English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For August 06/2024
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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Bible Quotations For today
Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, ‘This is
my Son, the Beloved; listen to him
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark
09/01-07/:”And he said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, there are some standing here
who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with
power.’Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led
them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before
them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could
bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with
Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us
make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ He did
not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them,
and from the cloud there came a voice, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to
him!
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on August 05-06/2024
Elias Bejjani/Text & Video:The Fourth Anniversary of the terrorist
Hezbollah’s Explosion Of Beirut Port/Elias Bejjani/August 04/2024
Sonic boom from Israeli warplanes causes terror in Beirut, 2 dead in strike
Report: Blinken tells G7 Iran, Hezbollah may attack Israel in next 24 hours
Israeli drone strike kills Hezbollah fighter, paramedic in Mays al-Jabal
Breaking: Hezbollah's Radwan Force Commander Ali Jamal Aldin Jawad killed by
Israeli Air Force: Israeli army reports
One killed, one wounded following the Israeli airstrike on Ebba in South
Lebanon: Public Health Emergency Operations Center
IAF eliminates Hezbollah terror cell in southern Lebanon ....The cell had
operated a drone in the area, the IDF added.
Germany prepares to evacuate its citizens from Lebanon: Report
Lebanon seeks calm: Pushing for Middle East de-escalation amid Israeli
aggression
French FM to visit Beirut this week to press for deescalation
Foreign nationals told to leave Lebanon as war fears surge
Comparing 2006 and 2024: How Lebanon's healthcare sector and hospitals have
changed
Flurry of diplomacy to ease tensions as Israel awaits Hezbollah, Iran attacks
Lebanon receives medical aid, vacationers leave amid fears of war
In Israel and Lebanon, life goes on even as the region teeters on the edge of
all-out war/Melanie Lidman And Bassem Mroue/The Associated Press/August 5, 2024
Israel says no change in defense policy as Iran, Hezbollah vow retaliation
I don’t understand the inconsistencies of the morons/Roger Bejjani/Face
Book/August 05/2024
Jomblat is driven by a single motivation: surviving the storms. He may be right
but the whole thing smells awful./Roger Bejjani/Face Book/August 05/2024
Year After Year Since 1975: The Never-ending Torment of Lebanon/Lebanon
Iznogood/Monday, August 5, 2024
Those leaving Lebanon hold their families extra tight as they say goodbye/Ivan
Watson, CNN/Mon, August 5, 2024
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on August 05-06/2024
A rocket attack at an Iraqi military base injures US personnel, officials tell
AP
US sends messages urging Iran to de-escalate: State Department
Proxy forces armed by Iran could take part in retaliation against Israel over
Hamas leader's killing
At least 4 Palestinians killed in Israeli raid in West Bank, health ministry
says
Israel returns 80 Palestinian bodies to Gaza, keeps up military pressure
Israel braces for Iranian retaliation as US General Kurilla arrives for
coordination
Iran says it does not want regional escalation but must ‘punish’ Israel
President Biden hopes Iran backs down from conflict with Israel - after
Hezbollah fires rocket barrage from Lebanon
Biden, Harris head to Situation Room as Iran threatens attack on Israel
Putin ally holds talks in Iran as Middle East teeters on brink of wider war
Jordan says it foiled drug smuggling attempt from Syria
Iran's Revolutionary Guards: powerful group with wide regional reach
British minister cites Islamophobia as motivation for far-right violence in UK
Israel's claims that Hamas is nearly destroyed are false, battalions are
rebuilding - CNN
The US Navy is on its fourth aircraft carrier as its warships react to fighting
in the Middle East
Netanyahu says already in 'multi-front war' with Iran
Fears of Iranian attack on Israel keep tension high in Middle East
Iran issues flight warning notice to pilots ahead of expected attack on Israel
Extreme scenarios: Israel prepares for Iranian missiles, drones and strikes on
major cities
Jordan's king warns in call with Biden of Israeli 'hostile acts' in Jerusalem
Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources on August 05-06/2024
The three assassinations that changed the Middle East /Yonah Jeremy
Bob/Jerusalem Post/August 05/2024
Palestinians Loves Hamas/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/August 5, 2024
Shifting Paradigms/Charles Chartouni/This is Beirut/August 05/2024
‘Radical Islamic Terrorism’ No Longer Exists, Decrees Kamala Harris/Raymond
Ibrahim/The Stream/August 05/2024
Middle East braces for week that could determine the course of the Gaza war
Sarah El Sirgany, Nadeen Ebrahim, Mike Schwartz and Eugenia Yosef/NN/Mon, August
5, 2024
How a spate of terrorist attacks by a ‘resurgent’ Daesh threaten to push Syria
deeper into chaos/ANAN TELLO/Arab News/August 05, 2024
Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on August 05-06/2024
Elias Bejjani/Text & Video:The Fourth
Anniversary of the terrorist Hezbollah’s Explosion Of Beirut Port
Elias Bejjani/August 04/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/08/132851/
On the fourth anniversary of the Beirut Port explosion, we sadly remember August
4, 2020, a day that marked one of the largest catastrophes in the history of
Lebanon and the world. The explosion at the Beirut Port, classified as the
largest non-nuclear explosion in history, resulted in the deaths of over 200
people, injuries to thousands, the displacement of hundreds of thousands, and
the transformation of Lebanon’s capital into a scene of devastation and ruin.
