operatives from Hamas and other Gazan terrorist groups could infiltrate by posing as refugees and then launch attacks inside Egypt. Indeed, in the past, Hamas cooperated with the Islamic State to move weapons from Iran and Libya through the peninsula. Previous bloody clashes in Palestinian refugee camps in countries such as Jordan and Lebanon don’t inspire confidence. In addition, if the Palestinian refugees were to attack Israel from Egypt, it could strain Egyptian-Israeli relations and invite Israeli military action on Egyptian territory.
To assuage Egypt’s concerns, Israeli Ambassador to Cairo Amira Oron denied that Israel intends for long-term Palestinian resettlement in Sinai. Instead, Jerusalem seeks to destroy the Hamas terrorist group, which took control of Gaza shortly after Israel withdrew from the enclave in 2005. Gazan refugees will be able to return once the war ends.
Israel hopes that eliminating Hamas will open the door for new possibilities within the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Authority, which briefly ruled Gaza before Hamas seized power, could return. Palestinian politician Mohamed Dahlan, who is backed by the United Arab Emirates, could be another option. On Sunday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas distanced himself from Hamas, perhaps eyeing a post-war settlement. By allowing moderate actors to retake power in Gaza, Hamas’s destruction could facilitate eventual Palestinian-Israeli peace.
In the long term, the destruction of Hamas would bolster not only Israel’s security but Egypt’s as well. Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist movement founded in Egypt that the Sissi regime regards as a threat. Hamas, like various other Islamist groups around the Middle East, has received support from Iran, as well as Egypt’s rivals Turkey and Qatar.
Cairo’s business-as-usual approach fails to appreciate this bigger picture. Egypt would be better off backing Israel’s campaign to destroy Hamas and working with Israel and other friendly countries to devise creative proposals to deal with Gazan refugees and post-Hamas governance in the enclave. For example, Cairo could help facilitate the establishment of a U.N.-sponsored Palestinian government in the Gaza Strip, which could then be rebuilt using Western funds. American diplomats should make these arguments as they engage with their Egyptian counterparts in the weeks ahead.
For Egypt, the crisis in Gaza presents threats but also opportunities. If Cairo is smart enough to seize them, it can bolster Egypt’s security, weaken the influence of destructive regional actors, and help achieve a better life for Palestinians in Gaza.
**Haisam Hassanein is an adjunct fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where he analyzes Israel’s relations with Arab and Muslim countries. Follow him on Twitter @HaisamHassanei1.

Islam or Israel: Which Normalizes the Killing of Women and Children?
Raymond Ibrahim/October 18/2023 
In a recent debate between Piers Morgan and Mohamad Hijab, the former asked his Muslim guest what his reaction was to Hamas’s massacre of Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023.
“I was actually very sickened by it,” responded Hijab. Then, in apparent anticipation of Morgan’s follow up question—whether he, Hijab, condemns Hamas—the Muslim offered what seemed to be his most prepared and rehearsed position:
And this is something I do want to put on the table, because I think it’s fair for people to know this. In our religion we do not believe, okay, as a Muslim, I am a Muslim, I do not believe in the killing of any man, woman, or children—non-combatants. That is not despite the religious teachings; that’s because of the religious teachings. So, in terms of condemning Hamas—and just dropping straight into it—I condemn not only Hamas, but any entity, okay, wherein it has been proven that this has been done—the killing of [non]combatants. And therein I condemn any party that does it. Any party that kills people or strikes at people where it is more probable than not that it will hit a civilian target, I condemn them, and that’s why I condemn the IDF, because when they strike they know that it is more probable than not that they are going to hit civilian targets. They know that the majority of people that are going to be affected are civilians.
This is quite the mouthful and requires correction.
First, while it is true that Islam generically bans the willful targeting of women and children during war (jihad), there have always been a few caveats—which, as usual, trace back to Islam’s prophet, Muhammad.
For instance, Muhammad authorized his followers to use catapults during their siege of the non-Muslim town of Ta’if in 630 AD, though he was aware that women and children were sheltered there. Separately, when asked if it was permissible to launch night raids or set fire to the fortifications of the infidels if women and children were among them, the prophet responded, “They [women and children] are from among them.”
As might be imagined, any and all militant Muslims, past and present—certainly including Hamas—have cited these Muhammadan examples (sunnan) to justify all-out attacks on non-Muslims, even if intermingled non-combatants might get killed. By making the waging of jihad so much easier, one might say that this “exception” to the rule has become the rule itself.
By way of more documentation, below is my 2007 translation of an early and much revered Muslim jurist, Abd al-Rahman al-Awza‘i (707-774 AD), making these same points:
[T]he Prophet besieged the inhabitants of Ta’if and fired at them with catapults, despite his ban on killing women and children. He did so knowing full well that women and children would be struck, for it was not possible to differentiate between them…. [Moreover,] the Prophet was [once] asked whether it was permissible to attack the idolaters in the dark even if this led to their women and children being struck. He [Muhammad] replied: ‘They are from among them.’ He also used to command that if those whom his armies intended to attack agreed to prayer [i.e., embraced Islam], then they were to be left alone, but if not, then they were to be attacked. This is the course that the righteous caliphs followed. And it is well known that whoever follows such a course, bombarding infidels, will inevitably hit their women and children, who are otherwise forbidden from being killed.
“It is well known,” indeed: from the times of Muhammad to the present, Muslim jihadists have followed their prophet’s example—indiscriminately killing countless women and children during their widespread conquests—which, for more than a millennium, included the “West,” or Europe.
Which leads to an even more telling point: Muhammad allowed the killing of civilians and non-combatants during offensive jihads—meaning jihads to conquer and steal the territory of non-Muslim peoples (as at Ta’if)—and not just during defensive jihads, which seems more reasonable. Compare and contrast this with the IDF’s actions: even if it does kill noncombatants, it does so in the context of defending Israel against and trying to root out Hamas.
