Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 24-25/2023
The 40th Anniversary of the Tragedy of the Bombing of American and French Forces' Headquarters in Beirut in 1983/Elias Bejjani/October 23, 2023
The Beatification of Maronite Patriarch Estephan Douaihy... A Testament of Faith for Lebanon/Elias Bajani, October 22, 2023
Macron, Israeli leaders warn Hezbollah against joining war
Israeli drone bombs car on Lebanon border as missile fired at Galilee
Jumblat says Bassil playing an 'important role'
Bassil from Ain el-Tineh: All Lebanese do not want war
Prime Minister, Army Commander pay surprise visit to South Lebanon: We’re here to affirm Lebanon’s respect for all resolutions of international...
Mikati visits South, says Lebanon committed to 1701
Islamic Resistance mourns Najib Muhammad Ali Zahr from southern Lebanon
Islamic Resistance mourns another martyr from southern Lebanon
Israeli army shell outskirts of Houla and Mays al-Jabal
Abiad meets ambassadors of Bulgaria and Pakistan
UNRWA warns it will stop activities on Wednesday in Gaza if not supplied with fuel
Is Hezbollah heading towards open conflict with Israel?
UN’s Wronecka delivers statement marking UN Day, says high time for strengthening national unity to face challenging times for Lebanon
Survivors of 1983 Beirut attack horrified by Mideast violence
40 years after Beirut bombing, US troops again deploy in Middle East
Crisis-wracked Lebanon braced for worst case scenarios as Israel-Hezbollah clashes intensify
Lebanese PM visits troops at border with Israel while Saudi Arabia evacuates families of diplomats
Washington Rejects Threats from Iran, Hezbollah to Drag Lebanon into New War
Hezbollah’s threats to Israel harm Christian Lebanese villages
Washington Rejects Threats from Iran, Hezbollah to Drag Lebanon into New War
LACC denounces the targeting of civilians, and the targeting of civilians., Uphold the obligations of the International Humanitarian Law,

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published  on October 24-25/2023
Israel strikes Syrian army assets after rocket launches, Israeli military says
UN Palestinian refugee agency calls for unimpeded flow of aid to Gaza
On United Nations Day, UNIFIL urges parties to cease fire
US Treasury seeking coalition against Hamas financing: official
UN Palestinian refugee agency calls for unimpeded flow of aid to Gaza
Saudi crown prince, Biden discuss ways to stop Israeli military operations in Gaza
Iranian Militias Deploy Hundreds of Members Near Syrian-Israeli Border
Gaza Health Ministry announces collapse of health system
Israel sees Gaza ground invasion inevitable, insists no US veto
Washington warns Iran as doubts grow about Israel's abilities in Gaza war
In Israel, France’s Macron proposes anti-ISIS coalition against Hamas
France’s Macron Says He Stands in Solidarity with Israel’s Fight Against ‘Terrorism’
Emirati president and Canadian foreign minister discuss need to protect civilians in Gaza
US prepares to evacuate 600,000 Americans from Israel
Iran makes two moves, US carriers shift, and today China rules the Gulf
Israel increases strikes on Gaza, as two more hostages are freed
Israel relayed to Russia 'dissatisfaction' over its Hamas position as rift widens
Gaza displaced show signs of disease from crowding, poor sanitation - doctors
Qatar becomes a key intermediary in Israel-Hamas war as fate of hostages hangs in the balance
Live updates | Israel escalates its bombardment in the Gaza Strip
Turkey's finance chief Simsek embarks on third Gulf trip

Titles For The Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published  on October 24-25/2023
The Regional Dimension of the Tragedy In Gaza/Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al-Awsat/October 24/2023
On Confronting Both Hamas and Netanyahu/Nadim Koteich/Asharq Al-Awsat/October 24/2023
The Israel-Gaza war appears to be seesawing between two possibilities/Raghida Dergham/The National/October 24/2023
The European Union Rewards Terrorism/Robert Williams/Gatestone Institute/October 24, 2023
Why Egypt won’t open the border to its Palestinian neighbors/Opinion by Ghaith al-Omari and David Schenker/CNN/October 24, 2023
‘Muhammad’ Is Taking Over the World/Raymond Ibrahim/October 24, 2023
Netanyahu and Biden offer terrorists all they ever dreamed of/Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/October 24/2023

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published  on October 24-25/2023
The 40th Anniversary of the Tragedy of the Bombing of American and French Forces' Headquarters in Beirut in 1983
Elias Bejjani/October 23, 2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/123452/123452/
Today, with sorrow, sadness, and prayers, we remember the 40th anniversary of the tragic bombings carried out by Iranian-backed extremist groups, affiliated with what is known as "Hezbollah," at the headquarters of the American and French forces in Beirut in 1983.
October 23, 1983, was a somber day in the history of Lebanon and the United States, in what concerns our dedicated efforts as Lebanese and free, sovereign Americans towards peace in the Middle East.
On that dad morning, suicide bombers ideologically recruited and backed by the Iranian regime, operating under the banner of "Hezbollah," carried out twin terrorist attacks on the American and French military headquarters in Beirut. The attacks resulted in the deaths of 241 American and 56 French soldiers, as well as a significant number of Lebanese civilians.
As we remember that tragic event, we must shed light on the criminal and terrorist role of the Iranian regime, not only in the Middle East, but also in all free nations around the world. We should not forget the real and dire threats to peace and stability that Hezbollah represents in our region in general, and specifically in our beleaguered and occupied Lebanon.
The responsibility of the Iranian regime for the 1983 bombings was never in doubt, given the compelling evidence that condemns its leadership and holds them accountable for that horrendous act of terrorism. This bloody and terrorist regime founded Hezbollah in 1982. It funds and trains its fighters, and exercises complete control over its decision making process. The 1983 terrorist bombing also reminds us of Iran's use of its militias and terrorist proxies, particularly Hezbollah, to achieve its ideological, expansionist, and criminal goals in all free nations around the world.
The heinous bombings by the Iranian regime in Beirut in 1983 exposes its disregard for human life and universal values, as well as its absolute refusal to adhere to international standards and laws in a bid to promote its disruptive agenda and its scheme in undermining peace and stability.
We must remember that Hezbollah, the military proxy of Iran, occupies Lebanon and controls its governance and decision-making process since 2005. It is an extremist, militia-style terrorist organization with a long history of murder, criminal activities, money laundering, assassinations, and illicit trade. The 1983 bombings were not isolated incidents, but part of Hezbollah's ongoing pattern of terrorism in service to Iran's agenda.
We must also note that all aggressive actions by the Iranian regime, directly or through Hezbollah, or its other military proxies in Syria, Gaza, Yemen, and Iraq, destabilize peace and stability in the entire Middle East, while innocent citizens in these countries suffer the consequences of its expansionist, authoritarian, and sectarian schemes.
Meanwhile, The Iranian regime's pursuit of nuclear capabilities, support for armed terrorist groups, and interference in the internal affairs of neighboring countries, poses serious and significant threats to the region's stability and peace.
In conclusion, the Middle East in particular, and the world in general, will not know peace and stability until the criminal and terrorist Iranian regime is toppled, in a bid to allow the peace-loving Iranian people to govern themselves through democratic means.
On the 40th anniversary of the Bombing of American and French Forces' Headquarters in Beirut in 1983, we offer our heartily felt prayers for the souls of American and French soldiers, and  for the souls of all the innocent Lebanese citizens who lost their lives in the bombing.

The Beatification of Maronite Patriarch Estephan Douaihy... A Testament of Faith for Lebanon
Elias Bajani, October 22, 2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/123408/123408/
We thank the Lord for His spiritual gifts and blessings bestowed upon the Maronite believers, represented by the clergy and monks. We joyfully and reverently thank Him for the grace of beatifying Maronite Patriarch Douaihy in the Vatican on the past Thursday, October 19, 2023, adding him to the ranks of the saints in our Maronite Church. These saints include:
Saint Maron, the Father of the Maronite Church
Saint John Maron, the first Patriarch of the Maronite Church
Saint Jacob, a disciple of Saint Maron
Saint Simeon Stylites the Elder, a disciple of Saint Maron
Saints Cyra and Marana, disciples of Saint Maron
Saint Domnina, a disciple of Saint Maron
The 350 Maronite Saints
Saint Marina of Qannoubine
Saint Sharbel Makhlouf, the Lebanese Maronite monk
Saint Rafqa Al Rayess, the Lebanese Maronite nun
Saint Nimatullah Kassab, the Lebanese Maronite monk
Blessed Maronite Martyrs Francis, Abd El-Moati, and Raphael
Saint Charbel Makhlouf
Saint Thérèse
Saint Maroun
And many more.
The beatification of Patriarch Douaihy is a significant historical moment for our Church, our people, and our faith values. It symbolically affirms the sanctity of his life and his contribution to the Church and society, prompting the Maronite people to return to the wellsprings of faith and emulate the lives of the saints.
To understand the importance of beatification, one must recognize the role of saints in Christian teachings and traditions. Saints are individuals who lived exemplary Christian lives, and their sanctification is a recognition of their virtuous deeds and the examples they set for Christians. Our Church believes that saints act as intermediaries between people and God, responding to prayers and requests made to them. We witness the wonders of Saint Charbel, which are countless in Lebanon and most parts of the world.
As a brief historical reminder, the Maronites trace their origins back to the 5th century when they separated from the Eastern Church and became an independent Church. The Maronite Patriarchate and the Maronites are integral to the fabric of Lebanese identity and heritage.
While the Maronite Church is a part of the Western Catholic Church, it retains its distinct traditions and rituals.
In conclusion, the beatification of Maronite Patriarch Douaihy is a tribute to the Maronite Church, a reflection of the rich history of the Maronites deeply rooted in the land of Lebanon, a testament to holiness and the saints.
Patriarch Douaihy's beatification elevates the status of the Maronite community and underscores the deep devotion of its followers. It is a moment of admiration and respect for every believer, emphasizing the importance of reevaluating Maronite Christian history, identity, and faith.
The beatification of Maronite Patriarch Douaihy brings hope, renewal, and a sense of purpose to the Maronites and all Lebanese, reminding them of the significance of dedicated service to faith, Christian values, Lebanon's essence, identity, history, and sanctity.

Macron, Israeli leaders warn Hezbollah against joining war
Naharnet/October 24, 2023
French President Emmanuel Macron who visited Israel on Tuesday said Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran itself and the Houtis in Yemen, among others, must not take the risk of opening a new front. Macron said he warned “potential terrorist groups" to stay out of the fight, and “clearly warned Hezbollah with direct messages.”The French president aims to continue efforts “to avoid a dangerous escalation in the region,” the Elysee said, amid border tension between Israel and Hezbollah. During his meeting with Macron, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that Israel warned Iran is "playing with fire" in Lebanon.
"If Hezbollah will drag us into war, it should be clear that Lebanon will pay the price. Lebanon cannot be a sovereign member of the international community, its citizens carrying a Lebanese passport, but when it comes to attacking Israel, they are not responsible," Herzog said. Macron later met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who warned Hezbollah from joining the conflict, saying the group has embedded itself among the civilian population in Lebanon much as Hamas has done in Gaza.
Macron is due to meet with Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid and now-minister in the emergency war cabinet Benny Gantz. He will also travel to the West Bank to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. There will also probably be exchanges with King Abdullah II of Jordan, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and leaders of Gulf nations, the Elysee said.

Israeli drone bombs car on Lebanon border as missile fired at Galilee
Naharnet/October 24, 2023
Israel on Tuesday said a guided missile was fired from Lebanon at the northern Israeli region of the Galilee, as an Israeli drone bombed a car near Lebanon’s border, reportedly foiling an attack. “A guided missile has been fired from Lebanon at the Shtula settlement in the Galilee,” an Israeli army spokesman said. “The army carried out a drone strike to foil the launching of missiles from Lebanon,” Israeli reports meanwhile said. Al-Jadeed television said an Israeli airstrike reportedly targeted a car on the outskirts of the Lebanese town of Yaroun. MTV said the strike killed a Hezbollah member and wounded another, drawing the attack on Shtula. Al-Manar TV had earlier reported that the Misgav Am Israeli post was heavily firing machinegun shots at open Lebanese areas south of Adaisseh after suspecting the presence of hostile elements. LBCI television for its part said the Lebanese Red Cross and the Lebanese Army, in cooperation with UNIFIL, evacuated a wounded man and the body of another from an area between Kfarshouba and the Bustra Farm. Hezbollah meanwhile announced Tuesday the death of four more of its fighters in the clashes with the Israeli army that have been ongoing in a limited manner since October 8 -- the day that followed Hamas' surprise attack on Israel and the eruption of a major war on the Gaza Strip.

Jumblat says Bassil playing an 'important role'
Naharnet/October 24, 2023
Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat on Tuesday said that Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil is playing an “important role,” in reference to the FPM chief’s meetings with the country’s leaders. “The meeting with Speaker Nabih Berri was excellent, Prime Minister Najib Mikati is carrying out a major role and Bassil is playing an important role,” Jumblat said from the headquarters of the Druze spiritual council. “The ground attack on Gaza might have repercussions on Lebanon, that’s why I communicated with Hezbollah so that we don’t get dragged into the war, which is underway in the South, but we call for refraining from expanding its zone,” Jumblat added. “But the matter does not only hinge on Hezbollah, seeing as we don’t know what Israel wants,” the ex-PSP chief warned.

Bassil from Ain el-Tineh: All Lebanese do not want war
Naharnet/October 24, 2023
Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil met Tuesday with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh as part of a tour over the military developments in south Lebanon and Gaza. "It's time for accord, not for confrontation," Bassil said after the meeting, as he called for a swift election of a president. Bassil had met Monday with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat. He also spoke by phone to Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. The tour, according to Bassil, aims at "protecting Lebanon" and "reinforcing national unity."
"All Lebanese agree that they do not want war," Bassil said. "But if they attack us, we have the right to defend ourselves," he added. After meeting Jumblat Monday, Bassil said that the situation requires a national accord in order to protect the country. Jumblat for his part said he agrees with Bassil that the Lebanese should unite in order to avoid war. Meanwhile MTV reported that the opposition MPs will decide in a meeting Tuesday how they will deal with Bassil's initiative and how they will meet with him.
There has been widespread speculation as to whether and under what circumstances Hezbollah and its arsenal of an estimated 150,000 rockets and missiles would fully enter the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. The ongoing clashes on the border and anxieties about a wider conflict have internally displaced 19,646 people in Lebanon.

Prime Minister, Army Commander pay surprise visit to South Lebanon: We’re here to affirm Lebanon’s respect for all resolutions of international...
NNA /October 24, 2023
Caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, on Tuesday affirmed that “the Lebanese Army is the pillar of the country’s national structure,” noting that “all eyes are directed today towards the Lebanese Army — whether internally or externally.” The Prime Minister’s words came during a surprise visit he paid to South Lebanon earlier on Tuesday in the company of Army Commander, General Joseph Aoun. The pair inspected the Western Sector in the southern region and closely followed up on the latest developments, as well as on the tasks that the Lebanese Army has been carrying out in cooperation with UNIFIL forces. The pair also inspected UNIFIL’s Naqoura-based headquarters and met with UNIFIL Commander, Major General Aroldo Lazaro. “We’re here on a visit to our beloved south, which is paying today the price of defending the entire nation against a usurping entity that knows no mercy. We’re here to affirm Lebanon’s respect for all resolutions of international legitimacy and its commitment to implementing UN Security Council Resolution No. 1701.”Mikati went on to praise UNIFIL’s role in maintaining stability in south Lebanon “in full cooperation and coordination with the Lebanese Army.”Mikati denounced “using the logic of force in the face of what’s deemed righteous,” calling for a return to the Charter of the United Nations and the Charter of Human Rights. The Prime Minister expressed his deep appreciation for “the army’s sacrifices in defense of Lebanon, especially in light of the current exceptional conditions along the southern border and the repeated attacks by the Israeli enemy.” “Our choice is peace and our culture is that of peace based on truth, justice, the international law, and the United Nations resolutions,” Mikati concluded.  In turn, the Army Commander stressed that “defending Lebanon is a natural and legitimate duty in the face of the looming dangers, most notably the Israeli enemy.”“The military establishment is following up on developments along the southern border,” the Army Commander said, pointing to "the Army’s solid will and its belief in the sanctity of it mission without hesitation.”General Aoun pointed out "the necessity of continuing close coordination between the army and UNIFIL within the framework of International Resolution 1701."

Mikati visits South, says Lebanon committed to 1701
Naharnet/October 24, 2023
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati made a surprise visit Tuesday to restive south Lebanon, whose border area has been witnessing deadly clashes between Israel and Hezbollah for the past 16 days amid Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“We came to our dear South -- which is paying the price of its defense of the entire country in the face of a usurper and merciless entity -- to stress Lebanon’s respect for the international legitimacy resolutions and commitment to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701,” Mikati said during the visit. While in the South, the premier inspected Lebanese Army troops and UNIFIL forces, accompanied by Army Commander General Joseph Aoun. Stressing his “deep appreciation of the army’s sacrifices in defense of Lebanon,” Mikati also emphasized “UNIFIL’s role in preserving the South’s stability in cooperation and full coordination with the army.”“In these difficult circumstances, we came to the South to salute the army and express our appreciation of its efforts and sacrifices in defence of the country, land and people,” Mikati added. “Our choice is peace and our culture is a culture of peace based on right, justice, international law and the U.N. resolutions,” he said.

Islamic Resistance mourns Najib Muhammad Ali Zahr from southern Lebanon
LBCI/October 24, 2023
The Islamic Resistance has mourned its martyr, Najib Muhammad Ali Zahr, known as “Jawad," from the town of Beit Yahoun in southern Lebanon.

Islamic Resistance mourns another martyr from southern Lebanon
LBCI/October 24, 2023
The Islamic Resistance has mourned its martyr, Hassan Saeed Naeem, “Alaa,” from the town of Selaa - southern Lebanon.

Israeli army shell outskirts of Houla and Mays al-Jabal
LBCI/October 24, 2023
The Israeli army has shelled the outskirts of the towns of Houla and Mays al-Jabal.

Abiad meets ambassadors of Bulgaria and Pakistan
LBCI/October 24, 2023
The caretaker Health Minister Firas Abiad met with the Bulgarian Ambassador to Lebanon, Iassen Tomov. They discussed the healthcare sector and ways of cooperation between the two countries, Bulgaria and Lebanon, to support the Ministry of Public Health efforts, especially in the emergency plan. Abiad also met with the Ambassador of Pakistan to Lebanon, whereby they discussed the Lebanese healthcare situation and ways of Pakistani support for the Ministry of Public Health. Moreover, Abiad toured the operations room for health emergencies, explaining the ongoing efforts and the working mechanisms to both ambassadors.

UNRWA warns it will stop activities on Wednesday in Gaza if not supplied with fuel
LBCI/October 24, 2023
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) warned on Tuesday that it would be forced to stop operating in all parts of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday if it is not supplied with fuel. UNRWA also stated on its website, "If we do not obtain fuel urgently, we will have to cease our operations in the Gaza Strip starting from tomorrow night."

