Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 28-29/2023
Iran's Destructive, Expansionist, Fundamentalist and Jihadist Schemes, and the Spread of its Armed Proxies Threaten Moderate Arab Countries and their Societies./Elias Bejjani/October 29/2023
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
Drone strikes stoke tensions as Israel, Hezbollah trade fire
Broken Lebanon cannot afford war, and Hezbollah knows it
Iran FM says militants in Lebanon, region have 'finger on trigger'
New Lebanon-Israel war would devastate both sides, experts say
UN says nearly 29,000 displaced in Lebanon amid border clashes
Shell hits UNIFIL HQ amid fresh Hezbollah-Israel clashes
Lingering threat: Unexploded cluster bombs haunt southern Lebanon
Israel downs missile from Lebanon, shells border areas
Mufti Urges Action Against Israeli Aggression in Meeting with Prime Minister
Hamas spokesperson to LBCI: hostages held by Hamas are considered guests until a ceasefire is reached
Lebanon court orders Carlos Ghosn out of Beirut home

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 28-29/2023
Benjamin Netanyahu Confirms That Israeli Troops Are Now In The Gaza Strip — Update
Netanyahu says the Gaza war has entered a new stage and will be 'long and difficult'
Israeli troops clear Gaza areas 'slice by slice', but is this an invasion?
Israel sends elite troops into Gaza Strip for ‘long war’
100 Israeli warplanes bomb 150 'underground targets' in the hunt for Hamas tunnels in Gaza dubbed the 'metro'
Republican presidential candidates profess strong support for Israel as war enters new phase
NYC protesters demand Israeli cease-fire, at least 200 detained after filling Grand Central station
Prayers, protests and clashes in Jerusalem and West Bank as Gaza war rages
Palestinians face tight restrictions going into Al-Aqsa for Friday prayers
Mass graves, unclaimed bodies and overcrowded cemeteries. The war robs Gaza of funeral rites
Palestinian-Canadians worry for relatives as offensive in Gaza ramps up
Hamas is seeking eight Gaza hostages at Russia's request - RIA
Egypt says 'Israeli obstacles' impeding aid delivery to Gaza
The ‘Gaza metro’: The mysterious subterranean tunnel network used by Hamas
Hamas calls Israeli incursion a failure
Palestinian President calls for urgent Arab Summit
Israel's Gallant says Gaza war entered new stage with expanded ground operations
Israel recalls diplomats from Turkey after Erdogan compares Gaza to Holocaust

Titles For The Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 28-29/2023
Stronger Action Needed Against Iran/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/October 28, 2023
Tehran Makes Its Moves on the Border of Israel Amid Gaza Standoff/Jonathan Spyer/The Australian/October 28, 2023
Proxy Master/Alberto M. Fernandez/The American Mind /October 28/2023
The Israeli war against Hamas must not be a war against Gaza and its people/Yossi Mekelberg/Arab News/October 28, 2023
A distracted world cannot afford to ignore Sudan’s growing plight/Hafed Al-Ghwell/Arab News/October 28, 2023

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 27-28/2023
Iran's Destructive, Expansionist, Fundamentalist and Jihadist Schemes, and the Spread of its Armed Proxies Threaten Moderate Arab Countries and their Societies.
Elias Bejjani/October 29/2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/123688/123688/
In the turbulent landscape of the Middle East, a sinister and destructive force has stealthily crept into the region, posing a severe threat to the very fabric of Arab moderation and stability. Iran, with its sponsorship of various Jihadist terrorist groups and proxy entities, has skillfully woven a web of influence that now stretches across several Arab nations, and its strategy bears serious implications for the entire region.
The Iranian Global Jihadist Agenda
Iran's nefarious influence in the region hinges on its persistent promotion of its Shiites' Jihadist expansionism and ideology of a satanic agenda. Through its sponsorship of extremist groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and various militia factions, Iran actively fuels radicalism and terrorism. These Jihadist organizations, driven by an extremist ideology, undermine the stability of Arab nations, pushing them farther away from the path of moderation.
The Occupation of Lebanon
One of the most glaring examples of Iran's predatory agenda is its occupation of Lebanon through its terrorist and criminal proxy, Hezbollah that was once camouflaged as a resistance movement against Israeli occupation, has now exposed its deeply rooted affiliation to the Iranian scheme of expansionism and Jihadist  destructive strategy. Hezbollah, the most powerful Iranian terrorist and Jihadist proxy, has openly and boldly evolved into a well-armed and highly destabilizing force, acting as Iran's long arm in the region. Hezbollah's actions have plunged Lebanon into political turmoil, eroding its sovereignty, and sowing discord among its diverse communities. It is worth mentioning that, Hezbollah is designated as a terrorist organization by several countries and international bodies, including the United States, Canada, the European Union, Israel, the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the Arab League, among others. It is considered a Shiite militant group based in Lebanon with close ties to Iran.
Iranian Schemes of Terrorism
Iran's involvement in orchestrating acts of terrorism across the Middle East, especially in Lebanon, Gaza, Syria, Iraq and Yemen is well understated by analysts and reputable thinking tanks' entities. From supporting Houthi rebels in Yemen, Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Popular Mobilization Militias in Iraq,  to militarily supporting the Syrian dictator, Al-Assad regime, Iran has consistently employed terror as a means to achieve its geopolitical goals. This reckless approach only deepens the chaos and insecurity plaguing the region.
The Gaza Strip and Iran's Role
The ongoing war in the Gaza Strip serves as another distressing chapter in Iran's Jihadist-expansionism playbook. While the Palestinian issue is a legitimate and crucial concern for many in the Arab world, Iran's support for its proxy, the Jihadist Hamas, has exacerbated the conflict. Iran's provision of weaponry and financial support to Hamas fuels the flames of war, putting civilian lives at risk and exacerbating the suffering of the people of Gaza.
The Urgent Need for Resistance
To counter Iran's destructive strategy and the proliferation of its evil Jihadist ideologies, Arab nations must unite and strengthen their resolve. Cooperation is essential in facing the multifaceted threat that Iran represents, that not only endangers the Arab countries' stability. In this regard, initiatives should be taken to counter extremist narratives, promote moderation, and dismantle the support networks that prop up these Jihadist entities.
Conclusion:
Iran's destructive strategy, fueled by a Jihadist agenda and a web of proxy entities, has plunged the Middle East into a state of turmoil and instability. The Arab world must stand together to combat this threat, preserve their cultural heritage, and uphold the values of moderation, tolerance, and peace that have been at the core of their rich history. Only through unity and a resolute commitment to these principles can they hope to emerge from the shadow of Iran's destructive influence and secure a brighter, more stable future for their nations.

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.

Drone strikes stoke tensions as Israel, Hezbollah trade fire
Arab News/October 28, 2023
BEIRUT: Israeli drones on Saturday fired three missiles at a site in Jabal Safi in Lebanon’s Iqlim Al-Tuffah area, about 20 km from the border demarcation line. It was a second violation of Lebanese airspace by Israeli forces in the past 21 days amid growing tensions with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon against the backdrop of the Gaza war. A shell also struck the perimeter fence of the UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura, causing minor damage. A Hezbollah surface-to-air missile fired at one of the drones was intercepted and destroyed by an Iron Dome missile. Activists on social media platforms shared footage of the remains of a Patriot missile east of Tyre. Last week, an Israeli drone targeted the Birket Jabbour area in Jabal Al-Rihan, north of the Litani River. The latest exchange of fire came after the Israeli army said that it is “targeting Hezbollah infrastructure on Lebanese territory.”
Israeli reconnaissance aircraft flew over the southern border region at medium altitude. Avichay Adraee, the Israeli army spokesperson, said that an Israeli drone targeted an armed Hezbollah cell that was trying to launch anti-tank missiles toward Hanita in northern Israel. In southern Lebanon, Israeli forces fired more than 20 incendiary shells on the outskirts of Labbouneh in Naqoura. Israeli phosphorus shells also set fire to areas near Alma Al-Shaab. Firefighters trying to reach the scene were forced to withdraw because of Israeli shelling. A Lebanese medical association warned Israel against using internationally prohibited phosphorus shells, and urged authorities to take samples, especially from the skin in case of injuries, to document any abuses. It also advised “fighters and citizens to place a wet cloth on the mouth and nose to avoid suffocation.” The US reiterated its call for its nationals in Lebanon to leave while commercial flights remain available, “due to the unpredictable security situation.” The US Embassy said on X: “There is no guarantee the US government will evacuate private US citizens and their family members in a crisis situation.” A circular issued by the Lebanese Civil Aviation Authority on Friday regarding an emergency plan to evacuate the airport if necessary caused confusion among the public. Fadi Al-Hassan, acting director-general of civil aviation, said: “The Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport is still operating normally. As of now, two airlines have suspended their flights to Beirut, Lufthansa and Saudia, while the rest are still operating normally.”Al-Hassan said that between 4,000 and 5,000 passengers arrive in Lebanon every day, while the number of departing passengers ranges from 6,000 to 7,000. “The numbers are very reasonable given the current circumstances,” he said. Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Lebanon’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Deryan met to discuss developments in the Gaza Strip. Mikati said that “the government is engaged in diplomatic and political efforts, both regionally and internationally, to stop the Israeli aggression on southern Lebanon and Gaza.”He said that the government has “an emergency plan to contain the repercussions of what might happen.”Sheikh Nabil Qaouq, a member of Hezbollah’s Central Council, said that “the resistance on the ground is monitoring the aggression on Gaza.” He added: “It is ready for all scenarios and has set up many surprises,” and warned that the US should be in no doubt about Hezbollah’s stance. “We do not wish to reassure (the US), but rather, we want them to become increasingly concerned,” he said.

INSIGHT-Broken Lebanon cannot afford war, and Hezbollah knows it
Laila Bassam, Tom Perry/Reuters/BEIRUT, October 28/2023
Lebanese state paralysed since financial collapse four years ago
Big questions over who would pay to rebuild after any war
Hezbollah battles Israel but has no interest in big war-source
'Totally unacceptable' for Hezbollah to call the shots-opponent
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. Hezbollah's clashes with Israeli forces at the border have been calibrated to avoid major escalation so far, sources say, though as of Friday 47 of its fighters have been killed since the Hamas-Israel war erupted. However, Hezbollah has also indicated a readiness for war, reflecting its position as the spearhead of an Iran-backed alliance against Israel and the United States. Lebanese politicians have urged Hezbollah not to escalate, though they have little to no sway over its decisions. "The fate of Lebanon is at stake," Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said, calling this perhaps the most dangerous phase he had seen in his political career. He said there was nothing Lebanese could do to stop a war instigated by Israel. "But from our side, we must control matters, via dialogue and advising the brothers in Hezbollah to keep the rules of engagement as they are," he said in comments to media.
'LEBANON WILL PAY'
Israeli President Isaac Herzog has said Israel was not looking for a confrontation on its northern border "but if Hezbollah drags us into war it should be clear that Lebanon will pay the price". One of Hezbollah's closest allies, the Christian politician Suleiman Frangieh, said on Wednesday the group did not want war. If it had, Hezbollah fighters would have stormed Israel on Oct. 7 as Hamas did from Gaza, he said. One senior Lebanese official said governments had contacted Lebanon to cool tensions. "We're telling them that instead of telling us to restrain Hezbollah, they need to put pressure on the Israelis not to escalate," he said. The last several years have been particularly difficult for Lebanon, which has known little stability since independence and endured wars including Israeli invasions in 1978 and 1982. Decades of corruption and mismanagement by ruling politicians led the financial system to collapse in 2019, wiping out savings, demolishing the currency and fuelling poverty. The following year, Beirut was shattered by a huge chemicals explosion at the port. Hezbollah used its sway to help derail an investigation that sought to prosecute some of its allies, calling it politicised. Tensions led to deadly violence. The state is barely functioning, while factional squabbling has left it without a president and a fully empowered government. Nabil Boumonsef, deputy editor-in-chief of Annahar newspaper, said any war would be far more destructive than 2006, while Lebanon did not have a government capable of managing the fallout. "We would be facing a scenario of real terror - the destruction of the infrastructure in Lebanon and aborting any prospect of economic recovery," he said. Lebanon took years to rebuild from the 2006 war which killed 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 158 Israelis, most of them soldiers. After the war, which began after Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed others in a cross-border raid, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the group had not anticipated war and would not have carried out the operation if he had known it would lead to such a conflict.
'CALLING THE SHOTS'
Seventeen years later, Hezbollah's massively expanded arsenal has cemented a power balance in its favour to the dismay of opponents who say the group is once again deciding matters of war and peace. "They are calling the shots. This is totally unacceptable," said Ghassan Hasbani, a leading member of the Lebanese Forces party, a Christian faction staunchly opposed to Hezbollah. "There are serious concerns about Lebanon being dragged into a destructive confrontation by Hezbollah, at a time when the fragility of its social and economic situation mean it cannot sustain any further instability." Mohanad Hage Ali of the Carnegie Middle East Center said Hezbollah would be thinking hard about how reconstruction would be financed after any war, with questions over whether Gulf Arab states would help and how much cash Iran could provide. "If there is no reconstruction, there is definitely a political cost for the organisation ...People will ask questions, and there will be widespread anger."

Iran FM says militants in Lebanon, region have 'finger on trigger'
Agence France Presse/October 28, 2023
Iran's foreign minister has warned that Lebanese and Palestinian militants had their "finger on the trigger" in anticipation of an Israeli ground offensive in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian however insisted that Tehran-backed militants would decide on their own to take action if Israel continued its war on Hamas. "What I gathered from what I heard from them and the plans that they have -- they have their finger on the trigger," Abdollahian said of Lebanese and Palestinian militants he has met. Speaking to U.S. National Public Radio from the United Nations, where he was attending a General Assembly session on the crisis, Abdollahian said the militants' actions would be "much more powerful and deeper than what you’ve witnessed." "Therefore I believe that if this situation continues and women and children and civilians are still killed in Gaza and the West Bank, anything will be possible," he said. "We don't really want this conflict to spread out," he added. His remarks came after U.S. President Joe Biden ordered air strikes on two sites in Syria said to be used by Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards. The Pentagon cast the strikes as measured retaliation after strikes by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria that left one U.S. citizen contractor dead from a cardiac incident and 21 U.S. military personnel with minor injuries.