Put differently, accepting the inadvertent killing of civilians is more logical when one is defending their home—which is what Israel is doing—as opposed to when one is trying to conquer the homes of others—which is what the prophet of Islam and over a millennium of jihadist leaders (or terrorists) did.
In light of all this, and considering that for Mohamad Hijab, “Any party that kills people or strikes at people where it is more probable than not that it will hit a civilian target, I condemn them,” one wonders if he willing to condemn his prophet, who did and normalized precisely this?
As for the rest of us, the lessons remain simple: Islamic teachings take indiscriminate violence and terrorism to a whole other level; and Muslims continue to dissemble about it.

The Israel-Hamas war is the latest proof Russia is a global agent of chaos
Aleksandar Đokić, Political scientist and analyst/Euronews/October 18, 2023
It's not unusual that in times of major crises, analogies are often forced upon us to more easily come to terms with and understand the political reality we live in.
With the world struck by one shock after another in rapid succession in recent years, it's also hardly surprising to see some draw parallels with the run-up to World War II.
Yet, the period of time most resembling our own could be compared to the early stages of the Cold War instead. And this time, Russia, as the only actor on the global geopolitical stage completely hollowed out from any true belief, is an even greater agent of chaos than it ever was in the past.
A menace in a world of partial disorder
The structure of the global order is unwinding, not because democracies in Europe and North America are weaker or less economically influential than they were, but because other regional players have grown in the meantime. In parallel, the institutional framework of the global order is outdated yet remains rigid to our contemporary needs due to clashing visions on the global stage, while no clear victor has yet emerged from the fray.
Some of the major actors outside of the Western democratic world are more rational, desiring economic growth rather than waging wars, and not all of them ascribe to an ideological system that is antagonistic towards the West as a whole.
Russia, unfortunately for the rest of us, is the exact opposite.
For the past two years, there have been three flashpoints all involving Russia: its invasion of Ukraine, the latest Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the bloody incursion of the Hamas' military wing into Israel.
It's putting the concept of state power in front of the well-being of its citizens; framing victory through the lenses of war, instead of economic development; all the while propping its authoritarian regime with an eclectic ideological mashup bound together solely by the belief that Russia is the opposite of the imagined and imaginary West.
Although other Russias did exist, like the strain of liberal thought in Russian culture going back all the way to the 18th century, we are dealing with a particular version of Russia which is highly minacious in a world of partial disorder.
For the past two years, there have been three flashpoints all involving Russia: its invasion of Ukraine, the latest Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the bloody incursion of the Hamas' military wing into Israel.
And as for Israel, it's a weak partner who colluded with the Iranian regime as well as with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, while acting as a meddling influence on the balance of power in the Middle East.
This time, Russia is not the USSR, especially not in terms of ideology, as much as it's willing to toy with the idea whenever it thinks it's useful.
Yet, it was Vladimir Putin whom Netanyahu officially spoke to over the phone after the attack, at the same time refusing an offer from Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a state visit to Israel in its time of need. It can seem confounding, considering that the USSR armed the forces poised to destroy Israel on both occasions its very existence was at stake — the 1967 Six-Day War and the 1973 Yom Kippur War — as a Cold War flex to rattle the US. But this time, Russia is not the USSR, especially not in terms of ideology, as much as it's willing to toy with the idea whenever it thinks it's useful.
Questions over Russia's involvement in bloodshed
At the same time, Iran has been leading the charge in clamouring for war against Israel now — an aggressive stance most Arab countries have meanwhile given up on because of its futility and great cost.
Meanwhile, Russia is undisputably buying weapons for its war against Ukraine from Iran while forging a tenuous alliance with Tehran in Syria, where Moscow intervened to keep Bashar al-Assad’s authoritarian regime in power by any means necessary.
Naturally, questions arose over Russia's possible role in Hamas' attack on 7 October.
Recently, it was uncovered that the Palestinian militants partially financed their operations by purchasing cryptocurrency in Russia in the lead-up to last Saturday's incursion and the resulting atrocities. Millions of dollars were funnelled through Garantex, a Moscow-based crypto exchange, to various extremist groups connected to Hamas.
War in Ukraine: How Russia could use the Israel-Hamas war for its benefit
Beyond that, there is no evidence that the Kremlin actually supplied Hamas or any other extremist group in Palestine with weapons, or that it took part in the planning of any of their operations.
Bullets for Kalashnikovs and conflicting narratives
Moscow, however, does enjoy close political ties to Hamas, seen again just last Saturday when its leadership publically waxed lyrical about Putin, saying it "appreciates Russian President Vladimir Putin's position ... and the fact that he does not accept the blockade of the Gaza Strip." “We also affirm that we welcome Russia's tireless efforts to stop the systematic and barbaric Zionist aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip,” they said in a statement. In another interview with Russia’s state-owned RT in Arabic, a high-ranking Hamas official stated that “Hamas has a license from Russia to locally produce bullets for Kalashnikovs, that Russia sympathises with Hamas, and that it is pleased with the war because it is easing American pressure on it with regard to the war in Ukraine”. Russian bots, on many social platforms, didn’t hold back from supporting Hamas and accusing Ukraine of supporting the “fascists” in the conflict — meaning, Israel.
On their end, Russian officials, state propagandists and organised bots have been peddling various narratives, some contradicting each other.
The Kremlin officials have blamed the US for Hamas’ attack, while not condemning the militants' incursion, especially not in such explicit terms. In fact, Putin himself labelled it "a failure of US policy in the Middle East", while the ever-increasingly toxic former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said it was a part of Washington's "manic obsession to incite conflicts”.
