Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 01-02/2024
Israel is concerned about Hezbollah: twenty times stronger than Hamas/Randa Taqi Al-Din/An-Nahar Al-Arabi/April 1, 2024
Israel says struck 10 Hezbollah targets in Rashaya al-Fukhar
10 Hezbollah Sites Targeted in Rachaya Al-Foukhar
Al-Rahi: We do not forget Lebanon's tragedy resulting from external interventions interacting with internal ones
Damascus Attack: No Red Lines for Israel/Bassam Abou Zeid//This is Beirut/April 01/2024
Syrian Mediation Between the UAE and Hezbollah
Relative Calm on the Southern Front
Senior Killed in Organized Theft in Achrafieh
How Turkiye can help prevent war spreading to Lebanon/Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/April 01, 2024

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 01-02/2024
Israel bombs Iran embassy in Syria, Iranian commanders among dead
Who Was Mohammad Reza Zahedi?
US, Israel to hold virtual meeting on Rafah offensive plans
Israeli troops withdraw from Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest, after two-week raid
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is recovering from a successful hernia surgery
Biden administration weighing $18 billion in arms transfers to Israel, sources say
Israeli PM vows to enact Al Jazeera news broadcast ban
New Palestinian government gets wary greeting
France seeks UN Security Council resolution for Gaza truce monitoring
Jordan will not allow violence, only peaceful protests at Israel Embassy: Public Security Directorate
US military destroys Houthi drones over Red Sea and in Yemen
Drone strike kills Sunni tribal leader in Iraq’s Diyala province
Iraqi militia claims responsibility for aerial attack on Israel’s Eilat port city
Cairo raises concerns over widening scope of regional conflict
Exclusive-Iran alerted Russia to security threat before Moscow attack, sources say
Saudi Deputy FM receives Iranian ambassador
Turkish local elections 2024: A seismic shift in power dynamics

Titles For The Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on April 01-02/2024
Turkish Television Discusses Hitting Greece/Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/April 01, 2024
Herzl and the Bible/ Mordechai Nisan/New English Review/April 01/2024
Netanyahu may soon leave power but his legacy will live on/Chris Doyle/Arab News/April 01, 2024
Rouhani adds new twist to Iran’s power struggle/Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/April 01, 2024
Daesh back on the warpath/Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/April 01, 2024
Equivocations and the Ongoing Wars/Charles Elias Chartouni/This is Beirut/April 01/2024

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 01-02/2024
Israel is concerned about Hezbollah: twenty times stronger than Hamas
Randa Taqi Al-Din/An-Nahar Al-Arabi/April 1, 2024
The French newspaper Le Figaro confirmed in its Monday issue that there is great Israeli concern about Hezbollah. The newspaper's correspondent in Israel, Guillaume De Deulofeu, wrote a long article in which he quoted Israeli officials as saying that Israel faces in Hezbollah an enemy whose numbers are greater than those of Hamas, whose weapons are of better quality, and which are ten or 20 times stronger than Hamas, and which is capable of confronting them. Israeli army. An Israeli source following the development of Hezbollah's strength explained that it has 130,000 units of short, medium and long-range missiles, which enables it to disrupt the Israeli air defense system, and it has 100,000 fighters, including members of the "Radwan Unit", its elite fighters. The author of the article reported that the Israeli army conducted a training exercise for the upcoming operation and was waiting for the green light to launch an attack on southern Lebanon. The “Le Figaro” article confirms what more than one official source in France told “An-Nahar Al-Arabi” about the seriousness of the situation and that “Hezbollah” has placed itself in a spiral of war that will represent a new blow to Lebanon, when it was drawn into the war in solidarity with “Hamas.” Therefore, I called for France urged the party to withdraw from southern Litani and presented its plan to both Israel and Lebanon. In this context, the American administration is pressuring Israel not to expand the front into Lebanon, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needs to continue the war in Rafah and in southern Lebanon as well. The Lebanese presidential vacuum makes matters more dangerous in such situations, especially since Hezbollah controls all the country's basic sectors with the exception of the army, which suffers from deteriorating financial and social conditions due to the shortage of salaries for soldiers. Responsible circles in France criticize the irresponsibility of the Lebanese Parliament, with its president and members, who were able to vote on a fund for gas and oil revenues quickly, while to this day they refuse to take any action for banking reform. Official sources in France wonder how the team responsible for energy in Lebanon does not realize that the consortium that came to explore for gas in it also includes international companies such as Qatar Petroleum and the Italian “Eni”, and some in Lebanon should realize how companies come to invest millions of dollars in an oil platform while the country Threatened with war. It should be noted that Total Energy drilled the first test well in Block 9 and did not promise sufficient quantities for commercial exploitation, but it did not explain this clearly, but was content with leaks from its sources.

Israel says struck 10 Hezbollah targets in Rashaya al-Fukhar
Naharnet/April 01/2024
The Israeli army on Monday said its warplanes attacked around ten Hezbollah targets in the southern town of Rashaya al-Fukhar. The Israeli military said the targets included a military depot, launch positions and other infrastructure. Hezbollah had announced eight attacks on Israeli military posts on Sunday, as Israel said that it managed to kill a senior Hezbollah missile unit commander. Hezbollah, which has a powerful arsenal of rockets and missiles, has exchanged regular fire with Israeli forces since its ally, Palestinian militant group Hamas, carried out an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, triggering war in Gaza. Cross-border fire since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza on October 7 has killed at least 348 people in Lebanon, mostly Hezbollah fighters, and at least 68 civilians, according to an AFP tally. Israeli strikes have also killed Hezbollah fighters in Syria. The fighting has displaced tens of thousands in southern Lebanon and in northern Israel, where the military says 10 soldiers and eight civilians have been killed, and Israeli has threatened an operation against Hezbollah to push it away from the border. Hezbollah meanwhile says it is targeting Israel in support of the embattled Palestinian people and Hamas amid a brutal war on Gaza that has so far killed at least 32,782 people, mostly women and children.

Israeli army says Kounine strike 'eliminated' a Hezbollah commander
Agence France Presse/April 01/2024
An air strike in south Lebanon "eliminated" a Hezbollah missile unit commander, Israel's military said, with Israel and Hezbollah exchanging near-daily cross-border fire for months. The Israeli Air Force "struck a vehicle in the area of Kounine in Lebanon in which Ismail al-Zein was located," the Israeli military said. "Al-Zein was a significant commander in the Anti-Tank Missile Unit of Hezbollah's Radwan Forces," the Israeli army added. Hezbollah confirmed the death of al-Zein in a statement which did not specify if he belonged to Radwan, an elite unit. Hezbollah, which has a powerful arsenal of rockets and missiles, has exchanged regular fire with Israeli forces since its ally, Palestinian militant group Hamas, carried out an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, triggering war in Gaza. The village of Kounine is about 10 kilometers from the Lebanon-Israel border. The strike came two days after the Israeli military said they had killed the deputy head of Hezbollah's rocket unit in a strike on southern Lebanon. Friday's strike in the town of Bazouriyeh killed Ali Abdel Hassan Naim, "one of the leaders for heavy-warhead rocket fire and responsible for conducting and planning attacks against Israeli civilians," the Israeli army said at the time. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant later toured the army's northern command and said the military would keep up its operations against Hezbollah. "We will make them pay a price for every attack that comes out from Lebanon," he said. Also on Friday seven Hezbollah fighters were killed by an Israeli strike in Syria, according to a Britain-based war monitor. Israel did not comment on that report, but at the northern command Gallant added: "We have turned from the ones who are repelling Hezbollah to the ones who are chasing them. We reach all the places in which Hezbollah is present." Cross-border fire since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza on October 7 has killed at least 348 people in Lebanon, mostly Hezbollah fighters, and at least 68 civilians, according to an AFP tally. The fighting has displaced tens of thousands in southern Lebanon and in northern Israel, where the military says 10 soldiers and eight civilians have been killed. Hezbollah says it is targeting Israel in support of the Palestinian people and Hamas. Hamas' October attack allegedly resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 32,782 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

10 Hezbollah Sites Targeted in Rachaya Al-Foukhar
This Is Beirut/April 01/2024
Israeli attacks persisted along the southern border on Monday afternoon.
The Israeli army announced in a statement on Monday that it simultaneously targeted 10 sites belonging to Hezbollah in Rachaya al-Foukhar. These sites include weapon storage facilities, missile launch pads and infrastructure. On the other hand, Hezbollah claimed three attacks on Ruwaisat al-Alam in the Kfarchouba Hills, the Baghdadi site and the Mtelleh site “with suitable weapons and direct hits.”Reports indicated that intermittent artillery shelling targeted the al-Randa area located between the towns of Rmeish and Aita al-Shaab. Additionally, the Israeli army bombarded the outskirts of the towns of Rachaya al-Foukhar, Fardis in the Hasbaya district, Habboush, the Hamames hill east of Marjayoun, Dibel and Hanine in the Bint Jbeil district with two air-to-ground missiles. The National News Agency (NNA) later reported that the strike on Hanine resulted in the injury of the citizen A. Abbas, who was transported to a nearby hospital. On Monday afternoon, Israeli aircraft flew at a high altitude over the city of Hermel and intensively at a low altitude over Keserwan and Metn. The Israeli army carried out a raid on the outskirts of the village of Hebbariyeh in the Hasbaya district on Monday morning. The area between Rachaya al-Foukhar, Fardis and the Hamames hill was also targeted with Israeli shells.

Al-Rahi: We do not forget Lebanon's tragedy resulting from external interventions interacting with internal ones
LBCI/April 01/2024
Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi presided over the annual traditional Easter Monday Mass for France at the Our Lady Church in the patriarchal headquarters in Bkerke. In his sermon, he mentioned "the tragedies of the wars between Ukraine and Russia, and between Israel and Palestine, with countries supporting from here and there, without any vision for peace, while human casualties increase, destruction widens, and losses are immeasurable."He said, "We do not forget Lebanon's tragedy resulting from external interventions interacting with internal ones, which deprived it of its active, positive neutrality," pointing out that "Southern Lebanon is an innocent victim in all of this."

Damascus Attack: No Red Lines for Israel
Bassam Abou Zeid//This is Beirut/April 01/2024
Will Iran retaliate for the Israeli strike on its consulate in Damascus, which resulted in the deaths of several Iranian Revolutionary Guard officials, most notably Mohammad Reza Zahedi?
This strike has highlighted the absence of diplomatic or political red lines against Israeli attacks. It indicates that all military moves and operations are deemed acceptable, irrespective of their time or location, even if they lead to further deterioration in the region. This question will be under scrutiny in the coming hours and days, especially as Iranian officials have promised retaliation, albeit without specifying when or where. According to diplomatic sources, it is not unprecedented for Israel to assassinate Revolutionary Guard officials in Syria and target Iranian military sites. These attacks have become nearly daily incidents, yet Iran has refrained from significantly responding or claiming responsibility for retaliation. The magnitude of Iran’s loss this time is more significant than in previous instances given the prominence of the killed figure, who led the Revolutionary Guard forces in Lebanon and Syria. Iran may perceive him as a “martyr on the path to Jerusalem,” akin to the victims who have fallen in Gaza or southern Lebanon. Therefore, a targeted response to this operation may not be necessary, considering the ongoing nature of the conflict. As long as Iran’s proxies in Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen remain actively engaged in the battle, it is acceptable if their involvement exceeds that of Iran directly. Iran continues to communicate its stance daily to both allies and adversaries, pretending that it seeks to avoid war and its further expansion. According to the same sources, in its attempt to avoid direct retaliation for this operation, which constitutes a blatant violation of the Islamic Republic’s sovereignty, Iran may interpret it as a response to a march carried out by its allies in Iraq against the Israeli city of Eilat. This strategy enables Iran to sidestep potential embarrassment by refraining from directly responding to those calling for action against Israel, while subtly implying that the score remains unsettled with Israel. The anticipation will undoubtedly linger in the coming hours and days to see if Iran will choose to enter the war. This could be exactly what Israel intended: to provoke Iran into battle, thereby embarrassing the US, whose administration is striving to counter Israel, even if only minimally. A Western diplomat noted that what stood out in the situation was Tehran’s assumption that its military officials in Syria and Lebanon would be shielded from Israeli airstrikes as long as they remained within the consulate building in Damascus.

Syrian Mediation Between the UAE and Hezbollah
This Is Beirut/April 01/2024
Syrian Intelligence Chief Hussam Luka reportedly participated in meetings with Hezbollah’s Security and Liaison Official Wafiq Safa, alongside officials from Abu Dhabi, particularly Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the national security advisor of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to informed Arab sources. Luka has long been facilitating meetings in Damascus between Safa and Emirati officials, and it is rumored that these meetings included Sheikh Tahnoon. Reports indicate that discussions focused on the regional situation, in the wake of the war in Gaza which erupted on October 7. The talks focused on the necessity for Hezbollah to engage in a comprehensive settlement plan in the region and to cease its involvement in regional crises, including Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Gaza. The security officials had many questions about Hezbollah’s position, notably regarding the so-called “support front” for Gaza that the pro-Iran party opened on October 8. They requested clear and definitive answers, stressing the need to halt military operations and to establish a safe zone that would restore stability and pave the way for the return of southern residents to their homes and settlers to their settlements, thereby facilitating the reconstruction of the South. This step is contingent upon Hezbollah’s response to the American initiative aimed at implementing Resolution 1701 fully. US Envoy Amos Hochstein had briefed House Speaker Nabih Berri and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on the initiative, as confirmed by Mikati.

