Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 08-09/2024
To Nasrallah, the Iranian Mouthpiece: You are the source of all the sufferings and calamities. The demise of your occupation, arrogance, and tyranny is on the Horizon/Elias Bejjani/April 08/2024
Wednesday is the first day of Eid al-Fitr
Army says LF official killed during attempt to steal his car, body taken to Syria
Lebanese army confirms: Pascal Sleiman killed during car theft attempt by Syrian gang
LF Release after the confirmation of the death of Pascal Suleiman
LAF should not run with the gang/car theft story as the official statement in the killing of Pascal Sleiman./Hanin Ghaddar/X/April 08/2024
Security de-escalation efforts accompany Pascal Sleiman's abduction: Here are the details
Israel kills Hezbollah field commander in Lebanon, UN urges halt to fighting
Hezbollah targets Ras al-Naqoura post with suicide drone
Hezbollah, Amal dealing 'positively and flexibly' with Hochstein
Israel Says Readiness Advances for 'War' on Lebanon Border
UN Urges Halt to Israel-Hezbollah Fighting
Assessing the damage: Human and economic toll after six months of confrontation in South Lebanon
Empty Villages in Southern Lebanon and Israeli Destruction Along Border
Lebanon-Cyprus collaboration: Syrian refugee crisis in focus
Cyprus President Discusses Syrian Refugee Influx in Lebanon Visit
Crisis after crisis: Lebanon stalls IMF agreement
Lebanon Front Shifts from Gaza Support to Open Operations
It has been 19 years since Samir Geagea was justly freed from an unjust imprisonment
Berri stresses Lebanon won't be dragged to war despite Israeli provocations
Iran general killed in Syria was on Hezbollah's top council
Nasrallah lashes out at LF and Kataeb over Sleiman's kidnap accusation
Sayyed Nasrallah: Hezbollah Surely Crosses Israeli Red Lines, Assassination of General Zahedi Triggered Biden to Restrain Netanyahu

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 08-09/2024
Iran FM Opens New Syria Consulate after Deadly Strike
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Media Highlights Arsenal Capable of Striking Israel
White House says ‘up to Hamas to come through’ on Gaza ceasefire
Israel, Hamas dampen hopes for speedy Gaza truce deal
CIA director presented new proposal for Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal
Progress in Gaza truce talks in Cairo, Egypt's Al Qahera news says
Gaza Truce Talks Still Deadlocked Despite Reports of Progress
Gaza still hungry as aid trickles in before Eid festival
The U.N. Security Council on Monday revived the Palestinian Authority's hopes of joining the United Nations as a full member.
Drone Footage Shows a Lively Gaza Turned to Wasteland since War Began
Palestinians returning to Khan Younis after Israeli withdrawal find an unrecognizable city

Titles For The Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on April 08-09/2024
Political Vignettes and Ongoing Conflicts/Charles Elias Chartouni/April 08/2024
On Easy Consciousness And Difficult Consciousness In Times of War/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al Awsat/April 08/2024
Gaza Timing and Iranian Timing/Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al Awsat/April 08/2024
The Banner of Gaza and Iran’s Unruly Defiance/Sam Menassa/Asharq Al Awsat/April 08/2024
Why Hamas Likens Captive Israeli Women to ‘Horses’/Raymond Ibrahim/April 08/2024

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 08-09/2024
To Nasrallah, the Iranian Mouthpiece: You are the source of all the sufferings and calamities. The demise of your occupation, arrogance, and tyranny is on the Horizon
Elias Bejjani/April 08/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/128607/128607/
In response to Nasrallah’s boring and merely Iranian rhetoric speech of today: Mr. Nasrallah, you are the cancer, and it is either your Iranian terrorist armed proxy, Hezbollah, is 100% directly responsible for all the murders, assassinations, wars, thefts, smugglings, kidnappings, atrocities and all sorts of crimes, that are evilly inflicted on Lebanon, or indirectly they are the sole result of your Hezbollah’s mercenary Iranian occupation, corruption, and the dismantling of the Lebanese state.

Wednesday is the first day of Eid al-Fitr
LBCI/April 08/2024
The Supreme Judicial Council of Saudi Arabia decided that Tuesday, April 9, 2024, is the 30th of the month of Ramadan, and Wednesday is the first day of Eid al-Fitr.

Army says LF official killed during attempt to steal his car, body taken to Syria
Naharnet/April 08/2024
The Lebanese Forces’ coordinator in Jbeil, Pascal Sleiman, was killed during the attempt to steal his car Sunday in the Jbeil district, the Lebanese Army announced on Monday, after the man’s reported abduction raised tensions in the country and prompted protesters to block the vital Jbeil highway. “The army’s Intelligence Directorate has managed to arrest most of the Syrian members of the gang that carried out the abduction operation,” the army said in a statement. “During their interrogation, it turned out that the abductee was killed by them during their attempt to steal his car in the Jbeil region and that they transferred his body to Syria,” the army added. “The Army Command is coordinating with Syrian authorities over the body’s handover and the investigations are continuing under the supervision of the public prosecution,” the army said. In earlier statements, the army had announced the arrest of five Syrian suspects. All busiesses were closed in the city of Jbeil on Monday in protest at Sleiman's abduction. Sleiman’s phone was reportedly found in the town of Thoum in Batroun after he was kidnapped and his car stolen while his kidnappers' car was found Monday in Tripoli by army intelligence agents. Political and religious leaders in lebanon condemned the incident, while Grand Jaafarite Mufti Sheikh Ahmed Qabalan warned against "political exploitation" and "sectarian mobilization." Pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper had reported Monday, based on information it received from sources in the Lebanese Forces, that the party "is keen on civil peace" and is against throwing accusations against any party before the army's investigation ends. The daily said a car with a foreign license plate and with four armed men inside it had intercepted Suleiman’s car as he returned from a funeral in the town of al-Kharbeh, between the town of Lehfed and the Mayfouq-Haqel road. "An audio recording was circulated of Suleiman talking to someone when the gunmen intercepted his car," al-Akhbar said. Suleiman is heard asking them not to kill him before the call was cut off, the reports said.

Lebanese army confirms: Pascal Sleiman killed during car theft attempt by Syrian gang
LBCI/April 08/2024
In a recent update on the abduction of Pascal Sleiman, the Lebanese army confirmed in a statement on the "X" platform that it was able to arrest most of the Syrian gang members involved in the kidnapping operation. The statement revealed that the abducted was killed by them while they attempted to steal his car in the Jbeil area, and they transported his body to Syria. It affirmed that the army command is coordinating with the Syrian authorities to hand over the body, and investigations continue under the supervision of the Public Prosecution Office

LF Release after the confirmation of the death of Pascal Suleiman
April 08/2024 (Translation from Arabic by LCCC)
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/128616/128616/
The media department of the Lebanese Forces Party issued the following statement:
After we learned with great regret, great pain, and endless anger the news of the martyrdom of our dear and valued comrade Pascal Suleiman, we ask the security and judicial services to seriously and in-depth investigate those arrested in this case, to reveal its true background.
The information that has been leaked so far about the motives for the crime does not seem to be consistent with the reality of the matter. Rather, we consider the martyrdom of comrade Pascal Suleiman to be a killing that was carried out intentionally, with premeditation and design, and we consider it, until further notice, to be a political assassination until proven otherwise.
On this sad and painful occasion, we thank the people of Byblos in general, its municipalities, and its Union of Municipalities in particular. We also thank all the allied political parties, at the forefront of which are the Phalange and Free Patriotic Parties, and the independents, who rose from the first moment to strongly condemn the incident with us. We also thank all the Lebanese who considered this affliction their affliction. About their pain at the absence of an actual state.
We call all citizens, comrades and friends who gathered in the squares and on the roads in an attempt to pressure the kidnappers not to complete their crime. We ask them all to leave the squares and open the roads, especially since Wednesday is the first day of Eid al-Fitr, and to prepare for a massive reception of the martyr’s body in a manner befitting it. Preparing to bid farewell to him with large crowds constitutes a message of rejection of the fait accompli policy, kidnapping, assassination, killing, and keeping Lebanon an arena of chaos, as well as preparing for the subsequent steps that we will take.
We extend our condolences to the family of the martyr Pascal Suleiman, wife, children, relatives, his town, and his comrades, and we promise them that the blood of the martyr Pascal will not be in vain, like the blood of all our righteous martyrs, who with their martyrdom remained in Lebanon a space of freedom, dignity, and pride.
The march continues in defense of the cause that the martyr Pascal Suleiman believed in, and anyone who thinks that through assassination he can frighten, intimidate us, and deter us from continuing our path to establish an actual state in which the citizen feels safe and secure, is wrong. The killing of Pascal Suleiman is the killing of every citizen who seeks freedom and wants to live in peace with his family and plan for his future. We will not allow the Lebanese to be discouraged, and pushed to emigrate. As we are faced with more difficult circumstances, we will continue the struggle in defense of the values we believe in, and victory is always for the people of life and those with rights.

LAF should not run with the gang/car theft story as the official statement in the killing of Pascal Sleiman.
Hanin Ghaddar/X/April 08/2024
LAF should not run with the gang/car theft story as the official statement in the killing of Pascal Sleiman. It does not make sense, and the Lebanese people aren't stupid. Also, #LF supporters are making a huge mistake in targeting Syrian refugees in Lebanon. They are victims of the same terrorist group (Hezbollah) that is responsible for killing both Lebanese and Syrians. LF leadership is responsible for channeling this anger toward serious political rhetoric/action. Don't fall into Hezbollah's trap.

Security de-escalation efforts accompany Pascal Sleiman's abduction: Here are the details
LBCI/April 08/2024
Despite the abduction of Lebanese Forces coordinator Pascal Sleiman in Byblos on Sunday, there has been a notable absence of political communication to prevent any escalation of sectarian or partisan strife, especially given that the area has a notable presence of both Hezbollah and Lebanese Forces supporters. Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and MP Ziad Hawat have worked to calm tensions within their respective bases, and they are awaiting the results of security investigations. They have hinted at escalating actions on the ground if Sleiman is not safely returned. Communication has been ongoing since the kidnapping between the Lebanese Forces and various security agencies, particularly with Army Commander General Joseph Aoun and Military Intelligence Directorate officials. Political engagement in this matter has been minimal, primarily consisting of calls for calm from both official and unofficial sources. Notably, there have been contacts between Shiite figures in Byblos and MP Hawat, but no involvement from Hezbollah officials. Additionally, individuals supportive of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri reached out personally, although it is worth mentioning that Byblos, with its diverse sectarian composition, participated in protests against Sleiman's abduction.

Israel kills Hezbollah field commander in Lebanon, UN urges halt to fighting
BEIRUT (Reuters)/Mon, April 8, 2024
An Israeli strike on southern Lebanon early on Monday killed a field commander in the heavily-armed Lebanese group Hezbollah, as the United Nations warned that shelling was spreading and urged a halt to the violence. Hezbollah and the Israeli military have been exchanging fire across Lebanon's southern frontier in parallel with the Gaza war, adding to fears of a wider regional conflict. Early on Monday, Israeli fighter jets hit the village of al-Sultaniyah and killed a field commander in Hezbollah's elite Radwan units and two other people, the Israeli military and two Lebanese security sources said. The Israeli military identified the commander as Ali Ahmed Hassin, and said he was responsible for planning and executing attacks against Israelis. Hezbollah issued a funeral notice for Hassin but without details of his role. Israeli strikes have killed around 270 Hezbollah fighters in the last six months as well as around 50 civilians, including children, medics and journalists. Hezbollah's rocket fire has killed around a dozen Israeli soldiers and half as many civilians. The shelling has displaced tens of thousands on each side and hit the farming economy in southern Lebanon particularly hard, with bombed-out fields left unplanted or unharvested. In a joint statement on Monday, United Nations' Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka and the commander of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, Aroldo Lazaro, said the violence must stop. "The unrelenting cycle of strikes and counterstrikes in breach of the cessation of hostilities constitute the most serious violation of Security Council Resolution 1701 since its adoption in 2006," they said. That U.N. decision ended a month-long war between Hezbollah and Israel nearly two decades ago but many of its points - including a withdrawal of armed groups from the south and deployment of Lebanese army troops - were never implemented.