New Lebanon-Israel war would devastate both sides, experts say
UPI/Dalal Saoud Lebanon, October 28/2023
Israel-Hezbollah border clashes, which broke out with the raging Israel-Hamas war, were relatively contained, with new rules of engagement. But a full-scale war cannot be ruled out, Lebanese analysts told UPI. It wouldn't be the first wide military confrontation between the two arch-enemies. However, it is feared that it would be much more devastating -- for both sides this time -- and could lead to a broader regional war. Lebanon cannot afford another war while it is still on the verge of collapse amid a years-long financial crisis. It has been without a president since October 2022, with only a caretaker government to run the country, a paralyzed public sector, a fragile healthcare system and 80% of the population living in poverty. Meanwhile, the stunning Hamas "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood" on Oct. 7 has Israel in disarray and limited its ability to fight on multiple fronts. Iran-backed Hezbollah, which has grown in power since the last round of fighting with Israel in 2006, can now inflict much more damage to Israel, armed with 100,000 fighters and a vast arsenal, including precision missiles. Triggers for a full-scale war may include Israel's planned ground operation in Gaza, Hamas' defeat or Israel initiating a war in Lebanon.
Neither wants war
Firas Maksad, senior fellow and director of Strategic Outreach at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, said neither Hezbollah nor Israel wants a full and destructive war, for their own reasons. Hezbollah "is achieving one of its key objectives without having to incur the cost of a full-on war; primarily harassing, distracting and forcing Israel to redeploy resources away from Hamas and Gaza," he said. Israel has moved more than 100,000 soldiers onto its northern front. "I don't see a push for a direct confrontation, at least one that goes beyond the scale of what we are currently seeing," Maksad said. "That said, there are lots of room for errors." Hezbollah is not likely to risk another war with Israel due to Lebanon's precarious situation and the large destruction and the number of casualties (nearly 1,200 dead and 4,400 wounded, mostly civilians) and displaced (975,000) during the 2006 war.
Today, 29,000 Lebanese have moved out of the southern border areas where clashes have so far killed 52 Hezbollah fighters. "I am convinced that Hezbollah will not trigger a war because it knows the price for this... In 2006, he was the hero," said Sami Nader, Middle Eastern affairs analyst and director of the Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs. Nader referred to many "hurdles" that would obstruct any military adventures, naming the country's financial collapse, the 2020 Beirut port explosion that killed 251 people and destroyed large parts of the capital, the economy that shrunk 60%, in addition to the burden of hosting some 2.5 million displaced Syrians and Palestinian refugees.
Footage showing the high casualty toll and destruction inflicted by Israel's relentless bombing on Gaza since Oct. 7 is another factor. "It depends on where the Israelis will stop and what's the aim target of their operation," Nader told UPI. The United States, which has dispatched an aircraft carrier group to the eastern Mediterranean, and other European countries have been exerting pressure on the Lebanese government to keep Hezbollah away. Nicolas Nahas, adviser to caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, said the expansion of the Israel-Hamas war is in no one's interest. "We asked all parties to exert self-restraint... We want to keep Lebanon away from any implications, anything that happens in Gaza," Nahas told UPI, emphasizing that Israel should refrain from any "reaction" against Lebanon. However, it is not the government but rather Hezbollah, Lebanon's most powerful group, which decides on war. This is a reality that the world knows well.
Lebanon's resilience and ability to survive any war is almost zero.
"In 2006, we were in a much better situation. Today, it is clear that the government has limited capacities. It is clear what the Lebanese's conditions are," Nahas said. "In 2006, Lebanon's state budget was $17 billion. We are now at $2 billion to $3 billion. It is bad." Israel is equally under a lot of pressure -- despite a green light from Washington -- to delay and contain its operation in Gaza, as well as to allow for "hostage diplomacy" by the Biden administration, Maksad said. "The U.S. has lots of interest in freeing not only the American hostages but also international and possibly Israeli civilian hostages," he said. "Also, they are using the pretext of justifications that the Israeli war plans are not adequate." Maksad cautioned that an Israeli invasion of Gaza would be "a very complicated urban warfare" that "does not solve their Hamas problem."Iran and Hezbollah, too, have "a very difficult choice ahead" once a ground offensive commences in Gaza: Hamas finding itself on its back foot and Israel making progress toward destroying or significantly degrading Hamas' military infrastructure. "That very much then would undermine Iran and Hezbollah's multi-front strategy," Maksad said. "They fear that they would be that much more exposed if Hamas is destroyed or degraded. So they will have very difficult choices whether to enter a full-scale war on behalf of Hamas with perhaps futile effort to try and save it, or to sit back and allow it to happen."Stepping up attacks on Israeli and U.S. targets from various fronts is an option, but they will remain "just below the threshold of a full-scale war," he said. "Again it would be a risky situation that is rife with possible unintended consequences."Meanwhile, mediation efforts involving the United States and many other regional parties are underway to contain the conflict, release the Hamas-held hostages and achieve a cease-fire. "We are still in the process of threats and counter-threats.... Diplomacy still has a way to go," Maksad said. "For now, there is no light at the end of the tunnel, with significant risks ahead in the days and weeks to come."

UN says nearly 29,000 displaced in Lebanon amid border clashes
Agence France Presse/October 28, 2023
Nearly 29,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon amid deadly exchanges between Hezbollah fighters and the Israeli army, a United Nations agency. A total of 28,965 people have been displaced, mainly in the country's south, the International Organization for Migration said in an update, adding that the figure had risen by 37 percent since October 23. Some have found refuge with family members elsewhere in the country, while those who can afford it have been able to rent apartments on a short-term basis. But with Lebanon in the grips of an economic crisis that has plunged most of the population into poverty, some are living in makeshift shelters in the south's larger towns. At least 58 people have been killed in the cross-border exchanges of fire in south Lebanon, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also including at least four civilians, one of them Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah.

Shell hits UNIFIL HQ amid fresh Hezbollah-Israel clashes
Agence France Presse/October 28, 2023
A shell hit the headquarters of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in south Lebanon on Saturday, its spokesman said in the second such incident since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in Gaza. "A shell hit inside the base" in Naqoura, said Andrea Tenenti, spokesperson for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, indicating there were "no injuries but some damage." He said UNIFIL was seeking to verify who fired the shell. A Lebanese military source, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to the media, said "an Israeli shell penetrated the cement wall" around the UNIFIL headquarters. 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 the Iran-backed Hezbollah, a Hamas ally. The shell did not explode, a UNIFIL statement said, adding that "several of our other positions have also sustained damage in the past three weeks" and urging "all parties to immediately cease fire." On October 15, UNIFIL said its headquarters was struck by a rocket but nobody was hurt. Hezbollah said it attacked a number of Israeli positions on Saturday, using artillery, guided missiles and other weapons. Israel's army confirmed that "several anti-tank missile and mortar shell launches" had been fired at its posts along the border, indicating they "fell in open areas."It said its tanks and artillery were "responding with fire toward the origin of the launches and striking Hezbollah military infrastructure in Lebanon." Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) reported Israeli shelling at several locations along the border, while "a hostile drone" carried out three strikes in an area more than 20 kilometers from the frontier. The cross-border skirmishes have killed at least 58 people in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally, mostly Hezbollah combatants but also four civilians, including Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah. At least four people have been killed on the Israeli side, including one civilian. The unrest has displaced nearly 29,000 people across Lebanon, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Lingering threat: Unexploded cluster bombs haunt southern Lebanon
LBCI/October 28, 2023
Southern Lebanese border villages continue to pay the price for Israel's actions during the July 2006 war, when they left behind 4 million banned cluster munitions, which were internationally forbidden but were used during the war. Since the end of the war and the return of residents to their villages, these unexploded munitions have claimed the lives of 200 individuals. As part of an international agreement, the Lebanese Army has diligently worked on their removal. The priority has been on clearing roads, followed by residential areas, and finally, agricultural zones. Up to 90% of these cluster munitions have been successfully removed, with the gradual elimination of the remaining artillery targeted for completion by 2026, as outlined in a new international agreement. In the past 48 hours, the residents of villages in the Alma Al Shaab and Naqoura regions have heard the detonations of the remaining unexploded cluster bombs ignited by Israeli airstrikes causing wildfires. Despite enduring Israeli airstrikes and the use of white phosphorus and cluster bombs, many of Naqoura's residents steadfastly refuse to leave. Residents near Ras Naqoura hold firm in their belief in the possibility of survival. Therefore, Naqoura, a border village in southern Lebanon, stands as a unique model of resilience, where life persists, even amid the echoes of explosions.

Israel downs missile from Lebanon, shells border areas
Associated Press/October 28, 2023
Israel’s military announced it shot down a surface-to-air missile fired at an Israeli drone from Lebanon Saturday. It was not immediately clear if the missile was fired by Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Lebanese security officials said two missiles were fired toward an Israeli drone flying over Lebanon but did not hit the target. The explosion of an Israeli interceptor missile was meanwhile heard over Lebanon's Tyre region. The Israeli army said it attacked the site from which the missile was fired at its drone, as Lebanese media reports said an Israeli drone bombed the heights of Lebanon's Jabal Safi, which lies around 25 kilometers away from the border. The Israeli army later said that an Israeli drone targeted a cell that was trying to fire anti-tank missiles from Lebanon at Israel's Hanita. Al-Hadath television meanwhile reported Israeli shelling on the Lebanese border areas of Naqoura, Alma al-Shaab and al-Labbouneh, noting that the shelling triggered blazes in the area. Machinegun fire was also reported in the area. The Israeli army had earlier announced that a warplane had attacked "Hezbollah military infrastructure" in south Lebanon overnight in response to "rockets fired from Lebanon at Israel that landed in Syria."

Mufti Urges Action Against Israeli Aggression in Meeting with Prime Minister
LBCI/October 28, 2023
Lebanese Mufti Sheikh Abdel Latif Darian and Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati discussed on Saturday various issues in Lebanon and the Arab world, particularly the Israeli aggression on Gaza and southern Lebanon. The discussion took place during a meeting before Mikati joined a session of the Higher Islamic Shiite Council. Mikati affirmed that "the government is engaged in diplomatic and political efforts, both regionally and internationally, to stop the Israeli aggression on southern Lebanon and Gaza." He emphasized that the government has prepared an emergency plan to mitigate the consequences of the Israeli aggression in the south and the ongoing attacks on Palestinian brethren. Mufti Darian expressed his commitment to supporting the government in its national and unifying work, despite the obstacles and challenges facing Lebanon due to consecutive crises. He praised Mikati's efforts, initiatives, and communications in this regard. He expressed hope that the pressure exerted on the Israeli enemy would succeed in stopping the crimes and collective punishment in Gaza and the continuous Israeli violations of Lebanese territory.

Hamas spokesperson to LBCI: hostages held by Hamas are considered guests until a ceasefire is reached
LBCI/October 28, 2023
Spokesperson for the Hamas movement, Jihad Taha, affirmed on Saturday that civilian hostages held by Hamas are considered guests by the resistance until a ceasefire is reached in the Gaza Strip. In an interview on LBCI’s "Naharkom Said" TV show, Taha pointed out that regional and international negotiations and initiatives regarding the hostages file are ongoing. On another note, Taha believed that Israelis will not dare to conduct a ground incursion due to political divisions within Israel. Additionally, the absence of comprehensive international cover for such an incursion and the presence of dozens of hostages in the hands of the resistance act as deterrent factors. He emphasized that all current Israeli ground attempts in the Gaza Strip have faced fierce resistance. Taha highlighted the resistance's success in destroying Israeli tanks using Kornet and Yassin missiles.

Lebanon court orders Carlos Ghosn out of Beirut home
Agence France Presse/October 28, 2023
A Lebanese judge has decided to evict former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn from his luxury home, a judicial official said Saturday, four years after an investment firm accused him of "trespassing."Ghosn, who took up residency in the Beirut property after fleeing prosecution Japan in 2019, appealed the ruling on Friday, the official added, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media. Ghosn and his wife must "vacate the property... within a month," according to a copy of the decision seen by AFP and dated October 16. The home with pink walls in the Lebanese capital's upscale Ashrafieh neighborhood is worth some $19 million and is registered to Lebanese company Phoinos Investment, the judicial official said. Phoinos initiated the legal action in 2019 and has accused Ghosn of "trespassing on private property and living in the home without legal basis," the official added. According to the court document, Ghosn said the company was affiliated with Nissan and that "the property was purchased... for his residence, and there is a signed agreement with Nissan that grants him the right to reside" there. Ghosn occupied the home "according to a contractual relationship linking... Ghosn and Nissan," the decision said. However, the end of that relationship and the plaintiff's wish to retake the property invalidates "the legal basis" of his occupancy, it added. Ghosn, the former chairman and chief executive of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, was arrested in Japan in November 2018 on suspicion of financial misconduct, before being sacked by Nissan's board in a unanimous decision. He jumped bail late the following year and made a dramatic escape from Japan hidden in an audio-equipment box, landing in Beirut, where he remains an international fugitive. Ghosn has always denied the charges against him, arguing they were cooked up by Nissan executives who opposed his attempts to more closely integrate the firm with French partner Renault. Japan and France have sought his arrest, but Lebanon does not extradite its citizens, and judicial authorities have slapped a travel ban on Ghosn, who holds Lebanese, French and Brazilian nationality.