Is Hezbollah heading towards open conflict with Israel?
Agence France Presse/October 24, 2023
Cross-border exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah have been gaining pace. But does the powerful Lebanese movement really seek to enter open conflict with Israel? Hamas militants stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, killing at least 1,400 people, according to Israeli officials. Israel's retaliatory bombing campaign has killed more than 5,000 Palestinians, mainly civilians. As Israel and Hezbollah trade near-daily cross-border fire, AFP looks at the group's support for Hamas, its capabilities and whether the Shiite Muslim movement really seeks to open a new front against Israel from southern Lebanon.
- Why does Hezbollah support Hamas? -
Since the Hamas attack, tit-for-tat cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah has been relatively contained -- part of a delicate balancing act at the border. Some 41 people have been killed on the Lebanese side, according to an AFP tally, mostly combatants but including four civilians, one of them Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah. Four people have been killed in Israel, including three soldiers and one civilian. In 2006, Israel and Hezbollah fought a bloody conflict which left more than 1,200 dead in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 in Israel, mostly soldiers.
Hezbollah and Sunni Muslim group Hamas have long been part of a "joint operations room" that includes the Quds Force -- the foreign operations arm of Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps -- a source close to Hezbollah previously told AFP on condition of anonymity. The groups are part of the so-called "axis of resistance" -- Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian and other Iran-backed armed opposition to Israel. Michael Young from the Carnegie Middle East Center said Hezbollah supported Hamas because ideologically they are "on the same wavelength in their opposition to Israel".
The "axis of resistance" has always tried to highlight that it is not simply a Shiite Muslim arrangement, he said, and "Hamas plays a significant role in giving this a cross-sectarian identity". "Hamas is at the heart of the Palestinian issue, which is very much part of Hezbollah and Iran's revolutionary identity," Young added.
What are Hezbollah's capabilities? -
Hezbollah is Lebanon's most prominent political and military player, with an arsenal including guided missiles that is considered more powerful than Lebanon's national army.
Tehran provides Hezbollah with financial and military support, while neighboring Syria -- where the group has been fighting on the side of President Bashar al-Assad for years in his country's civil war -- facilitates the transfer of weapons. Since the end of the 2006 conflict, Hezbollah has not had a visible military presence on Lebanon's southern border, which is patrolled by United Nations peacekeepers. However, experts and reports say the group has positions, hideouts and tunnels in the area, whose territory its members know intimately. In October 2021, Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said his group had 100,000 armed fighters at its disposal, and the movement enjoys broad popular support in southern Lebanon. For years, Nasrallah has boasted that his group's weapons could reach deep into Israeli territory. In August, he said it would take just "a few high-precision missiles" for Hezbollah to destroy Israeli targets including "civilian and military airports, airbases, power stations" and the Dimona nuclear facility.
Will Hezbollah go further? -
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Hezbollah would make "the mistake of its life" if it started a war with Israel. Analysts previously told AFP that an escalation could hinge on an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza. Imad Salamey, a political analyst from the Lebanese American University, said Hezbollah could escalate its attacks but also "doesn't want to distract attention from the ongoing conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis". Carnegie's Young said Hezbollah's activities aimed to draw Israeli forces away from Gaza so the military push there "would be stalled or thwarted".
"Alternatively, they (Hezbollah) want to create such fear of a regional conflagration that there will be pressure at the United Nations, maybe this time supported by the United States, to call for a ceasefire," he added. Both Young and Salamey expressed doubt that Iran would let Hezbollah enter into full-blown confrontation with Israel simply to ease pressure on Hamas. "I don't think that Iran wants to sacrifice Hezbollah, and I don't think it considers this a necessity," Young said. "Hezbollah can enter the battle within a certain contained limit," he added.

UN’s Wronecka delivers statement marking UN Day, says high time for strengthening national unity to face challenging times for Lebanon
NNA/October 24, 2023
As the UN marks its 78th anniversary, UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka today said the organization is strongly committed to supporting Lebanon safeguard its security and stability as the Middle East region faces one of the most critical times in decades. The Special Coordinator recalled that the primary objective of the 193-member United Nations as enshrined in the UN Charter is to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. “Sadly, the risks to peace and security are rising for Lebanon and the region, but we should never give up on the prospects of peace and of promoting a more sustainable future for the people of Lebanon,” the Special Coordinator said. Noting with deep concern the continuing exchanges of fire across the Blue Line, the Special Coordinator appealed for de-escalation, a halt to the violence and restoration of calm in the area. “It is more urgent than ever for hostilities to cease and for Security Council Resolution 1701 to be implemented in its entirety,” she said. The Special Coordinator said the United Nations, with its 26 different UN agencies, funds and programmes in the country, had increased its support to Lebanon during the past few years in response to mounting challenges. These efforts cover the whole spectrum of the UN’s political and peacekeeping work, development efforts, humanitarian support and respect for human rights, in an approach that is inclusive and focused on leaving no one behind. While the UN is currently coordinating with Lebanon the emergency and preparedness plans, active efforts are also underway in coordination with international partners to help protect Lebanon from conflict and safeguard its security and stability. The concerted international efforts notwithstanding, the Special Coordinator said sustainable peace can only come from within. “This is the time for strengthening national unity and collective solidarity to face these challenging times for Lebanon,” she said. “The best way to do so is by strengthening and fortifying the country’s state institutions, including with the election of a new President without further delay,” she said.
The Special Coordinator emphasized that the best way to mark the UN day in turbulent times is to translate the values of the Charter into action. She reiterated the recent call by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for “action to build a future worthy of the dreams of the children of the region and our world”.
With a commitment to Lebanon’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, stability and development, the Special Coordinator reiterated the UN’s resolve to continue supporting Lebanon and the Lebanese people.

Survivors of 1983 Beirut attack horrified by Mideast violence
Agence France Presse/October 24, 2023
On October 23, 1983, attacks on French and U.S. troops in Lebanon's capital Beirut left hundreds dead -- 40 years on, survivors are horrified at today's upsurge in violence. "What's going on now in the Middle East just stirs up all those memories," said Eric Mohamed, a former French soldier. He was just 20 when the Drakkar, the hotel housing French troops, was razed to the ground. Fifty-eight died, and Mohamed was among 15 survivors. Moments earlier, he and his colleagues had heard a massive explosion elsewhere in the city and gone to the balcony to look -- it was an attack on a U.S. base that killed 241. "We barely had enough time to turn around and 'boom', it was our building that was blown up," Mohamed recalled at a memorial ceremony in Paris on Monday. In Beirut, the U.S. and French ambassadors laid a wreath at the U.S. embassy's memorial for those who were killed. "Today, we reject, and the Lebanese people reject, the threats of some to drag Lebanon into a new war," U.S. ambassador Dorothy Shea said in comments posted on the embassy's website. Israel is involved in a brutal conflict with Hamas in Gaza, and tension has been rising with Lebanon-based Hezbollah. Hamas militants stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, and reportedly killed 1,400 people including civilians. More than 5,000 Palestinians, mainly civilians, have been killed across the Gaza Strip in relentless Israeli bombardments in retaliation for the attacks. For many of the survivors of the 1983 attacks, the pain of four decades refuses to ease -- intensified by outstanding questions over what happened that day.
- 'Wound never healed' -
The official explanation from both Paris and Washington was that Hezbollah, working to the orders of its paymasters in Iran, carried out the attacks using truck or car bombs. Mohamed doesn't buy it. "From the fourth floor, I had a view of the entrance to the garage just a few meters away, and I can tell you that no car bombs entered the site," he said. He is not alone in doubting the official account. Plenty of those involved with the official association for survivors and families of the Drakkar attack believe the building was mined by Syria's secret service, which had occupied it shortly before the French. And families continue to get new information, questioning why they have never received a full and clear account of the day's events. Annick Devaast, whose older brother Patrick was killed in the attack, said she had only just learned that her brother had called for help for two hours before he died. "The silence has lasted 40 years, it's unacceptable," she said at the ceremony in Paris. Likewise Pierre-Yves Lepretre, whose brother Dominique also lost his life at the Drakkar, said he had never had an explanation. "We received a coffin and that was it," he said. "We have a lot of questions and we've never had answers. The wound never healed."

40 years after Beirut bombing, US troops again deploy in Middle East
Associated Press/October 24, 2023
Forty years after one of the deadliest attacks against U.S. troops in the Middle East, some warn that Washington could be sliding toward a new conflict in the region. On Oct. 23, 1983, a suicide bomber hit an American military barracks at Beirut International Airport, killing 241 U.S. service members, most of them Marines – still the deadliest attack on Marines since the World War II Battle of Iwo Jima. A near-simultaneous attack on French forces killed 58 paratroopers. Washington blames the bombings on Hezbollah, a claim the group denies. The U.S. and French forces were in Beirut as part of a multinational force deployed amid Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon. The force oversaw the withdrawal of Palestinian fighters from Beirut and stayed afterward to help a Western-backed government at the time. The bombing prompted a U.S. withdrawal from Lebanon.
The United States is now deploying forces again in the region in connection to a war between Israel and its enemies. The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford has been positioned in the eastern Mediterranean along with other American warships – with a second carrier on the way – in what is widely seen as a message to Iran and Hezbollah not to open new fronts as Israel fights Hamas. Longtime tensions between the U.S. and Iran have been hiked by the two-week-old war between Israel and Hamas, in which the Palestinian militant group's Oct. 7 surprise attack on southern Israeli towns brought devastating Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip.The war risks spiraling into a wider regional conflict. The biggest worry is over the Lebanon-Israel border, where Israel and Hezbollah exchange fire on a daily basis.
But there are other spots where the U.S. could be dragged directly into the fight. There are roughly 2,500 U.S. troops in Iraq and around 900 others in eastern Syria, on missions against the Islamic State group. In both countries, Iran has militias loyal to it that already have opened fire on the Americans since the Gaza war erupted. A Hezbollah supporter who goes by the name of Haj Mohammed posted a video on Tiktok on Oct. 13 that drew a threatening parallel between the barracks bombing 40 years ago and present-day events.
"It seems that Uncle Joe did not tell the commanders of these warships and aircraft carriers about what happened on October 23, 1983," the man said, referring to President Joe Biden. Sitting in front of a poster of Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock, he wondered aloud whether U.S. troops will return home in coffins again. Iran-backed groups have issued threats against the U.S. if it joins the war on the side of Israel. Top Hezbollah official Hachem Safieddine said in a speech that there are tens of thousands of fighters around the region "whose fingers are on the trigger."
The commander of a powerful Iranian-backed militia in Iraq posted a photo of himself on social media standing by the Lebanon-Israel border in an apparent show that his fighters are ready for war. If the U.S. intervenes directly in the Israel-Hamas war, "then the American presence in the region becomes legitimate targets for resistance fighters whether in Iraq or elsewhere," the commander -- Abu Alaa al-Walae of Iraq's Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada -- told Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV.
Since Wednesday, suicide drones and rockets have hit several bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria. The attacks were either claimed by or blamed on Iranian-backed militias. A U.S. Navy warship on Thursday intercepted three missiles and several drones fired by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen, potentially toward targets in Israel, the Pentagon said. American forces could also come under attack if Israel launches a ground invasion of Gaza and appears about to destroy Hamas, as it has vowed to do.
An official with one Iranian-backed group warned that if Israel tries to go all the way for a complete defeat of Hamas, Iranian allies can ignite a conflict throughout the Middle East. He said the volleys at U.S. forces were meant to send this message. The official spoke on condition that he and his group not be identified because he was not authorized to comment publicly. Following a tour in the region where he met leaders of Hezbollah, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Iran's foreign minister warned in mid-October that "pre-emptive action is possible" if Israel moves closer to a ground offensive and that Israel would suffer "a huge earthquake."On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Washington expects the Israel-Hamas war to escalate through involvement by proxies of Iran, adding that the Biden administration is prepared to respond if American personnel or armed forces are targeted. "This is not what we want, not what we're looking for. We don't want escalation," Blinken said. "We don't want to see our forces or our personnel come under fire. But if that happens, we're ready for it."Austin said they see the "prospect of a significant escalation of attacks on our troops and our people throughout the region."
Biden repeatedly has used one word to warn Israel's enemies against trying to take advantage of the situation: "Don't."Iran leads the so-called "axis of resistance" that includes Tehran-backed factions from Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as Syria. Hezbollah, Lebanon's most powerful group, has tens of thousands of rockets and missiles as well as a drone arsenal that pose a serious threat if the group fully joins the war against Israel. Still, many analysts say an all-out regional war that would risk dragging the U.S. and Iran into direct confrontation remains unlikely. "Until this moment the two sides don't want a confrontation" and are communicating that to each other, said Iranian political analyst and political science professor Emad Abshenass about Tehran and Washington. But "the situation could turn on its head" if Israel's army enters Gaza and seems likely to defeat Hamas, Abshenass said. In 1983, the barracks bombing was seen as a lesson in the danger for the U.S. from stepping in the middle of a conflict between Israel and one of its neighbors. Sam Heller of The Century Foundation said that, as in 1983, "I don't trust that the U.S. forces the Biden administration has sent to the region are enough to really intimidate and deter local actors.""Iran and its allies are exposed in their own way," Heller said, but they have "very serious capabilities today that could be (used) against U.S. targets regionwide."

Crisis-wracked Lebanon braced for worst case scenarios as Israel-Hezbollah clashes intensify
Arab News/October 24, 2023
DUBAI: Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza risks spilling over into the wider Arab region as militias sympathetic to the Palestinian group mount their own attacks on Israeli and American targets. One country that is especially vulnerable to this potential escalation is Lebanon. Hezbollah, a Shiite militia that emerged from the Lebanese Civil War of 1975-90 and continues to control a formidable arsenal of weapons and share of the national economy, is under tremendous pressure to declare war if Israel mounts a ground invasion of Gaza. The cash-strapped government in Beirut and communities along the embattled border with Israel are in no condition to mount a sustained defense in the event of all-out war amid a crippling financial crisis and years of political paralysis. Nevertheless, government agencies, hospitals, schools, and hotels have begun preparing for evacuations, safe zones and the treatment of casualties should serious fighting break out — in a conflict that many fear will be far more destructive than the 2006 war. “My husband works in the Gulf and is doing his best, but I won’t be able to stay in the hotel for more than a few weeks. And then where do I go?” Layal, a mother of two who fled the border area for the safety of Beirut, told Arab News. “My kids are 11 and 9. They don’t understand the gravity of what’s taking place and they thankfully didn’t taste the bitterness of 2006. They think we’re on holiday. I am yet to explain to them what’s really happening.”Civilians in southern Lebanon remember all too well the July 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, which killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and injured over 4,400. In Israel, 160 were killed, mostly soldiers. The 30-day conflict displaced around 1 million Lebanese civilians.
Fearing a repeat of the carnage, whole communities have already evacuated their homes. “You can easily tell how neighborhoods have turned into ghost towns now. You can see it from the lack of laundry hanging on the balconies. It’s just a few houses now,” Safi, a Lebanese media worker, told Arab News.
“Those who remained are men who have sent their wives and children away to safety. People are scared. The word on people’s lips is the acknowledgment that the scale of destruction this time around will not be the same as 2006, but much, much worse. “Even those who support Hezbollah are aware that the destruction will pale in comparison to 2006.”Safi said he was lucky to have escaped with his life after the building where he was staying in Naqoura was bombed shortly after he made his way to Beirut. “I got lucky, and now residents in neighboring Talloussa village have started to flee as well.”
Not everyone has fled already, however. Small shops remain open and olive farmers in Dhayra have also decided to stay on. “You can hear the clashes ongoing, but leave to Tyre or Nabatieh and it’s a whole other vibe there. Normalcy and traffic generally prevail,” said Safi. Tensions remain high along the Lebanese-Israeli border with skirmishes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces prompting fears of further escalation. Heavy shelling recently targeted the disputed Shebaa Farms area alongside Bint Jbeil and Rab Al-Thalathine.
Some 41 people have been killed on the Lebanese side, according to a tally by the AFP news agency, mostly combatants but including four civilians, one of them Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah. Four people have been killed in Israel, including three soldiers and one civilian.
More than 4,000 Lebanese civilians have already fled their homes to neighboring areas like Tyre and to the capital, Beirut. Meanwhile, Israel has continued to expand its own evacuation plan, moving communities to state-funded temporary accommodation away from the border.
In a statement, Andrea Tenenti, spokesperson for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, which administers the Blue Line separating the two countries, said the peacekeeping force “remains fully committed to their mission represented by restoring stability in southern Lebanon and are doing their utmost to prevent the escalation of hostilities.”However, the warring factions have continued to trade fire with a steadily increasing intensity since the conflict began on Oct. 7, when Hamas launched its unprecedented cross-border attack on Israel, prompting the bombardment of Gaza and a widely expected ground assault.
While Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has yet to address the escalations publicly, his second in command, Naim Qassem, said the group is “fully ready” and will not be intimidated by Washington to stay out of the conflict. Hassan Fadlallah, a Hezbollah lawmaker, also released a statement saying the militia is closely monitoring developments and directing soldiers. Hezbollah and Sunni Muslim group Hamas both have ties with the Quds Force — the foreign operations arm of Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. They are also both part of the so-called “axis of resistance” made up of Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian, Iraqi, Yemeni and other Iran-backed armed groups opposed to Israel. Tehran provides Hezbollah with financial and military support, while neighboring Syria, where the group has been fighting on the side of President Bashar Assad in his country’s civil war, facilitates the transfer of weapons — including guided missiles.If Hezbollah does choose to enter the conflict on the side of Hamas, opening up a new front against Israel from southern Lebanon, the results could be devastating for both sides. Although the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has provoked strong support for Palestinians and hostility to Israel on the Arab street, public opinion in Lebanon is divided on whether Hezbollah should become directly involved in the war.
INNUMBERS
• 100,000 Fighters at Hezbollah’s disposal as of October 2021, according to group’s chief Hassan Nasrallah.
• $700m Hezbollah’s military budget as of 2018, according to the Wilson Center and US official estimates.
Lebanon has been in the throes of a devastating economic crisis since late 2019, while political disharmony has left the country without a stable, functioning government. Some 90 percent of the population now lives below the poverty line.
Despite staunchly opposing Israel, Walid Jumblatt, the former leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, said Lebanon might not be able to escape the possibility of a “widening circle of war.”That is why Druze villages in the mountains “will be open to everyone, Shiite or Sunni or Christian,” said Jumblatt, whose party is making “necessary logistical efforts to accommodate those displaced from areas that could be targeted in the event of an Israeli attack.”Hassan Dbouk, the mayor of Tyre, has said that shelters are already full and that the municipality is now looking to open more centers to host displaced families.
Mortada Mohanad, director of the disaster management unit, said three public schools have been turned into makeshift shelters to house around 1,000 people. Aid agencies, meanwhile, are focused on the distribution of food and other basic necessities.
However, amid these frantic preparations, there are also those who appear to be profiting from the displacement. Ali Tabaja, head of the Lebanese union of tourism syndicates, said hotels and landlords have taken advantage of the crisis and hiked their prices, “just because some of our people are subject to the Israeli aggression in the southern border regions and are looking for safer places.”Tabaja urged Walid Nassar, the minister of tourism, and the hotel syndicate to “issue directions prohibiting people from increasing prices and taking advantage of displaced people.” Najib Mikati, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, has said that Lebanon does not want to go to war, but he “could not get assurances about the developments from any party” as the situation is constantly changing.

Lebanese PM visits troops at border with Israel while Saudi Arabia evacuates families of diplomats
BEIRUT (AP)/October 24, 2023
Lebanon's caretaker prime minister Tuesday visited troops deployed near the border with Israel and U.N. peacekeepers, as Saudi Arabia evacuated the families of diplomatic staff because of ongoing clashes between Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops. The Saudi move comes amid rising tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border, where Hezbollah members have been exchanging fire with Israeli troops daily for two weeks. There was no official announcement from Saudi authorities, but the move came days after Saudi Arabia urged its citizens to leave Lebanon immediately. Officials who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations said the Saudi ambassador to Lebanon, Waleed Bukhari, the military attache and other staff members were not with the 65 people leaving Lebanon on Tuesday afternoon. The visit by Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati to the tense southern province was his first since clashes erupted along the border following a surprise attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Israel on Oct. 7. It also came two days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited troops along the border on Sunday. Mikati and international governments have been scrambling to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from expanding to Lebanon, where the powerful Hezbollah group warned Israel about a ground incursion into the blockaded Gaza Strip. Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Kassem said the group is in the “heart” of the war to “defend Gaza and confront the occupation."
“Its finger is on the trigger to whatever extent it deems necessary for the confrontation,” Kassem tweeted. Clashes between Hezbollah and the Israeli military thus far have been mostly limited to several towns along the border. Journalists from Hezbollah's Al-Manar television reported that an Israeli helicopter attack struck an empty position near the border town of Houla, after a missile fired from Lebanon hit an Israeli military position. The Israeli military said the anti-missile attack hit a position in Manara with no casualties. They added that they struck a group of militants in Mount Dov, a disputed territory known as Shebaa Farms in Lebanon, where the borders of Lebanon, Syria and Israel meet. Meanwhile, Lebanon's top Druze political leader Walid Jumblatt, said that he along with Mikati and Hezbollah ally Nabih Berri, who is Lebanon's parliamentary speaker, are in agreement that the war shouldn't further expand into the tiny Mediterranean country. Jumblatt said that he held calls with top Hezbollah security officials on the matter. “But the matter is not up to Hezbollah alone ... Israel could have hostile intentions,” Jumblatt said after meeting with Druze religious officials and clergymen in Beirut. “We must expect the worst.”Israel and Hezbollah fought a monthlong war in 2006 that ended in a stalemate. Israel sees Iran-backed Hezbollah as its most serious threat, estimating it has around 150,000 rockets and missiles aimed at Israel. Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron visited Israel on Tuesday, where he reaffirmed calls to prevent the war from expanding into Lebanon and the wider Arab world, and called for a “decisive” political process with the Palestinians for a viable peace. Macron warned Hezbollah and other Iran-backed groups against opening a new front in the ongoing war, and that Paris had expressed those concerns in direct communication with Hezbollah. “To do so would be to open the door to a regional inferno from which everyone would come out the loser,” he said.