Hezbollah targets Ras al-Naqoura post with suicide drone
NaharnetApril 8, 2024 
Hezbollah attacked Monday the Ras al-Naqoura Israeli post with a suicide drone while Israeli artillery and warplanes bombed the Marjaaoun plain and al-Khiam. Warplanes had struck overnight a house in Kfarkela and the town of Sultaniyeh in southern Lebanon, killing at least three people.
Hezbollah said one of its fighters, identified as Ali Ahmed Hussein and nicknamed Abbas Jaafar, has been killed, without saying where or when he died. Israel said Hussein was a Hezbollah commander and was killed in the Sultaniyeh strike along with two other Hezbollah members. The Israeli army had said Sunday that it has reached "another phase" of preparation on its northern border with Lebanon, where it has traded fire with Hezbollah for months. The statement came after the military said its fighter jets struck a compound of Hezbollah's elite Radwan Forces "in the area of Khiam", several kilometers north of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, as well as a command center near Toura, northeast of the coastal city of Tyre. Other strikes targeted Janta and Sifri in the Bekaa Valley, around 80 kilometers from the closest Israeli frontier. Hezbollah for its part carried out Sunday four attacks, including an attack with a suicide drone, on military bases, command centers, and soldiers in northern Israel and in the occupied Shebaa Farms and Kfarshouba Hills. The cross-border hostilities have killed at least 359 people in Lebanon, mostly Hezbollah fighters, but also at least 70 civilians, according to an AFP tally, raising fears of all-out conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, which last went to war in 2006. The fighting has displaced tens of thousands of people in southern Lebanon and in northern Israel, where the military says 10 soldiers and eight civilians have been killed.

Hezbollah, Amal dealing 'positively and flexibly' with Hochstein
Naharnet/April 08/2024
Hezbollah and the Amal Movement are “dealing positively and flexibly with U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein in his endeavor to provide the appropriate political atmosphere for the implementation of Resolution 1701,” a source close to the two parties said. Speaker Nabih Berri is in charge of “negotiating with him,” the source told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, noting that the U.S. envoy has accepted several reservations voiced by Berri regarding the recent paper that he had submitted for the demarcation of the land border between Lebanon and Israel. “Speaker Berri enjoys unconditional support from his ally Hezbollah in his negotiations with the U.S. mediator,” the source added, noting that caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati is also backing the negotiations. “Hochstein is calling for a gradual solution for the implementation of Resolution 1701, but he has linked his return (to Lebanon) to Israel’s acceptance of the proposed mechanism, something that has not happened until the moment,” the source said. The source added that Hezbollah is “ruling out an expansion of the war” in the south by Israel, “at least in the foreseeable future.”“This explains its continued systematic destruction of this number of border towns and villages,” the source went on to say.

Israel Says Readiness Advances for 'War' on Lebanon Border
Asharq Al Awsat/April 08/2024
The Israeli army on Sunday said it had reached "another phase" of preparation for war on its northern border with Lebanon, where it has spent months exchanging fire with Iran-backed Hezbollah. Hezbollah generally targets Israeli positions close to the border, and says it is doing so in support of Hamas militants who have been at war with Israel in the Gaza Strip since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7. Israel has increasingly carried out deeper strikes into Lebanese territory and has also targeted commanders from Lebanon's Hezbollah group. It has also stepped up strikes against Hezbollah and other Iran-linked targets in Syria, including an air strike on April 1 against Iran's embassy consular section in Damascus, in what analysts fear could spiral into all-out war. On Sunday the Israeli army said "another phase of the Northern Command's readiness for war" on the Lebanon front has been completed, AFP reported. In a statement on its website, the military said commanders "are prepared to summon and equip all the required soldiers in just a few hours... to the front line for defensive and offensive missions."The statement came after the military said its fighter jets struck a compound of Hezbollah's elite Radwan Forces "in the area of Khiam", several kilometres (miles) north of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, as well as a command centre near Toura, northeast of the coastal city of Tyre. Israel had earlier said it hit targets in Kawkaba, near Khiam, and Meiss El Jabal in southern Lebanon in response to rockets fired towards the Golan Heights. Emmanuel Navon, a political science professor at Tel Aviv University, told AFP it is "unlikely a war in the north can be avoided".But Israeli security expert Omer Dostri said a land war would not likely happen until the fighting on the ground in Gaza is over. Hezbollah and Israel last went to war in 2006. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech on Friday that his movement had not yet used its "main" weapons, and reiterated that Hezbollah would cease its attacks only when the war in Gaza ends. Also on Sunday a source close to Hezbollah told an AFP correspondent in eastern Lebanon's Baalbek region that other strikes targeted Janta and Sifri in the Bekaa Valley, around 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the closest Israeli frontier. The Israeli military said on Telegram that fighter jets struck "a military complex" and three other infrastructure sites "belonging to Hezbollah's air defense network" in the region, after an army drone was shot down. Iranian leaders have vowed retaliation for the embassy strike which killed seven of its Revolutionary Guards. On Sunday Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the army had "finished all its preparations to react to any scenario that could arise regarding Iran."

UN Urges Halt to Israel-Hezbollah Fighting
Beirut: Asharq Al Awsat/April 08/2024
The United Nations warned on Monday that hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon were spreading and urged a halt to the violence. In a joint statement on Monday, United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka and the commander of the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, Aroldo Lazaro, said “the violence must stop.”"The unrelenting cycle of strikes and counterstrikes in breach of the cessation of hostilities constitute the most serious violation of Security Council Resolution 1701 since its adoption in 2006," they said. That UN resolution ended a month-long war between Hezbollah and Israel nearly two decades ago but many of its points were never implemented. “The lives of thousands of people have been profoundly affected. Tens of civilians have tragically lost their lives while many more have lost their homes, their livelihoods and any sense of certainty for the future,” said the joint statement Monday. “The gradual expansion in the scope and scale of the confrontations well beyond the Blue Line significantly raises the risk of miscalculation and further deterioration of an already alarming situation,” it added.

Assessing the damage: Human and economic toll after six months of confrontation in South Lebanon
LBCI/April 08/2024
Six months have passed since the confrontation in the South, marking one of Lebanon's longest-lasting periods of strife in two decades. The war inflicted significant losses on all fronts, with border areas bearing the brunt, while its repercussions reverberated throughout the entirety of Lebanon.
However, the highest cost has been the human toll. According to the International Information Center, the casualties include 360 martyrs, among them 266 Hezbollah members, 50 civilians, 20 paramedics, 16 members of the Amal Movement, three members of the Islamic Group, three journalists, one Lebanese army soldier, and one member affiliated with the Syrian Social Nationalist Party. Moreover, 91,000 individuals were displaced from border areas. Regarding material damage, the International Information Center recorded extensive devastation, with 1,700 homes completely destroyed, 1,500 homes partially damaged, and minor damage reported in 5,000 homes. The agricultural sector suffered significant losses as well. According to the Agriculture Ministry, approximately 10 million square meters of land were scorched by white phosphorus, with olive trees bearing the brunt of the damage. In the livestock sector, the Ministry reported the loss of 340,000 poultry, 970 head of cattle, and damage to 91 agricultural tents. According to the International Information Center, the South's direct economic damage over six months amounted to $370 million. The indirect damage to Lebanon as a whole, resulting from the decline in airport traffic, the decline in the number of tourists and expatriates arriving in Lebanon, the decline in foreign investments, and many others, amounts to $6 million per day, totaling around $1.1 billion over six months. This has resulted in an estimated overall economic cost of around $1.5 billion due to the war.

Empty Villages in Southern Lebanon and Israeli Destruction Along Border
Beirut: Nazeer Rida/Asharq Al Awsat/April 08/2024
Lebanese resident Mohammed, 37, took advantage of a recent funeral announcement in his hometown of Khiam to return after leaving five months ago. He felt safer joining the funeral procession from Nabatieh, despite Israeli drones overhead. His short visit of about two hours revealed extensive damage from Israeli airstrikes, leaving him in tears at the sight of his neighbor’s destroyed home. Similar experiences are shared by visitors to southern Lebanon’s border region, where towns and homes have been destroyed by Israeli shelling and airstrikes. Mohammed, like many, considers himself lucky to have left his house, seeing it as a necessary step to protect against ongoing attacks that don’t differentiate between civilians and others. Compared to neighboring villages, Khiam’s destruction is relatively mild, with places like Aita al-Shaab suffering the worst. According to a volunteer with an international relief organization, Kfar Kila has seen over 400 homes damaged. The destruction extends to Aita al-Shaab, where entire residential blocks have been leveled by Israeli airstrikes over the past six months. Since Oct. 8, the Israeli military has stepped up attacks on villages and border towns, moving from artillery fire to drone strikes and aerial bombings from fighter jets. Official sources in southern Lebanon report that “more than 4,000 attacks have hit 23 towns directly along the border with Israel since Oct. 8.”Nearby towns deeper into Lebanon have also faced airstrikes and artillery fire, but less frequently. A report by the UN Development Program in Lebanon last December found that over 90 villages were targeted, with some attacks hitting empty homes and facilities. Exact numbers of homes destroyed or damaged are hard to come by due to ongoing fighting, preventing official surveys. However, initial estimates suggest over 1,200 homes have been completely destroyed, with about 5,000 suffering partial damage. The true extent of the damage won't be known until officials can conduct thorough assessments.

Lebanon-Cyprus collaboration: Syrian refugee crisis in focus
LBCI/April 08/2024
For the first time, the Cypriot President makes a visit to Beirut to address the Syrian displacement and illegal migration issues, marking a collaborative effort between the two countries. During a meeting at the Grand Serail, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the Cypriot guest discussed the repercussions of the displacement on Lebanon's existence, with the Cypriot side showing an understanding of the situation. In an extensive meeting involving security officials, Lebanon explained the reality of the displacement, revealing that Syrians constitute 30% of Lebanon's population, with a birth rate reaching 50%. Consequently, Prime Minister Mikati requested assistance from the European Union to repatriate them or secure their residency in a third country. Given the shared damage between Lebanon, Cyprus, and several European countries, Cyprus aims to soften the stance of some European nations opposed to repatriating refugees before a political solution in Syria is reached. Cyprus will seek to relocate them to deemed safe areas without altering the European stance towards the Syrian regime, as communicated to the Lebanese side. Nicosia voiced concerns over the promotion of sea trips from Beirut to the island. However, the prevailing sentiment during the meeting was that security alone cannot provide a lasting solution. Considering Cyprus' recent influx of hundreds of migrants, the Cypriot President pledged to repatriate them to Syria through Lebanon, promising assistance in line with the UNHCR's guidelines to avoid Lebanon being perceived as coercing their return. In return, Lebanon requested assistance in obtaining complete data from UNHCR. Cyprus advised Lebanon to attend the Brussels Conference on Displacement, scheduled for late April, with a comprehensive file considering safe zones in Syria. With both sides affirming the strength of their relationship, Cyprus expressed its commitment to securing an aid package for the Lebanese government separate from the displacement issue, along with support for the Lebanese army in combating smuggling. The Cypriot side advised Lebanon to implement the reforms required by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which would enhance its credibility in the international community. Moreover, the Cypriot President proposed signing a Memorandum of Understanding between Lebanese and Cypriot labor ministries to open up employment opportunities for Lebanese citizens.

Cyprus President Discusses Syrian Refugee Influx in Lebanon Visit
Asharq Al Awsat/April 08/2024
Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati and visiting Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides discussed migration on Monday in Beirut, both sides said, as Nicosia pushes the Lebanese authorities to stem boat departures. Cyprus says the Israel-Hamas war, which has triggered a flare-up on the Israel-Lebanon border, has weakened Lebanon's efforts to monitor its territorial waters and prevent migrant vessel departures. The Mediterranean island nation has reported a surge in Syrian arrivals in recent weeks. According to Lebanese authorities, the country is home to some two million Syrian refugees -- with 800,000 registered with the United Nations -- the world's highest number per capita. However, a grinding economic crisis has helped turn the country into a major departure point for refugees hoping to reach Europe. "A very constructive discussion took place" between Mikati and Christodoulides, "during which the cooperation of the two countries with the substantial assistance of the European Commission was agreed upon," said a statement from Cypriot government spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis. It did not detail the specifics of the agreement or the assistance. Cyprus is the European Union's easternmost member, located less than 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the coast of Lebanon and neighboring Syria. A statement from the Lebanese premier's office said Mikati and Christodoulides emphasized "the importance of finding a comprehensive and sustainable solution to the Syria displacement crisis". "Lebanon's army and security forces are doing their best to stop illegal immigration," Mikati was quoted as saying in the statement. "But this cannot be achieved without the return of those seeking safety to safe areas in Syria or securing their residency in third countries," he added. Nicosia, which for several years has had an agreement with Beirut for the return of irregular migrants, last week urged Brussels to compel Lebanon to stop migrant boats from leaving for Cyprus, suggesting EU assistance should be cut if flows persist. Christodoulides has also been pushing the EU to declare parts of Syria, ravaged by more than a decade of civil war, as safe places to which asylum seekers can be legally returned.
'Root causes'
Mikati urged the EU and the international community to "take new steps and reconsider their policies on Syria's security", but noted that "it is also necessary to increase efforts to address the root causes of the refugee crisis". Christodoulides met with Mikati because Lebanon's presidency is vacant amid protracted political wrangling. Syria's civil war, which erupted in 2011 after the government repressed peaceful pro-democracy protests, has killed more than half a million people and ravaged the country's economy and infrastructure, while security remains tenuous across swathes of the country. The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, told AFP that as of April 4, more than 40 boats carrying some 2,500 people had landed in Cyprus this year, but was unable to specify which had departed from Lebanon and which from Syria. Last year, UNHCR expressed concern over the return of more than 100 Syrian migrants to Lebanon, saying they had not been screened to assess whether they needed legal protection or if they might be deported to their homeland. Nicosia insists returns are legal under its bilateral agreement with Beirut. Lebanese authorities from time to time announce they have thwarted smuggling operations by sea, or the arrest of both smugglers and would-be migrants. Christodoulides on Sunday met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and discussed "concerns about the creation of a new migration route due to the instability and violence currently prevailing in the Middle East", according to a statement from the Greek premier's office.