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 28-29/2023
Benjamin Netanyahu Confirms That Israeli Troops Are Now In The Gaza Strip — Update
Dominic Patten, Ted Johnson/Deadline/October 28, 2023
UPDATE: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israeli soldiers are now in the Gaza strip, in what he characterized as the next stage of the war with Hamas.
Appearing at a press conference that was covered on major news networks, Netanyahu said that ground forces have gone into Gaza, entering the terrritory through the “gates of evil,” with the objective of eradicating Hamas’ military capabilities and to retrieve hostages.
“Our brave troops and combatants are now in Gaza or around Gaza,” he said. He also pushed back against accusations that Israel was committing war crimes, saying that it was Hamas that was using people as “human shields,” per the BBC. He said that Israeli Defense Forces were taking steps to try to protect civilians.
Netanyahu said that the Israeli troops “are deployed all over’ the Gaza strip.
He said that they decided to expand operations in Gaza in a “very educated” manner.
“This will be a long and difficult war,” Netanyahu said, while assuring Israeli citizens that they would win.
Per the BBC, Netanyahu said that “we will fight and we will not surrender. We will not withdraw.”
PREVIOUSLY, FRIDAY: The Fox News chyron read “Israel’s Ground Invasion About To Begin,” as news networks continued their watch for a potential invasion overnight.
On CNN, Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy told Erin Burnett, “I am not going to speculate as to whether this is the invasion.”
But throughout the evening, networks offered an array of analysts to give their takes on whether the stepped up bombing in Gaza was a prelude to an invasion. Earlier in the afternoon, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said, “We have to be careful not to jump to conclusions here.” He said that Israel could be creating a “buffer zone” in advance of troops moving in to Gaza.
The Israeli Defense Forces said it was “expanding ground operations” in the region, with Axios’ Barak Ravid reporting incursions in northern Gaza.
Networks also continued to schedule special programming, with Hallie Jackson anchoring The Breakdown: Israel-Hamas War on NBC News Now.
PREVIOUSLY: A surge of Israeli airstrikes over Gaza this morning and announcements of further military action has cable news anticipating a ground invasion of the Hamas-run jurisdiction could finally be starting.
“Clearly something is happening tonight,” Fox News’ Trey Yingst said live at just before 10 pm local time from the Gaza border. “We don’t want to speculate, or call this it for what it could be, because we need to wait and we need to be patient here, but this is unlike any other night we have covered, we’ve been out here the past 21 days,” the correspondent added under self-described “heavy fire” as tanks moved behind him and and weapons fire exploded.
“We Will Not Let Them Win”: Israeli Delegate Who Attended Last Week’s Mipcom Explains Why He Journeyed To Cannes Amidst The Conflict
“We do not have confirmation on exactly what’s happening on the ground,” CNN’s Anderson Cooper told viewers Friday live from Israel as the night lit up behind him also. “We simply do not know,” the BBC said said as what have been termed “limited operations” by Israeli ground forces commenced.
“We are beefing up the pressure on Hamas,” Mark Regev of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office told Fox’s Martha Bowes MacCallum in an interview from Jerusalem just after noon West Coast time. “I can’t be more specific of course at this stage, but Hamas is feeling now Israel’s might.” Appearing minutes later on MSNBC, Regev referred to today’s operation as “payback” for Hamas’ shocking and murderous offensive into Israel almost three weeks ago.
From the White House, the National Security Council’s John Kirby said the Biden administration was not going to “get into the habit of chiming in from the sidelines.” In another sign of the administration’s strong support for the Jewish state, Kirby added, “the US will not draw Red Lines for Israel.” Jordanian’s Foreign Minister Friday said a “humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions” will be one of the results of Israel’s estimated 300,000 troops moving into Gaza after Hamas leadership.
Earlier this morning, Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson Brig. General Daniel Hagari bluntly said in a press conference: “The ground forces are expanding their operations tonight.” Declaring that the airstrikes were targeting “terrorist infrastructure,” he added that the holding of over 200 hostages by Hamas and rumors of a wide-spread release is a form of “psychological terror.” Brig General Hagari went on to say, that talks on the hostages are ongoing. “This is an extended ground raid,” he also said of the troop moves.
CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and the BBC World News all went live with Hagari’s remarks as part of their already in process coverage of the conflict. Having cut in with special reports on numerous occasions since Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel on October 7, broadcast networks stayed with their regularly scheduled programming Friday.
The terror raid on the Jewish state left over 1400 dead and hundreds captured in the worst attack on Jews since the Second World War. In the weeks since October 7, Israeli airstrikes have left thousands dead and hundreds of thousands ordered to evacuate.
Live from Israel, CNN’s Nic Robertson in the past hour said live on air that “perhaps indicates that troops are engaged in some level of fire fight on the ground inside of Gaza right now. The network’s International Diplomatic Editor added: “We can’t define it, we can’t know it for sure …it’s all indicative of what the IDF has been speaking about, about using greater force, about expanding the incursions that have been going on over the past couple of nights.”
“Israeli troops are on the move here along the Gaza border,” Fox News’ Yingst also noted on the Rupert Murdoch-owned channel with the sounds of artillery explosions and trucks in the background. “It’s getting louder and louder as they go up this ridge behind us …it’s an indication that these troops are moving closer to the border …for limited raids.”
While nothing official, events were moving very fast. Cell service and online communications have gone down in Gaza, reports say. Fox’s Yingst noted that only those in Gaza City with “foreign SIM cards” can call out right now.
“We are seeing an intensification of explosives over and in the Gaza strip more than we’ve seen in recent days, said CNN’s Jake Tapper a couple of hours ago from a late-night Tel Aviv, with Cooper by his side. “The IDF, Israeli Defense Forces, have not commented on what seems to be a definitive uptick in military activity. They are not commenting whether there has been officially any upscaling of their operations targeting Hamas.”
Fox’s Yingst said earlier Friday: “The sun went down a few hours ago and the Israelis have been ramping up airstrikes all along the Gaza strip…massive explosions behind us …roar of Israeli fighter jets overhead.” In a helmet and vest, Vingst noted the “limited ground incursions” by IDF over the past 48 hours and added of today’s action from the air: “This is significant though tonight, because over the past 21 days we have not seen any sort of bombardment like we are witnessing unfolding here in Southern Israel.”

Netanyahu says the Gaza war has entered a new stage and will be 'long and difficult'
JERUSALEM (AP) /October 28, 2023
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the nation Saturday night that the military has opened a “second stage” in the war against Hamas by sending ground forces into Gaza and expanding attacks from the ground, air and sea. He said it will only increase ahead of a broad ground invasion into the territory.
“It will be long and difficult,” he said. “We are ready.”The bombardment, described by Gaza residents as the most intense of the war, knocked out most communications in the territory. This largely cut off the besieged enclave’s 2.3 million people from the world, while enabling the Israeli military to control the narrative in the new stage of fighting.
The military released grainy images Saturday showing tank columns moving slowly in open areas of Gaza, many apparently near the border, and said warplanes bombed dozens of Hamas tunnels and underground bunkers. The underground sites are a key target in Israel’s campaign to crush the territory’s ruling group after its bloody incursion into Israel three weeks ago. The escalation brought more domestic pressure on Israel's government to bring about the release of dozens of hostages seized in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, amid concerns they were being held underground. Desperate family members met with Netanyahu on Saturday and expressed support for an exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, a swap floated by the top Hamas leader in Gaza.
Netanyahu told the nationally televised news conference that Israel is determined to bring back all the hostages, and maintained that the expanding ground operation “will help us in this mission.” He said he couldn’t reveal everything that is being done due to the sensitivity and secrecy of the efforts.
“This is the second stage of the war, whose objectives are clear: to destroy the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas and bring the hostages home,” he said in his first time taking questions from journalists since the war began. He didn't address calls for a cease-fire. Netanyahu acknowledged that the Oct. 7 “debacle,” in which more than 1,400 people were killed, would need a thorough investigation, adding that “everyone will have to answer questions, including me.”
The Israeli military said it was gradually expanding its ground operations inside Gaza, while stopping short of calling it an all-out invasion. “We are proceeding with the stages of the war according to an organized plan,” said the chief military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari. The comments hinted at a strategy of a staged escalation, instead of a massive and overwhelming offensive. Early in the war, Israel amassed hundreds of thousands of troops along the border. Until now, troops had conducted brief nightly ground incursions before returning to Israel. Palestinian militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel over the past three weeks.
The Palestinian death toll in Gaza on Saturday rose to just over 7,700 people since the war began, with 377 deaths reported since late Friday, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. A majority of those killed have been women and minors, the ministry said.
Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra told reporters that the disruption of communications has “totally paralyzed” the health network. Residents had no way of calling ambulances, and emergency teams were chasing the sounds of artillery barrages and airstrikes. An estimated 1,700 people remain trapped beneath the rubble, according to the health ministry, which has said it bases its estimates on distress calls it received.
Some civilians were using their bare hands to pull injured people from the rubble and loading them into personal cars or donkey carts. In a video posted by local news media, Palestinians sprinted down a street with a wounded man covered in the dust of a building’s collapse. “Ambulance! Ambulance!” the men shouted as they shoved the stretcher into a truck and shouted, “Go! Go!” Some Gaza residents traveled by foot or car to check on relatives and friends. “The bombs were everywhere, the building was shaking,” said Hind al-Khudary, a journalist in central Gaza and one of a few people with cellphone service. “We can’t reach anyone or contact anyone. I do not know where my family is.” Israel says its strikes target Hamas fighters and infrastructure and that the militants operate from among civilians, putting them in danger.
The World Health Organization appealed to “the humanity in all those who have the power to do so to end the fighting now” in Gaza. “There are more wounded every hour. But ambulances cannot reach them in the communications blackout. Morgues are full. More than half of the dead are women and children,” it said.
Palestinians say the war was also robbing them of the funeral rites that long have offered mourners some dignity and closure. Overcrowded cemeteries have compelled families to dig up long-buried bodies and deepen the holes. More than 1.4 million people across Gaza have fled their homes, nearly half crowding into U.N. schools and shelters, following repeated warnings by the Israeli military that they would be in grave danger if they remained in northern Gaza. A large number of residents have not evacuated to the south, in part because Israel has also bombarded targets in so-called safe zones where conditions are increasingly dire. Food and water supplies were running out. Israel knocked out electricity early in the war. Humanitarian workers say the trickle of aid Israel has allowed to enter from Egypt in the past week is a tiny fraction of what is needed. Gaza hospitals have been scrounging for fuel to run emergency generators that power incubators and other life-saving equipment.
The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, which runs a network of shelters and schools for nearly half the displaced Gaza residents, has lost contact with most of its staff, spokeswoman Juliette Touma said Saturday, and coordinating aid efforts was now “extremely challenging.”
The intensified air and ground campaign raised new concerns about hostages dragged into Gaza. On Saturday, hundreds of relatives gathered in Tel Aviv and demanded that the government put the return of their loved ones ahead of Israel’s military objectives.
In comments likely to inflame these tensions, Hamas’ top leader in Gaza, Yehiyeh Sinwar, said the Palestinian militant groups “are ready immediately” to release all hostages if Israel releases all Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Hagari, the Israeli military spokesman, dismissed the offer of an exchange as “psychological terror.”
In Cairo, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said his government was working to de-escalate the conflict through its talks with the warring parties to release prisoners and hostages. On Saturday, he spoke with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, his office said. Guterres in a statement said he was “surprised by an unprecedented escalation of the bombardments and their devastating impacts" in Gaza.
Among many, impatience was growing. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told hundreds of thousands of people at a pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul that his country was preparing to proclaim Israel a “war criminal” for its actions in Gaza. He did not give details. Israel's foreign minister said he had ordered the return of Israel’s diplomatic mission from Turkey to reassess ties. The overall number of deaths in Gaza and Israel 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. Arab nations — including U.S. allies and ones that have reached peace deals or normalized ties with Israel — have raised increasing alarm over a potential ground invasion.

Israeli troops clear Gaza areas 'slice by slice', but is this an invasion?
Jeremy Bowen - BBC International editor, Jerusalem/October 28, 2023
Israeli forces appear to be concentrating on the northern area of the Gaza Strip, in Beit Hanoun, and pushing down a bit further south from there.
I am in Sderot, the Israeli border town overlooking Gaza.
Continuous heavy artillery fire into Gaza continues.
The Israeli battery near here is firing several times a minute.
The town itself is almost deserted.
Most civilians have either left or been evacuated.
The Israeli army has said it is upping the tempo of operations.
We have seen from video that has emerged from Gaza on Saturday morning, and from what could be seen along the border area on Friday night, evidence of a very, very large bombardment.
But the communications blackout means it's very hard to find out exactly what's going on. For example, I have spoken to the UN who have been able to communicate with their main office in the south over a satellite phone, but as there is no internal communication, they can't connect with their area offices that look after their aid operations - currently suspended completely - to see how they are doing.
While the bombardment is very focused on the north, the Gaza Strip is only about 45km long (28 miles), so you can hear the extent of the explosions for miles around and certainly throughout the area.
As I understand it, the Israeli army is most likely attempting to clear out tunnels, probably with special forces spotting targets for those air force attacks.
Tanks can be more vulnerable in daylight so they may pull some of those back.
But as far we can tell, it is still going on.
Is it a ground offensive? I don't think we should get too hung up on the definitions of all of this. When we saw the military build-up, the mobilisation of over 300,000 reservists, we thought we would be seeing an all-fronts invasion of Gaza.
I think what they may be doing, though, is clearing areas of Gaza slice by slice. I have felt from the tone of comments from the Israeli army that their emphasis was that they would continue pushing, and that this was about "payback".
I think you could call this a very extended raid, or a ground offensive. It is certainly a very large military operation. Israel's push on the ground is certain also to be killing Palestinian civilians. The more Palestinians they kill the greater the outrage elsewhere in the Middle East, in countries friendly to Israel as well as its enemies. That doesn't guarantee the war will spread. But it increases volatility and uncertainty in a region that is already fragile.