Relative Calm on the Southern Front
This Is Beirut/April 01/2024
The exchange of fire between Hezbollah and Israel persisted, albeit intermittently, on Monday morning in southern Lebanon, where relative calm prevailed. The Israeli army carried out a raid on the outskirts of the village of Hebbariyeh in the Hasbaya district. The area between Rachaya al-Foukhar, Fardis in the Hasbaya district and Hamames Hill was also targeted with Israeli shells. These bombardments came after a relatively quiet night during which Hezbollah announced that it had targeted the Metula site. In addition, Israeli reconnaissance aircraft flew over villages in the districts of Tyre and Bint Jbeil from Sunday night until the next morning, while flares were dropped on border villages adjacent to the Blue Line.

Senior Killed in Organized Theft in Achrafieh
This Is Beirut/April 01/2024
In an organized theft, two Syrian nationals allegedly killed an old man on Monday inside his house in Sioufi, Achrafieh. The criminals were reportedly aided by the housemaid, also of Syrian nationality. According to initial security reports, the thieves severely beat the old couple, who were transported to the hospital after the man’s wife alerted security. Household items, as well as money and gold, were stolen. The husband (N.T.), in a wheelchair, didn’t survive the beating and died in the hospital shortly after. The criminals and the housemaid managed to escape and remain at large. Investigations are currently underway.

How Turkiye can help prevent war spreading to Lebanon
Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/April 01, 2024
Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defense minister, on Friday renewed his threat to Lebanon following an assassination operation on a Hezbollah officer in the south of the country. He said that Israel was moving “from defense to pursuit of Hezbollah.” He noted that Israel had already killed more than 320 members of the group, adding: “Wherever we need to act, we will act.”
Hezbollah is cornered. Although it is trying to avoid an all-out confrontation, the group might be pushed into one. As Israel pokes the group and hunts down its operatives one by one, it might have no option but to retaliate. This would be disastrous: Israel would destroy Beirut and Hezbollah would destroy northern Israel. On the regional level, we are witnessing a convergence: Turkiye is getting closer to both Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Erdogan in February visited Egypt for the first time in more than a decade and has also been liaising with Riyadh on Gaza. Meanwhile, in November, Ebrahim Raisi became the first Iranian president to visit Saudi Arabia in more than 10 years, as he met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi during an Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit in Jeddah.
Everyone knows that cooperation is needed to face the calamity in Gaza. Despite the mistrust that plagues regional relations, there is a necessity to come together to face the looming danger Gaza poses for the entire region. Regional states do not want the war to expand to Lebanon.
We need a buffer. The UN Interim Force in Lebanon was supposed to create this buffer, but today it is being proved that it is not enough. Here, Turkiye can play a role, as UNIFIL already has a Turkish contingent. This can be the starting point for an increase in military cooperation between Lebanon and Turkiye. An increased Turkish presence could offer a graceful exit for both Hezbollah and Israel. Israel would not hit a NATO member and Turkiye would make sure Hezbollah kept its weapons in the basement.
On the other hand, Ankara would want something in return for protecting Lebanon and, by default, protecting Hezbollah from total destruction. More than this, a war would mean the political end of the group. An Israeli war on Lebanon would devastate the country and have terrible consequences for the region. Turkiye would probably want a concession on Syria from Iran. It wants to see Bashar Assad weakened and for Syria to be made safe for refugees to return. The Syrian refugees hosted by Turkiye are causing a domestic problem, as there is growing popular discontent with their presence.
Iran cherishes Assad of course, but not as much as it values Hezbollah. In fact, the initial reason for Iran’s involvement in Syria was to prevent the fall of the regime, which would have disrupted its link to Hezbollah, the jewel in the crown of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Iran has been offering Assad its unwavering support. This Iranian support has prevented the Syrian president from making any concessions to the opposition, which is why the Geneva peace talks have proven futile.
Syrian newspaper Enab Baladi reported last month that Saudi Arabia is now preparing a conference that will bring together Assad and the opposition in order to come up with a new constitution for the country. If the Iranians pressure Assad and he agrees to a settlement and a new constitution, this would be a diplomatic win for Saudi Arabia. It would also be a way for Turkiye to cement its rapprochement with the Kingdom.
Iran would be willing to make such a compromise because a war between Hezbollah and Israel would be lethal for the Tehran-backed group. Hence, the Turkish presence might be looked at as a necessity.
The US might also accept such an agreement. The limiting of Israel’s ability to maneuver in Lebanon would be welcomed in the current circumstances. The Netanyahu government, which is controlled by extremists, is becoming a burden and embarrassment for the US. A functioning buffer zone would make the White House’s job of taming Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right allies much easier. It would also facilitate US special envoy Amos Hochstein’s task of delimiting the southern Lebanese border with Israel and force everyone to respect UN Security Council Resolution 1701 without resorting to war.
Of course, Hezbollah would not welcome a Turkish presence in the south of Lebanon, as this would greatly limit its movements. However, faced with a choice between devastation and accepting the presence of Turkish troops, the latter might be seen as the lesser evil. As I have written previously, getting Hezbollah to withdraw from the south would be extremely difficult as the group is entrenched in society. Its members live there. Hence, the best bet is to make sure the group keeps its weapons in the basement. UNIFIL has been unable to make sure this is the case, but a Turkish presence would be more forceful.
Turkish troops could make sure that neither Hezbollah nor Israel breaches the terms of UNSC Resolution 1701.
On the other hand, Turkiye would also make sure Israel does not conduct any operations in Lebanon. The Israelis would not want to face the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drone. The Turkish troops could also make sure that neither Hezbollah nor Israel breaches the terms of UNSC Resolution 1701.
However, for Lebanon to have any type of arrangement with Turkiye, it needs a functioning government. A caretaker government cannot enter into such an agreement with another state. Here, Hezbollah needs to make another concession: allowing the election of a president and the formation of a government.
Both the president and the government need to be acceptable to the international community. So far, Hezbollah has been insisting on Suleiman Frangieh. Iran might have to exert pressure on the group to accept a consensual president. Tehran wants to avoid an all-out war at all costs. Though Iran leaves internal Lebanese matters to Hezbollah, it could pressure the group if its security is threatened.
In the current circumstances, a Turkish presence in Lebanon might be the best option to prevent an assault on the country. It would provide a buffer that might prevent an undesired escalation.
*Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on lobbying. She is co-founder of the Research Center for Cooperation and Peace Building, a Lebanese nongovernmental organization focused on Track II.
Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News' point of view

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 01-02/2024
Israel bombs Iran embassy in Syria, Iranian commanders among dead
REUTERS/April 01, 2024
DAMASCUS: Suspected Israeli warplanes bombed Iran’s embassy in Syria on Monday, a marked escalation in a war pitting Israel against its regional adversaries, and Tehran said the strike killed seven military advisers including three senior commanders. Reuters reporters at the site in the Mezzeh district of Damascus saw emergency workers clambering atop rubble of a destroyed building inside the diplomatic compound, adjacent to the main embassy building. Emergency vehicles were parked outside. An Iranian flag hung from a pole by the debris.
The Syrian foreign minister and interior minister were both spotted at the scene. “We strongly condemn this atrocious terrorist attack that targeted the Iranian consulate building in Damascus and killed a number of innocents,” Syria’s Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said. Israel has long targeted military installations of its arch enemy Iran and those of its proxies in Syria, and has ramped up those strikes in parallel with its campaign against Iran-backed Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Monday’s attack was the first time Israel hit the vast embassy compound itself. Israel typically does not discuss attacks by its forces on Syria. Asked about the strike, an Israeli military spokesperson said: “We do not comment on reports in the foreign media.”Iran’s ambassador to Syria, Hossein Akbari, who was not injured, told Iranian state TV that five to seven people, including some diplomats, were killed and that Tehran’s response would be “harsh.”Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps said in a statement that seven military advisers died in the strike including Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in Iran’s elite Quds Force, an overseas arm of the corps.Iranian state media said that Tehran believed Zahedi was the target of the attack. His deputy and another senior commander were also killed along with four others. Iran’s Arabic Language Al Alam Television said that Zahedi was a military adviser in Syria who served as the head of the Quds Force in Lebanon and Syria until 2016.
Building partly used as ambassador’s residence  Citing a military source, Syrian state media said Israel launched an attack from the occupied Golan Heights onto the Iranian embassy, and that Syria shot down some missiles with its air defense system. The Iranian ambassador said the strike hit a consular building within the embassy compound and his residence was on the top two floors. The White House did not immediately reply to a request for comment. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters at a regular news briefing that the United States remained “concerned about anything that would be escalatory or cause an increase in conflict in the region.” Miller said he did not expect it to impact talks on freeing Israeli hostages held by Iran-backed Hamas. Since Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, which precipitated the war in Gaza, Israel has escalated airstrikes in Syria against both Iran’s Guards and the Tehran-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, both of which support the government of President Bashar Assad. On Friday, Israel carried out its deadliest strikes in months on northern Syria’s Aleppo province and killed a senior Hezbollah fighter in Lebanon. It has also regularly struck the airports in Aleppo and Damascus in an attempt to halt Iran’s weapons transfers to its proxies. The Israeli military said on Monday it had stopped advanced weapons, including shrapnel charges and anti-tank mines, from being smuggled into the West Bank from Iran. It said the weapons were uncovered during an operation against a Lebanese-based operative of Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, which it said was recruiting agents to smuggle weapons and carry out attacks in the West Bank.

Who Was Mohammad Reza Zahedi?
This Is Beirut/April 01, 2024
Mohammad Reza Zahedi, an Iranian Brigadier General in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force in Lebanon and Syria, was killed on Monday, as a result of a reported Israeli airstrike near the Iranian Embassy in Damascus. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Zahedi was reported to have been acting as the liaison between Hezbollah and Syrian intelligence and was the second in command to the Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard  Mohammad Reza Zahedi was a senior general in the IRGC Quds Force. He headed the team responsible for deploying Iranian air defenses in Syria. Zahedi succeeded Brigadier General Mustafa Jawad Ghafari, who was expelled from Damascus by order of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after a dispute with Russia in 2021. The air defense system being developed by Zahedi’s operations in Syria is intended to protect Iranian military sites and interests targeted by potential Israeli attacks. Zahedi was exclusively in charge of providing security in Tehran and was one of the top commanders of the IRGC in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War. During the war with Iraq, he initially led a group, then led a battalion, finally leading the fourteenth Imam Hossein Brigade of Isfahan. He was Commander of the IRGC Ground Forces from 2005 to 2008. During this period, Zahedi was also Commander of the Sarallah Brigade, which was responsible for cracking down against popular protests and uprisings in Tehran.

US, Israel to hold virtual meeting on Rafah offensive plans
Agence France Presse/April 01, 2024
The United States and Israel were due to hold a virtual meeting Monday on the planned offensive in Gaza's Rafah, an Israeli source said, a week after Israel called off a delegation's visit to Washington."The meeting is scheduled for today. It will be online. There may be a meeting in person later this week," said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Israeli troops withdraw from Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest, after two-week raid
AP/April 01, 2024
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: The Israeli military withdrew from Gaza’s largest hospital early Monday after a two-week raid, leaving behind several bodies and a vast swath of destruction, according to Palestinian residents. The military has described the raid on Shifa Hospital as one of the most successful operations of the nearly six-month war. It says it killed scores of Hamas and other militants, including senior operatives, and that it seized weapons and valuable intelligence. It confirmed forces had withdrawn Monday. The UN health agency said several patients died and dozens were put at risk during the raid, which brought even further destruction to a hospital that had already largely ceased to function. Days of heavy fighting showed that Hamas can still put up resistance even in one of the hardest-hit areas of Gaza. Mohammed Mahdi, who was among hundreds of Palestinians who returned to the area, described a scene of “total destruction.” He said several buildings had been burned down and that he had counted six bodies in the area, including two in the hospital courtyard. Video footage circulating online showed heavily damaged and charred buildings, mounds of dirt that had been churned up by bulldozers and patients on stretchers in darkened corridors. Another resident, Yahia Abu Auf, said there were still patients, medical workers and displaced people sheltering inside the medical compound after several patients had been taken to the nearby Ahli Hospital. He said army bulldozers had plowed over a makeshift cemetery in Shifa’s courtyard. “The situation is indescribable,” he said. “The occupation destroyed all sense of life here.” Israel has accused Hamas of using hospitals for military purposes and has raided several medical facilities. It says it launched the raid on Shifa after Hamas and other militants had regrouped there.
Health officials in Gaza deny those allegations. Critics accuse the army of recklessly endangering civilians and of decimating a health sector already overwhelmed with war-wounded. Palestinians say Israeli troops forcibly evacuated homes near Shifa Hospital in downtown Gaza City and forced hundreds of residents to march south. At least 21 patients have died since the raid began, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted late Sunday on X, formerly Twitter. He said over a hundred patients were still inside the compound, including four children and 28 critical patients. He also said there were no diapers, urine bags or water to clean wounds, and that many patients suffered from infected wounds and dehydration. The military had previously raided Shifa, Gaza’s largest hospital, in November, after saying Hamas maintained an elaborate command and control center inside and beneath the compound. It revealed a tunnel running beneath the hospital that led to a few rooms, as well as weapons it said it had confiscated from inside medical buildings, but nothing on the scale of what it had alleged prior to the raid. The war began on Oct. 7, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 people hostage. Israel responded with an air, land and sea offensive that has killed at least 32,782 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count but says women and children have made up around two-thirds of those killed.
The Israeli military says it has killed over 13,000 Hamas fighters, and blames the civilian death toll on Palestinian militants because they fight in dense residential areas. The war has displaced most of the territory’s population and driven a third of its residents to the brink of famine. Northern Gaza, where Shifa is located, has suffered vast destruction and has been largely isolated since October, leading to widespread hunger. Israel said late last year that it had largely dismantled Hamas in northern Gaza and withdrew thousands of troops. But it has battled militants there on a number of occasions since then, and the two weeks of heavy fighting around Shifa highlighted the staying power of the armed groups. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep up the offensive until Hamas is destroyed and all of the hostages are freed. He says Israel will soon expand ground operations to the southern city of Rafah, where some 1.4 million people — more than half of Gaza’s population — have sought refuge. But he faces mounting pressure from Israelis who blame him for the security failures of Oct. 7 and from some families of the hostages who blame him for the failure to reach a deal despite several weeks of talks mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt. Hamas and other militants are still believed to be holding some 100 hostages and the remains of 30 others, after freeing most of the rest during a ceasefire last November in exchange for the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Tens of thousands of Israelis thronged central Jerusalem on Sunday in the largest anti-government protest since the country went to war in October. Deep divisions over Netanayahu’s leadership long predate the war, which still enjoys strong public support.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is recovering from a successful hernia surgery
The Hill/April 01/2024
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is recovering from a successful hernia surgery Monday, according to the Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem in Jerusalem. The surgery went “as expected and successfully,” and the prime minister was “awake and talking to his family,” said Alon Pikarsky, the hospital’s director of general surgery, in a video statement Monday morning. Netanyahu, 74, was placed under full anesthesia and his duties were filled by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Yariv Levi, his office said in an initial statement Sunday. “In consultation with his doctors, it was decided that tonight, at the end of the agenda, the Prime Minister will arrive at the hospital for hernia surgery,” the prime minister’s office wrote. The hernia was discovered during a routine checkup the night before, according to his office. In a press conference before the surgery on Sunday, Netanyahu indicated he was optimistic about the surgery and vowed to return to work “very soon,” according to a translation from MSNBC. In July, Netanyahu underwent surgery to install an emergency pacemaker, and doctors confirmed he had a chronic heart condition. The hernia surgery comes at a critical moment for the prime minister, who faced massive anti-government protests over the weekend. Tens of thousands of Israelis touched down on central Jerusalem, calling for Netanyahu to reach a cease-fire with Hamas to free the hostages in Gaza and to have early elections, The Associated Press reported. Protestors accused him of only working in his private interests and damaging relations with the United States, a key ally of Israel, the news service added. Netanyahu responded to the calls for new elections on Sunday, arguing they would “paralyze” Israel for at least six to eight months. “They will paralyze the negotiations for the release of our hostages and in the end will lead to ending the war before achieving its goals and the first to commend this will be Hamas, and that says it all,” he said.