An empire on its deathbed can still cause pain and suffering
Putin talks of Russia as a multicultural paradise to hide his true colonialist colours
The state propagandists supported the same narrative and also added a new one: Russia’s war against Ukraine is much more benign than Israel’s reaction in Gaza.
Russian bots, on many social platforms, didn’t hold back from supporting Hamas and accusing Ukraine of supporting the “fascists” in the conflict — meaning, Israel.
Carving an empire in blood devoid of meaning
Yet on a much larger scale, Moscow's hodgepodge of narratives shows it for what it really is — an agent of chaos, trying to fuel any conflict in the borderlands of the democratic world, all with the goal of apportioning a regional empire for itself.
Russia’s leadership is not interested in peace and it doesn’t work towards it.
Its social media bots and online influencers tell us the tale of the lowest common denominator in Russian society — a revanchist, disgruntled anti-Semite who has given up on his own life and wants to see the entire world crumble down to his level.
The most striking part of it all is that Russia’s leadership doesn’t even have a stable, non-contradictory set of principles or values it adheres to.
Carving out an empire in blood is immanently meaningless when one lacks a higher cause to aspire to, let alone a coherent narrative. The Kremlin, however, has demonstrated time and again it's utterly devoid of that, left completely without a vision, and in the end, barren of any semblance of a soul or empathy for others. And that is what makes it more dangerous and unpredictable than ever — to its neighbours and to the rest of the world.
*Aleksandar Đokić is a Serbian political scientist and analyst with bylines in Novaya Gazeta. He was formerly a lecturer at RUDN University in Moscow.

Hamas Is Known To Use Hospitals, Ambulances, Mosques, Churches And Schools As Shields For Its Military Activity
MEMRI/October 18, 2023
Palestine | Special Dispatch No. 10883
Testimony from previous rounds of fighting in Gaza has indicated that Hamas conducts military activity from within hospitals, mosques, churches and schools, or from areas adjacent to them. This, in order to prevent Hamas' leaders, operatives and weapons from being targeted by Israel, and sometimes also in order to deliberately provoke Israel into attacking these sites.
The following are statements about this from officials, journalists and intellectuals in the Arab world that have been published by MEMRI over the years.
UAE Federal Council Member Dirar Belhoul Al-Falasi: Hamas Fired Rockets From A Hospital So Israel Would Bomb It
Dirar Belhoul Al-Falasi, a member of the UAE's Federal National Council, said in an October 13, 2020 interview on Kwait's Diwan Al-Mulla Online TV: "People from the Red Crescent told us that they built a hospital [in Gaza]... This hospital was for treating Palestinians. People from Hamas fired a rocket from the hospital's roof, so that Israel would bomb this hospital. Just see how low they can go..."
Egyptian-American Writer Magdi Khalil: Hamas Fired Rockets From A Church Where Civilians Were Sheltering; Hamas Leaders Hid In A Hospital
Speaking on an Al-Jazeera TV show amid the 2014 round of fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, American-Egyptian writer Magdi Khalil criticized Hamas' claim to have the moral high ground, saying:
"Is it moral to launch missiles from hospitals, from schools, from bedrooms, from mosques, and from the roof of a church, where thousands of Gazans had found refuge? The church's priest was interviewed on CBN and said: "From the roof of this church, Hamas members are launching missiles at Israel. We welcomed them in our church, but they began launching missiles at Israel from the roof." Is this the moral high ground that my colleague is talking about?!
"Is it moral for Hamas leaders to hide in Al-Shifa Hospital, thus risking the lives of regular people? Is this the moral high ground? They are fleeing like rats, hiding behind patients in Gaza hospitals. Is it moral for Hamas leaders to hide behind these patients?
"They garner sympathy over the corpses of children. This is part of the strategy of the Islamists. They consider sympathy garnered over the corpses of children to be a victory…
"The whole world knows that Hamas does not care about the spirit of humanity. They do not care about the children, about their people, about the losses, about the destruction of their country, or about the number of casualties."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas: Hamas Leaders Fled to the Sinai in Ambulances during the Israeli Campaign in Gaza
In a speech he delivered at the Arab American University in Jenin in October 13, 2009, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas noted that, during the round of fighting between Israel and Gaza in December 2008/January 2009, Hamas leaders had used ambulances to flee Gaza, leaving the populace to do without these emergency vehicles. He said: "When the [Israeli] aggression took place, [Hamas leaders] in Gaza and abroad said: 'We don’t care if Gaza is erased.' They do not care if Gaza is erased. All they care about is that the Hamas movement continue to exist. They said this. Haniya and Mash’al said: We don’t care what happens. Mash’al went even further and said: 'What is happening in Gaza is insignificant and does not affect us.' Then they said that the Hamas movement is alive and well. This was at a time when there were thousands of martyrs from among our people, thousands of wounded from among our people, and tens of thousands of destroyed houses. To this day, 100,000 Palestinians in Gaza are homeless, with no place to live. Yet the Hamas movement is alive and well.
"The Hamas movement was hiding under the domes [of mosques]. The Hamas leaders – and I say this for the first time – fled to the Sinai in ambulances, leaving their people behind to be slaughtered. Then they say: We put up resistance."
Researcher Amjad Taha: Hamas Fired Missiles From The Roofs Of Schools And Hospitals
Researcher Amjad Taha, a regional director at the British Middle East Center for Studies and Research (BMCSR), said in a November 2018 interview on Russia Today that Hamas was launching missiles at Israel from the roofs of schools and hospitals on orders from Qatar and in coordination with Iran, provoking Israel to respond: "What is happening in Gaza now is that Hamas, at the order of Qatar – from which it has just received funds – and in coordination with Iran, is firing missiles from the roofs of schools and hospitals, and then the other side is retaliating against them. They are blood merchants who follow the orders of Iran."
