Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 12-13/2024
Video/Lebanon Bids Farewell to Pascal Sleiman/Chelsea Al Arif /This is Beirut/April 12/2024
At Sleiman's funeral, al-Rahi says refugees a 'threat' but urges against attacking them
Geagea says 'confrontation' will continue, but it's not 'sectarian or ethnic'
Hawat: “We Became Hostages in Our Own Country”
Lebanese Interior minister calls for calm and restraint after killing of Lebanese Forces official
Army arrests minor who hurled firebomb at SSNP office in Jdita
SSNP ambulance torched in Bayssour after Jdita incident
Mikati and Berri discuss situations in south Lebanon and Gaza
Argentine court blames Iran and Hezbollah for deadly 1994 Jewish center bombing
Israel Targets Media Personnel Again in Southern Lebanon
Mawlawi: Sleiman’s Murder Investigation is Still in Preliminary Stage
France urges no travel to Iran, Lebanon, Israel and Palestinian territories
Hezbollah’s expected Response to IRGC-QF Gen. Mohammad Zahedi’s killing/David Daoud/FDD's Long War Journal/April 12, 2024

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 12-13/2024
Biden expecting Iranian attack on Israel ‘sooner than later,’ tells Tehran ‘don’t’
Russia, Germany and UK urge restraint as Iranian threat puts Middle East on edge
Hamas official says ceasefire needed to locate Gaza hostages
Caught in ‘strategic conundrum’, Iran said to seek ‘controlled’ retaliation through proxies
Israel pounds Gaza as Iran attack threat puts region on edge
Northern Gaza facing ‘catastrophe’ without more aid: OCHA official
Blinken discusses ceasefire, entry of aid into Gaza with foreign ministers of Jordan and Egypt
Israeli settlers rampage through a West Bank village, killing 1 Palestinian and wounding 25
US sanctions target Hamas spokesperson, drone program leaders
IDF says first Gaza food aid trucks have entered through northern Israel crossing
Poland says aid worker's killing in Gaza should be brought before Israeli court
UN refugee chief says outflow of Gazans into Egypt would make conflict resolution impossible
UN says waterborne illnesses spread in Gaza due to heat, unsafe water
Argentina court blames Iran for deadly 1994 bombing of Jewish center
Indian foreign ministry advises against travel to Iran, Israel
U.S. Embassy in Israel Restricts Personal Employee Travel After Iran Attack Threats
US, Japan, Philippines condemn Beijing’s South China Sea moves in summit
Tunisian man dead after self-immolating in protest against police

Titles For The Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on April 12-13/2024
Israel-Iran: Saber Rattling and Rhetorical War/Malo Pinatel/This is Beirut/April 12/2024
Iran realises the limits of its power/Haitham El-Zobaidi/The Arab Weekly/April 12/2024
'Democracy' Has a Peculiar Aftertaste/J.B. Shurk/Gatestone Institute/April 12, 2024
Question: “Is it possible to know when Jesus is coming back?”/GotQuestions.org/April 12, 2024
Gaza war is redefining Turkiye’s sociopolitical narratives/Sinem Cengiz/Arab News/April 12, 2024
Stakes could not be higher for this year’s European Parliament election/Luke Coffey/Arab News/April 12, 2024
How carnage in Gaza is reshaping Britain’s foreign policy/Alistair Burt/Arab News/April 12, 2024

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 12-13/2024
Video/Lebanon Bids Farewell to Pascal Sleiman
Chelsea Al Arif /This is Beirut/April 12/2024
https://youtu.be/3-vhPfC6He0
Pascal Sleiman lays in his final resting place. The LF coordinator, killed last Sunday, arrived this Friday in his village of Mayfouk, welcomed by hundreds of companions, for his final journey. Friday was a long day full of emotions for Lebanon, especially for the Lebanese Forces, who gathered in large numbers in various regions of Lebanon. Convoys of dozens of cars converged on Byblos for a final prayer for the soul of their comrade. Officials, politicians, and religious figures were also present to pay tribute to Pascal.

At Sleiman's funeral, al-Rahi says refugees a 'threat' but urges against attacking them
Naharnet/April 12/2024
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Friday presided over the funeral service of slain Lebanese Forces official Pascal Sleiman in Jbeil. “We are the sons of no-fear, that’s why we do not fear and we shall not be scared,” al-Rahi said in his sermon.
“There has been a lot of evil on Lebanon’s soil and what’s important is to unveil the objectives behind the crime of the assassination of Pascal Sleiman and those behind it, seeing as the truth will certainly appear,” the patriarch added. Hailing the “courage” of Sleiman’s widow, al-Rahi said that she has urged against “the approach of vengeance and incitement” and called for “pacifying the atmosphere and confidence in military and security agencies, especially in the army, which has managed to unveil the perpetrators.”“The displaced Syrians have become a threat to the Lebanese in the heart of their homeland and it has become urgent to find a final solution for controlling their presence, with the international and local sides, away from clashes and attacks that would have dire consequences,” the patriarch added. “There is no president and there is chaos in state institutions, ministries and public administrations, amid the proliferation of arms in the hands of citizens and foreigners on Lebanon’s soil. Who benefits from chaos and from the presence of the war and peace decision outside the state?” al-Rahi asked. Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi has vowed to get tough on Syrians after several were arrested on suspicion of involvement in Sleiman’s killing, in a case that has triggered an uproar in the country and caused political tensions. Anti-Syrian sentiment has soared following the Sunday disappearance and death of Sleiman, a coordinator in the Jbeil area for the Lebanese Forces, a party opposed to the Syrian government and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah. Sleiman was killed in what the Lebanese army said was a carjacking by Syrian gang members, who took his body to Syria. His party said it would consider his death a "political assassination until proven otherwise." Many Lebanese, including politicians, have long pushed for Syrians who have fled 13 years of civil war at home to return, blaming them for exacerbating Lebanon's woes, including a crushing economic crisis that began in 2019. Mawlawi warned that "this country cannot withstand problems and sectarian strife."The security forces have been instructed "to strictly enforce Lebanese laws on Syrian refugees," he told reporters after a security meeting about Sleiman's killing. "We will become stricter in granting residency permits and dealing with those (Syrians) residing in Lebanon illegally," Mawlawi added, urging people to stop renting apartments informally to Syrians. He also called for "limiting the presence of Syrians" in the country, without saying how. Caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib for his part called the number of Syrians a "problem."The army had said on Monday that the car thieves had transported the body to Syria following the killing.
'Sectarian strife'
Social media users also blamed Hezbollah, whose chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Monday denied involvement. The Lebanese Forces said in a statement that Hezbollah, which wields considerable power in Lebanon, "has impeded the state's role and its effectiveness, paving the way for weapons-bearing gangs" and "chaos." Hezbollah has been trading near daily cross-border fire with the Israeli military since the Israel-Hamas war broke out in October, raising tensions in Lebanon and sparking opposition from the Lebanese Forces and other parties. On Monday evening, hundreds of people blocked roads in Jbeil, while footage circulated on social media of violence against Syrians. The United Nations refugee agency says more than 800,000 Syrian refugees are registered with the body in Lebanon, noting registrations have been suspended since 2015 following a government ruling.
'Impunity'
Ramzi Kaiss from the U.S.-based group Human Rights Watch said Lebanon must ensure "the investigation into the killing is thorough and transparent in light of decades of impunity in Lebanon for politically sensitive killings." "Attempts to scapegoat the entire refugee population are deplorable" and "threaten to fuel already ongoing violence against Syrians in Lebanon," Kaiss told AFP. A Lebanese judicial official said security forces had arrested seven Syrians on suspicion of involvement in Sleiman's killing. "The kidnappers admitted that their goal was stealing the victim's car," the official said, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media. According to the official, the suspects told investigators they hit Sleiman in the head and face with pistol butts then threw him into the boot of his car and drove him to neighboring Syria. He died along the way. A military official, also requesting anonymity, said Damascus had handed over three suspects, adding that Sleiman's body was found in a lawless border area. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitor of the country's civil war, said Sleiman's body was dumped in a border area where Hezbollah holds sway, adding that he "was wrapped in a blanket and had been hit on the head and chest with a hard object."

Geagea says 'confrontation' will continue, but it's not 'sectarian or ethnic'
Naharnet/April 12/2024
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Friday vowed that “the confrontation will continue,” in the wake of the murder of LF official Pascal Sleiman in the Jbeil district.
“The confrontation will continue until we reach a real, true, firm and final shore of safety,” Geagea told mourners via video link during Sleiman’s funeral in Jbeil. “Our confrontation is not for exacting vengeance and is not a reaction. It is not a sectarian, regional or ethnic confrontation, but rather for transiting from the bitter, painful, criminal and failed situation that we have been living in for years to a new and aspired situation, like all the societies of the civilized world, where one lives in safety, stability, freedom and dignity,” the LF leader added. “The confrontation will continue because without it things will not be resolved, although it might be long, because drastic, actual and serious solutions require time, effort, exhaustion and perseverance,” Geagea went on to say. He added: “Let no one bet on our despair, because we shall not despair. Let no one bet on our tiredness, because we will not get tired. Let no one bet on our retreat, because we will not surrender.” Sleiman was killed during an 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. Political and religious leaders in Lebanon have condemned the incident, while Grand Jaafarite Mufti Sheikh Ahmad Qabalan has warned against "political exploitation" and "sectarian mobilization." According to reports, 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.

Hawat: “We Became Hostages in Our Own Country”
This Is Beirut/April 12/2024
Lebanese Forces MP, Ziad Hawat, at the farewell funeral mass of Pascal Sleiman on Friday, expressed the sorrow of Lebanon and Jbeil for the absence of Sleiman. “Jbeil was preparing to receive Pascal, but the demon of death kidnapped her son,” Hawat said. In a speech at St. George Cathedral in Jbeil, Hawat indicated that the real conflict is between two projects, “one that wants to save Lebanon and another that wants to destroy the country.” He stressed that the true model of coexistence and peace is a model for all of Lebanon. “We will protect and preserve Lebanon, no matter how hard the difficulties are,” he emphasized. In this context, Hawat affirmed that Pascal’s family “has hope that Lebanon will not die. The Lebanese Forces family lost Pascal, who was a fighter and guardian of the Lebanese cause.” Then, Hawat spoke about his relationship with the deceased, saying that he lost a brother and friend. “Pascal should not be martyred twice; there must be a transparent investigation to uncover the truth,” Hawat added. Moreover, Hawat asked, “How did a car with a dead person cross the Lebanese-Syrian border without the knowledge of the concerned authorities ?” “What happened is the result of loose borders. Such borders create an adequate climate for villains and bandits,” he continued. On the other hand, Hawat addressed the Syrian migrants’ issue, describing it as “fundamental.” “They must return to their country immediately. This crisis is huge and dangerous to the extent that we became hostages in our own country,” Hawat concluded.

Lebanese Interior minister calls for calm and restraint after killing of Lebanese Forces official
NAJIA HOUSSARI/Arab News/April 12, 2024
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi on Friday urged everyone to “stay calm and refrain from attacking others.”The country, he said on Friday, “respects human rights, and we protect everyone on its territory legally.”He emphasized the importance of “enforcing the law for all residents.”
The minister’s appeal came as the funeral of Lebanese Forces official Pascal Sleiman turned into a campaign against the presence of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Lebanon “does not allow asylum, as there are safe areas in Syria,” Mawlawi said. Mawlawi estimated the proportion of Syrians detained in Lebanese prisons at 35 percent of the total number of those being held. The Lebanese army was deployed in security-sensitive areas, especially between Chiyah and Ain Al-Remmaneh, and reinforced its presence in the southern suburbs of Beirut. The caretaker minister of displaced affairs, Issam Sharaf El-Din, said there are 20,000 armed men in the refugee camps and that security in Lebanon is not under control. Thousands of supporters of the Lebanese Forces and other Christian parties took part in the funeral of Sleiman — the Lebanese Forces’ coordinator in Jbeil, northern Lebanon. The coffin was wrapped in the Lebanese flag and his party’s banner. At the funeral, at Saint Georges Church in Jbeil, Patriarch Bechara Al-Rahi stressed the importance of mercy and justice.
Al-Rahi — the highest Christian authority in Lebanon — said that the decisions of war and peace no longer belonged to the Lebanese state. Meanwhile, the investigation into the crime appeared not to be making much progress. The only information available revealed that a group of Syrians killed Sleiman by hitting him on the head after stealing his Audi car. The body was placed in the trunk of the car and taken to the Lebanese-Syrian border. It was found on Syrian territory last Sunday. Questioning of the Syrian detainees suspected of the crime revealed that the group believed to be responsible for the kidnapping and killing of Sleiman is part of a gang whose members are involved in a range of activities, including car theft. Stolen cars are transported to the border and delivered to smugglers, who in turn move them into Syria via an illegal crossing. Another group in Syria buys these cars, where some are broken up and sold for parts.
The murder of Sleiman has had serious repercussions, including attacks on Syrian refugees in predominantly Christian areas. Syrian workers and refugees were publicly threatened and ordered to leave neighborhoods in the eastern outskirts of Beirut, Bsharri and other towns, no later than Friday.
Syrian families were seen hastily leaving their homes, dragging their children and carrying their belongings. Attacks also targeted the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, an ally of Hezbollah and the Syrian regime, and the party’s centers and ambulances were attacked in Mount Lebanon and Bekaa.
The murder of Sleiman and the increase in violence against Syrian refugees and workers highlights the asylum issue in the country. Lebanon complains about the more than 1.5 million Syrians on its territory, fewer than a million of whom are registered with UNHCR. In his speech on Friday, Al-Rahi urged everyone to control their emotions and reactions and avoid being drawn into discord.Al-Rahi stressed the importance of “mercy and justice.”He said Sleiman’s wife affirmed “her trust in the military and security apparatuses, especially the army, which managed to uncover the perpetrators.” Al-Rahi added: “The important thing is to know the objectives of the crime and who is behind it, as the truth will inevitably emerge. “But it is unfortunate that the perpetrators of this crime were displaced Syrians whom Lebanon has welcomed with humanity, and some of them have become a threat to the Lebanese in their own homes, and it has become important to control their presence. “It is the duty of the Lebanese authorities to address this gravely dangerous issue through legal and procedural means.”Al-Rahi said that “the main reason facilitating politically covered crimes by influential people is the failure to elect a president for the state, the chaos in constitutional institutions, and the proliferation of weapons. “Who benefits from this chaos? The decision of war and peace has moved outside the state’s jurisdiction,” he said, referring to Hezbollah. The leader of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, addressed those gathered at the church via Zoom. He said that the “confrontation continues. Our confrontation is not for revenge, nor is it reactionary or based on sectarianism or regionalism. Rather, it is to transition from our bitter reality to the desired reality. The reality of all civilized societies is that a person can live with pride and dignity.
The leader of the Christian party also said: “Our struggle will continue until assassinations and kidnappings cease, until we have secure and regulated borders, until a corrupt and failed government is replaced democratically, and until those responsible for crimes such as the Beirut port explosion and the killing of Elias Hasrouni and others are exposed and brought to justice.”Hasrouni, a Lebanese Forces member, was killed last year under mysterious circumstances in an area loyal to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Geagea also said: “Do not bet on our disappointment; we will not despair, we will not tire. Do not bet on our retreat; we will not surrender. Do not bet on our memory; we will not forget. And do not bet on time; we will not change our mind.”The Lebanese Forces party has accused “out-of-control weapons” of being responsible for Suleiman’s killing without directly accusing Hezbollah of being responsible for the crime.
The LF believes there are many gaps in the security narrative of Suleiman’s killing. The party insists that the crime is “political until proven otherwise.” After the incident, and a few hours before the announcement of Suleiman’s killing, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah accused “the Lebanese Forces party and its allies of fueling conflict.”