Israel sends elite troops into Gaza Strip for ‘long war’
James Rothwell/The Telegraph/October 28, 2023
Israel said its best soldiers were fighting Hamas inside the Gaza Strip on Saturday night, as Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the “second stage” of a long war against the terror group had begun. Israel’s forces fought fierce street battles against Hamas in northern Gaza using tanks and infantry, with Herzi Halevi, the chief of the general staff of the Israel Defense Forces, saying his troops had killed “hundreds” of terrorists. But Mr Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said Israel’s campaign to “abolish evil” was “only just beginning”. “This is a war with multiple stages, today we move to the next one,” Lt Gen Halevi said on Saturday. “The objectives of this war require a ground operation – the best soldiers are now operating in Gaza.” A larger Israeli military operation against Hamas had long been anticipated since it pledged to destroy the group in the wake of the Oct 7 attacks, but it appeared to have been delayed amid fears of a wider regional war involving Iran and its Middle East proxies. The prime minister and military leaders stopped short of calling the country’s expanded ground offensive in Gaza an invasion, even as they confirmed that troops would remain in the coastal enclave.
Earlier on Saturday, the Israeli military dropped leaflets across Gaza City, which before the war had a population of half-a-million people, warning civilians to evacuate because it had become “a battlefield”. “To the residents of the Gaza Strip: The Gaza governorate (Gaza City) has become a battlefield. Shelters in northern Gaza and Gaza governorate are not safe,” read one leaflet in Arabic. The Israeli army claims Hamas runs an underground headquarters beneath the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Hamas denies that claim.
On Saturday, the families of those held hostage in Gaza urged the government to tell them how it planned to rescue their loved ones as Israeli forces intensify their operations against Hamas. Mr Netanyahu said it was hoped that the ground offensive would pile pressure on the terrorist group, making the release of its captives more likely.
As Israeli leaders braced for a regional escalation, Eli Cohen, the foreign minister, confirmed that he had recalled diplomats from Turkey, which has been a strong critic of the war on Hamas in Gaza because of the heavy loss of civilian life.
At a rally in Istanbul earlier on Saturday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president, likened Israel’s assault on Gaza to the Holocaust and took aim at the country’s Western backers. “The main culprit behind the massacre unfolding in Gaza is the West,” he told a crowd of hundreds of thousands of supporters.
Israel was facing mounting criticism over the assault from Gulf neighbours, including Saudi Arabia, which before the war had been considering a historic normalisation treaty. In Egypt, the foreign ministry warned Israel that there would be “grave risks” and “unprecedented humanitarian and security repercussions” if it continued with the ground offensive. Riyadh said it “condemns and denounces any ground operations carried out by Israel due to the threat they pose to the lives of Palestinian civilians”. The Pentagon said Lloyd Austin, the US secretary of defence, had spoken to his Israeli counterpart on Saturday and “underscored the importance of protecting civilians” during the next stage of the war. He also raised “his focus on the need for Hamas to release all of the hostages”. Josep Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief, reiterated calls for an urgent ceasefire, adding that “far too many civilians, including children, have been killed. This is against international humanitarian law”.
But James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary, resisted calls for a ceasefire, saying: “Calls for a ceasefire in the abstract aren’t going to help the situation – we have consistently sought to bring about pauses to facilitate the inward passage of the humanitarian aid that we are providing, and the release of hostages and the evacuation of British nationals in Gaza.”Israel insists it is operating within international law and is taking care to avoid civilian deaths. It has almost completely cut off the internet in Gaza, having placed it under a “total siege” in response to the Oct 7 massacre, isolating the enclave from the rest of the world. Palestinians in Gaza were using mosque loudspeakers to communicate with each other because of the total internet blackout imposed on Friday night, while ambulances were blindly driving towards explosions as they scrambled to treat the wounded. Video footage posted online showed mosques broadcasting emergency messages using speaker systems that would usually deliver the call to prayer. “The communications have been cut,” said one message broadcast over a mosque’s loudspeakers. “All help from the outside world has been cut.”
From the Israeli side of the border, huge fireballs could be seen rising from the sky as Israel launched a torrent of air strikes across the Palestinian enclave.
Aid and media organisations, including The Telegraph, have lost contact with colleagues on the ground, making it difficult to confirm what has taken place in the blockaded strip since Friday night. Some reports have trickled through, including a dispatch from Rushdi Abualouf, the BBC’s Gaza correspondent, who described the situation as “total chaos”. “There was a huge bombardment in the north of Gaza strip on a scale we’ve never seen before,” he reported on Saturday. “Huge flames could be seen rising into the sky – it seemed they were using different types of bombs.
“There’s been panic everywhere, even here in Khan Younis, where the bombing was less, as people try to reach family members in other areas to check they are safe, but the phones have been cut off.”Earlier on Saturday, Israel claimed to have killed Asem Abu Rakaba, the head of the aerial wing of Hamas’s armed forces. Abu Rakaba, who was killed in an air strike, was responsible for Hamas’s air defence as well as its unmanned aerial vehicles and drones.

100 Israeli warplanes bomb 150 'underground targets' in the hunt for Hamas tunnels in Gaza dubbed the 'metro'
Business Insider/Sat, October 28, 2023
The Israel Defense Forces said fighter jets hit some 150 "underground targets" in Gaza.
The IDF hit Hamas targets with the heaviest bombardment of the conflict so far.
The Hamas tunnel system, known has been dubbed the "metro" by Israeli military planners.
One hundred Israeli fighter jets hit 150 "underground" Hamas targets in Gaza as part of the heaviest bombing raid of the conflict so far on Saturday. The airstrikes targeted Hamas tunnel networks and underground combat areas, the Israel Defense Forces said in an announcement reported by outlets including The Guardian. Hamas has developed an extensive tunnel network under the streets of Gaza. They were described by one 85-year-old Israeli hostage taken by Hamas during the October 7 terrorist attacks as a "spider's web," while another expert said they were like the "Viet Cong times 10," Reuters reported. The Palestinian militant group's tunnels have a variety of uses, including storage, transport, and attack, said Western and Middle East sources who spoke to Reuters. Israel was targeting the tunnels, said IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus in an update posted on X earlier this month. Over the past 20 years Hamas had built "a network of tunnels from Gaza City and under Gaza City" down to Khan Yunis and Rafah, he said. "Think of the Gaza Strip as one layer for civilians and then another layer for Hamas. We are trying to get to that second layer that Hamas has built," Conricus said.
"These aren't bunkers for the Gazan civilians to have access to when Israel is striking. It's only for Hamas and other terrorists so that they can continue to fire rockets at Israel, to plan operations, to launch terrorists into Israel," he added. The Hamas tunnel system, known has been dubbed the "metro" by Israeli military planners, per The Guardian. More than 1,400 people were killed in the terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7 and 200 were taken hostage into Gaza.

Republican presidential candidates profess strong support for Israel as war enters new phase
LAS VEGAS (AP)/October 28, 2023
Republican presidential candidates professed their strong support for Israel on Saturday as they addressed an influential Republican Jewish group during a campaign stop that coincided with Israel’s stepped-up offensive in the war against Hamas and included the exit of a high-profile contender from the 2024 race. Former Vice President Mike Pence used his last speech as a candidate to emphasize his traditional Republican views of a robust U.S. foreign policy that contrasts with the “America First” positions taken by his old boss, former President Donald Trump, the current front-runner for the nomination.
Pence did not mention Trump while announcing he would drop out of the race. But he called on Democratic President Joe Biden to unconditionally support Israel's incursion into Gaza, which was launched in response to Hamas' Oct. 7 attack that resulted in more than 1,000 deaths. Israel has targeted the Palestinian enclave with airstrikes and cut off power and communications as it mounts an operation against the militant group.
Pence, after announcing his decision, urged the crowd at the Republican Jewish Coalition summit to “hold fast” to faith, family and the U.S. Constitution and he promoted America's role “as leader of the free world.”
Trump, who in the past has received an enthusiastic reception from the Jewish group, was scheduled to speak in the afternoon, the final White House hopeful to take the stage at the annual gathering. U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy were among backing the unequivocal right for Israel to defend itself after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas. They also criticized Democratic officials and liberals for what they saw as a failure to sufficiently condemn antisemitism across the United States.
The Republicans made their pitches in Las Vegas hours after Israel expanded its ground operation into Gaza. The gathering at a casino-resort on the Las Vegas Strip has typically offered an opportunity for GOP hopefuls to try to reach Jewish voters and showcase political backing of Israel, a priority for the party and its base, including Christian evangelicals. But this year's summit comes as Israel has been plunged in crisis and put on war footing. Scott, who frequently invokes his Christian faith, called the actions of Hamas “evil personified” and cited from the Book of Proverbs, saying, "As a Christian, I see the Jewish people as my elder brothers and sisters in faith.”
Ramaswamy, long criticized by Pence as inexperienced and wrong on foreign policy, has at times been questioned by conservatives for his views on Israel. His speech was filled with bellicose rhetoric, claiming he “would love nothing more” than for the Israeli military “to put the heads of the top 100 Hamas leaders on stakes and line them up on the Israel-Gaza border.” He also Israel should abandon “the myth of a two-state solution ” — with a Palestinian state alongside Israel — if it wants, which drew cheers.
Though the crowd of about 1,000 coalition donors was not waring red yarmulkes with the word “Trump,” as in years past, their support of him was on display early. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has made criticizing Trump central to his campaign, took the stage and was met with immediate boos.
The organization's longtime benefactor, billionaire casino mogul and GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson, became a big backer of Trump and implored coalition members to support Trump in 2016. Adelson died in 2021. His widow, Miriam Adelson, has remained a major party donor but has pledged to stay neutral in the primary. Many of the candidates criticized President Joe Biden, especially for a $6 billion transfer to Iran as part of a deal to release five U.S. citizens detained in Iran, which administration officials insist had not been spent.
Biden made a wartime visit to Israel this month to show support for the Israelis while also trying to blunt the war from expanding into to a broader regional conflict. Back in the U.S., Biden has asked Congress for billions of dollars in military assistance for Israel and Ukraine, linking the wars as larger global threats and that stopping Hamas and Russia are important for America’s national security.
In their remarks, most of the candidates pledged robust support for Israel. Few touched on Ukraine. Ramaswamy, who has at times criticized U.S. aid to Israel, said he personally funded a 200-seat charter flight to get Americans out of Israel, similar to the actions a rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, had his state take. Ramaswamy drew boos when he said America’s job “is to be strong at home, to mind our own affairs, to avoid foreign military entanglements that do not relate directly to our homeland here.” Scott called the actions of Hamas “evil personified” and spoke about his work in the Senate on antisemitism legislation. He accused liberal politicians of failing to speak up enough about the marginalization and oppression of Jewish Americans. When Scott brought up U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., the crowd booed. The lone Palestinian American in Congress has called for a cease-fire and reevalution of U.S. military aid to Israel over concerns it could be used to commit war crimes. She has been widely criticized by members of both parties who say she hasn’t explicitly faulted Hamas for the attack. Scott said of Democrat: “They would rather embrace antisemitism within their ranks than upset their liberal base."

NYC protesters demand Israeli cease-fire, at least 200 detained after filling Grand Central station
NEW YORK (AP)/October 28, 2023
A sea of hundreds of protesters filled the main concourse of New York City’s famed Grand Central Terminal during the evening rush hour Friday, chanting slogans and unfurling banners demanding a cease-fire as Israel intensified its bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Wearing black T-shirts saying “Jews say cease-fire now” and “Not in our name,” at least 200 of the demonstrators were detained by New York Police Department officers and led out of the train station, their hands zip-tied behind their backs. The NYPD said the protesters were taken briefly into custody, issued summonses and released, and that a more exact number of detentions would be available Saturday morning. Some protesters hoisted banners as they scaled the stone ledges in front of leaderboards listing departure times. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority asked commuters to use Penn Station as an alternative. After the sit-in was broken up by police, the remaining protesters spilled into the streets outside. “Hundreds of Jews and friends are taking over Grand Central Station in a historic sit-in calling for a ceasefire,” advocacy group Jewish Voice for Peace said on social media.
The scene echoed last week's sit-in on Capitol Hill in Washington, where Jewish advocacy groups, including Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now, poured into a congressional office building. More than 300 people were arrested for illegally demonstrating. Israel stepped up airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Friday, knocking out internet and largely cutting off communication with the 2.3 million people inside the besieged Palestinian enclave. Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry says more than 7,300 people have been killed, more than 60% of them minors and women.
The Israeli military’s announcement it was “expanding” ground operations in the territory 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. More than 1,400 people were slain in Israel during the attack, according to the Israeli government, and at least 229 hostages were taken into Gaza. The U.N. General Assembly approved a nonbinding resolution calling for a “humanitarian truce” in Gaza leading to a cessation of hostilities. It was the first U.N. response to Hamas’ surprise Oct. 7 attacks and Israel’s ongoing military response.

Prayers, protests and clashes in Jerusalem and West Bank as Gaza war rages
Palestinians face tight restrictions going into Al-Aqsa for Friday prayers
JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH (Reuters)/October 28, 2023
Israeli security forces restricted young Palestinians from entering Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem for prayers on Friday and deployed in strength across the Old City and beyond to quell any unrest spilling over from the conflict in Gaza.
In the occupied West Bank, Israeli troops killed four Palestinians during raids, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA said. Two of the dead were identified by militant factions as their members. Large numbers of Israeli police kept guard around Al-Aqsa, a perennial flashpoint and often the scene of clashes, as Palestinians gathered for Friday prayers, Reuters journalists said. At one point they fired teargas. It was the third week in row that Palestinians have been restricted from praying at the mosque following the Hamas assault on southern Israel on Oct. 7 and the ensuing Israeli bombardment and siege of Hamas-ruled Gaza. They were made to say prayers outside the Old City, gathering by roadsides while Israeli security forces watched. Eventually about 5,000 elderly worshippers were allowed to enter. The authority in charge of the mosque, the Jerusalem Islamic Endowments Department, said that normally about 50,000 would take part. The mosque is sited on a hill known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as The Noble Sanctuary. In the West Bank, the Israeli military said that during arrest operations, its troops came under attack in the city of Jenin and fired back, killing two men. The Islamic Jihad militant group confirmed one of them belonged to it, and Hamas said one its fighters was killed in the Jenin fighting. WAFA said another two Palestinians were killed, one in Jenin and one in the town of Qalqiya, saying their deaths took the number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank since the Hamas-Israel conflict broke out to 110. The military said that in Qalqiya, troops came under fire while shutting down a store whose owner was accused of incitement to violence. They returned fire, hitting at least one person, a military statement said. Protests also took place in Hebron in the West Bank. In the capital of neighbouring Jordan, thousands of people took to the streets to denounce Israel and voice support for the Palestinians. Many waved the green, red white and black Palestinian flag. "We are with Palestinians and with Gazans. We also came to stress that we are standing behind the resistance until the end," said participant Mahmoud Aqalan. Another protester, Hassan Sultan, said: "It is our brothers who are being killed in Gaza. This is the least we could do - to make our position known to the world."

