Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 27-28/2023
Jihadist Hamas does not serve the Palestinian cause, and its victory will be a victory for ISIS, fundamentalism, and for the Vicious Iranian mullahs’ Schemes/Elias Bejjani/October 26/2023
To, Dear Youmna Gemayel: Hezbollah is a jihadist, Iranian & non Lebanese Entity, and its war with Israel is a jihadist and Iranian war, and not a Lebanese one./Elias Bejjani/October 25/2023
Israeli forces and Hezbollah in skirmishes at Lebanon’s border
Broken Lebanon cannot afford war between Hezbollah and Israel
Qassem meets Iran delegation, warns US and Israel over continued attack on Gaza
Israel says 'no incidents' on Lebanon front as Hezbollah announces no attacks Thursday
Raad says 'victory imminent' as Hezbollah attacks Israeli posts anew
Report: Hezbollah changes tactics after heavy losses
Reports: LF says ready to take part in extending army chief's term
Geagea says border peace 'in hands' of Berri, Mikati
One killed in Ain al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp
Hezbollah's confrontation with Israel: Capabilities, strategies, and resilience
Hamas official calls for stronger intervention by Hezbollah
Parliament Speaker Berri calls for a joint session to discuss national emergency plan
Currency devaluation: Syrian Lira, Israeli Shekel, and Lebanese Lira in focus
Army Commander's term nears end: What are the possible scenarios?
Lufthansa suspends flights to and from Beirut until the end of November
Will Lebanon's Hezbollah change rules of engagement on Israel to aid Hamas?/Ali Hashem/Al-Monitor/October 27, 2023

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 27-28/2023
Pope Francis prays for a world in 'a dark hour' and danger from 'folly' of war
Still goodness in this world,’ says Palestine envoy as 120 nations rally to call to end Gaza war
UN General Assembly calls for `humanitarian truce' in Gaza leading to halt in Israel-Hamas fighting
Israel wages fiercest strikes yet on Gaza, says ground operations to expand as of tonight
'Rapid negotiations' to reach Israel-Hamas prisoner and ceasefire deal
Netanyahu’s war cabinet overcomes rift to agree Gaza ground invasion
US fighter jets strike Iran-linked sites in Syria in retaliation for attacks on US troops
Hamas Fighters Trained with Iranian Forces Before Israel Attack
U.S. Intel Confident Israel Did Not Attack Gaza Hospital
Israel Points to Hamas’s Hoarding of Gaza Fuel
Israel's Gaza ground operation delayed over US preparations, possible hostage deal
US imposes sanctions on Hamas' envoy to Iran, IRGC trainers
Israel-Hamas: Trudeau briefs parties, seventh person with Canada ties confirmed dead
Israeli air and ground strikes intensify in Gaza; internet collapse cuts territory off from outside
Israeli troops mount second ground raid into Gaza
The Hamas tunnel city beneath Gaza — a hidden frontline for Israel
After Biden meeting, new Speaker Johnson says GOP won't abandon Ukraine but will aid Israel first
Putin is dragging the Middle East into his own war
US State Department statement: Designating individuals and entities with ties to terrorist organizations

Titles For The Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 27-28/2023
Iranian Aghast Scenarios and Wartime Metonymic’s/Charles Elias Chartouni/October 27, 2023
Israel conducts first large scale tank raid into Gaza, repairs fence/Seth J. Frantzman/ FDD's Long War Journal/October 27/2023
The group hoped to lure Israel into a trap, instead it united the world behind the Jewish state./Enia Krivine/Jewish News Syndicate/October 27/2023
IDF announces expansion of ground operation in Gaza after heavy round of airstrikes/Kevin Flower, Christian Edwards, Kareem Khadder and Abeer Salman/CNN/October 27, 2023
Europe Facing Civil War?/rieu Godefridi/Gatestone Institute./October 27, 2023
Question: “Should Christians celebrate Halloween?”/GotQuestions.org?/October 27/2023
UN should celebrate its successes but be sure to reform/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/October 27, 2023

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 27-28/2023
Jihadist Hamas does not serve the Palestinian cause, and its victory will be a victory for ISIS, fundamentalism, and for the Vicious Iranian mullahs’ Schemes
Elias Bejjani/October 26/2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/123570/123570/
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas: “Hamas actions” do not represent the Palestinian people… and the PLO is the only legitimate representative.”
When trying to understand the political dilemma in the Middle East, it is imperative to deeply focus on the dangers and threats posed by terrorist, jihadist, and ideologically driven organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah, ISIS, Houthies, and all the Muslim Brotherhood Islamic Jihadit’s offspring.
These groups represent a serious and significant threat to peace, security, and stability, not only in the Middle East, but also in all countries worldwide.
It is crucial to keep in mind that Hamas is a jihadist organization with ideological ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah, the Iranian regime, ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Turkey’s Erdogan and the Qatar Emirate etc.
If left unchecked and the Jihadists emerge victorious in Gaza’s ongoing war since the seventh of this month, there will be catastrophic consequences and dangers for various regional and international affairs, including a serious threat to moderate Arab and Gulf states’ regimes.
Hamas, and as the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abass stated on October 15/2023: “Its actions” do not represent the Palestinian people… and the PLO is the only legitimate representative”.
Hamas’s success in the Gaza war will undermine regional security and stability, ignite destructive populist hysteria, and trigger a wave of military coups that may target several Arab countries.
Hamas’s success will pose a significant threat to moderate Arab regimes and have highly negative consequences for strengthening the influence and presence of extremists in the region, and increasing their popularity among the youth.
Such a new imposed status could force many Arab and Islamic governments to abandon their moderate principles, in a bid to maintain domestic stability and avoid popular pressure.
Meanwhile, many political Islamic leaders may view Hamas’s success as an opportunity to achieve their jihadist, religious, and ideological goals, and could drive them to endorse and lead violent acts and angry popular protests that marginalize and threaten national identities, and also undermine peace and stability.
With the possibility of escalating tensions and disruptions in some Arab countries, military coups may occur, as the military Generals in these countries may see themselves responsible for maintaining stability and restoring order, which would impact democracy, freedoms, and a return to an era of regimes ruled by their military.
In conclusion, the jihadist success of Hamas, or any other jihadist terrorist organization poses a serious threat to security, stability, and peace in the region. At the same time, the repercussions of Hamas’s success on the fate of moderate Arab regimes, the spread of hysterical and impulsive uprisings among the people, and the likelihood of military coups cannot be ignored.
Addressing these fundamental challenges posed by Hamas, Hezbollah, and their patron, the Iranian regime, requires immediate and serious cooperation from all moderate Arab countries, their societies, intellectuals, and moderate leaders to coordinate openly with the free Western world in a bid to combat terrorism and promote stability in the region.
Such world-wide endeavors MUST also involve plans to diminishing Iran’s influence and ending its proxies, especially Hezbollah, in addition to openly and courageously supporting moderate and democratic forces.
*Picture Enclosed/Ayatollah-Ali-Khamenei.-Ismail-Haniyeh-in-Tehran-on-February-12-2012

To, Dear Youmna Gemayel: Hezbollah is a jihadist, Iranian & non Lebanese Entity, and its war with Israel is a jihadist and Iranian war, and not a Lebanese one.
Elias Bejjani/October 25/2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/123515/123515/
To Dear Youmna Gemayel: Please read the public saying: “If speech is silver, silence is gold”. This saying addresses your bizarre tweet in regards to the on going war between Hezbollah and Israel. It answers your tweet and all similar concepts of those who are not well-versed in political and national matters, that deal with existential issues superficially and erratically.
Do you not know, madam, that the war is between the Iranian Jihadist Hezbollah, and the state of Israel, and not a war with Lebanon, or the majority of the free and peace loving Lebanese people, from all societal and sectarian backgrounds?
Don’t you know that Hezbollah is an Iranian jihadist army that occupies Lebanon, oppresses its people, seizes and confiscates its decision making process, independence, and freedom?
Don’t you know that Hezbollah brags and takes pride in its complete affiliation to the Iranian Mullahs’ regime, and boldly considers any Lebanese who opposes it’s Iranian scheme and agenda is an agent and a traitor?
Hence, any solidarity with it, even rhetorically, is either an ignorance, stupidity, subservience, or subjugation, and the result is one: surrender and submission.
Please note that supporting the Iranian occupier, Hezbollah, in any way, and under and tag, and for any reason is a mere national crime, and an endorsement of its occupation, empowerment, and entrenchment, that allows it to kill people, and annihilate Lebanon, its identity, existence, and peace role.
Once again, your silence, and the silence of those who engage in politics only on occasions, is a million times better, than any superficial, harmful, and irresponsible rhetoric.

Israeli forces and Hezbollah in skirmishes at Lebanon’s border
Arab News/October 27, 2023
BEIRUT: A military convoy of the Lebanese army in the border village of Aytaroun has reportedly come under fire from Israeli forces, but no casualties were reported. Clashes between the two sides have intensified on the southern front after significant de-escalation for just one day. Hezbollah announced on Friday that it had targeted the Israeli military outpost of Misgav Am — which faces the Lebanese village of Al-Adayseh — with guided missiles, “damaging part of its equipment.”Hezbollah also said it attacked “Al-Sadah outpost with guided missiles, destroying large parts of its installations and equipment and inflicting confirmed casualties among its soldiers.”Israeli operations are still taking place in the border region with reconnaissance planes flying over the area amid fears of infiltration on the ground by Hezbollah. A guided missile was launched from southern Lebanon toward the Al-Manara settlement on Friday morning and Israeli soldiers urged the settlement’s residents to remain in shelters. Israeli warplanes replied by targeting the outskirts of the southern Lebanese village of Mhaibib with two missiles.
Earlier, Israeli forces had targeted an area adjacent to the Blue Line — between the towns of Al-Dhayra, Aalma Al-Shaab, Naqoura, and Aayta Al-Shaab — with phosphorus bombs, setting trees on fire. A military observer said: “Israeli forces dropped internationally prohibited phosphorus bombs on purpose so the field could be exposed, and in order to use the burned area to monitor the movement of Hezbollah’s members hiding amid dense trees.” About 600 families from the border region have fled to Sahel Al-Zahrani and are now scattered across 18 villages. The Lebanese National News Agency reported: “About 400 mattresses and 400 blankets have been secured for distribution to displaced persons in cooperation with the Lebanese Red Cross.”Some 50 members of Hezbollah have been killed in confrontations with Israeli forces in the wake of the start of Hamas’ Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on Oct. 7. Mohammed Raad, the head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, said the group “defends the country and protects our security. Clerics suggested on Friday that sacrifices should be “met with a solution to the presidential election file, in order to save Lebanon.”
The country’s presidency has been unoccupied for almost a year, as parliament — divided between Hezbollah’s supporters and national sovereignty advocates — has been unable to elect a new president. Sheikh Ali Al-Khatib, vice president of the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council, said: “The situation in the region is dangerous and requires Lebanese to put aside their political disputes and work together to protect national unity by quickly forming a political safety net that protects Lebanon and achieves the political stability required at this critical stage. “They should quickly agree on electing a president that unites all the Lebanese and reactivates public institutions, in preparation for the formation of an emergency rescue government that addresses crises and problems and strengthens Lebanon’s resilience to threats.”Grand Jaafari Mufti Sheikh Ahmad Kabalan said: “There’s no place for compromise when it comes to the presidential election file and securing national political interests. “The presidential election file should be dealt with sovereignly.”Meanwhile, the Iranian Embassy in Lebanon has reported that a delegation from Tehran arrived in Beirut on Friday and met representatives of Palestinian factions.

Broken Lebanon cannot afford war between Hezbollah and Israel
Laila Bassam and Tom Perry/Reuters/October 27, 2023
With an economy in ruins and a crumbling state, Lebanon can ill afford another war between Hezbollah and Israel. Iran-backed Hezbollah knows this and is keeping Lebanon's crises in mind as it plots the next steps in the conflict with Israel, sources say. As the war between Israel and Hezbollah's Palestinian ally Hamas reverberates across the Middle East, the risk of war between Hezbollah and Israel remains higher than at any point since their last big conflict in 2006. Analysts say the Shi'ite group could escalate if Hamas appears to be on the ropes in the Gaza Strip 200 km (130 miles) away, while Lebanese leaders fear Israel could chose to instigate a major conflict with Hezbollah. But with Israel warning Hezbollah it would wreak "devastation" upon Lebanon were the group to open the front, the costs of any war loom large in a country already suffering one of the most destabilising phases since its 1975-90 civil war. "Hezbollah has no interest in war. Lebanon has no interest in war", a source familiar with Hezbollah thinking said. The group did not want to see the country destroyed and Lebanese fleeing from the south as thousands already have, the source said. With state coffers empty, many also wonder who would pay to rebuild. Some question whether Sunni-led Gulf Arab states that financed reconstruction in 2006 would rush to help this time, given Hezbollah's bigger role in Lebanon.

Qassem meets Iran delegation, warns US and Israel over continued attack on Gaza
Naharnet/October 27, 2023
Hezbollah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem on Friday met with a delegation from the Iranian parliament. “The Al-Aqsa Flood (Operation) is a major and certain defeat for the Israeli enemy and has become one of history’s constants,” Qassem told the delegation.
“This enemy cannot triumph through massacres against civilians, and it is too cowardly and weak to be able to win in the battlefield in the face of the resistant and jihadist heroes of Palestine,” Qassem added. “The scene of the battlefield reflects Israeli hesitation and apprehension of a ground battle. Facing that there is the firmness of the resistance fighters, the continued fall of rockets on the (Israeli) entity and the confrontation against the posts that lie opposite south Lebanon,” Hezbollah number two went on to say.
He also warned that “the Americans and Israelis do not know what the days are hiding should the aggression continue.”

Israel says 'no incidents' on Lebanon front as Hezbollah announces no attacks Thursday
Naharnet/October 27, 2023
The Israeli army announced Friday that its northern front with Lebanon and Syria did not witness any incidents overnight, following a relatively calm day on Thursday. The Israeli military had announced Thursday evening that one of its drones had struck a cell that was “trying to fire anti-tank missiles from Lebanon at an Israeli military post.” For the first day since October 7, Hezbollah did not announce any attacks on Israeli military posts on Thursday. It however announced that three more of its fighters have been killed, without specifying when they were targeted. Lebanon’s National News Agency meanwhile reported that Israeli forces shelled the Lebanese border towns of Dhayra, Alma al-Shaab, Naqoura and Aita al-Shaab at 1am, followed by the firing of phosphorus bombs at forests along the Blue Line, setting ablaze trees whose flames had been extinguished by firefighters earlier in the day.
Al-Manar television said Civil Defense member Hussein Sati was injured in a landmine blast as he was combating the flames sparked by incendiary Israeli bombs in al-Labbouneh’s forests. Israeli warplanes also targeted the al-Labbouneh area in Naqoura overnight, triggering blazes in its forests, NNA added.
The Israeli army also fired flares over Aita al-Shaab and machine-gunned the area around its al-Raheb post as Israeli drones overflew the Tyre and Bint Jbeil districts until Friday morning. Since Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, Lebanon's southern border has seen tit-for-tat exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah, a Hamas ally. Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants as well as Lebanon’s Jamaa Islamiya group also fired missiles at northern Israel from Lebanon. In recent weeks, Lebanon's official National News Agency and Lebanese paramedics have reported fires and injuries due to white phosphorus, while Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of using the incendiary weapon in its war against Hamas militants in Gaza, and in southern Lebanon. Exchanges of fire across the Lebanon-Israel border have so far killed around 60 people in Lebanon, mostly Hezbollah combatants but also four civilians, including Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah. Four people have been killed on the Israeli side, including one civilian, according to Israeli authorities and reports.

Raad says 'victory imminent' as Hezbollah attacks Israeli posts anew
Naharnet/October 27, 2023
Hezbollah’s top lawmaker Mohammed Raad announced Friday that “victory is coming and imminent,” as Hezbollah launched fresh attacks on Israeli military posts on Lebanon’s border. “Rejoice because victory is coming and imminent and what we're doing in support of Gaza is aimed at defending our country,” Raad said. Hezbollah meanwhile announced attacking the al-Sadah Israeli post with guided missiles and the appropriate weapons. “Large parts of its installations and equipment were destroyed and certain casualties were inflicted among its soldiers,” Hezbollah said. In another statement, Hezbollah said it attacked the Misgav Am Israeli post in the same fashion. The Israeli army retaliated by shelling the outskirts of the Lebanese border towns of Yaroun and Alma al-Shaab and by opening machinegun fire at the Kroum al-Shraqi area east of Mays al-Jabal.