Washington Rejects Threats from Iran, Hezbollah to Drag Lebanon into New War
Asharq Al-Awsat/October 24/2023
US Ambassador to Beirut Dorothy Shea announced that Washington and the Lebanese people reject “the threats of some to drag Lebanon into a new war.”On Monday, the US Embassy in Beirut commemorated the 40th anniversary of the bombing of US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut on Oct. 23, 1983, when a suicide bomber blew up the headquarters, killing 241 American soldiers. Moments later, another explosion occurred at the French paratroopers headquarters, which killed 58 French paratroopers.
Shea and French Ambassador Hervé Magro laid a wreath at the US Embassy memorial adorned with the phrase, “They Came in Peace.”In remarks released by the US Embassy in Beirut, the ambassador said: “Forty years ago, the Lebanese people were midway through a horrific civil war that killed tens of thousands and drove almost a million Lebanese to flee their homes.”“At the request of the Lebanese government, the United States – alongside our French, Italian, and UK allies – formed a new multinational force to help the Lebanese government regain full sovereignty over Beirut and the entire country. Or, as President Ronald Reagan said at the time, to ensure that “the Lebanese people are allowed to chart their own future,” she added. “That is an aspiration we still hold.”“And so, in 1982, roughly 800 US Marines landed in Beirut. Along with their fellow French, UK, and Italian soldiers, they came in peace to help ensure the safety of the Lebanese people and bring an end to the tragic violence,” she continued. “These Marines were young men with bright futures ahead of them, and with a deep commitment to serving their country and the values we hold dear as Americans and Lebanese... In a matter of seconds, a cowardly act of terrorism robbed these American servicemen of their bright futures. Families were left forever grieving an unimaginable loss, and an entire nation was left in shock,” she remarked. The US ambassador went on to say: “A few minutes later, a second suicide bomber struck the French barracks, the Drakkar, and killed 58 French paratroopers. Again, I would like to recognize Ambassador Hervé Magro, who is with us here today, and salute the memory of those French paratroopers, whose futures were taken away from them far too soon...”
Shea stressed: “Today, we reject, and the Lebanese people reject, the threats of some to drag Lebanon into a new war.”“We continue to renounce any attempts to shape the region’s future through intimidation, violence, and terrorism – and here I am talking about not just Iran and Hezbollah, but also Hamas and others, who falsely paint themselves as a noble ‘resistance,’ and who most certainly do not represent the aspirations – or the values – of the Palestinian people, while they try to rob Lebanon and its people of their bright future,” she declared.

Hezbollah’s threats to Israel harm Christian Lebanese villages
Seth J. Frantzman/The Jerusalem Post/October 24/2023 |
Hezbollah has been increasing attacks on Israel in the last two weeks after Hamas carried out a massacre on October 7. The Hezbollah attacks are a result of Iran’s desire to create a multi-front war in the Middle East. Hezbollah is willing to risk the civilian towns and villages in south Lebanon as it has in the past, to threaten Israel. Similar to Hamas in Gaza this means it uses the civilian areas to hide its weapons and that it carries out attacks and then slips away into the rural civilian landscape.
A report at The National in the UAE revealed how Hezbollah has harmed this area in the two weeks of escalation it has conducted. This has included anti-tank fire and the use of rockets, mortars, and small arms fire.
“Since the war of 2006, this was the safest place in Lebanon, the quietest place in Lebanon,” says Imad Lallous, the mayor of Ain Ebel, according to The National report.
Ain Ebel is often described as the only Christian town in its area, although there is another village down the road that also has Christians. Both these areas are near the Israeli border and near Bint Jbeil.
Hezbollah intentionally drew fire to Christian areas
“Ain Ebel stands in contrast to much of southern Lebanon, which has a strong Shiite majority and is one of Hezbollah’s main power bases. The residents of the town are largely Christian and supportive of Hezbollah’s largest political rival, the Lebanese Forces,” the report says. The National also notes that many of the children and women have left the town now due to sanctions. Hezbollah’s Iran-backed threats have also caused Israel to evacuate communities on the other side of the border. This is the effect of Iran in the region, harming communities and causing civilians to flee so that Tehran profits while locals in Israel and Lebanon suffer. It turns out that Hezbollah has been terrorizing this area in the past. A local resident disappeared several months ago and Hezbollah has been blamed.
Another report by the Alma Research and Education Center said that local Christians in another village had also complained about the situation. “A letter from the Christian residents of Ramish [Rmeish] expresses fear from future escalation on the Lebanese-Israeli border. Clashes between Hezbollah and the people of Ramish intensified recently – since Hezbollah was trying to create military infrastructure in the town,” the report says. In this report, it also notes that women and children have left the town. The men who remained have complained of potential looting. The poor people are appealing to the government for support. However, the government of Lebanon has let Hezbollah control southern Lebanon and attack Israel with impunity, endangering Christians and other minorities in Lebanon.

Washington Rejects Threats from Iran, Hezbollah to Drag Lebanon into New War
Asharq Al-Awsat/October 24/2023
US Ambassador to Beirut Dorothy Shea announced that Washington and the Lebanese people reject “the threats of some to drag Lebanon into a new war.”
On Monday, the US Embassy in Beirut commemorated the 40th anniversary of the bombing of US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut on Oct. 23, 1983, when a suicide bomber blew up the headquarters, killing 241 American soldiers. Moments later, another explosion occurred at the French paratroopers headquarters, which killed 58 French paratroopers. Shea and French Ambassador Hervé Magro laid a wreath at the US Embassy memorial adorned with the phrase, “They Came in Peace.”In remarks released by the US Embassy in Beirut, the ambassador said: “Forty years ago, the Lebanese people were midway through a horrific civil war that killed tens of thousands and drove almost a million Lebanese to flee their homes.”“At the request of the Lebanese government, the United States – alongside our French, Italian, and UK allies – formed a new multinational force to help the Lebanese government regain full sovereignty over Beirut and the entire country. Or, as President Ronald Reagan said at the time, to ensure that “the Lebanese people are allowed to chart their own future,” she added. “That is an aspiration we still hold.”“And so, in 1982, roughly 800 US Marines landed in Beirut. Along with their fellow French, UK, and Italian soldiers, they came in peace to help ensure the safety of the Lebanese people and bring an end to the tragic violence,” she continued. “These Marines were young men with bright futures ahead of them, and with a deep commitment to serving their country and the values we hold dear as Americans and Lebanese... In a matter of seconds, a cowardly act of terrorism robbed these American servicemen of their bright futures. Families were left forever grieving an unimaginable loss, and an entire nation was left in shock,” she remarked. The US ambassador went on to say: “A few minutes later, a second suicide bomber struck the French barracks, the Drakkar, and killed 58 French paratroopers. Again, I would like to recognize Ambassador Hervé Magro, who is with us here today, and salute the memory of those French paratroopers, whose futures were taken away from them far too soon...”Shea stressed: “Today, we reject, and the Lebanese people reject, the threats of some to drag Lebanon into a new war.” “We continue to renounce any attempts to shape the region’s future through intimidation, violence, and terrorism – and here I am talking about not just Iran and Hezbollah, but also Hamas and others, who falsely paint themselves as a noble ‘resistance,’ and who most certainly do not represent the aspirations – or the values – of the Palestinian people, while they try to rob Lebanon and its people of their bright future,” she declared.

LACC denounces the targeting of civilians, and the targeting of civilians., Uphold the obligations of the International Humanitarian Law,
Washington, October 20,2023
Lebanese American Coordinating Committee
The Lebanese-American Coordinating Committee (LACC) is closely monitoring the escalating tension witnessed on the southern borders of Lebanon, in the light of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Amid this critical and precarious time for Lebanon and its people, the LACC stresses on the following:
The strong condemnation of the targeting of civilians, schools, hospitals, media, and places of worship, and a firm call for respect for the obligations of international humanitarian law while resorting to the logic of dialogue instead of violence in resolving conflicts.
The pursuit of justice naturally leads to the attainment of peace. This requires the rejection of all forms of violence and extremism and resorting to the United Nations resolutions concerning the Palestinian Cause: advocating for a Two-State solution and the Return of Refugees. The Middle East has already endured and witnessed enough suffering and bloodshed.
Lebanon is currently facing multiple existential threats, including deliberate attempts to engage it in the ongoing conflict, as well as the possibility of using its territory to communicate regional and international messages unrelated to its national security. These dynamics necessitate a decisive position from the Caretaker Government, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and legitimate security forces, to assert the authority of the Lebanese state over its territories, safeguarding Lebanon’s sovereignty, and upholding the provisions of the constitution as well as the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, especially 1559, 1680, and 1701.
The condemnation of the targeting of journalists in southern Lebanon, which led to the murder of journalist Issam Abdallah and the injury of six of his colleagues. We further denounce the violation of press freedom, and we call for respecting the mission of journalists in conveying truth and facts, as guaranteed by the Lebanese Constitution and International Conventions.
The endorsement of the efforts of the sovereign and reform groups in Lebanon as they firmly oppose involving Lebanon in conflict and advocate for its neutrality, particularly amidst the current economic, social, and financial crisis, and the total collapse of infrastructure. Moreover, Lebanon’s entanglement in the conflict appears to be a decision driven not by Lebanon itself but by sinister regional motives.
Requesting the United Nations, the Arab League, the Lebanese Diaspora, as well as the United States of America, to exert the utmost diplomatic pressure to protect Lebanon and its people from any aggression and violation of its sovereignty.
The Lebanese-American Coordinating Committee (LACC) urges the American administration to strengthen its efforts in preventing Lebanon’s engagement in the Gaza war. It also pledges to the Lebanese people to persist in its unwavering fight for the Lebanese cause until the establishment of a free and independent sovereign state.

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published  on October 24-25/2023
Israel strikes Syrian army assets after rocket launches, Israeli military says
(Reuters)/October 24, 2023
Israel's military said its jets struck Syrian army infrastructure and mortar launchers early on Wednesday in what it described as a response to rocket launches from Syria toward Israel. The military said it had identified two rocket launches from Syria that had landed in open areas late on Tuesday, and that it had responded with artillery fire at the sources of the launches. In a further response, the military said its fighter jets "struck military infrastructure and mortar launchers belonging to the Syrian Army". The military did not provide further details. It did not accuse Syria's army of firing the two rockets, which set off air raid sirens in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Tuesday. There was no immediate comment from Syria. Israel has traded fire with Lebanon's Hezbollah and militants in Syria in recent days, a wider conflict over its northern border as it battles Islamist Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip following a deadly attack in Israel.

UN Palestinian refugee agency calls for unimpeded flow of aid to Gaza
AFP/October 24, 2023
GENEVA: The United Nations Palestinian refugee agency on Tuesday called for an unimpeded flow of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, trapped in a humanitarian crisis after two weeks of intense Israeli attacks. “We call for an unimpeded and continuous flow of humanitarian assistance and medical assistance to continue coming into Gaza,” said Tamara Alrifai, spokesperson for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). “The trucks that have come in so far are just a trickle in the face of the immense needs of people on the street.”The UN General Assembly will meet Thursday to discuss the conflict triggered by the attack by Hamas militants on Israel, the body’s president announced in a letter to member states. The Security Council has so far failed to agree on a resolution concerning the war, but a number of states — including Jordan on behalf of an Arab group of nations, Russia, Syria, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia — formally requested General Assembly President Dennis Francis to schedule the meeting. Last week, the UN Security Council, regularly divided on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, rejected a Russian draft resolution calling for a “humanitarian pause.”
Only five of the 15 member states had supported the text, which condemned all violence against civilians and all terrorist acts, but did not name Hamas, an unacceptable omission to the United States, the United Kingdom and France. Washington then vetoed a second resolution put forward by Brazil as the text did not mention Israel’s right to defend itself. Twelve out of 15 Council members voted in favor of that resolution, which also condemned the “heinous terrorist attacks by Hamas,” while Russia and the United Kingdom abstained. The United States was the only vote against, but as one of the body’s five permanent members its vote counts as a veto. The Security Council will meet to discuss the issue Tuesday ahead of the General Assembly’s gathering Thursday at 10:00 am (1400 GMT).

On United Nations Day, UNIFIL urges parties to cease fire
NNA/October 24, 2023
Today marks the 78th anniversary of the entry into force of the United Nations Charter, and the day in 1945 that the United Nations officially came into being. One of the Organization’s main purposes is “to maintain international peace and stability,” which is why peacekeeping missions like UNIFIL are deployed around the world. On this day each year, UNIFIL normally brings together peacekeepers, government officials, local municipal and religious officials, members of the Lebanese Armed Forces and other security agencies for a celebration at our headquarters in Naqoura.  Today, however, there will be no gathering due to the current security situation. But this does not mean our commitment to the ideals embodied in the UN Charter are any less. Today, this commitment is being shown by the men and women in blue helmets on the ground. Peacekeepers from 49 different countries are focused on a singular task – preventing escalation of the current conflict along the Blue Line and avoidance of war.UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Aroldo Lázaro made the following statement: “Since the situation began to escalate over two weeks ago, our peacekeepers have remained in their positions performing their tasks under Security Council Resolution 1701 and subsequent resolutions. We continue to carry out patrols and other activities, including with local communities, coordinating this work with the Lebanese Armed Forces. We have actively engaged with authorities on both sides of the Blue Line to de-escalate tensions and avoid misunderstandings. “Still, the conflict has intensified over the past two weeks, and this is a real concern. We appreciate the trust that both parties have placed in our liaison and coordination mechanisms, which have helped de-escalate hostilities and prevent misunderstandings during this crisis. We must redouble our efforts to maintain the stability that we have all worked so hard for over the past 17 years. We must avoid a wider conflict that would put many more people in danger. We have already seen too much destruction, injury, and loss of life.“We urge all parties to cease fire to prevent further harm. “On this day, United Nations Day, UNIFIL and its nearly 11,000 military and civilian peacekeepers commit to doing all that we can to maintain the ideals and purposes of the UN Charter. Someday soon, inshallah, peace and stability will return to both sides of the Blue Line."

US Treasury seeking coalition against Hamas financing: official
AFP/October 25, 2023
WASHINGTON: Washington aims to build an international coalition to target the financing of Hamas, a top US Treasury official said Tuesday, as conflict rages on in the Middle East. The comments to AFP by Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo come after the United States unveiled fresh sanctions last week on Hamas members, operatives and financial facilitators. “Our goal is to build a coalition with countries both in the region but also around the world to go after their financing,” Adeyemo said on the sidelines of an event in Washington. Hamas gunmen stormed across the border from Gaza into Israel on October 7, carrying out the deadliest attack since the country was created in 1948 and taking over 200 people hostage. In retaliation, Israel announced it would destroy Hamas and began a relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Thousands of civilians have been killed on both sides since the conflict began. Adeyemo said that during a trip to Europe later this week, he plans to meet with “allies and partners and talk about what we can do in a coordinated way to go after Hamas’ financial network.”While the United States has previously issued a number of sanctions against Hamas, which Washington has designated a terrorist group, Adeyemo said the organization has tried to find ways around the restrictions — such as by using cryptocurrencies and new facilitators. On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron — on a solidarity visit to Israel — called for Hamas to be added to the targets of an international coalition against the Daesh group. Without commenting on Macron’s specific remarks, Adeyemo told AFP that “the strategy that was used to counteract the Islamic State and other terrorist groups is the one we have to use here.”Brian Nelson, the Treasury under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, is also visiting Qatar and Saudi Arabia this week. He held a meeting with “a number of Gulf countries, where they talked about what they can do to increase their focus on terrorism as well,” said Adeyemo. “We look forward to taking additional actions when it comes to sanctions and using some of our other tools against Hamas,” Adeyemo added.

UN Palestinian refugee agency calls for unimpeded flow of aid to Gaza
AFP/October 24, 2023
GENEVA: The United Nations Palestinian refugee agency on Tuesday called for an unimpeded flow of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, trapped in a humanitarian crisis after two weeks of intense Israeli attacks. “We call for an unimpeded and continuous flow of humanitarian assistance and medical assistance to continue coming into Gaza,” said Tamara Alrifai, spokesperson for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). “The trucks that have come in so far are just a trickle in the face of the immense needs of people on the street.”
The UN General Assembly will meet Thursday to discuss the conflict triggered by the attack by Hamas militants on Israel, the body’s president announced in a letter to member states. The Security Council has so far failed to agree on a resolution concerning the war, but a number of states — including Jordan on behalf of an Arab group of nations, Russia, Syria, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia — formally requested General Assembly President Dennis Francis to schedule the meeting. Last week, the UN Security Council, regularly divided on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, rejected a Russian draft resolution calling for a “humanitarian pause.” Only five of the 15 member states had supported the text, which condemned all violence against civilians and all terrorist acts, but did not name Hamas, an unacceptable omission to the United States, the United Kingdom and France. Washington then vetoed a second resolution put forward by Brazil as the text did not mention Israel’s right to defend itself. Twelve out of 15 Council members voted in favor of that resolution, which also condemned the “heinous terrorist attacks by Hamas,” while Russia and the United Kingdom abstained. The United States was the only vote against, but as one of the body’s five permanent members its vote counts as a veto. The Security Council will meet to discuss the issue Tuesday ahead of the General Assembly’s gathering Thursday at 10:00 am (1400 GMT).

Saudi crown prince, Biden discuss ways to stop Israeli military operations in Gaza
Arab News/October 24, 2023
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called on the US to work immediately to discuss ways to stop Israeli military operations that claimed the lives of innocent people. Speaking during a call he received from US President Joe Biden on Tuesday, the crown prince discussed the military escalation taking place in Gaza and the efforts being made to end the war that began following a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7 by the Hamas group. Prince Mohammed also called on the need to find solutions to rejecting the targeting of civilians in any way, or the targeting of infrastructure and vital interests that affect their daily lives or forced displacement, the Saudi Press Agency reported. He stressed the need for calm, stopping the escalation, and not allowing it to deteriorate in a way that affects the security and stability of the region, and the need to adhere to international humanitarian law, lift the siege on Gaza, preserve basic services, and allow the entry of humanitarian and medical aid. The crown prince also explained the importance of restoring the path of peace to ensure that the Palestinian people obtain their legitimate rights and achieve a just and comprehensive peace. Biden expressed his thanks to Prince Mohammed for the efforts he has made to reduce the escalation and prevent it from spreading in the region. Meanwhile, the crown prince met with Kuwaiti Minister of Defense Sheikh Ahmed Fahd Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative Forum. During the meeting, which was attended by Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khaled bin Salman, they reviewed relations between the two countries, and a number of topics of common interest.

Iranian Militias Deploy Hundreds of Members Near Syrian-Israeli Border
Asharq Al-Awsat/October 24/2023
Over the last two days, a significant deployment of elite forces associated with Iranian militias, totaling in the hundreds, has been observed along the Syrian border, specifically in the southwestern outskirts of Damascus and the Quneitra countryside. Iranian Militias Deploy Hundreds of Members Near Syrian-Israeli Border. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that these forces consist of individuals from Iraqi, Syrian, and Afghan nationalities affiliated with the Fatimiyoun Brigade. Some of them entered from Iraq, while others came from different regions in Syria and they are being deployed to areas where the Lebanese Hezbollah is already present.Boutros Merjaneh, the head of the Committee for Arab and Foreign Affairs in the Syrian Parliament, has cast doubt on the likelihood of Damascus taking military action against Israel in response to recent missile attacks on Syrian airports.
“I believe the current situation may be more complex than Syria engaging in any military action against Israel at this time,” said Merjaneh. He, however, emphasized that Syria retains the right to respond to such attacks. According to the Observatory, the deployment of these elite forces occurred without prior coordination with the Syrian government forces, which have declined involvement in any confrontation with Israel. Reports suggest that Syrian military leadership recently instructed its forces not to fire any bullets or shells towards Israeli-occupied territories. According to sources, the firing of shells that has occurred from time to time is carried out individually by group leaders in the region.