Crisis after crisis: Lebanon stalls IMF agreement
LBCI/April 08/2024
Two years have passed since Lebanon signed the initial agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This move was anticipated to usher in a phase of economic recovery, restoring confidence, investments, and employment opportunities in the country. However, the anticipated progress remains elusive, with zero reforms and zero advancement, drawing a fresh warning from the European Union mission: either implement reforms in line with the IMF agreement or brace for continued crises. Why does the ruling authority prefer crises over an agreement with the IMF? Why does it favor a crumbling economy over reforms?Since the onset of the banking crisis four years ago, cash transactions outside the banks have significantly increased, constituting nearly half of the country's economy, 45.7%, compared to around 14% in 2020. This surge has facilitated money laundering operations, arms trading, and other illicit activities because cash transactions evade control, unlike bank transfers subject to international oversight. This has also led to the growth of unofficial money exchangers and unlicensed money transfer companies that are not under the Banque du Liban's (BDL) supervision. Just as the banking sector reform is unsuitable for the authorities, so is the reform of state sectors, such as closing illegal crossings and imposing controls on maritime and aerial ports. These steps would eradicate smuggling operations and cut off resources to parties controlling these administrations. According to the IMF, customs evasion through legal ports and crossings costs the state $800 million annually. For instance, the electricity sector remains unreformed, enabling the evasion of bill payments and supporting the generator mafia, which includes affiliates of powerful figures. Similar challenges confront the reforms needed to address inflation within public sector positions, potentially jeopardizing the popularity of the ruling factions in elections. Moreover, reforms related to lifting bank secrecy and enhancing transparency and accountability could expose corruption among politicians. Nonetheless, the IMF in June last year held the political class responsible for obstructing reforms for personal interests. In comparison, approximately ten other developing countries facing economic crises in 2020 managed to negotiate debt restructuring agreements with creditors under IMF programs. These countries include Argentina, Ethiopia, Ukraine, Ghana, Zambia, and Sri Lanka. Lebanon remains reluctant, neither welcoming the IMF nor electing a president.

Lebanon Front Shifts from Gaza Support to Open Operations
Beirut: Youssef Diab/Asharq Al Awsat/April 08/2024
Military actions along the Lebanese-Israeli border are straying from the standard rules of engagement. While Hezbollah avoids large-scale operations to prevent sparking a broader conflict, Israel has surpassed previous limits set since 2006. Tel Aviv is striking targets deep within Beirut’s suburbs, conducting assassinations, and hitting Hezbollah's facilities, even reaching the Baalbek-Hermel area near Lebanon’s borders with Syria. Some see Hezbollah’s caution as a bid to prevent Lebanon from being dragged into a costly war. But military expert Brig. Gen. Khalid Hamadeh believes these border events reflect a shift in US-Iran relations and Iran’s evolving role in the region, illustrated by Hezbollah’s disciplined actions. Hezbollah has been exchanging near-daily fire with Israel across Lebanon's southern border since Oct. 8, a day after Hamas attacked southern Israel, triggering a fierce Israeli land, air and sea offensive on the Gaza Strip. Hamadeh notes that since Oct. 8 Iran has been distancing itself from the Gaza events, as evidenced by statements from Iranian leaders claiming ignorance of actions taken by their allies. He also pointed out that while Israeli operations are escalating, Hezbollah’s response remains limited both in scope and scale. He emphasized that Hezbollah sticks to targeting Israeli military objectives within a 10-km radius, whereas Israel strikes whatever it deems fit without restraint. He noted that these developments lead to a few key conclusions, chiefly that Hezbollah is constrained by Iran’s reluctance to escalate and by the specific weapons Tehran allows for use, such as anti-tank missiles and older-model rockets, without the ability to escalate further. The situation on the ground in southern Lebanon cannot be separated from broader political and military shifts in the region.
Dr. Sami Nader, Director of the Levant Center for Strategic Affairs, connected the developments in southern Lebanon to regional escalation affecting the Lebanese-Israeli front. Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Nader noted Israel’s escalation is primarily aimed at diverting attention from the devastation in Gaza, which has significantly affected global perceptions of Israel. The clashes between Israel and Hezbollah have intensified since early October, moving from strikes in open areas to exchanges of fire targeting exposed military sites on both sides. However, Israel has escalated further with surprise operations, including assassinations of key Hezbollah figures. The party has responded with limited strikes on Israeli military positions but hasn’t matched the intensity of Israeli attacks. Hamadeh believes that Israel’s military and intelligence performance has shifted the battle from skirmishes to real confrontations, resulting in significant destruction and casualties on the Lebanese side. However, he predicted that Hezbollah’s operations will continue to escalate cautiously, and Iran won't risk its influence in Lebanon until after the US presidential election.

It has been 19 years since Samir Geagea was justly freed from an unjust imprisonment
Roger Bejjani/April 08/2024
It has been 19 years since Samir Geagea was justly freed from an unjust emprisonnent. For the past 19 years he believed firmly in statehood, state building, political militancy, democracy….and he repelled all calls for violence or the rebirth of the military background the LF party came from.
He knows how much misery war, be it internal or against a neighboring country, would carry to all Lebanese, all Lebanese. Yesterday, Pascal abduction (as it seems) was another Joseph Abou Assi on that April 13, 1975. I hope that the State security apparatuses will step in and prove that they are trustworthy and more importantly, protect Lebanon from another war. Or will the abductors be canonized and considered untouchables? Let us watch and see.

Berri stresses Lebanon won't be dragged to war despite Israeli provocations
Naharnet/April 08/2024
The unprecedented Israeli military escalation against Lebanon is aimed at “dragging us” into “an all-out war,” Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has said. “We will not be dragged and we will continue to show restraint and work on containing the Israeli aggression, which reached its peak over the past two days,” Berri said in an interview with Asharq al-Awsat newspaper. “Everyone inside and outside the country knows very well that we will not provide it with excuses, no matter how much it escalates its attacks and crimes,” the Speaker added. Berri also called for exerting pressure on Israel to “halt its aggression against Gaza, because a ceasefire would apply to south Lebanon and open the door to the implementation of U.N. resolution 1701.”

Iran general killed in Syria was on Hezbollah's top council
Agence France Presse/April 08/2024
An Iranian general killed in a strike in Syria's capital was a member of Hezbollah's Shoura Council, the powerful Lebanese group's decision-making body, a source close to the movement said. The April 1 air strike leveled the Iranian embassy's consular annex in Damascus, killing seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members, including two generals. One of them was Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in the Quds Force, the Guards' foreign operations arm. Zahedi was the only non-Lebanese on Hezbollah's eight-member Shoura Council, the equivalent of the powerful Shiite Muslim movement's political bureau, led by secretary general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the source said, requesting anonymity because the matter is sensitive. In a speech Monday, Nasrallah paid homage to Zahedi and his colleagues killed in the strike, which Tehran and Damascus have blamed on Israel.
In a previous speech, Nasrallah said his group "owed a lot" to the senior Iranian official. Zahedi "lived with us for long years, away from the spotlight, and provided important services to the resistance in Lebanon and the whole region," Nasrallah said Friday during a televised address. Zahedi, 63, had held a succession of commands in a Guards career spanning more than 40 years, and was the most important Iranian military official killed since a United States missile strike at Baghdad airport in 2020 killed General Qasem Soleimani, who headed the Quds Force. Tehran has promised to respond to the strike, which killed 16 people including two civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitor of Syria's years-long civil war.

Nasrallah lashes out at LF and Kataeb over Sleiman's kidnap accusations
Naharnet/April 08/2024
Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Monday lashed out at the Lebanese Forces and the Kataeb Party in connection with the abduction of the LF’s Jbeil official Pascal Sleiman. “After the LF’s coordinator in Jbeil was kidnapped yesterday, the LF party, Katab and malicious TV stations decided that it was Hezbollah who kidnapped him and we heard very detestable sectarian remarks that remind of civil war,” Nasrallah said in a speech commemorating slain Iranian general Mohammad Reza Zahedi. “The unveiling of the abductee’s fate represented a real scandal for the LF and Kataeb parties that showed that they are not advocates of truth and right but rather proponents of strife who are seeking civil war,” Nasrallah charged. His remarks come after the Lebanese Army announced the arrest of five Syrians allegedly involved in the abduction. According to MTV, Sleiman was abducted by a “car theft gang” for financial motives and a car used in the operation was found Monday by the army in Tripoli. The TV network had earlier reported that the abductee had become “inside Syria or in an area near the border” and that “an army intelligence force in Akkar is working on liberating him.”
“In this country, the accusations are addressed to those who prevent war and strife, topped by us, the (Shiite) Duo, because we were killed in Tayyouneh and yet remained silent in order to preserve civil peace, and yesterday we were accused and also remained silent,” Nasrallah said. “Yesterday, they tried to terrorize the residents of Jbeil and Keserwan and they sent threatening messages. This is a very, very, very dangerous step and they must realize how dangerous it is,” Nasrallah warned. He added: “Their supporters took to the streets and we heard remarks about taking up arms. They claim to be political parties and democratic while they are motivated by deep grudges.” Hitting out at the LF and Kataeb for criticizing Hezbollah over the war and peace decisions, Nasrallah accused the two parties of starting the civil war in 1975. “Who took the decision back then? Was it the state or you?” Nasrallah asked.