Mass graves, unclaimed bodies and overcrowded cemeteries. The war robs Gaza of funeral rites
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP)/October 28, 2023
It was neither the place nor the time for a proper goodbye, said Omar Dirawi. Not here, in this dusty field strewn with dead people wrapped in blankets and zipped up in body bags. And not now, as Israeli airstrikes crashed around him for the third week, erasing more of his neighborhood and sundering hundreds of families and friendships. Yet on this October week in Gaza’s central town of Zawaideh, the 22-year-old Palestinian photojournalist buried 32 members of his family who were killed in Israeli air raids last Sunday.
Dirawi’s aunts, uncles and cousins from Gaza City had heeded Israeli military evacuation orders and taken refuge in his home farther south. Days later Dirawi was unloading their bodies from the back of a truck, digging a narrow trench partitioned with cinder blocks and reciting abbreviated funeral prayers before nightfall, when Israeli warplanes screeched and everyone ran indoors. “There’s nothing that feels right about this,” Dirawi said of the mass burial. “I haven't even grieved. But I had no choice. The cemetery was full and there was no space.”
Palestinians say this war is robbing them not only of their loved ones but also of the funeral rites that long have offered mourners some dignity and closure in the midst of unbearable grief. Israeli strikes have killed so many people so quickly that they’ve overwhelmed hospitals and morgues, making the normal rituals of death all but impossible. And along with everything else stolen by the bombardments, Palestinians on Saturday added another loss: cellular and internet service. A few in Gaza who managed to communicate with the outside world said people could no longer call ambulances or find out if loved ones living in different buildings were still alive. Since Oct. 7, when Hamas mounted a bloody and unprecedented attack on Israel, the Israeli military's response has left over 7,700 Palestinians dead, said the Gaza-based Health Ministry. Of the dead, it added, nearly 300 have not been identified. Fear and panic were spreading Saturday as Israel expanded its ground incursion and intensified bombardment.
An estimated 1,700 people remain trapped beneath the rubble as Israel's air raids impede and imperil civil defense workers, one of whom was killed during a rescue mission Friday. Sometimes it takes days for medics to recover bodies. By then corpses are often too swollen and disfigured to be recognizable.
“We have hundreds of people being killed every day,” said Inas Hamdan, a Gaza-based communications officer for the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency. “The whole system in Gaza is overwhelmed. People are dealing with the dead however they can.”
Overcrowded cemeteries have compelled families to dig up long-buried bodies and deepen the holes. That's how survivors interred Bilal al-Hour, a professor at Gaza's Al Aqsa University, and 25 of his family members killed Friday in airstrikes that razed their four-story home in Deir al-Balah.
Al-Hour's brother, Nour, exhumed his family's old plots in the local cemetery Friday to place the newly deceased inside. His hands dark with grave dirt, he became breathless listing each relative being lowered into the ground.
“There's Bilal’s son with his wife and children, his other younger son and of course his daughter who finished high school last year and was supposed to be a doctor,” he said before trailing off and quoting the Quran. "To Allah we belong, and to him is our return.”
Overflowing morgues have compelled hospitals to bury people before their relatives can claim them. Gravediggers have laid dozens of unidentified bodies side by side in two large backhoe-dug furrows in Gaza City now holding 63 and 46 bodies, respectively, said Mohammed Abu Selmia, the general director of Shifa Hospital. The nightmare of ending up as an anonymous body piled up in a morgue or chucked into the dirt has increasingly haunted Palestinians in Gaza.
To increase the chances of being identified if they die, Palestinian families have begun wearing identification bracelets and scrawling names with marker on their children’s arms and legs. In some cases, bodies have decomposed so much they are unrecognizable even to their kin. In other cases, not a single family member may survive to claim the dead. “We often find this during our work, even just (Thursday) night in Gaza City when 200 people were killed, there were names and ID numbers written in ink on the children's bodies,” said Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson of the Palestinian Civil Defense. “It's a pain I can't describe, to see that.”Gaza’s Awqaf ministry, which is in charge of religious matters, now urges hasty burials and authorizes the digging of mass graves due to the “large numbers of people killed and the small amount of space available." Each Gaza governorate has at least two mass graves, authorities say, some holding over 100 people. In the crowded Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on Wednesday, a fierce barrage of Israeli airstrikes leveled an entire block — some 20 multi-story buildings — killing 150 people and trapping more beneath the ruins, residents said. Shell-shocked survivors staggered out of the hospital, not knowing what to do with the dead. “We have no time to do anything and no space anywhere,” said 52-year-old Khalid Abdou from the camp. “All we can do is dig a big hole with our hands. Then we throw bodies inside.”
Residents of Nuseirat peered into dozens of blood-smeared body bags arranged outside Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital on Thursday, searching for familiar faces, Abdou said. Workers labeled some body bags “unknown" before shoveling them into mass graves. Families were buried together.
When trying to sleep, Abdou said he hears sounds from that night — the thunder of the blast mixing with screams of shock and the cries of children.
But what keeps him up most, he said, is the thought that no one washed the bodies of the dead or changed their clothes before burial. No one lovingly shrouded their bodies, as is customary in Islam, or held a poignant service.
And certainly no one served the traditional bitter coffee and sweet dates to friends and relatives paying condolences. “In Islam we have three days of mourning. But there's no way can you observe that now," Abdou said. "Before the mourning ends you'll probably be dead, too.”

Palestinian-Canadians worry for relatives as offensive in Gaza ramps up
The Canadian Press/October 28, 2023
MONTREAL — Moayed Salim says his father planned to come back to Canada from Gaza at the end of the month for the birth of Salim's son. Instead, Salim says his father is stuck in the Palestinian Territory and the London, Ont. resident has no way to know if he's alive or dead.
Israel launched an expanded ground operation in the enclave on Saturday after knocking out communications and creating a near-blackout of information in the Gaza Strip with increased bombardment and artillery fire overnight.
Mansour Shouman, a Canadian citizen who returned to Gaza three years ago, says it seems like the scale of the bombing has increased. Shouman, who is in the south of Gaza, says he worries about food and water shortages and notes many residents fled their homes without warm clothes as winter approaches.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday night that the war has entered a new stage as it seeks to eliminate Hamas' military and governmental capabilities and recover more than 200 hostages taken during an Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed more than 1,400 people.

Hamas is seeking eight Gaza hostages at Russia's request - RIA
(Reuters)/Sat, October 28, 2023
Hamas is looking for eight people identified by Russia as possibly being among the hostages in Gaza and is ready to free them, Hamas Politburo member Abu Marzouk told Russian state news agency RIA on Saturday. RIA cited Marzouk, who has been visiting Moscow, as saying that the Russian foreign ministry had handed over a list of eight names, all of whom had dual citizenship. "We are very attentive to this list and we will handle it carefully because we look at Russia as our closest friend," Marzouk was cited as saying. "Now we are looking for those people. It's difficult, but we are looking. And as soon as we find them, we will release them. Despite the difficulties due to the current situation." Russia on Friday defended its decision to invite a Hamas delegation to Moscow against strong Israeli criticism, saying it was necessary to maintain contacts with all sides in the conflict.

Egypt says 'Israeli obstacles' impeding aid delivery to Gaza
(Reuters)/Sat, October 28, 2023
Egypt's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday "Israeli obstacles" including truck inspection procedures were impeding the prompt delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Palestinian enclave. "The trucks must be inspected at the Israeli Nitzana crossing before they head to the Rafah crossing on a journey that takes a distance of 100 km (62 miles) before they actually enter the Rafah crossing, which causes obstacles that significantly delay the arrival of aid," a ministry spokesperson said in a statement. The Rafah crossing, which is controlled by Egypt and does not border Israel, has become the main point of aid delivery since Israel imposed a siege on Gaza in retaliation for an attack by Hamas militants from the coastal strip on Oct. 7. Before the conflict, about 500 trucks a day were crossing into Gaza, but in recent days, an average of only 12 trucks a day have entered, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday. A border source said that trip results in a 16-hour delay and was the reason why the number of trucks never again reached a high of 20 achieved on the first day deliveries were restarted. Israel has vowed to wipe out the Hamas group that rules Gaza, which it says killed 1,400 people and took hundreds hostage in an Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel. Gaza's besieged people had barely any communications with the outside world on Saturday as Israeli jets dropped more bombs and suggested a long-threatened ground offensive against Hamas was starting. Palestinian authorities say more than 7,000 have been killed.

The ‘Gaza metro’: The mysterious subterranean tunnel network used by Hamas
Joshua Berlinger, CNN/October 28, 2023
The myriad tunnels under Gaza are best known as passageways used to smuggle goods from Egypt and launch attacks into Israel. But there exists a second underground network that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) colloquially refer to as the “Gaza metro.” It’s a vast labyrinth of tunnels, by some accounts several kilometers underground, used to transport people and goods; to store rockets and ammunition caches; and house Hamas command and control centers, all away from the prying eyes of the IDF’s aircraft and surveillance drones. Hamas in 2021 claimed to have built 500 kilometers (311 miles) worth of tunnels under Gaza, though it is unclear if that figure was accurate or posturing. If true, Hamas’ underground tunnels would be a little less than half the length of the New York City subway system. “It’s a very intricate, very large – huge – network of tunnels on a rather small piece of territory,” said Daphne Richemond-Barak, a professor at Israel’s Reichman University and expert on underground warfare. It’s unclear how much the tunnel network would have cost Hamas, which governs the impoverished coastal strip. The figure is likely significant, both in terms of manpower and capital. Gaza has been under a land, sea and air blockade by Israel, as well as a land blockade by Egypt, since 2007 and is not believed to possess the type of massive machinery typically used to build tunnels deep underground. Experts say that diggers using basic tools likely burrowed deep underground to dig the network, which is wired with electricity and reinforced by concrete. Israel has long accused Hamas of diverting concrete meant for civilian and humanitarian purposes toward the construction of tunnels. Hamas’ critics also say that the group’s massive expenditures on tunnels could have instead paid for civilian bomb shelters or early warning networks like those across the border in Israel.
The asymmetric advantage
Tunnels have been an attractive tool of warfare since medieval times. Today they offer militant groups like Hamas an edge in asymmetric warfare, negating some of the technological advantages of a more advanced military like the IDF. What makes Hamas tunnels different from those of al Qaeda in the mountains of Afghanistan or the Viet Cong in the jungles of Southeast Asia is that it has constructed a subterranean network below one of the most densely populated areas on the planet. Nearly 2 million people live in the 88 square miles that make up Gaza City. “It’s always difficult to deal with tunnels, don’t get me wrong, in any context, even when they are in a mountainous area, but when they are urban area, then everything is more complicated – the tactical aspects, strategic aspects, the operational aspects, and of course, the protection that you want to ensure for the civilian population,” said Richemond-Barak, who is also a senior fellow at the Lieber Institute for Law and Land Warfare and the Modern War Institute at West Point. Since the October 7 terror attack in Israel in which at least 1,400 people were killed, according to Israeli authorities, the IDF has repeatedly alleged that Hamas is hiding inside these passages “underneath houses and inside buildings populated with innocent Gazan civilians,” effectively turning them into human shields. Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have killed more than 7,000 people, according to Palestinian health officials, drawn from sources in the Hamas-controlled enclave. One of the few hostages released by Hamas described what it is was like to be kidnapped by gunmen and taken into a tunnel system in Gaza.
Yocheved Lifshitz, a frail 85-year-old grandmother, said she was forced to walk on wet ground and descended into an underground tunnel system – which she likened to a spiderweb – where she was greeted by “people who told us we believe in the Quran” and promised “not to harm” her and her fellow hostages.
She added that she and other hostages, separated into groups, slept on mattresses on the floor of the tunnels. The IDF is expected to go after the network in its forthcoming ground incursion into Gaza, as it has in recent years gone to extreme lengths to eliminate Hamas’ tunnels. Israel launched a ground assault on Gaza in 2014 to try and eliminate the underground passages. Israel has repeatedly warned about 1.1 million people living in Gaza to move south ahead of its likely operation, according to the United Nations. Critics said such an order was impossible to carry out on short notice in the middle of a war zone. The top UN human rights official said the evacuation call “defies the rules of war and basic humanity.” Moving civilians out of Gaza City would help make it safer to eliminate tunnels, but such operations will be dangerous, Richemond-Barak said.
This week the Israeli military expanded its ground operation, pounding sites in Gaza. It said 150 underground targets were hit. The IDF can either render the tunnels temporarily unusable or destroy them. According to Richemond-Barak, bombing the underground passages is typically the most efficient way to eliminate them, but such strikes can impact civilians. What is clear is that technology alone won’t be enough to stop the subterranean threat. Israel spent billions of dollars attempting to secure the border with a smart system that boasts advanced sensors and subterranean walls, yet Hamas was still able to launch its October 7 assault by land, air and sea. Richemond-Barak said a holistic approach is required, one that employs visual intelligence, border monitoring and even asking civilians to keep an eye out for anything suspect. “There is no foolproof solution to deal with a tunnel threat,” Richemond-Barak said. “There’s no Iron Dome for tunnels.”

Hamas calls Israeli incursion a failure
Associated Press/October 28, 2023
Hamas has proclaimed Israel’s overnight ground incursion to be a failure. Hamas said in a statement Saturday that its military arm, Qassam Brigades, used anti-tank Kornet rockets and mortar shelling to repel the attack and claimed its fighters inflicted casualties among Israeli troops. Qassam Brigades said late Friday its fighters were clashing with Israeli troops in the town of Beit Hanoun in northwestern Gaza and in al-Bureij in central Gaza. Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, said it fired a barrage of rockets Saturday morning on the Kissufim kibbutz, northwest of the Negev desert.

Palestinian President calls for urgent Arab Summit
LBCI/October 28, 2023
On Saturday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for an emergency Arab summit as Israel responded to the UN resolution with ground invasion and escalated airstrikes.