The Beirut Port explosion, a terrorist and criminal act, was caused by the
ignition of a massive quantity of ammonium nitrate stored at the port. These
dangerous materials had been stored for years, and it is believed that Hezbollah
and the Syrian Assad regime were using them to manufacture barrel bombs that
claimed the lives of thousands of Syrians. Additionally, Hezbollah utilized
these materials in its terrorist operations in various European countries.
Authorities in Cyprus and Germany confirmed Hezbollah’s involvement with these
materials and seized quantities of them.
Since the explosion, Hezbollah, an Iranian terrorist proxy occupying Lebanon,
wreaking havoc, corruption, killing its people, displacing them, and
impoverishing them, has obstructed judicial investigations by all criminal and
illegal means available to it, including the use of excessive force, weapons,
terrorism, assassinations, accusations, arrests, and the manipulation of the
judiciary. Hezbollah officials threatened the judges assigned to the
investigation, and several military and civilian officials who had information
about the party’s and Assad’s Syria’s involvement in the explosion were
assassinated. Among these victims were a banker, two officers who worked at the
port (Mounier Abu rjaili and Joseph Skaf) and photographer Joe Bejjani, who was
killed in his home in Kahaleh village.
The situation worsened when Wafic Safa, Hezbollah’s security chief, brazenly
threatened Judge Tarek Bitar, the investigator assigned on the case, leading to
the forced suspension of the investigations and preventing numerous implicated
witnesses, including ministers, MPs, and security officials, from testifying.
Today, on August 4, the Families of the Victims Committee will hold a protests
to mark the anniversary of the massacre, demanding justice for the victims and
the injured. These families, who have lost loved ones and endured unimaginable
physical and psychological trauma, call for uncovering the truth and holding
those responsible accountable.
In conclusion, we must affirm that justice remains an urgent demand, and the
investigation must continue until the truth is revealed and the perpetrators are
punished.
It remains that building a safe and stable future for Lebanon is impossible
without justice and accountability.
The Beirut Port explosion was not a mere accident but a crime that requires a
thorough and impartial investigation to ensure the rights of the victims and
restore hope to their families and all Lebanese.
The author, Elias Bejjani, is a Lebanese expatriate activist
Author’s Email: Phoenicia@hotmail.com
Author’s Website:
http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com
Sonic boom from Israeli warplanes causes terror in
Beirut, 2 dead in strike
NAJIA HOUSSARI/Arab News/August 05, 2024
BEIRUT: Israeli warplanes on Monday broke the sound barrier over Beirut and
southern parts of Lebanon, creating a sonic boom that caused terror among
residents already anxious about escalating hostilities between the Israeli
military and Hezbollah. During yet another day of growing uncertainty about the
course of the conflict, on Monday morning Israeli military jets attacked the
town of Mays Al-Jabal, killing two civilians who were digging a grave in the
local cemetery. They were named as town residents Mohammed Fawzi Hammadi, a
paramedic affiliated with Lebanon’s Islamic Risala Scout Association, and Ali
Ghaleb Shaqir. Israeli forces also bombed Taloussa, a
village in the Marjeyoun district of Nabatieh Governorate, with phosphorous
bombs. These weapons are not banned under international law, but their use is
heavily restricted and prohibited in populated areas. Elsewhere, Israeli
soldiers raided the town of Rab El-Thalathine. One person was injured and taken
to the hospital, where his condition was described as “stable.”Hezbollah
military operations also continued on Monday, following the killing of two of
its members by an Israeli airstrike on Houla the day before. The group said it
launched an “air attack with a squadron of drones on the headquarters of the
newly established 91st Brigade at the elite barracks, targeting the positions
and whereabouts of its officers and soldiers, hitting them directly.”Hezbollah
also targeted “Al-Malikiyah site with an attack drone, effectively hitting its
intended targets.” The group said it also fired on the Zar’it barracks and Ras
Al-Naqoura naval site with heavy artillery. Israeli
Army Radio reported “a drone exploding near a shelter in the Ayelet HaShahar
area in Upper Galilee” and “fires erupting in various places in Upper Galilee as
a result of intercepting several missiles launched from Lebanon.”
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said “a drone explosion in the Finger of the
Galilee caused moderate injuries to an officer and a soldier.” However, Israeli
news outlets reported that “the officer was killed.” And alarms reportedly
sounded in towns in Western Galilee and around the city of Nahariya after
rockets were launched from Lebanon. Hezbollah
Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah is expected to deliver a speech on Tuesday at
a memorial service for the party’s military leader, Fouad Shukr, who was
assassinated by Israel in the southern suburbs of Beirut last week.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s office said that he received a
telephone call from Canada’s foreign minister, Melanie Joly, during which there
was an “emphasis on the necessity to halt the escalation, resort to peaceful
solutions, and implement international resolutions.”Mikati said when he appeared
at a social event on Monday: “We insist on living because despair is forbidden.
We will continue to uphold our responsibilities and work to spare the country
from any dangers.” His comments came as a growing number of foreign countries
urged their citizens to leave Lebanon immediately. The US embassy reiterated a
State Department warning that American citizens should not travel to the country
and those already there should depart as soon as possible. The Japanese Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and Turkish authorities issued similar advice.