Sayyed Nasrallah: Hezbollah Surely Crosses Israeli Red Lines, Assassination of General Zahedi Triggered Biden to Restrain Netanyahu
Mohammad Salami/Al-Manar English Website/April 8, 2024
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah stressed on Monday that the Israeli folly of striking the Iranian consulate in Damascus and assassinating the top military advisor General Mohammad Reda Zahedi and his martyred companions pushed the US President Joe Biden to impose certain limits on Netanyahu’s adventure in Gaza. Addressing Hezbollah ceremony held at Sayyed Al-Shuhada Complex in Beirut’s Dahiyeh to honor the martyred Iranian general along with a number of his companions, Sayyed Nasrallah recalled the US rejection of the expansion of the war zone since October 7. Sayyed Nasrallah maintained that the Supreme Leader Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei took the decision of the military response upon the serious essence of the Israeli attack. First, the attack targeted the Iranian consulate which is considered an Iranian territory, according to the international diplomatic norms, Sayyed Nasrallah, adding that the Zionist aggression claimed Iran’s top military advisor in Syria. Sayyed Nasrallah cited Zionist analysts as describing the airstrike on the consulate as a major folly, adding that the Israeli officials may have fallen in the miscalculation that Iran would not respond.
US, ‘Israel’ and the whole world have yielded to the fact that Iran has the right to respond to the Zionist crime and will respond, Hezbollah Chief said. In this regard, Sayyed Nasrallah explained the nature of the Iranian military role in Syria, confirming that only advisors are deployed in order to carry out certain missions and denying the deployment of troops. His eminence added that the IRGC military advisors in Syria have been always targeted by the Israeli air raids aimed at expelling them and eradicating their role in that country. Upon the defeat of the terrorist groups in Syria, the Israeli air raids started targeting IRGC cadres and advisors; however, they (Iranian military advisors) have insisted on keeping in Syria in order to support the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine and the Syrian army in its battle against the takfiri organizations, according to Sayyed Nasrallah.
Sayyed Nasrallah noted that all the diplomatic missions in the world include military attaches and advisors, yet that the Israeli enemy tried to promote the false claim of striking Iranian troops in Syria. Sayyed Nasrallah clarified that the IRGC role in Lebanon and Syria started upon the Israeli invasion in 1982. “Despite the global war waged by Saddam Hussein regime on Iran, Imam Khomeini dispatched Iranian forces to Lebanon and Syria to confront the Zionist invasion.”One of the Gulf states provided Saddam Hussein with 200 billion dollars to fund his war on Iran, Sayyed Nasrallah said, adding that, had such an amount of money been granted to the serious resistance groups, ‘Israel’ would not be in existence nowadays.
As the Zionist invasion stopped, most of the Iranian forces returned home, yet IRGC cadres remained in Lebanon to train the resistance fighters, Sayyed Nasrallah said, adding that IRGC sacrificed martyrs in Zionist airstrikes on training camps in Bekaa and Syria. The need of the popular resistance to face the the Zionist enemy made the IRGC cadres train the fighters, provide consultations, grant the logistical support, and convey the expertise to all the resistance groups, according to Sayyed Nasrallah who confirmed that the IRGC advisors were not tasked with fighting the Israeli enemy in the battlefields.
Even upon the eruption of the crisis in Syria, Iran sent military advisors, not troops, Sayyed Nasrallah said, adding that only resistance groups in the region decided to support Syria in face of the terrorist groups. ‘Israel’ participated in the war in Syria through supporting the terrorist groups by all means, according to Sayyed Nasrallah who recalled the Zionist financial, medical, and military support to takfiri groups.
Sayyed Nasrallah also denied the false claims that Iran controls the government in Syria, stressing that the IRGC advisors have just supported Syria against the terrorist groups.
Martyr Zahedi
In his twenties, Hajj Zahedi was one of the warriors against Saddam Hussein’s war and gained a great military expertise, which enabled him to be promoted to high ranks, according to Sayyed Nasrallah. Hajj Zahedi became the commander of the IRGC airforce before turning to be the commander of the IRGC ground troops, Sayyed Nasrallah said, adding that the martyr was then promoted to be the commander of all IRGC operations. Sayyed Nasrallah indicated that Hajj Zahedi started his jihadi journey when General Qassem Suleimani appointed him as the IRGC commander in Lebanon and Syria in 1998 for four years. Hajj Zahedi followed up the liberation in 2000 and the period of preparing the military capabilities to face any Zionist aggression on Lebanon, Sayyed Nasrallah said.
“We expected that the Zionists will take the revenge and wage a war on Lebanon.”
After the martyrdom of Hezbollah military commander Hajj Imad Mughniyeh in 2008, Hajj Zahedi was appointed to be the IRGC commander in Lebanon and Syria for six years, Sayyed Nasrallah said.
After the martyrdom of Hajj Qassem Suleimani in 2020, Hajj Zahedi was appointed again as the IRGC commander in Lebanon and Syria till he was assassinated, Sayyed Nasrallah added. Sayyed Nasrallah underlined the modesty, baldness, loyalty, and bravery of Hajj Zahedi, noting that he used to attend the scene amid all conditions. Sayyed Nasrallah narrated how Hajj Zahedi was committed to the path of martyrdom, adding that the martyr wanted to join the resistance fighters in their border battle against the Israeli enemy since October 7.
Hezbollah Chief said that Hajj Zahedi abandoned all ranks in Iran and came to the jihadi field in Lebanon in order to embrace martyrdom.
Israeli War on Gaza
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah cited Israeli interpretations of the outcomes of the Zionist war on Gaza, stressing they highlight the enemy’s area in this regard. Sayyed Nasrallah pointed out that the Israeli interpretations mention the various failures of the Zionist enemy after six months of the war, including the prisoners issue, missile fire from the Strip, Rafah operation, deaths, evacuation of settlements, diplomatic collapse, economic complication, political and social woes.
Sayyed Nasrallah also cited a survey conducted by Maariv which indicated that 62% of the respondents are not satisfied with the outcomes of the war.
Out of context, Netanyhau claims that he is one step away from the victory, Sayyed Nasrallah said, adding that the Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant alleged that his troops defeated Hamas just hours before the Zionist withdrawal from Khan Younis.
“Gallant is also detached from the realities.” Sayyed Nasrallah said that the IOF managed only to commit a genocide and cause a massive destruction and failed to reach any target. Sayyed Nasrallah maintained that, amid this military failure and the Iranian consulate folly in Syria, Biden held a phone call with Netanyhau to warn him against the continuation of the war on Gaza. According to the White House statements and the US media, Biden asked Netanyahu to take certain measures pertaining to the killing of the relief workers, Sayyed Nasrallah said.
Just hours later, the IOF Chief of Staff sacked two officers and rebuked three others, Sayyed Nasrallah said, adding that even the aid corridors issue was decided during the phone calls, according to the US reports. Hezbollah Chief emphasized that the US administration’s conduct proves that it can force the Israelis to stop the war whenever they decide, highlighting the major role of Biden in the ceasefire talks.
Sayyed Nasrallah considered that the Israeli military withdrawal from South Gaza was surprising, adding that the Israelis wanted to avoid making concessions in the ceasefire talks since the withdrawal is one of the basic terms of Hamas in the negotiations.
Hezbollah leader stressed that, when the Islamic Resistance downed Hermses-450 drone, the enemy bombed Bekaa, adding that the Resistance responded by firing missiles at Golan. Bekaa-Golan formula has been maintained since then, Sayyed Nasrallah maintained. Sayyed Nasrallah indicated that the Islamic Resistance will certainly cross the Israeli red lines amid the Zionist violations, adding that the enemy would understand the deployment of the Resistance defenses on the Southern Front as it wants.
Lebanese Forces and Kataeb
On the anniversary of the civil war in Lebanon, Sayyed Nasrallah asked the Lebanese Forces and Kataeb about the war’s decision making at that time.
Sayyed Nasrallah indicated that such political always question the resistance about the war decision making and its costs, while they involved Lebanon in a costly civil war. Sayyed Nasrallah also commented on the kidnap incident in Jbeil city, adding that Lebanese Forces and Kataeb’s reaction is a scandal. Sayyed Nasrallah maintained that grudge, foolishness and connections with foreign schemes have been behind those parties’ anti-Hezbollah accusations. Sayyed Nasrallah hailed the role of the Lebanese army and security forces in uncovering the culprits in the crime, which frustrates the scheme of accusing Hezbollah of being behind the kidnap crime and stirring sedition. Sayyed Nasrallah, finally, warned against the threats sent to some of Jbeil locals after the kidnap incident, asserting that this is a very serious issue.

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 08-09/2024
Iran FM Opens New Syria Consulate after Deadly Strike
Asharq Al Awsat/April 08/2024
Iran's foreign minister inaugurated the country's new consulate in Damascus on Monday, a week after a deadly strike blamed on Israel destroyed the former premises, sending regional tensions skyrocketing. Tehran, a key Damascus ally, has vowed to avenge last Monday's air strike on the Iranian embassy's consular section that killed seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members, including two generals. The strike came against the backdrop of Israel and Hamas's ongoing war, which began with the Iran-backed Palestinian group's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel. Damascus and Tehran blame Israel for last Monday's raid, but it has not commented. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian inaugurated the new consular section in a Damascus building in the presence of his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad, whom he also met earlier Monday, state news agency SANA said. An AFP correspondent at the inauguration said the new consulate was not far from the premises destroyed by the strike in the upscale Mazzeh area, which also houses other foreign embassies and UN offices. Amir-Abdollahian was also set to meet President Bashar al-Assad, and Syria's pro-government newspaper Al-Watan said his talks in Damascus would be "mainly focused" on repercussions of last week's strike. Iran's foreign minister began a regional tour Sunday in Oman, long a mediator between Tehran and the West, where Muscat's foreign minister called for de-escalation. An adviser to Iran's supreme leader warned on Sunday that Israeli embassies were "no longer safe" after the Damascus attack. Analysts saw the raid as an escalation of Israel's campaign against Iran and its regional proxies that runs the risk of triggering a wider war beyond the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said 16 people were killed in the consulate strike: eight Iranians, five Syrians, one member of Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group and two civilians. Among the dead were generals Mohammad Reza Zahedi and Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, both senior commanders in the Quds Force, the IRGC's foreign operations arm. Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes in Syria since civil war broke out 13 years ago, targeting Iran-backed forces including Hezbollah as well as Syrian army positions and weapons depots. It rarely comments on individual strikes, but Israel's raids have increased since the Gaza war began. Tehran backs Palestinian militants Hamas but has denied any direct involvement in the group's October 7 attack, which sparked massive Israeli retaliation in Gaza

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Media Highlights Arsenal Capable of Striking Israel
London: Adil Al-Salmi/Asharq Al Awsat/April 08/2024
As tensions rise between Iran and Israel following the killing of Iranian Revolutionary Guard leaders in Syria, a Tehran newspaper, “Hamshahri,” showcased nine Iranian ballistic missiles, claiming they could target Israel. However, it’s unclear if they’re ready for deployment. The newspaper’s report is part of a broader media push by the Revolutionary Guard, amid threats from Iranian officials of retaliating against Israel. Hamshahri’s editorial team, now aligned with the hardline Revolutionary Guard, reflects a shift from its previous reformist stance. Iranian authorities vow a response to Israel, though it’s uncertain if they’ll launch missiles from their territory. Iran has previously attacked Syria, Iraq, and Pakistan with missiles and drones. If Iran attacks Israel, it would be the first test of Israel’s defenses against Iran’s claimed “deterrent” ballistic missiles. These missiles range from 1,400 km to 2,500 km. Some are in use, while others, like the supersonic “Fateh-2” showcased last November, are yet to be deployed. It appears that the Fateh-2 missile is still in the production phase and hasn’t been tested yet. It might take years before it’s ready for mass production. Iran hasn’t revealed the exact specifications of the Fateh-2 missile as of last November. However, according to Hamshahri, it’s believed to have a range of up to 1,400 km. In June, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard revealed the “Fateh-1” missile, reaching 1,400 km. It’s unclear if it’s been tested. Hamshahri listed various missiles: Khormashahr 4 (2,000 km), Sejjil (2,500 km), Qasem Soleimani (1,400 km), Qadr (1,950 km), Emad (1,700 km), and Shahab 3 (2,000 km) fueled by liquid. The Sejjil ballistic missile was first tested in 2008, reaching 2,000 km with a two-stage design and solid fuel. Khormashahr and Qassem Soleimani missiles joined service last August. President Ebrahim Raisi ordered arming both units in the Guards and Army. Iran unveiled the fourth-gen Khormashahr missile in 2016, tested in January 2017, drawing criticism for violating Resolution 2231.

White House says ‘up to Hamas to come through’ on Gaza ceasefire
AFP/April 08/2024
The White House said Monday that Hamas bore the responsibility for deciding on a ceasefire in Gaza with Israel, after negotiators presented a proposal to the Palestinian militant group. “At the end of the weekend, a proposal was submitted to Hamas. And now it’s going to be up to Hamas to come through,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on a call.