Army arrests minor who hurled firebomb at SSNP office in Jdita
Naharnet/April 12/2024
Army intelligence agents on Friday arrested in the Bekaa town of Taalabaya a Lebanese minor who had hurled a firebomb at an office for the Syrian Social Nationalist Party in Bekaa’s Jdita, the army said. Reports had said that gunmen had fired shots at office where they also hung a Lebanese Forces flag.
The SSNP pointed the finger at the LF over the attack, but the LF denied its involvement in the incident and condemned it. The incident came amid high tensions in the country stirred by the disappearance and murder of the LF’s Jbeil coordinator Pascal Sleiman. On Thursday, a parked ambulance belonging to the SSNP was torched in the Aley district town of Bayssour, also drawing condemnations.

SSNP ambulance torched in Bayssour after Jdita incident
Naharnet/April 12/2024
A parked ambulance belonging to the Syrian Social Nationalist Party has been torched in the Aley district town of Bayssour, a day after gunmen fired shots at the party’s office in Bekaa’s Jdita, where they also hung a Lebanese Forces flag.
The Progressive Socialist Party and other parties condemned the Bayssour incident and warned of attempts to stir strife in the country amid the tensions that followed the murder of LF official Pascal Sleiman in the Jbeil district. The SSNP pointed the finger at the Lebanese Forces in the Jdita attack, but the LF denied its involvement in the incident and condemned it. “Confronting the sedition that is moving from one Lebanese region to another has become the duty of us all. Our approach in political action does not involve the use of arms and we’re among the fiercest opponents of the approach of weapons,” the LF said in a statement.

Mikati and Berri discuss situations in south Lebanon and Gaza
Naharnet/April 12/2024
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati held talks Friday in Ain el-Tineh with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. The talks tackled the political and security developments in the country in addition to the military situations in south Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. “It was an occasion to offer Eid greetings to Mr. Speaker and we also discussed the latest developments, including the situations in the South,” Mikati said after the meeting.

Argentine court blames Iran and Hezbollah for deadly 1994 Jewish center bombing
Associated Press/April 12/2024
Argentina's highest criminal court has reported a new development in the elusive quest for justice in the deadliest attack in the country's history — the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center headquarters — concluding Iran had planned the attack and Lebanon's Hezbollah had executed the plans. In a ruling obtained by The Associated Press, Argentina's Court of Cassation deemed Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah responsible for the bombing in Buenos Aires that leveled the community center, killing 85 people, wounding 300 and devastating Latin America's biggest Jewish community. The court said the attack came in retaliation for Argentina reneging on a nuclear cooperation deal with Tehran. Alleging Iran's "political and strategic" role in the bombing, the Argentine court paved the way for victims' families to bring lawsuits against the Islamic Republic. In the past three decades, Iran has not turned over citizens convicted in Argentina. Interpol arrest warrants have led nowhere. "The significance of these grave human rights violations for the international community as a whole invokes a state's duty to provide judicial protection," the ruling said, declaring the bombing of the Argentine Jewish Mutual Aid Association community center a "crime against humanity."
The court decision came as no shock. Argentina's judiciary has long maintained Iran was behind the attack, chilling relations between the countries — particularly after the collapse of a joint investigation. Iran has denied involvement. A spokesperson for Hezbollah, Israel's archenemy on its northern border, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. What some said they found shocking, rather, was the court's failure to provide concrete evidence of Iran's direct involvement or shed new light on the case after 30 years of setbacks and scandals. "I would never rule Iran out, it's certainly on the list of suspects, but let's do something specific to rule it in," said Joe Goldman, who co-authored a book about the winding investigations into the Jewish community center attack as well as bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires that killed more than 20 people in 1992. "That would be a serious investigation that we haven't seen."The court singled out top Iranian officials and paramilitary Revolutionary Guard commanders in its determination that Iran carried out the bombings in response to Argentina scrapping three contracts that would have provided Tehran with nuclear technology in the mid-1980s. Its conclusions were based on confidential intelligence reports.
In light of the court ruling, Israel asked Argentina to declare the Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement Friday that he reached out to his counterpart in Argentina, Diana Mondino, to deliver the request. The two spoke late Thursday, Katz said. Past inquiries into the bombings have turned up indictments, not just against Iranian officials but also two former Argentine presidents. In 2015, the chief prosecutor in the case was mysteriously found dead in his bathroom the day before he was to go public with claims that top Argentine officials had conspired with Iran to cover up responsibility for the bombing. Over the years, witnesses have been threatened and bribed. On Thursday, the Court of Cassation reduced by two years the six-year sentence of an Argentine judge accused of paying a witness $400,000, and upheld other sentences against former prosecutors. Thursday's ruling comes just months ahead of the event's 30th anniversary. Even as the case has stalled for years, Argentine authorities have timed big announcements to coincide with anniversaries of the bloody attack. When marking 25 years since the attack, Argentina designated Hezbollah a "terrorist" organization and froze the group's financial assets. Representatives from Argentina's Jewish community, home to some 230,000 Jews, praised Thursday's court ruling as "historic, unique in Argentina.""It's politically opportune," added Jorge Knoblovits, the president of Argentina's umbrella Jewish organization, pointing to renewed scrutiny of Iran's support for militant groups following Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel. But for the relatives of those killed in the bombings, the ruling was just a grim reminder of their anguish as the case remains open. "We hope one day complete justice and truth will come," said Memoria Activa, an association of families of victims of the attack. "And that these judges will stop profiting from our dead."

Israel Targets Media Personnel Again in Southern Lebanon
This is Beirut/April 12/2024
The Israeli army opened fire from its positions in Maskaf Aam, targeting a team from Al-Mayadeen news channel as their car was crossing the Odaisseh road. Their vehicle was hit by bullets, with no reported injuries. This is not the first time Israel has targeted media personnel in southern Lebanon. On November 21, two journalists, Farah Omar and Rabih Maamari from Al-Mayadeen, were killed by Israeli fire, while Reuters reporter Issam Abdallah was killed on October 13. In addition, the Hebrew state targeted and shot at workers repairing the electricity network in the border area, with no reported casualties. Israeli artillery shelling hit the outskirts of Khiam, Hula, and Markaba towards Wadi Hunin. In the afternoon, Israeli reconnaissance aircraft flew intensively over Tyre and Bint Jbeil. Furthermore, Israel raided Wadi Hanine in the Bint Jbeil district, as well as Taybeh and Aita al-Shaab. In retaliation, Hezbollah said in a statement that it had targeted Maskaf Aam with appropriate weapons, hitting it directly. According to Israeli media, alarm sirens sounded in Maskaf Aam and Margaliot in northern Israel. In the early evening, interceptor missiles exploded over Hamames, while three thermal balloons were observed in the skies over Zahrani, specifically over the town of Sarafand (Kouroum region). Simultaneously, Israeli reconnaissance aircraft flew over Beirut. Hezbollah announced that it had targeted Israeli artillery positions in Zaoura with dozens of Katyusha rockets, in retaliation for attacks on villages and civilian homes in the south, notably those of Taybeh and Aita al-Shaab. Similarly, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for attacks on the Israeli sites of Miskaf Aam, Rweissat al-Alam and Sammaka (Kfarchouba hills), Al-Marj, as well as Karantina Hill. According to Israeli media, 50 missiles were fired from Lebanon towards the Upper Galilee (northern Israel) in the evening. Earlier in the day, alarm sirens sounded in Miskaf Aam and Margaliot in northern Israel. The Israeli army announced that it had intercepted two Hezbollah drones in northern Israel.

Mawlawi: Sleiman’s Murder Investigation is Still in Preliminary Stage
This is Beirut/April 12/2024
Caretaker Minister of Interior, Bassam Mawlawi, stated on Friday evening that “the investigation into the murder of Pascal Sleiman is still in a preliminary stage in the hands of the army.”In an interview with the pan-Arab Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, Mawlawi declared that “the Lebanese people’s speculations about the operation’s details and whether it was an ordinary robbery or not are legitimate, and only the final results of the investigation will answer them.” To recall, Pascal Sleiman, Coordinator of the Lebanese Forces in Jbeil, was kidnapped on Sunday by a Syrian gang. He was found dead the following day on Syrian territory. “The routing of the stolen car used by the kidnappers is being tracked, and whether they tried to carry out other operations in the days leading up to the kidnapping and killing of Sleiman,” he added. According to the Interior Minister, the gangs stationed on the Syrian border “are not only active in kidnappings but also in smuggling Captagon, as well as Syrians into Lebanon through illegal crossings.” He said the Syrian state has a role in pursuing these gangs which it is “not fulfilling,” and called on it “to take responsibility.”“We rejected a Syrian request to remove the watchtowers on the border, but we insist on activating them to try to combat these operations,” he concluded.

France urges no travel to Iran, Lebanon, Israel and Palestinian territories
AFP/April 12, 2024
PARIS: France on Friday warned its citizens to “imperatively refrain from travel in the coming days to Iran, Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian territories,” the foreign minister’s entourage told AFP. Iran has threatened reprisals against Israel over a strike on the Iranian consulate in Syria on April 1 that killed seven Revolutionary Guards including two generals, sparking fears of an escalation of violence in the Middle East. France’s Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne at a crisis meeting also asked that family members of French diplomats in Iran be evacuated, and no French civil servants be sent on missions to the listed countries. Israel has bombarded the Gaza Strip since an unprecedented attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas against Israel on October 7. It has also stepped up strikes against Iranian personnel and allies in Syria and Lebanon. Israel has traded near-daily cross-border fire with Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah since the start of the latest Gaza conflict.