German airline Lufthansa extended its suspension of all flights to Tel
Aviv, Tehran and Beirut until Aug. 12. Meanwhile, Elie
Ferzli, a former deputy speaker of the Lebanese parliament questioned whether
international calls for calm would be successful in the short term.He said: “It
is early to talk about de-escalation now. This will not happen before we respond
… and the situation reaches its peak. “Everyone today is anticipating Hezbollah
and Iran’s response, and all the countries of the axis of resistance might join
them in response to Israel’s latest breach of all considerations and rules, as
it targeted the southern suburb of Beirut, assassinating Fouad Shukr. It (also)
struck deep inside the Iranian capital Tehran and blew up Hamas leader Ismail
Haniyeh at his residence.”
Report: Blinken tells G7 Iran, Hezbollah may attack
Israel in next 24 hours
Naharnet /August 05, 2024
U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken told his counterparts from the G7 countries
on Sunday that an attack by Iran and Hezbollah against Israel could start as
early as Monday, three sources briefed on the call told U.S. news portal Axios.
“Blinken convened the conference call to coordinate with close U.S.
allies and try to generate last-minute diplomatic pressure on Iran and Hezbollah
to minimize their retaliation as much as possible. He stressed that limiting the
impact of their strikes is the best chance to prevent all-out war,” Axios said.
Iran and Hezbollah have vowed to respond to the assassinations by Israel
of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah military
commander Fouad Shukur in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
The sources said Blinken stressed that the U.S. believes Iran and Hezbollah will
both retaliate. But unlike the Iranian attack against Israel on April 13 — in
which Iran launched nearly 350 attack drones and missiles toward Israel, and
Israel, the U.S. and their allies worked together to intercept most of them —
Blinken said it's unclear what form the retaliation will take. Blinken said the
U.S. doesn't know the exact timing of the attacks but stressed it could start as
early as the next 24-48 hours -- meaning as early as Monday, the sources said.
The secretary of state told his counterparts the U.S. is making efforts
to “break the escalatory cycle by trying to limit the attacks by Iran and
Hezbollah as much as possible and then restrain the Israeli response.” Blinken
also asked the other foreign ministers to apply diplomatic pressure on Iran,
Hezbollah and Israel to maintain maximum restraint.One source who was on the
call said Blinken sounded frustrated when he briefed the ministers on recent
talks with Israel over a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal. Blinken said the
administration felt it was "close to a breakthrough" before the assassination in
Tehran. Now a deal is needed more than ever, Blinken added.
Israeli drone strike kills Hezbollah fighter, paramedic in Mays al-Jabal
Naharnet/August 05/2024
An Israeli drone strike near a cemetery in the southern village of Mays al-Jabal
killed two people, a Hezbollah fighter and a paramedic.
The National News Agency said one of the dead was a member of the Islamic
Risala Scout Association paramedic group. The group identified the member killed
as Mohammed Fawzi Hamadi. Hezbollah later announced the death of one of its
fighters, Ali Shuqair from Mays al-Jabal, "on the road to Jerusalem."
Hezbollah launched a drone attack early Monday on a military base in
Ayelet HaShahar in the upper Galilee, in response to "attacks and
assassinations" carried out by Israel in several villages in south Lebanon.
The Israeli military said Hezbollah's drone attack wounded two Israeli
troops and set off a fire. The group later targeted the Malkia post with a
suicide drone and the Ras al-Naqoura post, the Ramim and the Zar'it barracks
with artillery shells, while Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier over the
south, Beirut and its suburbs. Tensions in the region have risen sharply since
last week after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut killed Fouad Shukur, a top
commander with the militant Hezbollah group.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah vowed that the group will retaliate
against Israel.
Breaking: Hezbollah's Radwan Force Commander Ali Jamal
Aldin Jawad killed by Israeli Air Force: Israeli army reports
LBCI/August 05/2024
The Israeli army said on Monday that its Air Force killed Ali Jamal Aldin Jawad,
a commander in Hezbollah's Radwan Force, in the Ebba area of southern Lebanon.
One killed, one wounded following the Israeli airstrike on Ebba in South
Lebanon: Public Health Emergency Operations Center
LBCI//August 05/2024
Following the Israeli airstrike that targeted a motorcycle in Ebba, South
Lebanon, the Public Health Emergency Operations Center, under the Public Health
Ministry, announced on Monday the death of one person and the injury of another.
The injured individual was transferred by ambulance to Ragheb Harb Hospital, and
his condition is stable.
IAF eliminates Hezbollah terror cell in southern Lebanon
....The cell had operated a drone in the area, the IDF added.
Jerusalem Post/August 05/2024
An Israel Air Force aircraft struck and eliminated a Hezbollah terror cell in
the Meiss El Jabal area in southern Lebanon, the military said on Monday. The
cell had operated a drone in the area, the IDF added.
IDF intercepts target
Earlier on Monday, the military added, following alerts that sounded at 11:50,
the IDF intercepted a suspicious aerial target that crossed into Israeli
territory from Lebanon. An additional aerial target was identified opposite the
Nehariya coast. Israel Air Force jets struck overnight
a Hezbollah weapon storage facility in addition to terror infrastructure in the
Kafr Kila area of southern Lebanon, the military said on Monday. In addition,
IDF artillery fired at the areas of Chebaa and Rachaya Al Foukhar in southern
Lebanon. The military further stated that in response to the alerts that sounded
in the Western Galilee early Monday morning, an interceptor was launched at a
suspicious aerial target that crossed into Israel. Alerts sounded for fear of
falling shrapnel. Furthermore, an explosive drone crossed into Israel from
Lebanon and fell in the Malikya area. No injuries were reported.