Report: Hezbollah changes tactics after heavy losses
Naharnet/October 27, 2023
Hezbollah’s leadership has decided to change the military tactics related to the firing of anti-tank missiles from Lebanon at Israeli military posts, a media report said on Friday, a day after the southern front witnessed no Hezbollah attacks for the first time since October 8. From now on, only two Hezbollah fighters instead of several would carry out any anti-tank missile attack on the Israelis, Radio Voice of Lebanon (93.3) quoted pro-Hezbollah sources as saying. “Although the leadership has informed the resistance fighters that every member of the anti-armor unit is a potential martyr, disputes have erupted within the resistance fighters in this unit due to competition over who wants to go strike the enemy,” the sources said. “All of them want to go to the front lines to target the resistance’s weapons at the enemy, although they know that they might not come back or even that they might return shredded,” the sources added.
Around 50 Hezbollah members have been killed by Israeli fire since the eruption of hostilities on October 8 -- a day after Hamas’ historic attack on south Israel. Lebanon's southern border has seen tit-for-tat exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah for the past three weeks. Palestinian militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad as well as others from Lebanon’s Jamaa Islamiya group have also fired Katyusha missiles at northern Israel from Lebanon.

Reports: LF says ready to take part in extending army chief's term
Naharnet/October 27, 2023
The Lebanese Forces has informed relevant parties that it is willing to provide a cover for a parliamentary session aimed at extending the term of Army Commander General Joseph Aoun, media reports said on Friday. The Free Patriotic Movement is still meanwhile rejecting such a move while seeking a “bargain” with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, ad-Diyar newspaper reported. The FPM is seeking “appointments in the vacant posts of the Military Council, topped by the post of the chief of staff who would replace the commander should there be vacuum,” the daily added.

Geagea says border peace 'in hands' of Berri, Mikati
Naharnet /October 27, 2023
According to Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri are capable of preventing the Gaza war from spreading to Lebanon. In a meeting Friday with French Ambassador Hervé Magro, Geagea stressed that a parliamentary recommendation or a governmental decision could spare Lebanon the trouble of war. Magro and Geagea discussed the need to make every possible effort to prevent Lebanon from joining the fray. "The matter is in the hands of caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri," Geagea said, adding that Resolution 1701 can be implemented in cooperation with UNIFIL "through a parliamentary recommendation or a government's decision to deploy the Lebanese army along the southern border and to withdraw Lebanese and Palestinian militants from the south."

One killed in Ain al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp
Agence France Presse/October 27, 2023
The brother of a wanted Islamist was killed inside Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp on Thursday, state media said. A young man who was "the target of an assassination operation inside the Ain al-Helweh camp died after sustaining serious wounds," Lebanon's National News Agency said. "He is the brother of a wanted Islamist who does not belong to any faction in the camp," the news agency added. The camp on the outskirts of the southern port city of Sidon was rocked by deadly clashes earlier this year that pitted members of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement, which controls the camp, against hardline Islamist militants. Hamas, the Islamist group which carried out a historic attack on Israel from Gaza on October 7, was not involved in the fighting. Last month, Palestinian fighters agreed a ceasefire after more than a week of deadly violence. In late July, five days of fighting in the camp killed 13 people and wounded dozens. Ain al-Helweh is home to more than 54,000 registered refugees and thousands of Palestinians who joined them in recent years fleeing the civil war in neighboring Syria. By longstanding convention, the Lebanese Army stays out of the camps and leaves the Palestinian factions to handle security.

Hezbollah's confrontation with Israel: Capabilities, strategies, and resilience
LBCI/October 27, 2023
Eighteen days into the confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah in the south, the intensity of operations remains relatively limited. However, despite this field reality, the number of martyrs mourned by Hezbollah has reached 45 as of October 26, raising several questions. On the ground, Hezbollah faces significant challenges. The fighting along a 107-kilometer front is difficult and inevitably leads to casualties. Hezbollah fighters launched Kornet missiles from positions no more than two kilometers from Israeli borders. They were exposed to 85 strikes, targeting 37 to 38 Israeli locations, disabling over a third of their technical surveillance equipment. Another challenge is that 70% of Hezbollah's martyrs were killed in Israeli drone strikes. Reconnaissance aircraft continuously patrol the skies over the south for hours, monitoring the movement of Hezbollah elements, aiming to target them during or after missile launches. The ongoing aerial targeting of resistance members is a reality that Hezbollah takes seriously, recognizing Israel's air superiority. At the same time, Hezbollah will not fully reveal its capabilities and tactics from the outset of the battle, echoing Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's statement in 2021: "We will confront Israeli drones in Lebanon's sky, and we will work on bringing them down."

Hamas official calls for stronger intervention by Hezbollah
Associated Press/October 27, 2023
A senior Hamas official has told The Associated Press that the Palestinian militant group had expected stronger intervention from Hezbollah in its war with Israel, in a rare public appeal to its allies in the region. Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas' decision-making political bureau, said in an interview that "we need more" from allies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, in light of an Israeli air campaign that Palestinian health officials say has killed more than 7,000 people, mostly civilians, in the besieged Gaza Strip. The relentless Israeli bombardment of Gaza came in response to a brutal Oct. 7 surprise attack by Hamas that reportedly killed more than 1,400 people in Israel. More than 200 people were dragged back to Gaza as hostages. The death toll on both sides is unprecedented in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict and is likely to rise if Israel launches an anticipated ground offensive aimed at crushing Hamas. On the sidelines of the Israel-Hamas war, Hezbollah has engaged in regular but limited skirmishes with Israeli forces on the Lebanon-Israel border. There has been widespread speculation as to if and to what extent Hezbollah would expand its involvement in the conflict. "Hezbollah now is working against the occupation," Hamad said at the Hamas office in Beirut Thursday. "We appreciate this. But … we need more in order to stop the aggression on Gaza … We expect more." Some observers believe that Hezbollah and Iran prefer to avoid the widening of the Israel-Hamas conflict into a regional war. Israel's main backer, the United States, has warned Iran and Hezbollah not to get involved. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah met Wednesday in Beirut with senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri and with Ziad Nakhaleh of the allied group Islamic Jihad. It was the first such meeting to be publicly reported since the beginning of the war. Amid speculation about the level of involvement by Iran and Hezbollah in planning the Oct. 7 attack, Hamas officials have insisted that they acted alone in deciding to launch the operation. Hamad reiterated those statements. "The decision was taken by Hamas only, and we took the responsibility (for it)," he said. He criticized what he said was hypocrisy of the international community, which has widely condemned the killing of Israeli civilians and atrocities committed in the initial Hamas attack but, in Hamad's view, had given Israel a "license to kill" civilians in Gaza in response. Hamad said that Hamas, which has so far released four of more than 220 hostages after mediation by Egypt and Qatar, is "very open" to discussions for the release of others. He made no apologies for the high number of civilians killed by Hamas militants in Israel or the soaring civilian death toll in Gaza. Hamad said the past three weeks brought back the world's attention to the Palestinian cause and revealed the cracks in Israel's ironclad facade. Israel and the West have branded Hamas, which seeks to establish Palestine in place of Israel between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, as a terrorist group. Hamad argued that Hamas' rivals in the West Bank, led by internationally backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, "got nothing" after spending years in fruitless negotiations with Israel on establishing a Palestinian state alongside it. That approach "got more settlements, more violations, more killing," Hamad said. "So I think that it is now logical that the use of the resistance is legal against the occupation. And there is no space now to talk about peace with Israel or about a two-state solution or to talk about coexistence."

Parliament Speaker Berri calls for a joint session to discuss national emergency plan
LBCI/October 27, 2023
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri called upon the parliamentary committees for Finance and Budget, Administration and Justice, National Defense, Interior and Municipalities, Public Health, Labor and Social Affairs, Education, Higher Education and Culture, National Economy, Trade, Industry, and Planning, Information and Communications, Public Works and Transportation, Energy and Water, Displaced Persons Affairs, Human Rights, Women, and Children, as well as Environment, to convene for a joint session at 10:30 AM next Tuesday. The agenda for the session will focus on discussing the government's national emergency plan aimed at enhancing readiness to cope with the consequences of Israeli aggression.

Currency devaluation: Syrian Lira, Israeli Shekel, and Lebanese Lira in focus
LBCI/October 27, 2023
The ongoing internal turmoil in Syria and military developments in the region have significantly devalued the Syrian lira and the Israeli shekel.In the black market, the exchange rate reached 14,000 Syrian lira per US dollar, while the dollar now equals over 4 shekels in Israel since the start of the Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. However, in Lebanon, despite internal political tensions and the conflict in the south, the exchange rate for the US dollar has remained relatively stable at LBP 89,000.
What accounts for this stability?
On Monday, the acting Banque du Liban (BDL) Governor Wassim Mansouri swiftly took action when he received warnings of a potential surge in demand for lira payments. Contractors and suppliers were reportedly seeking payment in lira, intending to convert it into dollars, which would exert additional pressure on the exchange rate. Mansouri immediately initiated the necessary contacts to address the situation. Government authorities, the Finance Ministry, and banks responded positively to his efforts. Sources suggest the BDL reduced the cash mass from approximately LBP 62 trillion to LBP 58 trillion from October 7 to October 17. This action imposed additional constraints on speculators, ensuring that the US dollar exchange rate against the Lebanese lira remained relatively stable. BDL sources emphasized that, at present, the central bank is capable of maintaining its monetary stability policies but does not signify an improved economic situation. Projections indicate a decline of around 50% in economic activity, particularly in the tourism sector. This downturn may adversely affect employees' wages and benefits in this sector and other private industries.

Army Commander's term nears end: What are the possible scenarios?
LBCI/October 27, 2023
The term of the Army Commander, General Joseph Aoun, is set to conclude on January 10. Yet, as of now, there is no consensus among all parties to avert a potential leadership vacuum within the military establishment. Three possible scenarios are under consideration, each with its complexities and challenges. The first scenario involves extending the term of the army commander, which has faced opposition from multiple parties for various reasons. One significant concern is that General Aoun's continued tenure could open the door for his presidential candidacy. The second scenario revolves around appointing a new army commander through a decision made by the Cabinet. This choice would involve four appointments: the army commander, the Chief of Staff, the Director-General of the Army, and the Inspector-General. However, this scenario remains uncertain, requiring a Cabinet session with a full quorum of all 24 ministers. Achieving this quorum is highly unlikely due to the Christian component's boycott of caretaker government sessions and Hezbollah's announcement of non-participation in appointment sessions. The third and perhaps the most progressive scenario entails convening a complete Cabinet session exclusively to appoint the three members of the Military Council: the Chief of Staff, the Director-General, and the Inspector-General. In this scenario, the position of the army commander would remain vacant until General Aoun's retirement, at which point the Chief of Staff would assume command, in line with the National Defense Law. The feasibility of the third scenario raises questions about whether Prime Minister Najib Mikati will call for a government session and, more importantly, whether parties can reach an agreement on this matter. The pivotal concern is how to avoid the potential leadership vacuum within the military establishment, especially considering Lebanon's and the region's security challenges.

Lufthansa suspends flights to and from Beirut until the end of November
LBCI/October 27, 2023
In response to the evolving security situation in the region, Lufthansa Airline has announced the temporary suspension of its flights to and from Beirut, Lebanon, until the end of November. The decision comes as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of passengers and crew.

Will Lebanon's Hezbollah change rules of engagement on Israel to aid Hamas?
Ali Hashem/Al-Monitor/October 27, 2023
NAQOURA, Lebanon — South Lebanon is beautiful in autumn. The green landscape, the blue sea, and the perfect weather encourage feelings of serenity. On Oct. 8, however, another cycle of tit-for-tat exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah interrupted the festival of colors and any tranquility.
The day before, Hamas had launched its unprecedented attack on Israeli communities bordering Gaza, killing and injuring thousands and capturing over 200 people to hold as hostages in Gaza.
From the start, it became clear to Hezbollah — and to the Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and the Palestinian territories — that Hamas wouldn’t be able to handle the situation alone.
The day after Hamas members crossed into Israel, Hezbollah attacked military posts in the disputed Shebaa Farms area, a piece of land held by Israel and claimed by the government in Beirut. That operation stayed within the rules of the game: directly attack military posts across the border, refrain from targeting civilians. Oct. 9 brought an attack on the so-called Blue Line — the UN-patrolled boundary separating Israel from Lebanon — in an operation claimed by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the next day, Hamas followed suit with a missile attack along the border. Both were unusual events in that Palestinian groups have rarely operated on Lebanon's border since Israel’s 1982 invasion and the expulsion of the Palestine Liberation Organization to Tunisia.
At this point, it remains unclear what the current situation will ultimately mean for Hezbollah's rules of engagement on the Israel-Lebanon border.
Life on the edge
Of late along the 120 kilometers of Lebanon’s southern border, only a few villagers have been moving about as plumes of smoke hang in the distance, above the Israeli military positions targeted by Hezbollah fighters. In the town of Dheira, in Lebanon's southwest, several of the houses have recently taken hits by shells. As the sound of an Israeli drone ruptured a rare moment of silence, one resident contemplating when the shelling would end, remarked, “It gets pregnant in Gaza and gives birth in Dheira.”
In the Christian town of Alma Ashaab, some 90% of the residents have fled. The village priest, saying goodbye to two nuns leaving for Beirut, remarked that only 50 people remain.
“We don't have shelters to hide in,” the priest told Al-Monitor. “No one is asking about the people.” Until the current escalation, he said, his town had been among the safest places in the world.
“Now people are seeking refuge farther away. The trauma they went through during the 2006 war was too difficult — more than 150 buildings in the town were destroyed,” he said.
The only positive aspect of the current reality is that both Hezbollah and Israel are sticking to the post-2006 method of counterdeterrence that keeps the fight confined to the border area: Israel shells to a depth of 4-5 kilometers inside Lebanese territory, while Hezbollah — and occasionally Islamic Jihad, Hamas and al-Fajr forces — attack the same distance inside Israel, targeting military positions, infantry and cities with antitank missiles, rockets and machine guns.
During the first few days of the escalation, the road adjacent to the border became a zone of operations, attracting the attention of journalists, who roamed the area in their blue flak jackets and helmets. After Oct. 13, when two Israeli missiles killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and injured several other reporters, coverage from the area decreased gradually as both Israel and Hezbollah refused to let an attack go unanswered. In this regard, Israel sent a clear message to Hezbollah that it considers the group fully responsible for any attack from the Lebanese border.
What does Hezbollah want?
Hezbollah’s main objective has been to delay or prevent an Israeli ground offensive in Gaza while conveying to the United States that it and other Iranian-backed groups will not allow Hamas to be easily crushed. The more pressure on Hamas, the more the tension will increase.
At the funeral of a Hezbollah fighter on Oct. 21, the party's deputy secretary general, Naim Qassem, made the organization's thinking clear when he said, “Do you believe that if you try to crush the Palestinian resistance, other resistance fighters in the region will not act? We are in the heart of the battle today. We are making achievements through this battle."
Near the border with Israel, a Hezbollah commander explained to Al-Monitor that Israel and Hezbollah update their rules of engagement on a daily basis.
“Hezbollah succeeded over the past years in deterring Israel, that’s why they don’t dare to expand the war on this front,” the commander added. “The border with occupied Palestine is the battle zone, but whenever they use a new weapon in the battle, the resistance on its side goes a step further.”
The Lebanese group has lost close to 45 fighters since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war. Most of the casualties came after Israel began using drones and warplanes to target Hezbollah cells attacking its military positions. Hezbollah's focus has been on destroying the Israeli military’s communication and monitoring system along the border. Hezbollah media has documented and published several of the attacks on Israeli infantry and tanks on their Telegram channel.
Gaza at what cost?
Hezbollah and its allies are waging a multilayered tactical war with strategic goals. The first goal is to distract and divert Israel from the battle in Gaza and its planned ground campaign by keeping its military so busy in the north that the Israeli leadership begins to consider whether the cost of a battle in Gaza might be too high. This could potentially end up being a secondary conflict that evolves into a primary confrontation on Israel's northern border, greatly heightening tensions in the region as a whole.
In fact, Iranian-back groups are exploiting their geographical leverage in Iraq, Syria and Yemen as well as Lebanon to increase the possibility of a regional conflict. In this regard, the message is mainly directed at the United States and its Western allies in the hope that launching rockets from Yemen and attacking US military positions in Syria and Iraq will push Washington to restrain Israel from a large-scale incursion into Gaza.
Choreographed steps have already been taken, from the front in Lebanon to the diplomatic signaling by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian to the threats by Iraqi and Yemeni groups.
The main bet is that Israel can't win on two fronts, so a regional escalation is something the United States will exert a real effort to prevent. President Joe Biden’s messaging following his visit to Israel has been interpreted as a sign of this.
Israel's perspective on the conflict has shifted from one of confronting a mere security threat to dealing with an existential challenge that cannot be disregarded, especially in light of the activity to the north. The current situation is prompting doubts about Israel's deterrence capabilities, and with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu facing another significant challenge, all sides are reassessing their strategy, raising concerns about potential misjudgments.