Kurdish-Iraqi Writer: "If The Palestinians Want To Avoid Being Harmed By Israeli Fire, They Should Prevent Hamas From Using Their Homes, Mosques And Schools To Launch Its Terrorist Rockets At Israel"
In his December 4, 2015 column on the liberal website Elaph.com, Kurdish-Iraqi writer Mehdi Majid 'Abdallah stated that Palestinians were harmed by Israeli fire because Hamas was using mosques and schools as launch pads for its rockets. He wrote: "The Palestinian women and children who are killed in the Israeli army's defensive war against Hamas are not killed deliberately. They are collateral damage, for any war has innocent victims… Were it not for the reckless actions of Hamas, which constantly fires rockets into extensive parts of Israel [where] peaceful [people live], there would have been no innocent victims, because Israel's actions are directed against the terrorists…
If the Palestinians want to avoid being harmed by Israeli fire, they should prevent Hamas from using their homes, mosques and schools [as bases from which] to launch its terrorist rockets at Israel."[1]
[1] MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 6030 - Kurdish-Iraqi Writer: The Palestinians Should Extend A Friendly Hand To Israel – April 22, 2015

Saudi Journalists Slam Hamas: It Commits Atrocities, Brings Disaster Upon Palestinians To Serve Iran And Thwart Peace
صحفيون سعوديون ينتقدون حماس: إنها ترتكب فظائع وتسبب كارثة للفلسطينيين لخدمة إيران وإحباط السلام
MEMRI/October 18, 2023
Saudi Arabia, Palestine | Special Dispatch No. 10884
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/123299/123299/
Hamas' October 7, 2023 large-scale terror attack in southern Israel, in which some 1,300 people were murdered and about 200 were abducted, sparked extensive reactions in the Saudi papers, both those published in the kingdom and those published in London. Alongside many articles that came out against Israel and blamed the events on its policy towards the Palestinians and its refusal to make peace with them, there were no few articles that directed harsh criticism at Hamas. Describing the Hamas attack as "suicide" and as "reckless," the articles claimed that Hamas is a fundamentalist organization that brings the Palestinian people nothing but wars and disasters in the service of Iran. Hamas' attack not only failed to benefit the Palestinians, they argued, but will cause enormous harm by bringing about the destruction of Gaza and the death of many Gazan civilians – an outcome that benefits only Iran and its agenda of thwarting Middle East peace. One of the authors attacked Hamas for declaring its "victory," asking: "What sort of victory is achieved over people's dead bodies?"
Some of the articles likened Hamas' attack to Hizbullah's abduction of the Israeli soldiers in 2006, which led to the war in Lebanon that year, a war so devastating that Nasrallah himself said he was sorry he had started it. A senior Saudi journalist wrote that the world has apparently failed to learn the lesson of terror attacks like 9/11, namely that it must not accept the existence of terror organizations.
It should be noted that many Saudi journalists voiced similar opinions on their X (formerly Twitter) accounts, lambasting Hamas and its "immoral," "inhuman" and "unislamic" actions. On this see MEMRI reports: Arab Social Media Users Criticize Hamas Large-Scale Attack: Defacing Corpses, Raping Girls, Abducting Elderly Women Are All Against Islam; Arab Social Media Users Criticize Hamas Large-Scale Attack: Defacing Corpses, Raping Girls, Abducting Elderly Women Are All Against Islam.
The following are translated excerpts from the Saudi articles against Hamas and its recent attack.
Senior Saudi Journalist: We Haven’t Learned From September 11; The West Is Tolerant Toward Hamas, Hizbullah And Iran
In a September 15, 2023 article in Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, senior Saudi journalist Tariq Al-Homayed, formerly the editor of the London-based Saudi daily and currently a columnist for it, wrote, “Have we not learned anything from the events of September 11, the day Islam and the Muslims were taken hostage? Or from our ignoring Iraq on the day the Americans invaded it and it was handed to Iran on a silver platter? Have we learned anything from the 2006 war when Hizbullah soldiers kidnapped Israeli soldiers? Have we learned anything from the destruction of Beirut, which left in its wake more than 1,000 dead Lebanese? Did we not realize the danger inherent in accepting the existence of the militias, especially on the day when [Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan] Nasrallah came out and said, ‘Whoever loves Lebanon should put an end to this war,’ and later added, ‘If I had known what the consequences would be I would not have done it [i.e. kidnapped the soldiers]’?[1]
"The list of 'have we not learned' is long and [also] includes Al-Qaeda and ISIS and what the militias did in Iraq and in Syria, and what the Houthis did in Yemen. Of course, behind it all is the destructive role of Iran. And the answer [to all these questions] is: No one has learned the lessons, despite all this blood and destruction… What is certain is that Hamas has not achieved a thing by means of its [recent] operation, and now the fear is that the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank will be destroyed and the [Palestinian] cause will return not to point zero but to a point below zero…
"It is clear that the militias in the region are now in conflict with the international community, which has long treated them with tolerance and maintained relations with them, [for example] when it viewed Hamas as an [element] that plays by the rules of democracy. This was naive of [former U.S. President George W.] Bush and later of [Barack] Obama. The West – particularly France – was similarly naïve when it turned a blind eye to Hizbullah and regarded it as a [legitimate] Lebanese element. The greatest [example of] naivety is the tolerance of the current American administration toward Iran, which sponsors the militias in the region…”[2]
Saudi Journalist And Author: What Sort Of Victory Is Achieved Over People's Dead Bodies And By Destroying Their Homes?