Hezbollah’s expected Response to IRGC-QF Gen. Mohammad Zahedi’s killing
David Daoud/FDD's Long War Journal/April 12, 2024 |
According to the Syrian Army, at 17:00 hours on April 1, Israel launched an airborne attack from over the Golan Heights, targeting a building in Damascus that it described as the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital. As the dust settled, it became clear the Israeli precision strike had destroyed the targeted building, killing several occupants – the most prominent among them was Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, aka “Hassan Mahdawi,” responsible for Lebanon and Syria operations for Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps – Quds Force (IRGC-QF).
The other casualties were also IRGC figures – Gen. Haji Rahimi, Hossein Amanollahi, Mahdi Jalalati, Mohsen Sadghat, Ali Aghababai, and Ali Salehi Rouzbahani. It was later revealed that Hussein Ridha Youssef, a Hezbollah figure whose precise role remains undisclosed, may also have been killed in the strike.
Mohammad Reza Zahedi’s Significance to Hezbollah
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah addressed Zahedi’s significance to the group on April 8, briefly explaining his biography. According to Nasrallah, Zahedi was one of the first members of the embryonic IRGC, joining the organization in his early 20s – spending that decade of his life fighting in the Iran-Iraq war. After the war ended, he moved within the organization’s ranks until he was appointed in 1998 to direct Quds Force operations and activities in Lebanon, Syria, and Israel by then-commander Qassem Soleimani.
Thus began Zahedi’s first regional tour of duty, during which Nasrallah said Zahedi worked closely with Hezbollah’s then-military commander Imad Mughniyeh – leading up to the May 25, 2000, Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon and helping Hezbollah set its plans for the “next stage” of its war against Israel after that withdrawal. He returned to Iran in 2002, assuming command of the IRGC’s ground forces, and was reappointed to his former role by Soleimani in an unusual move mere weeks after Mughniyeh’s February 2008 assassination in Damascus. This second Levantine tour of duty – during which Zahedi was again based in Lebanon – lasted until 2014. While this went unmentioned by Nasrallah, during these years, Zahedi doubtlessly assisted Hezbollah’s campaign to prevent the downfall of the regime of Bashar al-Assad, which began in 2011. At the end of this tour of duty, Zahedi returned to Iran, only to be redeployed to Lebanon for a third and final tour of duty, which began in 2020 after Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani’s killing and lasted until Zahedi’s death on April 1, 2024.
During these cumulative fourteen years, Nasrallah stressed Zahedi was – among other things – a “partner and adviser” to Hezbollah. Zahedi reportedly was also the only non-Lebanese sitting on Hezbollah’s senior decision-making body, its Shura Council, according to an unnamed source close to the organization. Nasrallah insisted Zahedi did not involve himself in Lebanese domestic politics. Why did he do so when Hezbollah could fulfill that task? – devoting himself entirely instead to “the Resistance, the readiness of the Resistance, increasing the resilience of the Resistance, developing and evolving the Resistance and that the Resistance will be at the needed level to protect Lebanon and liberate Palestine, and supporting the Palestinian people – I am speaking about [all] of the Resistance movements in the region.”
Nasrallah insisted that Zahedi was always on the frontlines and had returned during his last tour of duty with the expectation and desire to be martyred – chastising Nasrallah for banning him from “going down to the south [of Lebanon] or to the frontline,” during previous tours. Nasrallah says he nevertheless banned him from the frontlines this time around as well, despite Zahedi’s overwhelming desire to directly join the fight against Israel after October 7, 2023. Despite this, Nasrallah said Zahedi’s “heart, mind, and eye were [directed] to Gaza” – from the onset of Al-Aqsa Flood until his “martyrdom.” Nasrallah added, “We were following all the developments/details together.”
Zahedi apparently died as he lived: planning attacks against Israel. The Israelis brought down the building as Zahedi was reportedly meeting with the leadership of Palestinian militant groups. Given Zahedi’s overall role, and that this meeting occurred in the context of an ongoing, multi-front Resistance Axis war with Israel, it is virtually indisputable that the outcome of this meeting, had it not been impeded by the airstrike, would have imminently negatively impacted Israel’s security, and possibly the lives of its citizens or soldiers. Israel has disputed that the targeted building was a consulate or diplomatic mission – “this is no consulate and this is no embassy,” insisted IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, “this is a military building of Quds forces disguised as a civilian building in Damascus” – the targeted figures, their meeting during wartime, and its imminent impact in an ongoing war would arguably have pierced the immunity otherwise afforded by international law to an Iranian diplomatic mission as a civilian building.
Iranian Calculations
Nevertheless, Iran cannot let the Israeli attack pass quietly. Zahedi, as noted, was a significant commander in the IRGC – arguably the most valuable Iranian target killed by the Israelis in decades. Moreover, Iran considers this attack to have occurred on Iranian soil. However, the Islamic Republic rarely retaliates impulsively – especially when a revenge attack could work at cross ends with other Iranian interests.
At the moment, the primary goal of Iran and its proxies and extensions – the collective known as the Resistance Axis – is saving Hamas and other Resistance Axis terrorist factions in the Gaza Strip from destruction at Israel’s hands while incurring minimal costs. To that end, the Resistance Axis has been working in coordination along concentric circles of pressure to halt Israel’s onslaught in the Gaza Strip.
The first circle consists of the direct confrontation between the Gaza-based terrorist organizations and Israel. Here, Hamas and its partners hope to bring direct pressure to bear upon Israel to stop the war. In part, they are betting on a fundamentally erroneous understanding of Israeli – and particularly Jewish Israeli – society as inherently artificial and brittle and, therefore, incapable of bearing the inevitable costs in blood and treasure of the ongoing war. However, they are also gambling on the ability of autocratic systems – because of their relative disregard for public opinion – to endure the type of prolonged war necessary to eliminate Hamas and its partners, which have spent nearly two decades embedded in the series of dense urban environments comprising the Gaza Strip. By contrast, democratic societies like Israel’s are inherently averse to such protracted war campaigns. This factor is magnified by Israel’s unique characteristics – namely, the impact of the deaths of soldiers, Israelis displaced from the Gaza Envelope, and the economic and social impact of a lengthy war and call up of reserve forces on a society as relatively small and tight-knit as Israel’s – and the impact of Hamas’ use of Israeli hostages in its psychological warfare to erode Israeli morale.
The second circle, consisting of the so-called “support fronts,” consists of other Resistance Axis militias, primarily Hezbollah, but also Iraqi groups and the Houthis , directly attacking Israel to compound the first circle’s impact – by forcing Israel to divide its forces along several fronts, and impacting Israeli society’s morale and economy by displacing Israeli citizens along different fronts, and forcing the Israel Defense Forces to call p more reserves.
In the event direct pressure fails to dissuade Israel from its warpath, the third circle is meant to pressure the United States into forcing the Israelis to do so. The underlying logic here rests on both faulty and correct assumptions – the former that Israel is a mere tool of U.S. imperialism. At the same time, the latter correctly understands that Israel is a junior partner to the United States and that its war effort depends on U.S. military and diplomatic support. In his April 8 speech, Nasrallah elaborated.
“Some say Israel controls America. No, American controls Israel. This story of the Jewish and Zionist Lobby is a joke told by Arabs [lit. Arab joke] just so the Arabs will not fight Israel, and to [justify] them going to America and putting their money in America, and build relations with America – so that we can build an Arab Lobby to compete with the Jewish Lobby. And look after 75 yrs what came out of the Arab Lobby. Aside from [the fact] that Arab funds are all stashed in American treasuries. This is empty talk. The American, when he puts his foot down, it’s enough for him [i.e. the American] to tell him [i.e. the Israeli] ‘I’m going to stop the funds.’ Israel then quakes in fear. When he [i.e. American] tells him [i.e. the Israeli] I will stop the weapons supply, the [IDF] Chief of Staff starts counting all the projectiles he fired on a note to see what’s left in the arsenal. This is the reality. This is what Israel’s generals say. When they object that Netanyahu is ruining the relationship with America, part of what they say is that Israel will be left without ammunition…”
Therefore, the United States could force Israel to stop the war at a time of Washington’s choosing – and the most direct route to convince the Americans to do so is to make them also pay the price for Israel’s continued prosecution of the war in Gaza continuation through constant harassment of U.S. forces deployed to the region. Hence, the uptick of Resistance Axis attacks on U.S. military assets, which continued until Kataib Hezbollah killed three American servicemembers and risked incurring heavy American retaliation – something Iran and its proxies had been trying to avoid.
The fourth and final circle complements the third and is focused on swaying international opinion against Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip. In part, it consists of kinetic efforts – namely, the Houthi strikes in the Red Sea meant to disrupt international shipping and force Israel’s Western partners to pay a price for the war’s continuation. The remainder consists of narrative – an effort relying on soft power and propaganda to appeal to the sensibilities of specific segments of the Western public to convince them that Israel’s war is genocidal and its existence is unjust. The impact of this fourth and final circle is also meant to be felt in the United States – where the Resistance Axis is likely betting on the ruling Democratic Party’s greater responsiveness than its Republican counterpart to international opinion, and its desire not to alienate Pro-Palestine progressive, Arab, and Muslim Americans during an election year.
Iran and its proxies were also likely hoping that Israel would commit an error of the type that is common to all protracted wars to help galvanize international opinion against its war in Gaza. That came hours after Zahedi was killed, when the IDF misidentified and struck a World Central Kitchen humanitarian aid convoy in the Gaza Strip – sparking international outrage and pressure to halt the war in Gaza.
Israel, which isn’t a Security Council member, cannot merely shrug off such mistakes as the inevitable tragedies inherent in warlike, more powerful Western countries that have committed similar mistakes. Iran, meanwhile, is happy to let Israel stew in the international opprobrium resulting from this erroneous strike, which will, at least, slow the IDF’s efforts against Tehran’s proxies in Gaza.
Hezbollah’s Role in Avenging Zahedi
Like Iran, Hezbollah is mourning Zahedi’s death, immediately condemning his killing. Within days, Nasrallah took to his bully-pulpit on International Quds Day to describe Zahedi’s killing as an “inflection point” – much like many previous incidents before it, but which did not prompt a change in Hezbollah’s military posture. While the group has continued to launch attacks at Israel, they have remained within the accepted post-October 8 rules of engagement.
In the same breath, as he described the significance of Zahedi’s killing, Nasrallah distanced Hezbollah from primary responsibility for retaliation. He stressed that the “response” would be “Iranian.” “The Iranian response is coming, it is inevitable,” he reiterated throughout his speech. This mirrored Nasrallah’s statements after the 2020 killing of Qassem Soleimani – and, partially, for the same reasons. Lebanon remains mired in economic and political instability, and Hezbollah does not want to be perceived as the party that invited the ruin of war on a country already groaning under the weight of financial collapse. Inviting a destructive war with Israel for Palestinian interests could risk uniting the Lebanese street in anger at Hezbollah and perhaps even undermining its support base.
Indeed, in his three speeches since Zahedi’s killing – on April 3, April 5, and April 8 – Nasrallah fell back on Hezbollah’s tried and true tactic of using propaganda against Israel in lieu of risky military action. Nasrallah devoted most of these speeches to reiterating variations of his constant refrain throughout this war: Israel is weak and on the verge of destruction, while the Resistance Axis is strong and victorious. Israel, he claimed, has accomplished nothing in the current war, and has already been defeated. Meanwhile, he exaggerated the actions of the Resistance Axis since October 7, 2023, and their impact. Thus, Hezbollah and its allies could maintain their image of strength – upon which their support depends – without actually incurring a commensurate price.
This chest-thumping only underscored Hezbollah’s disinterest in expanding the fight with Israel over Zahedi’s killing. Indeed, Indeed, despite the bellicose bluster, Nasrallah fell back to a years-long talking point – one that Hezbollah’s leadership has reiterated since October 7 – that Hezbollah is ready for war and does not fear it, but also does not want to initiate it.
Furthermore, unbridled revenge may undermine the central goal of Hezbollah’s and Iran’s activities since October 7 – the objective that Nasrallah said on November 3, 2023, must “always be before our eyes.” That objective, he said, was comprised of two goals: the first goal…is to stop the aggression on the Gaza Strip…and the second goal is that Gaza, the Palestinian Resistance in Gaza, and specifically Hamas, emerge victorious.” All other goals, including avenging Zahedi, are subordinate to this primary objective for the time being.
Iran’s Revenge
Iran and the Resistance Axis, as noted, are trying to save their allies in the Gaza Strip while paying only the minimum price. That is why all their attacks, particularly Hezbollah’s, have remained below the threshold that would grant Israel legitimacy among the international community to prosecute more aggressive or expansive campaigns against them. Moreover, if they can accomplish their central objective of saving Hamas without paying a price at all, even better.
Indeed, it now seems that Iran and the Resistance Axis are depending on international pressure in the wake of the World Central Kitchen tragedy to halt Israel in its tracks and do the job for them. On April 8, Nasrallah expressed cautious optimism that this newfound international pressure on Israel would bring his group and its partners closer to the objectives he enumerated on November 3. After all, a careful study of the Resistance Axis’ decades-long behavior reveals, rather ironically, that they prefer to achieve their goals through the paths of least resistance. A massive and direct strike against Israel by Iran and its proxies, or either alone, could risk reinvigorating the flagging legitimacy of Israel’s campaign in the Gaza Strip – and potentially create newfound support for Israel expanding its war effort into other theaters where the Resistance Axis operates.
Iran will extract a price for Zahedi’s death – but it will do so in a manner that denies Israel the upper hand or resuscitates support for its war effort, and at a time that is most advantageous to Tehran. Iran will likely strike at one of Israel’s soft underbellies, perhaps a diplomatic mission or a Jewish or Israeli target abroad. Iran could also try to activate the assets it has been developing within Israel and the West Bank, drawing Israeli blood while hiding behind the degree of plausible deniability that such an attack would afford it. If Hezbollah participates in the response at all, it will do so in a secondary role.
**David Daoud is Senior Fellow at at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies where he focuses on Israel, Hezbollah, and Lebanon affairs.

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 12-13/2024
Biden expecting Iranian attack on Israel ‘sooner than later,’ tells Tehran ‘don’t’
REUTERS/April 12, 2024
WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later,” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden said simply, “Don’t,” and he underscored Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Earlier, White House spokesperson John Kirby said the reportedly imminent attack by Iran on Israel was a real and viable threat, but gave no details about any possible timing. Kirby said the United States was looking at its own force posture in the region in light or Tehran’s threat and was watching the situation very closely.

Russia, Germany and UK urge restraint as Iranian threat puts Middle East on edge
REUTERS/April 12, 2024
MOSCOW: Russia, Germany and Britain on Thursday urged countries in the Middle East to show restraint and Israel said it was preparing to “meet all its security needs” in a region on edge over an Iranian threat to strike Israel. The German airline Lufthansa, one of only two Western carriers flying to Tehran, extended a suspension of its flights to the Iranian capital and Russia warned against travel to the Middle East. Iran has vowed revenge for the April 1 airstrike on its embassy compound in Damascus that killed a top Iranian general and six other Iranian military officers, ratcheting up tension in a region already strained by the Gaza war. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack, but Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday Israel “must be punished and it shall be,” saying it was tantamount to an attack on Iranian soil. The “imperative for Iran to punish this rogue regime” might have been avoided had the UN Security Council condemned the strike and brought the perpetrators to justice, Tehran’s mission to the United Nations said on Thursday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was keeping up its war in Gaza but making security preparations elsewhere. “Whoever harms us, we will harm them. We are prepared to meet all of the security needs of the State of Israel, both defensively and offensively,” he said in comments released following a visit to an air force base. Iran has signalled to Washington that it will respond to Israel’s attack in a way that aims to avoid major escalation and it will not act hastily, Iranian sources said. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin that Israel would respond directly to any attack by Iran, Gallant’s office said. Conflict has spread across the Middle East since the eruption of the Gaza war, with Iran-backed groups declaring support for the Palestinians waging attacks from Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq. Tehran has avoided direct confrontation with Israel or the United States, while declaring support for its allies. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called on her Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian to urge “maximum restraint” to avoid further escalation. Russia’s foreign ministry told citizens they should not travel to the Middle East, especially to Israel, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. “Right now it’s very important for everyone to maintain restraint so as not to lead to a complete destabilization of the situation in the region, which doesn’t exactly shine with stability and predictability,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a news briefing.
‘Potential for miscalculation’
British foreign minister David Cameron said on Thursday he had made clear to Amirabdollahian that Iran should not draw the Middle East into a wider conflict.
“I am deeply concerned about the potential for miscalculation leading to further violence,” Cameron said on X.