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 27-28/2023
Pope Francis prays for a world in 'a dark hour' and danger from 'folly' of war
VATICAN CITY (AP)/October 27, 2023
Amid the latest bloodshed in the Middle East, Pope Francis led special Friday evening prayers in St. Peter’s Basilica for a world “in a dark hour” and in “great danger” from what he described as the folly of war. Francis delivered his remarks in the form of a prayer to the Virgin Mary and didn’t mention by name the conflict that exploded when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel retaliated by sealing off the Gaza Strip and battering the Palestinian territory with airstrikes. He said he was praying for “especially those countries and regions at war,” and he pleaded with Mary to “take the initiative for us, in these times rent by conflicts and laid waste by the fire of arms.”“This is a dark hour,″ Francis said in a subdued voice, in his remarks in the basilica. Since the Israel-Hamas war started three weeks ago, Francis has appealed for the release of hostages taken by Hamas and for civilians in the Gaza Strip to be spared from warfare. He has also decried the massacre by Hamas of civilians in Israel, at a music concert and in their homes. The pope has also pressed for humanitarian aid to head off what he said would be a “catastrophe” for civilians after Israel cut off supplies of food, water and fuel into the Gaza Strip following the deadly Hamas incursion. During Friday's basilica service, Francis deplored that the human family “has strayed from the path of peace, preferred Cain to Abel, and lost the ability to see each others as brothers and sisters dwelling in a common home.” He was referring to the Biblical account of two brothers, one who fatally turns against the other. "Intercede for our world, in such turmoil and great danger,'' the pope prayed. Francis also prayed that people will learn to care for "each and every human life — and to repudiate the folly of war, which sows death and eliminates the future.”His prayers included one for hearts “imprisoned by hatred,'' as well as an appeal for national leaders to seek paths of peace. He further prayed for a reconciliation for those who are “seduced by evil, blinded by power and hate.”Francis offered no formula for how to defuse the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict that flared anew this month and has fueled anxiety of a wider, regional war developing in the Middle East. But in a Thursday phone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Francis expressed hope, according to the Vatican's readout of the call, for two states and a special statute for the city of Jerusalem, with its several sites sacred to faithful of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Francis has also repeatedly invoked peace for Ukraine since Russia invaded the eastern European country in February 2022.

Still goodness in this world,’ says Palestine envoy as 120 nations rally to call to end Gaza war
Arab News/October 27, 2023
NEW YORK CITY: More than 120 countries voted at the UN General Assembly in New York on Friday to adopt an Arab resolution calling for the war on Gaza to end and for humanitarian aid to be allowed to flow into the battered territory. Only 14 countries voted against it, one of which was the US. An amendment to the resolution proposed by Canada, co-sponsored by the US and some European countries, that called for condemnation of Hamas failed to garner enough votes and was not adopted. Before the vote, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN, Munir Akram, said it was “amazing” that his Canadian counterpart did not feel the need while condemning Hamas to condemn Israel, too, “for the enormity of the crimes it has committed in Gaza.” He added that “the Israeli occupation is the original sin behind this crisis and not the Oct. 7 attack.” If Canada wants to be fair, he continued, then it must condemn both sides or name neither. Riyad Mansour, Palestine’s permanent observer to the UN, thanked the 120 nations who voted in favor of the resolution, telling reporters that “there is still goodness in this world and we will never forget your position today.”However, the resolution represents only “chapter one,” he added, and he vowed to continue “knocking every door” to stop the war against Gaza. The Arab resolution, titled “Protection of Civilians and Upholding Legal and Humanitarian Obligations,” condemns all acts of violence targeting Palestinian or Israeli civilians. It calls for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities,” the “immediate and unconditional” release of all civilians who are being “illegally held captive,” and “the immediate, continuous, sufficient and unhindered” flow of life-saving aid to civilians throughout the Gaza Strip, including water, food, medical supplies, fuel and electricity. It also “firmly rejects any attempts at the forced transfer of the Palestinian civilian population” and urges Israel, “the occupying power,” to rescind its evacuation order for Gazans in the north of the territory to relocate to the south. After two weeks of almost continuous Israeli shelling, the UN has described the situation that more than 1.5 million Gazans are facing as “a catastrophe.” Much of the territory’s civilian infrastructure has been destroyed, including hospitals, schools, water and sanitation facilities, and about 40 percent of homes. Water supplies have all but run out, and there are reports that people have been forced to drink sewage water. UN agencies have warned that very soon, mortality rates will “skyrocket due to disease outbreaks and lack of healthcare capacity.”The UN resolution was sponsored by more than 47 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon, along with Russia and a number of African and Latin American countries.

UN General Assembly calls for `humanitarian truce' in Gaza leading to halt in Israel-Hamas fighting
UNITED NATIONS (AP)/October 27, 2023
The U.N. General Assembly scheduled a vote Friday on a nonbinding resolution calling for a “humanitarian truce” in Gaza leading to a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers. Jordan’s U.N. Ambassador Mahmoud Hmoud, speaking on behalf of the U.N.’s 22-nation Arab group, which drafted the resolution, called for an afternoon vote before all 112 speakers get to the assembly’s rostrum, because of the urgency of taking action. The Arab group is seeking action by the 193-member world body because of the failure of the more powerful 15-member Security Council to agree on a resolution after four attempts. Unlike the Security Council, there are no vetoes in the General Assembly so the resolution is certain to be adopted. While council resolutions are legally binding, assembly resolutions are not, but they do serve as a barometer of world opinion.
It would be the first response from the United Nations to Hamas' surprise Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and Israel's ongoing military response and vow to obliterate Hamas. While the Hamas attacks killed some 1,400 Israelis, more than 7,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The assembly’s emergency special session on Israeli actions, which began Wednesday, continued Friday with U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield echoing Israel’s envoy in calling the resolution to be voted on “outrageous” for never mentioning Hamas and saying it is “detrimental” to the vision of a two-state solution. She said the United States backed a Canadian amendment, which will be voted on first, that would unequivocally reject and condemn the Oct. 7 “terrorist attacks” by Hamas and demand the immediate and unconditional release of hostages taken by Hamas. For adoption, the amendment must be approved by two-thirds of assembly members. Thomas-Greenfield called it “a perilous moment for Israelis and Palestinians,” stressing that there is no justification for Hamas “terror,” that Palestinians are being used as human shields and that “the lives of innocent Palestinians must be protected.”
Oman, speaking on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council, condemned Israel's “siege” of Gaza, starvation of its population and collective punishment of Palestinians. But it said the Palestinians won't be deterred from demanding their “legitimate inalienable rights, chief among them the right to self- determination and the right to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.”In addition to calling for “an immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities,” the proposed resolution demands that all parties immediately comply with their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law requiring protection of civilians and the schools, hospitals and other infrastructure critical for their survival. The resolution also demands that essential supplies be allowed into the Gaza Strip and humanitarian workers have sustained access. And it calls on Israel to rescind its order for Gazans to evacuate the north and move to the south and “firmly rejects any attempts at the forced transfer of the Palestinian civilian population.”
The resolution also stresses the need “to urgently establish a mechanism to ensure the protection of the Palestinian civilian population."And it “emphasizes the importance of preventing further destabilization and escalation of violence in the region” and calls on all parties to exercise “maximum restraint” and on all those with influence to press them “to work toward this objective.”During the emergency session on Thursday, speaker after speaker backed the Arab Group’s original draft resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, except for Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan who told the assembly, “A cease-fire means giving Hamas time to rearm itself, so they can massacre us again.”But the calls for a cease-fire, the protection of Palestinian civilians facing constant Israeli bombardments in Gaza and the delivery of desperately needed food, water, medicine and fuel were passionate and intense. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, said 70% of those killed in Gaza were children and women. “If you do not stop it for all those who were killed, stop it for all those whose lives we can still save,” he said.

Israel wages fiercest strikes yet on Gaza, says ground operations to expand as of tonight
Agence France Presse/Associated Press/October 27, 2023
Internet and phone services collapsed in the Gaza Strip under intensified bombardment Friday night, largely cutting off its 2.3 million people from the outside world and each other, as Israel’s military said it was “expanding” its ground operations in the besieged territory as of tonight. Frequent explosions from airstrikes lit up the sky over Gaza City after nightfall Friday, when the black-out in internet, cellular and landline services hit. The Red Crescent said it lost all contact with its operations room and medical teams. It said it feared people would no longer be able to contact ambulance services. Other aid groups said they were unable to reach staff on the ground. The Palestine Telecommunications Company, Paltel, announced “a complete disruption of all communication and internet services” due to bombardment. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the army's spokesman, said aerial attacks had been targeting Hamas tunnels and other targets. "In addition to the attacks that we carried out in recent days, ground forces are expanding their activity this evening," he said. "The IDF is acting with great force ... to achieve the objectives of the war."Israel has amassed hundreds of thousands of troops along the border with Gaza ahead of an expected ground offensive against the Hamas militant group. Strikes on Gaza have been increased "in a very significant way," Hagari added, while asking the Strip's residents to move from its north to its south.
The armed wing of Hamas said it responded with "salvos" of rockets aimed at Israel's center and south. Hamas said all internet connections and communications across Gaza had been cut, and accused Israel of taking the measure "to perpetrate massacres with bloody retaliatory strikes from the air, land and sea." Palestine TV said the Israeli bombardment from land, air and sea was the fiercest yet during this war.
Earlier in the day, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told a small group of foreign reporters that Israel expects a long and difficult ground offensive into Gaza soon. It “will take a long time” to dismantle Hamas' vast network of tunnels, he said, adding that he expected a lengthy phase of lower-intensity fighting as Israel destroys “pockets of resistance.”His comments pointed to a potentially grueling and open-ended new phase of the war after three weeks of relentless bombardment. Israel has said it aims to crush Hamas’ rule in Gaza and its ability to threaten Israel. But how Hamas’ defeat will be measured and an invasion’s endgame remain unclear. Israel says it does not intend to rule the tiny territory of 2.3 million Palestinians. Gallant meanwhile suggested a long-term insurgency could ensue. Israel has heavily bombarded Gaza since Hamas gunmen stormed across the border on October 7, allegedly killing 1,400 people and kidnapping over 220 others. The Hamas-run health ministry said Friday Israeli strikes on Gaza had now killed 7,326 people, mainly civilians and many of them children. The U.N. chief warned that Gaza faces "an unprecedented avalanche of human suffering" because of the lack of food, water and power during Israeli bombing in response to the October 7 attack. "I repeat my call for a humanitarian ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, and the delivery of life-saving supplies," Guterres said in a statement. "Misery is growing by the minute. Without a fundamental change, the people of Gaza will face an unprecedented avalanche of human suffering." The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees had earlier warned that "many more will die" in Gaza from catastrophic shortages after nearly three weeks of bombardment by Israel. The U.N. human rights office also raised the alarm over "war crimes" being committed as the Israel-Hamas conflict raged into its 21st day. Concern is growing about regional fallout from the conflict, with the United States warning Iran against escalation while striking facilities in Syria it says were used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and others. Israel's military on Friday accused Hamas of using hospitals in Gaza as operations centres for directing attacks. "Hamas wages war from hospitals," in the territory, Hagari said, and alleged the group was also using fuel stored in these facilities for its operations.The allegation was swiftly denied by a senior Hamas official who said it had "no basis in truth".
War crimes on both sides
Israel has cut supplies of food, water and power to Gaza, notably blocking all deliveries of fuel saying it would be exploited by Hamas to manufacture weapons and explosives. "People in Gaza are dying, they are not only dying from bombs and strikes, soon many more will die from the consequences of (the) siege," said UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini. "Basic services are crumbling, medicine is running out, food and water are running out, the streets of Gaza have started overflowing with sewage," he said of the densely populated territory where 45 percent of housing is reported to have been damaged or destroyed. In Geneva, the U.N. human rights office raised the alarm over war crimes, saying "the atrocious attacks by Hamas... amounted to war crimes" but also pointing to Israel's Gaza bombardment. "Nowhere is safe in Gaza. Compelling people to evacuate in these circumstances... and while under a complete siege raises serious concerns over forcible transfer, which is a war crime," spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said of Israel's order for northern Gaza residents to flee south.
'Nothing more than crumbs'
A first tranche of critically needed aid was allowed in at the weekend, but since then only 74 trucks have crossed. Before the conflict, the U.N. says an average of 500 trucks were entering Gaza every day. "These few trucks are nothing more than crumbs that will not make a difference," Lazzarini said, insisting Gaza needed a "meaningful and uninterrupted aid flow" and a "humanitarian ceasefire to ensure this aid reaches those in need."His words echoed a call from EU leaders on Thursday for "continued, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access and aid." A first team of six medics from the International Committee of the Red Cross entered Gaza Friday via its Rafah crossing with Egypt, along with six aid trucks, the ICRC said. Between the bombardments and the fuel shortages, 12 of Gaza's 35 hospitals have been forced to close, and UNRWA said it has had to "significantly reduce its operations." With tens of thousands of Israeli troops massed along the Gaza border ahead of a widely expected ground offensive, the army said it had staged another brief ground incursion into Gaza overnight, the second in as many days. "We carried out a ground operation in central Gaza... as part of preparations for the coming stages of the war," the army's Hagari said. The first incursion had targeted northern Gaza. Hamas said Israel had tried to stage "a large-scale amphibious operation on Rafah's coast" in southern Gaza at dawn but it had been thwarted, and the soldiers had "fled by sea, leaving behind a quantity of weapons." Israel confirmed the operation, saying troops had struck "Hamas military infrastructure and... a compound" used by Hamas militants.
'Wherever we go, we will die'
The army also updated to 229 the number of captives held by Hamas, many of whom hold foreign passports, with their families frantic about their fate. Militants also fired rockets on Friday towards Tel Aviv. One struck the city, wounding three people, one moderately and two lightly, medics said. Violence has also risen sharply in the occupied West Bank since the October 7 attacks, with more than 100 Palestinians killed and over 1,900 wounded. Another four Palestinians were killed Friday during Israeli raids in the northern cities of Jenin and Qalqilya, the health ministry said.

'Rapid negotiations' to reach Israel-Hamas prisoner and ceasefire deal
Naharnet/October 27, 2023
There are “rapid negotiations” to reach a ceasefire agreement and a prisoner swap deal between Hamas and Israel through a Qatari mediation, Qatar’s Al-Jazeera TV reported on Friday. The Gulf state has been engaged in intense diplomacy behind the scenes and secured the release of four hostages held by the Palestinian militants following their October 7 attack on Israel. There is "more openness on political will between the two sides" after the release of two elderly Israeli women on Monday night, a Qatari foreign ministry spokesman had told AFP on Tuesday. Israel has been left reeling after Hamas militants stormed across the Gaza border on October 7 in a rampage that allegedly killed more than 1,400 people. The militants also snatched more than 220 hostages, taking them back to Gaza. The attack, the worst in Israel's history, prompted a ferocious Israeli bombardment of the Palestinian territory which Gaza's health ministry says has killed over 7,300 people. Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, and Nurit Cooper, 79, were freed by Hamas late on Monday. The release of the two Israelis comes three days after that of an American woman and her teenage daughter. Qatar has open channels of communication with Hamas and has hosted the militants' political office since 2012 with the blessing of wealthy emirate's close ally the United States. The Qatari foreign ministry spokesman said Hamas' bureau in Doha was communicating "effectively" with members in Gaza and the militants had expressed their willingness to release hostages regardless of their nationalities. Qatar has provided financial aid to the Gaza Strip for years, which officials in Doha have said is coordinated with Israel, the United Nations and the United States. On Tuesday, Qatar's emir criticized Israel's backers saying they had given it "free licence to kill" in its war with Hamas. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani also questioned what the conflict in the territory would achieve and urged an international stand against escalation in Gaza.