Israel, Hamas dampen hopes for speedy Gaza truce deal
Agence France Presse/April 08/2024
Israel and Hamas both dampened hopes on Monday of a speedy breakthrough in Cairo talks towards a Gaza truce and hostage release deal after Egyptian state-linked media had reported "significant progress". As the Gaza war raged on into a seventh month, Israel is under growing international pressure to agree to a ceasefire, including from its top ally and arms supplier the United States. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted on Sunday -- half a year after the October 7 attack -- that Israel is "one step away from victory" and has vowed to defeat remaining Hamas fighters in Gaza's far-southern Rafah city. On the same day however, the army also announced it had pulled its forces out of southern Gaza, although military commanders stressed the withdrawal was tactical and did not signal an end to the war. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the troops would "prepare for future missions, including ... in Rafah" on the Egyptian border where almost 1.5 million Gazans live in crowded shelters and tents. Amid the threats and ongoing fighting, Netanyahu has sent negotiators to fresh truce talks that started in Cairo on Sunday, joined by U.S., Qatari and Egyptian mediators. U.S. President Joe Biden sent CIA chief Bill Burns to the talks, three days after a terse phone call with Netanyahu in which Biden demanded a halt to the fighting and greater steps to help and protect Gaza civilians. Egypt's state-linked news outlet Al-Qahera reported "significant progress being made on several contentious points of agreement", citing an unnamed high-ranking Egyptian source. The Qatari and Hamas delegations had left Cairo and were expected to return "within two days to finalize the terms of the agreement", it said, while the U.S. and Israeli teams were also planning 48 hours of consultations. However, Israel's Ynet news outlet cited an unidentified Israeli official as tempering the upbeat Egyptian report and stressing that "we still don't see a deal on the horizon". "The distance is still great and there has been nothing dramatic in the meantime," the Israeli official was quoted as saying by the Hebrew-language website. A separate senior Israeli official was quoted by Ynet as saying that "patience is needed. There is potential, but we are not there yet". A senior Hamas official meanwhile told AFP that "we cannot speak of concrete progress so far", with disagreement centred on the pace of displaced Palestinians returning to Gaza City in the north.
Smell of death -
Netanyahu also faced pushback from one of the far-right allies he needs to maintain a parliamentary majority and stay in power, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. Ben Gvir warned on X, formerly Twitter, that "if the prime minister decides to end the war without an extensive attack on Rafah in order to defeat Hamas, he will not have a mandate to continue serving as prime minister". The war was sparked by the October 7 attack against Israel by Hamas militants that resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, Israeli figures show. Palestinian militants also took more than 250 Israeli and foreign hostages, 129 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 the army says are dead. Thousands of protesters gathered on Sunday in front of Israel's parliament to demand the return of the captives. "Stay strong, you who are still there," cried 17-year-old former hostage Agam Goldstein with tears in her eyes. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 33,207 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. A siege has deprived Gazans of most water, food and other basic supplies -- the dire shortages only eased by aid trucks and, in recent weeks, airdropped relief supplies. Vast areas of Gaza have been turned into a rubble-strewn wasteland, with damage to infrastructure, mostly housing, estimated at $18.5 billion, a World Bank report said. On Sunday, after Israeli forces left Khan Yunis, displaced Palestinians streamed back there, stunned by the level of destruction. "We don't have a city anymore -- only rubble," said Maha Thaer, a mother of four, as she walked among the charred ruins. "There is absolutely nothing left. I could not stop myself crying as I walked through the streets," said the 38-year-old, whose home was partially destroyed. "All the streets have been bulldozed. And the smell... I watched people digging and bringing out the bodies."Thaer said she would nonetheless move back into her badly damaged apartment because although "it is not suitable for living... it is better than a tent".
'Any scenario' -
As the war in Gaza has raged on, the wider Middle East has seen a surge of violence involving Iran-backed militant groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Israel was widely blamed for a strike early last week on the consulate building in Syria of its arch foe Iran, sparking threats or retaliation from Tehran. An adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei warned Sunday that Israeli embassies were "no longer safe" after the strike in Syria that killed seven Revolutionary Guards members. Gallant said Israel was ready after the army had "finished all its preparations to react to any scenario that could arise regarding Iran". The Israeli army also said it had reached "another phase" of preparation on its northern border with Lebanon, where it has traded fire with Iran-backed Hezbollah for months. The Israeli military said Monday it had killed a Hezbollah commander, Ali Ahmed Hussein of the elite Radwan Forces, in an overnight air strike in the area of Sultaniyeh in southern Lebanon. United Nations officials said that six months of violence on the Israel-Lebanon border "must stop", urging de-escalation "while there is still space for diplomacy".

CIA director presented new proposal for Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal
Alex Marquardt and Mostafa Salem, CNN/Mon, April 8, 2024
CIA Director Bill Burns presented a new proposal to try to bridge the gaps in ongoing negotiations to broker a deal to bring about a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and the release of the Israeli hostages held by the group, according to a source familiar with the discussions. The latest US proposal was made in Cairo over the weekend and includes pushing Israel to release a higher number of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the expected 40 Israeli hostages who would be freed during the first phase of a three-stage ceasefire deal. Prior to this round of talks, CNN had reported that negotiators had discussed the release of around 700 Palestinian prisoners, including many with life sentences. Qatari, Egyptian and Israeli officials, along with Burns, were in Cairo over the weekend for the negotiations. Hamas also met officials from Egypt’s Intelligence Service in Cairo, Egyptian state media said. The US would also like Palestinian residents of northern Gaza who have fled south to be allowed to return home to the north without restrictions, the source said.
So far, Israel has rejected the Hamas demands an unrestricted return of Gazans to the north and the redeployment of IDF troops away from central Gaza. Israel has insisted on inspections of Palestinians moving north, a diplomat familiar with the talks told CNN. Everyone agreed to study the new US proposal, the first source said, and it will be communicated to Hamas leadership in Gaza which ultimately makes the decisions for the group. Given the difficulties of communicating with Hamas leaders who are believed to be hiding in Gaza’s vast underground tunnel system, getting a response can take several days. A senior Hamas official speaking to CNN said the group will return to Cairo “as soon as the opportunity presents itself,” but could not place a firm timeframe on when that would happen. The official added that the latest proposals presented by Israel during the talks in Egypt did not address the unrestricted movement of Palestinians in the south to the north – a key demand for the group. “The [Israeli] proposal does not respond to the questions that [Hamas] has asked in its original proposal, and that is that any agreement should clearly include a ceasefire, a complete withdrawal of [Israeli] troops – even if it happens through stages – and the return of the displaced in complete freedom to their homes,” the official told CNN. Israeli negotiators have shown a willingness in recent weeks to negotiate the return of Palestinians to northern Gaza but have continued to insist on some degree of security oversight by Israeli forces along the so-called Netzarim corridor which cuts across the middle of Gaza and a limited number of people moving north per day.
Mediators have been trying for months to seal an agreement between Hamas and Israel for a ceasefire and the release of hostages. But the prolonged negotiation has been marred by disagreements. On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he’d been updated on the negotiations but underlined his determination to send troops into Rafah, saying he’d set a date for the operation in a video released on his Telegram account. The US has set out its opposition to such a move. “Today I received a detailed report on the talks in Cairo. We are constantly working to achieve our goals, primarily the release of all our hostages and achieving a complete victory over Hamas. This victory requires entry into Rafah and the elimination of the terrorist battalions there. It will happen, there is a date,” Netanyahu said. Earlier, a Qatari representative voiced optimism about the state of the talks. “We are by no means at the last stretch of these talks, but if you ask me if I am more optimistic today than I was a couple of days ago, then I would say yes,” Qatar’s foreign ministry’s spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari told the BBC. Ansari said mediators are waiting for replies from Hamas and Israel over proposals from different parties, including the United States. “I can’t go into the details of these proposals, but I can tell you it bridges the gap in a way that hasn’t been done in the last couple of months,” Ansari said.

Progress in Gaza truce talks in Cairo, Egypt's Al Qahera news says
CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters/April 08/2024
Talks on a truce in the Gaza conflict are making progress in Cairo and all parties have agreed on basic points, Egypt's Al-Qahera News state-affiliated TV channel said early on Monday, citing a senior Egyptian source. Six months into its offensive against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, Israel also voiced cautious optimism about the latest round of mediated negotiations. Israel and Hamas sent teams to Egypt on Sunday, following the arrival on Saturday of CIA Director William Burns, whose participation followed U.S. pressure for a deal that would free hostages held in Gaza and ease the humanitarian crisis there.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas on Monday. In Jerusalem, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz described the Cairo talks as the closest the sides have come to a deal since a November truce under which Hamas freed dozens of hostages. "We have reached a critical point in the negotiations. If it works out, then a large number of hostages will come home," he told Israel's Army Radio. Hamas seized 253 people during an Oct 7 killing spree in southern Israel that triggered the war. Of those, 129 hostages remain, and negotiators have spoken of around 40 going free in the first stage of a prospective deal with Hamas.According to Al-Qahera, the Hamas and Qatar delegations left Cairo and will return within two days to agree on the terms of a final agreement, while the Israel and U.S. delegations will leave within a few hours. It added that consultations will continue in the next 48 hours. Hamas wants to parlay any deal into an end to the war, full withdrawal of all Israeli forces and return of displaced Gazans. Israel has ruled out the first two demands, saying it would eventually topple Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that despite growing international pressure, Israel would not give in to "extreme" Hamas demands.But Israeli officials have signalled willingness to allow some Palestinians displaced from northern Gaza to return there. While saying he was more optimistic than before about a diplomatic breakthrough, Katz add: "Israel is poised to continue the war." Thousands of Israeli protesters in Jerusalem rallied on Sunday demanding the government do more to recover the hostages. Western countries have voiced outrage over what they see as an unacceptably high Palestinian civilian death toll and humanitarian crisis in Gaza that have resulted from Israel's campaign to destroy Hamas. Hamas killed 1,200 people in southern Israel on Oct 7, according to Israeli tallies. More than 33,100 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli response, according to the health ministry in Gaza. Hamas has said it has lost 6,000 fighters, while Israel says the number is twice as high. More than 600 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza combat, the army says.

Gaza Truce Talks Still Deadlocked Despite Reports of Progress
Asharq Al Awsat/April 08/2024
A Hamas official said on Monday no progress was made at a new round of Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo also attended by Israeli, Qatar and US representatives, after the Egyptian hosts said headway had been achieved on the agenda. Western powers have voiced outrage over what they see as an unacceptably high Palestinian civilian death toll and humanitarian crisis arising from Israel's military onslaught to destroy Hamas in tiny, densely populated Gaza. Israel and Hamas sent teams to Egypt on Sunday after the arrival on Saturday of CIA Director William Burns, whose presence underlined rising US pressure for a deal that would free hostages held in Gaza and get aid to isolated civilians. "There is no change in the position of the occupation and therefore, there is nothing new in the Cairo talks," the Hamas official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.
"There is no progress yet."
Six months into its offensive against Palestinian movement Hamas that has devastated Gaza and left most of its 2.3 million people homeless and many at risk of famine, Israel also voiced cautious optimism about the latest negotiations. In Jerusalem at the weekend, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz described the Cairo talks as the closest the sides have come to a deal since a short-lived November truce under which Hamas freed dozens of hostages. Hamas seized 253 people during an Oct. 7, cross-border killing spree in southern Israel that ignited the war. Of those, 133 hostages remain, and negotiators have spoken of around 40 going free in the first stage of a prospective deal with Hamas. Two Egyptian security sources and state-run Al-Qahera News said on Monday some progress had been made in the Cairo talks. The security sources said both sides had made concessions that could help pave the way for a deal for a truce which - as proposed during previous talks - would be staggered over three stages, with the release of any remaining Israeli hostages and a long-term ceasefire addressed in the second stage. The concessions relate to the freeing of hostages and Hamas' demand for the return of displaced residents to northern Gaza, they said. Mediators suggested the return could be monitored by an Arab force in the presence of Israeli security deployments that would later be pulled back, they added. Delegations left Cairo and consultations were expected to continue within 48 hours, the sources and Al-Qahera said.
'MAIN DEMANDS'
However, a Palestinian official close to mediation efforts told Reuters that deadlock continued over Israel's refusal to end the war, withdraw its forces from Gaza, allow all civilians to return to their homes and lift a 17-year-old blockade to allow speedy reconstruction of the coastal enclave. These steps took precedence over Israel's prime demand for a release of hostages in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Regarding the exchange of prisoners, Hamas was and is willing to be more flexible, but there is no flexibility over our...main demands," he told Reuters. Israel has ruled out winding up the war shortly or withdrawing from Gaza, saying its forces will not relent until Hamas no longer controls Gaza or threatens Israel militarily. Asked about the talks by reporters on Monday, Israeli government spokesman Avi Hyman would not go into detail, saying only: "The most important thing is that the right people are in the right place at the right time to discuss a way in which the 133 Israeli hostages can be released."Hamas killed 1,200 people in its rampage into southern Israel on Oct. 7, according to Israeli tallies. Some 33,207 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli response, Gaza's health ministry said in an update on Monday. Israel's army says over 600 of its soldiers have been killed in combat. Under global pressure to ease Gaza's humanitarian crisis and drop plans to storm Rafah, a town on the southern border with Egypt packed with over a million displaced people, Israel said on Sunday it had withdrawn more soldiers from southern Gaza. This left just one brigade there, but Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the exiting troops would be preparing for future operations, including "their coming mission in the Rafah area". Rafah is the last refuge for displaced Gaza civilians from Israeli ground forces and, according to Israel, the last significant redoubt of Hamas combat units. Israeli forces have pulled back from residential districts of southern Gaza's largest city Khan Younis after months of heavy fighting and 42 bodies of Palestinians have since been retrieved from the rubble, Palestinian medics said on Monday.