Israel's Gallant says Gaza war entered new stage with expanded ground operations
Associated Press/October 28, 2023
Israel on Saturday expanded its ground operation in Gaza, sending in tanks and infantry backed by massive strikes from the air and sea. Israel's defense minister said that "the ground shook in Gaza" and that the war against the territory's Hamas rulers had entered a new stage. The bombardment, described by Gaza residents as the most intense of the war, also knocked out most communications in Gaza. This largely cut off the besieged enclave's 2.3 million people from the world, while enabling the Israeli military to control the narrative in the new stage of fighting. The military released grainy images Saturday showing tank columns moving slowly in open areas of Gaza, many apparently near the border, and said warplanes bombed dozens of Hamas tunnels and underground bunkers. The underground sites are a key target in Israel's campaign to crush the territory's ruling group after its bloody incursion into Israel three weeks ago. "We moved to the next stage in the war," Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in remarks broadcast Saturday. "Last evening, the ground shook in Gaza. We attacked above ground and underground ... The instructions to the forces are clear. The campaign will continue until further notice."
His comments signaled a gradual ramping up toward what is expected to evolve into an all-out ground offensive in northern Gaza. Early in the war, Israel amassed hundreds of thousands of troops along the border. Until now, troops had conducted brief nightly ground incursions before returning to Israel. The Palestinian death toll in Gaza on Saturday rose to just over 7,700 people since Oct. 7, with 377 deaths reported since late Friday, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. A majority of those killed have been women and minors, the ministry said.
Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra told reporters that the disruption of communications has "totally paralyzed" the health network. Residents had no way of calling ambulances, and emergency teams were chasing the sounds of artillery barrages and airstrikes to search for people in need. An estimated 1,700 people remain trapped beneath the rubble, according to the health ministry, which has said it bases its estimates on distress calls it received. Some civilians were using their bare hands to pull injured people from the rubble and loading them into personal cars or donkey carts to rush them to the hospital. In a video posted by local news media, Palestinians were sprinting down a ravaged street with a wounded man covered in the dust of a building's collapse while he winced, eyes shut, on a stretcher. "Ambulance! Ambulance!" the men shouted as they shoved the stretcher into the back of a pickup truck and shouted at the driver, "Go! Go!" Some Gaza residents traveled by foot or car to check on relatives and friends. "The bombs were everywhere, the building was shaking," said Hind al-Khudary, a journalist in central Gaza and one of a few people with cellphone service. "We can't reach anyone or contact anyone. I do not know where my family is." Israel says its strikes target Hamas fighters and infrastructure and that the militants operate from among civilians, putting them in danger.
The World Health Organization appealed to "the humanity in all those who have the power to do so to end the fighting now" in Gaza. "There are more wounded every hour. But ambulances cannot reach them in the communications blackout. Morgues are full. More than half of the dead are women and children," it said in a statement, and it expressed "grave concerns" about reported bombardment near hospitals in the northern half of Gaza. Palestinians say this war is robbing them not only of their loved ones but also of the funeral rites that long have offered mourners some dignity and closure in the midst of unbearable grief. Overcrowded cemeteries have compelled families to dig up long-buried bodies and deepen the holes. Across Gaza, terrified civilians were huddling in homes and shelters with food and water supplies running out. Electricity was knocked out by Israel in the early stages of the war. More than 1.4 million people have fled their homes, nearly half crowding into U.N. schools and shelters, following repeated warnings by the Israeli military that they would be in grave danger if they remained in northern Gaza. The military renewed such warnings Saturday, in leaflets dropped over Gaza. A large number of residents have not evacuated to the south, in part because Israel has also bombarded targets in so-called safe zones where conditions are increasingly dire.
Humanitarian workers say the trickle of aid Israel has allowed to enter from Egypt in the past week is a tiny fraction of what is needed. Gaza hospitals have been scrounging for fuel to run emergency generators that power incubators and other life-saving equipment.
The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, which runs an extensive network of shelters and schools for nearly half the displaced Gaza residents, has lost contact with most of its staff, spokeswoman Juliette Touma said Saturday. She said that coordinating aid efforts was now "extremely challenging."
The intensified air and ground campaign raised new concerns about dozens of hostages dragged into Gaza on Oct. 7. On Saturday, hundreds of relatives of hostages gathered in a square in downtown Tel Aviv and demanded that the government put the return of their loved ones ahead of Israel's military objectives. In comments likely to inflame these tensions, the spokesman of the Hamas military wing on Saturday offered a comprehensive swap of hostages for the thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. The spokesman, using the nom de guerre Abu Obeida, said in a televised speech that the price for freeing the hostages, said by Israel to number 229, is "emptying the Zionist prisons of all detainees." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to meet with the hostage families later Saturday. Military officials have said they are trying to both topple Hamas and bring back the hostages but have not explained how they could obtain both objectives at the same time. The families of the hostages fear Israel's ramped up offensive in Gaza is endangering the captives.
The Israeli army spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said four hostages were released in recent days through mediation by Qatar and Egypt. Hagari dismissed news reports about a possible cease-fire deal in exchange for the release of hostages, saying Hamas was engaged in a "cynical exploitation" of relatives' anxieties.
In Cairo, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said his government was working to de-escalate the conflict through its talks with the warring parties to release prisoners and hostages. On Saturday, he spoke with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres about those efforts, his office said. In a written statement, Guterres said he was surprised by Israel's unprecedented escalation of bombardments overnight on Gaza."This situation must be reversed," he wrote. But Guterres said he was encouraged by an apparent growing consensus on the need for a humanitarian cease-fire.
Among many, impatience was growing. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told hundreds of thousands of people at a pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul on Saturday that his country was making preparations to proclaim Israel a "war criminal" for its actions in Gaza. He did not elaborate and his office said it could not comment on the statement.
Erdogan's government recently restored full diplomatic ties with Israel, whose foreign minister on Saturday said he had ordered the return of Israel's diplomatic mission from Turkey to reassess ties. Elsewhere, tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters turned out in London for a second straight weekend to demand a cease-fire in Gaza. More than 1,400 people were allegedly slain in Israel during Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, according to the Israeli government. Among those killed were at least 311 soldiers, according to the military. Palestinian militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel over the past three weeks. The overall number of deaths in Gaza and Israel far exceeds the combined toll of all four previous Israel-Hamas wars, estimated at around 4,000.
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 but has not said who it expects will — even as Gallant suggested a long-term insurgency could ensue. The conflict has threatened to ignite a wider war across the region. Arab nations — including U.S. allies and ones that have reached peace deals or normalized ties with Israel — have raised increasing alarm over a potential ground invasion.

Israel recalls diplomats from Turkey after Erdogan compares Gaza to Holocaust
Lizzie Porter/The Telegraph/October 28, 2023
Israel said it was recalling its diplomatic staff from Turkey after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan likened its military campaign in Gaza to the Holocaust. “Given the grave statements coming from Turkey, I have ordered the return of diplomatic representatives there in order to conduct a re-evaluation of the relations between Israel and Turkey,” Eli Cohen, Israeli foreign minister, said. Top Turkish officials have already called off planned visits to Israel and Israeli diplomats have left posts in Istanbul and Ankara on security grounds. But Mr Erdogan accused Israel of carrying out war crimes in Gaza. “Israel has been openly committing war crimes for 22 days,” he said, comparing its actions to the Nazi genocide against the Jews. “In the past they were massacring the Jewish people in the gas chambers and they were indeed wiping out whole regions with bombs,” the 69-year-old Turkish president told a crowd in Istanbul. “A similar mentality is being shown in Gaza today.” Since winning another four-year term in May elections, Turkey’s Islamist president has appeared to make overtures to Western nations. But his speech firmly criticised them for backing Israel in its response to Hamas’s brutal Oct 7 attacks.
‘Product of the West’
“If you put some politicians with consciences aside, this massacre taking place in Gaza is the product of the West,” he told the crowd as he stood on the stage, draped in a silky banner bearing Turkish and Palestinian flags. “With this attitude, the West has accumulated a lot of sins.”The vast crowd – toting as many Turkish flags as Palestinian ones – cried in approval at the president’s remarks. Some attendees justified Hamas’s brutal and deadly attacks on Israeli civilians as necessary to claim what they see as Palestinian’s territorial rights. “It’s normal that they were protecting their land, the way a Briton or a Turk would protect their land,” said Elban Aydoğdu, a retired admin worker. Other Erdoğan supporters stressed the need for calm, and an end to the killing on all sides. “We are here to oppose Israel’s acts,” said 50-year-old Muharrem Karagöz. “In our holy book, the Quran, it says, do not kill. The important thing is that it applies to Hamas too. We need to have dialogue, there should be no killing.”Ties between Israel and Turkey that had been improving before the war broke out on Oct 7, are growing more strained by the day. A Turkish government official said that a planned visit to Israel next month by Turkey’s energy minister to discuss gas sales has been called off. While there has been no official downgrading of relations, Israel has temporarily evacuated all its diplomats from Turkey. “All the diplomats in Ankara and Istanbul have left Turkey for security reasons. Not just Turkey, but also Egypt, Oman,” a source familiar with the matter said. “This is only for security reasons, it’s not a diplomatic issue – it’s not a downgrading of diplomatic relations.”
Sharpening rhetoric
The envoys had been appointed just last year as Jerusalem and Ankara attempted to improve diplomatic relationships. Israel’s continuing attacks on Gaza and Turkey’s sharpening rhetoric will likely push the two eastern Mediterranean powers further apart, analysts say. “Now it’s not possible to further deepen the normalisation between two countries, and Israel probably doesn’t care about normalisation at this stage,” said Murat Yeşiltaş, foreign policy director at SETA, a pro-government Turkish think tank. “Israel will probably continue its aggressiveness in terms of causing the humanitarian cost on the ground, and probably Turkey will also increase its criticism against Israel, which will ultimately undermine the possibility of deepening the normalisation between the two countries.”Turkey has long allowed senior Hamas officials to live in the country – a bone of contention with Israel. It has been trying to use its relationships with Jerusalem and the designated terror group to play a mediating role in negotiating the release of hostages, according to a senior Turkish government official. But Qatar – which has the trust of Israel’s Western allies, as well as hosting Hamas’s political leadership – appears to have played a more central role in the release of the four hostages let go by Hamas so far. Through his fiery anti-Israel rhetoric, the Turkish president is likely attempting to appeal to a wide range of Turks; a pro-Palestinian attitude is one of the few things capable of bridging divides in Turkish society.

Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 28-29/2023
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh: Stronger Action Needed Against Iran/Instead of neutralizing the avowed murderers of Americans, the US is bankrolling them.
هناك حاجة إلى اتخاذ إجراءات أقوى ضد إيران/أميركا تمول نظام الملالي بدلاً من معاقبته
د.ماجد رافي زاده/معهد جيتستون/28 تشرين الأول 2023
When the Iranian regime says, “Death to Israel” and “Death to America,” they mean it. The US, by trying to bribe Iran not to carry out at least the American part of that threat, has, in reality, been financing Iran’s ability to do exactly that. Instead of neutralizing the avowed murderers of Americans, the US is bankrolling them.
عندما يقول النظام الإيراني “الموت لإسرائيل” و”الموت لأميركا”، فهو يقصد ذلك. والولايات المتحدة، من خلال محاولتها رشوة إيران حتى لا تنفذ على الأقل الجزء الأميركي من هذا التهديد، كانت في الواقع تمول قدرة إيران على القيام بذلك على وجه التحديد. فبدلاً من تحييد قتلة الأميركيين المعلنين، تقوم الولايات المتحدة بتمويلهم.
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/123655/123655/
/Gatestone Institute/October 28, 2023

Stronger Action Needed Against Iran
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/October 28, 2023
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/123655/123655/
Removing even just one oil refinery might also "send a message" and persuade Iran's ruling mullahs to rethink their plans.
The Biden administration, it appears, has been funding both sides of two wars: Hamas's invasion of Israel, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
When the Iranian regime says, "Death to Israel" and "Death to America," they mean it. The US, by trying to bribe Iran not to carry out at least the American part of that threat, has, in reality, been financing Iran's ability to do exactly that. Instead of neutralizing the avowed murderers of Americans, the US is bankrolling them.
The US needs to resume, even step up, enforcing sanctions to cut off the flow of funds to the Iranian regime. If not, the next war, when Iran has nuclear weapons, will make this one look like one of those five-star hotels in Qatar.
When the Iranian regime says, "Death to Israel" and "Death to America," they mean it. But the US been financing Iran's ability to do exactly that. Instead of neutralizing the avowed murderers of Americans, the US is bankrolling them. (Image source: MEMRI)
With the Biden administration's deference towards the ruling mullahs of Iran, its regime — called the world's "top state sponsor of terrorism" — is so far still the winner of Hamas's barbaric massacre on October 7. The invaders from Gaza killed at least 1,400 people in Israel, including at least 31 Americans, wounded 4, 500 people, and abducted more than 222 people who were taken back to Gaza as hostages. Thirteen US citizens are still unaccounted for.
Iran has targeted US forces in Syria and Iraq 83 times since January 2021, when President Joe Biden took office.
When the US finally launched retaliatory strikes on Syria on October 26, Iran itself was carefully avoided.
One can only hope that a strong enough message was sent to the Iranian regime and its proxies -- Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hizballah, the Houthis in Yemen -- many of whose leaders are tucked safely away in five-star hotels in Qatar.
It is shameful that the Biden administration continues to deny that Iran had any role in Hamas's attempted genocide, while the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah have themselves confessed that their paymaster, Iran's regime, helped plan the attack.
The Washington Post reported that, according to U.S. intelligence sources, Iran "provided military training and logistical help as well as tens of millions of dollars for weapons". '
The Wall Street Journal cited "senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah," admitting that that Iranian government leaders helped plan the brutal and barbaric assault.
Iran provides roughly $100 million a year to Palestinian terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and $700 million a year to Hezbollah. As US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) correctly said:
"The idea that Iran read about this operation in the paper, or on television is laughable. 93% of Hezbollah and Hamas' money comes from Iran. They're the source of the problem. They're the great evil. So, if Hezbollah escalates against Israel, it will be because Iran told them to. Then Iran, you're in the crosshairs of the United States and Israel."
Graham also told CNN host Abby Phillip:
"If there's an escalation, Abby, if there's people's throats being cut on television as Israel goes into Gaza, they're threatening to kill the hostages, if Hezbollah is unleashed on Israel in the north, it will be because Iran is supporting that. If you don't get the connection between Iran and this terrorist activity by Hamas and Hezbollah, you're missing a lot".
As Tehran's major revenues come from exporting oil, US Senator Lindsay Graham has suggested targeting Iran's oil refineries. "What I would do," he told CNN host Abby Phillip, "is I would bomb Iran's oil infrastructure. The money financing terrorism comes from Iran. It's time for this terrorist state to pay a price for financing and supporting all this chaos."
Removing even just one oil refinery might also "send a message" and persuade Iran's ruling mullahs to rethink their plans. The US should also enforce sanctions against Iran instead of looking the other way.
The Iranian regime, according to reports, possesses the world's second-largest natural gas reserves and the fourth-largest proven crude oil reserves. The sale of oil accounts for nearly 60% of the Iranian government's total revenues and more than 80% of its export revenues.
The Trump administration, when it killed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Qods Force Commander Qasem Soleimani, had warned Iran that 52 additional targets had been selected if Iran were to avenge Soleimani's death -- and that was the end of Iran acting up.
The Biden administration also needs to cut the flow of funds to the Iranian regime by enforcing sanctions instead of showering the regime with billions of dollars. Presumably intended as bribes in exchange for not starting wars, those billions are immediately used to finance terrorism and start wars. US taxpayers therefore have been paying for the murder of at least 31 Americans at the hands of Hamas on October 7; the abduction of "20 or more Americans" who are missing and held hostage; the bounties on the heads of former US officials, and the finishing touches the ruling mullahs are putting on their nuclear weapons program. The Biden administration, it appears, has been funding both sides of two wars: Hamas's invasion of Israel, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Worse, when the Iranian regime says, "Death to Israel" and "Death to America," they mean it. The US, by trying to bribe Iran not to carry out at least the American part of that threat, has, in reality, been financing Iran's ability to do exactly that. Instead of neutralizing the avowed murderers of Americans, the US is bankrolling them.
When the Trump administration strongly sanctioned Iran and adopted a policy of "maximum pressure," the sanctions did, in fact, impose significant pressure on Iran, and the country's rulers had to cut funding to their allies, militias and terror groups.
The enforcement of sanctions, for instance, caused Iran to cut funds to its proxies in Syria. They were not getting their salaries and benefits, a loss that made it extremely difficult for them to continue fighting and destabilize the region. A member with an Iranian-backed militia in Syria told the New York Times in March 2019 that "The golden days are gone and will never return... Iran doesn't have enough money to give us."
In 2019, feeling the pressure of sanctions on Iran, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Iran's Lebanese terror proxy, Hezbollah, called on his group's fundraising arm "to provide the opportunity for jihad with money and also to help with this ongoing battle".
Hamas was forced to introduce "austerity plans". Then Iranian President Hassan Rouhani stated that the Islamic Republic was encountering the worst economic crisis since its establishment in 1979.
The Biden administration urgently needs to abandon its policy of appeasing Iran and adopting a policy of massive deterrence.
The US needs to resume, even step up, enforcing sanctions to cut off the flow of funds to the Iranian regime. If not, the next war, when Iran has nuclear weapons, will make this one look like one of those five-star hotels in Qatar.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has authored several books on Islam and US Foreign Policy. He can be reached at Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu
© 2023 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20102/stronger-action-needed-against-iran