Germany prepares to evacuate its citizens from Lebanon:
Report
Reuters/August 05, 2024
Germany is taking steps to evacuate its nationals from Lebanon and other areas
in the Middle East as tensions rise in the region. The conflict between Israel
and Iran, alongside Hezbollah, has prompted this course of action, according to
a report by Der Spiegel magazine. Germany's air force is readying a limited
fleet of A400M transport aircraft to facilitate the evacuation. These aircraft
will potentially shuttle evacuees from Beirut to Cyprus, although Der Spiegel
did not divulge its sources for this information.
Lebanon seeks calm: Pushing for Middle East de-escalation
amid Israeli aggression
LBCI/August 05/2024
Following the assassinations of Hamas' political leader Ismail Haniyeh and
Hezbollah military commander Fouad Shokor, Egypt has intensified its diplomatic
efforts with multiple parties, including Americans and Israelis, to prevent a
full-scale regional confrontation, especially in southern Lebanon.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, who has been in close
communication with his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdel Aty, traveled to Cairo.
In recent days, Bou Habib has kept Prime
Minister Najib Mikati updated on Egypt's efforts. They agreed that Bou Habib
should visit Cairo to emphasize Lebanon's desire to avoid expanding the
conflict. He stated that Lebanon is ready to implement UN Resolution 1701,
provided Israel also complies, and urged Israel to de-escalate by ceasing
attacks on Lebanese territory. According to sources,
Bou Habib also plans to hold talks with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi,
who recently returned from Tehran. Safadi had
discussed Iran's anticipated response to Haniyeh's assassination and how Jordan
might handle the retaliation, particularly if Iranian missiles and drones enter
Jordanian airspace. Jordan had previously dealt with unidentified flying objects
that entered its airspace in April, coinciding with the response to the attack
on the Iranian consulate in Damascus. Bou Habib also
discussed the deteriorating regional situation with the UN Special Coordinator
for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, who indicated that the UN is in contact
with Lebanese and Israeli officials, as well as other regional actors, to
prevent further escalation. Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert emphasized that the
solution lies in both sides implementing UN Resolution 1701, confirming the
renewal of the mandate for UN peacekeeping forces. In
related diplomatic efforts, French sources have neither confirmed nor denied the
potential visit of Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné to Lebanon, noting that no
dates have been set but all possibilities remain open.
French FM to visit Beirut this week to press for
deescalation
Naharnet/August 05/2024
French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné will visit Beirut this week in an
attempt by French President Emmanuel Macron to “prevent escalation in the region
and continue to monitor the situation closely,” Annahar newspaper reported on
Monday. Macron had called King Abdullah II of Jordan on Sunday to disucss with
him the explosive situations in the region. “Macron has been urging his foreign
minister for a while now to head to Lebanon and focus his attention on the
Lebanese affair and the region, knowing that Séjourné as the head of Macron’s
party is dedicating most of his time to taking care of the domestic French
political affairs,” the daily said. “The French president’s directions reflect
his interest in keeping the Lebanese file among the priorities in order to
prevent escalation,” Annahar added. France had on Sunday called on its citizens
in Lebanon to leave the country "as soon as possible" amid fears of all-out war
between Israel and Hezbollah and a broader regional conflict. Iran and its
allies have threatened to respond to the assassination in Tehran of Hamas
political leader Ismail Haniyeh, blamed on Israel. Haniyeh was killed a day
after a strike claimed by Israel killed Hezbollah military chief Fouad Shukur in
Beirut’s southern suburbs in a major escalation of the conflict.
Foreign nationals told to leave Lebanon as war fears
surge
Agence France Presse/August 05, 2024
Urgent calls grew for foreign nationals to leave Lebanon, which would be on the
front line of a regional war, as Iran and its allies readied their response to
high-profile killings blamed on Israel. While diplomats worked to avert a feared
conflagration, France's Emmanuel Macron and Jordan's King Abdullah II said
Sunday a regional military escalation must be avoided "at all costs", the French
presidency said after they held a telephone call. With major military action
from Lebanon's Hezbollah movement and others widely expected, Israeli Defense
Minister Yoav Gallant said: "If they dare to attack us, they will pay a heavy
price."The nearly 10-month-old war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas has already
led to a violent fallout which has become routine around the region.
In the deadliest incident on Sunday in Gaza, the Civil Defense agency
said an Israeli strike hit two Gaza City schools housing displaced people,
killing at least 30.This brings to at least 11 the number of schools hit in Gaza
since July 6. Near the Israeli commercial hub of Tel
Aviv, medics and police said two people were killed in a stabbing attack. The
assailant, a Palestinian from the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was "neutralized"
by police and taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
'Highly volatile'
Hezbollah, which has traded near-daily fire with Israeli forces since the Gaza
war broke out in October, announced the deaths of two of its fighters without
specifying where. The Lebanese health ministry said an Israeli strike on the
southern border village of Houla killed two people. Lebanon's official National
News Agency had reported Israeli strikes on various areas of south Lebanon,
after Hezbollah said it had fired a fresh barrage of rockets at northern Israel.