Biden administration weighing $18 billion in arms transfers to Israel, sources say
WASHINGTON (Reuters)/April 1, 2024
President Joe Biden's administration is weighing whether to go ahead with an $18 billion arms transfer package to Israel that would include dozens of F-15 aircraft, five sources familiar with the matter said on Monday. The sale of 25 F-15s from Boeing Co. to Israel has been under review since the United States received the formal request in January 2023, one of the sources said, long before Israel's six-month-old military campaign in Gaza. This sale would boost that number to as many as 50 F-15s. Speeding delivery of the aircraft was among the top asks by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who visited Washington last week and held talks with U.S. officials including National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, a second source said. Biden faces pressure from foreign partners, human rights groups and some of his fellow Democrats in Congress to impose conditions on arms transfers to rein in Israel’s offensive in Hamas-ruled Gaza where health officials say more than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed, many of them civilians. One U.S. official said the earliest the aircraft would be delivered is 2029, and that is if the formal notification were sent to Congress tomorrow and it were finalized immediately. Israel is seeking to beef up its already formidable fleet of warplanes not just for its continuing fight against Hamas but to ward off any further threat from the Tehran-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah on its northern border as well as from Iran, its regional arch-foe. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul gave the green light for the F-15 sale on Jan. 30, a committee aide said, when the relevant congressional offices responsible for approving major arms transfers were notified. "Administration-Congressional deliberations on the F-15 case have already occurred," the second source familiar with the matter said, but added that some of the four offices required to sign off on any arms transfers had yet to do so. U.S. law requires Congress to be notified of major foreign military sales agreements, and allows it to block such sales by passing a resolution of disapproval over human rights violations or other concerns, although no such resolution has ever passed and survived a presidential veto. An informal review process allows the Democratic and Republican leaders of foreign affairs committees to vet such agreements before a formal notification to Congress.
PLANES, MUNITIONS AND SUPPORT
The Israel package includes 50 F-15 aircraft, and support services, training, maintenance, sustainment and many years of contractor support during the jets' lifecycle, which could typically go for up to two decades, sources said. One source said the Biden administration had expressed support to Israel for its F-15 request. Washington has publicly expressed concern about Israel's anticipated military offensive in Rafah, the southernmost city of the Gaza Strip where many Palestinians have taken shelter after being displaced due to Israel's Gaza assault. Israel launched an offensive in Gaza after Palestinian Hamas militants rampaged through southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and abducting 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Washington gives $3.8 billion in annual military assistance to its longtime ally Israel, and the administration has so far resisted calls to condition any arms transfers even though senior U.S. officials have criticized Israel over the high civilian death toll. This sale is separate from the $14 billion in aid for Israel that Biden has asked Congress to approve as part of a sweeping $95 billion national security supplemental spending package that also includes aid for Ukraine and Taiwan. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Gallant discussed Israel's weapons needs during a visit to Washington last week. He told reporters he had stressed with senior U.S. officials the importance of maintaining Israel’s qualitative military edge in the region, including its air capabilities. The Israeli embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Politico and CNN reported earlier on Monday that the administration was considering the sale.

Israeli PM vows to enact Al Jazeera news broadcast ban
AFP/April 01, 2024
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged Monday to enact a ban on broadcasts in Israel from news channel Al Jazeera using authority lawmakers have just voted to grant him. The potential ban is a fresh escalation in the running conflict between Israel’s government and the Qatari channel during Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza. Israel claimed in January that an Al Jazeera staff journalist and a freelancer killed in an air strike in Gaza were “terror operatives.” The following month it said another journalist for the channel, wounded in a separate strike, was a “deputy company commander” with Hamas. Al Jazeera has fiercely denied Israel’s accusations and accused Israel of systematically targeting Al Jazeera employees in the Gaza Strip. “The terrorist channel Al Jazeera will no longer broadcast from Israel. I intend to act immediately in accordance with the new law to stop the channel’s activities,” Netanyahu said on X, formerly Twitter. The law giving Netanyahu this authority, which passed on Monday by 70 votes to 10, carries the power to ban the broadcast of content from foreign channels but also allows the closing of their offices in Israel. Netanyahu’s Likud party said he asked “to make sure that the law to close Al Jazeera will be approved this evening” in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset. Al Jazeera’s bureau chief in the Palestinian territory, Wael Al-Dahdouh, was also wounded, in an Israeli strike in December that killed the network’s cameraman. Qatar is also the home base for Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. The war between Israel and Hamas began with the militant group’s October 7 attack that resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 32,845 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

New Palestinian government gets wary greeting
Updated 01 April 2024
RAMALLAH: Palestinian Territories: A new Palestinian government that contains both Gazans and four women was sworn in Sunday, but was already facing skepticism from its own people. The Palestinian Authority led by Mahmud Abbas is under pressure from Washington to prepare to step into the breach in the aftermath of the Gaza war and undertake reforms. Newly-appointed prime minister Mohammed Mustafa said his government’s “top national priority” was ending the war as he named his new team. He said his cabinet “will work on formulating visions to reunify the institutions, including assuming responsibility for Gaza.” President Abbas, 88, is being nudged by the United States to shake the creaking authority up so it can reunite the occupied West Bank and the devastated Gaza Strip under a single rule after the war. The Palestinian Authority has had almost no influence over the Gaza Strip since Hamas took power there in 2007 from Abbas’s Fatah party. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Abbas to make “administrative reforms” when the two men met in January. Abbas’s Ramallah-based administration has been hamstrung by Israel’s decades-old occupation of the West Bank and his own unpopularity. Mustafa, an economist and longtime Abbas adviser, said the “reconstruction” of the Palestinian territories was his main goal, with Gaza in ruins after six months of Israeli bombardment in retaliation for the October 7 attack. His new cabinet is made up of 23 ministers and includes four women and six ministers from Gaza, among them former Gaza City mayor Maged Abu Ramadan who has been given the health portfolio. Among the new female faces is Varsen Aghabekian, a Palestinian-Armenian academic who will work alongside Mustafa in the foreign ministry, which he also controls.The premier, who previously worked for the World Bank, said the thorny issue of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem was also a top priority along with the “fight against corruption.”But many doubt whether the Palestinian Authority — which has been dogged by divisions, corruption scandals and the authoritarian tendencies of its aging leader — can be a credible player in any future deal. Ali Jarbawi, a former PA minister and political scientist, said it faces massive challenges on all fronts. “It is broke and it’s in debt and can’t pay its salaries, so it needs immediate financial support,” he said. And it needs to be accepted by both Palestinian factions — Fatah which controls the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza. “Thirdly it needs a political horizon, from the international community, and a commitment to the two-state solution,” Jarbawi said. And none of that can happen unless the “Israeli government, the army and settlers in the West Bank ease the pressure” on Palestinians, he added. Senior Hamas member Bassem Naim criticized Abbas’s policies. “His hijacking of the unified Palestinian decision-making” is dangerous for “our cause at this very critical stage in the history of our people,” he told AFP. He said Hamas “proposed sitting down for the sake of national dialogue and rebuilding the political system... but Abbas blocked all these attempts.” Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Marxist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine issued a joint statement earlier this month declaring that Mustafa’s appointment would only deepen Palestinian divisions. People on the streets of Ramallah, where the authority is based, were equally skeptical. “Changing the government will not solve anything because change to us comes only from the outside,” said Suleiman Nassar, 56. “We know very well that any minister or any Palestinian government will not get in without an American or Israeli” approval, he said.

France seeks UN Security Council resolution for Gaza truce monitoring
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters)/April 1, 2024
France on Monday proposed a draft United Nations Security Council resolution that seeks options for possible U.N. monitoring of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and proposals to help the Palestinian Authority assume responsibilities. "It's an ambitious project. It will take time," French U.N. Ambassador Nicolas de Riviere said of the text, which will need at least 9 votes in favor and no vetoes by the four other permanent members: the United States, Britain, Russia and China. The draft resolution, seen by Reuters, also calls for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Palestinians militants Hamas in Gaza and demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages still held in Gaza by Hamas and others. Israel's ally the United States abstained from a vote last month to allow the 15-member council to demand an immediate ceasefire for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which ends next week, and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. It has not been implemented by the warring parties. A truce, including the release of some hostages, last took place in November. The war began after Hamas fighters attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel retaliated by imposing a total siege on Gaza, then launching an air and ground assault that has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, health authorities in Gaza say. The draft U.N. text condemns the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas. Hamas in 2007 ousted the Palestinian Authority from power in the Gaza Strip.Alongside a push to end the war, global pressure has grown for a resumption of efforts to broker a two-state solution - with an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. The draft Security Council resolution "decides that a negotiated solution should be achieved urgently through decisive and irreversible measures taken by parties towards a two-State solution where two democratic States, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace." It also calls for the "massive delivery of humanitarian aid" to civilians in Gaza. A global authority on food security has warned that famine is imminent in parts of Gaza, where more than three-quarters of the 2.3 million people have been forced from their homes and swathes of the territory are in ruins.

Jordan will not allow violence, only peaceful protests at Israel Embassy: Public Security Directorate
ARAB NEWS/April 01, 2024
AMMAN: Jordan’s government will allow peaceful protests at the Israeli Embassy in Amman but not violence and damage to public property, its security directorate said on Sunday. The warning was issued by Jordan’s Public Security Directorate in the wake of clashes between the police and protesters on Saturday, the Jordan News Agency reported. Thousands of Jordanians gathered near the embassy for the seventh consecutive night to call for an end to the country’s peace treaty with Israel amid its brutal war on Gaza. The PSD stated that some protesters had verbally and physically abused its officers, and damaged public property on Saturday and during previous demonstrations. Demonstrators blocked roads and tried to be in “direct contact” with security officers, the PSD stated. A video circulating on social media showed police officers dragging a female protester away, which the PSD stated it would investigate. The PSD stated that its officers exercised “utmost restraint,” particularly toward female demonstrators. However, “a number of people were arrested” because they were violent. Officers had acted with the “utmost discipline and professionalism,” the PSD stated. It added: “The Public Security Directorate will continue its professional work in maintaining community security and peace and enabling citizens to express their opinions in accordance with the laws. “It will also continue its work in implementing and enforcing the law against anyone who attempts to transgress, or incite by action or word against security personnel.”