Gaza still hungry as aid trickles in before Eid festival
REUTERS/April 08, 2024
GAZA: A boy staggered between tents in a Gaza displaced camp on Monday, his arms around a cardboard box of aid ahead of Islam’s Eid Al-Fitr festival, six months into an Israeli air and ground campaign that has devastated the Palestinian enclave. Israel’s military assault in retaliation for Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack has pushed Gaza to the brink of famine, aid agencies say, though some more aid is starting to flow in. Palestinians in Gaza said the extra supplies were still nowhere near enough to ease harsh conditions, with nearly all the tiny, crowded territory’s inhabitants displaced from their homes.
Eid Al-Fitr is expected in Gaza on Wednesday, depending on a clear sighting of the moon, but there is little to cheer for Palestinians this year. The boy struggling under the cardboard box had received it from a UN distribution center in the central town of Deir al-Balah, where long lines of people stood to present identity papers in return for boxes containing tinned food. “There isn’t enough food. I hadn’t received a box in two months. Yesterday, we got a box that wasn’t enough for my kids or me, and the other 18 people were with us. If one person got a box every day, it wouldn’t be enough,” said Fayez Abdelhadi in the camp. He said the aid delivery also lacked basic hygiene supplies such as soap and detergent, though the massive destruction has helped trigger a public health crisis with little clean water and rampant disease. Umm Mohammed Hamad, a woman in the camp who had been displaced from her home in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, said she had been living at a UN shelter there for nearly two months. “We didn’t receive any boxes, no help. Only today have they started distributing boxes,” she said. Some hospitals have reported children dying of malnutrition and starvation since last month and have warned of other preventable deaths because medical supplies are lacking. At Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, media head Wissam Al-Sekni said a shipment that arrived on Sunday was not enough to meet the needs of patients, particularly antibiotics to treat injuries commonplace in the war zone. But he said the lack of varied, nutritious food was the biggest problem. “Most of the children (in the hospital) come with malnutrition, especially premature babies, due to the malnutrition of the mother,” Al-Sekni said. In a neonatal ward, four-month-old baby Assem Al-Najjar has put on no weight since birth, said his mother, and required surgery for a hole in the heart that is impossible to perform in Gaza now. Israel’s campaign in Gaza began when Hamas stormed across the border, killing around 1,200 people and dragging another 253 into captivity as hostages, according to Israeli tallies. The offensive in the enclave has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians, according to health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza. International pressure on Israel to let more aid into Gaza increased last week after airstrikes targeted a relief convoy and killed seven aid workers. In response to the pressure, Israel said it had approved the reopening of the Erez crossing into northern Gaza and the temporary use of Ashdod port in southern Israel to bring in supplies.

The U.N. Security Council on Monday revived the Palestinian Authority's hopes of joining the United Nations as a full member.
UNITED NATIONS (AP)/Mon, April 8, 2024But the United States said relations between Israel and the Palestinians are far from ripe. That all but quashes the Palestinian Authority's U.N. membership hopes for now. The U.S. is one of five permanent members who can veto any council action. Members of its U.N. delegation reiterated Monday that the Palestinian Authority needs to exert control over all of the Palestinian territories and negotiate statehood with Israel before it wins statehood. The Palestinian Authority administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Its forces were driven from Gaza when Hamas seized power in 2007, and it has no power there. “The issue of full Palestinian membership is a decision that should be negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians,” U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood told reporters Monday. After years of failed on-and-off peace talks, the Palestinians have turned to the United Nations to fulfill their dream of an independent state. Israel says such steps are an attempt to sidestep the negotiating process. Israel’s current right-wing government is dominated by hard-liners who oppose Palestinian statehood. Supporters of the Palestinians’ request for full membership in the United Nations asked the U.N. Security Council last week to revive its application for admission submitted in 2011. The Palestinians’ fresh bid for U.N. membership comes as the war between Israel and Hamas that began on Oct. 7 nears its sixth month and the unresolved decades-old Palestinian-Israeli conflict remains in the spotlight after years on the back burner. Israel’s U.N. ambassador dismissed any possibility of Palestinian statehood, reducing the issue to a question of his country’s very ability to survive. “From well before the establishment of the U.N., the Palestinians’ goal has be clear: the annihilation of the Jews,” Ambassador Gilad Erdan told reporters. The U.N. was found in the wake of World War II and “the same genocidal ideology that this body was founded to combat is still prevalent among the Palestinians,” he said. The Security Council decided to make a formal decision on Palestinian U.N. membership this month, said Malta’s U.N. Ambassador Vanessa Frazier, the current Security Council president. “This is a historic moment again,” said Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas delivered the Palestinian Authority’s application to become the 194th member of the United Nations to then Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sept. 23, 2011, before addressing world leaders at the General Assembly. “It was a historic moment then, and now that historic moment has been revived again,” Mansour told reporters.

Drone Footage Shows a Lively Gaza Turned to Wasteland since War Began
Asharq Al Awsat/April 08/2024
Drone footage of Gaza over the six months of warfare between Israel and Hamas shows how the once vibrant Palestinian enclave has been transformed into a vast wasteland of rubble and twisted steel by Israeli bombardment. During normal days, Palestinians used to be able to stand on their buildings' balconies and take in a view of the Mediterranean Sea. Those structures have vanished, footage from Reuters and other sources shows, crushed into piles of cement and debris. Residents have been forced to wander Gaza seeking shelter from an Israeli offensive designed to destroy its arch enemy Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the campaign will not stop until Hamas is eliminated, so the bombardment and destruction is expected to continue. Footage showed how Palestinians lived in calmer days in the Gaza Strip, one of the most densely populated areas on earth. Palestinians drove their cars along a calm street with tall trees separating traffic as far as the eye could see. Footage taken later shows a nearby street with one demolished building after another. One person could be seen walking in the smashed cement of a ghost town. The conflict began when Hamas, which runs Gaza, burst into Israel on Oct. 7, killed 1,200 people and dragged more than 200 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Israel responded with a relentless bombardment of the enclave that has killed more than 33,000 people, according to Gaza health authorities. As Palestinians endure the bombing and try to cope with a humanitarian crisis, they think back to some of the places in the Reuters drone footage, like a peaceful alleyway where a teenager speeds along on his bicycle. The footage also showed a white mosque with a green courtyard overlooking the sea. Fast forward six months and footage will show many destroyed mosques in Gaza. In another part of Gaza, cars work their way through a roundabout in pre-war footage. Barely traces of it can be seen now.

Palestinians returning to Khan Younis after Israeli withdrawal find an unrecognizable city
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP)/April 08/2024
Streams of Palestinians filed into the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis on Monday to salvage what they could from the vast destruction left in the wake of Israel’s offensive, a day after the Israeli military announced it was withdrawing troops from the area. Many came back to the Gaza Strip’s second-largest city to find their former hometown unrecognizable. With scores of buildings destroyed or damaged, piles of rubble now sit where apartments and businesses once did. Streets have been bulldozed. Schools and hospitals were damaged by the fighting. Israel sent troops to Khan Younis in December, part of its blistering ground offensive that came in response to a Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7 into southern Israel. Israeli authorities say 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and roughly 250 people taken hostage. The war, now in its seventh month, has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to local health authorities, displaced most of the territory’s 2.3 million people and left vast swaths of the beleaguered Gaza Strip uninhabitable. “Many areas, especially the city center, have become unfit for life,” said Mahmoud Abdel-Ghani, who fled Khan Younis in December when Israel began its ground invasion of the city. “I found that my house and my neighbors’ houses turned to rubble.”Israel’s withdrawal of troops from Khan Younis signaled the end of a key phase in its war against Hamas and brought Israeli troop levels in the tiny coastal enclave to one of the lowest since the war began. Israel said the city was a major Hamas stronghold and says its operation over the past few months killed thousands of militants and inflicted heavy damage to a vast network of tunnels used by Hamas to move weapons and fighters. It also claimed to have found evidence that hostages were held in the city.
With no military presence in the city, Hamas could seek to regroup there as it has in other areas where the military has scaled back forces. The latest Israeli withdrawal also cleared the way for some Palestinians to make their way back to the area to comb through the mountains of debris to try to hold on to any possessions that remained. Najwa Ayyash, who also was displaced from Khan Younis, said she was unable to reach her family’s third floor apartment because the stairs were gone. Her brother climbed his way up through the destruction and pulled down some possessions, including lighter clothes for her children. Bassel Abu Nasser, a Khan Younis resident who fled after an airstrike hit his home in January, said much of the city turned into rubble. “There is no sense of life there,” the 37-year-old father of two children said. “They left nothing there.”On Sunday, shortly after the military announced it had withdrawn, lines of Palestinians could be seeing leaving Khan Younis with scant possessions.
By foot and on bicycle, they carried plastic bags and laundry hampers with whatever they could gather back to where they were displaced to. One carried a rolled-up mattress. Another a standing fan. One man used his bike to move plywood. The military exodus from Khan Younis comes ahead of an expected Israeli offensive in Rafah, Gaza’ southernmost city where hundreds of thousands have fled fighting elsewhere to seek shelter and which Israel says is Hamas' last major stronghold. The city shelters some 1.4 million people — more than half of Gaza’s population. The prospect of an offensive has raised global alarm, including from Israel’s top ally, the U.S., which has demanded to see a credible plan to protect civilians. Allowing people to return to nearby Khan Younis could relieve some pressure on Rafah, but many have no homes to return to. The city also is likely filled with dangerous unexploded bombs left by the fighting. Israel’s military quietly drew down troops in devastated northern Gaza earlier in the war. But it has continued to carry out airstrikes and raids in areas where it says Hamas regrouped, including Gaza’s largest hospital, Shifa, leaving what the head of the World Health Organization called “an empty shell.” Israel blames Hamas for the damage, saying it fights from within civilian areas. Khan Younis’ main Nasser Hospital has also been that target of Israeli raids, with troops storming it earlier this year because the military said the remains of hostages were inside. The precise state of the hospital after the troops’ withdrawal was unclear. Video from the hospital showed the emergency building appearing to be intact, but debris was strewn around its interior where thousands of displaced people once sought shelter before being forced to evacuate by the military. Israel says its war aims to destroy Hamas’ military and governing capabilities and return the roughly 130 remaining hostages, a quarter of whom Israel says are dead. Negotiations brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the U.S. meant to bring about a cease-fire in exchange for the release of hostages are underway.

Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 08-09/2024
Political Vignettes and Ongoing Conflicts
Charles Elias Chartouni/April 08/2024
Sergei Shoïgu, the Russian minister of defense, surmises French responsibility behind Moscow’s terror attack since Ukrainians are masterminded by their European mentors and France has defied the moral and political arrogance of the dictator. Relaying the lies of the Russian autocrat, S. Shoïgu perpetuates the culture of dissembling and official propaganda bequeathed by the Soviet era and rehabilitated under Vladimir Putin. The same pattern of state lies applies to the Iranian regime and its regional clones and allies. The instrumentalization of war tragedies promotes destructive power politics and conceals the ugly designs and facts that account for their true plots, unfolding, and consequences.
The conflict in Ukraine is thriving on a thick web of lies and conspiracy theories that have nothing to do with the true motivations: Putin’s denial of Ukraine’s national legitimacy, his neo-imperial drive towards his immediate neighbors (Ukraine, Georgia, the Baltic States, and Poland), and his determination to derail the European community and reset the Soviet clock. Europe and the transatlantic community have no choice but to strengthen Ukraine’s defenses, to contain Russia’s strategic inroads, and to solidify the European and American consensuses as the ultimate safeguards for a negotiated solution.
This gigantic maneuver is meant to dispel his deep-seated fears regarding a declining Russia and its geopolitical hazards, shift the blame on Western democracies, and try to regain a strategic foothold at the expense of the European Union and its transatlantic Lebensraum and strategic safeguards while doubling down on internal repression. The external warmongering betrays the underlying anxieties elicited by the incremental liberalization of Russian society and the increasing demand for democratization. Otherwise, his purported accusation of NATO, the US, and the EU for strategic encroachments and political subversion is a sheer lie contrived to justify the neo-totalitarian gravitation.
Amnesty International reports 853 political executions in Iran while pursuing its aggressive warmongering throughout the Middle East, reciting the litany of Western conspiracy and denouncing the “Western pollution” (Gharb Zadegui – غرب زادكى) and their imprints on the youth subcultures. The bankrupted revolutionary saga is decaying and wearing out, and nobody is inclined to give it credence. The neo-imperial drive and the rush into military nuclearization are the functional equivalents of the debunked Islamic narrative and bankrupted governance. The highly challenged Islamic republic ties its future to geopolitical destabilization and the disruption of international normalization. October 7, 2023, in southern Israel is the culmination of a disruption strategy that has swept across the Gulf and the Near East, igniting civil wars, ethnic cleansing, organized criminality, dysfunctional governance, and endemic instability.
The Arab Spring interlude in 2011 was spiked intentionally by Saudi and Iranian imperialisms that dreaded the reformist tide and the erosion of the Islamic rallying cry. Ever since, Saudi Arabia has dramatically shifted its course towards systemic reforms (economic, political, geopolitical, social, cultural, religious, educational, environmental, etc.) while reconciling with Iran, engaging in multilateralism and regional conflict resolution, and starting a new vein of Arab politics based on accommodation and consensual politics. Whereas, Iran, sheltered by its reconciliation with Saudi Arabia, launched a spate of subversion dynamics that engendered endemic instability, institutionalized chaos, frozen conflicts, political wastelands, and franchised organized criminality. The reckless and criminal undertaking of Hamas tragically highlighted the instrumentation of the Palestinian cause by Iranian power politics and its disastrous humanitarian, political, and economic outcomes.
The Palestinians have no chance to extricate themselves from the destructive cycle of nihilistic violence unless they work diligently on wresting back a modicum of moral and political autonomy, which helps them overcome their state of alternate dependencies, despondency, and inability to overcome their evolving fractiousness. Their only chance is to get their act together and reengage Israel, based on a cumulative legacy of peace agreements and active mediations, to finalize a peace treaty and build an incremental confidence-building trajectory despite the heavy backlog of unattended contentions and cyclical violence. Their moral and political autonomy proceeds invariably through the negotiated search for a viable and equitable solution to their longstanding conflict with the state of Israel. The state of mental restraint should be overcome and give way to the leap of faith that is needed at a time when the prospects of peace are at rock bottom. However destructive the actual state of conflicts, it might be the springboard for a new stage of negotiations to address the lingering issues of a stalemated and protracted conflict.
Israel has to deal with its increasing national dilemmas while the confrontation with Iran and its surrogates in Gaza and southern Lebanon continues its course. The combined political crises occasioned by the war and its antecedents reflect the deepening ideological differences between liberal Israelis, the messianic and ultra-nationalist Right, the highly divisive figure of Benjamin Netanyahu and his controversial political legacy, the strategic threats posed by Iranian subversion politics, the identity crises elicited by the dilemmatic markers of Israeli national identity (Zionist, post-Zinonist, Jewish vs. Israeli identity, etc.), and the compounded effects of the protracted war and its alternatives.
However, Israelis, notwithstanding their political and ideological affiliations, are unanimous in their determination to eradicate the strategic threats on their southern and northern borders and secure their borderline communities. Nonetheless, they are still undecided about the incoming political courses, namely, the future of political negotiations with Palestinians as a prelude to the normalization with the community of Arab States initiated by the Abrahamic accords and their partnerships. The outcomes of the current war are, obviously, decisive about the future political evolutions related to the resumption of negotiations regarding the issues of mutual acknowledgement, dual statehood, strategic security, and economic cooperation.
The Lebanese operational theaters and their Syrian ancillaries reflect the ambiguities of an imploded Arab State system, the clashing agendas of Iranian and Russian power politics, the travails of the frozen Syrian conflicts, and their domestic, regional, and international ramifications. Otherwise, the unraveling of Lebanese statehood and its instrumentalization by Iranian power politics have, altogether, transformed the Lebanese territories into platforms for surrogate and open-ended conflicts. Hezbollah’s political theodicy and its nihilistic propensities have doomed the prospects of conflict resolution, diplomatic mediation, and political normalization. The Hezbollah warmongering is inevitably leading to a total war scenario unless the 1701 and 1509 resolutions are implemented as the prelude to a progressive restoration of Lebanese sovereignty. However doubtful this scenario is, it remains the unique alternative to the country’s disintegration and the unraveling of whatever is left of the Near Eastern geopolitical order.
The various recapitulated facets of the current regional and international conflicts highlight the ideological, geopolitical, and “emotional” fault lines of disintegrating regional and international political orders and their interfaces. The obstacles to effective mediation are not, by any chance, casual; they reflect the breakdown of international consensuses, the scope of renascent imperialisms, and the proliferating conflicts at their heels. The totalitarian nature of the rising conflicts is not a minor feature but a defining ideological marker and strategic course along which the new dynamics and counter-dynamics are evolving.

On Easy Consciousness And Difficult Consciousness In Times of War…
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al Awsat/April 08/2024
Those with an easy consciousness draw inspiration from the soldier or fighter. Like him, they are a single, cohesive piece with no curves. They live in their trench and know what they are targeting: the enemy standing before them. Thus, when they think, they are either waging a battle or resuming a war. Every pure consciousness - be it nationalist, religious, tribal, or class-based - thinks this way; "thinking" is synonymous with "fighting." Circumstances that are not suited to their war could arise and push them to agree to a truce or adopt circuitous tactics. Once this temporal and military interval ends, however, they return to their positions in the trenches. Their only rest is warriors' rest. The difficult consciousness contrasts to this easy, homogeneous and robust consciousness. Its difficulty stems from the fact that it is torn and uneven, perplexed and hesitant. Its sentiments clash at a rapid pace and its hatred of conflict is its firmest principle. Its mind finds refuge in the lab, where it combines, proposes, subtracts, adds, compares, and reconsiders. These two forms of consciousness have divergent views of time. The difficult consciousness is concerned with the past, which it sees as a distant cause with its many layers and sources, but it also cares about the future and having the capacity to overcome the misery of the present. On the other hand, those with an easy consciousness are seized by the pressing moment. They have no interest in the past beyond omens that had warned of this moment, in the same way signs of nature do in myths. The future does not strike them as a potential promise, nor as something that some sort of human intervention can turn into a promise; their mantra is "Now, now, not tomorrow."
The two forms of consciousness' conceptions and depictions of space also differ. For the easy consciousness, space is like a plain that shares its plainness. Nowhere on this plain is their view shrouded by ambiguity, but a sharply demarcated line separates the two sides of the plain at war. For the difficult consciousness, space is like a mountain with a diverse topography. It is home to caves and caverns, and nothing but the unknown lies beyond it. The uphill is the downhill turned upside down, and vice versa.
The difficult consciousness is despondent. It is dragged into war like a one is dragged into a forced arranged marriage. It is expected to find joy and celebrate something it loathes, imagining and wishing for its end as soon as it is dragged into it. In contrast, the easy consciousness is happy. It sees war as a union born of fervor and passion. It is a moment that had long been anticipated, one that has been rehearsed for, as have its lauded values, such as heroism and martyrdom. This consciousness would prefer for this moment to remain by our side, becoming a way of life and a permanent logic of exchange.
This happiness also springs from their feeling that war unites them with their enlarged family and unites their family (from whom they have inherited, or believe they have inherited, most of their convictions and thoughts) with them. This same family, with its love of life by the sword, pays the debt it owes for their son's recognition, elevating him to a source of pride and affirmation of its authenticity.
Conversely, the misery of the despondent is compounded by a sense of being alienated from their family, whose presumed enthusiasm they do not share. Those with a difficult consciousness are thus portrayed as wretches that the tribe has kicked out. Their words are dismissed as delirium, while their difference continuously creates anxiety and raises suspicion. While the easy consciousness gravitates towards belligerent rhetoric, the difficult consciousness gravitates towards political rhetoric that reconciles it with its people after a period of estrangement and confirms that the war has ended. In the same sense, history, to the former, seems like an epic brimming with endless heroic endeavors. Each of these heroic deeds culminates in a decisive victory that paves the way for another battle, which is followed by yet another victory. For its part, the latter, being difficult and unhappy, views history as a novel in which everyone loses that ends with a new quagmire and impasse: the current conditions of our world.
This consciousness is also easy because those who have it believe that they are unequivocally right, good, and beautiful. Victimhood is theirs alone, while those they fight are nothing but their anthesis. They have obtained all knowledge a priori, and they are solidly committed to an essentialism that defines eternal virtues and vices for them. Nothing novel surprises this essentialism. You will never see any surprises, coincidences, or even movement within it; everything that the unknown introduces is either a reiteration of an incident from the past or a ruse and a trick whose surface is very different from what lies underneath.
However, among the sources of the difficult consciousness’s difficulty is that, while they see devils on their enemy’s side, they also think of the devils within themselves and their own people. To criticize and refute, in their mind, is also to self-critique and self-refute. Instead of confining their thoughts to a single place, namely the battlefield and its immediate shadows, they try to extend their vision to the many others, visible or invisible, that are shaped by war. Their apprehensions lead them to raise questions about violence, humanity, and the depths of their soul. Thus, we see them advocating for all voices to be raised, in the hope that we may stumble upon an idea, suggestion, or reflection. This contrasts with the simple consciousness's drive to silence all other voices, as everything is clear and ascertained, and surplus knowledge confuses and distracts us. When the difficult consciousness, which is burdened by questions, asks: "What should we do?" the simple consciousness, which is bloated with answers, replies: "Fight and keep quiet." Why raise questions, indeed why speak, when we are all experts in characterizing the enemy? We characterize the enemy millions of times, killing any sense of surprise and making prediction easier; despite that, we keep making characterizations that add nothing and only reorder the full-stops and commas of a sacred text. Contradiction and divergence constrict expression, which can only accommodate simple phrases that soon shrink to become a gesture or a wink.
We will probably continue along this path, intrepidly and resolutely, until the end of times.