The Israeli military said most of the 30 projectiles launched from
Lebanon were intercepted. Sirens sounded again early Monday in northern Israel's
Upper Galilee region after "numerous suspicious aerial targets were identified
crossing from Lebanon", the Israeli military said. The attack triggered a fire
and an officer and a soldier were "moderately injured", it said on Telegram.
The cross-border violence since October has killed some 547 people in
Lebanon, mostly fighters but also including 115 civilians, according to an AFP
tally. Saudi Arabia and France became the latest of several countries calling on
their citizens to leave Lebanon. "In a highly volatile security context", the
foreign ministry in Paris "urgently asked" its nationals to avoid travelling to
Lebanon and suggested those already in the country leave "as soon as
possible".France also urged its nationals living in Iran to "temporarily leave".
Several Western airlines have suspended flights to Lebanon and other
airports in the region.Qatar Airways said the Doha-Beirut route would "operate
exclusively during daylight hours" at least until Monday.
Ceasefire hopes dimmed
Wednesday's assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran,
hours after the Israeli killing of Hezbollah's military chief Fouad Shukur in
Beirut, has triggered vows of vengeance from Iran and the "axis of resistance"
of Tehran-backed armed groups. Israel, accused by Hamas, Iran and others of
killing Haniyeh, has not directly commented on the attack. Haniyeh was Hamas's
lead negotiator in efforts to end the war. His killing, and that of Shukur,
"does not suggest Israel is sincerely interested in a ceasefire", said Middle
East expert Andreas Krieg. Qatari, Egyptian and U.S. mediators have for months
tried to broker a truce and hostage-release deal.
'Greatest peril'
Analysts have told AFP that a joint but measured action from Iran and its allies
was likely, while Tehran said it expects Hezbollah to hit deeper inside Israel
and no longer be confined to military targets. Israel's ally the United States
said it was moving additional warships and fighter jets to the region. In an
interview with ABC News, White House deputy national security adviser Jon Finer
said the United States was "doing everything possible to make sure that this
situation does not boil over". As part of those
efforts it is "so urgent" that a Gaza ceasefire deal be reached, Finer said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized the need to calm regional tensions
in a call with Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani of Iraq, where some
Iran-aligned groups targeted U.S. troops earlier in the Gaza war.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi held "consultations" with Iran's
acting top diplomat Ali Bagheri and met President Masoud Pezeshkian in a rare
visit to Tehran, local media reported. The G7 group of democracies convened by
videoconference to discuss the Middle East and expressed "strong concern" over
the threat of escalation, Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said.
Haniyeh's killing "has brought the Middle East to its moment of greatest
peril in years", the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank said in a
report. The ICG said that securing "a long overdue
ceasefire" in Gaza was "the best way of meaningfully reducing tensions in the
region".Hamas officials but also some analysts as well as protesters in Israel
have accused Netanyahu of prolonging the war. "Peace is made with the strong not
with the weak," Netanyahu said Sunday at a ceremony in Jerusalem.
Comparing 2006 and 2024: How Lebanon's healthcare sector
and hospitals have changed
LBCI/August 05/2024
Between the July 2006 War and the impacts of the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation in
2024, the conditions in Lebanon's healthcare sector have drastically changed.
Despite the abrupt onset of the 2006 war which fragmented various regions,
hospitals at the time were fully operational with a six-month supply of
medications. Dr. Alissar Rady, Program Director at the World Health Organization
(WHO) in Lebanon, highlighted the stark contrast in an interview with LBCI,
noting that the healthcare situation was much better in 2006. Emergency
services, surgeries, and intubations were readily available, with 13,000
hospital beds, including 1,200 managed by the Health Ministry. All medical teams
were present and working efficiently. The main issue back then was the inability
of doctors to travel due to blocked roads. However, despite fears of an expanded
war over the past 11 months, the current healthcare system is in dire straits.
The private sector, which provides 85% of healthcare services, is exhausted due
to the economic crisis. About 30% of doctors and nurses have left the country,
and 25% of nurses have also departed. Private hospitals are grappling with a
lack of maintenance for large machines and the high cost of surgical supplies.
Public hospitals, on the other hand, are largely unprepared logistically and in
terms of personnel to handle severe cases. According
to the head of the Private Hospitals Syndicate, Suleiman Haroun, the number of
beds in private hospitals has decreased to 8,000. There is also a notable
shortage of specialists in brain and vascular surgeries and emergency care. To
prevent a worsening situation, the Health Ministry and the Syndicate of Drug
Importers have started regular inventories of medications in the market and
warehouses, revealing a supply sufficient for about five and a half months.
Nonetheless, the WHO states that the stockpile is only enough for two months,
with concerns that people might start hoarding. This stockpile is at the Health
Ministry's disposal, but the Ministry's health centers are already facing
shortages of chronic disease medications and medical supplies. This prompted the
WHO to provide 32 tons of medical supplies and medications for war injuries.