Gaza Health Ministry announces collapse of health system
LBCI/October 24/2023
Palestinian Health Ministry announced the collapse of the healthcare system in the Gaza Strip due to the ongoing aggression against Palestinians. The ministry also mentioned that the number of casualties in Gaza since the 7th of the month has reached around 5,700 fatalities, including 2,360 children, 1,292 women, and 295 elderly individuals.

Israel sees Gaza ground invasion inevitable, insists no US veto
Ben Caspit/Al-Monitor/October 24, 2023
TEL AVIV — Eighteen days after the attack by Hamas, Israel seems to be waiting for a green light from Washington to launch its ground assault on the Gaza Strip. Al-Monitor reported Monday that the Biden administration is concerned that Israel lacks achievable military goals for its operations in Gaza. It would also like to advance humanitarian aid for the enclave and efforts to release hostages before the ground operation is set in motion.  Meanwhile, Israelis are learning what it's like to prepare for war together with America.
"To all those who support a defense pact," a senior Israeli defense official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, "I suggest examining how we now coordinate everything with the Americans, how we don't do anything contrary to their opinion, at least for now, and how we do all this without having a defense alliance of one kind or another with them.” The official was referring to discussions underway for months between Israel and the United States, on a loose defense alliance, which would provide Israel with US support in emergencies but not tie its hands if the need arises for urgent military action.
No American veto
Having called up over 300,000 reserve troops since Oct. 7, the military says it is ready. Its forces amassing on the Gaza border have spent the past two weeks training, devising attack plans for the dense urban terrain in Gaza, amending, updating and testing them.
"It's not that you can't attack without a green light from the Americans," an Israeli war Cabinet source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. "The Americans don't forbid us or veto anything, they only advise us closely and we cooperate fully. They immediately put at our disposal, without us even asking, all the power and backing of a superpower.""That said, we know how to appreciate what we received. Two aircraft carriers and $14 billion is a major event, and we have to pay for that too, at least on the level of cooperation," the source added.
To think that until recently, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and many in his government were clashing with the Biden administration over the deeply controversial judicial overhaul they were pushing through to limit the powers of the Supreme Court, dropping hints about President Joe Biden’s interference, threatening to turn to China or Russia or anyone who would issue an invitation to Netanyahu to visit in revenge for Biden’s refusal to host him at the White House.
These bitter sentiments all fell by the wayside Oct. 7 with the savage Hamas attack on southern Israel. "Netanyahu is working full time with the Americans," a senior Israeli political source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. "He probably knows his career is over. The Israeli public is facing painful disillusionment, perhaps unprecedented in modern history. Netanyahu would be better off preparing shelter for himself with lecture tours in America. He's already thinking ahead."In the more immediate term, Israel has little choice but to undertake a ground incursion despite the heavy risk to its troops and civilians in Gaza. The senior war Cabinet source told Al-Monitor that Israel cannot stop its attack on Gaza after the intense aerial and artillery bombardment of the past two weeks. “The Middle East has been looking up to us for the past decade. We were the only ones who took on Iran on an almost daily basis, we contributed greatly to the defeat of ISIS, the Israel Defense Forces [IDF] have operated in almost every corner of the Middle East and beyond with phenomenal success, and then suddenly comes a small terrorist organization," said the source. "Everyone, from Cairo to Amman, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Beirut and Tehran, is raising their eyebrows. We must show them we are still a regional superpower."The ground operation, which was already supposed to have begun, is being delayed, apparently in order to give the Americans time to deploy additional forces in the region.
"The United States is aware that the IDF's entry into Gaza is liable to set off additional arenas and perhaps even plunge the Middle East into a regional war. They want to complete their preparations. This involves a major shift of forces … and there is no reason why we should not wait until this move is completed," a senior Israeli security source told Al-Monitor.
Hostage negotiations
The source also pointed out that Biden has urged Israel to take advantage of a small window of opportunity that appears to have opened to negotiate with Hamas on freeing at least some of the estimated 220 Israelis and foreign hostages. “Once the ground operation starts, this will be tougher. Israel is in no position to reject such a move," he said.  Indeed, on Monday night, Hamas released two elderly Israeli women it had been holding hostage since Oct. 7, after freeing two other women, dual US and Israeli nationals, last week. Israel’s initial bravado in declaring it would bring down Hamas has been quietly replaced with more modest and realistic goals: dealing a severe blow to Hamas, its infrastructure and its top command, which will make it difficult for the group to continue running Gaza. This is Israel's updated goal. As for its goals for the day after, there is no definitive answer.
In these dark and uncertain days, Israel’s top military brass is finding solace in the level of Israeli-American operational and political cooperation. "The coordination is amazing, there has never been anything like it," a senior Israeli military source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. "They sit with us, we coordinate every step, every piece of intelligence, consult each other. The Americans have great experience in everything we are doing now and they have superpower capabilities, the synergy between us creates completely new inputs."These inputs, however, make Israel more dependent on the United States than it has ever been. Israel benefits from the close cooperation in the short term, but its long-term deterrence risks are being undermined. "This is the most important point — our deterrence," the senior war Cabinet source said. "The region must quickly understand that whoever harms Israel the way Hamas did, pays a disproportionate price. There is no other way to survive in our neighborhood than to exact this price now, because many eyes are fixed on us and most of them do not have our best interests at heart.”

Washington warns Iran as doubts grow about Israel's abilities in Gaza war
Jared Szuba/Al-Monitor/October 24, 2023
WASHINGTON – The White House publicly called out Iran as rocket and drone barrages launched by Iran-backed militias continued targeting US troops in Iraq and Syria on Monday amid Israel’s war in Gaza. “We know that Iran is closely monitoring these events and in some cases, actively facilitating these attacks and spurring on others who may want to exploit the conflict,” White House National Security Council coordinator John Kirby told reporters. Pentagon press secretary US Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said earlier on Monday that the US has not seen Iranian leadership directly order the militias to launch the renewed spate of attacks. "That said, by virtue of the fact that they are supported by Iran, we will ultimately hold Iran responsible," Ryder said. The sharpening of Washington's messaging came as the Pentagon continues to rush forces to the region to deter the spread of opportunistic attacks driven by Israel's war in Gaza. The self-styled Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella term for various Iran-backed militias, claimed credit in statements on social media for additional drone attacks targeting the al-Asad airbase in Iraq on Sunday as well as a US base at al-Malikiya and the al-Tanf garrison in Syria on Monday. Those alleged attacks followed a series of small barrages late last week which Pentagon officials initially hesitated to link to the war in Gaza despite clear public threats by Iran-backed factions over US support to Tel Aviv. As of publication time, the Pentagon had not yet issued a full accounting of the incidents, but officials said there had been no additional deaths and cautioned against false reports circulating online. Ryder on Monday morning confirmed the attack on the al-Tanf garrison, saying US troops had shot down two drones, resulting in no casualties, and acknowledged there had been other attacks over the weekend. The USS Eisenhower carrier strike group, originally bound for the Mediterranean, is being redirected to the Gulf region along with an undisclosed number of Patriot missile defense batteries and a THAAD system to protect US forces at airbases around the Middle East, the Pentagon announced Sunday.
“We don’t want to see our forces or our personnel come under fire, but if that happens, we’re ready for it,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday. Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin warned the military “won’t hesitate to take the appropriate action” amid what he described as the “prospect of a significant escalation of attacks on our troops and our people throughout the region.”Austin placed an additional personnel on prepare-to-deploy orders over the weekend, most of whom are command-and-control units to enable US commanders to leverage the capabilities offered by the carrier strike groups, according to a senior US military official who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity. A strike group led by the Pentagon's largest carrier, the USS Ford, is already in the eastern Mediterranean along with additional US fighter aircraft deployed to the region. The 26th Marine Expedtionary Unit is also en route.
The overwhelming display of force has so far not halted the attacks. Telegram accounts assocated with Iran-backed groups published statements claiming credit for what were described as additional drone attacks on US bases at Shadadi and Green Village on Monday night, which were not publicly confirmed by the US military as of publication time. “That is a clear indicator that additional force protection measures are needed,” the senior US military official said of the continued attacks. Iran’s well-armed networks of militias from Lebanon to Syria to Iraq to Yemen haven’t been shy about issuing public threats against US military forces in the Middle East in recent weeks if Washington furthers its support for Israel’s war in Gaza. Yet defense officials on Monday signaled Washington would continue providing unfettered support for Israel’s campaign against Hamas even as the Biden administration sought to stay an IDF ground incursion for now amid significant concerns within the Pentagon of wider regional conflagration. “I warn the US and its proxy Israel that if they do not immediately stop the crime against humanity and genocide in Gaza, anything is possible at any moment and the region will go out of control,” BBC quoted Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian as saying during a press conference in Tehran on Sunday. Axios first reported Monday that senior US military officials, including US Marine Corps Lt. Gen. James Glynn – former deputy commander of the US special operations task force involved in the Battle of Raqqa against the Islamic State in northeast Syria — are advising Israeli forces on the Gaza campaign. A Pentagon official speaking on the condition of anonymity to reporters on Monday stopped short of confirming details of Axios’ report, but acknowledged that top American military officers with experience in counterterrorism operations in urban environments have been advising the IDF. News of the advisory mission comes as doubts have grown among senior American military officials about the IDF’s capability to launch and sustain a successful mechanized ground invasion of Gaza to eradicate Hamas, Al-Monitor has learned. Those concerns have only grown in recent weeks amid conversations with senior Israeli military brass, two well-placed US sources told Al-Monitor.
The Pentagon’s advising is likely designed to provide Washington a closer degree of influence over IDF thinking about the operation, but is also likely to be portrayed by Iran and its proxy militias as further evidence of a US green light should Israel launch a ground campaign. “The Israel Defense Forces need to decide for themselves how they're going to conduct operations,” Kirby told reporters Monday, adding, “We're not in the business of dictating terms to them.”
The Gaza Health Ministry placed the death toll on Monday at more than 5,000 Palestinians killed by Israel’s bombardment in the besieged enclave. More than 1,400 Israelis were killed by Hamas militants earlier this month in the worst terror rampage ever carried out on Israeli territory.
As civilian deaths have mounted in Gaza, Biden administration officials have increasingly issued public statements cautioning Israel about its planned operation, even after the Pentagon said there would be no conditions placed on US weapons delivered to Israel. American officials have also reportedly grown concerned that Netanyahu’s government does not have a plan for administering the already impoverished enclave after the invasion.
“Our partner Israel is a law abiding countries which is obligated to adhere to the law of armed conflict,” the senior US defense official reiterated to reporters Monday.
Meanwhile, Washington has sought to contain the regional fallout from the war. On Friday, the US Navy guided missile destroyer USS Carney intercepted a lethal barrage of four cruise missiles and some 19 drones over the Red Sea. The Pentagon said Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels had fired the projectiles northward, “potentially towards targets in Israel.”In Iraq, US officials have been pressing for local security forces to help prevent attacks on diplomatic facilities and bases used by coalition troops. Both Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and top diplomat Antony Blinken called Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Monday. Austin “thanked the prime minister for today's announcement reaffirming his government's full commitment to protect US forces who are in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government,” the Pentagon said in a press release.
Former US national security officials told Al-Monitor they don’t believe Iran wants a regional war involving the United States, but expressed concern that the posturing may leave no off-ramp either for Israel or for Iran and its proxies, with thousands of American troops potentially caught in the middle.
“The administration would like to resume and even double down on normalization and a regional security construct tying Israel and the Saudis together, but there is a real concern that the Israelis will go too hard and overplay their hand,” Joe Buccino, who served as top spokesperson at CENTCOM until earlier this year, told Al-Monitor.
“The images and videos that follow out of Gaza are going to be gruesome. That will make it really hard for any Arab countries to publicly embrace Israel in the days and years to come,” Buccino said. There are also doubts as to Israel's ability to fight a multi-front war. To Israel’s north, Hezbollah’s massive arsenal remains a top concern for White House and Pentagon officials. After shifting 155mm artillery shells from a forward US stockpile in Israel to US stocks in Europe amid Ukraine's counteroffensive against Russia, the Pentagon has returned those munitions back to Israel, the senior defense official confirmed today. Should the Lebanese Shia faction unleash full-scale barrages into Israel, the implications for regional conflict would be "enormous," said Gen. Joseph Votel (ret.), who commanded all American forces in the Middle East as head of US Central Command 2016-19.Such a move would likely encourage other IRGC-backed groups to join in attacks on Israel and US forces, and could potentially draw in Iran. "This would be like pouring gas onto a fire," Votel told Al-Monitor. “I think we should be very concerned about force protection threats if Hezbollah goes all in,” Votel said, citing the 2019 Aramco attack as an example of “how devastating an Iranian cross-Gulf attack could be.”US forces at major bases in the Gulf have hardened their defenses in the years since Iran fired at least a dozen ballistic missiles at the al-Asad airbase in Iraq in retaliation for the Trump administration's assassination of then-IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in 2020, Al-Monitor's sources said. Yet US defense officials have said Iran maintains the Middle East's most formidable arsenal of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones, and has smuggled such weapons to militias in countries with weak or collapsed central governments to build leverage over the US and its allies in the region. “It is always important to respect our adversaries,” Votel told Al-Monitor.

In Israel, France’s Macron proposes anti-ISIS coalition against Hamas
Rina Bassist/October 24, 2023
On a visit to Israel on Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron proposed the expansion of the international coalition established in 2014 to fight the Islamic State and al-Qaeda to help Israel fight Hamas. Still, speaking at a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Macron gave no details of the potential scope of such an engagement. The international coalition against ISIS includes 86 countries committed to eroding the group's capabilities globally. Elaborating on the international coalition proposed by Macron, a source at the Elysee Palace said after the press conference, "The aim is to draw inspiration from the experience of the international coalition against ISIS and see which aspects can be replicated against Hamas." The statement added ,"It will then be up to the partners and in particular Israel to express their needs."The Elysee source also noted, "The international coalition against ISIS is not limited to operations on the ground, but also involves training of Iraqi forces, the sharing of information between partners and the fight against the financing of terrorism."
The French president arrived in Israel early Tuesday morning for a solidarity visit after Hamas' deadly Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, meeting first with families of French nationals kidnapped by Hamas and held in the Gaza Strip. After speaking with the families, Macron met with President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem before meeting with the Israeli premier. At the joint press conference, Macron reiterated that Israel has a legitimate right to defend itself. "Hamas is a terrorist group, whose objective is the destruction of the State of Israel. This is also the case of ISIS, of al-Qaeda, of all those associated with them, either by actions or by intentions," Macron said in French, standing alongside Netanyahu.
You are not alone in this fight against terrorism, pledged Macron, drawing parallels with France's own experiences in recent years. "I speak on behalf of a country which experienced terrorist attacks, and you were there. And I think this is our duty to fight against this terrorism, without any confusion, without enlarging the conflict,” he said. According to estimates by the French-Jewish umbrella organization CRIF, some 200,000 French nationals live in Israel. Macron's visit is therefore important not only as a sign of solidarity between the two states and two peoples, but also because of the large French constituency in place. Macron stressed that with 30 French nationals killed in the Hamas attack and nine missing, France shares the same pain as Israel and is committed to the liberation of all the hostages held by Hamas. "For my country, this is the deadliest terror attack since 2016. It’s a dark page of our own history," he noted, adding, “I've already met with some families this morning. I saw families who had lost their children, and their brothers. Some of them are still searching for their loved ones. I share your position that our goal should be the release of all captives."
Macron emphasized that the battle against Hamas "must be merciless, but not without rules," urging Israel to respect laws of war and ensure access to humanitarian aid for Gazan civilians. He also called on Israel to reestablish electricity for hospitals in Gaza, saying he discussed with Netanyahu ways to enable that without Hamas using it for the war. Meanwhile, in his meeting with Herzog, Macron noted that Paris was in direct contact with Beirut and with Hezbollah to avoid a regional escalation. "I’m warning Hezbollah, the Iranian regime, the Houthis in Yemen and all the regional factions threatening Israel not to take the risk of opening new fronts. This would be opening doors to a regional conflagration, where all stand to lose," he said. Macron then added in English, "I warned against an escalation, and I warned Hezbollah and some other regimes not to be part of what is happening."Macron arrived in Israel 18 days after the deadliest attack in Israel in a generation, and after the arrival of European counterparts including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola. In recent weeks, Macron stressed that he would travel to Israel when a visit would be "beneficial." At the press conference, the French president also stressed that security for Israel can only be achieved via the renewal of political dialogue with the Palestinian leadership. Macron will travel to Ramallah in the West Bank later in the day to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

France’s Macron Says He Stands in Solidarity with Israel’s Fight Against ‘Terrorism’
Asharq Al-Awsat/October 24/2023
French President Emmanuel Macron vowed on Tuesday not to leave Israel isolated in its fight against militants, but warned against the risks of a regional conflict as he arrived in Israel. After meeting with families of French victims at Tel Aviv airport, Macron told President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem that France stood "shoulder to shoulder" with Israel and that the first objective should be to free hostages in Gaza. "I want you to be sure that you're not left alone in this war against terrorism," Macron said. "It is our duty to fight against terrorism, without any confusion and without enlarging this conflict." Beyond showing solidarity with Israel, Macron wanted to make "proposals that are as operational as possible" to prevent an escalation, to free hostages, and guarantee Israel's security and work towards a two-state solution, presidential advisers said. He will push for a humanitarian truce, they added. Macron's visit comes after European Union foreign ministers on Monday struggled to agree on a call for a "humanitarian pause" in the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas to allow much more aid to reach civilians. Macron was also due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and centrist opposition leaders Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid, the Elysee said. Mahmoud Abbas's office said Macron would meet with the Palestinian president in Ramallah, West Bank. However, Macron's ability to influence events in the region appears limited by what some analysts say is a shift towards a more pro-Israel Anglo-American line, in contrast with the traditionally distinctive and more pro-Arab French Gaullist approach. "France's soft power south of the Mediterranean has considerably faded," said Karim Emile Bitar, a Beirut-based foreign policy expert at French think tank IRIS. "We're under the impression that nothing distinguishes France from other Western countries now," he said. The French government's decision to adopt a blanket ban on pro-Palestinian protests, before it was struck down by courts, is one reason Macron has lost credit in the Arab world, he said. French officials contest the idea that Macron's policy is biased. They say Macron has constantly reaffirmed the rights of Palestinians and the position of a two-state solution. "It's a goal France has never veered from," the adviser said. Thirty French citizens were killed on Oct. 7 and nine are still missing. One appeared in a video released by Hamas, but the fate of the others remains unknown.  Macron has vowed that France would "not abandon any of its children" in Gaza and has expressed hope that Qatar's mediation can help free hostages. Macron's visit will also have a special resonance at home, where France's large Muslim and Jewish communities are on tenterhooks following the killing of a teacher by an extremist militant that French officials have linked to the events in Gaza. The French leader will have to tread a fine line during his tour of the region, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict having often stoked tension back home and France's fractious opposition being ready to pounce on any faux pas.

Emirati president and Canadian foreign minister discuss need to protect civilians in Gaza
Arab News/October 25, 2023
LONDON: Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the president of the UAE, and Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly discussed bilateral ties and ways to strengthen cooperation between their countries in various sectors when they met on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi. They also talked about regional and international developments of mutual interest, most notably the urgent need to protect Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, the Emirates News Agency reported. They also reiterated the importance of bolstering the humanitarian response amid the worsening situation there. Also present at the meeting were Emirati Interior Minister Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, and other officials and invited guests.