Saudi Journalist and author Abdo Khal wrote in his column in the Okaz daily: "The first thing Hamas must do is return to the fold of the PLO… because, according to diplomatic norms, it is impossible to support [a force] that splintered off from the PLO, which is the internationally-recognized [ruling party], while the Western countries regard Hamas as a terror organization…
"Even disregarding the fact that Hamas has deviated from the path [of the Palestinian Authority] – and this is not a religious deviation, but [a deviation] from the perception of the struggle – it has formed political alliances based on a terrorist source of authority in many countries, and its struggle, which takes place outside the Palestinian consensus, causes extensive harm to the [Palestinian] people. All the wars [Hamas] has waged on its own against Israel have had devastating outcomes for the Palestinian people, from the death of civilians to the complete destruction of the Gaza Strip…
"It is legitimate to condemn Hamas when it claims to have gained a victory, for what sort of victory is achieved over people's dead bodies and the destruction of their homes and their livelihood? What sort of victory is this, if it destroys the normal lives of the [Gaza] residents, who will have to wait a long time before their lives go back to what they were before the latest war[?] Life was wretched even before this, and now it is much worse…"[3]
Saudi Columnist: Hamas Follows False Lead Of Khamenei; Its Actions Against Israel Cause More Harm Than Good; Diplomacy And Peace Are More Effective
Saudi journalist Majid bin Nwaiser criticized Hamas in an article in the Saudi Makkah daily headlined, "Oh People of Palestine, Isn't There a Single Honest Man among You?": "A brief glance at Hamas' government in Gaza in the last 20 years shows how they keep repeating the same futile actions [against Israel] and hollow statements… These actions may be motivated by political considerations or by [a desire for] revenge, but their horrific implications usually go beyond their original intention…
"The Palestinian factions that are misled by the ambitions of [Iran's leader] Khamenei must assess the cost and benefit of these military operations and analyze their possible outcomes. Although the Palestinian factions have the right to defend their people's rights and to oppose the Israeli occupation, they should be intelligent enough to choose means that will realize their goals. It is legitimate to question the effectiveness of these military operations in achieving the hoped-for change, especially since they result in an escalation of the violence…
"Instead of relying just on military action, the Palestinian factions should act to reinforce the international front and gain international support for the [Palestinian] cause. They can use non-violent and diplomatic means to exert political and economic pressure on Israel and enhance global awareness of their cause and their rights… Non-violent resistance, diplomatic negotiations and international campaigns may be far more effective in achieving their legitimate rights and aspirations. Peaceful strategies can gain them much more support in the international community and strengthen them in seeking justice and self-rule.
"The present [war] does not resemble the previous ones, and it looks like dark days are ahead. Israel has reacted harshly and invaded South Lebanon or the depth of Gaza for much smaller reasons. This time more than 1,000 civilians and soldiers have been killed, abducted and wounded, and even women and children were not spared.
"As usual, Isma'il Haniya issued a recorded message – as is usually done by the members of the resistance [axis like Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan] Nasrallah, the Houthi leader or the promising new face of the [Palestinian] Islamic Jihad, Ziad Al-Nakhaleh – and declared victory, liberation and that the Jews were about to be pitched into the sea. How great is the sin of this corrupt gang, that is manipulating the fate and honor of pure Muslim women. The vengeful Israeli tanks will invade Gaza's neighborhoods, and like every time, the displaced and hungry families will be abandoned to their unknown fate…"[4]
Saudi Columnist: Yahya Sinwar's Calculations Led Him To Start A Reckless, Suicidal Adventure That Will Cause A Humanitarian Tragedy In Gaza
Abdallah Al-Judaya', a columnist for the Saudi daily Al-Watan, wrote on October 16 under the headline "Who Decided on the October 7 Attack?": "All signs indicate that Yahya Sinwar and his close circle were the ones who decided on the October 7 [attack] without even consulting the other political leaders. He wanted to amaze the world with a large-scale operation, and probably thought that this would force [the world] to look at Gaza and notice him.
"He thought that, by capturing as many Israeli hostages as possible, he would force [the Israelis] to negotiate and defend the [Hamas] movement from [Israeli] retaliation. His calculations were a dangerous adventure from the political perspective, almost tantamount to suicide, and they will lead to a humanitarian tragedy in Gaza whose outcomes are still shrouded in the fog of war."[5]
Saudi Journalist: This Is An Iranian Attempt To Destroy The Peace Efforts, Down To The Last Drop Of Gazan Blood
In an October 13, 2023 column in Al-Sharq Al-Awsat titled “Iran Is Squeezing the Blood of the [Palestinian] Cause,” senior Saudi journalist Mishari Al-Dhaidi wrote, “… Iran uses the [spilled] blood of the wretched Palestinians to pad its political and strategic 'savings account'… The Khomeini regime milks the [Palestinian] issue more than anyone else, including in the current Gaza war.
By placing the sacred Palestinian [cause] on the tips of the Iranian lances the leaders in Tehran gain political and propaganda profits and infiltrate the Arab and Islamic arenas… It is all [done] in the name of Jerusalem, but Jerusalem does not profit one bit from this Iranian commotion. On the contrary, it misses political opportunities, the fruits of a peaceful life and the moments [of] tranquility.
“Iran, by means of its [Islamic] Revolutionary Guard [Corps] and the gangs subordinate to it in the Arab world, is the one that destroyed and is still destroying, on a daily basis, the efforts [to promote] the political solutions [whose principles] were approved by the Arabs over and over again, whose essence is [an Israeli] withdrawal to the ’67 borders and the establishment of two states, Israel and Palestine, the increase of pressure on Israel, and the mobilizing of international support in this direction.