Despite these challenges, Lebanon and its international partners are not
standing idle. The public and private sectors have developed expertise in
emergency planning and prioritization. The WHO has trained 118 hospitals in
disaster management and distributed medical supplies and surgical tools,
particularly to field hospitals in the Bekaa Valley, the south, and peripheral
areas. The Health Ministry has established an
operations room linked to the Disaster Risk Management Center at the Cabinet and
a smaller room at the Rafic Hariri University Hospital to coordinate the
distribution of the injured with the Ministry and all hospitals. In case of road
blockages, plans are being made to identify accessible locations for
distributing medications and supplies.
Flurry of diplomacy to ease tensions as Israel awaits Hezbollah, Iran attacks
Agence France Presse/August 05/2024
Diplomatic pressure mounted Monday to avoid an escalation between Iran and
Israel following high-profile killings that have sent regional tensions soaring,
while numerous governments urged their citizens to leave Lebanon. Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Sunday that his country was "determined to
stand against" Iran and its allied armed groups "on all fronts". As its war
against Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza nears its 11th month, Israel has been bracing
for retaliation from the Tehran-aligned "axis of resistance" for the
assassinations of two senior figures. Palestinian armed group Hamas's political
leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran on Wednesday, in an attack blamed on
Israel which has not directly commented on it, hours after an Israeli strike on
Beirut left Hezbollah military chief Fouad Shukur dead. Tehran said Monday that
"no one has the right to doubt Iran's legal right to punish the Zionist regime"
for Haniyeh's killing. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his
counterparts from the G7 nations in a conference call on Sunday that any attack,
which he expected to be a joint undertaking between Hezbollah and Iran, could
happen within 24 to 48 hours, as early as Monday, U.S. news site Axios reported.
Blinken asked his counterparts to place diplomatic pressure on Tehran, Hezbollah
and Israel to "maintain maximum restraint", it added. The United Nations' rights
chief Volker Turk called on "all parties, along with those states with
influence, to act urgently to de-escalate what has become a very precarious
situation". Israel's military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on
Sunday night that "as of now there is no change" in its policy for protecting
civilians.
'Path of dialogue'
Experts and diplomats fear that the expected attack on Israel could rapidly
spiral into a regional war. Turkey on Monday joined multiple Western and other
nations calling on their citizens to leave Lebanon, where Hezbollah is based.
Numerous airlines have suspended flights to the country or limited them to
daylight hours. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, whose country currently
holds the rotating G7 presidency, said in a statement: "Together with our
partners, we have expressed strong concern about recent events that threaten to
determine a regionalization of the crisis, starting from Lebanon". "We call on
the parties involved to desist from any initiative that could hinder the path of
dialogue and moderation," he added.On Sunday, Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman
Safadi made a rare trip to the Iranian capital during which he delivered a
message from King Abdullah II to President Masoud Pezeshkian. Jordanian
"airspace will probably be a theatre for missiles and anti-missile" fire in any
direct Iranian-Israeli clashes, but Amman would strongly object to violations of
its sovereignty, said political analyst Oraib Rantawi. "The Iranians must find
other ways to spare Jordan this embarrassment," Rantawi, director of the
Amman-based Al Quds Center for Political Studies, told AFP. The Israel-Hamas war
in the Gaza Strip, triggered by the Palestinian group's October 7 attack, has
already drawn in Iran-backed militants in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.
Cross-border clashes
Even as the region braced for further escalation, Hezbollah and Israel continued
their near-daily cross-border exchanges of fire. The Lebanese health ministry
said four people were killed in two separate strikes on the border towns of Mays
al-Jabal and Houla, while Hezbollah said it had targeted military sites in
northern Israel with "explosive-laden drones". The cross-border violence since
October has killed at least 549 people in Lebanon, mostly fighters but also
including at least 116 civilians, according to an AFP tally. On the Israeli
side, including the annexed Golan Heights, 22 soldiers and 25 civilians have
been killed, according to army figures. Analysts have told AFP that a joint but
measured action from Iran and its allies was likely, while Tehran said it
expects Hezbollah to hit deeper inside Israel and no longer be confined to
military targets. Israel's ally the United States said it was moving additional
warships and fighter jets to the region. U.S.
President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet with his national security team later
Monday "to discuss developments in the Middle East", the White House said.
Rockets
The Israeli military said around 15 rockets had crossed from the southern Gaza
Strip into Israel on Monday, with medics saying they were treating an injured
man. Months of talks, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, aimed at a
ceasefire and a hostage-release deal have repeatedly stalled. Hamas officials
but also some analysts as well as protesters in Israel have accused Netanyahu of
prolonging the war to safeguard his hard-right ruling coalition. The killing of
Haniyeh, who was Hamas's lead negotiator in truce talks, "does not suggest
Israel is sincerely interested in a ceasefire", said Middle East expert Andreas
Krieg.
Lebanon receives medical aid, vacationers leave amid
fears of war
Reuters/August 5, 2024
Lebanon on Monday received emergency medical supplies to equip its hospitals for
possible war injuries and Beirut airport was teeming with people trying to leave
the country amid fears a full-scale conflict was on the horizon. Tensions in the
region have spiralled in the last week following the killing in Tehran of
Palestinian militant group Hamas' head, and an Israeli strike on Beirut's
suburbs that killed a top commander in Lebanon's armed group Hezbollah.
Hezbollah and Iran have vowed to retaliate against Israel for the killings,
prompting concerns that the multiple fronts being fought in parallel to the Gaza
War could escalate into a full-blown regional war.