Hamas official says ceasefire needed to locate Gaza hostages
Agence France Presse/April 12, 2024
A senior Hamas official said Thursday that only a ceasefire can provide "enough time and safety" to locate Israeli hostages held across the Gaza Strip and ascertain their fate. Negotiations for a ceasefire have been under way in Cairo since Sunday, but so far there has been no breakthrough on a proposal presented by U.S., Qatari and Egyptian mediators. "Part of (the) negotiations is to reach a ceasefire agreement to have enough time and safety to collect final and more precise data about the captured Israelis," Hamas official Bassem Naim said in a statement. This is "because they are (held) in different places by different groups, some of them are under the rubble killed with our own people, and we negotiate to get heavy equipments for this purpose," the Hamas political bureau member said. Hamas acknowledged early last month that it did not know which of the 129 hostages still captive in Gaza remained alive. Naim added that the fate of the hostages, while paramount for the Israeli side, was just one topic of the Cairo talks. "It’s a ceasefire negotiations and not a prisoner deal negotiations, the prisoners deal is one of the items to be negotiated," he said.
Another senior Hamas official, Taher al-Nunu, said that "what has been offered to us in the latest round of negotiations regarding the ceasefire so far does not meet our demands".He pointed to Israeli demands for "a temporary ceasefire and to keep their forces in the Gaza Strip" as points of contention. Mediators have put together a framework for a deal that would include a six-week halt to fighting and the exchange of about 40 hostages for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. It would also see increased aid deliveries to Gaza and many displaced Palestinians returning to what is left of their homes. The Gaza war broke out after Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, resulting in the deaths of 1,170 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. Israel's retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed 33,545 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

Caught in ‘strategic conundrum’, Iran said to seek ‘controlled’ retaliation through proxies
The Arab Weekly/April 12/2024
Iran believes Netanyahu aims to draw Tehran into a war, therefore its retaliation could be restrained, avoiding direct strikes on Israeli territory and drawing on Tehran’s proxies.
The United States expects an attack by Iran against Israel but one that would not be big enough to draw Washington into war, a US official said late on Thursday.
The White House said earlier that Washington did not want the conflict to spread in the Middle East and the US had told Iran it was not involved in an air strike against a top Iranian military commander in Damascus. The White House added it warned Iran to not use that attack as a pretext to escalate further in the region. In the meanwhile, Iran has signalled to Washington that it will respond to Israel’s attack on its Syrian embassy in a way that aims to avoid major escalation and it will not act hastily, as Tehran pressed demands including a Gaza truce, Iranian sources said.
Iran’s message to Washington was conveyed by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian during a visit on Sunday to the Gulf Arab state of Oman, which has often acted as an intermediary between Tehran and Washington, the sources said. The White House said the United States has communicated to Iran that it was not involved in the strike on the embassy. A source familiar with US intelligence told Reuters Iran has “been very clear” that its response to the attack on its Damascus embassy compound would be “controlled”and “non-escalatory”‌ and planned “to use regional proxies to launch a number of attacks on Israel.”The diplomatic messaging points to a cautious approach by Iran as it weighs how to respond to the April 1 attack in a way that deters Israel from further such actions, but avoids a military escalation that could suck in the United States.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that Israel “must be punished and it shall be”, saying it was tantamount to an attack on Iranian soil. Israel has not confirmed it was responsible, but the Pentagon has said it was. The attack, which killed a top Iranian general, marked an escalation in the violence that has spread through the region since the Gaza war began. Tehran has carefully avoided any direct role in the regional spillover, while backing groups which have waged attacks from Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon. Iranian-backed Shia Muslim militias have not attacked US troops in Syria and Iraq since early February. One of the Iranian sources did not rule out the possibility that members of the Iran-backed Axis of Resistance could attack Israel at any moment, an option analysts have flagged as one possible means of reprisal.
Iranian demands
The sources said Amir-Abdollahian, in his Oman meetings, signalled Tehran’s willingness to de-escalate on condition demands are met, including a permanent Gaza ceasefire, something Israel has ruled out as it seeks to crush Hamas. The sources said Iran also sought the revival of talks over its disputed nuclear programme. Those talks have been stalled for nearly two years, with both sides accusing each other of making unreasonable demands. And Tehran also sought assurances that the United States would not get involved in the event of a “controlled attack” on Israel by Iran, a demand which the United States rejected in a response delivered via Oman, the sources said. Iran’s retaliatory strikes would be “non-escalatory” toward the United States “as they do not want the US to get involved,”‌ said the source familiar with US intelligence, indicating Iran would not direct its proxy militias in Syria and Iraq to target US forces in those countries. US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that Iran was threatening to launch a “significant attack in Israel”, and that he had told Netanyahu “our commitment to Israel security against these threats from Iran and its proxies is iron-clad”. Israel has said it would answer any attack from Iran. “If Iran attacks from its territory, Israel will respond and attack in Iran,”‌ Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a post on the X social media platform in Farsi and Hebrew on Wednesday.Experts on Iranian diplomacy said such tough demands from Tehran were typical of the hard-nosed approach it takes in negotiations. But the contacts nevertheless pointed to its interest in warding off major conflict.
Eurasia group analyst Gregory Brew said Khamenei was “trapped in a strategic conundrum”. “Iran must respond to restore deterrence and maintain credibility among its Resistance Front allies. But on the other hand, retaliating to restore deterrence would likely bring an even greater, and more destructive Israeli response, likely with US assistance,” he said. The Iranian sources said the US had asked Iran to exercise restraint and allow space for diplomacy, cautioning Tehran that in the event of a direct attack it will stand by Israel. The Iranian sources said Iran believes Netanyahu aims to draw Tehran into a war, therefore its retaliation could be a restrained one that avoids direct strikes on Israeli territory and may draw on Tehran’s proxies. The US Middle East envoy has called the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and Iraq to ask them to deliver a message to Iran urging it to lower tensions with Israel, a source with knowledge of the situation said. A source familiar with the issue said the US might well agree to revived nuclear talks if that could prevent a conflagration. “If we are talking about talks and not (about) reaching an agreement, then it would seem to be well worth the price if the pay-off is minimising the risk of a regional escalation into which the US would be dragged,” said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Ali Vaez of International Crisis Group said Iran’s dilemma was “to figure out how to retaliate in a way that it saves face without losing its head”. “Israel is much more unpredictable than the US,” he said. “The Supreme Leader is clearly concerned that rather than delivering the deterrent effect he might hope to achieve, an attack on Israel may only fuel a counter-escalation he might have hoped to avoid.”
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Secretary of State Antony Blinken called counterparts including the Turkish, Chinese and Saudi foreign ministers “to make clear that escalation is not in anyone’s interest and that countries should urge Iran not to escalate.”
US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday Iran was threatening to launch a “significant attack in Israel,” and that he had told Netanyahu that “our commitment to Israel security against these threats from Iran and its proxies is iron-clad.”The US expects an attack by Iran against Israel but one that would not be big enough to draw Washington into war, a US official said late on Thursday. Iran is the third-largest oil producer in the OPEC group and oil prices stayed near six-month highs on Thursday. Late on Wednesday, an Iranian news agency published an Arabic report on the X platform saying the air space over Tehran had been closed for military drills, but then removed the report and denied it had issued such news. Lufthansa said it would probably not fly to Tehran before April 13. Austrian Airlines said it was still planning to fly on Thursday but was adjusting timings to avoid crew having to disembark for an overnight layover.
Iranian air space is also a key overflight route for Emirates’ and Qatar Airways’ flights to Europe and North America. Emirates, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, Aeroflot and Air Arabia, among the airlines that fly to Tehran, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Israel pounds Gaza as Iran attack threat puts region on edge
AFP/April 12, 2024
GAZA: Residents reported heavy Israeli fire in central Gaza on Friday, with regional tensions soaring after Iran threatened reprisals over a strike in Syria this month that killed two Iranian generals. As talks for a truce and hostage release dragged on, fears that Iran could soon launch an attack on Israel prompted the United States to announce it was sending reinforcements to the Middle East as a deterrent. US President Joe Biden said he expected Iran to attempt to strike Israel soon but warned it against attacking the US ally in retaliation for the April 1 strike on its Damascus consulate. Authorities in Hamas-ruled Gaza reported dozens of new air strikes in the central region where most Israeli troops have regrouped in recent days. Israel’s military said its aircraft had struck more than 60 militant targets in Gaza over the previous day. The Hamas media office said 25 people were taken to hospital in Deir Al-Balah “as a result of an air strike on a house.” Mohammed Al-Rayes, 61, told AFP that he fled Israeli “air strikes and artillery shelling” in Nuseirat overnight. “It was all fire and destruction, with so many martyrs lying in the street,” he said.Another resident, Laila Nasser, 40, reported “shells and missiles” throughout the night. “They will do to Nuseirat what they did to Khan Yunis,” said Nasser, vowing to flee to the southernmost city of Rafah, like most of Gaza’s population. The war began with Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack against Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 33,634 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry. The latest bombardments in Gaza came after Israel said it had strengthened air defenses and paused leave for combat units, following a deadly April 1 air strike that destroyed Iran’s consulate building in Damascus. Iran blamed its arch foe Israel, which has stepped up strikes against Iran-linked targets in Syria since the Gaza war began. The White House said on Friday that the threat from Iran remained “real.”
Asked what his message was to Iran on striking Israel, Biden said: “Don’t.”
“We are devoted to the defense of Israel, we will support Israel, we will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. A defense official said the Pentagon was “moving additional assets to the region to bolster regional deterrence efforts and increase force protection for US forces.”
Biden sent the head of US Central Command, General Michael Kurilla, to Israel for urgent talks on the threat from Iran. After meeting Kurilla on Friday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel and the United States stood “shoulder to shoulder,” despite recent differences over the conduct of the war in Gaza.
“Our enemies think that they can pull apart Israel and the United States, but the opposite is true — they are bringing us together and strengthening our ties,” Gallant said. Washington, which has had no diplomatic relations with Tehran since the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic revolution, also asked its allies to use their influence with Iran to urge restraint, the State Department said. After calls with his Australian, British and German counterparts Thursday, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said: “Iran does not seek to expand the scope of the war.”But he added that it felt it had no choice but to respond to the deadly attack on its diplomatic mission after the UN Security Council failed to take action. Lebanon’s Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah said it fired “dozens of Katyusha rockets” at Israeli artillery positions Friday, a bombardment it said was in response to Israeli strikes in the south. The Israeli army said approximately 40 launches were identified, some of which were intercepted. “No injuries were reported,” it added.
France warned its nationals against traveling to Iran, Israel, Lebanon or the Palestinian territories, after the US embassy in Israel announced it was restricting the movements of its diplomats over security fears. German airline Lufthansa said its planes would no longer use Iranian airspace as it extended a suspension of flights to and from Tehran. In their October attack, Hamas militants seized about 250 hostages, 129 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli army says are dead. The European Union on Friday imposed sanctions on the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad for “widespread” sexual violence during the October 7 attack. The bloc said fighters from the two militant groups — already on the EU’s terrorism blacklist — “committed widespread sexual and gender-based violence in a systematic manner, using it as a weapon of war.” Washington has ramped up pressure on Netanyahu to increase aid flows to Gaza in the face of UN warnings of imminent famine. The Israeli army said that an undisclosed number of aid trucks had been allowed to enter Gaza Thursday through a newly opened border crossing into the north of the territory. “The first food aid trucks entered through the new northern crossing from Israel into Gaza yesterday,” the Israeli defense ministry body that oversees Palestinian civil affairs, COGAT, said. Despite repeated AFP requests for comment, Israeli authorities did not disclose the exact location of the new crossing, which Israeli media reported to be close to the Zikim kibbutz. Gallant had trumpeted the new crossing on Wednesday, promising to “flood Gaza with aid,” but on Thursday the UN Security Council said “more should be done.”

Northern Gaza facing ‘catastrophe’ without more aid: OCHA official
ARAB NEWS/April 12, 2024
LONDON: Northern Gaza faces a catastrophe without more assistance, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator said on Friday, with communication between the Israeli military and foreign aid groups still poor and no meaningful improvements happening on the ground. Jamie McGoldrick, who works for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, warned that Gaza was sliding into an ever more precarious situation as Israel’s war against Hamas continues into a sixth month. He said that according to an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report 70 percent of people in the north of the Gaza Strip were “in real danger of slipping into famine.”In a briefing on the situation, McGoldrick said the deaths of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers earlier this month were “not a one off” and that there had been “many incidents of that kind.”“We work with, interact with, the Israeli Defense Forces and the way we notify and communicate is challenging. We don’t have communications equipment inside Gaza to operate properly, as you would have in … other situation(s),” he said. “We are working in a very hostile area as humanitarians without the possibility of contacting each other. We don’t have radios, we don’t have mobile networks that work. And so, what we then do is we have to find ways of passing messages back to OCHA and other organizations in Rafah and then relaying out. And if we have a serious security incident, we don’t have a hotline, we don’t have any way of communicating (with) the IDF or facing problems at checkpoint or facing problems en route. “I think that another thing, I would say, that there’s a real challenge of weapons discipline and the challenge of the behavior of (Israeli) soldiers at checkpoints. And we’ve tried, time and time again, to bring that (to their) attention.”McGoldrick said that communication with the Israeli military was hampering the flow of aid into Gaza. “Israel believes that their responsibility ends when they deliver trucks from Kerem Shalom and to the Palestinian side, and I would say that that’s certainly not the case,” he said.
“Their responsibility ends when the aid reaches the civilians in Gaza — we have to have them supportive of that. And that means allowing more facilitation, a lot more routes in and, obviously, to provide security for us as we move. At the moment, we don’t have security.” He said the toll the war had taken on Gaza’s basic infrastructure was also playing a part in hampering aid deliveries. “The roads themselves are in very poor condition. We are, as the UN, committed to using all possible routes to scale up humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza, but right now we see that there have been a number of commitments made by Israel and a number of concessions,” he said. “I don’t think there’s been any notable improvement in terms of our ability to move around, certainly not our approval to get convoys going to the north.” Opening more crossings to supply northern areas of Gaza was an essential step if famine was to be avoided in the area, McGoldrick said. “All we can do is keep reminding (Israel) and using the pressure from key (UN) member states to remind Israel of the commitments they’ve made and the commitments that we’ve been asking for such a long time. “That would be an essential lifeline into the north, because that’s where the population, according to the IPC — the recent famine report — that is where the bulk of people who are the most in danger of slipping into famine. “If we don’t have the chance to expand the delivery of aid into all parts of Gaza, but in particular to the north, then we’re going to face a catastrophe. And the people up there are living such a fragile and precarious existence.” McGoldrick also noted the difficulty in accessing fresh water and the devastation caused to Gaza’s health sector by Israel’s military campaign. “People have very much less water than they need. And as a result of that, waterborne diseases due to the lack of safe and clean water and the destruction of the sanitation systems, you know, they’re all bringing about problems for the population living (there),” he said. “The hospital system there, Al-Shifa, and Nasser, the two big hospitals have been badly damaged or destroyed. And what we have now is three-quarters of the hospitals and most of the primary healthcare clinics are shutting down, leaving only 10 of 36 hospitals functioning. “We hear of amputations being carried out with(out) anesthesia. You know, miscarriages have increased by a massive number. And I think of all those systems which are not in place, (and) at the soaring rates of infectious diseases — you know, hepatitis C, dehydration, infections and diarrhea. And obviously, given the fact that our supply chain is so weak, we haven’t been able to deliver enough assistance.”

Blinken discusses ceasefire, entry of aid into Gaza with foreign ministers of Jordan and Egypt
ARAB NEWS/April 12, 2024
LONDON: Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Friday received a phone call from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, and attempts to transport sufficient aid into the area, especially through Jordan. The parties stressed the need to remove all obstacles to ensure the adequate and immediate entry of aid into the besieged Palestinian territory, the Jordan News Agency reported. The Jordanian minister stressed the importance of opening all crossings for the entry of aid, and the need for supplies to address the humanitarian crisis caused by the war. He said that Jordan would be able to send hundreds of trucks to Gaza daily as soon as the northern crossings were opened, allowing the UN and its agencies to receive and distribute the aid. Safadi also stressed the need to end the Israeli assault on Gaza, and warned of “the disastrous consequences of an Israeli ground offensive against Rafah” in the southern Gaza Strip, Petra added. US State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, confirmed both officials focused on “diplomatic efforts to achieve an enduring end to the crisis in Gaza that provides lasting peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”
He provided details on their efforts to secure an immediate ceasefire, which they hoped would continue “over a period of at least six weeks” as part of a hostage release deal with Hamas. “Blinken thanked Jordan for its leadership in facilitating the delivery of life-saving humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, including through joint US-Jordan airdrops and deliveries by land,” Miller also said. The two parties discussed regional developments and efforts to reduce escalation in the conflict by Iran, as well as a number of bilateral issues. Blinken also spoke to Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Friday, and the parties agreed to maintain “constant Egypt-US consultations to contain the crisis in Gaza, end the war, and sustain aid delivery,” said Ahmed Abu Zeid, the spokesperson for Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.He added that Shoukry emphasized the “risks of regional conflict expansion and the unfolding consequences on (the) security and safety of the people.”