“Iran squeezes every last drop of Gazan blood from the sponge of the Palestinian cause. It is Iran that abandoned the Gazans and before them the people of South Lebanon to the talons and teeth of the terrible Israeli force, and did nothing but add fuel to the fire until [it burned] the last Palestinian branch. Neither Israel nor Iran loses anything that cannot be replaced… The only losers are the people of Gaza and the rest of Palestine, as well as the Arab hope for a safe and prosperous future.”[6]
Izz ad-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, represents the essence of the fundamentalist plan of the forces that rebel against peace. After the Arabs witnessed the damage caused to Lebanon in the pointless, futile 2006 war, Hamas is repeating this experience with the wretched residents of Gaza. This is a repeat of that failed experiment… This contempt for the interests of the civilians in Palestine and in Lebanon must cease. Unfortunately, [Hamas] will not stop and will not recognize its mistake until Israel carries out a widescale ‘punitive attack,’ and only then will they understand that reality is stronger than wishes.”[7]
Saudi Journalist: If The Arabs Saw The Horrific Images Of Hamas Attack They Would Understand Israel
In his column in the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Saudi journalist Abdullah Bin Bjad Al-Otaibi strongly condemned the Hamas attack, writing:
"The Hamas unprecedented storming of the Israeli settlements [sic] near Gaza, which were hit by gunmen, UAVs and rockets, will provoke an insane Israeli [reaction], which is currently being prepared. Every action has a reaction, and Hamas, with its own two hands, gave Israel the sword with which to kill it.
"In the course of this attack Hamas committed terrible atrocities and made a big mistake by photographing them and making videos that were then circulated by its members, the attackers, on the Internet… These events happened, were documented and were publicized, [but] most of the Arab media did not show these Hamas videos or even blurred [versions of them]. That was a mistake, because if they had shown them, they would have enabled the viewers and readers to understand [rationally] – not to condone – Israel's unprecedented response and the rapid and effective Western support that it quickly managed to mobilize.
"Hamas leaders, from their luxury hotels in the Gulf, continue to spread their discourse that incites the Arab peoples against their leaders and states, in the service of the external agendas that caused [Hamas] to carry out this foolish action… With this operation Hamas aimed to promote its regional agenda which is hostile to the Arab states – [an agenda that] seeks to undermine the program of normalization and peace and then accuse the Arab states and their leaders of treason, call for chaos [in these states] and bring the leaders of the terror into them…
In the subsequent [three] decades, between 1993 and 2023, the regional enterprises and axes that are hostile to the Arabs [gradually] recovered, and some of them occupied Arab states and took over the decision-making in them by force; international terror – Sunni and Shi’ite – was ignited in them, and organizations and militias proliferated. Hamas took the government hostage in Gaza by means of a coup and the use of force; Hizbullah hijacked Lebanon, and militias emerged, mainly in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Al-Qaeda and ISIS, and their various branches, emerged as well, and then came the disaster of the black and destructive 'Arab Spring'…
"In conclusion, the discourse Hamas leaders direct at the Arab peoples is full of incitement to chaos, terror, rejection of peace and opposition to the [Arab] states' policy and their leaders. At this sensitive juncture, it is best to stick to the path of wisdom and prudence and avoid reckless escapades."[8]
[1] The reference is to remarks made by Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in an interview with the Lebanese Al-Jadeed TV channel on August 27, 2006.
[2] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), September 15, 2023.
[3] Okaz (Saudi Arabia), October 12, 2023.
[4] Makkah (Saudi Arabia), October 10, 2023.
[5] Al-Watan (Saudi Arabia), October 16, 2023.
[6] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), October 13, 2023.
[7] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), October 12, 2023.
[8] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), October 15, 2023.
https://www.memri.org/reports/saudi-journalists-slam-hamas-it-commits-atrocities-brings-disaster-upon-palestinians-serve

Hamas: Genocidal Hatred and Jihad against All 'Unbelievers'
Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute./October 18, 2023
Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, near the Gaza Strip. They murdered hundreds of civilians, took hostages (including children and the elderly), beheaded babies, burned people alive, shot children in front of their parents, shot parents in front of their children, and fired thousands rockets and missiles into a country smaller than New Jersey.
As of this writing, Hamas has killed more than 1,400 people in Israel since October 7; wounded more than 4,200 people, and abducted 199 hostages who were taken to unknown locations in Gaza.
Hamas, a jihadist organization, has a charter that calls for the obliteration of Israel and the extermination of the Jewish people.
Even though there are now no Jews left in the Gaza Strip, that is not enough for Hamas. Backed by Iran, Turkey and Qatar, Hamas is now the main organization perpetrating terrorist attacks on civilian targets throughout Israel. On October 7, Hamas breached Israel's security barrier at the Gaza border with explosives and bulldozers, and thousands of Hamas terrorists poured into Israel, launching a massive war.
Hamas's aggression against Israel is not a squabble over land or "settlements." To Hamas and many Palestinians, the whole of Israel is one big settlement that needs to be ripped up by the roots and eradicated.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian-Arab leadership has rejected offers for a Palestinian state at least six times in the past 90 years, without so much as a counter-offer: in 1937, 1947, 1967, 2000, 2008 and in 2020. All the offers were made by or accepted by the Jews.
The reason for the current Palestinian-Arab statelessness is their own political leaders who have rejected all these offers and instead chosen war and terrorism over peaceful coexistence.
Seventy-five years after the establishment of the State of Israel, Muslim fanatics still hope to destroy it.
"The Koran defines the kafir and says that the kafir is hated (40:35), mocked (83:34), punished (25:77), beheaded (47:4), confused (6:25), plotted against (86:15), terrorized (8:12), annihilated (6:45), killed (4:91), crucified (5:33), made war on (9:29), ignorant (6:111), evil (23:97), disgraced (37:18), cursed (33:60), stolen from (Bukhari 5,59,537), raped (Ishaq 759) and a Muslim is not the friend of a kafir (3:28)." — Dr. Bill Warner, July 17, 2008.