Gaza Timing and Iranian Timing
Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al Awsat/April 08/2024
If a journalist digs into the recent memory of the Middle East, he fails to find beautiful or optimistic events. Those are completely absent or rare. Road signs are burdened with wars, collapses, assassinations, militias, poverty, deception and suicidal tendencies. They also bear the marks of ancient cities that had lost their spirit, role, and youth, some of whom jumped into the “death boats.”Yesterday, we realized that six months have passed since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Flood. Tomorrow, we will remember the anniversary of an American armored vehicle uprooting the statue of Saddam Hussein from Al-Firdous Square in Baghdad. The overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s regime left a bold mark on the region.
The fall of the Iraqi wall contributed to the birth of the current scenes. Iranian influence was allowed to flow into the region from Baghdad to Gaza. General Qassem Soleimani was permitted to put into effect the Iranian constitution clause that pertains to “exporting the revolution”.
This helped him establish “small parallel armies” that today participate in different ways in the current open conflict in the region. We will not delve further into the past years. We already know that the toll is painful.
Six months have passed since the start of the “Flood” and Benjamin Netanyahu’s war on it. The toll is horrific. In none of the Middle East conflicts, have we witnessed such intensity of killing, such systemic approach and ingenuity. May God forgive artificial intelligence for some egregious crimes...
The numbers are so cruel. In Gaza, 34,000 people were killed, two-thirds of whom were women and children, in addition to 90,000 wounded. Famine knocks on tent doors and threatens 600,000 children. In Israel, 1,500 people have died, including 600 soldiers, while 200,000 were displaced from their homes.
The economic losses are enormous in Israel. The cost of rebuilding Gaza exceeds all estimates. Netanyahu returned the Gaza Strip to the “stone age,” trying to write off “Hamas” and Gaza together.
Six full months. The conscience of the world was late in waking up. This is something usual. But in recent weeks, the blood of Gaza’s children has been able to drip onto the walls of consciences and decision-making centers, especially in the West.
Scenes of the Nakba infiltrated parties and universities and occupied the screens. There has been increasing talk of double standards and the moral downfall of the West. The division appeared clearly in societies, warning of a widening gap between the components. The new facts forced the American administration to move from stressing that the war should not expand to demanding that it stop, instead of just allowing the entry of aid.
Sympathy for Israel has become an obvious burden. There has been increasing conviction in the West that any permanent ceasefire must be accompanied by a firm commitment to open the political horizon to a solution that provides for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. Living with war turned into a kind of participation in it. Silence has become costly to the image, interests, and electoral campaigns as well.
In parallel, Israeli confusion escalated at home. The unrealistic slogans by Netanyahu demanding complete victory, the uprooting of Hamas, and engineering the next day in Gaza has been revealed. Israeli voices have risen to warn that Netanyahu’s stay will be a severe punishment for the Israelis themselves.
The security establishment participated in questioning Netanyahu’s method of managing the war and its slogans, which pushed the Hebrew state to the verge of actual international isolation. In this context came the “angry” telephone call between Biden and Netanyahu. In the same context, demands mounted to halt supplying weapons and ammunition to Israel or to slow down their delivery. Despite internal and external pressure, Netanyahu resisted any attempt to achieve a truce that could hinder the resumption of the war.
Iran did not rush to turn the Al-Aqsa Flood into an opportunity for the “big strike” that was being discussed in the offices of the leaders of the resistance axis. It chose not to engage in a large-scale war, which the United States quickly cautioned of and supported its warning by sending fleets.
Iran chose limited wars of distraction across the Lebanon front, Houthi drones and missiles in the Red Sea, and occasional statements by some Iraqi factions about striking targets in Israel. The Iranian calculation may have been based on an old decision to avoid any direct conflict with the United States, in addition to the fact that the state of disintegration in Syria and Lebanon makes any engagement in a wide war disastrous in every sense of the word.
Iran maintained “strategic patience” when Israel attacked its military shipments in Syria and targeted a number of Revolutionary Guard officers. It announced that it would respond “at the appropriate time and place,” but preferred to respond through its allies and under the umbrella of not causing a widespread war.
On April 1, Netanyahu took the game to the ugliest stage. He authorized the destruction of the Iranian consulate in Damascus. The senior commander of the IRGC, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, and six officers with active roles were killed. The location of the attack, its outcome, and its timing are all factors that made it extremely dangerous. Senior Iranian officials, led by the Supreme Leader, pledged to revenge and make Israel “regret” its action. If the world had lived since the start of the Flood operation on the timing of the Gaza tragedy, after the attack on the consulate, it moved to Iranian time.
Last week, the countries of the Middle East, along with the major capitals, were preoccupied with one question: Where will Iran respond? This question dominated screens and social media, accompanied by many parallel speculations.
Will we witness the fall of missiles and drones launched explicitly from Iranian territory to attack targets in Israel? If that is true, what will be the size of the strike? What will be the Israeli response to it? Will we see Israeli aircraft attacking targets in Iranian territory? What about Iranian nuclear facilities? Will America participate in intercepting Iranian missiles? What will the next day be like? Can America stay out of a direct Israeli-Iranian confrontation?
It is obvious that we are in the most dangerous phase of the conflict that began six months ago. Netanyahu decided to shuffle the cards on the verge of expanding the conflict. Any direct Israeli-Iranian clash will plunge the Gaza war into a war over the boundaries of roles and spheres of influence in the region. In this war, the new alignment will not be in favor of Gaza. Moving from Gaza timing to Iranian timing may result in a 'flood' that's difficult to contain.

The Banner of Gaza and Iran’s Unruly Defiance
Sam Menassa/Asharq Al Awsat/April 08/2024
Per the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Israel’s airstrike on an Iranian consulate building in the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus killed seven military advisors. Among them was Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a prominent leader in its foreign arm, the Quds Force, who became the third to be killed by Israel since the war in Gaza began. Zahedi is considered the most prominent Quds Force leader to be liquidated since Qasem Soleimani was assassinated in Baghdad in early 2020, IRGC logistics chief Razi Mousavi was eliminated in Syria, and IRGC and Quds Force Intelligence Chief Hojjatollah Omidvar was killed, also in Syria. In addition to these assassinations, Israel has also assassinated security officials and nuclear scientists inside Iran, as well as attacking military and nuclear facilities, stealing the archive of Iran’s Nuclear program, and its other operations against Iranian interests in Syria. This list of Israeli targets indicates that what we are seeing is a direct Iranian-Israeli war. This conflict has gone beyond war against Tehran's proxies, with varied military operations in Syria becoming routine.
This introduction reminds us of a recurrent theme in this column, which is that the October 7 operation and the Gaza war that followed are bigger than the conflict between Hamas and Israel. These events are merely the catalyst that sparked direct conflict between Iran and Israel following their decades-long shadow war. As the Gaza war rages on, the fronts of the Iranian-Israeli-Western war are shifting. This is evident from the developments we are seeing on Syrian soil and Hezbollah's so-called war of support in South Lebanon, Houthi piracy in the Red Sea, the aggressive actions of Iraqi militias allied with Iran, and most recently, attempts to destabilize Jordan.
Indeed, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal called on the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan to engage in the Gaza war and expand the war against Israel. Some have called this effort to turn Jordan into a new resistance front "Jordan Flood." The risks of incitement against Jordan are multifaceted, and they are not new. This campaign against Jordan began with the smuggling of Captagon pills, arms, and explosive drones across the Syrian border. It escalated to the point of incitement when Iraqi Hezbollah announced that it was prepared to arm thousands of volunteers in Jordan to allow for opening a front against Israel. The aim of this campaign against Jordan aims to spread unrest and instability in the Hashemite Kingdom, end its peace treaty with Israel, and overthrow the regime to change the security equation in the region.
All these actions reaffirm that the war unfolding today goes beyond the battles between Hamas and Israel in Gaza. It is a war being waged by the Iranian regime with the aim of undercutting regional security through all the forces associated or allied with it, as well as others that it uses or that use it to achieve tactical objectives and form temporary alliances, with each side leveraging them to further its own interests and long-term objectives.
That suggests that Iran and Israel are taking separate tracks that intersect and complement one another. Israel uses its war against Hamas as a facade for its war against Iran’s axis and proxies, while the latter exploits Hamas and the Gaza war to push back against all the regional and international rivals standing in the way of its expansionist goals. It is a preemptive war that Tehran is waging to safeguard its role and position in the region, broaden its sphere of influence, and empower its allies to allow for confronting the threat of a regional peace project whose contours are beginning to emerge through the efforts to create peace and stability in the region, resolve conflicts where possible, and build the foundations for sustainable regional and international cooperation.
Neither can Israel claim that the only goal of its ongoing war in Gaza is to eliminate Hamas and root it out of the sector, nor can Iran, after all the recent developments that have been unfolding at a rapid pace, claim that it and its allies across the region have mobilized solely to save and support Hamas. Fatah's accusations against Iran, its claims that Tehran "is spreading chaos and lawlessness and exploiting the sacred cause" were made against this backdrop.
The regime in Iran is fully aware that its primary enemy is the trajectory of stability, prosperity, and peace. Iran has hit back against it by investing in the region's domestic and foreign conflicts. This does not mean that Iran seeks a large-scale war. Rather, its policies are founded on disruption and small, mobile wars, as well as creating political and economic instability in several regional countries. The region has been dealing with this for years.
Iran has many reasons to avoid a large-scale war, the most significant of which are that it is too weak militarily to face Washington, its economy is in decline, and it is isolated on the world stage, except for its relationships with Russia and China. It is fully aware of the limitations of these two powers and that neither of them is willing to fight alongside it in a major regional war. Iran's domestic situation remains a black box. Moreover, Israeli strikes are depriving Iran of crucial officials and experts, including pillars of the revolution and nuclear scientists. It remains unclear who will replace them, how their abilities and expertise compare to their predecessors', or how their elimination will impact the regime's strength and reactions. These strikes also underline the extent to which Israel has infiltrated the Iranian security establishment, especially at the intelligence level.
On the other hand, Israel is exploiting this limited regional war. Since the US would prefer to avoid, or rather has prohibited, a fully-fledged war against Iran, Israel has used this conflict to inflict as much damage as it can against the Palestinians on all fronts, and to seek revenge against Hamas. Some members of Benjamin Netanyahu's government might be aiming to displace Palestinians from the Strip or make living there untenable.
Accordingly, we can conclude that whatever form Iran's retaliation against the strike on the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus takes, it will not change the scene that has prevailed in the region since October 2023. The only thing that has changed is that the identities of the belligerents have become clearer. This has rendered half measures and settlements ineffective, and it means that comprehensive military solutions are not likely in the short and medium term. There remains hope for a comprehensive political initiative that brings peace, ends the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and establishes the foundations for regional security. The conflict must be taken from the battlefield to the negotiation table, through the initiative of the US president, before his "anger" at Netanyahu fades against the noise of the presidential elections.

Why Hamas Likens Captive Israeli Women to ‘Horses’
Raymond Ibrahim/April 08/2024
The Hamas terrorists behind the Oct. 7, 2023 jihadist raid literally view their female Israeli captives as horses and other animals—to be “ridden.”
During a recent press conference, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari stressed that Hamas members could be heard in their own (now captured) recordings referring to their female captives as sabi (or sabiya), an Arabic word that in Islamic jurisprudence refers to non-Muslim female slaves, whom Muslim men could freely copulate with—in a word, concubines (see here for more on sabis).
Sex-slavery is not only an ironclad aspect of Islam; it is a reflection of “piety,” as well captured by a 2015 report:
In the moments before he raped the 12-year-old [non-Muslim] girl, the Islamic State fighter took the time to explain that what he was about to do was not a sin. Because the preteen girl practiced a religion other than Islam, the Quran not only gave him the right to rape her — it condoned and encouraged it, he insisted.
“He said that by raping me,” recalled the 12-year-old, “he is drawing closer to God.”
“Every time that he came to rape me, he would pray,” explained another girl, aged 15. “He said that raping me is his prayer to God. I said to him, ‘What you’re doing to me is wrong, and it will not bring you closer to God.’ And he said, ‘No, it’s allowed. It’s halal.’”
Seeing rape as a pious gesture is only one of the “oddities” of Islamic sex-slavery. In the same press conference, Hagari said that “Hamas treated young women … like animals,” and that one terrorist could be heard describing “a woman as a noble mare” (that is, a female horse).
No doubt, to most (non-Muslim) readers, references to Israelis as animals is a mere reflection of Hamas’s contempt for its “infidel” victims, nothing more.
In reality, referring to captured sex-slaves as animals also has a doctrinal aspect, and, as with all things Islamic, traces back to the prophet Muhammad, who regularly presented women as on a par with animals—as in the famous hadith, where he said “Women, dogs, and donkeys annul a man’s prayer” (Musnad Ibn Hanbal, vol. 2, p. 2992).
If all women—Muslim and non-Muslim—are akin to animals when it comes to distracting a man from his prayers, it should come as no surprise that infidel women are akin to animals in all ways. This is made clear by the language employed by the Koran to refer to non-Muslim female captives of war, whom Muslim men are permitted to have sex with. Koran 4:3 reads:
Marry [or “copulate with”] such women as seem good to you, two, three, and four; but if you fear that you will not do [them] justice, then only one, or what your right hands possess [captive women taken in war].
Curiously, the Arabic relative pronoun used to indicate these captive women is “ma”: ma [whatever] malakat [possess] aymanukum [your right hands]—literally, “whatever your right hands possess” (see Shakir’s acclaimed English translation which most literally translates this).
In Arabic, when one refers to a rational being (i.e., a human), the word used is man, which means “whomever.” Ma, on the other hand, refers only to things or animals—trees, rocks, dogs and cats—very much similar to the English “it.” Thus, in proper Arabic the phrase might have been man malakat aymanukum: “whomever your right hands possess.”
Nor is this a stylistic matter. The revered Islamic scholar al-Qurtubi (d.1273) also makes this observation in vol. 5, p.12 of his authoritative 20-volume Tafsir al-Koran (“Exegesis of the Koran”). He points out that members of the human race should be referred to with man (whomever), whereas only “inanimate objects” or “brute beasts” should be referred to with ma (whatever).
To emphasize the point, after considering other hadiths where Muhammad likened women to animals, Qurtubi concludes that “A woman may, therefore, be likened to a cow, horse, or camel—for all are ridden” (Tafsir, vol.15, p.172).
Such views are not obsolete. In 2013, for example, during an episode of “With Dr. Islam Buhira” on al-Qahira wa’l-Nass television station, Buhira explained how he had attended “a conference in Morocco on the status of women in society post Arab Spring,” and how at the conference, the exegesis in question— “Women are like cows, horses, and camels, for all are ridden”—was read aloud and presented as legitimate. Somewhat besides himself and disappointed, Buhira added,
This is how al-Qurtubi speaks about women, who include his mother, his daughters—basically all Muslim women. He says they are ‘all ridden.’ This is what makes them similar to animals.
In short, when Hamas, ISIS, and other Islamic terrorists treat captive women as “animals”—referring to them as “mares,” etc.—their behavior and perspective is being informed by Islamic teachings that trace back to Muhammad and the most authoritative sheikhs.