Israeli settlers rampage through a West Bank village, killing 1 Palestinian and wounding 25
AP/April 12, 2024
JERUSALEM: Dozens of angry Israeli settlers stormed into a Palestinian village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Friday, shooting and setting houses and cars on fire. The rampage killed a Palestinian man and wounded 25 others, Palestinian health officials said. The violence was the latest in an escalation in the West Bank that has accompanied the war in the Gaza Strip. An Israeli rights group said the settlers were searching for a missing 14-year-old boy from their settlement. After the rampage, Israeli troops said they were still searching for the teen. The killing came after an Israeli raid overnight killed two Palestinians, including a Hamas militant, in confrontation with Israeli forces. Palestinian health officials say over 460 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces since the war erupted in October. The Israeli human rights group Yesh Din said that settlers stormed into the village of Al-Mughayyir late Friday, searching for the Israeli boy. The group said that settlers were shooting and setting houses on fire in the village. Videos posted to X by the rights group showed dark clouds of smoke billowing from burning cars as gunshots rang out. A photo posted by the group showed what appeared to be a crowd of masked settlers. The Palestinian Health Ministry said that one man was brought dead to a hospital and 25 were treated for wounds. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said eight of the injured were hit by live fire from settlers. The deceased man was later identified by his family as 26-year-old Jehad Abu Alia. His father, Afif Abu Alia, said he was shot dead but was unsure whether the fatal bullet was fire by an armed settler or an Israeli soldier. “My son went with others to defend our land and honor, and this is what happened,” Afif Abu Alia said from a hospital in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where his son’s corpse had been transported. The attack was condemned by Mohamed Mustafa, the new Palestinian prime minister. The Israeli army said it was searching for the 14-year-old boy, and that forces had opened fire when stones were hurled at soldiers by Palestinians. It said soldiers also cleared out Israeli settlers from the village.
“As of this moment, the violent riots have been dispersed and there are no Israeli civilians present within the town,” it said. US officials, including President Joe Biden, have repeatedly raised concerns about a surge in settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank since Israel’s war with the militant Hamas group in the Gaza Strip began. Rights groups have long accused the military of failing to halt settler violence or punish soldiers for wrongdoing. Earlier on Friday, two Palestinians were killed in confrontations with Israeli forces in the northern West Bank, Palestinian medics and the military said. Hamas said one of those killed was a local commander. The military said the target of the soldiers’ raid was Mohammed Daraghmeh, a local Hamas commander. It said Daraghmeh was killed in a shootout with Israeli soldiers who discovered weapons in his car. The army alleged that Daraghmeh had been planning attacks on Israeli targets but provided no evidence. It also said assailants hurled explosives at soldiers. The Israel-Hamas war started on Oct. 7, when Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, in a surprise attack and incursion into southern Israel. Around 250 people were seized as hostages by the militants and taken to Gaza. Israel said Friday it had opened a new crossing for aid trucks into hard-hit northern Gaza as ramps up aid deliveries to the besieged enclave. However, the United Nations says the surge of aid is not being felt in Gaza because of persistent distribution difficulties. Six months of fighting in Gaza have pushed the tiny Palestinian territory into a humanitarian crisis, leaving more than 1 million people on the brink of starvation. Israeli bombardments and ground offensives in Gaza have killed more than 33,600 Palestinians and wounded over 76,200, the Health Ministry says. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its tally, but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead. Israel says it has killed over 12,000 militants during the war, but it has not provided evidence to back up the claim.

US sanctions target Hamas spokesperson, drone program leaders
WASHINGTON (Reuters)/Fri, April 12, 2024
The United States on Friday issued sanctions aimed at a Hamas spokesperson and leaders of the group's drone unit, the Treasury Department said. The European Union is simultaneously imposing sanctions targeting Hamas, the department said in a statement. The U.S. sanctions targeted Hudhayfa Samir ‘Abdallah al-Kahlut (al-Kahlut) also known as “Abu Ubaida” who has been the spokesman for the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (al-Qassam Brigades), the military wing of Hamas in Gaza, since at least 2007, the department said. The sanctions also targeted William Abu Shanab (Abu Shanab), commander of the Lebanon-based al-Shimali unit, Bara’a Hasan Farhat (Farhat) assistant to Abu Shanab, the commander of the al-Shimali unit, and Khalil Muhammad ‘Azzam (‘Azzam), an intelligence official. “Today’s joint action reinforces our continued, collective focus on disrupting Hamas’s ability to conduct further attacks, including through cyber warfare and the production of UAVs,”Brian Nelson, Treasury under secretary for terrorism and Financial intelligence said, referring to unmanned aerial vehicles. "Treasury, in coordination with our allies and partners, will continue to target Hamas’s facilitation networks wherever they operate, including in the cyber domain," he said. As a result of the sanctions, all property and interests in property of the designated people that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

IDF says first Gaza food aid trucks have entered through northern Israel crossing
April 12 (UPI)/April 12, 2024
The Israel Defense Forces said Friday that the first food aid trucks have gone into Gaza from the newly opened northern crossing from Israel. The IDF announced the effort, in collaboration with Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, in a post on X. "The trucks underwent thorough security checks by the security authorities of the Land Crossings Authority of the Ministry of Defense at the Kerem Shalom crossing, and were accompanied by IDF soldiers," the IDF said on X. COGAT also confirmed the crossing on X Friday, saying the vehicles underwent "rigorous checks.""In accordance with the decision of the government of Israel, the trucks entered through the new Northern Crossing from Israel into Gaza yesterday, as part of efforts to enhance the humanitarian aid corridors to Gaza in general, and to the North in particular," it said. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced the approval of the crossing and measures to increase the flow of aid through a port in Ashdod on Wednesday. The announcement came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week agreed to open new routes following a conversation with U.S. President Joe Biden. Netanyahu said at the time the "increased aid will prevent a humanitarian crisis." However, Samantha Power, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, said Wednesday that an assessment from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification in mid-March that found that famine could set in between late March and mid-May was "credible." Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, then asked if that means "famine is already occurring there?""That is -- yes," Power replied.
According to U.S. officials Gaza aid is also hampered by a lack of trucks and drivers in Gaza due to the damage and danger caused by the war. Trucks entering Gaza are screened, unloaded in Gaza and reloaded onto different trucks operating inside Gaza.

Poland says aid worker's killing in Gaza should be brought before Israeli court
WARSAW, Poland (AP)/Fri, April 12, 2024
Poland’s government said Friday that the killing of a Polish aid worker by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza was “murder” and demands support from Israel in its own investigation and for the case to be brought before an independent court in Israel. Poland’s deputy foreign minister, Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski, was addressing lawmakers in parliament on the April 1 death of Damian Soból, 35, and six other workers of the World Central Kitchen charity, who were bringing food to the needy in Gaza. He called the killings “shocking and disturbing” and said Poland expects Israel's “full cooperation” in the murder investigation opened by Polish prosecutors in Przemyśl, Soból's hometown. In the debate in parliament, many lawmakers said the killings should be considered a war crime. Bartoszewski said Poland was working with other countries whose citizens were killed in the shelling — Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States — to jointly press for a detailed investigation into how cars marked as humanitarian convoy could have become targets of repeated shelling by the Israeli army. He stressed that all international rule of defense were violated by that attack. He said that the dismissals and disciplinary measures applied to the officers responsible for the killings were “inadequate” and demanded that the case be tried by an independent court in Israel. He stressed that Poland is also demanding compensation to Soból’s family. Soból’s body has been brought to Poland, Bartoszewski said.

UN refugee chief says outflow of Gazans into Egypt would make conflict resolution impossible
GENEVA (Reuters)/Fri, April 12, 2024
The prospect of Gazans crossing into Egypt from the border town of Rafah to escape a military assault would make the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict impossible and cause an "atrocious dilemma" for the people fleeing, the U.N. refugee chief said on Friday. Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said "we must fervently do everything" to avoid such an outflow of the Gazan population. "Another refugee crisis from Gaza into Egypt, I can assure you... would make the resolution of the Palestinian refugee question as a consequence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict impossible," Grandi told Reuters at UNHCR headquarters in Geneva. Around 5.6 million Palestinian refugees currently live in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza, mainly the descendants of those who were forced out or who fled their homes around the 1948 war linked to Israel's creation. The fate of Palestinian refugees is one of the thorniest issues in the moribund peace process. Palestinians and Arab states say a deal should include the right of those refugees and their descendants to return, something Israel has always rejected. Israeli plans to assault Rafah, where more than a million Gazans have been sheltering from military offensive further north, have drawn widespread condemnation. Even Israel's closest ally, the United States, has warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the country would face global isolation if it goes ahead. Grandi said an attack on Rafah may make the movement of Gazans into Egypt "the only option for safety available." "This dilemma is unacceptable and the responsibility to avoid this dilemma lies squarely in this particular case with Israel, the occupying power in Gaza," he said. The Israeli military says four Hamas battalions remain in the city as well as an unknown number of senior commanders of the Islamist movement. Grandi said UNHCR was stocking tents and supplies and working with countries in the region on coming up with their own contingency plans for the possible arrival of Gazans. "We are looking at the region and that the possibility not only of the outflow, but also that the conflict may expand," Grandi said. "But I repeat, we must not arrive at that atrocious dilemma, which would be really almost the end of the road for what is really important here: ultimate peace."

UN says waterborne illnesses spread in Gaza due to heat, unsafe water
GENEVA (Reuters)/April 12, 2024
Waterborne diseases are spreading in Gaza due to a lack of clean water and rising temperatures, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Gaza said on Friday. "It is becoming very hot there," Jamie McGoldrick told reporters via video link from Jerusalem. "People are getting much less water than they need, and as a result, there have been waterborne diseases due to lack of safe and clean water and the disruption of the sanitation systems." "We have to find a way in the months ahead of how we can have a better supply of water into the areas where people are currently crowded at the moment," he said, after making his final visit to Gaza at the end of his three-month assignment. Contaminated water and poor sanitation are linked to diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery and hepatitis A, according to the World Health Organization. Since mid-October, following the assault on Gaza in response to deadly attacks in southern Israel by Hamas, WHO has recorded more than 345,000 cases of diarrhoea, including more than 105,000 in children under 5. Israel has committed to facilitate the ability of humanitarian organisations to scale up aid in Gaza, and has approved the resumption of the operation of the water pipeline in northern Gaza. The Gaza Strip's only natural source of water is the Coastal Aquifer Basin, which runs along the eastern Mediterranean coast from the northern Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, through Gaza and into Israel. Its quality over the years has deteriorated rapidly, largely because it had been pumped out to meet the demands of Gaza's population more rapidly than it could be replaced by rainwater.

Argentina court blames Iran for deadly 1994 bombing of Jewish center
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters)/April 12, 2024
A new ruling by Argentina's highest criminal court has blamed Iran for the fatal 1994 attack against the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, declaring it a "crime against humanity" in a decision that paves the way for victims to seek justice, according to court documents released late on Thursday.
The judges ruled that the bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) - the deadliest of its kind in the country's history that killed 85 people and left hundreds injured - was carried out by armed group Hezbollah and responded "to a political and strategic design" by Iran. Representatives from Argentina's Jewish community said the court ruling was "historic" and "unique" because it opened the door for the victims' relatives to bring lawsuits against the Islamic Republic. President Javier Milei celebrated the ruling, saying this was a "significant step" that put an end to decades of "delays and cover ups," in an official statement. Argentina's judiciary has long maintained Iran was behind the attack, but joint investigations and Interpol arrest warrants have led nowhere. Iran has refused to turn over citizens convicted in Argentina. Tehran has denied involvement.
Prosecutors in the report charged top Iranian officials and Hezbollah members with ordering the bombing as well as an attack in 1992 against the Israeli embassy in Argentina, which killed 22 people. "The significance of these grave human rights violations for the international community as a whole invokes a state's duty to provide judicial protection," wrote Judge Mahiques who argued for legal reform. In 2013, Argentina and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding that sought to create a truth commission to investigate the attack, but the agreement never came into force and gave rise to a case against then President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, for an alleged cover-up operation. Judge Mahiques highlighted the figure of former prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who was investigating the attack and was found dead at his home in January 2015 after fiercely criticizing Fernández de Kirchner for concealing Iran's alleged responsibility in the attack. "(Nisman) was very clear that all these circumstances were at the origin of the attack on the AMIA, which, taken to its ultimate consequences, could have had palpable results before this ruling," Mahiques told local radio on Friday.

Indian foreign ministry advises against travel to Iran, Israel
NEW DELHI (Reuters)/Fri, April 12, 2024
India advised its citizens on Friday against travelling to Iran and Israel until further notice in view of the "prevailing situation in the region". The advisory from the foreign ministry came amid Iran's threats to retaliate against a suspected Israeli airstrike on its embassy in Syria this month. Countries including the U.S. and Russia have issued similar travel advisories for their staff and citizens in the region. India's foreign ministry said its citizens in the two countries should observe "utmost precautions about their safety and restrict their movements to the minimum". It is feared that retaliation by Iran can widen the six-month old conflict between Iran-backed Hamas militants and Israel in Gaza. The U.S. has reached out to the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and Iraq, asking them to urge Iran to lower tensions with Israel, as part of its efforts to contain the conflict.