"Christians and Jews are infidels, but infidels are kafirs, too. ....Polytheists are Hindus, but they are also kafirs. The terms infidel and polytheist are religious words. Only the word "kafir" shows the common political treatment of Christian, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, animist, atheist and humanist." — Dr. Bill Warner, July 17, 2008.
Turkey's Islamist government -- and Iran's and Qatar's -- have for years been a lifeline for the Hamas jihadists.
Iran, Qatar and Turkey -- the "heads of the snake" -- must not be allowed to get a pass. They all have to be held accountable. The US should relocate its airbase in Qatar to its real ally, the United Arab Emirates.
Hamas, a jihadist organization, has a charter that calls for the obliteration of Israel and the extermination of the Jewish people. As of this writing, Hamas has killed more than 1,400 people in Israel since October 7; wounded more than 4,200 people, and abducted 199 hostages who were taken to Gaza. Until the root cause of the jihadi slaughters and abuses against non-Muslims is understood, such attacks are likely to continue. Pictured: Hamas terrorists take part in a military parade in Gaza, near the border with Israel, on July 19, 2023 .On October 7, the terrorist group Hamas initiated deadly attacks against Israel.
Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, near the Gaza Strip. They murdered hundreds of civilians, took hostages (including children and the elderly), beheaded babies, burned people alive, shot children in front of their parents, shot parents in front of their children, and fired thousands rockets and missiles into a country smaller than New Jersey (roughly 22,000 km2). As of this writing, Hamas has killed more than 1,400 people in Israel since October 7; wounded more than 4,200 people, and abducted 199 hostages who were taken to unknown locations in Gaza. Hundreds remain missing.
Hamas, a jihadist organization, has a charter that calls for the obliteration of Israel and the extermination of the Jewish people. The US, EU and many other countries have designated Hamas a terrorist organization.
Hamas governs Gaza, where it forcibly expelled the marginally less-extremist Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 2007. Since Israel's unconditional withdrawal in 2005 from Gaza, where Jews had resided for millennia, Israel has suffered significant violence and terrorism by Palestinian Arabs. Less than two years after the Israeli withdrawal, Hamas in 2007 violently seized control of the Gaza Strip, at times tossing PLO members from the top floors of high buildings.
Even though there are now no Jews left in the Gaza Strip, that is not enough for Hamas. Backed by Iran, Turkey and Qatar, Hamas is now the main organization perpetrating terrorist attacks on civilian targets throughout Israel. On October 7, Hamas breached Israel's security barrier at the Gaza border with explosives and bulldozers, and thousands of Hamas terrorists poured into Israel, launching a massive war.
Hamas's aggression against Israel is not a squabble over land or "settlements." To Hamas and many Palestinians, the whole of Israel is one big settlement that needs to be ripped out by the roots and eradicated. Hamas's attacks against Israelis are simply an expression of genocidal hate and violent jihad towards the Jewish people. Dr. Meir Litvak, a senior lecturer at Tel Aviv University's Department of Middle Eastern and African History, noted:
"In many of its publications Hamas employs harsh derogatory descriptions of the Jews, often taken from the Koran, such as 'blood suckers,' 'brothers of apes,' 'killers of the prophets,' 'human pigs,' and warmongers 'the descendants of treachery and deceit,' 'butchers.' They are a 'cancer expanding' in the land of Palestine, 'threatening the entire Islamic world.' They are 'spreading corruption' in the land of Islam. 'Deceit and usury are stamped in their nature,' and they are all 'thieves, monopolists, and usurers.'
"Almost every issue of the Hamas organ, Filastin al-Muslima contains articles enumerating the evil deeds and character of the Jews based on an analysis and exegetes of specific suras (chapters) from the Koran...
"The perception of the conflict as a religious one brings Hamas to advocate jihad (holy war) as the only way to combat the Jews. "
Meanwhile, the Palestinian-Arab leadership has rejected offers for a Palestinian state at least six times in the past 90 years, without so much as a counter-offer: in 1937, 1947, 1967, 2000, 2008 and in 2020. All the offers were made by or accepted by the Jews. Many Palestinians do not really want a state at all: they just want to destroy Israel.
The United Nations, in 1947, proposed a plan to partition the western part of the territory of the British Mandate for Palestine into two sections: an independent Jewish state and an independent Arab state. While Jewish leaders accepted the plan, Arab leaders vehemently opposed it. The day that Israel declared its independence, May 15, 1948, five Arab countries invaded it to try to kill it at its birth: Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.
The reason for the current Palestinian-Arab statelessness is their own political leaders who have rejected all these offers and instead chosen war and terrorism over peaceful coexistence.
Seventy-five years after the establishment of the State of Israel, Muslim fanatics still hope to destroy it. The Center for the Study of Political Islam International notes:
"Regardless of the name of the group -- Hamas, Boko Haram, Islamic Jihad, Islamic State (IS), etc. -- the source for their ideas, including Jew Hatred, and the manual for their actions, is always the same and has been for the last 1400 years - the primary Islamic doctrine, taken from the Koran, Hadith (Mohammed's traditions), and the Sira (Mohammed's biography)."
Here are a few examples from these texts:
"Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from those who were given the Scripture - [fight] until they give the jizyah willingly while they are humbled." (Koran 9:29 Sahih International Translation)
"Verily, those who disbelieved [in the religion of Islam, the Quran and Prophet Muhammad] from among the people of the Scripture [Jews and Christians] and Al-Mushrikun will abide in the Fire of Hell. They are the worst of creatures." (Koran 98:6 Sahih International Translation)
"(Remember) when your Lord inspired the angels... "I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them." (Koran 8:12)
Islamists across the world do not even hide their jihadist aspirations, which, in their view, are divinely sanctioned. According to Robert Spencer:
"One survivor of a Muslim rape gang in the UK said that her rapists would quote Quran to her, and believed their actions justified by Islam.