Netanyahu’s war cabinet overcomes rift to agree Gaza ground invasion
Ben Farmer/The Telegraph/October 27, 2023
Israel’s decision to launch an expanded ground operation in Gaza follows Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet overcoming an internal rift over how to conduct the conflict. The agreement to advance the campaign against Hamas came after talks on a possible release of more hostages reached a stalemate, according to Axios, the American news website. On Friday night, Israel launched its heaviest bombardment of Gaza since the conflict began, as a spokesman for the IDF warned that ground operations in the strip would be expanded overnight, in the strongest hint yet that an invasion was imminent.
The Israeli prime minister had reportedly angered his senior military officers by previously refusing to sign off an invasion of Gaza, as he played for time to win political support. Israel’s forces were massed on the border of the 25-mile-long coastal enclave on Friday, but reports suggested his government had been split on how, when and whether to invade. Mr Netanyahu held off giving the green light for a ground offensive because he wanted unanimous approval from his war cabinet, The New York Times reported.
Israeli tanks
While Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas after the Oct 7 attacks, its politicians have been divided. Some fear the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will be sucked into a grinding, difficult-to-manage battle inside Gaza. Others worry that Iran-backed Hezbollah will open a broader conflict from its base in Lebanon. There have also been disagreements over whether the focus should be on freeing hostages, or destroying Hamas, and whether any offensive should be one large push or a series of smaller operations. Danny Danon, a senior politician from Mr Netanyahu’s Right-wing Likud party, told the paper: “You have a cabinet with different opinions. Some would say that we have to start – then we can think about the next stage. “But we as the leadership, as statesmen, we have to set the goals, and the goals should be very clear,” he said. “It shouldn’t be vague.” The difference of opinion is echoed by the general public, with new polling showing a shift against a ground offensive. Polling released on Friday showed 49 per cent of Israelis believed “it would be better to wait”, while 29 per cent said the military should immediately escalate to a large-scale ground offensive. Similar polling in the Maariv daily paper on Oct 19 found 65 per cent support for a major ground offensive. Hamas’s release of hostages had been responsible for the shift in opinion, the paper argued. Political analysts believe Mr Netanyahu wants unanimous backing from his war cabinet to avoid being left with the blame if the offensive goes badly. His political standing has already been battered for overseeing security failures ahead of the attacks which saw 1,400 Israelis killed and more than 220 taken hostage. Mutual suspicion between the military and the prime minister is so severe that civil servants have barred the military from recording cabinet meetings, The New York Times reported, to limit evidence that could be used in any national investigation into the war. Israeli ground forces, backed by fighter jets and drones, meanwhile carried out a further ground raid into the enclave on Thursday. “The IDF identified and struck numerous terror targets, including anti-tank missile launch sites, military command and control centres, as well as Hamas terrorists,” it said, adding that troops “exited the area at the end of the activity”. Hamas meanwhile claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on Tel Aviv that injured several people. The Al Qassam brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, said it had launched the attack “in response to the Zionist massacres against civilians”. Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defence minister, admitted that he expected a ground offensive to be long and difficult. Mr Gallant said the ground invasion would include large forces, backed by air strikes, and “will take a long time,” without elaborating. The death toll from Israel’s bombardment of the besieged Palestinian territory had reached at least 7,326 by Friday, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The World Health Organisation (WHO) said there might be another 1,000 dead beneath the rubble. Richard Peeperkorn, the WHO representative in Gaza, said: “We also get these estimates that there are still 1,000 plus people under the rubble which have not been identified yet.” The death toll includes 57 UN staff, working with the body’s Palestinian aid agency. Any Israeli battle plan will also need to decide what to do after the invasion. Israel is expected to want to wash its hands of the enclave, close its border crossings and impose a deep security buffer zone inside the perimeter.

US fighter jets strike Iran-linked sites in Syria in retaliation for attacks on US troops
WASHINGTON (AP)/October 26, 2023
— U.S. fighter jets launched airstrikes early Friday on two locations in eastern Syria linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Pentagon said, in retaliation for a slew of drone and missile attacks against U.S. bases and personnel in the region that began early last week.
The U.S. strikes reflect the Biden administration's determination to maintain a delicate balance. The U.S. wants to hit Iranian-backed groups suspected of targeting the U.S. as strongly as possible to deter future aggression, possibly fueled by Israel's war against Hamas, while also working to avoid inflaming the region and provoking a wider conflict. According to a senior U.S. military official, the precision strikes were carried out near Boukamal by two F-16 fighter jets, and they struck weapons and ammunition storage areas that were connected to the IRGC. The official said there had been Iranian-aligned militia and IRGC personnel on the base and no civilians, but the U.S. does not have any information yet on casualties or an assessment of damage. The official would not say how many munitions were launched by the F-16s.
A senior defense official said the sites were chosen because the IRGC stores the types of munitions there that were used in the strikes against U.S. bases and troops. The two officials briefed reporters after the strikes on condition of anonymity to provide details on the mission that had not yet been made public.
According to the Pentagon, there have now been at least 19 attacks on U.S. bases and personnel in Iraq and Syria since Oct. 17, including three new ones Thursday. Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said 21 U.S. personnel were injured in two of those assaults that used drones to target al-Asad Airbase in Iraq and al-Tanf Garrison in Syria.
In a statement, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the “precision self-defense strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups that began on October 17.”
He said President Joe Biden directed the narrowly tailored strikes “to make clear that the United States will not tolerate such attacks and will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests.” And he added that the operation was separate and distinct from Israel's war against Hamas.
The senior defense official told reporters that the F-16 airstrikes will have a significant impact on the ability of Iranian proxy groups to continue to attack U.S. forces. Asked what groups were targeted, the official said there are several that can have different names, but the U.S. holds Tehran responsible for funding, arming, equipping and directing the proxies. The official said the airstrikes were not designed to expand the conflict in the region, but to compel Iran to direct the militia groups to cease the attacks on American bases and personnel. The Biden administration has not accused Iran of having a direct role in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and has said it appears so far that Tehran was not aware of it beforehand. But the U.S. has noted that Iran has long supported Hamas and has raised concerns that Iran and its proxies could turn the conflict into a wider war.
Austin said the U.S. does not seek a broader conflict, but if Iranian proxy groups continue, the U.S. won’t hesitate to take additional action to protect its forces.
According to the Pentagon, all the U.S. personnel hurt in the militant attacks received minor injuries and all returned to duty. In addition, a contractor suffered a cardiac arrest and died while seeking shelter from a possible drone attack. The retaliatory strikes came as no surprise. Officials at the Pentagon and the White House have made it clear for the past week that the U.S. would respond, with Ryder saying again Thursday that it would be “at the time and place of our choosing.”“I think we’ve been crystal clear that we maintain the inherent right of defending our troops and we will take all necessary measures to protect our forces and our interests overseas,” he told reporters during a Pentagon briefing earlier in the day. Biden said Wednesday that he had warned Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, that if Tehran continues to “move against” U.S. forces in the Middle East, “we will respond.”The latest spate of strikes by the Iranian-linked groups came in the wake of a deadly explosion at a Gaza hospital, triggering protests in a number of Muslim nations. The Israeli military has relentlessly attacked Gaza in retaliation for the devastating Hamas rampage in southern Israel nearly three weeks ago, but Israel has denied responsibility for the al-Ahli hospital blast and the U.S. has said its intelligence assessment found that Tel Aviv was not to blame. The U.S., including the Pentagon, has repeatedly said any strike response by America would be directly tied to the attacks on the troops, and not connected to the war between Israel and Hamas. Such retaliation and strikes against Iranian targets in Syria after similar attacks on U.S. bases are routine. In March, for example, the U.S. struck sites in Syria used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard after an Iranian-linked attack killed a U.S. contractor and wounded seven other Americans in northeast Syria. American F-15 fighter jets flying out of al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar struck several locations around Deir el-Zour. U.S. officials have routinely stressed that the American response is designed to be proportional, and is aimed at deterring strikes against U.S. personnel who are focused on the fight against the Islamic State group. U.S. officials have not publicly tied the recent string of attacks in Syria and Iraq to the violence in Gaza, but Iranian officials have openly criticized the U.S. for providing weapons to Israel that have been used to strike Gaza, resulting in civilian death.
The Pentagon, meanwhile, has beefed up air defenses in the region to protect U.S. forces. The U.S. has said it is sending several batteries of Patriot missile systems, a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery and additional fighter jets.
The THAAD is being sent from Fort Bliss, Texas, and the Patriot batteries are from Fort Liberty in North Carolina and Fort Sill in Oklahoma. An Avenger air defense system from Fort Liberty is also being sent.
Officials have said as much as two battalions of Patriots are being deployed. A battalion can include at least three Patriot batteries, which each have six to eight launchers.
Ryder said Thursday that about 900 troops have deployed or are in the process of going to the Middle East region, including those associated with the air defense systems.

Hamas Fighters Trained with Iranian Forces Before Israel Attack
FDD/October 27/2023
Latest Developments
Hundreds of Hamas terrorists received specialized combat training in Iran before attacking Israel, The Wall Street Journal reported on October 25. Intelligence sources said that officers from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force trained approximately 500 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists from the Gaza Strip. According to the report, senior Palestinian officials and Quds Force commander Brig. Gen. Esmail Qaani attended the training.
On October 23, Maj. Gen. Michael Edelstein, a retired former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Gaza Division commander now working with the IDF’s Southern Command due to the war, alluded to evidence of Iran’s involvement during a press conference but did not provide specific evidence. U.S. officials have denied that Iran is directly connected to the attack.
Expert Analysis
“Hamas fighters have been training alongside Iran’s IRGC since the early 1990s. This is nothing new. Today’s revelation is only the latest chapter in a long history of Iranian support for Hamas. But the revelation is vitally important in the sense that it offers proof of Iran’s hand in the October 7 massacre, not to mention the regional crisis that continues to rock the Middle East.” — Jonathan Schanzer, FDD Senior Vice President for Research
“The administration needs to end the fiction that Iran isn’t complicit in the October 7 massacre. It’s time for Washington to end the era of U.S. appeasement of Iran by locking down all funds available to Tehran, enforcing oil sanctions, and triggering the snapback of UN sanctions.” — Richard Goldberg, FDD Senior Advisor
IRGC Leads Iran’s Terrorist Outreach
The IRGC, Iran’s expeditionary force that answers directly to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has long been known to provide funding, arms, training, and planning assistance to a variety of terror groups. These include Hamas, PIJ, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria, and the Houthis in Yemen.
While Iran provides Hamas with financial, material, and planning assistance, the Gaza Strip’s isolation from the rest of the region makes direct training more difficult. The only way fighters can leave the coastal enclave is through the Rafah crossing on Gaza’s border with Egypt or an underground tunnel that Egypt has not detected. Still, Hamas operatives who live outside of Gaza — splitting their time between Lebanon, Turkey, and Qatar — meet and maintain close ties with IRGC officials.
Iran Helped Plot Attack
Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Iranian officials had greenlit Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel during an October 2 meeting in Beirut. The IRGC advised Hamas on its invasion plans during several meetings, The Journal reported.
Following the May 2021 war between Israel and Hamas, evidence has surfaced indicating that Tehran had facilitated the establishment of a joint operations room in Lebanon to coordinate efforts with Iran-backed terrorist groups in the region. The Islamic Republic may have used this center to support for Hamas during that conflict, and Tehran could do the same during the current war.

U.S. Intel Confident Israel Did Not Attack Gaza Hospital
FDD/October 27/2023
Latest Developments
U.S. intelligence officials said on October 24 they have determined with “high confidence” that Israel was not responsible for the October 17 attack on al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza. More than a week after the blast, likely caused by an errant Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket, allegations of Israeli culpability continue to circulate. The disappearance of all traces of the rocket that struck the hospital — in territory controlled by Hamas — complicates efforts to determine the weapon’s origin and raises questions about Hamas’ obstruction of potential investigations.
Expert Analysis
“With the negative press Hamas received in the wake of its murder of over 1,400 Israelis, the terrorist group needed a major event to reframe the narrative. The hospital blast provided the perfect opportunity to blame Israel for a mass-casualty incident. Many journalists spread Hamas propaganda inflating the death toll and blaming Israel.” — David May, FDD Research Manager and Senior Research Analyst
“Building resilience and cultivating media literacy are important defensive mechanisms, but Israel must go on the offensive and spread the truth about Hamas’ lies. Information and psychological warfare will be critical to winning this war, and Israel must ensure that it secures information superiority in this psychological battlefield.” — Ivana Stradner, FDD Research Fellow
Hamas Used Hospital Attack to Shift Blame to Israel
Many world leaders expressed horror at Hamas’ brutal attack on October 7. The hospital attack helped Hamas sap newfound global sympathy for Israel and cast the Palestinians as the victims. Media outlets cited the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry’s statements blaming Israel for the attack and estimating a death toll of nearly 500.
History of Inflating Death Tolls
The U.S. intelligence community estimated that 100 to 300 people died at the hospital, while a European official put that figure at below 50. The exaggerated death toll released by Hamas is reminiscent of the 2002 Battle of Jenin, in which Palestinian officials initially claimed 3,000 deaths and then lowered their tally to 500. An independent report placed the number at around 50, with half of the fatalities being terrorists involved in the fighting.

Israel Points to Hamas’s Hoarding of Gaza Fuel
FDD/October 27/2023
Latest Developments
Israeli officials are pushing back against calls to admit fuel into the Gaza Strip, noting the Hamas stockpiles that should be going to Palestinian civilians. With the Gaza war now in its third week, Israel has faced pressure to end its embargo on fuel imports from relief agencies, which say their operations in the territory cannot be sustained otherwise.
But COGAT, Israel’s office for liaising with the Palestinians, has published aerial photographs of a depot containing more than 130,000 gallons of fuel that Hamas has hoarded. “It’s all inside the Gaza Strip and there’s enough for many days, for hospitals and water pumps to run, only the priorities are different. Hamas prefers to have all of the fuel for its warfighting capabilities, leaving civilians without it,” said Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), in a briefing on October 26.
International organizations, he said, should be demanding answers of Hamas, rather than of Israel or neighboring Egypt. Humanitarian aid other than fuel has been reaching Palestinian civilians through the Egyptian border.
Expert Analysis
“By focusing on Hamas-stockpiled fuel’s specific role in sustaining the terrorist tunnels, whose electricity generators ensure communication, illumination, and the circulation of oxygen, Israel is signaling both intimate technical knowledge and desire to seek out non-kinetic options for shutting down this subterranean terrorist threat. Those who condemn the prospect of an Israeli ground offensive in Gaza should be the first to welcome such out-of-the-box thinking.” — Mark Dubowitz, FDD CEO
“The fuel issue is a touchstone for the integrity of non-governmental organizations in Gaza. Will they continue with the shell game where they demand that Israel provide Palestinians with fuel with full knowledge that much of it will power Hamas terrorism against Israel? Or will they drop the pretense and publicly acknowledge that Hamas has cynically hijacked this crucial asset and therefore bears for responsibility for a crisis that it could resolve in short order?” — Joe Truzman, Research Analyst at FDD’s Long War Journal
Fuel Linked to Tunnels in Gaza
An Israeli official linked Hamas fuel specifically to the Palestinian terrorist group’s warren of underground bunkers and tunnels, which the IDF has been trying to hit from the air ahead of sending in troops and tanks to tackle the threat directly. Hamas is using the fuel “for tunnel ventilators under hospitals—and not for hospital ventilators,” Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy said on X. “The international community must hold the de facto governing authorities in Gaza to account for this travesty.”
On October 24, Israel’s Walla news site reported that within days, Hamas could run out of fuel needed for its tunnels to function and that this could force its fighters to emerge into Israel’s gunsights.