U.S. Embassy in Israel Restricts Personal Employee Travel After Iran Attack Threats
Mallory Moench/Time/April 12, 2024
The U.S. Embassy in Israel has issued a new security alert that restricts its government employees and their family members from personal travel outside three cities amid heightened tensions in the region. The alert restricted personal travel outside the greater Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Be’er Sheva areas until further notice “out of an abundance of caution.” The embassy said it may also further prohibit travel to certain areas of Israel, including the Old City of Jerusalem, and the West Bank, “in response to security incidents and without advance notice.”“The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem reminds U.S. citizens of the continued need for caution and increased personal security awareness as security incidents often take place without warning,” the security alert published Thursday read. “The security environment remains complex and can change quickly depending on the political situation and recent events.”The security warning comes after an Israeli airstrike hit an Iranian embassy building in Damascus, Syria on April 1, killing at least seven Iranian officials and ratcheting up fears of a regional war. The Israeli government hasn’t publicly acknowledged the strike. Iran has vowed to retaliate against Israel and hold the country’s ally, the U.S., answerable. (American officials said Israel did not notify them about the strike and the U.S. was not involved.) Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has said that Israel "must be punished and it shall be,” Reuters reported. Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian previously said in a statement that "The U.S. should be held accountable.” In turn, Israeli leaders have pledged to respond: “If Iran attacks from its own territory, Israel will respond and attack in Iran,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz posted on X in an English translation. The tense situation has left U.S. officials scrambling to contain the fallout amid fears that Iran could strike U.S. targets in response. U.S. Gen. Erik Kurilla, head of U.S. Central Command, traveled to Israel on Thursday to address the threats. President Joe Biden said this week that support for Israel against the threat of a “significant attack” from Iran is “ironclad.”
When asked during a news conference Thursday whether the new Israel travel alert was linked to the threat from Iran, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said: “We have seen Iran making public threats against Israel in the past few days.”
“Israel’s in a very tough neighborhood, and we have been monitoring the security situation. You saw us slightly adjust our travel warnings at the beginning of this conflict, and we conduct ongoing assessments all the time about the situation on the ground,” he added.
Miller said he wouldn’t speak to the specific assessments that prompted restricting personal travel, but said the decision was made as a result of monitoring the threat environment in the Middle East, and was made public to ensure U.S. citizens living or traveling in Israel were also aware.
Miller said that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to his counterparts in Turkey, China, and Saudi Arabia over the past 24 hours “to make clear that escalation is not in anyone’s interest, and that countries should urge Iran not to escalate.” (The U.S. and Iran have had no diplomatic relations since 1980.) Amir-Abdollahian said in a post on X that “Iran is not seeking escalation of hostility,” but added he had told the foreign ministers of Germany, the U.K., and Australia in separate calls to condemn Israel’s attack on the embassy building in Damascus. Amir-Abdollahian said that the return to “sustainable security” was tied to “controlling” Israel and ending its war in Gaza. The strike in Syria this month was the latest in a series of tense incidents between the region’s major players and their allies following Hamas’ attack on Israel in October and the ensuing war that has devastated Gaza. Those include increased violence along the Israel-Lebanon border between Israel’s military and Hezbollah militants, Red Sea attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels that prompted retaliatory airstrikes from the U.S. and U.K., and a drone strike that killed three U.S. soldiers in Jordan, triggering a U.S. air assault in response against militias.

US, Japan, Philippines condemn Beijing’s South China Sea moves in summit
REUTERS/April 12, 2024
WASHINGTON: Long-simmering tensions between China and its neighbors took center stage on Thursday as leaders of the US, Japan and the Philippines met at the White House to push back on Beijing’s stepped-up pressure on Manila in the disputed South China Sea. US President Joe Biden’s administration announced new joint military efforts and infrastructure spending in the former American colony while he hosted Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. alongside Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Washington for a first-of-its-kind trilateral summit. Topping the meeting’s agenda was China’s increasing pressure in the South China Sea, which has escalated despite a personal appeal by Biden to Chinese President Xi Jinping last year.
HIGHLIGHT
Launching the White House meeting with the three leaders, Biden affirmed that a 1950s era mutual defense treaty binding Washington and Manila would require the US to respond to an armed attack on the Philippines in the South China Sea. “We express our serious concerns about the People’s Republic of China’s dangerous and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea. We are also concerned by the militarization of reclaimed features and unlawful maritime claims in the South China Sea,” the countries said in a statement issued after the summit. China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Friday the statement amounted to a “wanton smear attack” and Beijing summoned a Japanese diplomat to protest against the comments. The Philippines and China had several maritime run-ins last month that included the use of water cannon and heated verbal exchanges. The disputes center on the Second Thomas Shoal, home to a small number of Filipino troops stationed on a warship that Manila grounded there in 1999 to reinforce its sovereignty claims. Launching the White House meeting with the three leaders, Biden affirmed that a 1950s era mutual defense treaty binding Washington and Manila would require the US to respond to an armed attack on the Philippines in the South China Sea. “United States defense commitments to Japan and to the Philippines are iron clad,” he said. Marcos has successfully pushed Washington to resolve longstanding ambiguity over the treaty by specifying that it would apply to disputes in that sea. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, including the maritime economic zones of neighboring nations. The Second Thomas Shoal is within the Philippines’ 200-mile (320-km) exclusive economic zone. A 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration found that China’s sweeping claims have no legal basis. Japan has a dispute with China over islands in the East China Sea. The three countries said their coast guards planned to conduct a trilateral exercise in the Indo-Pacific region in the coming year and establish a dialogue to enhance future cooperation. The moves come after two prominent US senators introduced a bipartisan bill on Wednesday to provide Manila with $2.5 billion to boost its defenses against Chinese pressure. “China’s frequent tactic is to try to isolate the target of its pressure campaigns, but the April 11 trilateral signals clearly that the Philippines is not alone,” said Daniel Russel, who served as the top US diplomat for East Asia under former President Barack Obama. The leaders also unveiled a wide range of agreements to enhance economic ties during the meetings, including backing new infrastructure in the Philippines, aimed at ports, rail, clean energy and semiconductor supply chains.

Tunisian man dead after self-immolating in protest against police
AFP/April 13, 2024
TUNIS: A young Tunisian man died after self-immolating in an act of protest against the police in the central region of Kairouan, his family said Friday. Yassine Selmi, a 22-year-old construction worker, died Thursday in a hospital in Tunis, two days after setting himself on fire in front of a police station, his father Mansour Selmi told AFP. He was attempting to “resolve a fight between two people and police officers near a police station” when the officers threatened to arrest him in Bou Hajjla, a small town in Kairouan, said his father. The young man later came back to the police station with a gasoline container and “set himself on fire in protest” over the police’s threats, the father added. He said he would seek justice for his son’s death. Tunisia has seen large numbers of people set themselves alight since the death of street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi, whose self-immolation in late 2010 sparked the Arab Spring and led to the ousting of former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Many of the cases have been concentrated in non-coastal areas that are the hardest hit by Tunisia’s economic crisis. The North African country’s debt currently hovers around 80 percent of its GDP, with a yearly inflation averaging up to 10 percent and an unemployment rate of 40 percent among its youth. The latest incident came just days after another street vendor in the coastal city of Sfax set herself on fire after a dispute with the police. Local media said the woman, who was originally from Kairouan, was taken to a hospital with severe burns. Last year, Nizar Aissaoui, a professional football player in a local team also from Kairouan, self-immolated in protest against what he described as “the police state.” The wider Kairouan region tops national rankings in unemployment, illiteracy and suicides. It recorded 26 out of the nation’s 147 documented and attempted suicides in 2023, according to the non-government group FTDES.

Latest English LCCC  analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 12-13/2024
Israel-Iran: Saber Rattling and Rhetorical War
Malo Pinatel/This is Beirut/April 12/2024
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Since the Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus on April 1, the war of words between the two countries has shown no signs of abating. While US officials fear an imminent retaliation, calls for calm are rising around the world. Since the Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, which left 16 people dead, including seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iran has not ceased its escalation against the Hebrew state. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, threatened on April 2 that Israel would be “punished” for the attack. He has reiterated his threats on April 10, echoed by several of his subordinates. A source familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal on Thursday that an attack from Iran targeting northern or southern Israel was expected within the next 24 to 48 hours. Additionally, on Friday, two US officials told CBS that they expected an Iranian attack on Israel the same day, involving “more than 100 drones and dozens of missiles.”
What form could such a response take?
Speculation abounds regarding the form of the Iranian response. Among the options being discussed, a direct attack on Israeli territory remains the most concerning for Israeli and American military leaders. According to The Wall Street Journal, the IRGC has already presented several options to Khamenei. Among them, the one reported by CBS. The origin of an attack remains speculative, however. It could be launched from Iraq, southern Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, or even directly from Iranian territory – or from multiple locations simultaneously. It is worth noting that Damascus has categorically denied any retaliation from its soil. However, the Iranian response may not manifest on Israeli territory but on Israel’s interests abroad. Israeli diplomatic missions and similar institutions constitute prime targets for a “fitting” response to the April 1 attack. This could also involve an attack on the Israeli military apparatus abroad.
US-Israeli retaliation
Regardless of the form of this response, Israeli and American officials have shown unity in the face of it. On Wednesday, April 10, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, then President Joe Biden reaffirmed their support for Israel against Iranian threats. These statements have been followed by others. A US official cited by Al-Jazeera indicated on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity, that the United States would help intercept Iranian rockets or drones targeting Israel. He also noted that Washington could assist Israel in responding to any direct attack from Iran, although the details are unclear. In parallel, the head of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), General Michael Kurilla, arrived in Israel on Thursday. His presence is intended to allow the two countries to coordinate their actions against Iranian threat. It is worth noting that Israel has previously directly attacked Iran on its territory several times, including by assassinating many scientists linked to Tehran’s nuclear program between 2010 and 2020.
Media escalation intensifies
While awaiting a potential Iranian response, the media space remains the preferred battleground for the belligerents. Iran continues to make public threats. “Consulates and embassies of any country are considered the territory of that country. By attacking our consulate, they attacked our territory,” said Khamenei on Wednesday, as quoted by the Mehr news agency. For his part, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, on April 11, stated on X that “legitimate defense with the aim of punishing the aggressor becomes a necessity” in response to the Damascus attack, following a call with his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock. These threats have not gone unanswered. “If Iran launches an attack from its territory, Israel will retaliate and attack Iran,” responded Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, speaking in Persian on April 10, after the latest statement by the Iranian Supreme Leader. “Whoever harms us, we will harm them.” “We are ready to meet all the security needs of the State of Israel, both defensively and offensively,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared. Meanwhile, the White House indicated on Thursday that it had “warned” Iran, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone with his Chinese, Turkish, and Saudi counterparts, urging them to pressure Tehran against any attacks on Israel, according to the State Department.
Behind the posturing, calls for calm
The verbal escalation in the media masks a much more cautious approach, with a clear desire for de-escalation. Behind American warnings and Iranian posturing, both sides have opened indirect channels to defuse the situation, according to a US official speaking on condition of anonymity. On the Iranian side, Khamenei fears that a direct strike on Israel could lead to a miscalculation if Israel launches a massive attack on Iranian infrastructure. “The attack plan has been presented to the Supreme Leader, and he is studying the political risk.” The example of the call made by Baerbock to Amir-Abdollahian, in which she urged Tehran to show restraint, is part of this dynamic. The United States hopes that this diplomatic tug-of-war, along with strong messages of solidarity and support for Israel, will further dissuade Tehran from taking action. Other actors not tied to Washington, such as the Kremlin, have also called for reducing in tensions.
However, some elements suggest that Iran has taken heed of American warnings. During his visit to Oman on April 7, Amir-Abdollahian conveyed a message to Washington that Iran would not act hastily but would respond to Israel’s attack in a way that avoids major escalation, Reuters reported. Another factor supporting this idea is the upcoming visit of the Iranian foreign minister to the United Nations headquarters in New York next week, which has so far remained scheduled. Meanwhile, Argentine justice recognized on Friday that Iran, through Hezbollah, instigated the attacks carried out against the Israeli embassy in 1992 and the Israeli mutual aid association AMIA in Buenos Aires in 1994. This announcement is seen as additional diplomatic pressure against the Islamic Republic, with the current Argentine leader, Javier Milei, not hiding his sympathy for Israel.