Jonathan Spyer/Tehran Makes Its Moves on the Border of Israel Amid Gaza Standoff
The Australian/October 28, 2023
طهران تقوم بتحركاتها على حدود إسرائيل وسط المواجهة في غزة
جوناثان سباير
Israeli forces are completing the final stages of preparation before the start of a ground offensive into Gaza. The goal of this offensive, according to statements by senior Israeli officials, will be to put an end to 16 years of Hamas rule over this area.
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/123660/123660/
/ذي اوسترالين/ 28 تشرين الأول/ 2023

Tehran Makes Its Moves on the Border of Israel Amid Gaza Standoff
Jonathan Spyer/The AustralianOctober 28, 2023
https://www.meforum.org/65088/tehran-makes-its-moves-on-the-border-of-israel?fbclid=IwAR0phd5Er2q2pne_MvxjGrh70ykmdtpKAvFRxHTN4N3-_PxXHyxTPLQJuvc
Israeli forces are completing the final stages of preparation before the start of a ground offensive into Gaza. The goal of this offensive, according to statements by senior Israeli officials, will be to put an end to 16 years of Hamas rule over this area.
But even as the world's attention remains focused on the narrow and dusty strip to Israel's southwest, a far larger and potentially more consequential mobilisation is taking place across the Middle East.
From Lebanon to Yemen, via Syria and Iraq, the Iran-led regional axis of which Hamas is only a minor element is moving into position. Some of its component militias have entered the fray already, carrying out limited attacks against Israeli and US forces. Others have arrived at their jump-off points, awaiting the order to intervene.
It's important to understand the nature of the alliance in question. It is the fruit of the methodology and the investments of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps during the past four decades in the Middle East. In that time, patiently, and with tactics adjusted to fit local conditions, Tehran has built an army of a type never before seen in the Middle East and that is now preparing for action.
This army consists of a host of nominally independent militias, that in reality are controlled by a central guiding hand. It is a unique melding of regular and irregular capacities, and of the political with the military. Most crucially, the IRGC method weds the Islamist fervour from below that remains the dominant force across the Arab world at street level, with the capacities, armaments and organisation that can be supplied only by a powerful state.
From Lebanon to Yemen, via Syria and Iraq, the Iran-led regional axis of which Hamas is only a minor element is moving into position. Some of its component militias have entered the fray already.
This is what the mobilisation of this army looks like: On Israel's border with Lebanon, the Hezbollah organisation that is Lebanon's de facto ruler is launching Kornet antitank missiles, drones and rockets at both military targets and civilian communities every day. Efforts to infiltrate terror squads across the border also are ongoing. Fifteen to 20 attacks a day of this kind are taking place, according to figures released by the Institute for the Study of War. Israel has evacuated 28 civilian communities close to the border.
I reported from the border area at the end of last week, from the moshav settlement of Shtula and the town of Kiryat Shmona, both pummelled in recent days by Hezbollah-IRGC ordnance. In the villages on the border fence, the civilians have gone. Only mobilised infantry units and local emergency response teams remain. Activity is ongoing and frenetic, the atmosphere tense and charged.
In Syria, the Iran-supported militias that defeated the rebellion of 2012-19 are once more on the move. From their positions in the deserts of Deir al-Zor province in the country's east, they are heading west, toward Deraa and Quneitra provinces, adjoining the Golan Heights. In recent years Iran has carved out an area of its exclusive control that stretches from the al-Qaim-Albukamal border crossing between Iraq and Syria to Syria's border with Israel.
Exclusive means the IRGC doesn't need the permission of the nominal ruler of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, to move its pieces across the board. It is along this area of control that the militias, with Iraqi, Syrian and Lebanese fighters chief among them, are making their way, from the border crossing to the town of Mayadeen, exclusively controlled by the IRGC, and then onwards west.
The militias are attacking US targets in Syria, too. On October 19 they launched three drones at the US-controlled al-Tanf base in the desert on the Syria-Jordan border. The Conoco Mission Support Site, located inside Kurdish-controlled eastern Syria, also was targeted.
Across the border in Iraq last week, Kata'ib Hezbollah, the most powerful of the Iran-led militias in that country, and its allied organisations launched drone and rocket attacks at three sites where US troops are present: the Ain al-Asad air base, Baghdad International Airport and the al-Harir base in Iraqi Kurdistan. The Badr Organisation, largest of the militias in Iraq, issued a statement threatening further attacks.
"We're only responding, responding, responding," Shlomi told me as he stood by the entrance to the moshav, an M16 rifle slung across his shoulder. "We aren't initiating anything. I hope that changes. That has to change."
The political element here is once again no less crucial than the military one. These militias are not independent forces operating out in the wilderness. Rather, in their other form as political parties, they form the central core of the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. Indeed, Iraqi National Security Adviser Qassem al-Araji is a veteran member of Badr.
Even as far afield as Yemen, Iran's Houthi allies appear to have tried to launch missiles at Israel last Thursday. The Houthis, again, control the Yemeni capital of Sanaa and a large swath of the country.
So Iran's long investment, arming and organisation of Islamist forces across the region appear to be heading for a denouement now. It is impossible, of course, to predict the precise course of events in the next days. But the mobilisation is plain to see. As for the Israeli side: in Shtula last week I spoke with Shlomi, 54, who has headed the emergency response team in his border community for the past 20 years. Like almost all the residents of Shtula, his family came from Iraqi Kurdistan to Israel in the early 1950s.
They came to escape the predecessors of the forces that are now launching antitank rockets on their community.
"We're only responding, responding, responding," Shlomi told me as he stood by the entrance to the moshav, an M16 rifle slung across his shoulder. "We aren't initiating anything. I hope that changes. That has to change."
*Jonathan Spyer is director of research at the Middle East Forum and director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis. He is author of Days of the Fall: A Reporter's Journey in the Syria and Iraq Wars (2018).

Alberto M. Fernandez/Proxy Master … Iran continues to expand its proxies’ influence throughout the Near East
نظام ملالي إيران مباشرة ومن خلال أذرعته الإرهابية يقوض السلام في الشرق الأوسط
ألبرتو م. فرنانديز/موقع اميركان مايند/ 28/ تشرين الأول/2023
Americans have been killed or wounded from three directions in three different countries in the Middle East in just the last few weeks. The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas killed 30 Americans inside Israel and is holding others hostage. Meanwhile American military installations in Syria and Iraq were targeted repeatedly by missile and drone strikes. If you include naval movements in the Mediterranean and Red Sea, the Americans were attacked, responded to, or were getting ready to respond to threats emanating from five places—Gaza, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen.
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/123664/123664/
The American Mind /October 28/2023

Proxy Master
Alberto M. Fernandez/The American Mind /October 28/2023
https://americanmind.org/salvo/proxy-master/?fbclid=IwAR2QBxItARfmZVikLmonhS0vVeYchqBvndDef85LupuKpAcRkTnGSh8RIFE
Iran continues to expand its influence throughout the Near East.
Americans have been killed or wounded from three directions in three different countries in the Middle East in just the last few weeks. The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas killed 30 Americans inside Israel and is holding others hostage. Meanwhile American military installations in Syria and Iraq were targeted repeatedly by missile and drone strikes. If you include naval movements in the Mediterranean and Red Sea, the Americans were attacked, responded to, or were getting ready to respond to threats emanating from five places—Gaza, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen.
All of the local groups perpetrating these actions are closely allied to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Some political observers and wary Americans fear that the United States is going to be dragged into yet another expensive foreign misadventure or that Iran was going to attack the Americans as part of a broader war between Israel and its many adversaries.
The truth is rather more complicated. The actual chances of a hot war between Iran and the United States of America are still relatively low. Or putting it a different way, the chances of the ongoing decades-long low intensity war between Iran and the U.S. abruptly changing its character now and becoming a more direct confrontation still remain low. This is entirely different than a much more likely confrontation between Iran and Israel.
The pattern was set decades ago, in the eighties. Forty years ago, Iran struck the U.S. Marine Barracks in Beirut, killing 241 Americans. It is incredible to consider the fact that the United States did not respond. Iran had used a cutout, or rather a cutout of a cutout for the operation. The group claiming responsibility for the barracks bombing was called Islamic Jihad, which was a pseudonym for Hezbollah, the Shia Islamist militia set up by Iran. A joint American-French strike on an Iranian Revolutionary Guard barracks in Lebanon was called off because officials within the Reagan Administration were divided as to Iran’s culpability.
It was only in September 2023 that Ali Tabatabai, the personal representative in Lebanon of the Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei, confirmed in an Iranian News Agency interview that it indeed had been Iran which ordered the Beirut operation. This part of the interview was subsequently deleted from the IRNA website shortly after publication.
A vivid example of how not to confront the United States occurred a few years later, during the so-called “Tanker War” in the Persian Gulf, part of the Iran-Iraq War waged between Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and Khomeini’s Iran. In April 1988, in response to Iranian naval mining of international waters that damaged an American warship, the Americans launched Operation Praying Mantis, which struck a wide range of Iranian naval targets. It was the first time since World War Two that the U.S. Navy had sunk a major surface combatant when the British-built Iranian frigate Sarhand was struck by Harpoon anti-ship missiles. This is the closest that the U.S. and Iran have come to a conventional hot war.
In sharp contrast to direct confrontation, the use of proxies in carrying out operations against the Americans, giving Iran a certain amount of cover, has served the regime very well. Such ambiguity sometimes prevents a response, as in Beirut. But even when there is a response, it is almost always the local proxy that is targeted and not Iran itself.
A rare exception to this rule was the chain of events that led to the liquidation of Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in January 2020. An Iranian-controlled militia had struck an American base, killing an Iraqi-American contractor. The Trump Administration responded with an airstrike on the militia which killed several fighters. The militias then responded by attacking the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad which led President Trump to authorize the attack that eliminated Soleimani and his close Iraqi collaborator Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, one of the most powerful men in Iraq. In true Trumpian fashion, the American President threatened to attack Iran itself if the escalation continued. Either through native cunning or blind luck, Trump had—briefly—lifted the veil separating the local proxy from the puppet masters in Iran.
And it was Soleimani himself who was credited with developing the network of heavily armed proxy militias throughout the region that allow Iran to project power beyond its borders. When Iran used its proxies in 1983 against the Beirut Marine Barracks, anti-Iranian regimes existed in Iraq and Yemen, and Assad’s Syria was not interested in being a direct battlefield in a war against Israel or the Americans. Forty years later, Yemen and Iraq are ruled by pro-Iranian regimes and Assad’s Syria is much more dependent on Iran and Hezbollah than it was in 1983. And Iran was able to forge intimate ties with non-Shia Palestinian terrorists like Hamas. The tactics and equipment used by Hamas in their recent attack on Israel were pioneered by Iran or its proxies, notably Hezbollah, the main Arab enforcer of Iran’s regional presence. Given recent developments in relatively cheap offensive strike capacity, the Iranian proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and in Gaza all have Iranian-pattern missiles and drones capable of striking both Israel and various American targets in the region.
In the euphoria immediately after the disastrous overthrow of the Baathist regime in Iraq, American Neocons dreamed of overthrowing the Iranians. George W. Bush dubbed Iran, Iraq, and North Korea the “axis of evil” in his 2002 State of the Union Address. Today, some speak of Iran, Russia and China as a new “axis of evil.”
To say that the Iranian regime is evil in many ways is patently obvious. Not only does it oppress women and execute gays, but it also represses ethnic minorities and a growing Evangelical Christian convert underground. It is the world’s chief purveyor of antisemitic propaganda and supports various anti-American leftist regimes in Latin America. There is something for everyone to despise about the regime.
The question is what, if anything to do about it. Best of all would be if the Iranian people themselves were able one day to actually overthrow the regime. While the Neocon Right dreamed of overthrowing the Mullahs—a laughable thought after the expensive debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan—the Obama and Biden Administrations tried to appease Iran with tens of billions of dollars in sanctions relief in the hopes that over time the regime would moderate its behavior and become, if not pro-American, at least a “responsible” regional power whose equities in the region would be recognized and respected by the West as part of an illusory equilibrium in the Near East.
We’ve now had alternating right and left-wing fantasies about Iran, to overthrow or to appease. Behind both fantasies is a grim reality. Iran is a country with many problems, including a sclerotic dictatorship that could come apart at the seams. But it is also—in relative terms—a rising power with regional ambitions, a nation of almost 90 million people with its own energy supplies, educated middle class, industrial base, and arms industry. In this sense, it resembles its rivals Turkey, Israel, and potentially Saudi Arabia as nations dreaming of regional power if not hegemony.
The 44-year-old clerical regime ostensibly ruling the country is widely despised. But the discredited mullahs serve as useful frontmen for what are becoming the country’s real rulers, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and their internal and regional military-industrial empire. As long as the country’s rulers remain more or less united, they will be difficult to overthrow from within, though they certainly deserve to be. The regime’s goals have remained consistent no matter who is in charge – to defeat or destroy Israel and drive the Americans from the region.
Unless Iran seeks to challenge the Americans directly – a very unlikely eventuality – leading to open conflict between the two countries, it will probably remain the master of a potent, flexible proxy network that will allow it to lash out at its adversaries at arm’s length while keeping vast swathes of the Arab world under heel. A ramshackle, messy empire, but an empire none the less.
*Alberto M. Fernandez is Vice President of the Middle East Media Research Institute and a former Chief of Mission of the US Embassy in Khartoum.