Israel's Gaza ground operation delayed over US preparations, possible hostage deal
Ben Caspit/Al-Monitor/October 27, 2023
TEL AVIV — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a decision of epic proportions. Although he has recruited two highly experienced generals to share the burden of running the war with Hamas — former army chiefs Benny Gantz and Gadi Eizenkot — only he alone is authorized to order an invasion of Gaza, where over 200 Israeli and foreign citizens are trapped in Hamas tunnels.
Netanyahu knows that Israeli boots on the ground in the enclave greatly diminishes the prospects of rescuing the abducted children, men and women alive. On the other hand, any concessions Israel makes to secure the hostages’ release would diminish its prospects of trouncing the organization, as per the stated goals for the war.
The decision is a choice between worse and worst. The man who has prided himself throughout his long premiership as being the ultimate guardian of Israel's security is known to be averse to such decisions. The irony of placing such a burden on a man prone to procrastination, chronic indecision and fear is not lost on the Israelis who know him. Nonetheless, Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have publicly pledged to crush Hamas. “It’s either us, or them,” Gallant said Thursday in a televised news conference.
“There will be a very powerful ground operation and it will lead to the collapse of Hamas,” a highly placed Israeli source told Al-Monitor Thursday, on the condition of anonymity. According to the source, the incursion’s delay is a double-edged sword. Although Israel’s international legitimacy for pounding Gaza erodes with every passing day, the wait also has significant advantages.“First, it is important for the Americans, and what is important for the Americans is also important for us,” said the source. “They are putting in place preparations all over the Middle East, and this cannot be underestimated because a ground  incursion into Gaza could conceivably set off a regional war, and it is better to be prepared for such an eventuality.”
Other upsides of the delay include state-of-the-art US weapons and ammunition being airlifted to Israel, including bunker-busting bombs of upgraded quality. The time is also being used to fine tune operational plans and train soldiers.
“The forces are training,” said a senior Israeli military source. “Every passing day increases their level of readiness, especially of the reservists, who are somewhat rusty. When that happens, the world will see unprecedented capabilities. After what happened to us, Israel has no choice but to use full force.”
Emerging indications of a potentially significant hostage release mediated by Qatar have become pivotal in deciding the timing of a ground operation. The United States as well as other countries have a vested interest in such an outcome given that 138 of the 229 hostages known to be held in Gaza are either foreign nationals or dual Israeli citizens, according to official Israeli figures.
With this in mind, and despite the unpopularity of the move, Netanyahu has blocked an initiative by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, a member of his Likud party, to shut down the Israeli offices of the Qatari-based Al Jazeera news outlet.
“Qatar is the only mediator capable of bringing about a significant deal with Hamas,” a senior Israeli diplomatic official explained to Al-Monitor, on the condition of anonymity. “The Qataris are connected to Hamas. They are the only ones who can pick up the phone to Hamas leaders even in the current situation . . . If we hit them now, we can forget about another release deal before the ground operation.”
Qatar and Egypt have so far secured the release of four women kidnapped by Hamas.
The situation with Qatar is not without its ridiculous aspects. Addressing the UN Security Council this week, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen lashed out at Qatar for its involvement in funding and nurturing Hamas and its negative role in the region. Netanyahu's advisers had approved Cohen's text beforehand. Al-Monitor has learned that the Qataris were furious.
In response, Cohen deleted a post on his remarks, while National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi posted a somewhat cryptic statement on the X platform that had many Israelis scratching their heads. “I’m pleased to say that Qatar is becoming an essential party and stakeholder in the facilitation of humanitarian solutions. Qatar’s diplomatic efforts are crucial at this time,” Hanegbi wrote.
Netanyahu is desperate. He has still not lived down his 2011 decision to release more than 1,000 jailed Palestinian prisoners in return for the soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been kidnapped by Hamas in 2006. Those released in the Shalit deal constitute the current Hamas military and operational leadership in Gaza, including the organization’s Gaza leader, Yahya Sinwar. Now, instead of one kidnapped soldier, the lives of over 200 men, women, children, including some elderly and sick, are at stake. It is a nightmare from which Netanyahu will not soon awake.
The current negotiations are focused on the release of civilians, especially children and the elderly, rather than the soldiers Hamas is also holding. Hamas has posed ambitious demands in return: the release of hundreds of militants jailed in Israel, a cease-fire, fuel supply to the embattled enclave and more.
The leadership is facing immense public pressure from the families of hostages, who have undertaken a worldwide campaign for their loved ones’ return. To launch a ground offensive in Gaza without a hostage deal would be terrible. To strike a deal leading to the release of hundreds of jailed Hamas members and then enter Gaza, would be just as bad.
Netanyahu dreamed of his place in history as the savior of his people. On Oct. 6, Netanyahu was readying his pen to sign a historic peace agreement with Saudi Arabia, which could have secured him a Nobel Peace Prize and a place in the Jewish pantheon. Since Oct. 7, he faces an indelible historical disgrace and is guaranteed a place in the Jewish hall of shame. As a student of history, Netanyahu knows full well that the last time Israel suffered a strategic surprise of this magnitude, the 1973 Yom Kippur War, its military snatched victory from the jaws of defeat within fewer than 20 days, beating back the combined armies of Egypt and Syria and positioning themselves on the outskirts of Damascus and on the way to Cairo.
On Netanyahu's watch 21 days into a war with a relatively small extremist organization, Israel is waging aerial and artillery bombardments on Gaza in a bid to kill its leaders while Netanyahu debate how and when to enter the Gaza Strip.

US imposes sanctions on Hamas' envoy to Iran, IRGC trainers
Elizabeth Hagedorn/Al-Monitor/October 27, 2023
WASHINGTON — The US Treasury Department on Friday announced a second round of sanctions targeting Hamas, including its liaison to Tehran as well as members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who helped train the Palestinian militant group.
The sanctions were announced hours after US military aircraft carried out airstrikes on two facilities in eastern Syria used by the IRGC and affiliated groups, the Pentagon said, following a series of drone and missile attacks targeting US bases in the region.
The Treasury Department said the latest sanctions, which come nearly three weeks after Hamas carried out its deadly attacks on Israel, “underscore the critical role Iran plays in providing financial, logistical and operational support to Hamas.”
US officials say Iran is broadly complicit in the Oct. 7 attacks due to the support it provides Hamas, but they do not have evidence suggesting Tehran played a direct role in the planning. Those hit with sanctions Friday include Khaled Qaddoum, a Tehran-based Jordanian national serving as Hamas’ representative to Iran. Treasury said Qaddoum “works to maintain strong relationships with Iran,” including by attending meetings with high-level Iranian officials and praising the country’s provision of weapons to Hamas.
Also blacklisted were several IRGC members accused of training and assisting Hamas, Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a smaller militant group in the Gaza Strip. Other targets include the Al-Ansar Charity Association, a Gaza-based entity that Treasury said claims to provide funds to families affiliated with Palestinian militant groups but ultimately serves as a conduit for illicit Iranian financing to Hamas and PIJ. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo said the sanctions demonstrate the US “commitment to dismantling Hamas's funding networks” by using its counterterrorism sanctions authorities and working with partners to disrupt the group’s sources of financing. “We will not hesitate to take action to further degrade Hamas’s ability to commit horrific terrorist attacks by relentlessly targeting its financial activities and streams of funding,” Adeymo said. Treasury officials have vowed to deny the militant group, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union, of its ability to raise funds after its attack on Israel left more than 1,400 dead, including 33 Americans. As President Joe Biden traveled to Israel last week, the United States imposed sanctions on key members of Hamas in the Gaza Strip and across the region, including in Turkey and Qatar. Last week, the administration unveiled new measures to counter Iran's proliferation of missiles and drones following the lapse of the United Nations’ prohibitions on Tehran's missile-related activities.

Israel-Hamas: Trudeau briefs parties, seventh person with Canada ties confirmed dead
OTTAWA/AP/The Canadian Press/Thu, October 26, 2023
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sat down behind closed doors with senior members of opposition parties on Thursday to discuss Canada's approach to the latest conflict between Israel and the armed militant group Hamas. "My greatest preoccupation is here at home, where people are grieving, people are angry, people are hurt, people are worried for their loved ones," Trudeau told reporters on Parliament Hill. "In my conversation with fellow parliamentary leaders this morning, we committed to continuing to work to bring people together, even as this terrible, terrible situation continues to unfold in the Middle East."Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said Thursday the meeting included a frank, helpful exchange on Canada's posture in the region and its perception of ongoing events. "The meeting was held in a very candid way, by Mr. Trudeau and his entourage," Blanchet told reporters in French. His office said the meeting included NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Conservative foreign-affairs critic Michael Chong. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was in Nova Scotia on Thursday. Both the Bloc and NDP say they had requested such a meeting. Blanchet said he had argued that a closed-door meeting might be more informative than heated exchanges in the House of Commons, which, he said in French, can be "a bit undignified."Singh's office said he raised the issues he had outlined in his earlier letter to Trudeau. "I am asking for an urgent meeting between us to discuss how we can work together to end the bloodshed with a ceasefire, get Canadians out of the region, ensure the safe return of all hostages and insist that international law be respected," reads the Oct. 22 letter. The Conservatives did not provide a comment Thursday about their perspective of the meeting. Global Affairs Canada confirmed Thursday that it is providing support to the family of a seventh person "connected to Canada" who waskilled during ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hamas. The department later specified the death happened in Israel but said it would not share further information due to privacy considerations.
The department also said this number includes "six Canadian citizens and one with deep connections to Canada" and that all seven Canadian families are receiving consular support. The federal government also confirmed that two Canadians remain missing in the region. The Associated Press reports that Israeli airstrikes have ravaged swaths of the Gaza Strip, as residents are running out of food, water and other supplies. Palestinian militants have also fired thousands of rockets into Israel since a brazen Oct. 7 attack by the group Hamas. Aid groups took to Parliament Hill on Thursday to ramp up their calls for more humanitarian assistance to reach Hamas-controlled Gaza. Israel has cut access to food, water and electricity since its latest war with Hamas began. Canada has joined peer countries in calling for "humanitarian pauses" to the fighting, in order for aid to reach civilians in Gaza.
But Canada has not called for the territory to receive fuel. Israel has said it fears Hamas would use fuel for rocket attacks. Aid groups say it is vital to maintain health services. "The Canadian government's call for a humanitarian pause does not align with the collective demands of Canada's charitable sector," said Mahmuda Khan, the head of Human Concern International, a Canadian Muslim international relief charity. Her group has lost contact with numerous workers, and has had warehouses in Gaza bombed, she said. Khan said the lack of fuel means electricity is running out for some 2,000 cancer patients, a thousand people needing dialysis and scores of babies in hospital incubators. The United Church of Canada argued a ceasefire could prevent "the human desire for retaliation" from sowing more chaos in the region. "Grief, suffering and loss do not create winning conditions for long-term peace, justice and healthy relationships," said Rev. Éric Hébert-Daly, the regional executive minister for eastern Ontario and Quebec. Trudeau told reporters that Canada is "very much impressing upon Israel" the need to "take the utmost care to protect civilian life."UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said this week he is "deeply concerned about the clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing in Gaza," but Trudeau would not say whether he agrees with this finding. "The protection of civilians needs to be at the top of any country's priorities when we're talking about a conflict like this," Trudeau said.
Global Affairs Canada said trucks Israel has allowed to bring aid into the territory represent only "a small fraction of what is needed to address the needs of Palestinian civilians."Canada is expected to weigh in on aid access to Gaza during a UN General Assembly debate on the matter on Friday. The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says more than 7,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war in less than three weeks, a figure that includes the disputed toll from an explosion at a hospital in Gaza City last week.
Israel's government says the fighting has killed more than 1,400 people in Israel. They are mostly civilians slain during the initial Hamas attack, including hundreds at an outdoor music festival and families living in agricultural co-operatives known as kibbutzim. Canada designates Hamas as a terrorist group and Trudeau has continued to say that Israel has the right to defend itself. As of Wednesday, Global Affairs said it is helping 430 Canadians and their family members who have requested helpin Gaza, as well as 176 people in Israel and 76 in the West Bank. In Israel, 5,765 Canadians in total have officially registered with Global Affairs Canada, while 451 Canadians have indicated they are in either the West Bank or Gaza. There are also 17,135 Canadians who have registered as being in Lebanon. The Canadian Armed Forces has said it is preparing for a possible evacuation of Canadians from Lebanon, which borders Israel to the north, if it gets caught up in a wider conflict. Hezbollah, an Iran-funded militant group allied with Hamas that operates out of Lebanon, has repeatedly traded fire with Israel along the border. On Thursday, Trudeau did not say whether he agreed with a statement by Guterres that "the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum," noting Israel's "56 years of suffocating occupation" of Palestinian territories. "There is no justification for what they did," Trudeau said of Hamas, despite the region's history being "extraordinarily complex." Meanwhile, Trudeau did not say whether he has plans to visit Israel, following heads of government of the U.S., the United Kingdom and France making the trip. "I'm always open to going there, but we'll still look at how we can make a positive difference with our presence," Trudeau told reporters in French.

Israeli air and ground strikes intensify in Gaza; internet collapse cuts territory off from outside
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP)/October 27, 2023
Internet and phone services collapsed in the Gaza Strip under intensified Israeli bombardment Friday night, largely cutting off its 2.3 million people from the outside world and each other, as Israel’s military said it was “expanding” ground operations in the besieged territory. The military’s announcement signaled it was moving closer to an all-out invasion of Gaza, where it has vowed to crush the ruling Hamas militant group after its bloody incursion in southern Israel three weeks ago. Explosions from a barrage of airstrikes lit up the sky over Gaza City after nightfall Friday when the blackout in internet, cellular and landline services hit. Already plunged into darkness after most electricity was cut off weeks ago, Palestinians were now thrown into isolation, huddled in homes and shelters, with food and water supplies running out. The Palestinian telecom provider, Paltel, said the “complete disruption” was due to bombardment. Casualties from new airstrikes could not be immediately known in the information blackout. The Red Crescent said it cannot reach its medical teams and that residents can no longer call ambulances, meaning rescuers will have to chase the sound of explosions to find those wounded from strikes. International aid groups said they were only able to reach a few staff using satellite phones. Relatives outside Gaza panicked after their messaging chats with families inside suddenly went dead and calls stopped going through. “I was so scared this was going to happen,” said Wafaa Abdul Rahman, director of a feminist organization based in the West Bank city of Ramallah. She said she hadn't heard for hours from family in central Gaza.
“We’ve been seeing these horrible things and massacres when it’s live on TV, so now what will happen when there’s a total blackout?” she said, referring to scenes of families that have been crushed in homes by airstrikes over the past weeks.
Israeli military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said ground forces were “expanding their activity” Friday evening in Gaza and “acting with great force ... to achieve the objectives of the war.” Israel says its strikes target Hamas fighters and infrastructure and that the militants operate from among civilians, putting them in danger. Israel has amassed hundreds of thousands of troops along the border with Gaza ahead of an expected ground offensive. Earlier Friday, the military said ground forces conducted their second hourslong incursion inside Gaza in as many days, striking dozens of militant targets over the past 24 hours. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told a small group of foreign reporters that Israel expects a long and difficult ground offensive into Gaza soon. It “will take a long time” to dismantle Hamas' vast network of tunnels, he said, adding that he expected a lengthy phase of lower-intensity fighting as Israel destroys “pockets of resistance.”His comments pointed to a potentially grueling and open-ended new phase of the war after three weeks of relentless bombardment. Israel has said it aims to crush Hamas’ rule in Gaza and its ability to threaten Israel. But how Hamas’ defeat will be measured and an invasion’s endgame remain unclear. Israel says it does not intend to rule the tiny territory of 2.3 million Palestinians but not who it expects to govern — even as Gallant suggested a long-term insurgency could ensue.
The Palestinian death toll in Gaza has soared past 7,300, more than 60% of them minors and women, according to the territory's Health Ministry. A blockade on Gaza has meant dwindling supplies, and the U.N. warned that its aid operation helping hundreds of thousands of people was “crumbling” amid near-depleted fuel. More than 1,400 people were slain in Israel during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, according to the Israeli government, and at least 229 hostages were taken into Gaza. Palestinian militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel, including one that hit a residential building in Tel Aviv on Friday, wounding four people. The overall number of deaths far exceeds the combined toll of all four previous Israel-Hamas wars, estimated at around 4,000. The conflict has threatened to ignite a wider war across the region.
U.S. warplanes struck targets in eastern Syria that the Pentagon said were linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard after a string of attacks on American forces. Two mysterious explosions hit Red Sea coastal towns in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, wounding six people. Israel's Foreign Ministry blamed Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, who have tried to fire rockets toward Israel since the war began. A ground invasion is expected to cause even higher casualties as Israeli forces and Hamas battle in dense residential areas. Gazan hospitals have been scrounging for fuel to run emergency generators that power incubators and other life-saving equipment after Israel cut off all fuel deliveries at the start of the war, forcing its only power plant to shut down.
Gallant said Israel believes that Hamas would confiscate any fuel that enters. He said Hamas uses generators to pump air into its hundreds of kilometers (miles) of tunnels, which originate in civilian areas. He showed reporters aerial footage of what he said was a tunnel shaft built right next to a hospital.
“For air, they need oil. For oil, they need us,” he said. Late Friday, the army released photos showing what it claimed were Hamas installations in and around Gaza’s largest hospital, al-Shifa. Israel has made such claims before, but they declined to say how they obtained the photos. Little is known about Hamas’ tunnels and other infrastructure. Claims by the military and Gallant couldn’t be verified. Speaking at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Hamas media chief Salama Moussa called Israel's claims “lies” and said they were “a precursor for striking this facility.”“I ring the alarm bell. There is imminent danger hovering above the medical facility" and those in it, Moussa said. The hospital has been overwhelmed by thousands of patients and wounded, and around 40,000 displaced Gaza residents have crowded in and around its grounds for shelter, the U.N. says. Asked if the military plans to target al-Shifa, Hagari said, "We will not be able to allow terror activity against Israel from hospitals and we will have to, together with the rest of the world, confront this red flag.” He said Hamas uses “its own population as a human shield.”About 1.4 million people in Gaza have fled their homes, with nearly half of them crowding into U.N. shelters. Hundreds of thousands remain in northern Gaza, despite Israel ordering them to evacuate to the south and saying that those who remain might be considered “accomplices” of Hamas.
Over the past week, Israel has allowed more than 80 trucks with aid enter from Egypt through the Rafah crossing – including 10 trucks of food, medicine and other supplies Friday morning. The convoys meet only a tiny fraction of Gaza's needs amid a worsening humanitarian collapse. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, which provides basic services to hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza, said it has been forced to ration fuel and only has enough for a few more days. “The siege means that food, water and fuel – basic commodities — are being used to collectively punish more than 2 million people, among them, a majority of children and women,” Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, told reporters. He said U.N. workers in Gaza report “the last remaining public services are collapsing, our aid operation is crumbling and for the first time ever, they report that people are now hungry.”