US prepares to evacuate 600,000 Americans from Israel
Tony Diver/The Telegraph/October 24, 2023
The United States is preparing evacuation plans for up to 600,000 Americans in Israel in the event of a full-scale ground war in the region. US officials have created contingency plans involving a major exodus of American citizens from the area, as Israel is poised to send ground troops into the Gaza Strip. The Biden administration believes it “would be irresponsible not to have a plan for everything,” although a full-scale airlift is still thought to be a worst case scenario, according to the Washington Post. The State Department believes there are around 600,000 American citizens in Israel, although many are dual nationals. Another 86,000 were believed to be in Lebanon when Hamas launched terror attacks on October 7, killing 1,400 people in Israel. The UK and other Western states are also in contact with their nationals in the region, and both the State Department and British Foreign Office have advised against travel to both Israel and Gaza. Both the US and UK have urged other groups that are sympathetic to Hamas in the region against launching further attacks on Israel and escalating the conflict beyond Gaza. Israeli forces have already clashed with Hezbollah terrorists on the Israeli-Lebanese border in response to copycat attacks following Hamas’s assault on October 7. US forces stationed in Syria have also come under fire from suicide drones operated by Iran-backed Islamist groups. Lloyd Austin, the US Defense Secretary, has expressed concern about an increase in attacks on US forces in Syria, in an apparent response to the conflict between Hamas and the IDF. “What we’re seeing is a prospect of a significant escalation of attacks on our troops and our people throughout the region, and because of that, we’re going to do what’s necessary to make sure that our troops are in a good position, and they’re protected, and that we have the ability to respond,” he told ABC News on Sunday. Last week, the US administration warned all US citizens worldwide of “increased tensions in various locations around the world, the potential for terrorist attacks, demonstrations or violent actions against US citizens and interests.”It is possible that US, UK or other Western nationals could be removed from the Middle East using US Navy ships stationed in the Eastern Mediterranean. Suzanne Maloney, the director of foreign policy at the Brookings Institute, told the Washington Post: “With 600,000 Americans in Israel and threats to other Americans across the region, it’s hard to think of an evacuation that might compare to this in scale, scope and complexity.”The UK Government has previously used military resources, including RAF transporter aircraft, to extract British nationals from warzones. Following the collapse of the Afghan government in August 2021, the Ministry of Defence and Foreign Office coordinated a major airlift of UK citizens from Kabul, as the city fell to the Taliban. Last week, the Government said more than 900 people had been evacuated from Israel by air, as commercial flights become increasingly difficult to find. British Airways is currently running one direct flight from Tel Aviv to London each day, while EasyJet, Ryanair, Wizz Air, Air France, Lufthansa and Emirates have suspended their services. Despite a slew of rocket attacks from Hamas, Israeli airspace is currently still open and it remains a commercial decision for individual carriers to fly to the country.

Iran makes two moves, US carriers shift, and today China rules the Gulf
Tom Sharpe/The Telegraph/October 24, 2023
Tracking major warship movements in response to the developing situation in Gaza and beyond has been interesting. Most people have focused on the comings and goings of the US Navy in or towards the Eastern Mediterranean. Even the USN itself seems to have taken its eye off other potential flashpoints, as something has happened which never normally would: the most powerful naval force in the Gulf is Chinese. Just fourteen days ago, US Navy movements were being passed off as ‘business as normal’. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Gerald R Ford was in the Mediterranean anyway. The Dwight D Eisenhower (Ike) carrier group deployment was planned anyway, just brought forward. About ten days ago this changed. Ford’s stay in the Med was extended and it was stated that Ike was going to join the Ford. Two super-carriers in the same place – that’s big medicine. Articles were written noting this, by me among others. We armchair admirals also noted that the USS Bataan and USS Carter Hall, amphibious ships carrying the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) were dispatched from the Gulf to the Red Sea and the command-and-control ship Mount Whitney, complete with a 3* Admiral and his staff, was pulled off Nato duties and sent to take charge in the eastern Med. This could no longer be passed off as ‘planning adjustments’.
Then, just as everyone thought they knew what was happening, someone in Yemen – I’m going to take a punt on the Houthis – launched four cruise missiles and nineteen drones up the Red Sea in the direction of Israel. Destroyer USS Carney, having come through Suez southbound only the day before, then had what could only be described as ‘a good day on operations’ as she shot all of them down, with a combination of her own missiles and her gun. That is an outstanding effort. Just a few hours later, one more announcement, and now Ike isn’t joining Ford: she’s going through Suez. At some point the Ike group will meet the 26 MEU ships heading the other way and they will need escorting. Carney’s work is not yet done. The only way to work out what’s going on is to take away the drinking straw through which you are looking at Gaza and zoom out, a long way out.
One thing jumps out straight away. The US Navy, for now at least, is not the preeminent naval force in the Gulf. That distinction now belongs to the 44th and 45th naval escort groups of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). The two groups, one of which has just arrived to take over from the other, have a total of six ships. Two are Type 052D destroyers equipped with YJ-21 hypersonic anti-ship ballistic missiles. There was some breathless reporting on how this was a takeover move by China: but as with the US movements above, it’s worth looking at what is pre-planned and what is reactive. The handover between the two groups was long planned as part of their established operating pattern in the region. Granted, this handover has now been extended (as in the case of USS Ford) but the total number of ships is not an immediate response to what is happening in Gaza.
That doesn’t mean it’s not important though: for a few reasons. First, every malign actor who thrives off disruption either is, or is about to, exploit the current situation to maximise this. That includes the Houthis last week in the Red Sea, Hezbollah to Israel’s north, Russia (everywhere) or the Chinese Coast Guard in the South China Sea. The water is warm in Chaosville and everyone is jumping in. If you take away assets from the Gulf as the US has done, who is left to carry out the more routine tasks that Western navies have been doing there for so many years? In mid August, the Marines of the 26th MEU were tasked to prevent Iranian disruption of commercial shipping in the Gulf, a problem which has been building for some time. This task hasn’t gone away – who is tending to it now? That part isn’t clear.
In the wider Middle Eastern region, there are US-allied coalition ships aplenty. France, Spain and Japan have warships in the area. There’s also the Royal Navy’s HMS Lancaster and some US ships. And the Ike is coming. But in the Gulf itself, right now, there is a naval power vacuum – one filled, at the moment, by China. This leads to the second issue, the ongoing risk of miscalculation there. Historically, when ships and fast boats of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN – the maritime wing of Iran’s fanatical Revolutionary Guards) swarm your ship or generally behave like maritime hooligans in your vicinity you carry out your countermeasures, do everything you can to avoid escalation and then go on your way. You do this knowing that if it does escalate, either by accident or design, Uncle Sam will appear over the horizon momentarily. If this happens right now you would be more likely to find a Chinese hypersonic armed warship offering to ‘help’. If the IRGCN want to ratchet up their bad behaviour in the Strait of Hormuz, and it generally doesn’t take much encouragement, now would be the perfect time. Third, we know there is an arm-wrestle going on now between ‘the West’ and China for the respect of key players in the region, and you just know that recent PLAN port visits were used to discuss future basing options. US Central Command, US 5th Fleet and the UK Naval Support Facility remain in Bahrain so it’s definitely not an abandonment. I would imagine that high-level conversations between CentCom and the Saudis are happening right now, possibly even looking at counter-Houthi options as the Ike passes by.
Back when I was playing wargames a lot as a staff officer, we found that if a war with Iran was going to start, the Bab el Mandeb strait at the bottom of the Red Sea and/or the Eastern Med were likely places for the Iranians to start it. This is partly because it exposes the problems of having three US Combatant Commands converging, but mainly because it draws assets away from the root of the problem – Iran. And now we have attacks happening in both places, launched by Iranian-backed organisations in both cases. Suddenly there are not many assets left near the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran menaces all traffic in and out of the Gulf. It all looks a bit like the beginning of some of those Iran-vs-the-West wargames. Large naval deployments affect oceans and continents way beyond the coastlines off which they sail. Experts in land power and followers of land wars sometimes forget this. One has to zoom way out and look at all of the moving parts to even have the first idea of what effect things like carrier strike groups may have and even then, don’t be surprised if you are wrong or if it changes. Winston Churchill got this when he said, “a battleship exercises a vague general fear and menaces all points at once. It appears, and disappears, causing immediate reactions and perturbations on the other side”. There will be many conversations along these lines in the corridors of Washington DC and Whitehall – and it’s to be hoped that the planners remember that Churchill used this phrase to compel the deployment of Force Z, with its battleships without air cover, against the advice of the Admiralty. More than eight hundred British sailors paid the price. US Navy ship movements and those of her allies are certainly causing ‘reactions and perturbations’ but, strategically, will they work? Only time will tell. But we have definitely learned that despite what’s happening in Gaza, Ukraine, the Red Sea, the Baltic, the South China Sea and elsewhere, we should never take our eyes off Iran and the Persian Gulf.

Israel increases strikes on Gaza, as two more hostages are freed
Associated Press/October 24, 2023
Israel escalated its bombardment of targets in the Gaza Strip, the military said Tuesday, ahead of an expected ground invasion against Hamas militants that the U.S. fears could spark a wider conflict in the region, including attacks on American troops. The stepped-up attacks, and the rapidly rising death toll in Gaza, came as Hamas released two elderly Israeli women who were among the hundreds of hostages it captured during its devastating Oct. 7 attack on towns in southern Israel. Amid a flurry of diplomatic activity in Israel since the war started, French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, meeting with the families of others held hostage in Gaza before heading to talks with top Israeli officials. Gaza's 2.3 million people have been running out of food, water and medicine since Israel sealed off the territory following the attack. A third small aid convoy entered Gaza on Monday carrying only a tiny fraction of the cargo aid groups say is necessary.With Israel still barring the entry of fuel, the United Nations said aid distribution would soon grind to a halt when it can no longer fuel trucks inside Gaza. Hospitals overwhelmed by the wounded are struggling to keep generators running to power lifesaving medical equipment and incubators for premature babies. The two freed hostages, 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz and 79-year-old Nurit Cooper, were taken out of Gaza at the Rafah crossing into Egypt, where they were put into ambulances, according to footage shown on Egyptian TV. The women, along with their husbands, were snatched from their homes in the kibbutz of Nir Oz near the Gaza border. Their husbands, ages 83 and 84, were not released.
"While I cannot put into words the relief that she is now safe, I will remain focused on securing the release of my father and all those — some 200 innocent people — who remain hostages in Gaza," Lifshitz' daughter, Sharone Lifschitz, said in a statement. The women were freed days after an American woman and her teenage daughter. Hamas and other militants in Gaza are believed to have taken roughly 220 people, including an unconfirmed number of foreigners and dual citizens. Lifschitz, an artist and academic in London who spells her name differently to her parents, told reporters last week that her parents were peace activists, and her father would drive to the Gaza border to take Palestinians to east Jerusalem for medical treatment. Kindness, she said last week, could somehow save them. "I grew up, you know, with all these Holocaust stories about how all my uncles' lives were saved because" of acts of kindness, she said.
"Do I want that to be the story here?" she asked. "Yeah."
On Monday, Hamas released a video showing the handover, with militants giving drinks and snacks to the dazed but composed women, and holding their hands as they are walked to Red Cross officials. Just before the video ends, Lifshitz reaches back to shake one militant's hand. Around the same time, Israel's internal security service, Shin Bet, released a recording showing Hamas prisoners — most in clean prison uniforms, but one in a bloody t-shirt and at least one wincing in pain — sitting handcuffed in drab offices talking about the Oct. 7 attack. The men said they were under orders to kill young men, and kidnap women, children and the elderly, and that they'd been promised financial rewards. The Associated Press could not independently verify either video, and both the hostages and the prisoners could have been acting under duress.
The fighting has reportedly killed more than 1,400 people in Israel.
More than 5,000 Palestinians, including some 2,000 minors and around 1,100 women, have been killed. That includes the disputed toll from a strike at a hospital last week. The toll has climbed rapidly in recent days, with the ministry reporting 436 additional deaths in just the last 24 hours. On Tuesday, Israel said it had launched 400 airstrikes over the past day, killing Hamas commanders, hitting militants as they were preparing to launch rockets into Israel and striking command centers and a Hamas tunnel shaft. The previous day, Israel reported 320 strikes. The Palestinian official news agency, WAFA, said many of the airstrikes hit residential buildings, some of them in southern Gaza where Israel had told civilians to take shelter, causing many casualties and trapping people under rubble. Fifteen members of the same family were among at least 33 Palestinians buried Monday in a shallow, sandy mass grave at a Gaza hospital after being killed in Israeli airstrikes. Men discussed where to fit the shrouded corpse of a small child.
Palestinian militants have fired over 7,000 rockets at Israel since the start of the war, Israel said. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas. Iranian-backed fighters around the region are warning of possible escalation, including the targeting of U.S. forces deployed in the Mideast, if a ground offensive is launched.
The U.S. has told Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and other groups not to join the fight. Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire almost daily across the Israel-Lebanon border, and Israeli warplanes have struck targets in Syria, Lebanon and the occupied West Bank in recent days. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said there has been an uptick in rocket and drone attacks by Iranian-backed militias on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria, and the U.S. was "deeply concerned about the possibility for any significant escalation" in the coming days. He said U.S. officials were having "active conversations" with Israeli counterparts about the potential ramifications of escalated military action. The U.S. advised Israeli officials that delaying a ground offensive would give Washington more time to work with regional mediators on the release of more hostages, according to a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were authorized to reveal sensitive negotiations. At least 1.4 million Palestinians in Gaza have fled their homes, and nearly 580,000 of them are sheltering in U.N.-run schools and shelters, the U.N. said Monday.

Israel relayed to Russia 'dissatisfaction' over its Hamas position as rift widens
Rina Bassist/October 24, 2023
Israel has quietly expressed to Russia its dissatisfaction over statements issued by Moscow on the Hamas war, a senior Israeli diplomatic source confirmed to Al-Monitor. On Tuesday, Israel’s public broadcaster Kan cited an unnamed Israeli official as saying, "The Russian conduct and also the statements against Israel do not correspond to the seriousness of the situation Israel is in, which is a state of war."Eighteen days after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack against Israel, Russia's position on it became clear when President Vladimir Putin blamed the United States for the escalation. Now Israel is concerned about a major shift in Russia's Middle East policy that could increase security threats to it from Syria and elsewhere. On a visit to North Korea Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, “We are witnessing attempts to blame everything on Iran again. We consider these quite provocative.” He added, “The Iranian leadership takes a responsible, balanced position and calls for preventing this conflict from spreading to the entire region, to neighboring countries.” Last Monday, on a visit to Tehran for talks on Armenia and Azerbaijan, Lavrov slammed the United States for allegedly interfering with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "This includes sending two aircraft carrier groups to the conflict zone, several thousand combat soldiers," said the Russian minister, adding, "The more proactive steps are taken by any state, the higher the risk, the higher the danger that the conflict will escalate."
Lavrov's remarks came in a series of statements issued by Russian officials, including Putin himself and Foreign Ministry spokespeople, that skirted condemnation of Hamas' actions, slammed US Middle East policy and praised Iran.
Israeli spokespeople and decision-makers have remained publicly silent on the Russian statements so far, even amid Putin's inflammatory comparisons. “Various scenarios are emerging, including the possibility of military and non-military measures being taken against the Gaza Strip comparable to the siege of Leningrad during World War II,” Putin said Oct. 13 on a visit to Kyrgyzstan.
Why is Israel remaining silent?
The Israeli government fears provoking the Russians for several reasons, Israeli diplomatic sources say. The main one is the ongoing coordination between Israeli and Russian forces in Syria since 2015. A communication channel between the two militaries enables Israeli jets to strike Hezbollah and Iran-affiliated targets inside Syria without Russian interference. Still, experts from the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies and other Israeli think tanks now warn that the Israel Defense Forces can no longer count on such coordination lasting and should therefore prepare itself for a different situation.
Arkady Mil-Man, head of the Russia program at the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies, said the events that unfolded on Oct. 7 triggered a tectonic shift in Russia’s approach to Israel.
“The prevailing concept in Israel regarding its security relations with Russia simply collapsed on Oct. 7. Still, signs of this collapse had already started to appear in 2014 [with the annexation of Crimea], and more so since the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” said Mil-Man, who has served as Israel’s ambassador to Russia and Azerbaijan. "For years, Israel considered Russia a friendly nation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nurtured a special relationship with Putin. The Israeli assumption was that these personal and diplomatic relations would protect Israel’s security," noted Mil-Man.
"Russia sought to control the Assad regime," he said, referring to the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. "In parallel, it was not interested in the Iranians gaining too much of a foothold over the country. In Israel, we estimated for years that our mutual interest against the Iranian military entrenchment in Syria, and the deconfliction mechanism put in place, established a stable basis for cooperation or at least coordination.”Mil-Man observed that Moscow had previously stressed that Israel's security was also important to it because of the large Russian community living there, but such assertions have disappeared in recent years. With the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow reinforced its alliance with Iran, leaving Israel to face an axis of Russia, Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas that he believes is here to stay.
On Thursday, the Russian Embassy in Israel updated the number of dual Israeli-Russian nationals killed on Israeli soil to 19 and said seven more were still missing. The statement did not mention the attack by Hamas or suggest that the missing were being held by the group in Gaza, noted Mil-Man.
“These kinds of statements should serve as a wake-up call for Israeli decision-makers. The whole Israeli doctrine preaching neutrality vis-a-vis Russia despite Russian antisemitic remarks in the past years and months has proven wrong. This could have real security consequences for us," he said.
"Last Tuesday, the UN restrictions on transferring missile technologies to Iran expired, and Russia said clearly that it need no longer obey these restrictions,” said Mil-Man. “The moment Moscow estimates that reining in Iran in Syria is no longer in its interest, things could change quickly.”
Business as usual for Russia
Omer Dostri, a researcher at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, has a different perspective. For him, Russia has always tried to tread carefully with all sides. He believes that Israel’s channel of coordination with Russia will continue to operate even against the backdrop of the “poisonous, bordering on antisemitic remarks and even support of Hamas expressed in the last few days by the Russian leadership.” Israel and Russia have shared several moments of military friction. In 2018, Russia blamed Israeli jets for putting an Ilyushin Il-20 plane in the path of Syrian air defense systems, killing 15 crew members on board. Dostri went on, "Still, coordination between the IDF and the Russian military continued. Russia has an important naval base in Tartus and an air base near Latakia, in Syria. As long as Israel is careful over these bases, coordination is likely to continue.” He feels that Moscow is likely to continue a dual policy of harsh declarations against Israel but continued military cooperation on the ground.  Mil-Man, however, disagreed with that assessment. “Russia will continue with the communications channel on Syria only as long as it serves their interests,” he said. “With the war in Ukraine, Putin’s prime interest lies in reinforcing his anti-American alliance. The moment Putin’s self-preservation shifts completely toward security cooperation with Iran, Moscow could start using the communications channel as leverage to pressure Israel.”

Gaza displaced show signs of disease from crowding, poor sanitation - doctors
Nidal al-Mughrabi/Reuters/October 24, 2023
GAZA (Reuters) - Doctors in Gaza say patients arriving at hospitals are showing signs of disease caused by overcrowding and poor sanitation after more than 1.4 million people fled their homes for temporary shelters under Israel's heaviest-ever bombardment.
Aid agencies have repeatedly warned of a health crisis in the tiny, crowded Palestinian enclave under an Israeli blockade that has cut off electricity, clean water and fuel, with only small U.N. convoys of food and medicine getting in.
"The crowding of civilians and the fact that most schools used as shelters are housing lots of people, it's a prime breeding ground for disease to spread," said Nahed Abu Taaema, a public health doctor at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
Palestinian authorities say nearly 5,800 people have been killed by Israeli air and artillery strikes that followed the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants who stormed into Israel killing more than 1,400 people and grabbing more than 200 hostages.
Israel has told everybody living in the northern half of the 45km-long (28 mile) Gaza Strip to move south but its strikes have flattened districts throughout the enclave.
With all hospitals running out of fuel to power their generators, doctors have warned that critical equipment, like incubators for newborns, risk stopping.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry said 40 medical centres had suspended operations at a time when the bombardment and displacement are putting increased stress on the system.
The World Health Organization warned that a third of Gaza hospitals were not operating. "We are on our knees asking for that sustained, scaled up, protected humanitarian operation," said WHO regional emergencies head Rick Brennan.
The private Indonesian Hospital, the biggest in north Gaza, said on Tuesday it had switched off everything except the last vital departments such as the Intensive Care Unit.
The only other hospital that had still been serving patients in northern Gaza, Beit Hanoun Hospital, stopped operations because of the intense bombardment of the town, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. "If the hospital doesn't get fuel, this is going to be a death sentence against the patients in northern Gaza," said Atef al-Kahlout, the hospital's director.
'THE CHILDREN ARE ALL SICK'
In the temporary shelters where displaced Palestinians are crowding with their families hoping for safety from the bombs, people are starting to suffer from stomach complaints, lung infections and rashes said Abu Taaema of Nasser Hospital.
"It's hot in the tent under the midday sun and there are insects and flies... At night it's cold and there aren't enough blankets for everyone. The children are all sick. Some are coughing, some have runny noses, some have fevers at night," said Sojood Najm, a woman staying at a U.N. shelter. She fled her home in Gaza City with her husband and three children and they have been living in a tent for nine days, unable to bathe. "Every day I cry to my mother," said Najm. At a pharmacy, the owner said there were few stores left. People had stockpiled over-the-counter medicines, but there were concerns that treatments for chronic illnesses could run out. With electricity cut off, many people had gathered at a petrol station equipped with solar panels in order to charge their phones but it was hit by an air strike overnight, killing several people, said a neighbour, Abdallah Abu al-Atta. Israel said it had killed dozens of Hamas fighters in strikes overnight, one of the most intense bombardments since the war began, but that it would take time to achieve its aim of destroying the militant group. Since the last major warfare between Israel and Hamas, the group has grown more adept at urban warfare. Unlike in some previous wars, Hamas fighters are very rarely seen on the streets, operating instead almost entirely from under cover.