Hospitals in southern Lebanon, where most of the tit-for-tat exchanges between
Hezbollah and the Israeli military have taken place, are worn down by a
years-long economic meltdown and have struggled to cope with wounded patients
over the last 10 months. On Monday, the World Health Organization delivered 32
tons of medical supplies to Lebanon's health ministry, including at least 1,000
trauma kits to treat possible war wounded. "The goal is to get these supplies
and medicines to various hospitals and to the health sector in Lebanon,
especially in the places most exposed (to hostilities) so that we can be ready
to deal with any emergency," health minister Firass Abiad told reporters at the
airport landing strip where the aid arrived. In the airport's departure hall,
families of Lebanese origin who had come to their homeland for the summer lined
up to check in to their departing flights, sad to be leaving earlier than
expected. Countries including France, Britain, Italy, Turkey and others have
urged their nationals to leave Lebanon as long as commercial flights are still
available. "It is just very sad, oh God, the situation is really sad. We get out
of a crisis, we go into another one," said Sherin Malah, a Lebanese citizen
living in Italy who had come to Lebanon to visit her mother and was heading home
early. The United States has urged its citizens who want to leave Lebanon "to
book any ticket available," while the United Nations has asked the families of
its staff to leave Lebanon and the Swedish embassy has temporarily relocated its
staff to Cyprus. But others in Lebanon appeared more relaxed. Along the sandy
coastline of Lebanon's port city of Tyre, about 20 km (12 miles)from the border
with Israel, children splashed in the water as plumes of black smoke from
Israeli shelling further south curled up from the hills behind them. "As for the
current situation, as you can see, all the people are by the beach, this land is
our land, and we will not leave it," said Tyre resident Ghalib Badawy.
In Israel and Lebanon, life goes on even as the region teeters on the edge of
all-out war
Melanie Lidman And Bassem Mroue/The Associated Press/August 5, 2024
In Beirut, shops are open and traffic is as snarled as ever. In Tel Aviv, cafes
hum with patrons and umbrellas sprout across crowded beaches. Such scenes may
seem surreal in a region teetering on the edge of all-out war — and beneath the
surface there is plenty of fear and anxiety. But after 10 months of near-daily
border skirmishes, strikes further afield and escalating threats, a sense of
fatalism seems to have set in. The killings last week
of two militant leaders in Beirut and Tehran — attributed to Israel — brought
vows of revenge from Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah. Everyone expects that an
all-out war would be far more devastating than any previous conflict between
Israel and Hezbollah, including the 2006 war. But in
Nahariya, a coastal Israeli town just 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) south of Lebanon,
Israelis lounged at the beach and surfers caught waves in the shadow of the
hills rolling along the border.
Nahariya resident Shauli Jan said the area was “tense” but that most people were
still going about their daily lives despite frequent air raid sirens. He decided
to come to the beach as usual. “We just want it to be calm," he said. “We prefer
to have a political arrangement and not war.”In Beirut, about 110 kilometers (70
miles) to the north, the streets were bustling even in Dahiyeh, a neighborhood
that houses many of Hezbollah’s political and security operations and where an
Israeli airstrike killed Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur and six other people
last week. The area, which is also a densely populated residential and
commercial district, was devastated during the 2006 war; Israel has warned it
would be flattened in the next one. Some residents
said they were moving to other parts of Beirut, while others vowed to stay. “I
will not leave Dahiyeh, no matter what happens," said Khalil Nassar, 75, who was
carrying Lebanese, Palestinian and Hezbollah flags in a show of solidarity as he
went about his day. “They are trying to intimidate us.”Even those who fear the
worst may feel there's little to be done. Authorities on both sides have yet to
issue any orders to evacuate or prepare, even as several countries have put out
dire travel warnings and many airlines have suspended service. Israel's military
had not as of Monday released any special guidelines or warnings for civilians,
meaning beaches were full, summer camps were ongoing and people still headed to
work as they have throughout most of the war in Gaza. No one seemed to be
stocking up on supplies and grocery shelves were full.
For many, the worrisome anticipation was tempered by the obligation, for now, to
carry on. “There is no change to the Home Front Command’s defensive policy,” the
military's chief spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told Israelis in a
nationally televised address on Sunday. “At the same time, we are in strong
readiness for defense in the air, at sea, and on land, and we are preparing for
any sudden threat.”After an apparent Israeli strike on an Iranian consular
building in Syria killed two Iranian generals in April, Iran responded with an
unprecedented direct attack on Israel, launching some 300 ballistic missiles and
drones, nearly all intercepted by a coalition of international forces.
Elad Karta, who works in real estate, said his response to the latest
Iranian threat was to come to the beach in Tel Aviv with his wife and son.
“It’s summer break, so we’re doing it for him,” he said.
He and his wife had discussed buying extra cooking gas or emergency lighting but
in the end decided against it. “We don’t feel scared, but we do feel kind of
unsure of what will happen next,” he said. In Lebanon, Hezbollah legislator Amin
Sherri told The Associated Press the government has an emergency plan in case of
all-out war, and the country has enough fuel and medicine to last between two
and four months. On Monday, caretaker Health Minister Firass Abiad received 32
tons of medical equipment and medicine from the World Health Organization.
Sherri said there was great uncertainty over Israel’s next moves.
“We don’t know when it will initiate its aggression,” he said.