US military destroys Houthi drones over Red Sea and in Yemen
SAEED AL-BATATI/Arab News/April 01, 2024
AL-MUKALLA: The US Central Command said on Sunday its forces destroyed two drones in Yemen and over the Red Sea. In this latest round of skirmishes between the Houthis and US-led maritime forces in the area, one drone was destroyed over the Red Sea on Saturday morning, and the other on the ground while it was being prepared for launch in an area of Yemen controlled by the Houthis, military officials said. The drones were being used to target coalition naval ships and international commercial vessels in the Red Sea, they added. In a message about the destruction of the drones posted on social media platform X, CENTCOM said: “These actions are necessary to protect our forces, ensure freedom of navigation, and make international waters safer and more secure for US, coalition and merchant vessels.” The Houthis have not claimed responsibility for any additional attacks in the Red Sea since last Tuesday, although the US military has said that it took down ballistic missiles and drones fired by the group’s forces in recent days. Since November, the Houthis have seized a commercial ship and launched hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and remotely operated boats targeting naval and commercial vessels in the Red Sea, Bab Al-Mandab Strait and Gulf of Aden. They say their aim is to block major shipping lanes for vessels linked to and bound for Israel, to pressure authorities in the country to allow deliveries of humanitarian aid for Palestinians to enter the Gaza Strip.
In response to the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, the US and UK have launched dozens of strikes on Sanaa, Saada, Hodeidah and other Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen, targeting military sites, missile and drone launchers, and underground weapons-storage facilities, according to the two nations’ forces. The US Central Command also regularly reports it has shot down Houthi drones and missiles, or destroyed them on the ground in Yemen before launch. Meanwhile, human rights organization the Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms said that landmines and other explosive devices planted by the Houthis have killed or injured 3,607 people across the country in the past six years. It said that between January 2018 and February 2024, 1,219 civilians were killed by such devices, including 317 children and 108 women, and 1,624 civilians were injured, including 403 children and 236 women. A further 764 Yemenis were permanently disabled, losing limbs or their vision, as a result of landmine explosions. The southern province of Taiz experienced the highest number of landmine-related deaths, with 214, the organization said, followed by the western province of Hodeidah, with 154, the central province of Marib, with 148, and the northern province of Jouf, with 102. Other Yemeni provinces, including Lahj, Ibb, Sanaa, Abyan, Dhale, Saada and Hajjah, reported fewer landmine casualties. Ousama Al-Gosaibi, managing director of the Saudi-funded Masam demining project in Yemen, has criticized the international community for its “lack of action” to address the proliferation of Houthi landmines in the country. He urged the world to assist Yemen in its mine-removal efforts, and to do more to persuade the Houthis to stop laying the devices and submit maps showing the locations of its mines that are already in place.
Masam said that since its work began in mid-2018, it has cleared 436,376 antipersonnel and antitank mines, improvised explosive devices and unexploded ordnance from 55,390,882 square meters of Yemeni soil.

Drone strike kills Sunni tribal leader in Iraq’s Diyala province
REUTERS/April 01, 2024
BAGHDAD: A drone strike on Sunday killed a Sunni tribal leader in Kifri town in Diyala province east of Iraq, police and security officials said. The Sunni tribal leader from the Turkmen minority was killed when a drone dropped explosive near his guesthouse in central Kifri town, the sources said, asking not to be named because they are not authorized to speak to the media.Kifri is a disputed area with a mixed population of ethnic Kurds, Arab Sunnis and Turkmen. Turkmen is Iraq’s third largest ethnic group after Arabs and Kurds, they include both Sunnis and Shiites.
No group has claimed responsibility for Sunday’s drone attack. A statement from the Turkmen Front, the biggest Turkmen political party in Iraq, denounced it and demanded the government investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Iraqi militia claims responsibility for aerial attack on Israel’s Eilat port city
REUTERS/April 01, 2024
JERUSALEM: Israel’s Red Sea port city of Eilat came under an aerial attack on Monday that caused no casualties, the military said, and an Iranian-backed armed group in Iraq issued a claim of responsibility. The military’s statement said a flying object launched from east of Israel had struck a building in Eilat. It did not elaborate on the object or the provenance. Sirens went off in the city but there was no interception by air defenses, it said. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a militia, said in a statement that it had attacked a “vital objective” in Israel “using appropriate weapons.” It did not offer further details. Eilat has come under repeated missile and drone attack from the Iranian-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen during Israel’s almost six-month-old war against Hamas in Gaza. In November, Israel said a group in Syria had launched a drone that hit the port city.

Cairo raises concerns over widening scope of regional conflict
GOBRAN MOHAMED/ARAB NEWS/April 01, 2024
CAIRO: Egypt’s foreign minister has warned of the threat to security posed by the widening scope of conflict in the region. During a telephone conversation on Sunday, Sameh Shoukry and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian discussed the latest developments in the Gaza crisis. They agreed on the need for an immediate ceasefire and demanded that Israel adhered to UN Security Council resolutions to end the fighting and allow the free flow of aid to the Gaza Strip. Egyptian ministry spokesperson, Ahmed Abu Zeid, said Shoukry had noted Cairo’s concerns about the spread of conflict in the region, especially in the area south of the Red Sea, and its serious impact on shipping and international maritime trade. The Egyptian minister had warned of the serious consequences the ongoing situation could have on regional stability and international peace and security and pointed out that it was hindering efforts to broker a solution to the crisis. Amirabdollahian had called Shoukry to follow up on their meeting last month in Geneva, Switzerland. The ministers also chatted about Egyptian-Iranian relations and pledged their commitment to mutual respect, good neighborliness, and the promotion of regional stability. On Gaza and the deteriorating humanitarian conditions there, they reiterated their stance against displacement of Palestinians outside of the Strip and opposition to any Israeli ground military operations in the city of Rafah. And they agreed to stay in touch to further bolster relations between Iran and Egypt while working toward a politically negotiated resolution to the war in Gaza and its associated challenges.

Exclusive-Iran alerted Russia to security threat before Moscow attack, sources say
DUBAI (Reuters)/April 01/2024
Iran tipped off Russia about the possibility of a major "terrorist operation" on its soil ahead of the concert hall massacre near Moscow last month, three sources familiar with the matter said. In the deadliest attack inside Russia in 20 years, gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons at concertgoers on March 22 at the Crocus City Hall, killing at least 144 people in violence claimed by the Islamic State militant group. The United States had also warned Russia in advance of a likely militant Islamist attack but Moscow, deeply distrustful of Washington's intentions, played down that intelligence. It is harder, however, for Russia to dismiss intelligence from diplomatic ally Iran on the attack, which has also raised questions over the effectiveness of Russian security services. Moscow and Tehran, both under Western sanctions, have deepened military and other cooperation during the two-year Ukraine war. "Days before the attack in Russia, Tehran shared information with Moscow about a possible big terrorist attack inside Russia that was acquired during interrogations of those arrested in connection with deadly bombings in Iran," one of the sources told Reuters. Iran arrested 35 people in January, including a commander of Islamic State's Afghanistan-based branch ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K), who it said were linked to twin bombings on Jan. 3 in the city of Kerman that killed nearly 100 people. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the Iran blasts, the bloodiest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. U.S. intelligence sources said ISIS-K had carried out both the Jan. 3 attacks in Iran and the March 22 shootings in Moscow. Islamic State once occupied large swathes of Iraq and Syria, imposing a reign of terror and inspiring lone wolf attacks in Western countries, but was declared territorially defeated in 2017. However ISIS-K, one of its most fearsome branches, has raised the group's profile again with large-scale bloodshed. ISIS-K, named after an old term for a region that encompassed parts of Iran, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, emerged in eastern Afghanistan in late 2014 and quickly established a reputation for extreme brutality.
'SIGNIFICANT OPERATION'
A second source, who also requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, said the information Tehran provided to Moscow about an impending attack had lacked specific details regarding timing and the exact target. "They (the members of ISIS-K) were instructed to prepare for a significant operation in Russia... One of the terrorists (arrested in Iran) said some members of the group had already travelled to Russia," the second source said. A third source, a senior security official, said: "As Iran has been a victim of terror attacks for years, Iranian authorities fulfilled their obligation to alert Moscow based on information acquired from those arrested terrorists." Asked about the Reuters report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday: "I do not know anything about this." Iran's foreign ministry did not reply to a request for comment on this story. The White House had no comment on the matter. A source familiar with the U.S. intelligence on an impending attack in Russia said it was based on interceptions of "chatter" among ISIS-K militants. Challenging the U.S. assertions, Russia has said it believes Ukraine was linked to the attack, without providing evidence. Kyiv has strongly denied the assertion.
TAJIK NATIONALS
The attacks in Kerman and near Moscow both involved Tajik nationals. ISIS-K has aggressively recruited from the impoverished former Soviet republic of Tajikistan, security experts say. Sources said Iran had discussed its security concerns with Tajikistan. A diplomatic source in Tajikistan confirmed that Tehran had recently discussed with Dushanbe the issue of increased involvement of ethnic Tajiks in militant activities. Islamic State harbours a virulent hatred for Shi'ites -- Iran's dominant sect and also the target of its affiliate's attacks in Afghanistan. The hardline Sunni Muslim group views Shi'ites as apostates. In 2022 Islamic State claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a Shi'ite shrine in Iran that killed 13 people. Tehran identified the attacker as a Tajik national. Earlier attacks claimed by Islamic State include twin bombings in 2017 that targeted Iran's parliament and the tomb of the Islamic Republic's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Saudi Deputy FM receives Iranian ambassador
ARAB NEWS/April 01, 2024
RIYADH: Saudi Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Waleed Elkhereiji on Monday met the Iranian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Alireza Enayati, in Riyadh. During talks, they discussed regional and international issues of mutual concern along with ways to further strengthen relations between their two countries.
Meanwhile, Saudi Deputy Minister for Consular Affairs Ambassador Ali Al-Yousef received Turkiye’s newly appointed envoy to the Kingdom, Emrullah Isler, and wished him success in his new role.

Turkish local elections 2024: A seismic shift in power dynamics
MENEKSE TOKYAY/Arab News/April 01, 2024
ANKARA: After millions of Turkish voters went to the polls on Sunday to elect local authorities in 81 provinces, the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, suffered a major blow as the main opposition CHP scored victories across the country, consolidating its control in conservative strongholds with its biggest victory since 1977. Experts suggested Sunday’s vote was a barometer of the national feeling among voters who have long struggled with a severe cost of living crisis. The main question of the mayoral election was whether incumbent Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, 52, an arch-rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and a charismatic leader in his own right, could secure re-election in the city of 15.7 million people, against rival Murat Kurum, 47, the AKP candidate and the country’s former urbanization minister. Erdogan, who was mayor of Istanbul himself between 1994 and 1997, once claimed that whoever wins the city will be able to dominate the whole country in a general election. With a third of Turkiye’s economic output and 18 percent of the country’s population, Istanbul’s annual budget is $16 billion. In the last local elections in 2019, Turkiye’s united opposition won the main cities of Ankara, the capital, and Istanbul, the commercial hub, ending the ruling party’s 25-year reign. After Sunday’s vote, the main opposition CHP became the leading party, controlling 36 of the country’s 81 provinces. Erdogan, 70, conceded defeat, saying: “March 31 is not an end for us, but a turning point.” The president’s current term of office expires in four years. The AKP’s loss of votes nationally and defeats in major cities are expected to prevent it from initiating new constitutional changes that would allow Erdogan to rule beyond 2028. Turkiye’s next elections will be held then, barring a snap election or referendum. Imamoglu’s re-election is also expected to unite the Turkish opposition, as he is seen as a possible future challenger to Erdogan and the opposition’s best chance of regaining the presidency. The incumbent mayor of Ankara, Mansur Yavas, also retained his position by a large margin.
Murat Somer, a political scientist at Istanbul’s Ozyegin University, said Turkish voters had given a big red card to the Erdogan government’s “authoritarianism and economic policies,” while rewarding opposition politicians who have been willing to reform since the May elections, punishing those who have been caught up in infighting. “In return, Turkiye’s opposition parties have shown remarkable resilience and ability to regenerate despite a very uneven playing field in favour of the government. Ekrem Imamoglu has emerged as the new leader of the opposition and an agent of change for the next decade,” he told Arab News. Turnout was around 76 percent, with some 61 million people eligible to vote, a significant drop from last year when 87 percent of voters cast their ballots. The decline in votes for the AKP is also partly explained by the emergence of several right-wing and Islamist parties to compete with it. According to Somer, if Imamoglu can turn the broad coalition he has formed in Istanbul into a Turkiye-wide coalition, he may just be able to steer Turkiye onto a new and more inclusive course of economic development, peace and secular democracy. “The most important aspect of this process is that it is a bottom-up rather than a top-down process. Large parts of the electorate of the ruling AKP, the right-wing IYI party and the pro-Kurdish Dem Parti seem to have voted against their party’s preferences and in favour of an ethnically, culturally and ideologically inclusive national alliance for democracy and change,” he said. Somer also believes that the impact of this new local fault line on Turkiye’s political future will depend on how Erdogan and his party interpret the electorate’s message. “It is less likely that he will go against the will of the people, because despite all the authoritarianism, the principle of popular sovereignty is well established in Turkiye. These results suggest that opposition parties should follow the lead of the electorate in forming coalitions rather than the other way around,” he said. Berk Esen, a political scientist at Sabanci University in Istanbul, agrees that this is a historic victory for the country’s main opposition camp.
“Much of the media was under government control, and 17 government ministers used taxpayers’ money to campaign for the government candidates in Istanbul,” he told Arab News. “And so, the CHP candidates, who were fighting an uphill battle, ended up winning all over the country, even in some conservative strongholds, like Adiyaman, almost doubling the number of provinces it controls and increasing its share of major municipalities from 11 to 15. This is truly historic,” he told Arab News. Esen believes it will be very difficult for Erdogan to stabilize Turkiye’s competitive authoritarian regime in the future. “I don’t expect him to go for early elections, even if the opposition asks him to do so. He may try to stabilize Turkiye’s economy, but given how much the current economic policies have minimized the AKP’s base in this election, it is difficult to really see how much longer such policies can continue. And even if the economy is managed, the Turkish economy will not necessarily see the phenomenal growth rates we saw in the 2000s,” he said.
The Turkish economy grew by 4.5 percent last year, according to official statistics, and inflation is soaring to almost 70 percent. With Turkiye’s main local governments now controlled by opposition mayors, many of whom have increased their margins of victory, Esen believes it will be difficult for Erdogan to disrupt their municipal services. “It will also be very difficult for Erdogan to impose his will and for civil servants, judges and journalists to act in a partisan manner,” he said. The CHP “will also speak out against violations of freedoms, political rights and probably on the Kurdish question. I don’t think the election results will push Turkiye in a more authoritarian direction,” he added. Esen also expects some power struggles within the AKP with Erdogan, which could see many people purged from the party. Esen believes that the election results have highlighted several key points.
“First of all, the candidates matter. The opposition ended up with some really credible candidates in Istanbul and Ankara at the district level, who reflect the electorate they want to represent,” he added. “On their side, the government has pursued a tight monetary policy, as opposed to pushing for an expansionary fiscal policy as we saw in the run-up to the presidential and parliamentary elections last year. I think that played a really big role as well,” Esen said.
Meanwhile, experts stress that the drop in turnout could be explained by the disillusionment of many pro-government voters over the ongoing economic downturn. For Esen, Sunday’s election results could also be a new step toward a presidential bid. Yavas and Imamoglu may consider running for president as of today, he said. They both have “different political profiles and appeal to different segments of the Turkish electorate. I think they will start building a nationwide campaign,” he said. Esen expects this to be Erdogan’s last election. “Because I am not sure if he will be able to run such an effective campaign against these two formidable politicians. But we will also see a transition to a parliamentary system at some point, because Erdogan does not want to hand over so much power to the opposition. It is also an interesting question to explore,” he said.'

Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 01-02/2024
Turkish Television Discusses Hitting Greece
Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/April 1, 2024
[T]he Turkish government aims to conquer the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea – either militarily or demographically. The goal is the same: the islands' capture.
The Turkish media also falsely and repeatedly claims that "152 Greek islands and islets in the Aegean belong to Turkey". These islands, however, historically and legally, belong to Greece, mainly through the 1924 Treaty of Lausanne, 1932 Turkish-Italian Agreements and the 1947 Paris Treaty.
Conquest is part of Islamic jihad (warfare in the service of Islam) which, according to Islamic scriptures, is a communal obligation. The ideology of conquest in the name of jihad is what drove Ottoman Turks to invade and conquer lands stretching across Asia, Europe and Africa for more than 600 years.
According to Islamists, Muslim military expansion is an act of Allah's favor because Allah bestows those places upon Muslim conquerors.
The Turkish government's stance on the genocide is a bizarre combination of denial and conceit. First, they say that their ancestors did not commit genocide and that it was merely a war of self-defense. Then, they proclaim "they [Christians] deserved it" and "if need be, we could do it again".
The US government seems to ignore that Turkey – acting as if it is the successor to the Ottoman Empire – does not stop threatening Greece, Cyprus and Armenia with military invasion.
The US Congress would be well advised to reconsider its decision regarding F-16 sales to Turkey and this alliance altogether.
On Turkey's pro-government TV channel AHaber, political analysts and national security specialists recently discussed how the Turkish Air Force could strike Greek islands in the Aegean Sea.
On Turkey's pro-government TV channel AHaber, political analysts and national security specialists on February 28 enthusiastically discussed how the Turkish Air Force could strike Greek islands in the Aegean Sea.
Speaking in front of a map of Turkey and Greece, Mesut Hakkı Caşın, a professor of international law and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan's advisor for security and foreign policy, spoke about the Turkish Kaan fighter jet, which is currently under development, and said:
"This [Kaan] plane won't be spotted by Greek radars. As this plane hits the main targets [Aegean islands] here, the other plane accompanying it, [the UAV Bayraktar] Akıncı, can destroy all the radars here [on the islands], leaving the Greeks blind...
"Add to that our other unmanned combat aerial vehicles, Greek squares will be devastated in less than 3 hours...
"If the Greeks enter a war with us, all the weapons in all those islands will be war booty for us."
Another analyst said:
"The Turkish nation has a dream regarding the islands, but the official policy can't be expressed publicly."
Another said:
"We will not invade the islands. We will use our right to move freely. We will be a member of the European Union. And then the islands will demographically pass to the Turkish people in a generation. In a generation, all the islands will be majority Turkish."
"Conquest without a war," he added, "happens like this [through demographic domination]."
The other analyst disagreed:
"Those islands were under Ottoman rule for 500 years, but they were 95 percent demographically Greek. Even the Ottoman Empire could not Turkify them. Also, I don't believe Turkey will ever be a member of the EU. [The conquest of the islands] will happen only through war."
So, the Turkish government aims to conquer the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea – either militarily or demographically. The goal is the same: the islands' capture.
Such conversations are frequent in Turkey's pro-government media. On February 6, Turkish analysts proudly discussed the prospects of Turkey striking Greece with missiles.
On CNN Turk, pro-government analysts said that the Tayfun, the first Turkish-made short-range ballistic missile, could easily hit Greece from Turkey. "If we fire it from Edirne or Izmir, we can hit Athens," they concluded.
These threats are not new. For at least the past five years, Turkey's government has threatened to invade and annex the Greek islands in the Aegean.
On the official X (Twitter) account of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) a video was posted on April 22, 2023, claiming some Greek islands and the Western Thrace region of Greece as part of Turkish territory.
The Turkish media also falsely and repeatedly claims that "152 Greek islands and islets in the Aegean belong to Turkey". These islands, however, historically and legally, belong to Greece, mainly through the 1924 Treaty of Lausanne, 1932 Turkish-Italian Agreements and the 1947 Paris Treaty.
Erdogan's Islamist government apparently aims to annex Greek territory for two main reasons. The first stems from a belief in neo-Ottomanism and the Islamic concept of conquest, or "fetih," from the Arabic word "fath". The second reason stems from the government's proud denial of its past crimes against Christians.
Conquest is part of Islamic jihad (warfare in the service of Islam) which, according to Islamic scriptures, is a communal obligation. As author Dr. Mark Durie explains:
"The Islamic ideology of conquest demands that a land, once conquered for Islam, belongs in perpetuity to Muslims. After conquest, previous occupants became tolerated clients of the Muslim occupiers, and, according to Islamic law, they were allowed to survive as long as they paid tribute.
"Connected to the idea that conquered land belongs to Muslims is the Quranic concept of mustakhlafīn ('successors'). [Qur'anic] Sura 24:55 says, 'God has promised those of you who believe and do righteous deeds that He will surely make you successors in the land.'
"In the Qur'an, 'successors' are believers who take over the properties of a people whom Allah has destroyed, including by conquest at the hands of believers. By this logic, Muslims become the 'successors' – the rightful owners – of conquered lands."
The ideology of conquest in the name of jihad is what drove Ottoman Turks to invade and conquer lands stretching across Asia, Europe and Africa for more than 600 years. At its height, the Ottoman Empire occupied most of southeastern Europe to the gates of Vienna, including present-day Hungary, the Balkan region, Greece, and parts of Ukraine; parts of the Middle East (including present-day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel); North Africa and large parts of the Arabian Peninsula.
According to Islamists, Muslim military expansion is an act of Allah's favor because Allah bestows those places upon Muslim conquerors.
In conquering Constantinople for instance, Islamists claim that according to a hadith (Ahmad; Hakim, al-Mustadrak), Islam's prophet Mohammed (b. 570 – d. 632) encouraged Muslims to conquer the city.
Muslim Turks, led by Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, also known as Muhammed bin Murad, invaded and captured Constantinople from the Greek Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire on May 29, 1453. The city had been built and ruled by Greeks for millennia. Turks call the Sultan "Mehmed the Conqueror" (Fatih).
According to Professor Mustafa Sabri Küçükaşçı, a specialist in Islamic history:
"It was through the Hudaybiya Treaty (April, 628) that the general concept of conquest, with its spiritual dimension of reaching out to hearts and minds, entered Islamic culture. Prophet Muhammad taught his Companions (Sahaba) that conquest could occur both through war and through preaching the message of the faith."
According to what Islamic scholars, including Küçükaşçı, call "conquest hadith", Islam's prophet Mohammed said: "
Verily, you shall conquer Constantinople. What a wonderful army will that army be, and what a wonderful commander will that conqueror be."
Küçükaşçı writes:
"These types of hadith, and especially the conquest hadith, frequently referred to concepts like conquest, war, and jihad; in addition, the Companions and the Muslims who came after them brought the conquest hadith to the fore as the most defining component of the motivation for the conquest of Constantinople."
What followed the fall of Constantinople was bloodshed and the rape of Christians by Muslim Turks, among other atrocities, as described by the historian Raymond Ibrahim, from reports by eyewitnesses at the time:
"Once inside the city on that fateful May 29, 1453, the 'enraged Turkish soldiers . . . gave no quarter':
"'When they had massacred and there was no longer any resistance, they were intent on pillage and roamed through the town stealing, disrobing, pillaging, killing, raping, taking captive men, women, children, old men, young men, monks, priests, people of all sorts and conditions... There were virgins who awoke from troubled sleep to find those brigands standing over them with bloody hands and faces full of abject fury... [The Turks] dragged them, tore them, forced them, dishonored them, raped them at the cross-roads and made them submit to the most terrible outrages... Tender children were brutally snatched from their mothers' breasts and girls were pitilessly given up to strange and horrible unions, and a thousand other terrible things happened. . .'"
Mehmed II converted Hagia Sophia Cathedral, then the world's greatest church, into a mosque. In 1934, the government of Turkey turned Hagia Sophia into a museum, then, in 2020, back into a mosque. The latest transformation fully displayed the government's disrespect for religious liberty, particularly for Christianity.
A possible second reason for Turkey's aggression against its neighbors (including Greece and Armenia) is its self-satisfied denial of the 1913-23 Christian genocide in Ottoman Turkey.
The pride that Turkish authorities take in the genocide, during which over three million Christians were killed, and the rejection of any accountability, enables the government of Turkey to commit similar crimes with ease. As Turkey's Human Rights Association noted in 2016, "When a crime goes unpunished, it continues to be committed. Denial perpetuates genocide."
Turkish citizens who publicly acknowledge Turkey's genocide can, to this day, be tried in Turkish courts for "insulting the Turkish state". Since the government of Turkey smugly and aggressively denies Ottoman Turkey's genocide of Christians and has faced no consequences, its threats continue against Greece.
On January 27, Erdogan said at a public meeting of the ruling AKP party:
"Our struggle did not end with expelling the enemy [Greeks] from our lands and throwing them into the sea from Izmir."
Erdogan was referring to the 1922 Turkish massacre against indigenous Greeks, Armenians, and other Christians in Smyrna (Izmir), which brought an end to that city's millennia-long Greek civilization. Smyrna had been a majority-Greek city from ancient times until the 1922 massacre.
Lou Ureneck, a professor of journalism, went to Smyrna, did extensive research there on the city's history, and wrote a book about the massacre. According to his research:
"In September 1922, the richest city of the Mediterranean was burned, and countless numbers of Christian refugees killed. The city was Smyrna, and the event was the final episode of the 20th Century's first genocide — the slaughter of three million Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians by the Ottoman Empire. The slaughter at Smyrna occurred as warships of the great powers stood by — the United States, Great Britain, France and Italy."
Many survivors fled to neighboring Greece. Property and land that the victims had left behind were seized by Turks.
The Turkish government's stance on the genocide is a bizarre combination of denial and conceit. First, they say that their ancestors did not commit genocide and that it was merely a war of self-defense. Then, they proclaim "they [Christians] deserved it" and "if need be, we could do it again".
Erdogan spoke at a rally prior to the March 31, 2019 local elections in Izmir, referring to 1922 and proudly said: "Izmir, which threw the kafirs [infidels] into the sea."
Emphatic denial of the genocide or blaming the victims is the mainstream position across Turkey, including in schools, media, academia, politics and elsewhere.
Turkey's genocide-denial can be clearly seen in its foreign policy issues. How is the government of Turkey supposed to respect international human rights law when it takes pride in having wiped out entire nations, such as the Armenians, Assyrians and Anatolian Greeks, and has taken no step toward restorative justice?
The foreign policy of the Islamist government of Turkey is, in fact, mainly shaped by its genocide denial in addition to its ideology of Ottoman-style violent conquests and territorial expansion, an approach which has created wars and massive instability in the region, as in Cyprus, Syria, Iraq, and Armenia.
Despite these practices of the Turkish government, on January 27, the US government approved the $23 billion sale of 40 new F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, after Ankara ratified Sweden's accession to NATO. On March 1, US Senators declined to block the sale, despite strong opposition voicing deep disdain for Turkey's conduct as an ally.
The US government seems to ignore that Turkey – acting as if it is the successor to the Ottoman Empire – does not stop threatening Greece, Cyprus and Armenia with military invasion.
Azerbaijan – with the support of Turkey – has been falsely referring to the entire country of Armenia as "Western Azerbaijan" and has been demanding that it either surrender or suffer a military invasion by Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan did in fact invade the Armenian Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) in September 2023.
Azerbaijan apparently now wants to conquer the Republic of Armenia as well. Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev falsely calls Armenia's capital Yerevan "historical Azeri land," even though the Republic of Armenia has never been under Turkish or Azeri rule.
Turkey also denies the sovereignty and Greek identity of the Republic of Cyprus, 36% of which it illegally invaded and has been occupying since 1974. Cyprus had been a demographically Greek island for millennia, had also been occupied by the Ottomans from 1571 to 1878.
Erdogan, furthermore, has long been referring to Jerusalem, which was under Ottoman occupation from 1516 and 1917, as a Turkish city. "Jerusalem," he announced in 2020, "is our city."
Erdogan also announced that Turkey "firmly" backs terror group Hamas, which aims to destroy Israel and exterminate the Jews. Erdogan's government indeed provides Hamas with military, financial, political and diplomatic support, and hosts its terrorist leaders, as Qatar does.
"Turkey is a US ally," a recent report noted, "but should not be a trusted one."
The US Congress would be well advised to reconsider its decision regarding F-16 sales to Turkey and this alliance altogether.
**Uzay Bulut, a Turkish journalist, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
**© 2024 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.