Qatar becomes a key intermediary in Israel-Hamas war as fate of hostages hangs in the balance
JERUSALEM (AP)/October 24, 2023
The gas-rich nation of Qatar has become a key intermediary over the fate of some 200 hostages held by Hamas militants after their unprecedented attack on Israel, once again putting the small Arabian Peninsula country in the spotlight.
The negotiations have also thrust Qatar into a delicate international balancing act as it maintains a relationship with those viewed as militant groups by the West while trying to preserve its close security ties with the United States.
Under arrangements stemming from past Hamas cease-fire understandings with Israel, the gas-rich emirate of Qatar has paid the salaries of civil servants in the Gaza Strip, provided direct cash transfers to poor families and offered other kinds of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
Qatar has also hosted Hamas' political office in its capital of Doha for over a decade. Among officials based there is Khaled Mashaal, an exiled Hamas member who survived a 1997 Israeli assassination attempt in Jordan that threatened to derail that country's peace deal with Israel. Also there is Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas' supreme leader.
The U.S. sanctioned Mashaal in 2003 for being “responsible for supervising assassination operations, bombings and the killing of Israeli settlers.” Washington sanctioned Haniyeh in 2018, saying he had “close links with Hamas’ military wing and has been a proponent of armed struggle, including against civilians.”
Mashaal, in an interview with Sky News this week, said hostages taken during Hamas' attack on Oct. 7 could be released if Israel stops its airstrikes — something incredibly unlikely as Israel prepares for a ground offensive inside the Gaza Strip.
Israel's military says 222 people, including foreigners, were believed captured by Hamas during the incursion and taken into Gaza. Four of those have been released, a mother and daughter on Friday and two more on Monday.
“Let them stop this aggression and you will find the mediators like Qatar and Egypt and some Arab countries and others will find a way to have them released and we’ll send them to their homes,” Mashaal said of the hostages.
Hosting the Hamas leaders has brought scrutiny to Qatar, both in the past and since the attack over two weeks ago that killed more than 1,400 people in Israel.
However, the Biden administration has repeatedly praised Qatar for its efforts in working to free the hostages and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Doha during his recent shuttle diplomacy trip in the region.
“Qatar is a longtime partner of ours who is responding to our request, because I think they believe that innocent civilians ought to be freed,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Monday.
Meanwhile, Qatar's ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, channeled the wider anger in the Arab world over Israel's unrelenting airstrikes and siege of the Gaza Strip after the Oct. 7 attack. The Hamas-controlled Health Ministry says the strikes have killed over 5,000 Palestinians so far. During Qatar's hosting of the FIFA World Cup last year, Palestinian flags were prominently displayed and Israeli journalists sometimes harassed.
“It is untenable for Israel to be given an unconditional green light and free license to kill, nor it is tenable to continue ignoring the reality of occupation, siege and settlement,” Sheikh Tamim said on Tuesday in a speech to the country's Shura Council, an advisory and legislative body.
He slammed Israel's siege, saying that it “should not be allowed in our time” to use as weapons the cutting off of water and preventing medicine and food supplies to an entire population. Qatar, a peninsula sticking out like a thumb into the Persian Gulf with a small population and military, has always looked warily at its larger neighbors Saudi Arabia and Iran. It faced a yearslong boycott by four Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, over a political dispute, which Kuwait's ruler at the time warned could have sparked a war.
It also bore withering criticism from the U.S. and others over its pan-Arab satellite news network Al Jazeera. It aired statements from the late al-Qaida mastermind Osama bin Laden and has been providing nonstop coverage of the toll of Israel's punishing airstrikes in this war with Hamas, including images of the dead and dying that have fueled demonstrations across the Middle East and wider world.
But those concerns about larger powers have seen Qatar balance the risks through its diplomacy and hosting of the forward headquarters of the U.S. military's Central Command at its sprawling Al-Udeid Air Base. The U.S. considers Qatar as a major non-NATO ally and Doha has widening defense trade and security cooperation with America, including priority delivery for certain military sales.
The Al-Udeid base served as a key node in America's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, while Qatar also hosted the Taliban officials with whom Washington earlier negotiated to end the longest U.S. war.
But Qatar's negotiations have led to headaches in the past.
Most recently, Qatar agreed to have just under $6 billion in Iranian assets once frozen in South Korea transferred to Doha as part of a September prisoner swap between Tehran and the U.S. After the Hamas attack, Qatar and the U.S. agreed not to act on any request from Tehran to access those funds for humanitarian goods as initially planned — at least for now. That enraged sanctions-choked Iran and left Qatar “walking the tightrope of international relations,” said David B. Roberts, who has long studied Qatar as an associate professor at King's College London and recently published the book “Security Politics in the Gulf Monarchies.”“The reality is it is quite straight forward that so many senior government people in Israel and America want Qatar to have this role and ... Qatar ultimately will be seen in a broadly positive light in trying to free these hostages,” Roberts said. “If you do want this unique spot,” he added, "then you’re not signing yourself up for an easy life.”

Live updates | Israel escalates its bombardment in the Gaza Strip
AP/October 24, 2023
Israel is escalating its bombardment of targets in the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected ground invasion against Hamas militants. The war is rapidly raising the death toll in Gaza, and the U.S. fears the fighting could spark a wider conflict in the region.
Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been running out of food, water and medicine since Israel sealed off the territory following the Hamas attack on Israeli towns on Oct. 7. The aid convoys allowed into Gaza so far have carried a fraction of what's needed, and the U.N. said distribution will have to stop if there's no fuel for the trucks. The war, in its 18th day Tuesday, is the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides. The Hamas-run Health Ministry said at least 5,791 Palestinians have been killed and 16,297 wounded. In the occupied West Bank, 96 Palestinians have been killed and 1,650 wounded in violence and Israeli raids since Oct. 7. More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly civilians who died in the initial Hamas rampage. In addition, 222 people including foreigners were believed captured by Hamas during the incursion and taken into Gaza, Israel's military has said. Four of those have been released.
Currently:
Here’s what’s happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war:
ISRAELI AIRSTRIKES KILLED MORE THAN 700 IN THE PAST DAY, HAMAS-RUN HEALTH MINISTRY SAYS
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip have killed more than 700 people in the past day, the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said Tuesday.
That represented a massive increase in the death toll amid widening Israeli bombing attacks in the territory. Israel has been bombing Gaza since Hamas militants attacked southern Israeli towns on Oct. 7. That has brought the death toll from the war to 5,791, including 2,360 children, ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra said in a statement. At least 16,297 others were wounded, he said. He said they have received 1,550 reports of missing people, including 870 children, suggesting that those missing could still be under the rubble of collapsed buildings. The World Health Organization said 12 hospitals out of a total of 35 in Gaza were not functioning as of Monday. It said 46 out of 72 health care facilities across Gaza, or 64%, were not operating, mostly in Gaza city and northern Gaza.
Al-Qidra said the health facilities went out of service because of the attacks or because of a lack of fuel to keep them operating. “The Health Ministry announces a total collapse of hospitals in Gaza Strip,” he said. Al-Qidra called for the Egyptian government to open the Rafah crossing point and ensure the delivery of medical supplies and fuel to Gaza and allow the wounded to be treated in Egypt. Egypt says it didn’t close the crossing, but Israeli airstrikes on its Palestinian side forced its closure.
ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE HITS REFUGEE CAMP, KILLING SEVERAL AND WOUNDING DOZENS
NUSEIRAT REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza Strip — An airstrike hit a bustling marketplace in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing several shoppers and wounding dozens, witnesses said. Men used sledgehammers to break up concrete and dug with their bare hands through the jagged wreckage to save anyone they could -– or recover the dead who had been buying meat and vegetables when the explosion hit.
A man buried up to his chest in rubble looked up at his rescuers with wide eyes, his face coated in dust from the blast. An oxygen mask was placed on his face as rescuers worked to free him. About 15 minutes, he was unearthed and placed on a stretcher.
A roar rose from the dozens of men watching, several with their arms raised in triumph as they cheered the rescue.On Tuesday, Israel said it had launched 400 airstrikes over the past day, killing Hamas commanders, hitting militants as they were preparing to launch rockets into Israel and striking command centers and a Hamas tunnel shaft. The previous day, Israel reported 320 strikes. The Palestinian official news agency, WAFA, said many of the airstrikes hit residential buildings, some of them in southern Gaza where Israel had told civilians to take shelter. Hamas’s military arm, Qassam Brigades, said it fired a salvo of rockets on southern Israeli on Tuesday afternoon, including Beersheba, Israel’s largest city in the area. There was no immediate word on any damage or casualties.
FRANCE'S MACRON SAYS ‘FIGHT MUST BE WITHOUT MERCY, BUT NOT WITHOUT RULES’
JERUSALEM — French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking after meeting Israel's prime minister on Tuesday, proposed a coalition to fight terror groups in the region “that threaten all of us.”
He compared the proposal to the international coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. He was referring to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran itself and the Houtis in Yemen, among others, saying they must not take the risk of opening a new front. Macron, on a two-day visit to the region, met with families of hostages held captive in the Gaza Strip by Hamas, and said “we will neglect nothing” to obtain freedom for French citizens. Nine French citizens are being held or have disappeared.
Macron will head to Jordan on Wednesday to meet with King Abdullah II and possibly some other regional leaders, his office said. He also planned a stop later Tuesday in Ramallah, West Bank, to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Standing at the side of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Macron stressed Israel’s right to defend itself in its war with Hamas. “The fight must be without mercy, but not without rules” because democracies “respect the rules of war,” Macron said, adding that for example democracies don’t target civilians. His statement appeared to be a message to Israel, which has been criticized by some for attacks that have killed Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip. He called for access to aid for Gaza and for electricity to be supplied to Gaza hospitals — not for making war. Netanyahu said it is Hamas that is responsible for civilian casualties, but that “we will do every effort to avoid them.” He added, “It could be a long war.” “Hamas must be destroyed,” Netanyahu said, calling it a condition for ending the war. Macron said any peace “cannot be durable” without restarting a “decisive” political process with Palestinians. But he said, “Hamas does not (represent) the Palestinian cause.”
US ISSUES WARNING TO SHIPS IN THE RED SEA
JERUSALEM — The U.S. is issuing a new warning to ships traveling through the Red Sea after a drone and missile attack launched from Yemen during the Israel-Hamas war.
The U.S. Maritime Administration warning on Tuesday urged vessels to “exercise caution when transiting this region.”The U.S. Navy says it shot down missiles and drones believed to have been launched by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in recent days amid wider tensions across the Middle East over the war.
HEZBOLLAH-ALLIED POLITICIAN SAYS LEBANON WON'T INITIATE A WAR WITH ISRAEL
BEIRUT — A prominent Lebanese Christian politician allied with Hezbollah said Tuesday that Lebanon would not initiate a war with Israel but would defend itself if attacked.
The comments by Gebran Bassil, head of the Free Patriotic Movement of former President Michel Aoun, came as sporadic clashes continue on the Lebanese border with Israel between Hezbollah and armed Palestinian groups in Lebanon on one side and Israeli forces on the other. “No one can drag us into war unless the Israeli enemy attacks us, and then we will be forced to defend ourselves,” Bassil said after a meeting with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, another Hezbollah ally. Bassil also spoke by phone to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Monday. “All the Lebanese agree that they do not want war, but that does not mean that we should allow ourselves to be attacked without a response.”
There has been widespread speculation as to whether and under what circumstances Hezbollah and its arsenal of an estimated 150,000 rockets and missiles would fully enter the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. The ongoing clashes on the border and anxieties about a wider conflict have internally displaced 19,646 people in Lebanon, according to the International Organization for Migration.
RELEASED HOSTAGE SAYS SHE WAS BEATEN WITH STICKS WHEN KIDNAPPED
TEL AVIV — Yocheved Lifshitz, an 85-year-old woman released by Hamas, told reporters Tuesday that the militants beat her with sticks, bruising her ribs and making it hard to breathe, as they kidnapped her during their attack on towns in southern Israel on Oct. 7. They drove her into Gaza, then forced her to walk several kilometers (miles) on wet ground to reach a network of tunnels that looked like a spider web, she said. Lifshitz is one of only four hostages to be released — and the first to speak publicly — of the more than 220 believed held by Hamas. She said the people assigned to guard her “told us they are people who believe in the Quran and wouldn’t hurt us.”
Lifshitz, whose husband remains a hostage, said that after she and four other people were taken into a room, they were treated well, conditions were clean, and they received medical care, including medication. They ate one meal a day of cheese and cucumber, she said, adding that her captors ate the same.
ISRAELI AIR STRIKES ON HOMES KILL 28 PEOPLE IN RAFAH, INTERIOR MINISTRY SAYS
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Israeli fighter jets pounded several homes overnight in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, killing at least 28 people, according to the Hamas-run Interior Ministry. The ministry reported other airstrikes across the besieged territory which it said left dozens dead. In Khan Younis, an Israeli airstrike hit a building in a refugee area late Tuesday morning, leaving many casualties. An Associated Press journalist saw ambulances bringing two dead and two wounded people from the strike.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said the airstrike in densely populated Khan Younis hit a house near its hospital, Al-Amal. It said the airstrike caused panic at the hospital and its shelter center, which houses 4,000 people who fled their homes in northern Gaza because of the bombardments. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have moved to southern Gaza, including Rafah, which borders Egypt, after Israel told civilians to flee southward ahead of an expected ground invasion. However, Israel has continued its attacks across Gaza’s southern areas.
QATAR'S RULING EMIR SAYS ISRAEL SHOULDN'T HAVE A ‘GREEN LIGHT’ TO KILL
JERUSALEM — The ruling emir of the small Middle East nation of Qatar, which hosts an office of Hamas and has served as an intermediary in hostage negotiations, said Tuesday that it "is untenable for Israel to be given an unconditional green light and free license to kill.”The comments by Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to Qatar’s consultative Shura Council come as negotiations continue to free more of the approximately 200 hostages Hamas has held since its Oct. 7 assault on Israel. About 1,400 people in Israel died in the assault, while the Hamas-run Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip says over 5,000 people have died in Israeli airstrikes since then. “We are against attacks on innocent civilians, regardless of their nationality, by any party,” Sheikh Tamim said. “But we do not accept double standards, nor do we accept acting as if the Palestinian children’s lives are not worth to be reckoned with, as though they are faceless or nameless.”
He added: “We are saying enough is enough. It is untenable for Israel to be given an unconditional green light and free license to kill, nor it is tenable to continue ignoring the reality of occupation, siege and settlement. It should not be allowed in our time to use cutting off water and preventing medicine and food as weapons against an entire population.”Sheikh Tamim renewed calls for a Palestinian state based on Israel’s 1967 borders, with east Jerusalem as its capital, something long called for by other Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia. Qatar had a trade office for Israel from 1996 until 2000, but broke ties in 2009 over an Israel-Hamas war at the time. Under arrangements stemming from past cease-fire understandings with Israel, the gas-rich emirate of Qatar has paid the salaries of civil servants in the Gaza Strip, provided direct cash transfers to poor families and offered other kinds of humanitarian aid.

Turkey's finance chief Simsek embarks on third Gulf trip
Ezgi Akin/Al-Monitor/October 24, 2023
ANKARA — Turkey’s Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek announced Tuesday that he had kicked off his new Gulf tour in the United Arab Emirates as Ankara scrambles to lure foreign funds to ease its foreign currency crunch. In Abu Dhabi, the first leg of the tour, Simsek held a “productive” meeting with UAE Investment Minister Mohammed Hassan Al Suwaidi, the Turkish finance chief wrote on social media. Simsek then traveled to Doha, where he met with his Qatari counterpart Ali Bin Ahmad Al-Kuwari. On the second leg of his trip, Simsek also touted investment opportunities to more than 200 international investors and businessmen at a forum. The Turkish finance minister also held a separate face-to-face meeting with Moutaz Al Khayyat, chairman of Power International Holding, on the sidelines of his visit, according to the Turkish Embassy in Doha. Simsek said he would travel to Saudi Arabia late Tuesday, wrapping up his third tour of the region since his appointment to helm the Turkish economy in June. He previously traveled to the region twice in July — first on a solo trip, and then in the entourage of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who paid his first regional visit to the Gulf after his reelection in June. Simsek’s Gulf tour comes as part of Ankara’s efforts to draw foreign funds to the country as Turkey faces a foreign currency crunch amid the devaluation of the Turkish lira. Prior to his Gulf tour, Simsek also traveled to France, Germany and the United Kingdom, meeting with officials as well as foreign investors.He and the country’s new Central Bank Governor Hafize Gaye Erkan, who was also appointed to her post in June, also traveled to Marrakech earlier this month to attend the International Monetary Fund's annual meeting. Simsek and Erkan, mainstream economists and former US Wall Street executives, were tapped as part of the Turkish government’s economic policy U-turn after the May general elections, with Erdogan abandoning his unconventional economic wisdom. Under the influence of Erdogan, who advocated the idea that high interest rates cause high inflation, the Central Bank’s former leadership lowered its interest rates as low as 8.5%. The country’s annual inflation peaked to a 24-year high of 85.5% in October last year before relatively easing to below 60%. With Simsek and Erkan at the helm of the economic management, the government shifted to conventional economic policies and the central bank raised its interest rates from 8.5% to 30% in successive hikes since June in bid to rein in the runaway inflation and cost-of-the-living crisis.The bank is expected to raise the rates further on Thursday during its monthly monetary committee meeting.

Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published  on October 24-25/2023
The Regional Dimension of the Tragedy In Gaza
Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al-Awsat/October 24/2023
It seems that we do indeed live in a world that despises the sensible and is enchanted by populist showmen. We understand the fact that the truth is the first victim of war, and any doubts that may have remained were dispelled by the heart-wrenching “Gaza war” that began two weeks ago.
As we have known for a while, attempts at persuading those who have adopted unwavering positions are futile. Going against the teachings of Imam Al-Shafi'i, they have concluded, a priori, they have concluded that their beliefs are the absolute and only truth and that it cannot be disputed, doubted, or reexamined. Moreover, after the three-quarters of a century we have spent dealing with Israel and 40 years of dealing with Iran, political enmity can always be contained and resolved... unless it turns into a “war of annihilation” that can only end with the total elimination of the other side.
Israel has seen the emergence of many prominent figures over its history, and the overwhelming majority of them believed in and upheld Zionist principles. Nonetheless, competing conceptions of Zionism, as well as opposing views on the optimal strategy for realizing this project, have been there from the outset. While most of the arrivals to Palestine believed it to be land that God had promised them, a substantial minority went for reasons outside their control, pushed there by the "game of nations," imperial ambitions, unruly nationalist and religious fervor, and fanatical racism.
As a result, if some Zionists pushed self-serving interpretations of the Torah, others were satisfied with non-exclusionary coexistence in the land of Palestine from the very beginning. On one side, there were the fanatical right-wing parties pioneered by figures like Zeev Jabotinsky and his "disciples," such as Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Shamir, and finally Benjamin Netanyahu and the settler groups known as Kahanists. They formed parties that splintered and then merged, adopting several different names over time. On the other side, there were movements and individuals who marched to a different beat and never bought into the idea that there was no alternative to a "transfer."
In fact, some ultra-orthodox groups, like the Neturei Karta, are anti-Zionist. They see it as a secular political movement that contradicts Jewish teachings. Many thinkers, secular scholars, liberals, and leftists also opposed the religious Zionists. To varying degrees, they oppose the Jewish state, falling somewhere along the spectrum of moderates who believe in coexistence and dividing the land, liberals proponents of a secular state, and radical revisionists of Zionism’s historical narrative as a whole.
Sadly, to the misfortune of us Arabs, and every sensible and moderate Israeli who is not keen on annihilating us, the eliminationist "transferists" govern Israel. Supported by complicit circles in the West, they have seized Western public opinion under the guise of the need to protect Israel.
Over the past two weeks, as natural sympathy for the suffering of Palestinian civilians was perniciously conflated with the morally reprehensible support of Hamas's latest operation, some Western politicians have made statements that every respectable and sensible member of the Jewish community would be ashamed to repeat... among them historians like Ilan Pappé and Avi Shlaim, the activist, author, and intellectual Naomi Klein, and the brilliant journalist Amira Hass.
Indeed, Amira Hass made striking remarks yesterday in an interview she gave from New York. Her voice breaking as tears went down her eyes, she concluded by saying that Israeli public opinion is “drunk with the will to take revenge” as “the Israeli government is carrying on the political program of the extreme fascist, messianic, religious, settler right-wing.” She then eloquently added that “history did not begin on October 7, 2023” (the day Hamas launched its attack). The implication here is clear; the complexities of the 75-year Arab-Israeli conflict did not begin yesterday.
With regard to the discourse around the Hamas attack, I watched part of the debate on a Lebanese political talk show in which views from across the spectrum were represented. One of the few positives that can be found in what remains of Lebanon - for now - is that such a wide range of views can be brought together. Nonetheless, I was disconcerted, though not surprised, to see that some Palestinian activists and their "supporters" - Lebanese participants who went further than the Palestinians themselves - remain captivated by the outdated and stagnant discourse riddled with empty slogans of the 1960s.
Still, worse than this intractable discourse, with all its “bravado,” "militant struggle", and “utopian idealism,” was the egregious disregard for the pain of people and suffering that has been inflicted and is being inflicted by the disproportionate, inhumane Israeli retaliation to every operation by Hamas and its allies.
One of the speakers shamelessly reminded the viewers and listeners of the lessons of history. In a self-righteous lecture, he explained that struggle and liberation require casualties. However, this speaker failed to explain how there can be "resistance" to Israel - which is backed by the United States - can be effective if the massacres and destruction are only seen on one front, while the "strategic ally" of the resistance complies with the "rules of engagement", exchanging fire with the enemy within predetermined parameters in South Lebanon.
Additionally, we failed to give a satisfactory answer regarding the "scenarios" that can be anticipated, in both Lebanon and the region, should Iran decide to carry out its repeated "warnings" and enter into battle to prevent Israel from focusing its destructive capacities on Gaza alone. On this question, while some Hamas have, in interviews, politely shared grievances against the posture that Tehran and Hezbollah have taken amid the "Gaza war," the situation is volatile in Lebanon in particular, and the other countries forming a "ring” around Israel in general. It will become increasingly perilous as time goes on unless the idea of a "transfer" is taken off the table.
Indeed, the Egyptians remained vehemently opposed to the displacement of Gazans to Sinai, and Jordan has always rejected the "alternative homeland" conspiracy. Meanwhile, Lebanon has always been wary of plans to grant Palestinian refugees, and more recently Syrian refugees a resettlement.
However, could Washington dare to open the door to dark uncertainty? Could it ignore all of these "red flags" to appease the Israeli right in an election year? How would Iran act and reap the benefits?

On Confronting Both Hamas and Netanyahu
Nadim Koteich/Asharq Al-Awsat/October 24/2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/123491/123491/
“The current Gaza war is not like its predecessors,” we hear again and again. It is not. The war has put us in a position we had not expected to find ourselves in, facing the challenge of another war over hearts and minds that will be fought for years, not weeks or months.
We are now in the heart of the most severe cultural, political, and media battle of minds we have faced since the crime of September 11, 2001.
In a previous column for this newspaper, I wrote that politics, in the third decade of this century and beyond, will revolve around the question of peace. In the two decades that preceded, we were consumed by the War on Terror (2001-2010) and the Arab Spring (2010-2020).
The most recent war, with the scale of the destruction that it has engendered, Hamas’ bloody violence that sparked it, and the emotional and political upheaval and frenzied mobilizations associated with it, have hardened my conviction that the battle of the minds will be far bigger than those of the past.
If we look at how the media has covered the development, especially the coverage of broadcasters whose narrative for the future of the region contradicts that of Hamas and the general “axis of resistance”, we find that vast segments remain captive to the logic of covering conflicts as they had been covered for many years. It capitalizes on the emotional charge generated by seeing heart-wrenching images of devastation and death, especially that of children.
This is, of course, not a call for looking away from the horrific human costs of wars, nor I am encouraging anyone to make light of human dignity, especially not of those who have had no say in their fate. Rather, I am cautioning against falling into the trap of this coup that Iran is leading, firstly through war itself, in opposition to peace, and secondly by reviving sweeping narratives about truth, justice, evil, the good, and the struggle of angels and demons, regarding everything unfolding around us now.
This immense pressure reinforced by simplistic narratives, seeks to split our humanity geographically, inviting us to politicize our sentiments and values. It lays the groundwork for a political investment in generating a consciousness that hates the other first and the societies and governments who have taken a different political view from that put forward by the axis of resistance, be it on Israel, Palestine, or resistance.
If the goal of the coverage, in its current form, is to shed light on the horrors of war, agony can be found in two places: in Gaza, which is being destroyed by Israel’s enraged machine, and in Israel, whose defenseless citizens Hamas egregiously assaulted in their homes and villages. Otherwise, the media turns into an extension of a skewed, one-sided narrative devoid of context and history that is against us before being against Israel.
The mission of the media, our media, in the battle of minds born of the Gaza war, is to provide the political and ethical contexts of the opposing views on this war. It must go beyond how the war is presented by those directly involved, namely Hamas and the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. We need “contextual media” rather than real-time media seeped in exploiting sentiment and the parroting of slogans or aphorisms, like “what was taken by force cannot be retrieved without force” or “what has peace gotten us?”
We are now faced with an event that reflects a broader ideological chasm. Accordingly, the media plays an immense role in shaping the narrative, influencing how the public perceives it and the paths that will be taken politically, especially given how closely the news is now being followed after we had been complaining that this had not been the case.
For this reason, the “contextual media” has become more prominent. It is a crucial requisite for presenting developments from an angle that goes beyond the live scenes of the victims and places it within a broader social, political, and historical context that gives viewers an informed political view of what is going on.
Let us take, for example, the protest in London held a few days ago, which demonstrates the scale of international sympathy for Hamas as a resistance movement and will be remembered as such; it will become a knife used to stab “the Arab elites failing to support the resistance”... However, were we told or told that the Muslim Brotherhood has an extremely strong presence in London, leading us to our next question: where are the protests in other European capitals? This is just one example of how stories can be told and reformulated to create awareness that serves a particular agenda.
In this sense, “contextual media” is a bulwark against misinformation that fuels more accurate and comprehensive dialogue instead of rhetoric that reinforces divisions and fortifies an environment of hatred and mutual destruction.
The Gaza test is a test of our ability to overcome the media traditions that some outlets have solidified. I do not advocate for this because of the allure of innovation. Rather, I propose that we make this change because we are caught up in practices that unintentionally give credence to a political discourse, embraced by Iran and the so-called Axis of Resistance, that is opposed to sensible and moderate Arab politics. It will be a long and complicated battle that requires a strong degree of intellectual courage and a willingness to venture into unpopular intellectual territory with the aim of creating a political narrative that is not tainted by prevalent and ready-made biases.
The war will end. Its conclusion will raise difficult and existential questions about our political future. It is difficult to imagine a scenario in which Hamas could be part of the future of any Palestinian political process. The war will probably destroy its military infrastructure and ensure it has no political future, even if the idea cannot be liquidated.
What will be the political future of Gaza? Who will take control and represent the interests of the Palestinians? How will the Israelis overcome the wave of anger and revenge to start preparing for the pursuit of peace once again? How can we overcome all this death, destruction, resentment, and hatred to put forward a post-conflict proposal, reopen paths to a political settlement, and redefine Israeli-Palestinian relations?
These are not the types of questions that can be answered with the naivety of absolute righteousness and maximalist demands on the Palestinian side, nor the arrogance of the Israeli right, whose bet on Hamas allowing it to do away with the peace project has blown up in its face.
So, it is a battle that must be fought here and there.
The battle that has prevailed today is, to a large extent, a battle of hearts and sentiments taking us in the wrong direction. We need to wage a battle of minds that we do not have the luxury of delaying; we must expand its reach and invest in its infrastructure.

The Israel-Gaza war appears to be seesawing between two possibilities
Raghida Dergham/The National/October 24/2023
The arc of the war can bend towards peace, rather than a regional conflict, if the stakeholders act now
The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza has drawn global support and solidarity for the Palestinian people. It has also exposed both the West’s double standards and the political decisions made by Israel as well as the extremist factions operating inside the occupied territories, neither of which bear any relation to the national rights of the Palestinians.
With the Israel-Gaza war far from being concluded, however, the plight of ordinary Gazans will persist until local, regional and international agreements are reached.
US President Joe Biden played a political card during his visit to Israel, which is likely to earn him support from many within the Jewish-American community for his 2024 re-election campaign. That said, he did call for all the leaders in the region to join a partnership to initiate a peace plan in which America might play a role, albeit not that of the sole mediator.
Indeed, Mr Biden’s message was that the US is prepared to return to playing a key role in the Middle East, and that it is willing to engage in a new peace process.
The US President’s absolute support for Israel’s actions will not efface the disappointment felt among a large number of Arabs as well as Americans. But what he said during his visit must be assessed politically, regardless of how heavy-handed his support for Israel might appear to the Palestinian people.
“As hard as it is, we cannot give up on peace,” Mr Biden said. “We cannot give up on a two-state solution. Israel and Palestinians equally deserve to live in safety, dignity and peace.”
He added that he discussed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the necessity for his government to respect the laws of war and warned against being blinded by anger.
Israel has, of course, not complied with Mr Biden’s call to protect civilians. Still, his opposition to a ground invasion of Gaza was clear. Israel may be forced to limit its imminent invasion, not only because of Hezbollah’s threats to activate Lebanon’s southern border with Israel but also due to the firm American stance against a large-scale invasion.
The Arab positions, primarily those of Egypt and Jordan, are likely to hinder Israel’s alleged intentions to forcibly relocate Palestinians
Meanwhile, the Arab positions, primarily those of Egypt and Jordan, are likely to hinder any Israeli alleged intentions to forcibly relocate Palestinians from Gaza to Sinai and later from the West Bank to Jordan. These positions have compelled both American and European officials to voice their opposition as well. However, none have opposed Israel’s stated goal of clearing Gaza of Hamas’s influence.
This presents a dilemma to the region’s stakeholders.
Hamas holds the keys to freeing the hostages and prisoners its fighters captured during its October 7 assault, making it an essential player in any negotiations. But Israel’s relationship with Hamas has changed irrevocably following the attack, and it appears there is no room for understanding between the two parties.From this perspective, it can be argued that Hamas has effectively removed itself from the equation as an alternative to the Palestinian Authority. It is now entirely shunned by Israel, the US, Europe and, to some extent, the Arab world as a participant in the political equations and resolutions.
In other words, the quest for a political solution now involves differentiating between the Palestinian future and the future of Hamas. The Biden administration is essentially conveying to all that Palestine’s future and the establishment of a Palestinian state must proceed without Hamas in its current form.
The current situation, resulting from the ongoing war, has led to changes in Hamas’s leadership ranks due to Israeli military operations and assassinations. So the question remains: what will the leadership matrix within the group look like after the transformation of northern Gaza?
Israel won’t be able to eradicate Hamas. Instead, its strategy will involve highlighting the cost of supporting Hamas to the Palestinian people. Israel is resolved to tell the people of Gaza that they will face the consequences if there continues to be popular support for Hamas.
But speaking to the media, Khaled Meshaal, a Hamas leader in exile, claimed that “there are no voices in Gaza that criticise the resistance”. He even compared Hamas to the Taliban, saying: “The Taliban defeated America, and we will defeat Israel.”
Meshaal also called for an “Arab Islamic stance to exert pressure on the West to halt the war”.
However, there was inconsistency in his messaging. For instance, he said: “We do not advocate for people to engage in war,” while also stressing that “Hezbollah and Iran have provided us with weapons and support, and we seek more”. He described the October 7 attack by Al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, as a “strategic adventure”.
Reversing the chaos in Israel and Gaza depends on how well America can use its leverage
The Syrian refugee crisis is out of control – the world needs to act now
Russia is renewing its interest in Libya as Africa faces a turning point
Hamas wants Hezbollah to embark on a “calculated adventure” in turn, to block a potential Israeli ground invasion that could annihilate Hamas. However, Hezbollah is unlikely to launch a mission for the sake of Hamas – even though it may not want to remain under the shadow of Hamas’s audacious assault.
At the time of writing, Hezbollah is toying with the nerves of the Lebanese, hinting at “pre-emptive” operations to divert some of Israel’s focus away from Gaza, forcing it to engage on its northern front with Lebanon.
For its part, Iran officially remains outside the military equation, asserting that decisions made by Hezbollah or Hamas do not represent its own. This is one of the advantages of its proxy war strategy.
The Iranian regime’s top priority is its nuclear programme, meaning it does not want to suffer a military strike that could set back its ability to develop a bomb, expected to be within six months. Therefore, it is committed to strategic patience, even if this makes it appear like an emperor without clothes.
One hopes, then, that Hamas’s actions on October 7 do not push Hezbollah into a competition for one-upmanship by staging its own attacks, but rather embrace Tehran’s strategy.
For the US to help tackle the humanitarian as well as the political and strategic challenges on the ground, it must assert itself firmly with Israel to make it conscious of all implications rather than allowing it to leverage American support to further its retribution against the Palestinian people. This constitutes both a moral and strategic responsibility for the Biden administration.
It should avoid provoking further global resentment by standing alone in opposition to a humanitarian resolution in the UN Security Council that has the support of its allies. On Saturday, the US circulated the text of a draft resolution that emphasises Israel’s right to defend itself and calls for a two-state solution.
Washington should also urge the relevant stakeholders to re-initiate the cancelled Amman summit – possibly with an expanded list of participants.
The Palestinian leadership, meanwhile, needs to rise to the occasion. It should apply pressure on the Biden administration to push Israel towards negotiations for a two-state solution and the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state.