The Israeli war against Hamas must not be a war against Gaza and its people
Yossi Mekelberg/Arab News/October 28, 2023
The past three weeks have been a sheer nightmare for Israelis and Palestinians, with unprecedented bloodshed and destruction in a very short period of time and no end in sight as yet. At the time of writing, Israel was yet to launch its widely anticipated ground offensive but it is expected at any minute. Amid this sea of bloodshed there might be at least a flicker of hope that the nature of such an incursion, if and when it comes, will be more surgical in nature than a frightening demonstration of military power that sweeps away and destroys everything in its path.
As the horror of the Hamas attack of Oct. 7 came to light, it was self-evident that the Israeli response would be harsh and unforgiving. Furthermore, the response from the international community — mainly the West, and first and foremost the US — in repeatedly declaring that “Israel has the right to defend itself” was bound to be interpreted by Israeli authorities as a blank check to react in whatever way they saw fit.
This still leaves the question, however, to what purpose? After all, as was contended nearly two centuries ago by the Prussian general and military theorist Carl von Clausewitz, “War is merely the continuation of policy by other means,” In other words, it is not about revenge or punishment but about achieving political goals.
Understandably, the shock experienced in the aftermath of the surprise attack by Hamas, especially about its extraordinary brutality, led to strong emotional responses from Israel’s politicians, military chiefs and, to be fair, from most quarters of Israeli society. Unfortunately, many Israelis since then have conflated the war that Israel formally declared against Hamas and Islamic Jihad with the attacks on the people of Gaza and Palestinians everywhere.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated: “We have only one goal in sight — to destroy Hamas. We will not stop until this target is met.” It remains to be seen whether this is achievable, or mere rhetoric to rally the country around the flag.
That goal likely means a long war, however, and enormous numbers of casualties on both sides. It is becoming increasingly apparent that Israel’s delay in embarking on a ground offensive was no coincidence, but due to operational considerations and international pressure. This in turn has created the space for Israel to reconsider the timing and scale of such an operation. While the visits to Israel by Western prime ministers and presidents after the attacks were a show of solidarity with the country in its time of pain and grief, and equally of addressing a political and military crisis, the delay to the anticipated ground assault has also enabled US President Joe Biden and other world leaders to deliver the message that Israel’s response should be proportionate and spare civilian lives. There is real concern that should this not be the case, the war might spill over to other arenas, destabilize the region and eventually harm Western interests throughout the Middle East.
But one might argue that achieving this will be no easy task, in light of the intensity of the situation and the ever-rising number of casualties.
The instant support shown by the US in particular, and personally by Biden, not only in terms of solidarity with Israel and its people but also regarding arms supplies and naval vessels being moved into position off Israel’s shores, means that Washington is best placed to have the last word on when the ground offensive starts and how it is conducted. Looking at the bigger picture, which is usually forgotten, preventing extremism and violence of the kind committed by Hamas will not be achieved by treating the entire population of Gaza as mere collateral damage.
Yet, wars inevitably have their own dynamics, and one knows how they start but rarely how they will end. In a way, the focus on the timing and nature of an Israeli ground attack has diverted and sedated the response to Israel’s non-stop aerial bombardment of Gaza over the past three weeks, which has already claimed, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, more than 6,000 lives, many of them civilians with nothing to do with Hamas or militancy, It has also inflicted huge swaths of destruction on Gaza’s infrastructure, which was already on the brink of collapse before Oct. 7.
Moreover, the lives of about 220 hostages, many of them foreign nationals, are dependent on how this conflict, dubbed the “Iron Swords War” by Israel, unfolds.
It is mystifying that while Washington has been hesitant to give Israeli authorities the green light to send ground forces into the Gaza Strip — in part because it does not think Israel is adequately prepared for such an intense and exacting operation, but also because of the potential for further loss of life — it has not called on those authorities to be more surgical in their aerial bombardment campaign, to prevent widespread civilian casualties, or to allow more aid convoys to enter Gaza.
A wholesale ground incursion into the Gaza Strip might be inevitable, not only for military purposes (a number of very targeted actions have already taken place) but also because Israel’s prime minister, his Cabinet and his military commanders have committed themselves to the sole objective of destroying all of Hamas’ and Islamic Jihad’s military capabilities, leaving very little room for them to mitigate this decision.
In light of the events of Oct. 7, which shocked Israeli society to the core, spread fearful doubt in the ability of its security forces to defend its citizens, and broke whatever little trust was left in the government and, especially, Netanyahu, Israel’s excessive use of force in its response was expected, even if not justified. Yet, three weeks into this response, the worst war between Israelis and Palestinians since 1948, there is a need to ensure that it does not become a matter of saving Netanyahu from the anger of his own people and his inevitable political downfall, not only for failing so spectacularly to defend the nation but also for showing such flaccid leadership abilities since the attack.
Looking at the bigger picture, which is usually forgotten, preventing extremism and violence of the kind committed by Hamas will not be achieved by treating the entire population of Gaza as mere collateral damage. This would be immoral and, equally, counterproductive.
Netanyahu might be correct that the war with Hamas will be a long one, but it must avoid hurting the innocent in the process because that would also compromise any future attempt to embark, in due course, on talks that could result in peaceful coexistence and reconciliation in the aftermath of the war.
Israel’s response must be one that builds hope for a better future that guarantees its own security, not one that will deliver Palestinians into the hands of the very people who would like to see the destruction of Israel.
This is where the international community can, and must, play an important role in restraining Israel’s use of force against civilians, ensuring the delivery of humanitarian aid, and negotiating a ceasefire and a political plan for the day after.
**Yossi Mekelberg is professor of international relations and an associate fellow of the MENA Program at Chatham House. He is a regular contributor to the international written and electronic media. X: @YMekelberg

A distracted world cannot afford to ignore Sudan’s growing plight
Hafed Al-Ghwell/Arab News/October 28, 2023
As the world takes stock of six months of unrelenting civil war in Sudan, the scale of human suffering and devastation is staggering and impossible to ignore. The conflict has claimed up to 9,000 lives and displaced almost 6 million people, forcing them to seek refuge in neighboring countries. An estimated 25 million people are in dire need of aid. However, the world’s priorities have largely been drawn away from this catastrophe. The war in Ukraine and the escalating crisis in the Middle East have diverted the focus of the international community, leaving Sudan’s conflagrations suffering an inadvertent “visibility crisis.” Irrespective of how profound the devastation in Sudan may be, its plight is likely to worsen, as pleas for empathetic global intervention and support get suffocated under the weight of the world’s divided attention. Adding to the complexity of this situation is a growing health crisis. The conflict-ridden parts of Sudan are already grappling with cholera outbreaks, with more than 1,000 suspected cases reported. Continued fighting not only hampers aid efforts but also exacerbates the spread of this and other communicable diseases, creating a vicious cycle of violence and despair. As the war rages on, there is also the potential for significant long-term damage, creating another “lost” or displaced generation. Basic services are crumbling, infrastructure is devastated, and the social fabric torn asunder. The underfunding of humanitarian efforts, with just 33 percent of the required $2.6 billion received, further compounds these challenges.
Extensive research has consistently shown that neglecting conflicts of this nature not only exacerbates the dire humanitarian crises, but also leaves room for the propagation of extremism, the threat of regional destabilization, and generational loss to an entire nation. If left to fester, Sudan’s tumult could mature into a crisis of unimaginable proportions.
So, after six months of escalation, sporadic violence and brief lulls, what is the situation in Sudan today? At the heart of the conflict remain the two powerful entities: the Sudan Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Both were instrumental in the overthrow of the Omar Bashir regime in 2019, and engineering a subsequent military takeover that effectively sidelined civilian participation in the post-Bashir interim government just two years later. However, a deep-seated power struggle over the integration of the RSF into the SAF has resulted in these erstwhile allies becoming enemies, with catastrophic consequences for Sudan’s civilian population.
If left to fester, Sudan’s tumult could mature into a crisis of unimaginable proportions.
As it stands, the SAF has managed to secure its base in Eastern Sudan, headquartered at Port Sudan along the Red Sea coast. This strategic positioning gives the SAF a degree of control over maritime trade routes, which could potentially be leveraged for military advantage. However, the capital Khartoum, once the emblem of a unified Sudan, is under the control of the RSF. The SAF’s ability to dislodge the RSF from Khartoum (or not) will be a critical determinant of the conflict’s trajectory.
On one hand, the RSF’s control of the city is significant, not just symbolically, but also for the practical control it offers over the country’s remaining, still-functional administrative apparatus. Moreover, the RSF’s seizure of the town of Kas in South Darfur has allowed it to strengthen its foothold in Sudan’s peripheries, highlighting the group’s ability to expand operational reach. Tragically, a “return” to Darfur with unremitting violence, much attributed to the RSF, paradoxically surpasses the brutality of the Janjaweed, the RSF’s notorious predecessor, intensifying the damage to Sudan’s social fabric.
Meanwhile, the SAF’s control of Eastern Sudan and Port Sudan offers it a strategic advantage. This region’s proximity to the Red Sea could potentially facilitate foreign military assistance, notably from Egypt, with which the SAF has a well-established historic relationship. This rush to establish competing areas of influence risks transforming Sudan into a disastrous mirror image of neighboring Libya, yet another casualty of a chaotic post-2011 era, and now torn apart by internal conflict and external meddling.
Foreign patrons, with vested interests and reduced deterrence from a distracted global community, will likely continue fueling this conflict, or hardening the resolve of either side in hopes of tilting the balance of power and gaining an upper hand in ceasefire negotiations. The SAF, for example, still maintains a few stubborn strongholds in and around Khartoum. A haunting anxiety hangs over the city, its fate relying on the unknown pendulum of military strategy. Will the SAF employ artillery or muster air power to expel the RSF? Failure to negotiate a credible truce and the need to up the stakes would only deepen the humanitarian catastrophe, as civilians and critical infrastructure are caught in the crossfire.
Clearly, the international community’s role in this conflict is influential. The UAE’s documented relationship with the RSF and Egypt’s ties with the SAF could potentially tip the scales in either direction. After all, the possibility of foreign reinforcement for either of the combatants could drastically alter more than just the military landscape in Sudan — it could also shape the contours of an enduring settlement. Unfortunately, despite renewed attempts, encouraging diplomacy and conciliatory efforts at conflict resolution, the quest for an enduring peace remains elusive.
Neighboring Libya’s woes are a stark reminder of the kind of future that awaits Sudan.
Thankfully, efforts persist to bring the feuding sides together at the negotiation table. It is much too premature to opine on whether the latest iteration of talks will either establish a durable ceasefire, freeze the conflict in an uneasy stalemate, or simply sow more discord. Still, the imminent return of Sudan’s army and RSF to negotiation talks convened by the US and Saudi Arabia does offer some hope, with both sides indicating a readiness to resume discussions. The military’s declaration that it will not stop fighting raises serious concerns, but it could just be more bluster to eke out greater leverage before engaging in dialogue behind closed doors. However, the situation on the ground remains as precarious as ever. Prolonged inaction has planted the seeds of disillusionment and distress, while intense battles and the fog of war nurture fertile grounds for malign actors to emerge in pursuit of interests diametrically opposed to Sudan’s stabilization. As it stands, the balance of power seems to oscillate between the SAF and the RSF, with both sides showing an uncanny resilience and a troubling defiance when neighboring Libya’s woes are a stark reminder of the kind of future that awaits Sudan.
The international community’s role in this conflict, particularly that of regional powers, will be crucial in determining the eventual outcome. It is a grim situation, and the world must act swiftly and decisively to quell the violence and restore peace in Sudan. Should fighting resume, as always, it is civilians who will endure unimaginable suffering amid this power tussle. Thus, the global community must develop a coordinated response, not only to broker a lasting peace but also to address the unfolding crisis, while taking care not to repeat the mistake of facilitating Sudan’s stabilization and transformation with deadlines and ultimatums. The conflict in Sudan is not merely a localized squabble to be compartmentalized and dismissed, but a regional crisis with potential global implications.
• Hafed Al-Ghwell is a senior fellow and executive director of the North Africa Initiative (IKSI) at the Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington D.C., and the former adviser to the dean of the board of executive directors of the World Bank Group.