Iran realises the limits of its power
Haitham El-Zobaidi/The Arab Weekly/April 12/2024
Despite current Arab weaknesses, which have whet Iran’s appetite, Tehran cannot extend its full diktat over the region as it faces two more formidable powers: the United States and Israel.
The unity of the battlefields invoked by Iran carries a dangerous logic, because Israel and the United States could announce the unification of their own battlefields as well.The Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus constitutes a decisive moment in the shaping of the history of the region.
On paper, the list of targets which Iran could use to retaliate for the Israeli attack on its consulate in Damascus may appear to be long. There are many Israeli consulates and embassies in the region extending from Azerbaijan to the heart of the Gulf and the Middle East. Iran’s large arsenal of ballistic missiles and drones can hit many Israeli military targets in Israel proper or in the grey areas where Israel maintains a presence, such as the occupied and annexed part of the Syrian Golan Heights or the Shebaa Farms. Tehran could repeat the criminal attack it launched in Erbil at the beginning of the year when it killed innocent Iraqis under the hollow pretext of targeting a Mossad centre in Iraqi Kurdistan. It could target any of the many US bases and interests in the region, arguing that Israel and the United States can be considered part of a declared alliance. The problem is that none of these targets will allow Tehran to achieve its goal of displaying its power in the region and preventing similar Israeli or American attacks.
Options linked to attacks to be carried out by proxy militias in the region appear to be problematic. On the southern edge of the Red Sea, the Houthis have reached the limit of what they can do in support of Iran. Houthi drones and missiles are still targeting ships and tankers in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, but the idea of Yemen being a base for direct attacks on Israel seems a little difficult to implement.
If Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) militias decide to target Israel or American forces in the region, the Iraqi government will be the first to be held accountable: The “unity of the battlefields” invoked by Iran carries a dangerous logic, because Israel and the United States could announce the unification of their own battlefields as well, and henceforth consider the sources of fire in Iraq to be legitimate targets.
There remains the Hezbollah option. But this raises more crucial questions: has the time come for Iran to involve Hezbollah in its war with the West and Israel? What would be the consequences? Is the blood of General Ali Reza Zahedi worth sacrificing Hezbollah and its hold over Lebanon?
If Hezbollah involves itself into an open showdown, the West will quickly forget Israel’s bad reputation, its criminal targeting of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and its killing of foreign aid workers. The war in Gaza will be perceived as part of a broader regional confrontation led by Iran with the aim of snatching control of the region from its governments and their Western backers. The recent statements from the heads of Iraqi militias and leaders of Hamas about opening the Jordan front only reinforce that belief.
The Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus constitutes a decisive moment in the shaping of the history of the region. One cannot underestimate the scope of Iran’s reach in the region since the end of the Iran-Iraq war in 1988, Iraq’s defeat in the war to liberate Kuwait in 1991 and its occupation and assumption of Iranian power in Baghdad through a loyal government starting in 2003.
Any objective observer will concur that Iran constitutes today a real empire, with influence spanning the southern Gulf in Yemen, near absolute hegemony over Iraq as well as a direct presence on the Mediterranean through alliance with the Syrian regime and control of Lebanon through Hezbollah. One cannot forget in this regard that Gaza itself overlooks the Mediterranean from the southern edge of Israel and is, to this day, at the mercy of Hamas, which is a loyal ally of Tehran.
With the exception of Jordan, despite the tough challenges it faces because of the fragility of its demographic make-up and economic woes, the historic Fertile Crescent region appears to be under direct or near direct control of Iran.
But today’s decisive moment could also lead the people of the region to understand the limits of Iranian capabilities. There is no doubt that Iran is strong. It is the most heavily-armed nation in the Middle East today. It has no regional competitor in this regard since Iraq’s exit from the strategic balance equation. Saudi Arabia is not interested in competing with Iran as shown by its course of action during the Yemen war and after the attacks on Aramco facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais. The rest of the Gulf is concerned with its own security. Egypt maintains the nominal vow to intervene at a moment’s notice if needed, without ever attempting to make good on its pledge. But despite current Arab weaknesses, which have whet Iran’s appetite, Tehran cannot extend its full diktat over the region as it faces two more formidable powers: the United States and Israel.
Israel is fighting today in Gaza and exacting its revenge on Hamas. But it knows that its real enemy is Iran. Not because the Iranians want to liberate Palestine, but because Tehran’s rulers wants to seize full control of the region. This is the basis of the conflict between Israel and Iran, regardless of how often the Iranian regime repeats its claim that the “road to Jerusalem” passes through Karbala, Damascus, Sana’a or Beirut. It remains the case, no matter how many times the Israelis express their interest in peace, normalisation and quiet relations with their Arab neighbours.
What Iran fears is not Israel’s brute force with which it targets innocent civilians and buildings alike in Gaza. It fears instead Israel’s ability to aim decisive blows at Iran’s strategic projects, such as its nuclear and military facilities, or to target Iranian experts, key Revolutionary Guard leaders and loyal political and military leaders from Hamas and Hezbollah.
Iran’s impotence due to its limited capabilities is becoming clearer by the day. It is only necessary to look at the way the Israelis managed to reach Hamas’ deputy chief Saleh Al-Arouri in the heart of the southern suburb of Beirut, Hezbollah’s stronghold, or the accuracy with which Israeli missiles destroyed the Iranian consulate building in Damascus without touching the embassy buildings adjacent to it. In addition, neither Iran or nor any of its allies were able to date to reach senior Israeli or American military figures. (It is quite significant that neither Tehran nor its proxies was able to target US figures following the assassination of Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani and Deputy Head of the Popular Mobilisation Forces Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad).
There is also the reputational factor. The reputation of the Israelis today is at rock bottom. But what is the state of Iran’s reputation? It is ironical that Iran complains about the targeting of its consular mission in Damascus. The Iranian regime began its reign by occupying the US embassy in Tehran. Organisations loyal to Tehran attacked the Iraqi and the US embassies in Beirut and the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires. Also, if embassies and consulates are supposed to host civilian diplomats, what were Iran’s Revolutionary Guard generals and Hezbollah officials doing inside a diplomatic building in Damascus?
US military power is unequalled in the world. The United States can exhaust Russia in Ukraine, for example, just by supplying Ukrainian forces with US surplus weapons. Technologically, the US is generations ahead of all its competitors. It possesses the intelligence, human and technical capabilities that enable it to capture and liquidate problematic leaders: Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his subsequent successors at the head of ISIS, Anwar al-Awlaki and his successors within al-Qaeda.Soleimani and al-Muhandis are just the latest examples in a long list of eliminated targets.
The problem of the United States lies in the political confusion of its leaders and their poor judgment. The history of US presence in the Middle East has been plagued by turbulence and the muddled vision of its presidents. History is rife with examples, from Jimmy Carter’s abandonment of the Shah’s regime, to George Bush’s overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s regime, to Barack Obama’s inept handling of the “Arab spring” and the nuclear agreement with Iran, to Donald Trump’s passive attitude towards the attack on Saudi Arabia, all the way to Washington’s political wavering under Joe Biden.
On top of all of that, the leaders of the region, especially in the Gulf, are not fully confident there is a consistent American policy they can rely upon in the future, despite their strategic dependence on US protection in the face of the Iranian threat. Indeed, one sees today highly paradoxical alignments when one looks at the odd alliances and hostile positions the Middle East.
Iran may surprise us by its choice of targets to carry out its retaliation against Israel. Of course, it is too early to tell. Iran’s capabilities are greater than those of all Arab countries but they are much less impressive than those of Israel and the United States. Tehran is therefore unable to match its arrogance with real deeds. Even the diplomatic charm campaign with which it handled its outstanding issues with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states eventually did not work in the regime’s favour. It led Iran to remove Gulf region targets from its list of retaliation options and the long list of its potential targets ended up being rather short.
**Dr Haitham El-Zobaidi is the executive editor of Al Arab Publishing Group.

'Democracy' Has a Peculiar Aftertaste
J.B. Shurk/Gatestone Institute/April 12, 2024
If you live in a "democracy" where everyone routinely votes to censor and imprison one another, you still live in a police state.
The word "democracy" appears to have become polite shorthand for insisting that an insular minority in control of the American government always knows what is best for the vast, unrepresented majority. Even worse, it sometimes seems nothing more than a convenient disguise for camouflaging abuses of power.
The word "democracy" appears to have become polite shorthand for insisting that an insular minority in control of the government always knows what is best for the vast, unrepresented majority. Even worse, it sometimes seems nothing more than a convenient disguise for camouflaging abuses of power.
The American system of government is a federation of sovereign states that retain inherent powers not specifically delegated to the national government. It is a republic that separates discrete powers among coequal and competing branches of government — namely the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. It is a representative democracy that empowers the people to vote into office those who presumably will best serve their interests. Most importantly, it is a constitutional system that severely limits government's authority and proscribes government agents from infringing upon freedoms retained by the people.
Just to be indisputably clear that the government is forbidden from rewriting its own delegated powers in such a way that they violate an American's God-given liberties, the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution — the Bill of Rights — act as a redundancy measure and explicit warning to state actors not to infringe upon or water down the rights delineated there.
A pure "democracy," on the other hand, can be dangerous to anyone who does not think like, or readily follow, the crowd. Villagers willing to hang a suspected horse-thief before any trial might be acting democratically, but they are still a vigilante mob. If you live in a "democracy" where everyone routinely votes to censor and imprison one another, you still live in a police state.
If too many Americans fail to fully understand why their system of government is far superior to the fickle whims that naturally poison "democracy," their representatives in government fare no better. For nearly two and half centuries, Supreme Court justices, members of Congress, and presidents have twisted and stretched the original intent and plain meaning of the U.S. Constitution. Their sometimes-questionable fealty to the very document that they have sworn to defend has done us no favors.
Given that the Founding Fathers bequeathed to us copious written records documenting their purpose in limiting the powers of the federal government as much as was practicable and safeguarding Americans' inherent liberties as clearly as possible, the sheer size of the federal government today and the breadth of its authority might shock their sensibilities. They might be horrified that a fourth branch of government — namely, the vast administrative bureaucracy — has sprung up out of whole cloth and amalgamated enormous powers once strictly separated and delegated to specific branches.
The Founding Fathers might also well be aghast not only that a vast military network emanating from the Pentagon stretches across the country but also that a distinctly fifth branch of equally powerful covert Intelligence agencies operates with black budgets, secret powers, and mostly unchecked authority. There is, after all, nothing "representative" or "democratic" about administrative agencies, defense contractors, or espionage services that exercise life-and-death prerogatives with neither the public's informed consent nor continued scrutiny.
Finally, the Founders might be both perplexed and angry that so many of Americans' rights — particularly the First Amendment's protections for free speech, freedom of assembly, and religious freedom; the Second Amendment's guarantee that every American may defend his life, home, and liberty; and the Fourth Amendment's prohibitions against unreasonable searches and seizures or the issuance of warrants without established probable cause — are under sustained attack from too many officeholders who swore oaths to defend what they apparently seek to demolish. That the clear and concise language of the Bill of Rights could be contorted to undermine the very rights that the first ten amendments to the Constitution are meant to enshrine would likely seem to the Founding Fathers both disheartening and befuddling.
It is for these many reasons that freedom-loving Americans detest the all-too-frequent pronouncements from politicians and pundits that there is nothing so sacred as American "democracy." "Democracy" means very little without well-defined limits on government power. It means even less without sure-fire protections for individual freedoms and rights.
The word "democracy" is often used interchangeably with some vague notion of the "common good." Because people with financial and political power are frequently the elite few who are actually defining the "common good" for everyone else, however, assertions of what is good for "our democracy" have a way of sounding abrasive, if not outright divisive. When "defending democracy" includes demonizing political opponents who are accused of transgressing it, those with power behave astonishingly undemocratically, themselves.
Such undemocratic behavior might include censoring accurate information to win an election, as former acting CIA Director Mike Morell testified; unconstitutional appointments for prosecuting political opponents; and repeated instances of unequal application of the law in which seemingly selective, contorted, or fraudulent prosecutions have been launched against members of the political opposition (for instance here, here and here), while reported felonies committed by members of the party in power have been waived or ignored (such as here, here, here, here, here and here).
The word "democracy" appears to have become polite shorthand for insisting that an insular minority in control of the government always knows what is best for the vast, unrepresented majority. Even worse, it sometimes seems nothing more than a convenient disguise for camouflaging abuses of power. "Democracy" may not mean the same thing as "aristocracy," "oligarchy," "empire," or "dictatorship," but in this day and age, it has sadly acquired the same peculiar aftertaste.
*JB Shurk writes about politics and society, and is a Gatestone Institute Distinguished Senior Fellow.
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Question: “Is it possible to know when Jesus is coming back?”
GotQuestions.org/April 12, 2024
Answer: Matthew 24:36-44 declares, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father…Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come…So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.” At first glance, these verses would seem to provide a clear and explicit answer to the question. No, no one can know when Jesus is coming back. However, those verses do not say that no one will ever be able to know when Jesus will return. Most Bible scholars would say that Jesus, now glorified in heaven, knows the timing of His return, indicating that the phrase “nor the Son” does not mean Jesus will never know when He will return. Similarly, it is possible that, while Matthew 24:36-44 indicates that no one at that time could know the timing of Jesus’ return, God could reveal the timing of Jesus’ return to someone in the future. In addition, there is Acts 1:7, which states, "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority." This was said by Jesus after the disciples asked Him if He was at that time going to restore the kingdom to Israel. This would seem to confirm the message of Matthew 24. It is not for us to know the timing of Jesus coming back. But there is also the question of which return these passages are referring to. Are they speaking of the Rapture or the Second Coming? Which return is unknowable—the Rapture, the Second Coming, or both? While the Rapture is presented as being imminent and mysterious, the timing of the Second Coming could potentially be known based on end-times prophecy.
With that said, let us be abundantly clear: we do not believe that God has revealed to anyone when Jesus is coming back, and we see nothing in Scripture which indicates that God will ever reveal to anyone when Jesus is coming back. Matthew 24:36-44, while spoken directly to the people in Jesus’ time, also contains a general principle. The timing of Jesus’ return and the end of the age is not for us to know. Scripture nowhere encourages us to try to determine the date. Rather, we are to “keep watch, because we do not know on which day our Lord will come” (v. 42). We are to “be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when we do not expect Him” (v. 44). The force of Jesus’ words diminishes if at some point in the future someone will be able to determine when He is coming back. If the date is discovered, we no longer need to “keep watch” or “be ready.” So, with the principle of Matthew 24:36-44 in mind, no, it is not possible for anyone to know the date that Jesus is coming back.
Despite this clear biblical principle, many throughout Christian history have attempted to prophesy the date that Jesus is coming back. Many such dates have been proposed, and all of them have been wrong. Most, if not all, of those who have predicted specific dates for Jesus’ return have had questionable, if not heretical, doctrinal positions on other issues. As it was said above, based on Matthew 24:36 and Acts 1:7, it is not God’s desire for us to calculate the day that Jesus is coming back. Anyone who undertakes such a task is, if nothing else, misguided.
The key points are (1) the Bible nowhere encourages us to attempt to discover the timing of Jesus’ return and (2) the Bible gives no explicit data by which the timing of Jesus’ return can be determined. Rather than developing wild and speculative calculations to determine when Jesus is coming back, the Bible encourages us to “keep watch” and “be ready” (Matthew 24:42-44). The fact that the day of Jesus’ return is unknown should motivate us to live every day in light of the imminence of Christ’s return.Arab Americans should not settle for the lesser of two evils
Ray Hanania/Arab News/April 12, 2024
Wouldn’t it be nice to hear Palestinian and Israeli activists and leaders call out the extremists on both sides, instead of acting like the defenders of one side only.
I was on a radio show in Chicago recently and, while I condemned Hamas for the horrific violence of Oct. 7, I also condemned the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Instead of joining me, the two pro-Israel guests immediately went into “defend Israel mode,” insisting that the problem is that Hamas uses “human shields” and Israel has no choice but to kill Palestinians.
I tried to get them to criticize Israel’s government, but they refused. In fact, read many of the op-eds in Western newspapers and you will see activists on both sides closing their eyes to the atrocities committed by their side, while aggressively and often exaggerating the atrocities committed by the other.
One of the questions I was asked related to the #AbandonBiden movement, which has successfully convinced many Arab and Muslim Americans to vote against President Joe Biden’s reelection in the Democratic primaries. They asked if Arabs “see” that, by rejecting Biden, they will “get” former President Donald Trump, “who moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem?”
I was asked: “Biden is the lesser of two evils to you, right?” But why do Arab Americans have to pick the lesser of two evils when we vote? In doing that, we end up with “evil” either way. Why do we not have leaders who are in the center, who see the hate, the extremism and the violence of both sides?
Why do we not have leaders who are in the center, who see the hate, the extremism and the violence of both sides — Israel’s government and Hamas extremists? Wouldn’t that be a novel idea: picking someone who speaks the truth, not one-sided political propaganda. Someone who believes that both Hamas and the Netanyahu government are equally guilty of atrocities, war crimes and the killing of women, children and the elderly? Because that is the truth that neither side wants to admit: their side is just as wrong as those they are criticizing. I was asked what Biden could do to regain the support of the Arabs and Muslims who voted against him in the Democratic primaries, including in six swing states. I said that I had been reading the opinion columns being pushed by the mainstream American news media, which is partisan and today leans to the far left. They were defending Israel, defending Biden and blaming everything on one side. I tried to say that, maybe, these columnists should speak out about their own activists and leaders, who condemn one side, the Palestinians and Hamas, and say nothing about the crimes of the side they support. In other words, the president cannot regain the backing of those who support the #AbandonBiden movement simply by pandering to them politically. Biden empowered Hamas to attack Israel by refusing to condemn the Israeli assaults that took place in the two years prior to Oct. 7, during which time he was the so-called leader of the free world. He also needs to roll back his support of the Israeli government’s actions in more than a rhetorical manner: by cutting American funding and arms supplies to Tel Aviv. Biden must stop allowing one side to continue its carnage. Biden cannot regain the backing of those who support the #AbandonBiden movement simply by pandering to them politically
Do both and maybe that will suggest to Arab and Muslim Americans that Biden cares about peace, not politics. That he opposes violence of all kinds, not just violence against political allies who support him or that he favors. That he applies principles and morality to the actions of both sides and judges them harshly, condemning them both at the same press conference without worrying about the political repercussions. Arabs and Muslims in America are no different to the rest of the American public. They want reason. They want moderation in policies and a leadership that is smart and driven by the principles that make America the true democracy it can be.
All someone needs to do is step away from the extremist sidelines and into the center. And speak the truth. Speak the truth about the Israeli government’s violence and its rejection of peace over the past two decades under Netanyahu and his late mentor Ariel Sharon. Horrific leaders. Netanyahu set the tone for the environment of haters in Israel who oppose the creation of a Palestinian state, with that hate-driven rejection of peace spurring the expansion of extremism among Palestinians. Speak the truth about Hamas and other Palestinian extremists who have opposed the peace process since Day 1, when Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin signed the Oslo I Accord in Washington in 1993 — a moving moment that I witnessed personally. All these people who loudly scream, both in their rhetoric and their writings, that the other side is evil and that their side is the victim are only encouraging the growing carnage and conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. They are not offering reason or common sense and they are not embracing the principles of morality or peace. The lesser of two evils is not a real option. Those who embrace it and advocate it over acknowledging the truth, no matter whether they are Palestinian or Israeli, Arab or Jew, are only being evil themselves.
For a future of peace for Palestinians and Israelis, the war is against the lesser of two evils, not each other.
• Ray Hanania is an award-winning former Chicago City Hall political reporter and columnist. He can be reached on his personal website at www.Hanania.com. X: @RayHanania