Herzl and the Bible
 Mordechai Nisan/New English Review/April 01/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/128354/128354/
This unsolicited commentary is a response to three essays by Professor Salim Mansur (retired from the University of Western Ontario) — “Rabin’s Murder is Prehistory of Gaza-Israel 10/7 [broadcast as an interview],” The UNZ Review, Nov. 3, 2023; “Falsus in Uno, Falsus in Omnibus,” March 4, 2024; “Israel – Beyond the Pale,” March 20.
https://www.newenglishreview.org/articles/herzl-and-the-bible/
Salim Mansur
I became acquainted with Salim Mansur in 2017 at a conference in Jerusalem, where he presented a positive view of the right of the Jewish people to the land of Israel. As a Muslim, he pointed out that the Quran validated this primordial connection. In the same year, he wrote The Qur’an Problem and Islamism in which he defined Jew-hatred as a pathology, though not embedded in the holy book of Islam. Mansur had earlier co-authored (with Geoffrey Clarfield) an article in The National Post (Toronto), Aug. 6, 2015, titled “The Fictional Kingdom [of Jordan],” a modern state bereft of roots and legitimacy. This stood in distinct contrast with the Jews returning by right “to their ancient homeland,” a bonding with the land…”never severed or questioned, and recognized by the League of Nations.” After a second reference to the “historical and legal right” of the Jewish people, Mansur appended the definitive statement— “there is no [Israeli] occupation” —placing himself decisively on the right side of the conflict. In his own words, Israel “deserves admiration.”
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With this background, Mansur’s recent radical shift and adoption of a strident anti-Israel position was a startling bewilderment. As a free thinker and a Muslim, no less openly critical of radical Islam, he has now reconsidered his position on such a politically controversial and emotionally saturated issue. We cannot ignore the possibility that political pressures and religious condemnations can harass good people to succumb to the prevailing oppressive anti-Israel dogma.
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Let me discuss this complex subject with its attendant personal, intellectual, and political significance.
Israel’s Uniqueness
The normal criteria of history and nationhood do not apply to the Jewish people. Their identity as the chosen people or a special people, a despised people and a tragic people, defy the categories of collective human experience. Central to the mystery is their bonding of religion and nationhood, their exile and return, their universalism and particularism, and the revival of their language as a spoken tongue. Mark Twain admired what he considered the immortality of the Jews: “All things are mortal but the Jew … all other forces pass, but he remains.” Salim Mansur however anticipates a dim future for the Jews, the collapse of Israel’s modern national renaissance, as he slandered Zionism as “one of the greatest crimes of the twentieth-century.”
When both David Ben-Gurion and Chaim Weizmann pointed to the Bible as providing the mandate for modern Zionism, with the drama of that connection, this reverberated with the spiritual power of a people that had weathered the storms of a long and harrowing history. Not everyone is equipped to see this transcending story for what it is—a miracle in human dimensions—and grant it political legitimacy and stand in awe of this exceptional triumph.
No one is at fault if incapable or unwilling to think in unconventional categories concerning the Jewish people, whose millennia survival, national integrity, and political restoration in the ancient territorial cradle, are unprecedented. Indeed, the opening words of Israel’s Declaration of Independence speak volumes: “The land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious, and political identity was shaped.” The right of the Jews to self-determination led to the re-establishment of the Jewish state of Israel in 1948.
Herzl’s Scam?
In his obsession to snuff out the state of Israel, Mansur consistently sidesteps the debate over its right to Judea and Samaria, and leaps for the political jugular. Thus, 1948 is the heart of the matter, not 1967. Zionism’s guilty verdict bellows at the founding, inherent in the illegitimate birth, adulterated by the nefarious merging of Jewish colonialism with British imperialism.
However, the seeds of this manifest injustice were planted, as Mansur repeats many times, with Herzl’s scam. The contempt with which Mansur treats Herzl, the acclaimed visionary and organizer of Zionism, is almost audible. It screeches from his language. Here is his blunt forecast for Israel: “the eventual dismantlement of the last colonial-settler apartheid state in the Levant, as a sordid legacy of the age of European imperialism and colonialism.” In the shadow of the massacre by Hamas of 1,200 Israelis on October 7 last year, and the ensuing war Israel faces on multiple fronts, coupled with the abhorrent hatred of Jews and Israel escalating around the world, Mansur’s hope may seem more plausible than ever before.
Mansur expectedly agrees with the International Court of Justice and considers that Israel, as accused, may indeed be guilty of a “plausible genocide” of the Palestinians. The moral inversion that transformed savage aggressors, who murdered, raped, and decapitated Jews, into innocent victims is of a piece with the demolition of truth and the decline of civilization. Anti-Israel demonstrations in the streets and anti-Zionist protests on university campuses, acts of harassment and boycotts, and violent assaults in Paris and Los Angeles, illustrate that governments and security authorities in the West have abandoned the Jews to their fate.
Rabin and Arafat
For Salim Mansur, the audacious Zionist project—Herzl’s scam—was from the beginning designed to expel the native Arabs from Palestine. With Jewish duplicity in high gear, quite a prominent theme in the Quran, Mansur accuses Israel of violating the United Nations Partition Resolution 181 from 1947. Its key recommendation was the division of Palestine between a Jewish state and an Arab state. The Arabs rejected the proposal and chose warfare. After Israel was able thereafter to capture territory beyond the UN allotted land according to the Partition map, the Palestine Arabs came up with a ready solution. Mansur, apparently, justifies the puerile moral illogic, a standard Arab position until today, that what is lost in a war of aggression must return to the aggressor. This denies the Arabs any incentive to accept responsibility, or make peace, paying no price for going to war, then losing, against Israel.
A central contention presents Yitzhak Rabin, Israel’s prime minister from 1992-95, as the great hope for peace. Mansur believes that his assassination rang the death knell for Israeli—Palestinian reconciliation. This is totally unfounded. Not only did the PLO violate the provisions of the 1993 Oslo Accord, nor was the idea of a Palestinian state an explicit end-game promise of the so-called peace process. Rabin, despite Mansur’s insistence to the contrary, never once declared himself in favor of a Palestinian state; already in 1974, he said that ‘a Palestinian state in the West Bank will be the beginning of the end of the state of Israel’.
Arafat, Rabin’s notorious peace partner, was also unidentifiable in the misreading of Mansur. Employing theatrics and guile, Arafat was not loyal to the Oslo agreement, and violated every clause and condition—promoting hatred of Jews and intifada violence (as with bus, restaurant, and hotel suicide bombings), refusing to collect illegal weapons, releasing terrorists from Palestinian prisons. Whitewashing PLO infractions became a pattern of indoctrination in the anti-Israel broadside. This was a sure path to prevent any authentic reconciliation between the parties.
With the signing of the Oslo 2 accord in 1995, Rabin’s policy position was at the most to give the Palestinians ‘an entity which is less than a state’. A month before his assassination, speaking in the Knesset, the prime minister stated Israel would not return to the June 4, 1967 borders. As proven over the years in various peace talks and summits, the Palestinians rejected any proposal that offered them anything less than a total withdrawal from all the territories, including East Jerusalem. Rabin’s assassination was a political sideshow; in fact, it was rumored that Palestinian terrorism throughout Israel was convincing Rabin to end Oslo.
Censorship in concealing facts and selectivity in highlighting facts are operative in the biased account of the conflict as discussed by Professor Mansur. To understand the absence of peace, it is enough to listen to the genocidal refrain of “From the River to the Sea Palestine will be Free,” reflecting the ideological ambitions of the Muslim Brotherhood, Fatah, Hamas, and all other Jew-hating jihadist Muslim terrorist groups and Iran’s Islamic regime.
Islam, as the Quran demands, must be supreme over other religions, if not destroy them. Muslim conquest is the essential goal, while demoting Jews and Christians to an inferior dhimmi status, and liberating Palestine from Zionist rule. To rile against so-called “Zionist occupation,” and invert the parameters of this problem, is to obfuscate the true nature of the Israeli—Palestinian conflict. Salim Mansur once knew this, but choses now to promote a new and false narrative. Sorry Salim, but Rabin did not support the two-state solution: the Final Solution.
Hamas and the Massacre
Prominent in Mansur’s polemic is defaming the rightist and religious political personalities and groups in Israel. Anyone committed to retention of Judea and Samaria, central to the Land of Israel idea, is for him a “fanatic Zionist.” Prime Minister Netanyahu is on the guilty list. The Likud ultra-right party, in Mansur’s terminology, hijacked a secular political movement and turned Israel into an apartheid state. There is nothing fanatic about the Jewish Return to the ancient and tiny Hebrew homeland, it is not a foreign country for Jews, its geographic names ring out with the people’s history—Shiloh and Hebron, Ofra and Susia. The presence of Arabs in the territory is a human reality that does not grant them a political veto to block Zionist dynamism and resettlement.
A cacophony of contradictions mars Mansur’s essays. He is out of his element, unfortunately. He throughout decries the very idea of the Zionist project—Herzl’s scam—but then sees it as a secular political movement to be preferred to its religious version of late. He identifies political causality with the appearance of Hamas in 1988 as a response to the national-religious Gush Emunim settlement enterprise founded in 1974. Such a misreading of history ignores the Islamic and Palestinian foundations of the Islamic Resistance Movement, inspired by the Islamic Revolution in Iran and promoting the claim for the restitution of the sacred waqf territory of Palestine. As equally absurd as the argument that Hamas is a response to Elon Moreh in Samaria and to Efrat in Judea—for even without Jewish civilians, Israel’s military rule alone would be anathema to the Palestinians – is Mansur’s psychological explanation that frustration catalyzed the October 7 massacre. Hamas is not in need of psychological treatment but ideological deprogramming.
Rabbi Kook
Another glaring distortion in Mansur’s presentation of things is his quoting anti-Zionist rabbis exclusively to substantiate his thesis. Ultra-orthodox Haredi alienation from Zionism is a scandalous feature in that religious community in Israel, a generations-old cultic brainwashing. There is an accelerating public controversy concerning the military draft for yeshiva students, who have exploited the exemption rule for decades. Mansur ignored the noteworthy Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak HaKohen Kook (d. 1935) whose teachings and writings provided the mandate of Torah to legitimize, support, and embrace, modern Zionism. The contemporary national-religious community, with its dedication and energy, has in the spirit of Rabbi Kook, become a key social force in all aspects of Israeli national life, visibly serving in the Israel Defense Forces.
Thus, portraying Zionism as incompatible with Judaism is an insult and transgression. Salim Mansur trespassed into what is for him uncharted territory. In this domain, his repeated claim that Israel’s legitimacy derived from the League of Nations mandate granted to Britain in 1922, while ostensibly correct, misconstrues the historical process and Jewish self-consciousness in shaping Zionism. As documented by Barbara Tuchman in her absorbing Bible and Sword, Britain likewise would have never come to assume custodianship over Palestine – the land of Israel – on behalf of the People of Israel had the Bible not been a cornerstone of British culture and faith. This is not the only or first instance in history where religion and politics intertwine.
In Daniel Deronda published in 1876, George Eliot weaves the spiritual tapestry in the Jewish soul into the fabric of action. In that prophetic novel, Mordecai comes to appreciate that the “heritage of Israel is beating in the pulses of millions; it lives in their veins as a power without understanding…it is the inborn half of memory, moving as in a dream among writings on the walls, which it sees dimly but cannot divide into speech. Let the torch of visible community be lit!” This is the invisible stuff of life, of action, of Zionism. The Jewish past may seem dim, but also impenetrable and vital.
Rabbi Kook formulated the mystery in his inimitable Torah idiom: “Eretz Israel [the land of Israel],” he wrote in Lights, “is bound with a living bond with the nation of Israel.” A Jew cannot be loyal to his thoughts, ideas, and imaginations outside of Israel as in the land of Israel. Ezer Weizman, air force commander and deputy chief-of-staff, grasped the native spirit animating Jews in the homeland. He wrote in his autobiography Eagles’ Wings that had the Zionist movement accepted the somewhat bizarre 1903 Uganda proposal, the Jews—becoming Israelis—would not have fought in the 1967 war with the same dedication and courage as they did in the land of Israel. The sanctity of the homeland is alive however enigmatically in their Jewish being.
Not Strangers in the Land
Salim Mansur plunged into the murky waters of leftism and anti-Zionism unprepared for tackling the subject. Two further examples illustrate he was off the mark.
He implied that Israeli prime ministers born outside of Israel signals an alien and incoherent biographical datum, as if tainting the legitimacy of a Jewish state in Palestine. Israel, we note, legislated the Law of Return, allowing a Jew anywhere in the world to come at will and become a citizen—because Israel is the country of the Jewish people, a nation-state, beyond it being the country of its resident citizens. It is not a mitigation of their Israeli-ness or a birth defect handicap that prominent national leaders – Golda Meir (speaking her English-accented Hebrew), Shimon Peres, Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Shamir—all from abroad. This did not make the native-born prime ministers, Rabin, Sharon, and Netanyahu, any better for that. The Jews are the historic indigenous people of the land regardless of where individual Jews were born.
Another misconception that weakens Mansur’s presentation is his claim that Zionism was launched for Ashkenazi (European) Jews, not Eastern Oriental Sefardi Jews. Indeed, the spark struck in Russia and Poland, but the fire glowed from Morocco to Iran. Mansur believes Palestinian propaganda that Ashkenazi Jews are not Semites, as he ignores the common historic origin of all Jews reverting to the land of Israel, prior to the experience of exile and dispersion. Mansur’s scheme to drive a wedge between Jews, and disqualify part of them from any rights to the land, is a pathetic attempt to attribute to geography the stamp of identity. The Jewish people are not defined where they are but who they are, from time immemorial until now.
Bible and All
Significant parts of the world consider the Book as the source and authority for the finest moments and manifestations of the human experience. It is in its verses that law and morality, prophecy and personalities, loom large and decisive. The inspiring tales of courage and drama (about King David), tragedy and suffering (about Job), gave the Bible its indelible impact on the Western world in particular. For the inimitable Nietzsche in Beyond Good and Evil, the Old Testament (sic) is “the book of divine justice,” which is precisely what Israel deserves and not the malicious human injustice dished out by the global gang of Jew-haters. If one accepts the majestic features and teachings of the Bible, then you take the whole package. Indeed, the whole package includes God’s promise to Abraham that the land of Israel is his everlasting patrimony—for him and his seed forever. The value of consistency overrides the prejudices of selectivity.
Is there another people whose identity and statehood bear such a transcending and eternal stamp of authenticity?
Balfour and the British offered the Jews an opportunity in the twentieth-century. They reckoned that the principle of equity provided some political balance between the small Jewish people in a small land, and the many Arab peoples throughout the Middle East. Yet this was far off the mark, a misreading of Islam.
Addendum
Another Mansur interview and essay appeared on March 20: “Israel—Beyond the Pale” after I had completed this essay. Here are a few of my corrections to his false claims:
*Jews were a majority in Jerusalem by the mid-19th century;
*Pioneering Jewish settlement in the land of Israel preceded Herzl’s political appearance;
*The Arabs of Palestine were a fractured community without a national consciousness;
*Zionism developed through land purchases;
*The Balfour Declaration (1917) spoke on behalf of the Jewish people throughout the world and not just for the Jews then resident in the land;
*The original map for the Jewish national home as authorized by the League of Nations stretched eastward across the Jordan River to Transjordan.
*The British mandate in the land proved helpful to Zionism, yet at many junctures violated the trust that the League of Nations invested in them, and acted with iniquity against the Jews.
All the while Mansur’s main thesis remains carved in stone. For him, British promotion of Zionism was “an unlawful act…illegality prevailed.” The Balfour Declaration “must be corrected.” Have the Palestinians ever fulfilled an agreement, showed good will, took risks for peace, accepted responsibility for their actions, or made a gesture for accommodation?
The League of Nations (in 1920) and its United Nations successor (in 1947) represented international law. They explicitly granted the core global recognition for a Jewish state. While creating his own ethereal world of law and legality, Mansur shamelessly provides intellectual cover for the Palestinian genocidal campaign against Israel and the Jewish people. October 7 had historical precedents in Islamic history – in the 1929 massacre of Jews in Hebron, and the 1941 massacre of Jews in Baghdad. October 7 was exceptional in scope, but not in motivation and monstrous sadism.
The courageous struggle of Israel for a life of security and dignity will persevere, against all odds and against all adversaries.
Table of Contents
Mordechai Nisan is a retired lecturer in Middle East Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His most recent books are Only Israel West of the River and The Crack-Up of the Israeli Left.