"The Qur'an teaches that Infidel women can be lawfully taken for sexual use (cf. its allowance for a man to take 'captives of the right hand,' 4:3, 4:24, 23:1-6, 33:50, 70:30)."
On October 7, when a massive pro-Hamas demonstration was held in Istanbul, the participants shouted "Khaybar Khaybar ya yahud". It is the first verse of a jihadist chant and refers to a Muslim massacre of Jews in 628 CE, in the town of Khaybar in northwestern Arabia (now Saudi Arabia), where the army of Islam's prophet Muhammad massacred Khaybar's Jewish population.
The full verse is: "Khaybar Khaybar ya yahud, jaish Muhammad soufa ya'oud." It translates to "Khaybar Khaybar oh Jews, the army of Muhammad will return."
Meanwhile, a jihadist preacher in Turkey, Abu Hanzala (aka Halis Bayancuk), endorsed Hamas's attacks and called for the destruction of the Jews, while referring to them as "apes" and "pigs." The Islamic scriptures do the same.
This murderous hate does not solely target Jewish people. Islamic religious sources largely refer to all non-Muslims (kafirs/infidels) with hate and dehumanization.
Dr. Bill Warner details how Islamic scriptures refer to the "kafir":
"The Koran defines the kafir and says that the kafir is hated (40:35), mocked (83:34), punished (25:77), beheaded (47:4), confused (6:25), plotted against (86:15), terrorized (8:12), annihilated (6:45), killed (4:91), crucified (5:33), made war on (9:29), ignorant (6:111), evil (23:97), disgraced (37:18), cursed (33:60), stolen from (Bukhari 5,59,537), raped (Ishaq 759) and a Muslim is not the friend of a kafir (3:28).
"Christians and Jews are infidels, but infidels are kafirs, too. Polytheists are Hindus, but they are also kafirs. The terms infidel and polytheist are religious words. Only the word 'kafir' shows the common political treatment of Christian, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, animist, atheist and humanist."
Meanwhile, Turkey's Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has endorsed jihad multiple times. After Friday prayers at an Istanbul mosque in October 2019, for instance, Erdogan told the congregants:
"Our God commands us to be violent towards the kuffar [infidels/unbelievers]. Who are we? The ummah [nation] of Mohammed. So [Allah] also commands us to be merciful to each other. So we will be merciful to each other. And we will be violent to the kuffar."
In 2018, Erdogan wrote on Twitter:
"Reminder to Netanyahu: Hamas is not a terrorist organization and Palestinians are not terrorists."
After then US President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in 2017, Erdogan said during a Human Rights Day event in Ankara:
"Those who think they are the owners of Jerusalem today will not even be able to find trees to hide behind tomorrow."
Erdogan was referring to a hadith (a supposedly reported saying by Islam's prophet, Mohammed) about Judgement Day:
"Abu Huraira reported Allaah's Messenger (sall Allaahua layhiwa sallam) as saying: The last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim, or the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him; but the tree Gharqad would not say, for it is the tree of the Jews."
Nazif Yılmaz, Deputy Minister of National Education, wrote on Twitter on October 11, threatening Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu: "One day they will shoot you too. You will die."
Turkey's Islamist government -- and Iran's and Qatar's -- have for years been a lifeline for the Hamas jihadists.
This author reported in January:
"The government of Turkey proudly enables Hamas in its military and financial endeavors. Its terrorists then go on to plot attacks and kill Israelis in an attempt to destroy the Jewish state. Those terrorists enjoy the privilege of Turkish citizenship, adopting Turkish names, traveling internationally with their Turkish passports, opening Turkish bank accounts, operating under the cover of Turkish companies or offices, and laundering millions of dollars. Hamas leaders are received by Turkey's president in official meetings before the eyes of the whole world and speak at congresses of Turkey's ruling party."
Islamists cannot seem to stomach the fact that Jews, who according to Islamic scriptures are supposed to be dhimmis (second class, "tolerated" subjects of an Islamic state) only, now once again have a sovereign state in their ancestral homeland of Israel and are capable of self-defense.
That is the main stance of political Islam towards Jewish statehood and sovereignty. Political Islam has the same supremacist and hateful view towards other non-Muslims. It is thus of vital significance to address and speak about the source of violent jihad: the Islamic political doctrine.
As the Center for the Study of Political Islam International also points out, once it is understood, potential future attacks and massacres can be predicted, and effective measures taken to ensure everyone's safety. At this time, however, the doctrine is not yet known by enough people. Perhaps many people think it must be similar to other religions, only in Arabic.
The main problem, therefore, is that until the root cause of the jihadi slaughters and abuses against non-Muslims is understood, these attacks are likely to continue and be justified by people who may not know what they are talking about, but do not know that they do not know.
Iran, Qatar and Turkey -- the "heads of the snake" -- must not be allowed to get a pass. They all have to be held accountable. The US should relocate its airbase in Qatar to its real ally, the United Arab Emirates.
Hamas is a problem not only for Israelis and Jews. Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks said: "The hate that begins with Jews never ends with Jews." Hamas is part of a problem of global jihad that threatens innocent human lives everywhere, as well as civilization's cultural and intellectual diversity.
As Andrew McCarthy, author and prosecutor of the "Blind Sheikh," Omar Abdel Rahman, who planned the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, put it: "Jihadist war against Israel: It is the reason Hamas exists."
Uzay Bulut, a Turkish journalist, a research fellow for the Philos Project, and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
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