Gaza war is redefining Turkiye’s sociopolitical narratives
Sinem Cengiz/Arab News/April 12, 2024
Turkiye on Tuesday announced restrictions on trade with Israel, while Turkish Airlines has suspended flights to the country, marking Ankara’s first significant measures against Israel after six months of war in Gaza. Although the decision came after Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan condemned Israel for preventing aid from reaching the people of Gaza, the move seems to have been motivated by a confluence of factors spanning the political, societal and international realms.
At the political level, there is an understanding that the ruling Justice and Development Party, known as the AKP, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have undergone a period of foreign policy reflection since the nationwide local elections of March 31 resulted in a victory for the opposition. This was the first time since Erdogan came to power 22 years ago that his party had been defeated across the country at the ballot box. It prompted a reassessment of strategies after more than two decades of dominance. Erdogan acknowledged that the election had not gone as hoped and that it would mark “a turning point” for him and his party. Although Turkiye’s economic crisis is seen as the leading reason for the decline in the AKP’s votes, the government’s stance toward the ongoing Gaza war is believed to have been another influential factor. While it is not clear to what extent the Gaza war affected the election results, it certainly did affect the political and societal narratives in the country, as the Palestinian issue occupies a significant place in the hearts and minds of the Turkish people and the country’s political parties.
The Palestinian issue occupies a significant place in the hearts and minds of the Turkish people.
Since Oct. 7, Erdogan has escalated his criticism of Israel, engaging in a rhetorical confrontation and implementing various diplomatic measures, such as recalling ambassadors, suspending talks and backing Palestine on the international stage. Ankara also became the largest humanitarian donor to Gaza, along with the UAE, and advocated the idea of a guarantor system to work toward a two-state solution. Despite these efforts, Turkiye’s actions were deemed inadequate not only by Arab streets but also by its domestic critics, particularly the opposition parties, which made suspending trade with Israel a central campaign theme. The conservative New Welfare Party, known as the YRP, emerged as a vocal critic despite once being an AKP ally. Heavily criticizing the government for not halting its ongoing trade ties with Israel, the YRP even went as far as saying that every vote for the AKP was like sending a bullet to the Israeli military for it to use in its ongoing “genocide” in Gaza. The YRP based its argument on various reports that have shown that trade with Israel was not only being conducted by private companies, but also by companies run by individuals close to Erdogan. The YRP, which last year entered the Turkish parliament thanks to its alliance with the AKP, decided to run independently this time and it turned out to be the third most successful party in the local polls. The YRP’s criticism of the government’s policy toward Israel seems to have triggered a wave of disapproval among traditional AKP voters, who started to see the YRP as an alternative. Although it is uncertain how this was reflected in the votes, Erdogan was quoted by local media as saying: “Unfortunately, even on an issue like the Gaza crisis, for which we did everything we could and paid the price, we failed to fend off political attacks and convince some people.”
On the societal level, reactions to the government’s stance have manifested in protests and expressions of dissent. For example, dozens of citizens gathered in Taksim Square in central Istanbul last Saturday, calling on the Turkish government to sever trade ties with Israel. The detention of demonstrators prompted angry reactions from opposition parties and society. During election rallies, people showed their reaction to the government’s policy with banners demanding “End the trade with Israel.” Some people even wrote “Gaza” on their ballot papers on election day. So, this sort of societal reaction was not surprising.
Although Israel claimed that the election outcome reflected a backlash against Erdogan’s anti-Tel Aviv stance, the reality suggests otherwise. There have even been expectations of Turkiye going further with its actions against Israel, such as a trade embargo and the closure of the Kurecik Radar Station in eastern Turkiye, which the YRP argues is used to protect Israel. The Gaza war is no longer a mere foreign policy issue, it has become a game-changer in Turkish politics.
On the issue of trade, Ankara has long believed that collectively punishing Israeli society by cutting ties altogether would also negatively affect the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. Even after the 2010 Mavi Marmara massacre, Turkiye did not end its bilateral trade relations with Israel.
However, despite all diplomatic and humanitarian calls, Israel continues its atrocities in Gaza. Therefore, Turkiye’s latest measure to restrict some of its exports to Israel is important, underscoring the significance of the Gaza war in reshaping domestic and foreign policy narratives.
The Gaza war is no longer a mere foreign policy issue, it has become a game-changer in Turkish politics. This is due to both the magnitude of the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the fact that, in Turkiye, domestic and foreign policy issues are intricately intertwined. Looking ahead, while Turkiye will not have any more major elections for several years, it remains to be seen how the Gaza war will continue to shape its domestic and foreign agenda. Sinem Cengiz is a Turkish political analyst who specializes in Turkiye’s relations with the Middle East. X: @SinemCngz

Stakes could not be higher for this year’s European Parliament election
Luke Coffey/Arab News/April 12, 2024
Elections for the European Parliament will take place across the 27 EU member states in June. Campaigning has already begun and many are speculating on what the outcome may mean for the future of Europe. A lot has changed since the last elections in 2019: the UK was still in the EU; unknown at the time, the world was a mere 10 months away from a life changing pandemic; Donald Trump was still in the White House; and the war in Ukraine was essentially a frozen conflict limited to local skirmishes in the east of the country. How different it all is now. Brexit in January 2020 sparked a debate inside the union about the future of Europe. Joe Biden is US president and Trump is challenging him for the office. The COVID-19 pandemic is over, but its social and economic consequences are still being felt. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 changed the security situation in Europe in a way not seen since the Second World War. The political landscape in Europe has changed too. In the past, European parliamentary elections have been fertile ground for fringe parties to make inroads into politics, and 2024 will be no exception: the polls show a significant rise from 2019 in the popularity of far-right and populist parties. European parliamentary elections have been fertile ground for fringe parties to make inroads into politics, and 2024 will be no exception.
There are good reasons for this. Elections with low voter turnout often result in a better performance by non-traditional parties because their supporters tend to be more energized to vote. Voter turnout for European elections has been traditionally low. In fact, between 1979 and 2014, it decreased with every election. This changed in 2019 when turnout reached 50 percent, but that was still far below the 1979 peak of 62 percent.
Also, not only are many Europeans uninterested in voting in EU elections, but those who do participate often use the elections to exercise a protest vote against their incumbent national government. People rarely vote in European elections on issues directly pertaining to the EU, which helps fringe parties increase their share of the vote. Regardless of which political bloc does the best at the polls in June, when the next European Parliament meets this summer there will be three pressing issues.
First and foremost will be the formation and approval of the next European Commission, the executive branch and “motor” of the EU which also renews every five years. In recent years the European Parliament has been given more of a say in the process. In theory, the European Commission president should be initially selected based on the outcome of the elections in consultation with member states and the European Parliament. For example, the European People’s Party is currently predicted by the polls to win the most seats. If this turns out to be the case, then the next president should come from this bloc. Once that is approved, the member states consult the new president to nominate the other 26 commissioners. Then the Parliament votes to approve or reject the new commission. It cannot approve some commissioners and reject others. Unsurprisingly, this can all take months and be fraught with political difficulty.
How best to maintain US-EU relations during a possible second Trump administration will be a focus for the new parliament. The second pressing issue is Ukraine. Russia’s invasion was a wake-up call for Europe. In addition to individual member states acting unilaterally, the EU as an institution has provided significant support and aid to Ukraine. The European Parliament plays a role in approving such aid. As expected, much of it has been humanitarian and economic. However, for the first time, the EU has also authorized significant amounts of military aid too. The EU has even had a military training mission since late 2022 to prepare Ukrainian soldiers for the front lines. Previously, the idea of the EU doing any of this, especially for a non-EU country, would have been unthinkable.
Finally, how best to maintain US-EU relations during a possible second Trump administration will be a focus for the new parliament. While Trump had cordial relations with some individual European leaders during his first term, it is no secret that he did not get along well with the EU as an institution. Part of the problem was the very public, and at times childish, criticism of Trump by some senior EU officials. How the new parliament could best engage with a second Trump administration will be on the minds of many.
There will be no shortage of challenges for the next parliament, but expectations of what it can achieve should be curtailed. It is the only directly elected institution in the EU, but it is also the weakest. Over the years successive treaties have gradually shifted more power to the parliament, but it still lacks much of the power that national legislatures enjoy and take for granted. Even so, these elections will lay down a marker for the future political direction of Europe. With the appointment of the next European Commission, the war in Ukraine and a possible second Trump administration on the table, the stakes are high.
• Luke Coffey is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. X: @LukeDCoffey

How carnage in Gaza is reshaping Britain’s foreign policy
Alistair Burt/Arab News/April 12, 2024
After the terror of Oct. 7 and Israel’s immediate response, there were those who predicted that a prolonged conflict with Hamas, as an episode in the seemingly irresolvable issues between Israel and Palestinians, might this time be different in character from previous ones, and have a more profound impact overseas than in the past. They were right. Not only were the Hamas brutality and Israel’s reprisals more intense than ever before, but the world that watched was different too. With graphic scenes of violence, sometimes verifiable and sometimes not, viewed no longer through only the prism of mainstream news but now from many more sources, the impact of war was always likely to produce more agonized responses than in the past from those who witnessed them vicariously.
But it was also recognized that there would be a wide international political as well as human impact, as Western demographics, following steady and increasing migration, had changed, and that new voices and influences were finding their way to national stages, media, pollsters and politicians: and this in a year of elections that will determine not only national destinies, but also international relationships. One parliamentary by-election in the UK has already been decided solely on the Gaza issue, returning the maverick pro-Palestinian politician George Galloway to the House of Commons.
There have always been domestic political disagreements in the UK over policy toward Israel and Palestine, but, as in the US, the current conflict is taking these to new levels. In the past two weeks we have begun to see a rift on Israel in the ruling Conservative Party that is genuinely unprecedented, and — bearing in mind it retains the levers of foreign policy for up to a further nine months before a general election it is expected to lose — may have a direct bearing on that policy.
Recent administrations’ support for Israel has been deep. The Conservative government were strong supporters of the Abraham Accords, and the Palestinian cause has historically struggled to get its voice heard in the party, with few public advocates. Foreign policy since 2010 reflected this. Despite noting, and “expressing concern” frequently over the advance of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, and voicing still deeper concern and calling for investigation of incidents of the Israeli army’s live fire at the “right of return” protests in 2018, no consequential action followed: and despite misgivings, including doubts among ministers, there was unity over decisions taken. The UK’s signals are clear: Israel will not have unconditional support for what its current hard right-wing government might wish to do next.
This unity is now being seriously stretched. First, David Cameron’s tenure as Foreign Secretary is marked by a stronger tone of difference than ever before with the way in which Israel is exercising its “right to self-defense.” That he raised in February the possibility of recognizing a State of Palestine not at the conclusion of a bilateral negotiation between the parties but as a unilateral UK catalyst, was a departure from previous policy. This was followed by a statement on April 7 that support for Israel was “not unconditional,” as the debate about a possible suspension of arms sales from the UK gathered pace, in light of the huge civilian casualties in Gaza and the Israel’s killing of UK aid workers.
A rebuff to this calibrated strengthening of the UK’s position has been seen at high levels. Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden had to deny differences between Downing Street and the Foreign Office. But former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, echoed by leading right-wing newspapers, has taken a staunch position supporting the conduct of the Gaza war by Benjamin Netanyahu and calling a potential ban on arms sales “shameful” and “insane.” Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, known to have Conservative Party leadership ambitions, made a high-profile visit to Israel to demonstrate her support. Both she and Johnson made the case that questioning support for Israel would only encourage its enemies, who were also the UK’s enemies. There is support for this from a number of commentators and the right of the Conservative Party.
These very public clashes represent a previously unheard-of difference of opinion inside the governing party. A change in how Israel is seen may have profound consequences — a UN vote this month in favor of an immediate ceasefire was a demonstration of Cameron’s influence and sense of direction, and both this government and a potential Labour successor will have to take note of a movement of sympathies for what must follow the Gaza war. The UK’s signals are clear: Israel will not have unconditional support for what its current hard right-wing government might wish to do next, but there is more than one path to a future of justice and security for Israel and Palestine. There should also be no mistake on the bigger picture. Israel’s public impunity from almost any criticism from UK society may have gone, but there remains no lack of UK resolve to support Israel in the face of existential threat or unjustifiable terror.
• Alistair Burt is a former UK Member of Parliament who has twice held ministerial positions in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office — as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State from 2010 to 2013 and as Minister of State for the Middle East from 2017 to 2019. X: @AlistairBurtUK