Netanyahu may soon leave power but his legacy will live on
Chris Doyle/Arab News/April 01, 2024
For much of the last 14 months, vast numbers of Israeli protesters have congregated to demand the ousting of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The latest, which have taken place over the last week, have been some of the largest ever, certainly since Oct. 7. At first, the protests were to defend the independence of Israel’s judiciary, but since the Hamas attacks they have shifted to demanding accountability for all that has happened.
Conventional wisdom has it that, at some point in the coming weeks or months, Netanyahu will be unceremoniously booted out of the Israeli prime minister’s office. Many believe that his next stop will be jail, given the serious charges of corruption and bribery leveled against him. Should that happen, it would be a brutal fall from grace for Israel’s longest-serving prime minister. Should he survive in office, even Niccolo Machiavelli would be in awe.
As ever, Netanyahu is proving tough to shift. He has no sense of shame or embarrassment. He oversaw the greatest security failure in recent Israeli history, arguably since October 1973. He is yet to even apologize for that. Admitting he is wrong is not really in the 74-year-old Israeli leader’s DNA. However, he was forced to do so in October after trying to blame the security establishment for the atrocities, claiming they did not warn him. One doubts he will be too fazed by the incessant protests that have bedeviled his latest stint in office.
Many in his Likud party, no doubt with his approval, have turned on the protesters. One Likud Knesset member, Tali Gotlib, compared them to “terrorists.”
Staying in power, or at least in office, has always meant more to Netanyahu than developing a serious vision for the future of Israel. Even starving Palestinians in Gaza to the point of famine and having Israel on trial for genocide is worth it. He is also prepared, much to the alarm of many Israelis, to imperil the strategic relationship with the US that has shielded Israel in particular since 1967.
Does Netanyahu deserve the moniker “Mr. Security?” Even before Oct. 7, he had failed in many Israeli eyes. Hezbollah had built up a formidable arsenal to the north. And for all the Bibi bluster, Iran is now far closer to getting a nuclear weapon and its influence has spread across the region. Hamas in Gaza clearly developed capabilities that were a shock even to the Israeli security establishment. As for the West Bank, Netanyahu has lost control over the settler movement, with much of it veering toward the even more extreme groups under the leadership of Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Bringing those extremists into the government coalition was a disastrous move. Netanyahu legitimized extremist groups and politicians who had in the past been outlawed. Israel’s security is hardly helped by racists taking over major ministries.
But there is also Netanyahu’s very two-dimensional view of security. This is where the Israeli hammer can only see nails to bang. Leveling Gaza and turning it into one giant pot-holed parking lot and mass cemetery will not bring security. For every Hamas fighter killed, new generations will be signing up, seeking revenge — and also out of despair at not being able to change anything except by force.
It is a view of the world that perceives negotiating with an opponent or an enemy as a weakness. Netanyahu has never believed in negotiating with the Palestinians or engaging with the Palestinian nationalist movement. This is why he opposed the Oslo Accords. He, like Ariel Sharon before him, has done everything in his power to weaken them. He has basically deployed a full diplomatic freeze against the Palestinian Authority and enjoyed undermining its position in Palestinian society.
The most damaging fallout is with the families of the Israeli hostages. Last week, some of them told Netanyahu to his face that they get treated better in the White House.
Netanyahu is certainly suffering on the popularity front, with most Israelis wanting early elections. Only about a quarter of Israeli Jews trust him, with his leading opponent Benny Gantz way ahead. But polling shows that the PM’s warlike policies are popular among Israeli Jews. Some 87 percent believe that the number of Palestinian fatalities, at more than 30,000, is justified. And 43 percent think that Israel is holding back too much and should be using more force.
Given that Israelis, including many on the right of the political spectrum, cannot trust him, is it any wonder that many world leaders have not done so either? Bill Clinton was known to avoid Netanyahu. Barack Obama and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France were once caught on microphone discussing how fed up they were with him. President Joe Biden did not even invite the Israeli PM to the White House after his election victory. A bilateral meeting did not happen until September 2023, nine months after Netanyahu had returned to office. Even then, it was not in the White House but in New York. Many other world leaders are cautious about embracing Netanyahu too warmly.
Staying in power has always meant more to Netanyahu than developing a serious vision for the future of Israel.
So many questions surround the Israeli premier. What is it that has kept him in office for so long? Has he just been fortunate to have such pathetically weak opposition? Is he a political wizard or a dead man walking? This is not clear but he is undoubtedly the outstanding Israeli political operator of his generation. He is not a great strategist and, when Israelis look back on his era, it will be hard to pick out amazing achievements. His longevity is built on an understanding of the nuts and bolts of how to position himself and how to starve opponents of attention and reduce their credibility. Above all, he has never exhibited any self-doubt. But at some point, Netanyahu will exit the political scene for good. For many Israelis and others, that day cannot come soon enough. Yet the caveat is that his legacy will live on and the ultranationalist settler-supporting “Greater Israel” vision will persist. On the Israeli political side of this conflict — of course the Palestinian political house also requires an overhaul — it will take more than the demise of one man to push forward the chances for peace. It needs a fresh approach; one that is hard to imagine can rise out of the rubble of the atrocities in Gaza.
*Chris Doyle is director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding in London. X: @Doylech

Rouhani adds new twist to Iran’s power struggle
Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/April 01, 2024
In a significant development, senior figures and former officials of Iran’s executive authority have provided compelling new evidence, further highlighting the institutional crisis within the regime. This evidence underscores the erosion and misuse of constitutional and legal powers, particularly those vested in the popularly elected institutions in Iran.
Former President Hassan Rouhani validated the contents of a controversial book written by Javad Zarif, the foreign minister during Rouhani’s tenure. Zarif’s book, titled “The Depth of Patience,” shed light on the deliberations surrounding the decision to retaliate for the killing of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani. Soleimani was assassinated in a US drone strike near Baghdad International Airport in January 2020.
Rouhani echoed Zarif’s assertions on two crucial matters concerning the decision to strike America’s Ain Al-Asad base in Iraq. Firstly, the former president affirmed that neither he nor Zarif were informed of the decision to strike the base. Instead, Rouhani stated that he became aware of the strike on the morning of Jan. 8, 2020, the day it occurred, through his country’s official television news bulletin.
Secondly, Rouhani supported Zarif’s account of Iran’s advance notification to the administration of President Donald Trump regarding the impending strike on the US base. According to them, the Americans were informed of the strike before it took place by then-Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi.
Rouhani said that he felt overlooked, noting that his deputy, Abbas Araghchi, had been approached at dawn before the strike to convey the message from the General Secretariat of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran to Washington through the head of America’s interest section in the country, the Swiss ambassador. According to Zarif’s account, Araghchi learned from the Americans at that time that they had already been informed by Abdul Mahdi.
Rouhani, who was barred by the Guardian Council from running for a seat in the Assembly of Experts in last month’s election, revealed that he was also not informed of the decision to close the country’s airspace on the night the Revolutionary Guards mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane, resulting in the loss of all onboard. This is despite the fact that, constitutionally and legally, Rouhani, as the president of the Iranian Republic, held the position of president of the Supreme National Security Council. According to the constitution, the president is responsible for preparing, organizing and presiding over any meetings conducted by the council, whether they pertain to domestic security, border security or foreign affairs.
Amid efforts by the Iranian regime to downplay Zarif and Rouhani’s assertions, as well as to mitigate the extent to which the constitution and laws were undermined and neglected by the country’s leadership, attempts were made to justify the lack of notification for Rouhani and Zarif regarding the decision to launch the strike. The regime’s mouthpiece newspaper, Kayhan, suggested that “the president was asleep during the attacks.”
In response, Rouhani’s official website reaffirmed the accuracy of Zarif’s account and explicitly refuted Kayhan’s accusation. The website asserted that the president was not informed of the impending strike. It further clarified that senior military officials had requested an urgent meeting at Rouhani’s residence hours before the strike, but later informed him that the meeting had been canceled. This sequence of events indicates that the president was not asleep at the time, as claimed by Kayhan.
Rouhani’s endorsement of Zarif's account, despite the potential implications for his political future within the current regime, adds weight to the credibility of what Trump asserted during a campaign meeting in November 2023. Trump claimed to have received a message from Iran before the missile strike on the Ain Al-Asad base. This assertion was denied by Ali Shamkhani, the former secretary-general of the Iranian National Security Council.
However, Rouhani’s support for Zarif’s narrative suggests that Iran was indeed keen to inform the Americans beforehand. The symbolic nature of the strike, coupled with the limited casualties, underscored Tehran’s desire to avoid provoking a strong American response. The primary aim of the strike appeared to have been to demonstrate Iran’s capability to exact revenge for the assassination of Soleimani, rather than to escalate tensions further.
Zarif’s detailed account, corroborated by Rouhani, along with the responses from official media outlets linked to the regime, shed light on the systemic crisis of overlapping constitutional and legal powers among government institutions in Iran. This includes the intricate power dynamics between the institutions of the supreme leader and the presidency, which persisted through successive administrations until the end of Rouhani’s tenure. Particularly noteworthy is the extent of the dominance and control exerted by the supreme leader, often in collaboration with the Revolutionary Guards, over other executive branches when making strategic decisions.
The validation of these assertions by prominent figures such as Rouhani and Zarif creates significant embarrassment for the regime both domestically and internationally. It also reveals a crisis in the structure of the Iranian regime during the era of Rouhani, whose positions and policies seemed to diverge from those of the symbols and head of the ruling regime.
This reached the point where some symbols of the influential institutions in the Iranian regime expressed a desire to bypass the presidential system in favor of a different system to increase their control over the entire system. This would allow them to check the efforts of some opponents, including reformists, who want to reduce the powers of the supreme leader, and the masses, who are dissatisfied with the performance of the regime, its internal and foreign policies and the complexity of Iranian crises at home and abroad. In addition, they want to redistribute power in the event of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s departure, including placing the entire system at the disposal of the influential institutions and ending the competition between the supreme leader and the presidency.
On the contrary, the ultimate authority over all Iranian institutions, including those related to foreign and internal policies, rests with Khamenei. He wields significant control over various institutions and authorities within the Iranian regime and possesses constitutional mechanisms to curtail the powers and executive authority of the president, including the ability to dismiss him if necessary. This dynamic elucidates the persistent conflict between the institutions of the supreme leader and the presidency throughout the post-revolution period in Iran, extending up to the era of Rouhani.
The former president affirmed that neither he nor Zarif were informed of the decision to strike the US base.
However, there is growing discontent among reformists and other segments of society, who perceive an increased dominance of the supreme leader. They observe trends of elected institutions being marginalized, the value of popular mandates being diminished and the constitution and laws being manipulated, particularly concerning internal and foreign policies. Moreover, they are concerned about the consolidation of power by hard-line factions within the regime, perpetuating corruption and neglecting developmental projects.
Instead, these factions prioritize maintaining their grip on power, thus exacerbating internal economic, social and living crises. Consequently, there is a fear that such policies may once again fuel widespread protests against the regime in Iran.
*Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami is the founder and president of the International Institute for Iranian Studies (Rasanah). X: @mohalsulami