Israeli troops mount second ground raid into Gaza
Associated Press/Fri, October 27, 2023
Israeli troops backed by armoured vehicles and aircraft have mounted another ground raid into Gaza in advance of an expected invasion. Infantry and engineering units struck targets overnight near the Shuja’iyya neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City under cover of air force helicopters, drones and jets, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said on Friday. It followed a substantial but limited raid into a northern part of the coastal strip the previous night in an effort to scout Hamas positions and tunnel networks. Fresh bombardments before dawn killed dozens, including children and a journalist, Yasser Abu Namous, the Palestinian Authority-run news agency Wafa reported. Aid workers are preparing to send eight trucks with food, medicine and water into the territory. Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner general for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said sporadic, limited deliveries were just “crumbs” when measured against the humanitarian needs of 2.4 million people. “The current system in place is geared to fail,” he told a press conference in Jerusalem. “What is needed is meaningful and uninterrupted aid flow. And to succeed, we need a humanitarian ceasefire to ensure this aid reaches those in need.”
Lazzarini said 57 of the agency’s staff had been killed in the conflict. He issued a tacit rebuke to sceptics of casualty figures from the Hamas-run health ministry, which says more than 7,000 people have died in Gaza since 7 October. The commissioner said its figures in previous conflicts had been considered credible. Satellite images provided by Maxar Technologies and Planet Labs show how the bombardment has reduced towns and cities to rubble, with rows of residential buildings erased. Leaders of the 27 EU member states have unanimously called for “humanitarian corridors and pauses” of the bombing to allow food, water and medical supplies to enter the territory. More than 250 British lawyers, including professors of law, urged the UK government to press for a ceasefire, saying serious breaches of international law were being committed.
Interactive
Fears of the crisis spreading across the region deepened on Friday after US warplanes bombed two locations in eastern Syria linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. The strikes hit weapons storage facilities and were a response to drone and missile attacks by Iranian-backed groups against US bases and personnel in Syria and Iraq, the Pentagon said. In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces killed four Palestinians in the latest in a series of raids that have killed scores and injured hundreds. Israeli officials said one of the four killed was Ayser Mohammad Al-Amer, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad field commander. Israeli military officials raised the number of people held hostage in Gaza to 233, five more than the 228 cited a day earlier. Relatives of some hostages protested in Tel Aviv on Thursday against what they said was government inaction to free the hostages. “They’ve been there for 20 days,” said Meirav Leshem-Gonen, whose 23-year-old daughter Romi was abducted, the Times of Israel reported. “Twenty days in which we’ve had no idea how they’re doing, how they’re being treated, if they’re OK, if they’re breathing.”According to the Russian newspaper Kommersant, a member of a Hamas delegation in Moscow, Abu Hamid, said Hamas could not release hostages until a ceasefire was agreed. Concern about the fate of the hostages has appeared to soften Israeli public support for a ground invasion of Gaza. Almost half of Israelis – 49% – wish to hold off, according to a poll by the newspaper Ma’ariv. It found that 29% of Israelis backed an immediate invasion, with 22% undecided. In a poll on 10 October – three days after the conflict began when Hamas militants entered southern Israel and killed more than 1,400 people – 65% backed a major ground offensive. Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said on Thursday night a full ground incursion would be launched soon. “We are responding with fire and creating the conditions for the ongoing war. There will also be other stages,” he told Kan radio. “We are preparing them, and we will carry them out. I am determined to deliver victory.”

The Hamas tunnel city beneath Gaza — a hidden frontline for Israel
Reuters/October 27, 2023
JERUSALEM/LONDON: What lies in wait for Israeli ground troops in Gaza, security sources say, is a Hamas tunnel network hundreds of kilometers long and up to 80 meters deep, described by one freed hostage as “a spider’s web” and by one expert as the “Viet Cong times 10.” The Palestinian Islamist group has different kinds of tunnels running beneath the sandy 360-sq-km coastal strip and its borders — including attack, smuggling, storage and operational burrows, Western and Middle East sources familiar with the matter said. The United States believes Israel’s special forces will face an unprecedented challenge having to battle Hamas militants while trying to avoid killing hostages held below ground, a US official said.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin noted that Iraq’s nine-month-long battle to retake the city of Mosul from Daesh might prove to have been easier than what awaits the Israelis — likely to be “a lot of IEDs (improvised explosive devices), a lot of booby traps, and just a really grinding activity.”
Even though Israel has invested heavily in tunnel detection — including a sensor-equipped underground barrier it called an “iron wall” — Hamas is still thought to have working tunnels to the outside world. After the last round of hostilities in 2021, Hamas’s leader in Gaza, Yehya Al-Sinwar, said: “They started saying they destroyed 100km of Hamas tunnels. I am telling you, the tunnels we have in the Gaza Strip exceed 500 km. Even if their narrative is true, they only destroyed 20 percent of the tunnels.”
HOSTAGE WITNESS
There has been no corroboration of the comment by Sinwar, who is thought to be hiding underground ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive.But the estimate of hundreds of kilometers is widely accepted by security analysts, even though the blockaded coastal strip is only 40km long.
With Israel in full control of Gaza’s air and sea access and 59km of its 72km land borders — with Egypt 13km to the south — tunnels provide one of the few ways for Hamas to bring in weapons, equipment and people. While it and other Palestinian groups are secretive about their networks, recently released Israeli hostage, 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz, said: “It looked like a spider’s web, many, many tunnels,” adding: “We walked kilometers under the ground.”Hamas believes that with Israel’s overwhelming aerial and armored military superiority, tunnels are a way to cut some of those advantages by forcing Israel’s soldiers to move underground in cramped spaces the Hamas fighters know well. An Israeli military spokesperson said on Thursday: “I won’t elaborate on the number of kilometers of tunnels but it is a high number, built under schools and residential areas.”
Urging the United Nations Security Council to intervene, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called for an immediate cessation of “aggression” on Gaza and moves toward “a political solution instead of military and security solutions.”
UNDERGROUND CITY
Israeli security sources say Israel’s heavy aerial bombardments have caused little damage to the tunnel infrastructure with Hamas naval commandos able to launch a seaborne attack targeting coastal communities near Gaza this week.
“Although we have been attacking massively for days and days, the (Hamas) leadership is pretty much intact, as is the ability to command and control, the ability even to try and launch counter attacks,” said Amir Avivi, a former brigadier general whose senior positions in the Israeli military included deputy commander of the Gaza division, tasked with tackling tunnels.
“There is a whole city all over Gaza underneath with depths of 40-50 meters. There are bunkers and headquarters and storage and of course they are connected to more than a thousand rocket launching positions.”
Other sources estimated depths of up to 80 meters.
One Western security source said: “They run for miles. They are made of concrete and very well made. Think of the Viet Cong times 10. They have had years and lots of money with which to work with.”
Another security source, from one of Israel’s neighboring countries, said Hamas’s tunnels from Egypt remain active.
“The supply chain is still intact these days. The network involved in facilitating co-ordination are some Egyptian military officers. It is unclear if there is knowledge of this by the Egyptian army,” he said.
A small number of narrower, deep, smuggling tunnels were still operating until recently between Egypt and Gaza, according to two security sources and a trader in the Egyptian city of El Arish, but they had slowed to a near-halt since the Israel-Hamas war started.
Egyptian officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On Wednesday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said while inspecting military units in Suez that the army’s role was to secure Egyptian borders.
LONG GAME
Hamas was created in Gaza in 1987 and is thought to have begun digging tunnels in the mid-1990s, when Israel granted Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organization some degree of self-rule in Gaza. The tunnel network is a key reason why Hamas is stronger in Gaza than in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Israel’s settlements, military bases and monitoring devices make it harder to get anything in from Jordan. Tunneling became easier in 2005 when Israel pulled its soldiers and settlers out of Gaza, and when Hamas won power in a 2006 election.
Shortly afterwards Hamas’s military wing, the Izz el-Deen Al-Qassam Brigades, captured Gilad Shalit and killed two other Israeli soldiers after burrowing 600 meters to raid the Kerem Shalom base on the Gaza border. A year later Hamas used tunnels in Gaza to launch a military strike against the forces of Arafat’s successor as PLO leader, Mahmoud Abbas. Although the military tunnels remained off-limits to outside eyes, during that era Gaza smugglers would show off their scarcely concealed commercial tunnels under the Rafah border. These were around three feet (one meter) wide and used winch motors to haul goods along the sandy tunnel floors in hollowed-out petrol barrels. One Rafah tunnel operator, Abu Qusay, said a half-mile tunnel took three to six months to dig and could yield profits of up to $100,000 a day. The most profitable item was bullets, bought for $1 each in Egypt and fetching more than $6 in Gaza. Kalashnikov rifles, he said, cost $800 in Egypt and sold for twice that. In 2007 the military wing is thought to have brought its commander Mohammed Deif into Gaza through a tunnel from Egypt. Deif was the mastermind behind Hamas’s deadly Oct. 7 attack into Israel, which killed 1,400 people and hostages were taken.
TUNNEL HUNTING
Professor Joel Roskin, a geomorphologist and geologist with Israel’s Bar-Ilan University said it was difficult to map the tunnel network accurately from the surface or space, adding highly classified information was essential for 3D mapping and imagery visualization. Among the elite units tasked with going underground is Yahalom, specialist commandos from Israel’s Combat Engineering Corps known as the “weasels,” who specialize in finding, clearing and destroying the tunnels. Earlier this week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Yahalom fighters, telling them: “I rely on you, the people of Israel rely on you.”Israeli sources said what awaits them is formidable and they faced an enemy that has regrouped and learned from previous Israeli operations in 2014 and 2021. “There are going to be a lot of booby traps. They have thermobaric weapons that they didn’t have in 2021, which are more lethal. And I believe they acquired a lot of anti-tank weapon systems that are going to try to hit our APCs (armored personnel carriers), tanks,” said Amnon Sofrin, a former brigadier general and former commander of the Combat Intelligence Corps. Sofrin, who was also previously head of the intelligence directorate with Israel’s Mossad spy agency, said Hamas would also be trying to kidnap soldiers. Daphne Richemond-Barak, professor at Israel’s Reichman University and author of the book Underground Warfare, said the conflicts in Syria and Iraq had changed the situation. “What the IDF (Israeli military) is likely to face inside the tunnels is also all of the experience and all of the knowledge that has been gained by groups like Daesh (Islamic State) and has been ... passed on to Hamas.”

After Biden meeting, new Speaker Johnson says GOP won't abandon Ukraine but will aid Israel first
WASHINGTON (AP)/October 27, 2023
President Joe Biden met with new House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries at the White House on Thursday to discuss his request for nearly $106 billion for Israel, Ukraine and other national security needs. Johnson, a staunch conservative allied with Donald Trump, has shown little interest in providing additional money from Congress to support Ukraine in its war against Russia. Later, the new Republican speaker insisted Congress is “not going to abandon” Ukraine. Instead, Johnson said House Republicans would first bring a separate bill to provide $14.5 billion in aid to Israel, but they need more information about the Biden administration's Ukraine strategy. “We can’t allow Vladimir Putin to prevail in Ukraine because I don't believe it would stop there,” Johnson said on Fox News' “Hannity,” referring to the Russian president. But he said, “We must stand with our important ally in the Middle East and that's Israel.”The new Republican leader who swept into office nearly a month after the ouster of Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker had a busy first full day in office, having inherited many of the same political problems that tormented past GOP leaders and challenged their tenure as speaker. In the morning, Johnson said “prayer is appropriate” as a response to the mass shootings in Maine. Johnson, an evangelical Christian from Louisiana, declined to take questions, including about the possibility of any gun violence legislation from Congress.
“Prayer is appropriate at a time like this, that the evil can end and the senseless violence can stop,” he said. The House convened with a bustle of activity, making up for lost time during the weeks of chaos since McCarthy's ouster as speaker. But the initial goodwill toward Johnson blurs the political fault lines challenging his ability to lead the GOP majority in the face of daunting issues ahead. By Nov. 17, the Congress must fund the government again or risk a federal shutdown. Biden wants nearly $106 billion in military and humanitarian aid for Israel and Ukraine. And Republicans are eager to resume their impeachment inquiry into Biden over his son Hunter's business dealings.“Enough of the chaos, enough of the dysfunction,” said Jeffries, D-N.Y., adding it was time for Congress to get back to business.
Jeffries said Democrats were “heartbroken” over the latest shootings and stand with the people of Maine in every way possible, including discussing how Congress can address gun violence. Johnson said he and Biden met together for more than 15 minutes before the other party arrived. “It was a productive meeting,” Johnson told reporters back at the Capitol. “I enjoyed my visit with the president.”
Biden met with Johnson and Jeffries before the House leaders joined a classified briefing with other congressional lawmakers on the assistance package, according to a White House official. The briefing in the Situation Room for Johnson and other House leaders on the emergency funding request was the first time the new speaker, who opposes the aid to Ukraine, was getting a close airing from White House officials about Biden’s case for the money. The White House has conducted similar briefings in recent weeks. Biden had called Johnson to congratulate him after his election Wednesday and said it was “time for all of us to act responsibly” to fund the government and provide that foreign aid. “We need to move swiftly,” the president said in a statement. Johnson, 51, swept through on the first ballot with support from all Republicans anxious to put weeks of tumult behind and get on with the business of governing. He was quickly sworn as speaker and is now second in line to the presidency, after the vice president. While not the Republicans' top choice, Johnson had few foes and an important backer in Donald Trump.At the Capitol on Thursday, Johnson sat down with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who told reporters afterward that he had a “very good” meeting with the new speaker. Johnson met later with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who said on social media they had a “great meeting.” He has also heard from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who told the new speaker in a Wednesday call that a bipartisan agreement with Democrats is the only way to avoid a shutdown.In winning the gavel, Johnson, who has been in the House for less than a decade, drew together fellow Republicans through his faith, conservative roots and Trump’s nod after more seasoned leaders had failed.
“I’m a Bible-believing Christian,” Johnson told Fox's Sean Hannity.
The speaker said when he's asked his views on the issues, he advises: “Well, go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it, that’s my worldview. That’s what I believe.”Democrats said Johnson, a lawyer specializing in constitutional issues, was an extreme conservative, a strict opponent of abortion access and an architect of Trump's legal effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election he lost to Democrat Biden. After Johnson's election, lawmakers approved a resolution Wednesday saying the House “stands with Israel” and “condemns Hamas’ brutal war.” They next turned to a stalled government funding bill. Rather than take a scheduled work period at home, Republicans rearranged the House calendar to return to Washington next week and keep pushing through the various government funding bills before the Nov. 17 deadline. In a letter to colleagues, Johnson outlined priorities that include providing a short-term funding bill, into next year, to prevent a November shutdown — almost the same move that led to McCarthy's ouster. “Speaker Johnson has been very clear that we’ve got to secure America’s border, we want to support Israel,” said Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who conferred with Johnson ahead of the White House meeting. “But all of the other items that the President is talking about run secondary.”Republican Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Johnson is thoughtful and smart, and understands that aid for Ukraine is a national security issue, despite opposition from other Republicans in their majority. "And what I saw in the Situation Room was I thought he was very open to the idea,” said McCaul. To avoid a shutdown, Johnson will need to balance far-right demands with the realities of keeping the government functioning. Most Republicans voted against the budget deal McCarthy, R-Calif., struck with Biden earlier this year, demanding steeper spending cuts. Similar Republican infighting has chased three other GOP speakers to early departures. The difference now is that Republican rules allow any single lawmaker to force a vote to remove the speaker from office.