The European Union Rewards Terrorism
Robert Williams/Gatestone Institute/October 24, 2023
Israel had not even buried its dead from the horrifying jihadist pogrom that Hamas terrorists unleashed on Israeli civilians in south Israel -- beheading babies, burning them alive, torturing, raping, kidnapping, murdering -- before the European Union decided to reward the terrorists by tripling its assistance to Gaza.
"The Commission will immediately increase the current humanitarian aid envelope foreseen for Gaza by 50 million euros," European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen said. "This will bring the total to over 75 million euros. We will continue our close cooperation with the UN and its agencies to ensure that this aid reaches those in need in the Gaza strip."
Oh really? How? The terrorist group Hamas, a proxy of Iran, the "worst state sponsor of terrorism," is wholly in control of Gaza and will take what shows up and dribble it out slowly to a chosen few, mainly in their military. The idea that any of it will reach the million displaced souls who were urged by the Israelis to flee to southern Gaza to save their lives is charming, but woefully starry-eyed. Food and water -- if that is really what is in the uninspected trucks, rather than weapons -- will go to the Hamas foot soldiers to make sure they stay fit and loyal.
"Hamas are trying to prevent people leaving northern Gaza. And that is the point... Of course we want to minimize Palestinian casualties. We want to minimize Israeli casualties. We want everybody to respect civilians. But the real clear distinction is Israel are trying to get civilians out of danger; Hamas are trying to put civilians into danger, and that is a fundamental difference between the two." — UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, October 15, 2023.
Sadly, massive injustices were done by the international media which, without checking, wrongly blamed Israel for firing at a hospital in Gaza, supposedly killing hundreds. Video evidence and a voice recording revealed that the real cause of the explosion at the hospital was a rocket, launched toward Israel by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, that landed in the hospital parking lot. The media, it seems, could not wait to stick it to the Jews.
Israel had not even buried its dead from the horrifying jihadist pogrom that Hamas terrorists unleashed on Israeli civilians in south Israel -- beheading babies, burning them alive, torturing, raping, kidnapping, murdering -- before the European Union decided to reward the terrorists by tripling its assistance to Gaza. Pictured: IDF soldiers prepare to remove the bodies of four Israeli civilians who were murdered Saturday by Hamas terrorists in Kfar Aza, Israel, on October 10, 2023. (Photo by Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
Israel had not even buried its dead from the horrifying jihadist pogrom that Hamas terrorists unleashed on Israeli civilians in south Israel -- beheading babies, burning them alive, torturing, raping, kidnapping, murdering -- before the European Union decided to reward the terrorists by tripling its assistance to Gaza.
"The Commission will immediately increase the current humanitarian aid envelope foreseen for Gaza by 50 million euros," European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen said. "This will bring the total to over 75 million euros. We will continue our close cooperation with the UN and its agencies to ensure that this aid reaches those in need in the Gaza strip."
Oh really? How? The terrorist group Hamas, a proxy of Iran, the "worst state sponsor of terrorism," is wholly in control of Gaza and will take what shows up and dribble it out slowly to a chosen few, mainly in their military. The idea that any of it will reach the million displaced souls who were urged by the Israelis to flee to southern Gaza to save their lives is charming, but woefully starry-eyed. Food and water -- if that is really what is in the uninspected trucks, rather than weapons -- will go to the Hamas foot soldiers to make sure they stay fit and loyal.
For the EU, the determination to stand with Israel and the Jewish people with more than just words at its worst moment since the Holocaust, lasted a splendiferous colossal day or so. After the massacre, the EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, posted on X:
"The scale of terror and brutality against Israel and its people is a turning point.
"There can be no business as usual.
"As the biggest donor of the Palestinians, the European Commission is putting its full development portfolio under review, worth a total of EUR 691m ($732 million).
"•All payments immediately suspended.
•All projects put under review.
•All new budget proposals, incl. for 2023 postponed until further notice. •Comprehensive assessment of the whole portfolio.
"The foundations for peace, tolerance and co-existence must now be addressed.
"Incitement to hatred, violence and glorification of terror have poisoned the minds of too many.
"We need action and we need it now."
This surprisingly logical decision was almost immediately reversed by the top brass of the European Commission. Several EU member states -- France, Ireland, Spain and Luxembourg -- complained that suspending aid would "exacerbate the already dire situation inside the Gaza Strip."
Josep Borrell, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy wrote on X just six hours after Várhelyi's announcement:
"The review of the EU's assistance for Palestine announced by the European Commission will not suspend the due payments, as clarified by the Commission's press release.
"The suspension of the payments - punishing all the Palestinian people - would have damaged the EU interests in the region and would have only further emboldened terrorists."
Borell did not specify how stopping aid to Hamas terrorists would run against "EU interests" in the region or how it would have emboldened the terrorists. They seem quite bold already.
"Since the outset of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process in 1993, Europe has been one of Palestine's main donors," Le Monde wrote on October 13.
"This support, which has proved relatively stable since 2008, has averaged €1.2 billion a year across all member-states and the European Union (EU) itself, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Within this combined total, the EU share managed by Brussels amounts to €300 million per year.
"Following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, this contribution is now being called into question, and the Commission is re-examining it to check whether it has financed the Islamist organization...Germany – which gives around €125 million a year – as well as Austria, Denmark and Sweden, have decided to temporarily suspend their contributions."
Stunningly, having financed Palestinians for thirty years to the tune of billions of euros, the European Union and its member states apparently had no idea whether that money went, directly or indirectly, to supporting terrorism and ultimately helping to finance the massacre against Israeli civilians on October 7. Now -- rather late -- they have called for a review. Despite their ignorance regarding the use of European funds by Hamas, the EU could not bring itself to suspend aid to Gaza -- which is the same as Hamas -- but tripled it no less.
One of the arguments used to legitimize the continued aid to Gaza, despite the gruesome Hamas massacre of Israeli civilians, is that supposedly Gazans do not support Hamas. This unsubstantiated fiction -- after all, the Palestinians voted for Hamas -- was also trotted out by US President Joe Biden on X, when, on October 15, he wrote:
"We must not lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas's appalling attacks, and are suffering as a result of them."
According to a poll by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research taken in September 2023, if new elections for the Palestinian Authority (PA) presidency were held today and only two candidates, PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, ran in them, Abbas would receive 37% of the overall Palestinian vote while Haniyeh would receive 58%. In Gaza specifically, the vote for Abbas would be at 33% and for Haniyeh at 64%.
According to another poll done by the Washington Institute, "Overall, 57% of Gazans express at least a somewhat positive opinion of Hamas—along with similar percentages of Palestinians in the West Bank (52%) and East Jerusalem (64%)."
Gazans also appear extremely positive about the Iranian regime, upon which Hamas is dependent for financial and military support. According to the Washington Institute poll:
"[W]hen it comes to Iran, which has strongly supported and potentially helped coordinate the attack, about half of Gazans view Tehran as either a 'friend of the country- (29%) or security partner (28%), compared to less than a third of West Bankers who would say the same."
It also found that 71% of Gazans support Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which also took part in the October 7 massacre and has said that it is holding 30 Israeli hostages, while Hamas is believed to hold nearly 200 hostages. The total number of hostages now has reportedly reached 222.
This is what the EU is supporting with its continued aid to Gaza. None of it will reach civilians if Hamas can help it, because there is nothing about Hamas' actions that would indicate that the terrorist organization cares a whit about the people that it controls.
One only needs to see the continued Hamas policy of telling Gazans not to evacuate their homes when Israel bombs, in order to have civilian deaths and "dead babies" to display for the international media. The Israel Defense Forces have repeatedly called on Gazans to evacuate from the north of Gaza to the south, in order to avoid harming them, as the military campaign to dismantle the terrorist organization continues. Hamas, however, is actively preventing Gazans from leaving, setting up roadblocks and possibly even using explosive devices to blow up the cars of fleeing Gazans.
"Hamas are trying to prevent people leaving northern Gaza," said UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.
"And that is the point... Of course we want to minimize Palestinian casualties. We want to minimize Israeli casualties. We want everybody to respect civilians. But the real clear distinction is Israel are trying to get civilians out of danger; Hamas are trying to put civilians into danger, and that is a fundamental difference between the two."
Meanwhile, as the EU was concerned about aid to Hamas, European capitals were the scenes of mass demonstrations cheering Hamas on with the chants "Free Palestine," interspersed with "Allahu Akbar" and calls for violence with the words "Intifada, intifada." In London, police said that there had been 105 antisemitic incidents and 75 antisemitic offences in the British capital since Hamas launched its attack on Israel on October 7, compared with 14 incidents and 12 offences in the same period last year, marking a 650% rise in "incidents" and a 525% increase in crimes.
Sadly, massive injustices were done by the international media which, without checking, wrongly blamed Israel for firing at a hospital in Gaza, supposedly killing hundreds. Video evidence and a voice recording revealed that the real cause of the explosion at the hospital was a rocket, launched toward Israel by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, that landed in the hospital parking lot. The media, it seems, could not wait to stick it to the Jews.
*Robert Williams is a researcher based in the United States.
© 2023 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Opinion: Why Egypt won’t open the border to its Palestinian neighbors
Opinion by Ghaith al-Omari and David Schenker/CNN/October 24, 2023
‘Why should Egypt be presumed to allow the influx of 1 or 2 million people?’ asks Egyptian
Egypt has re-emerged as a pivotal actor in the Middle East thanks to the Israel-Gaza War. Its revived influence was epitomized by the summit Cairo convened on Saturday for a number of Arab and European leaders. Although it didn’t produce a unified statement from the parties, underscoring the challenges of finding common ground, it was the crucial player in drawing top leaders together after several Arab countries refused to meet with President Joe Biden earlier in the week.
Egypt’s importance is not just as a leader among Western-allied Arab countries, however. The country is a critical partner for the Biden administration on all issues related to Gaza because its control of the Rafah crossing — currently the only point of entry into the embattled Gaza Strip since Israel closed all crossings on its borders after Hamas’ October 7 terror attack — allows Egypt to dictate and leverage the terms by which humanitarian assistance can enter the Palestinian territory.
It’s understandable if Washington, which provides Egypt with over $1 billion per year in military assistance, is frustrated that Cairo isn’t allowing American citizens and other nationals to exit Gaza via the crossing, as Egypt has seemingly made their departure contingent on the entry of aid. It’s also understandable if humanitarian groups are frustrated that Egypt won’t open its border for a humanitarian corridor to let out hundreds of thousands of internally displaced Gazans who are trying to take refuge in the south of the Gaza Strip, which Rafah sits on, as the most intense fighting rages in the north.
But Egypt’s positions reflect serious, and legitimate, concerns. First and foremost is the fear of a massive refugee flow if the crossing were opened. A decade after the Syrian civil war started, Egypt claims to host 9 million refugees from different countries, with no horizon of repatriation for most in sight. For Egypt, a deluge of Palestinian refugees would not only pose humanitarian and economic challenges — Egypt is currently experiencing a devastating economic crisis — but also security and political ones.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, in uncharacteristically explicit remarks, on Wednesday warned that transferring Palestinians into Sinai will turn the peninsula into a launching pad for attacks against Israel, eliciting Israeli reprisals, triggering war between the two countries and upending the longest peace between Israel and any Arab country.
Additionally, the movement of Palestinian refugees out of Gaza would evoke memories of the mass displacement that accompanied the creation of Israel in 1948. Egypt fears that such an eventuality would bring an end to any future prospect of Palestinian-Israeli peace based on a two-state solution, instead bringing a diplomatic void, and inflaming Arab public opinion.
This concern is so widely and deeply held in the region that, even as Palestinian civilian casualties mounted after October 7, other Arab countries supported Egypt in its vehement opposition to opening the Sinai for refugees. Indeed, after concluding a tour to several Arab capitals, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Al-Arabiya TV that he heard “from virtually every … leader that I’ve talked to in the region that that idea is a nonstarter, and so we do not support it.”
Additionally, Egypt has privately held that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is ultimately Israel’s problem, and that the latter should bear any political or territorial costs of its resolution. During the Trump administration, an American proposal to build infrastructure in Sinai to serve Gaza was roundly rejected by Cairo, part of Egyptian fears that a slippery slope that could draw it into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Egypt is also concerned that open crossing could allow in Hamas and its sympathizers. Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, Sisi’s most serious domestic political rival. And Egypt has faced Islamist terror in the Sinai Peninsula since the 2011 revolution that toppled the Mubarak regime.
For all these reasons, shortly after Hamas took over Gaza in 2007, Egypt sealed the border. By 2018, according to Human Rights Watch, Egypt had razed the entire Sinai city of Rafah on the Egyptian side of the borders, destroying thousands of homes and displacing 70,000 persons, to create a nearly mile-wide buffer zone to prevent the movement of weapons and terrorists in tunnels between Egypt and Gaza. To emphasize the point, Egypt even flooded those tunnels. Two years later, in 2020, Egypt built a 20-foot reinforced concrete wallthat reaches 16 feet below ground.
This wall has helped ensure the war in Gaza doesn’t spill over into Egypt. Like other Middle Eastern states, however, what is happening in Gaza is having an impact within Egypt, where there is a significant reservoir of support for the Palestinians. For the first time since the Mubarak days, the Egyptian government has organized anti-Israel protests to try to come out ahead of public opinion on supporting the Palestinians and better control the demonstrations.
The very staunch US support for Israel, which reflects longstanding American policy, sharpened further by the brutal nature of Hamas terror and Biden’s own convictions about it, has inevitably created additional tensions in the Arab world. The view that the US is complicit in the human suffering in Gaza is widely held in the Arab world, partly out of compassion and partly out of political opportunism. This, naturally, complicates Egypt’s engagement with the US and helps explain why the meeting with Biden last week was canceled, after (later disproven) reports of Israeli targeting a hospital in Gaza circulated.
However, the delicate way the US approached the cancellation, framing it as a response to the period of mourning announced by the three Arab countries and expressing sympathy for the victims, helped ease pressure on Sisi, who would have been criticized by his public for appearing with the US president at such highly charged times, and was no doubt appreciated in Cairo. Subsequent US policy, focusing on delivery of aid into Gaza also signaled support for Egypt’s position, buying some goodwill from Cairo.
Still, if Washington is committed to the objectives of both supporting Israel in its campaign to degrade, if not eradicate, Hamas and at the same time providing critical humanitarian support to Palestinian civilians, the US will need to coordinate with its Arab allies. For reasons of geography, history and diplomatic heft, Egypt is the linchpin.
Editor’s Note: Ghaith al-Omari is a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a former adviser to the Palestinians during permanent-status talks between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. David Schenker is the director of the Program on Arab Politics at the Washington Institute and a former US assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs. The views expressed in this commentary are their own. View more opinion at CNN.

‘Muhammad’ Is Taking Over the World
Raymond Ibrahim/October 24, 2023
The demographic jihad is taking the non-Muslim world by storm.
According to a Sept. 11, 2023 report, “Muhammad” is the most popular name for newborn baby boys in Israel (followed by Adam, Joseph, and David).
Although Israel is a Jewish nation, it is also right smack in the Middle East, so this finding may not be overly surprising. What, however, does one make of the fact that all throughout Western Europe, which for centuries represented the antithesis of Islam, newborn baby Muhammads are also taking over? For example, according to an even more recent report, Muhammad is the most popular name for baby boys born in the United Kingdom.
It’s the same all throughout Western Europe. According to a May 8, 2023 report,
The first name Mohammed has gained popularity in Germany in the past year…. In Berlin, Mohammed was the most popular first name for boys in 2022. Last year he had ranked third…. In Bremen, the first name Mohammed has moved up from third place to second place…. In Hesse, too, the name of the Muslim prophet is on the rise. There he fought his way from eighth to third place.
Muhammad is the most popular name in major Belgian cities—including Brussels, the EU capital; in Oslo, the capital of Norway; and in the Netherlands’ largest cities, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht.
This is to say nothing of other Arabic/Muslim names, which are also topping the charts of newborn baby names. According to a 2015 report, in the UK,
There is a surge in Arabic names generally, with Nur a new entry in the girls’ top 100, jumping straight to number 29, and Maryam rising 59 places to number 35. Omar, Ali, and Ibrahim are new to the boys’ top 100.
Even in the United States, in 2019, Muhammad made the list of top 10 baby names. “Arabic names are on the rise this year,” the BabyCenter said, “with Muhammad and Aaliyah entering the top 10 and nudging Mason and Layla off.”
All this may seem innocuous enough. After all, what’s in a name?
On the other hand, because more numbers equate more power and influence, many Muslims see their progeny as their contribution to the jihad — the ancient “struggle” to make Islam supreme.
A video from last year of Muslims and Danes quarreling in Denmark makes this clear. In the video, one Muslim man can be heard yelling the following words to a Dane:
We have five children, you only have one or two. In 10 to 15 years there will be more Pakistanis than Danes in this country!… The Danes are five million, soon you’ll be exterminated. Look at the Swedes, look at the Norwegians, look at the Finns, man! We are multiples [of] millions, man!
The clamorous Muslim goes on to accuse Europeans of preferring bestiality to marriage—hence their dearth of children. Soon other Muslims chime in. One says, “I just got married and will also have five children.” Others start yelling about how the Danes’ “mothers will be pregnant again,” because their mothers and sisters are “whores” (who presumably sleep around with the Muslims). Others chant, “This isn’t Denmark anymore, this is Paki-land,” repeated several times: “We are taking over your country.”
This kind of thinking has a long pedigree. “We have 50 million Muslims in Europe,” Muammar Gaddafi said back in 2006, before more realistically adding, “There are signs that Allah will grant Islam victory in Europe — without swords, without guns, without conquest — will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades.”
Ongoing reports and polls suggest this long cherished Muslim dream may not be so farfetched. Thus, in the United Kingdom, “Muslim hate fanatics plan to take over Britain by having more babies and forcing a population explosion,” a report revealed some fifteen years ago: “The swollen Muslim population would be enough to conquer Britain from inside.” Two years later, “Estimates in 2010 showed that Europe had 44 million Muslims.”
One Pew report found that one out of every three people on earth is set to be a Muslim by 2070. Another Pew report says that the Muslim population of Europe is set to triple by 2050 — just when all those baby Muhammads are coming of age.
In Germany, about 20 percent of the population is set to be Muslim by 2050; Austria too. Considering that the average Muslim man is more zealous over his way of and purpose in (Islamic) life than the average German male, 20 percent may be more than enough for an Islamic takeover of — certainly at least mass havoc in — Germany.
Incidentally, this “baby jihad” can be achieved with either Muslim or non-Muslim (infidel) women. As an example of the latter, a Muslim imam was videotaped saying that, because European men lack virility, their women seek fertility among Muslim men:
We will give them fertility! We will breed children with them, because we will conquer their countries! Whether you like it or not, you Germans, Americans, French, and Italians and all those akin to you [Western people]—take in the refugees. For soon we will call them [and their Western-born sons] in the name of the coming caliphate! And we will say to you, ‘These are our sons.’
Similarly, the diary of Patrick Kabele, an African Muslim man who was living and arrested in Britain for trying to join the Islamic State — his primary motive being to purchase a nine-year-old sex slave — had references that only likeminded Muslims would understand: in an effort, as the aforementioned imam said, to use European women as incubators and “breed children with them,” Kabele noted that he had been “seeding some women over here, UK white,” adding, “I dont [sic] kiss anymore.” (Unlike straightforward mating, kissing is deemed an intimate act, and Muslims, in keeping with the doctrine of “love and hate” (or al-wala’ w’al-bara’) must always hate non-Muslims — even when copulating with or being married to them.
This same strategy is being used in the Muslim world against Christian minorities. Unlike in the West, however, where women freely give themselves to Muslims, Christian minorities are seized and seeded by Muslim men.
Even so, Muslim women remain the primary incubators for this demographic jihad — and many of them see it as their obligation. A Christian Eritrean volunteer and translator, who worked in migrant centers in Germany and was often assumed to be Muslim by the migrants, once confessed that “Muslim migrants often confide in her and tell her about their dislike towards Christians,” and that “a number of the Muslim migrants she has spoken to have revealed a hatred for Christians and are determined to destroy the religion.” How they plan on doing this is telling:
Some women told me, ‘We will multiply our numbers. We must have more children than the Christians because it’s the only way we can destroy them here.’
Not that many Western Europeans seem to care; some are even glad to see their own kind die off and be replaced by Muslims — such as Dr. Stefanie von Berg, who exulted before the German parliament:
Mrs. President, ladies and gentlemen. Our society will change. Our city will change radically. I hold that in 20, 30 years there will no longer be a [German] majority in our city. …. And I want to make it very clear, especially towards those right wingers: This is a good thing! From here one understands the true root of the immediate problem — and, as usual, it is not procreating Muslims as it is perverse Western elements. Having turned its back on its founding faith and Judeo-Christian principles, a moribund culture — typified by nihilism, hedonism, cynicism, and, accordingly, dropping birth rates — simply has little worth living for and is giving way to a more zealous one.

Netanyahu and Biden offer terrorists all they ever dreamed of
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/October 24/2023
Extremists of all varieties have exploited the Gaza violence to go on the offensive — from Daesh and Al-Qaeda to Hezbollah and the Quds Force, to violent racists around the world and radicalized Israeli settlers, threatening to unleash new epidemics of carnage even worse than the appalling bloodshed we’ve witnessed to date.
Last week’s killing of two Swedish citizens in Brussels was the first Daesh attack on European soil in three years. Among the victims of assaults on Jews and Muslims in the West was a six-year-old Palestinian American boy in Chicago, who died after he and his mother were stabbed by their landlord as he yelled: “You Muslims must die!” Those who speak out conscientiously about the slaughter of civilians on both sides have faced a barrage of death threats and hate mail. Western intelligence agencies warn that far worse is to come. Al-Qaeda jubilantly described Hamas’s mass murder of Israeli pensioners, women and children on Oct. 7 as “the jewel of all Islamic battles of our modern history,” implying that it was of greater significance than 9/11 in the jihadist pantheon. Contrary to Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence that “Hamas is Daesh,” in fact Daesh hates Hamas, denounces them as “nationalist apostates” and commands its fighters to refrain from fighting alongside them.
Daesh and Al-Qaeda have nevertheless turned the taps of their propaganda channels on full, exploiting gruesome images of the mutilated corpses of Palestinian babies to attract angry misfits to their diabolic cause. Daesh’s Al-Naba newspaper demanded the targeting of Jewish people and places of worship “all over the world,” and attacks on Israeli and Western embassies. Alongside images of bereaved orphans and body-strewn Gaza ruins, shadowy Telegram channels provide QR codes for Bitcoin donations to the global jihadist cause. World leaders such as Joe Biden, Rishi Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen are themselves producing word-perfect jihadist propaganda material. They appear blissfully ignorant that every expression of love, devotion and unconditional support for Israel, and pledges of weapons and funds, are replayed back through jihadist social media channels to remind supporters that the West has never ceased waging “crusader wars” against the Muslim world, and browbeating them about their “obligation” to embark on jihad against citizens of these “infidel nations.”
Such ruthless terrorist propaganda capitalizes on the justified frustration and disenchantment felt throughout the Arab world that the West’s longstanding biased and racist attitudes toward this issue remain unaltered. The jarring failure of some Western leaders to balance their comments with acknowledgment of the slaughter of Palestinians contrasts with more compassionate positions adopted by figures such as Canada’s Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly, who spoke out passionately about the “dire humanitarian situation in Gaza” and the need for “rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access.”
Iranian proxies are also exploiting Gaza tensions to escalate attacks against Western targets in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere. With the US shooting down drones and cruise missiles fired from Yemen across the region, the Houthis clearly aren’t acting on their own spontaneous initiative. Militant-aligned figures have alluded to threats to global energy security, perhaps in reference to Tehran’s access to economic choke points such as Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world’s oil flows.
World leaders such as Joe Biden, Rishi Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen are themselves producing word-perfect jihadist propaganda material.
Tehran-backed militias have relocated to Israel-Syria-Lebanon border areas and are said to have established a transnational joint operations room overseen by Quds Force officers for coordinating with Hamas. Among senior Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi leaders sighted at the Lebanon border are Kata’ib Sayyid Al-Shuhada commander Abu Ala Al-Walai. With bitter memories of 2006, Hezbollah is clearly hesitant to throw Lebanon fully into this conflict. Consequently, pro-Tehran factions have exploited their posture in Syria’s Golan region with the goal of widening out the northern front against Israel. But let’s disabuse ourselves of the fantasy that Israel would miss the opportunity to exact massive revenge against Lebanon directly in the event of any significant incursions from the north.
Netanyahu’s impossible objective of eradicating Hamas will only create embittered new generations implacably resolved to seek futile vengeance. As the Palestinian politician and scholar Hanan Ashrawi has articulately warned, the Gaza invasion primarily undermines moderate Palestinians who have long argued for dialogue and mutual understanding, while offering an immense boost to radicals everywhere.
Even if Israel critically weakens Hamas, the force that has been imposing some level of dysfunctional order throughout Gaza over the past 20 years, what manner of entities do they expect to replace it if not infinitely more radicalized factions? Nevertheless, it must be unflinchingly said that Hamas, through its own bloody actions, shares responsibility for the horrendous situation facing Gaza.
Israel can endlessly dispossess, barricade and bombard the Palestinians, but it can’t simply make them disappear — any more than Hamas can make Israel disappear. Over 25 years at the pinnacle of Israeli politics, Netanyahu disregarded warnings that if he blocked off all paths to Palestinian justice, peace and self-governance, Israel stood to reap the whirlwind of despair, in turn unleashing apocalyptic extremist atrocities upon the wider world.
All the while, a radicalized Zionist settler movement eager to resort to terrorist violence has year-on-year devoured thousands of hectares of Palestinian land. Settler vigilantes have embarked on a vengeance campaign since the Hamas attacks, killing nearly 100 Palestinians and displacing entire villages — and Israeli generals say they are just getting started.
At the height of the second Palestinian Intifada, Arab and Western leaders prioritized the goal of a just and mutually beneficial two-state solution as a necessary prerequisite to regionwide peace and defusing decades-old geopolitical tensions. That Netanyahu and his extremist ilk vigorously thwarted these objectives does not make them any less necessary and correct.
Just as violence breeds violence, justice and hope breed justice and hope. Israel’s abandonment of the two-state solution made current and future rounds of bloodshed inevitable. As participants in the Cairo peace summit on Saturday vigorously argued, the route to ending these ongoing cycles of carnage is blindingly obvious: all parties grasping the path to a peace with both hands within the framework of the rejuvenated two-state-solution. It meanwhile appears that the world must painfully relearn the lesson that Palestine isn’t an inconsequential, far-off issue, but rather a gaping wound of soul-destroying injustice and inhumanity, with ramifications for fomenting boundless worldwide tensions and dragging Western capitals back into the crosshairs of terrorist groups.
• Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has interviewed numerous heads of state.