Daesh back on the warpath
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/April 01, 2024
The massacre at a public event in Moscow last week, which killed at least 140 people, was one of the largest terrorist attacks in recent years, coming just a few weeks after another mass-fatality attack in Iran at the tomb of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani.
In a message marking the 10th anniversary of the group’s 2014 expansionary phase, Daesh’s spokesman celebrated these recent attacks and urged his audiences to migrate to join the group’s many branches around the world, while also inciting Muslims in the West to carry out attacks.
Observers warn we may be on the cusp of a new wave of expansionist global terrorist activity; particularly after the thwarting of plots in locations like Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, France and Turkiye, along with dozens of recent terrorism-related arrests. European governments have moved to their highest alert levels for many years.
The entity accredited with many of these audacious plots is Daesh’s “Khorasan” branch, or Daesh-K, which is based in Afghanistan and is active throughout Central and South Asia. This branch appears to have exploited security shortcomings by prioritizing for recruitment Central Asian diaspora populations that are able to migrate between states like Russia and Turkiye with minimal visa requirements; particularly with Moscow desperate to supplement its labor force after losing hundreds of thousands in the senseless Ukraine carnage.
Russia’s sprawling security services fatefully took their eyes off the ball during the Ukraine conflict, while being unproductively used to crack down on Vladimir Putin’s political enemies. More embarrassingly for the Kremlin, it had been given prior specific intelligence from its arch-enemy, the CIA. Not only did it fail to successfully act on this intelligence — it then clumsily sought to blame America and Ukraine after the attack. The unusually brutal, highly publicized torturing of the Tajik attack suspects is likely to further inflame disenchanted Muslim minority populations in Russia. Such abuses were quickly exploited in Daesh’s propaganda to incite further “massacres.”
Images of mutilated babies, shattered families and levelled cities in Gaza are perfect recruitment fodder.
Daesh-K appears keen to distinguish itself from rival branches through audacious mass-casualty attacks and a deluge of fire-breathing propaganda in a plethora of languages, inciting violence against a broad spectrum of enemies. Although the Taliban have had some successes cracking down on Daesh operations inside Afghanistan, Daesh-K appears to be positioning itself as the principal proponent of global religious extremism. Despite their shared origins, the Taliban and Daesh are mortal enemies, denouncing each other as “sellouts” or “extremists” while locked in a furious vicious circle of tit-for-tat attacks.
For several years, Daesh appeared to be languishing in the doldrums and out of the public eye, with attacks in its former “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria decreasing year on year and the deaths of numerous leadership figures. However, attacks have recently surged in Syria — including during a 10-day campaign this January, during which the group claimed more than 110 attacks worldwide. There was also a flurry of mass-casualty, Daesh-claimed attacks around Pakistan’s recent elections. Experts warn that, since the demise of the so-called caliphate, Daesh has developed increasingly sophisticated means of communicating and transferring funds and munitions between far-flung branches via obscure terrorism transit hubs.
The Gaza crisis has been energetically exploited by extremists, who are appealing to those angered by Israel’s genocidal campaign to join their ranks. Images of mutilated babies, shattered families and levelled cities are perfect recruitment fodder. US national intelligence director Avril Haines warned that “the Gaza conflict will have a generational impact on terrorism.” Nevertheless, America and Israel failed to learn their lesson: that war crimes and atrocities will inevitably be exploited by terrorist groups. Clumsy Western messaging — such as states like Britain and Germany uncritically siding with Israel as the Gaza death toll soared — was a gift to propagandists.
The most fertile areas of expansion for Daesh and Al-Qaeda in recent years have been across sub-Saharan Africa, where 86 percent of these organizations’ claimed attacks during 2023 occurred. Along with Al-Shabab’s continued onslaught in Somalia, early 2024 saw a surge in extremist activity in northeastern Mozambique, increased attacks against Christian civilians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and dozens of assaults against military forces in the Lake Chad region.
The principal crucible has been the Sahel region, where a flurry of military coups brought forth regimes that banished Western troops and cozied up to Russia. The use of Wagner Group forces seemingly exacerbated the problem, with Al-Qaeda exploiting military massacres against civilians to declare war on these regimes. As UN forces departed bases in northern Mali during late 2023, religious extremists and separatists surged into the resulting vacuum. Burkina Faso alone accounted for a quarter of global terrorism deaths in 2023, according to the Global Terrorism Index. And Niger, since its army coup, has suffered a succession of brutal mass-fatality attacks by Daesh against military targets.
Daesh was never definitively “defeated” in Syria and Iraq, and these murderous groups have bounced back from bigger setbacks in the past. With Iran and Israel fomenting instability in Syria, the perfect breeding ground is perpetuated for Daesh, which has been encouraging militants to ready themselves for fresh attacks on the immense detention centers that hold vast numbers of terror suspects and family members. A mass breakout would be a perfect opportunity to replenish their ranks.
As we witnessed in 2014, the manpower, wealth and battle-readiness of extremist groups can increase exponentially, almost overnight, mobilizing supporters through the cynical exploitation of emotive issues like Palestine.
Global leaders who appear incapable of grappling with more than one foreign policy crisis at a time must quickly get serious about the terror threat. It is insufficient for intelligence agencies simply to increase domestic vigilance for halting imminent plots. Terrorists must be prevented from freely exploiting social media platforms like Telegram. Vast ungoverned spaces throughout failed states like Syria, Yemen, Mali, Somalia, Libya and Afghanistan cannot be allowed to again become havens for the planning and staging of worldwide terror operations. The Gaza slaughter must be brought to an immediate halt.
If the civilized world and global organizations had not spectacularly failed in their duty to promote stability and development in the planet’s poorest states, terrorist groups would have had nowhere to gain a foothold in the first place. Like bloodsucking leeches, entities like Daesh thrive and feast upon the evil and instability already present in the world, compelling us to work infinitely harder to promote peace, justice and humanitarian values.
*Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has interviewed numerous heads of state.

Equivocations and the Ongoing Wars
Charles Elias Chartouni/This is Beirut/April 01/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/128373/128373/
The Russian and Iranian imperial wars in Ukraine, Georgia and the Larger Middle East, their similes throughout the geopolitical landscapes (Taiwan, Philippines, Eastern Armenia, Syrian-Iraqi interfaces/ China, Russia-Turkey-Azerbaidjan…), and their models of governance are redefining the landmarks of renewed fascism, political violence and challenges to liberal democracy and its understanding of world order. We should add to the picture the shifting fortunes of radical Islam, its terrorist proclivities and permanent defiance towards political normalization and geostrategic stability.
Talking about equivocations when it comes to describing Iran’s foreign policy is evidence since it corresponds to an unwavering pattern of conduct with no statistical discrepancies. Far from being incidental, it reflects the inherent ambivalence of the Islamic dictatorship, its moral malevolence and self-righteousness, subversive political subtext, and unwillingness to normalize and engage the international community on its terms. This enduring political feature accounts for the inability to reform, liberalize political culture, democratize governance and foreswear subversion. Partaking of the characteristics of the communist and nazi totalitarianism, it largely explains the systemic inability to adopt reformist policies and renounce the imperial drive and connate violence. The irreformability of the Iranian regime equates with its proneness to violence, domination and imperialism. The three hallmarks are interrelated and account for their systemic nature and the politics of domestic repression and imperial warmongering.
The war in Ukraine doesn’t seem to abate and its epilogue is out of sight since the Russian autocrat is still sheltering by his faked ideological blinders and entertaining the delusions of victory over time, despite the destructive the course of conflicts and the unrealistic and damaging strategic projections. The resurgent terrorism in Russia testifies to the unraveling imperial tapestry, the downgraded inner defenses and their exponential impact on national security. The psychotic nature of security exposed its vulnerabilities and demonstrated its fragility, at a time when the dictator is projecting triumphalism and invincibility. Otherwise, his ideological falsehoods and strategic myopia reflect his deliberate denial of realities and distortion of facts.
While blaming NATO and the EU for whimsical conspiracies against Russia’s geopolitical integrity, the true menaces have pinpointed, time and again, the role of Islamist movements in Central Asia. The neo-imperial ventures in Georgia (2008), Ukraine (2014-2024) and the strategic barter with Azerbaidjan and Turkey over Artsakh and the Eastern Armenian fault lines betray his denials and highlight his false strategic extrapolations. The conflict in Ukraine highlighted its critical import and incidence on Western security and the need to buttress its limes and protect its cultural canons against Russian imperial revisionism, its Chinese and Iranian handlers and associates, and the re-editing of the leftist ideological fallacies and their new woke framing.
The war in Gaza has ostensibly displayed its manipulative nature and instrumentation by Iranian power politics and their Russian and Chinese enablers. The war turned into a butchery nurtured by Hamas illusions, deadlocked military perspectives, leftist humbug, and Israeli firm determination to redress the transient national security blunders and the psychological misperceptions driven by the late operations of October 2023. The reconfiguration of the strategic landscape is mandatory since Israelis cannot afford strategic lapses and built risks on their Southern and Northern borders. The destruction of the Hamas operational platform which doubles its urban and civil layout has led to the tragic outcomes of undifferentiated combat and civilian zones. The UN resolution 2728 (March 25, 2024), which mandated a complete ceasefire and an unconditional release of Israeli hostages was flatly rejected by Hamas which emphasized its unilateral conditionalities (Khaled Mash’al statement, March 27, 2024), reasserted Iran’s political suzerainty when Ismail Haniyeh visited Tehran and stated the inevitability of a world war, and invited Muslims to join the “Al-Aqsa Flood,” overthrow Arab political regimes and more specifically the Jordanian (Mash’al, Dayf, March 29, 2024), and destroy civil peace and working statehood in Lebanon. Ironically enough, Palestinian militancy never failed throughout its history to toe the mark of Arab and Muslim power brokers’ dictates, and corroborate their moral subservience, at a time when they could have leveraged the UN resolution to rebuild an independent Palestinian platform, engage the UN and prepare for negotiations with Israel. Hamas has proven to be deliberately criminal and irresponsible when it engaged in a reckless war and overlooked the basic rights of Palestinian civilians and their physical and moral integrity.
Israel’s retaliation was swift and unmistakably retaliatory and assertive about its national security. The massacre of October 7, 2023 was a wake-up call at a time when Israeli political differences and ideological squabbles were at a pinnacle. Their counterattack demonstrated their preparedness, the searing impact of the impromptu attack and its ugly reminiscences. Still, the complexities of the military landscape, the undifferentiated combat and civil zones, the total war modus operandi, the human shields strategy and the Hamas indifference to the human and ecological costs of urban warfare, and their unwillingness to harness truce to the imperative of military disengagement to cut on the human losses and contain the humanitarian disasters. The implementation of the UN resolution has no impact if it fails to perceive the connection between the end of hostilities, the capitulation of Hamas, and the irreversible demise of the status quo ante. The truce should be tied to the withdrawal of Hamas and the unconditional release of Israeli hostages as a prelude to a permanent truce conducive to an overall scheme of negotiated peacemaking that retrieves a whole trail of mediations and finalized agreements.
The Lebanese theater inevitably intertwines with the Gaza operational theater on account of the Iranian strategy of the “unified battlefields.” The war of attrition script followed, so far, by Israeli Defense Forces is a prelude to a total war scheme that may relay it, if US and European mediations fail in their assigned objectives: enforce UN resolutions 1559 and 1701 which consecutively stipulate the disarmament of militias and armed groups (Hezbollah and its acolytes) and re-emphasize the critical importance of a security zone under the exclusive responsibility of the UNIFIL and the Lebanese army. The takeover of State institutions by Hezbollah and its Shiite rival Amal has undercut state sovereignty and relegated it to an ancillary role dictated by the putschists in power.
If Lebanon fails to uphold its prerogatives as a sovereign State, the likelihood of total war is implacable, since the systemic threats posed by the de facto extraterritoriality of Hezbollah, the Iranian political suzerainty, and the conglomerate of Islamic radicals and terrorist proxies, created and manipulated at will by the Islamic regime in Tehran, have built the case for a full-fledged war. The defeat of Hamas is likely to trigger the second stage of the Iranian subversion strategy at the regional level which advocates for the spread of destructive chaos. Iran’s proxies have become vocal in their call for generalized destabilization, and Iranian authorities are no longer secretive about it. Saudi Arabia and the Abraham Accords partners have been in total disarray since the October massacres and failed to define a clear policy course that challenges Iran’s controls and regional upper hand. Otherwise, Israel has to reset its political and military agendas, overcome its political fractiousness and reengage the peace process. So, are the Palestinians bound to restore their political autonomy and re-enter the peace dynamics?