Putin is dragging the Middle East into his own war
Francis Dearnley/The Telegraph/October 27, 2023
Missiles rain down, buildings collapse, children wail. Horrendous scenes wherever they occur. But this is not Gaza, this is Ukraine – every day for over 18 months. Which makes Vladimir Putin’s “humanitarian” interventions over events in the Middle East – most significantly by inviting Hamas representatives to Moscow this week – all the more cold-blooded. Try telling the child of a parent killed in one of the thousands of Russian bombardments that the Kremlin believes innocent people – including women and children – should “not be punished for other people’s crimes.”But, in truth, in the unscrupulous world of geopolitics, the crisis in the Middle East is too good an opportunity for Moscow to miss. For the first time in almost two years, international attention – at least in the West – has shifted away from the Kremlin’s disastrous “special operation” in Ukraine, offering Putin a leg-up back onto the world stage. Hence his recent calls to Prime Minister Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and the leaders of Egypt, Iran, and Syria, ostensibly to negotiate a ceasefire. Destabilising the Middle East to distract from its military failures has been a priority for Moscow ever since the invasion. It forged close ties with Iran – widely believed to be Hamas’s most important financial and political backer – as a result of the war, as the Kremlin purchased drones used to attack Kyiv and other cities, purportedly in exchange for intelligence and finance. Iran’s deputy foreign minister is currently in Moscow, and Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, met with the leadership of Hamas earlier this year. President Zelensky, perhaps more than any other world leader, has been keen to draw parallels between Hamas’s attack and Moscow. “We have data very clearly proving that Russia is interested in inciting war in the Middle East,” he said last week. “So that a new source of pain and suffering would erode global unity and exacerbate cleavages and controversies, helping Russia in destroying freedom in Europe.”But it is not just Moscow that stands to benefit. So does China, all too eager to rally Arab nations and African countries – more sympathetic to the Palestinians – to its side. Hence why Moscow and Beijing used their vetos to block a US-drafted UN Security Council resolution condemning Hamas and expressed support for Israel’s right to self-defence. In the clearest sign yet of the ‘multi-polar’ world Russia and China seek to forge, last week 130 delegates – with Putin as the guest of honour – joined President Xi in Beijing to mark the 10-year anniversary of China’s global infrastructure-building scheme, Belt and Road. If we are indeed entering ‘Cold War II’, it was a landmark moment. But if Moscow and Beijing think they only stand to benefit from this crisis, they may be in for a shock. Russia took advantage of Western hesitancy to engage in Syria, boosting its profile in the region. Any influence it wielded there will be imperilled if America and its allies decide to return. It may also have the unintended consequence of turning Ukraine-sceptic but fiercely pro-Israel Republicans against Moscow if Russia is seen as falling under a new axis of evil including Iran and Hamas. Already, in the region itself, a number of Israeli politicians have called for Prime Minister Netanyahu to back Kyiv more strongly than it has. For now, however, leveraging the conflict offers more advantages than disadvantages for both President Putin and Xi. It will drive a wedge between Western countries and those China and Russia seek to court, as well as offering much-needed distractions from Putin’s bloody war in Ukraine and Xi’s probing of Taiwan. Such a wedge, even one measured in human lives, is perceived as worth the risk. Francis Dearnley is one of the core team behind The Telegraph’s daily Ukraine: The Latest podcast.

US State Department statement: Designating individuals and entities with ties to terrorist organizations
LBCI/October 27, 2023
The United States has imposed sanctions on eight key individuals who have been involved in supporting Hamas. Furthermore, officials from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) linked to the financing and training of Hamas are also being targeted with these sanctions. These actions demonstrate a concerted effort to disrupt the financial and training networks that have aided Hamas. Several designated individuals and entities have played crucial roles in enabling sanctions evasion by companies affiliated with Hamas. The sanctions are aimed at choking off these channels and preventing them from providing support to the terrorist organization. In a broader context, the United States is designating an entity due to its connections with Specially Designated Global Terrorists operating in the region. These include not only Hamas but also Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Iranian Bonyad Shahid, also known as the Martyrs Foundation. By imposing these designations, the US government seeks to disrupt the activities of these terrorist organizations in the region. As part of these efforts, the Department of State's Rewards for Justice Program offers substantial financial rewards for information related to specific activities and leaders associated with Hamas. This incentive underscores the commitment to combat terrorism and dismantle its supporting networks.

Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 27-28/2023
Iranian Aghast Scenarios and Wartime Metonymic’s
Charles Elias Chartouni/October 27, 2023
This whole gruesome episode recapitulates the aporias of a demising World Order, and the attempts of the nascent neo-totalitarianism to redraw the demarcation lines of regional geopolitics. Hamas is symptomatic of the Islamization of the Palestinian landscape, and the mere vehicle of Iranian power politics, at a time when the pungency of the Palestinian national agenda was deferred to the sidelines of regional power politics, and the disintegration of the Arab interstate order has come to an apex. The highly deligitimized Iranian Islamic republic has managed to shunt the erosion dynamics, tie its progressive takeover of four Arab countries and enlist terror movements in this endeavor (Lebanon, Irak, Syria, Yemen and radical Islamic movements, Hezbollah, Hamas, maverick sunnite terror groups).
The fake humanitarian concerns of Shiite and Sunnite power politics, the gregariousness of populist uproar, the mendacity and hysteria of leftist Marxism and Wokism, the cynicism of international power brokers (Russia, China, Iran, Erdogan and Lula’s Turkey and Brazil…. ) and the conventional antisemitism rhetoric, far from being a novelty, draw on a old repertoire which contributed decisively, over the lifetime of this long hauled conflict, to disrupt peace dynamics and kill the chances of a peaceful epilogue to a classical ethno-national conflict. The current ongoing of this conflict makes inevitable the destruction of Hamas operational platforms, the containment of the Iranian power thrust, and the engagement of the Palestinian National Authority and Palestinian moderates in the search for a viable political solution based on the rich legacy of international accords (Camp David, Oslo, Abram’s accords), informal negotiations and humanitarian engagements throughout the years. The usual anti-Semitic rhetoric and its grammar, generated by the failures of Islamic and Arab modernity and its scapegoating mechanisms, never fail to feed the traditional hatred of the Jew and the demonization of Israel and Israeli Jews. Otherwise, the hidebound mental universe of the ultra orthodox right in Israel is a major impediment to a rational and peaceful approach to the conflict.
This conflict has exceptionally benefited from outstanding international mediations throughout its winding itineraries, and this stream of conflict resolution should be restored, and its rehabilitation chances are mainly undermined by the Iranian sabotaging politics and its Islamist cohorts all along. The criminal undertaking of Hamas and its Iranian propellor was behind the tragic evolutions, on both Israeli and Palestinian sides, and therefore the military containment is inevitable and a prelude to the resumption of the peace dynamics impelled by the US-Saudi negotiations. When we observe the transformation of Gaza and Lebanon into platforms of military subversion, terrorism and vectors of geopolitical reconfigurations, we shouldn’t be amazed at the tragic turn of events and its deleterious consequences. The hazards of conflict internationalization are fraught with major pitfalls that the sabotaging power brokers have to reckon with, while calculating their chances. The military annihilation of Hamas and the confrontation of Hezbollah are mandated, if we were to oversee the end of the tragic repetition of these absurd and endless cycles of violence and their appalling outcomes.

Israel conducts first large scale tank raid into Gaza, repairs fence
Seth J. Frantzman/ FDD's Long War Journal/October 27/2023
The Israel Defense Force conducted its first large raid into the Gaza Strip overnight between Wednesday and Thursday. The Givati brigade, which has been training for specialized urban warfare over the last week, led the assault. The raid included tanks and vehicles, as well as armored D-9 bulldozers which opened a path through a berm on the border. “During the activity, soldiers located and struck numerous terrorists, terror infrastructure and anti-tank missile launch posts, and operated to prepare the battlefield,” the IDF said in a statement. The forces returned after the raid, there were no IDF casualties, according to the IDF.
The latest advance by Israel served as a table setter for the next phase of combat. Overnight marked the first real ground operation since Oct. 7 when Israel had to rush soldiers and units south to stop the Hamas invasion and massacre that killed 1,400 civilians and soldiers that day. Since that day, there has been growing pressure on Israel to begin a ground incursion. Officers and politicians have said Israel will defeat Hamas. However there is also pressure from the international community to get humanitarian aid into Gaza first.
Israel has called on Gazans to leave northern Gaza and head south. On Oct. 26 the IDF noted that its Intelligence Directorate (J2) has made numerous calls to civilians, encouraging them to leave. However, Israel asserts that they have learned from these calls that Hamas is trying to prevent the civilians from leaving in an effort to use them as “human shields.” This came as the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza claimed more than 7,000 people have been killed in almost three weeks of Israeli airstrikes.
Israel also continued airstrikes on the evening of Oct. 25-26. More than 250 terror targets were struck overnight. Israel said this included “terror infrastructure, operational command centers, tunnel shafts, and rocket launchers placed in the heart of civilian areas that fired toward Israeli territory throughout the war.” Israel also carried out a strike from its navy at sea, targeting a surface-to-air missile launch post near Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, the Gaza Division and the Directorate of Borders and Buffer Zone in Israel’s Ministry of Defense and the Technological and Logistics Directorate have actively worked to repair the border fence along the Gaza Strip. This “smart fence” is supposed to have a plethora of sensors and provide “eyes” into Gaza. However, Hamas attacked it at 29 points on Oct. 7 and damaged many parts of it. The sites of the attack “were searched and cleared of explosive devices alongside the installation of new systems in the area,” the IDF said. “We have all enlisted for the benefit of the mission and we will operate at all hours of the day and in any area that is required. We will continue to work together in cooperation to strengthen control of the area,” one of the officers involved in the maintenance said.
On the home front, Israel has tried to increase funding for the border communities that were evacuated in the first weeks of the war. Some 200,000 Israelis are now staying in hotels and guest houses around Israel. The communities on the border also need repairs and need new safe rooms and other protections. In addition cities such as Ashkelon near Gaza, targeted with hundreds of rockets, require more safe rooms. The Home Front command in Israel and the defense ministry both gave briefings on Thursday. The government continued to emphasize for civilians to take shelter when there are sirens. Several rockets have fallen on buildings in the last day even though the rocket fire from Gaza has reduced greatly. Israel has not released data on the number of rockets fired, unlike in previous wars. Reports say the U.S. is sendingtwo Iron Dome batteries to Israel. These batteries were acquired by the U.S. army three years ago.
The IDF also said it continued to target Hamas commanders throughout the day. The IDF said that the Deputy Head of Hamas’ Intelligence Directorate, “who was responsible for planning the Oct. 7th massacre together with Yahya Sinwar,” was killed. Sinwar is the most senior leader of Hamas in Gaza. Most other Hamas leaders reside abroad, such as in Doha.
*Reporting from Israel, Seth J. Frantzman is an adjunct fellow at FDD and a contributor to FDD’s Long War Journal. He is the acting news editor and senior Middle East correspondent and analyst at The Jerusalem Post.

The group hoped to lure Israel into a trap, instead it united the world behind the Jewish state.
Enia Krivine/Jewish News Syndicate/October 27/2023
Israel massively misjudged Hamas, resulting in the brutal murder of over 1,400 Israelis. But Hamas also gravely miscalculated. It underestimated Western outrage at the atrocities committed by the Iran-backed terror group, as well as Israel’s capacity for disciplined restraint, striking back at a time of its choosing rather than rushing into Gaza half-cocked.
On Oct. 7, Hamas instructed over 1,500 terrorists to penetrate Israeli communities and commit massacres. The orders included beheading, dismembering, rape and torture. They offered generous incentives for bringing hostages back to Gaza. The successful Hamas infiltration was the result of a winning Hamas disinformation campaign, a staggering intelligence failure on the part of Israel and a deadly misjudgment by Israel’s national security leaders.
But Hamas’s unhinged and repulsive bloodletting resulted in a remarkable embrace of Israel by world leaders. This could not have been anticipated by Hamas, which is accustomed to seeing the Jewish state immediately condemned when Israel retaliates against terrorists embedded in civilian infrastructure. Hamas gravely misunderstood the consequences of its actions this time. Its members have exposed themselves as genocidal despots, willing to risk the lives of countless Gazans in order to murder Jews.
Since the massacres of Oct. 7, Jerusalem has enjoyed a rare display of support from the international community, welcoming solidarity visits from U.S. President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Biden voiced support for eliminating Hamas, describing its crimes as “pure, unadulterated evil.” Despite the reports of mounting casualties in Gaza, Macron offered French support for an international coalition to fight Hamas. Scholz stated that Hamas bears the responsibility for the suffering of Gazans. In a joint statement with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Sunak said that Britain wanted Israel “to win.”
It seems that world leaders, repulsed by Hamas’s acts of barbarism and shocked by the audacity of the group’s deranged attempts to repeatedly deny killing Israeli civilians despite the overwhelming body of evidence, have coalesced around Israel’s mission of destroying Hamas. Hamas may have elicited support on the Arab street and on many college campuses in the West, but a consensus has emerged among the leaders of Western civilization that Hamas must go.
The IDF has come to the same conclusion. It has taken control of the battlefield and will decide the next move. The Hamas terrorists attempted to goad Israel into an impulsive invasion by gleefully sharing hours of footage of its heinous crimes on social media. Broadcasting these messages was a psychological warfare tactic, intended to torment the people of Israel. Hamas likely assumed that Israel would immediately respond with a ground invasion. It hoped to lure the IDF into a deadly trap that would leave Israel exposed on other fronts. But Hamas failed in this objective and in many ways it backfired.
Contrary to Hamas’s hopes, the IDF did not rush in. Despite over 200 hostages held in Gaza, including up to 30 children, the IDF has not attempted a ground invasion nor a daring rescue like the storied Entebbe raid of 1976. Instead, the IDF called up 300,000 reservists within 48 hours and has told them to remain in place. Understanding that this was likely a trap, planned with Hezbollah and rubberstamped by the regime in Tehran, Israel is doing a careful evaluation of all its regional adversaries.
Almost three weeks into the war, the IDF has struck thousands of targets in Gaza from the air and sea and sent in small sorties for reconnaissance and intel gathering. Israel has conducted interrogations of captured terrorists and built a database of intelligence based on weapons and documents retrieved from the terrorists. All of this intel will inform a ground invasion at the time of Israel’s choosing.
Untold numbers of IDF troops are still on the Gaza border, training and awaiting their orders. This pregnant pause was unexpected but hopefully points to Israel preparing to make its first move in a very perilous game of chess. Whatever happens next, Hamas has failed to achieve any strategic gains by killing 1,400 Israelis. Instead, it has guaranteed devastation for the people of Gaza. With the support of the international community, the IDF will now dismantle Hamas and hunt down its leadership overseas, one by one.
*Enia Krivine is the senior director of the Israel Program and the National Security Network at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). Follow her on X @EKrivine. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

IDF announces expansion of ground operation in Gaza after heavy round of airstrikes
Kevin Flower, Christian Edwards, Kareem Khadder and Abeer Salman/CNN/October 27, 2023
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is “expanding ground operations” in the Gaza Strip, IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari announced Friday, as intense airstrikes rocked the besieged enclave and with communications links reportedly severed.
Gaza residents told CNN the strikes were the most intense they have experienced since Israel began to retaliate against Hamas’ October 7 terror attack nearly three weeks ago.
Hagari said the IDF was “operating forcefully” on all fronts and would “continue striking Gaza City.” He also called on Gaza civilians to continue to evacuate south.
A substantial ground offensive has been expected ever since the attacks, in which Hamas killed more than 1,400 people and saw some 200 people taken to Gaza as hostages. However, it is not yet clear whether the IDF announcement of an expanded operation signals the start of that push.
Israel has amassed thousands of troops on the border, and has been bombarding and blockading Gaza, sparking what aid agencies call a humanitarian crisis.
A CNN team on the ground in southern Israel, close to the border with Gaza, reported a series of large explosions rocking Gaza City in the north of the enclave on Friday, as well as “unusual, intense and sustained” military activity for the past couple of hours. A huge wall of heavy smoke that lasted 15 to 30 minutes also blew from Gaza into southern Israel earlier Friday evening.
Jawwal, which provides mobile service to the Gaza Strip, said in a statement that “the intense bombardment in the past hour has resulted in the destruction of all remaining international routes connecting Gaza with the outside world.”
Explosions seen over Gaza City as humanitarian concerns mount
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh accused Israel off cutting communications and internet in the Gaza Strip Friday in an “attempt to create darkness so that crimes can be committed” in preparation for an IDF ground operation.
Speaking to CNN, Shtayyeh said “the world is facing a historic moment” and needed to act in order to stop the “aggression and massacres” that would come in an incursion.
Gaza has been “left in the dark with no connection to the outside world,” an eyewitness at the Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al Balah told CNN.
The eyewitness also said the hospital has received the bodies of 11 people killed and dozens injured from the intensified bombardment of central Gaza Friday night, and added that casualties are expected to rise.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it has “completely lost contact with the operations room in Gaza and all our teams operating there.”
After Israel’s announcement Friday, Jordanian foreign minister Ayman Safadi urged the approval of a pending resolution at the United Nations that calls for a ceasefire. In a post on X, he said “voting against Arab #UNGA resolution means approving this senseless war, this senseless killing.”
The UN General Assembly is expected to vote shortly on the resolution, which calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities in the war between Israel and Hamas. The US and Israel have rejected the resolution.
The IDF announcement comes amid ongoing efforts to free the hostages. Earlier on Friday, a source touted “significant progress” in negotiations.
When asked about a possible deal, Hagari told reporters to “disregard rumors.” Hagari dismissed reports that a hostage deal was close to being brokered as “psychological terror and a cynical use of Israeli civilians by Hamas.”
The White House said it would not be appropriate to weigh in on Israel’s expanded military campaign.
“We have, of course, certainly seen Israel undertake varied operations on the ground in the last couple of days,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Friday. “But again, we’re not going to get into the habit of chiming in from the sidelines here on what they’re trying to do on the ground.”
Kirby declined to say if Israel had informed the US before launching an expanded ground operation into Gaza Friday. He also declined to say if the Biden administration has confidence that Israel has fully considered the ramifications of a ground incursion.
But Kirby said the US had held “active conversations” with Israel about a humanitarian pause to allow for the release of hostages. “We are working as hard today as we were yesterday and the day before and the day before to get these hostages home,” Kirby told CNN.
Also on Friday, the main UN agency in Gaza warned of the deepening humanitarian crisis facing more than 2 million Palestinians living in the enclave.
“Food and water are running out. The streets of Gaza have started overflowing with sewage. Gaza is on the brink of a massive health hazard as the risks of diseases are looming,” said Phillipe Lazzarini, the head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
While aid has began to trickle into Gaza from Egypt through the Rafah crossing, Lazzarini said the deliveries so far amounted to “nothing more than crumbs.”
This story is developing and will be updated.
CNN’s Kevin Liptak, DJ Judd, Priscilla Alvarez and Sam Fossum contributed reporting.

Europe Facing Civil War?
Drieu Godefridi/Gatestone Institute./October 27, 2023
Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger explained in an interview recently that Europe had made a serious mistake by creating within itself, through mass immigration, populations that reject all its norms, values and a "constitutional basis".
Finally, Europeans will have to do the unthinkable: actually apply their laws. If anyone -- Muslim or non-Muslim -- wants to celebrate the jihadist pogroms against Jews, well, they can go and rejoice in Iran or Qatar. Not in Europe.
Every "Death to the Jews" or "Death to Israel" uttered in Europe... is an insult not only to Jews, but to us, what we are, our laws, our democracies and the will of the people.
Europeans will have to do the unthinkable: actually apply their laws. If anyone -- Muslim or non-Muslim -- wants to celebrate the jihadist pogroms against Jews, well, they can go and rejoice in Iran or Qatar. Not in Europe. Pictured: Anti-Israel protesters in Brussels, Belgium on October 15, 2023. (Photo by Nicolas Maeterlinck/Belga Mag/AFP via Getty Images)
In Vienna, London, Paris, Berlin, Brussels and dozens of other European cities, demonstrations "in support of Palestine" were organised even before the Israelis responded the jihadist pogrom perpetrated by Iran-backed Hamas on October 7, while the corpses of more than 1,400 Israeli victims -- tortured, raped, murdered and mutilated, babies decapitated or burned alive -- were still warm. According to a JNS report:
"[T]he IDF on Monday [Oct 23] published two segments from the interrogation of Hamas terrorists who participated in the massacre..
"'The purpose of entering Israeli territory... was to kidnap civilians; they want as many hostages as possible,' one of the terrorists revealed. He added, 'They [Hamas] promised us that whoever brings a kidnapped person will receive an apartment and $10,000.'"
All the same, each and every one of these demonstrations in Europe was the scene of hate-filled slogans against Israel and Jews.
In Brussels, those slogans were shouted, and the atmosphere of violence and blood-lust was everywhere. Around me, surrounded by about 2,000 hate-filled demonstrators, a group of a dozen young Arabs were shouting "Death to the Jews" and "Death to Israel", all the while exchanging knowing smiles and a few jokes. One of them ordered me to stop filming. I did.
Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger explained in an interview recently that Europe had made a serious mistake by creating within itself, through mass immigration, populations that reject all its norms, values and a "constitutional basis". He deplored the fact that in 2023 in Berlin, almost 80 years after the Holocaust, people, with complete impunity, are shouting "Death to the Jews" in the streets.
In the hours following the revelation of the butchery committed by Hamas, a wave of racist violence and attacks began in Europe, especially in France. Against Arabs or Muslims? Not at all. Against Jews, of course. In Europe, Jews are still the victims of hatred and violence. Apparently it is a way for our local pro-Hamas Europeans to celebrate the jihad pogrom of October 7.
Even though the media have been warning us for 30 years about the risk of violence against Muslims, in deeds and figures, our Jewish fellow citizens are infinitely more victims of violence and abuse than are Muslims living in Europe. Already in 2015, Jeffrey Goldberg warned in The Atlantic: "In 2014, Jews in Europe were murdered, raped, beaten, stalked, chased harassed, spat on and chased for being Jewish."
I feel a certain fatigue towards those who hold Israelis and Arabs equally responsible. Not just the European Left, which often no longer takes the trouble to hide its anti-Semitism. No, also those on the right who, out of cowardice or ignorance, tell us that Israel had it coming.
Let us look at a few facts: In 2005, seeing that the peace process had reached an impasse, Israel forcibly expelled 8,500 Jews from their homes in the Gaza Strip and bulldozed all their homes and communities. From that day on, there was not a single Israeli foot on Gaza soil and Gaza was "free." Now, with not one Jew there, the Arabs of Gazan finally had total control of this beautiful land on the Mediterranean coast and could build the "Singapore of the Middle East". A group of Americans even donated $14 million to buy 3,000 greenhouses from the expelled Jews and donated them to the Palestinian Authority (PA) to ensure that the Gazans could start with businesses there. Within days, they all had been looted and destroyed.
In 2006, elections were held in Gaza; the majority of Gazans voted for the totalitarian terrorist organisation, Hamas, whose openly stated goal was -- and still is -- the total destruction of Israel and the eradication of the Jews (Articles 7, 32).
In 2007, in response to Hamas's smuggling in weapons to fulfil its genocidal mission, a blockade of Gaza was introduced by Israel and Egypt, in agreement with the Palestinian Authority, which Hamas had just persuaded to leave Gaza by killing hundreds of its members, some by throwing them from the top floors of high buildings.
Israel bears no responsibility whatsoever for the pogrom it suffered on October 7, the responsibility for which lies entirely not only with the psychopaths of Hamas but at least as much with the Islamic Republic of Iran, the puppet-master and aspiring hegemon of the region.
But let us return to Europe. In most Western European countries, support for terrorism and incitement to hatred and violence against non-Muslims have gone from being offences, to being support for and diversity and "multiculturalism". 99% of those who commit these offences are never prosecuted, let alone convicted. Saying "Death to the Jews" and "Gas the Jews" has again become acceptable in the West.
No sane person, according to Thucydides, wants the worst form of war, which is civil war. It is for this reason that Europe needs to better understand what it has done to itself. Europe doubtless intended to "do good" but has demographically overwhelmed itself with people who Europeans may have imagined were fleeing tyranny, but who in fact were bringing tyranny with them. Three measures seem worth considering.
The first is a moratorium on immigration. Europeans will have the greatest difficulty integrating the populations already present in their countries. They may not even be able to. Many do not seem to want to integrate into European culture; they appear to want Europeans to integrate into theirs. It should by now be obvious that adding millions of newcomers every year will not solve the problem.
This would mean leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The extremist "open borders" jurisprudence of the Strasbourg Court prevents any development of a rational asylum policy. In 2012, the ECHR enacted the so-called "Hirsi ruling," named after the court case of Hirsi Jamaa and Others v. Italy, which states that the European states have the legal obligation to rescue migrants wherever they find them in the Mediterranean Sea -- even just 200 meters away from the Libyan coast -- and ferry them to a European port, so that these people can claim refugee status.
When the Italian Navy intercepted illegal migrants in the Mediterranean Sea and sent them back to their point of origin in Libya, not only did the ECHR condemn Italy for this "obvious" breach of human rights; the Italians had to pay 15,000 euros ($17,000 at the time) to each of these illegal migrants in the name of "moral damage". This kind of money is equivalent to more than 10 years of income in the countries of origin of Mr. Hirsi Jamaa and his companions: Somalia and Eritrea.
In 2016, Somalia's GDP per capita was an estimated $400 ; Eritrea's $1,300. Everyone, of course, heard about the Hirsi ruling. In Africa, especially, many understood that if they could reach the Mediterranean, European navies would now be obliged to ferry them directly to Europe. Before the Hirsi ruling, when people tried to reach the shores of Europe, hundreds every year tragically died at sea. After Hirsi, the objective is now simply to be intercepted. Consequently, hundreds of thousands attempt this journey -- often with the help of non-governmental organizations such as Médecins Sans Frontières, whose activists wait for boats to appear at sea, just off the Libyan coast.
Finally, Europeans will have to do the unthinkable: actually apply their laws. If anyone -- Muslim or non-Muslim -- wants to celebrate the jihadist pogroms against Jews, well, they can go and rejoice in Iran or Qatar. Not in Europe.
Every "Death to the Jews" or "Death to Israel" uttered in Europe, particularly after babies tortured, burned alive and beheaded, women raped and more than 200 Israelis dragged back to Gaza as hostages on October 7, is an insult not only to Jews, but to us, what we are, our laws, our democracies and the will of the people.
*Drieu Godefridi is a jurist (Saint-Louis University of Louvain), a philosopher (Saint-Louis University of Louvain) and a doctor in legal theory (Paris IV-Sorbonne). He is the author of The Green Reich.
© 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.

Question: “Should Christians celebrate Halloween?”
GotQuestions.org?/October 27/2023
Answer: Due to its decidedly pagan origins, the answer to the question as to whether Christians should celebrate Halloween is a resounding no. The answer to the question as to whether can Christians participate in Halloween activities without compromising their faith is more difficult. Some Christians participate in Halloween simply by dressing up in a costume and having fun, seeing it as innocent and harmless. Other Christians are equally convinced that any form of participation is sinful due to the fact that Halloween is a satanic holiday established to worship evil spirits and promote darkness and wickedness. So, who is right? Is it possible for Christians to participate in Halloween without compromising their faith?
Halloween, no matter how commercialized, has almost completely pagan origins. As innocent as it may seem to some, it is not something to be taken lightly. Christians tend to have various ways to observe or avoid Halloween. For some, it means having an alternative Harvest Party. For others, it is staying away from the ghosts, witches, goblins, etc., and wearing innocuous costumes, e.g., little princesses, clowns, cowboys, super-heroes, etc. Some choose not to do anything, electing to lock themselves in the house with the lights off.
Scripture does not speak at all about Halloween, but it does give us some principles on which we can make a decision. In Old Testament Israel, witchcraft was a crime punishable by death (Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 19:31; 20:6, 27). The New Testament teaching about the occult is clear. Acts 8:9-24, the story of Simon, shows that occultism and Christianity do not mix. The account of Elymas the sorcerer in Acts 13:6-11 reveals that sorcery is violently opposed to Christianity. Paul called Elymas a child of the devil, an enemy of righteousness and a perverter of the ways of God. In Acts 16, at Philippi, a fortune-telling girl lost her demon powers when the evil spirit was cast out by Paul. The interesting matter here is that Paul refused to allow even good statements to come from a demon-influenced person. Acts 19 shows new converts who have abruptly broken with their former occultism by confessing, showing their evil deeds, bringing their magic paraphernalia, and burning it before everyone (Acts 19:19).
So, should a Christian participate in Halloween? Is there anything evil about a Christian dressing up in an innocent costume and going around the block asking for candy? No, there is not. Are there things about Halloween that are anti-Christian and should be completely avoided? Absolutely! If parents are going to allow their children to participate in Halloween, they should make sure to keep them from getting involved in the darker aspects of the day. If Christians are going to take part in Halloween, their attitude, dress, and most importantly, their behavior, should still reflect a redeemed life (Philippians 1:27). There are many churches that hold "harvest festivals" and incorporate costumes, but in a godly environment. There are many Christians who hand out tracts that share the gospel along with the Halloween candy. The decision is ultimately ours to make in the spirit of Christian freedom. But as with all things, we are to incorporate the principles of Romans 14. We cannot allow our own convictions about a holiday to cause division in the body of Christ, nor can we use our freedom to cause others to stumble in their faith. We are to do all things for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).

UN should celebrate its successes but be sure to reform
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/October 27, 2023
The UN this week marked another anniversary, having officially come into existence 78 years ago on Oct. 24, 1945. It replaced the League of Nations, which had been formed after the First World War but had failed to prevent the Second World War.
Let us examine the evolution of this critical international organization, its failures, accomplishments and challenges, as well as its methods and the reforms that can be carried out in order to increase its effectiveness when it comes to dealing with today’s complex issues.
At the end of the most destructive war in history, the Second World War, in which as many as 60 million people are believed to have died, the UN was founded. Its initial objectives were to prevent future wars, play the role of peacemaker on the global stage, promote international security and stability, resolve conflicts between sovereign states and develop friendly relationships between nations.
The UN Charter, which was adopted unanimously at the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House in June 1945, created the Security Council, which originally consisted of five permanent and six nonpermanent members. It has since expanded to 10 nonpermanent members. Only the five permanent members have the right to veto draft resolutions.
The predominant organizational structure of the UN remains the same to this day. The UN currently has five active principal operational organizations: the UN Secretariat, the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council and the International Court of Justice. The number of member states has gradually increased, particularly following the decolonization period of the 1950s and 1960s, growing from the original 51 to today’s 193, all of which are part of the UNGA.
The UNGA is the main body of the UN — it deals with policymaking, votes on UN decisions and is a critical platform that can rally multilateral cooperation and support in order to discuss and agree on collective measures relating to resolving major issues. Resolutions that are passed by the UNGA are considered non binding, whereas those passed by the UNSC are binding and are enforced by the UN.
It is important to point out that resolutions passed by the UNGA tend to be more effective in terms of their enforcement and implementation than those passed by the UNSC, in spite of the fact that they are not officially binding. This is due to the fact that UNGA resolutions have more political influence and are more inclusive because they are endorsed by a majority of the UN’s member states, rather than just a few countries. But it is important to point out that, unfortunately, one member of the UN Security Council can also prevent the UNSC from passing a resolution or calling for a ceasefire.
As the number of member states expanded and activism around the world increased, the UN’s mission and responsibilities grew from simply maintaining international peace and security to tackling issues regarding social and economic development, the environment and fundamental human rights. As a result, the number of resolutions passed by the UNSC has increased considerably and more agencies have been created within the organization. These include UNESCO, UNICEF, the World Health Organization and the World Food Programme.
As the number of member states expanded and activism increased, the UN’s mission and responsibilities grew
However, the UN has frequently been criticized for some of its flaws, such as the ability of only one member of the UN Security Council to veto a resolution, its lack of enforcement power, inefficient global governance amid modern-day challenges, inability to reach a consensus or act in the face of some of the world’s gravest conflicts — including the wars in Syria and Sudan — slow processes, perceived bias, and lack of modernization. One of the biggest current criticisms of the UN is its inability to implement an immediate ceasefire in the relentless bombardment of Gaza by Israel. This is supported by a majority of Security Council members, but the US (Israel’s staunchest ally) has blocked it. Nearly 100 UN members have also called for a ceasefire, but the organization is paralyzed to take action. It is fundamentally undemocratic when one member can prevent the UN Security Council from imposing a ceasefire to allow the entry of humanitarian aid. Even Secretary-General António Guterres has expressed his frustration at the UN’s inability to act. Reforms that could increase the effectiveness of the UN include expanding the number of member states in the Security Council, simplifying the decision-making process by enhancing its management, and increasing its engagement with civil societies, businesses, philanthropists and the private sector. As former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said: “Broad partnerships are the key to solving broad challenges. When governments, the UN, businesses, philanthropies and civil society work hand in hand, we can achieve great things.”
Other potential reforms include improving the UN’s transparency and accountability, adopting more efficient and coordinated counterterrorism strategies, employing better management of the UN’s budget and its allocation, improving its peace-building capabilities, and taking more proactive measures to prevent wars from breaking out in the first place. Such constructive reforms would enhance the UN’s effectiveness at tackling complex global issues. As Dag Hammarskjold, the second Secretary-General, pointed out in 1955: “The UN is not just a product of do-gooders. It is harshly real. The day will come when men will see the UN and what it means clearly. Everything will be all right — you know when? When people, just people, stop thinking of the UN as a weird Picasso abstraction, and see it as a drawing they made themselves.”
• Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. X: @Dr_Rafizadeh