Several countries, including the United States, Britain, France and Canada have
warned their citizens to exercise caution or leave the region. Many airlines
have canceled flights to Lebanon and Israel, causing crowding as travelers try
to rebook. Some of the expatriates who came to Lebanon to spend the summer have
cut their trips short. At Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport, some
international flights were canceled while others delayed their flights, leaving
passengers packed at the departure terminal. Passengers who spent hours waiting
were sleeping on the ground waiting for the next flight. Roy Steinmetz,
spokesperson for the Israel Airports Authority, said the airline cancellations
were expected to have an immediate effect, with tens of thousands fewer
passengers set to pass through the country's main international airport compared
to the same time last year. In the Beirut neighborhood
of Dahiyeh, streets were filled with shoppers even around the building targeted
by the Israel airstrike last Tuesday. Hezbollah has vowed to respond in kind
without specifying when or how. Nearby, 54-year-old
Saad Baydoun surveyed the damage to his shops, which sell internet and sound
systems. His apartment was also damaged in the airstrike, forcing his wife and
children to move in with relatives in another part of Beirut.
“Israel wants war but we don’t, there is no doubt about that,” said
Baydoun. “What I felt is 1% of what the people of Gaza are passing through."Near
Tel Aviv's central Dizengoff Square, boutiques and ice cream shops welcomed
patrons as Israelis walked their dogs or meandered. “We’re just holding on,
waiting to see the size of the attack,” said Tim Pshshinski, 21, who said he
recently completed his compulsory Israeli military service.
“Life must continue, and there’s not much else we can do.”
Israel says no change in defense policy as Iran,
Hezbollah vow retaliation
Agence France Presse/August 05/2024
Israel's army said it had not changed "as of now" its policy for protecting
civilians, as Iran and Hezbollah are expected to avenge killings blamed on
Israel of two senior members. "I would like to refer tonight to the various
reports and rumors that we are on alert for the enemy's response to the
territory of the State of Israel," military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari
said Sunday in an online briefing to journalists. "I emphasize that as of now
there is no change in the Home Front Command's defense policy," he said of a
branch of the army that deals with the protection of civilians in times of war
and emergency, including natural disasters.Hagari and other top Israeli military
and government officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have
repeatedly said the country is prepared for any attack. But Hagari said that
Israel's protection is not "hermetic". "We strive to
give you the necessary warning to prepare for any threat," he said.
"The protection is not hermetic. Therefore, every citizen is required to
know what the instructions are, wherever he is and to be vigilant."Hagari also
announced that the Home Front Command has launched a new system to alert
citizens in the event of any emergency. "The alert will be sent to mobile phones
in the area under threat," he said. "This is done without the need for an
application and without any action on the part of the citizen." Fears that the
almost 10-month-old Gaza war could become a regional conflict after the killings
Tuesday of Hezbollah top commander Fouad Shukur in a Beirut suburb and Hamas
political chief Ismail Haniyeh the following day in Tehran. Iran and its
Lebanese ally Hezbollah have vowed to avenge the deaths which they blame on
Israel. Israel has claimed responsibility for killing Shukur but remained silent
on Haniyeh's death. Hezbollah has been trading
near-daily cross-border fire with Israel since war erupted in Gaza on October 7
following Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel.
I don’t understand the inconsistencies of the morons.
Roger Bejjani/Face Book/August 05/2024
I don’t understand the inconsistencies of the morons. On the one hand they
support Hamas in Gaza (for the obvious answer, Hamas is the Palestinians. Very
recent polls suggest 70% approval to Hamas). Even if Hamas raid on Oct 7, 2023
has brought a cataclysm on Gaza which used to be free of any Israeli presence
since 2005. On the other hand some of those same morons, raise their voice
against the war started by HZB from South Lebanon. Why? What’s the difference?
Are they that incapable of associating both organizations and behind them Iran
and decide on their own which party is bringing misery to both Gaza and Lebanon?
Ready for any of your rhetorical verbal
gesticulations.
Jomblat is
driven by a single motivation: surviving the storms. He may be
right but the whole thing smells awful.
Roger Bejjani/Face Book/August 05/2024
When I used to hear some 14 Marchers pseudo-intellectuals speak their awness of
Jomblat, his house, his wine, his library…….i smiled and always said to them:
wait for it. He’s not a genius, he’s a sharshouh on survival mode.
As for his culture (a big lie), he’s stuck
between less than 10books he read and compensates with wannabe smart threads on
X, that most of the time do not mean anything other than his blurriness.
He survived the assassination streak of HZB and
for this the exact word is not”Genius” but rather dhimmi asking for protection.
Same thing happened with the Syrians after the latter assassinated his father.I
am not judging him. Just relating the fact that Jomblat, leading a small,
meaningful but closed constituency of Druze, is driven by a single motivation:
surviving the storms. He may be right but the whole thing smells awful.
Year After Year Since 1975: The Never-ending Torment of
Lebanon
Lebanon Iznogood/Monday, August 5, 2024
Since the war began in Lebanon in 1975, the lives of the Lebanese have been
punctuated with surges of violence then brief but artificial truces and breaks.
Leaving the country always had a feeling of "may never be back or seeing it
again", and returning for occasional visits was always tainted with fear and
apprehension. Most Lebanese are refugees. Many
in fact became refugees in their own country. My family moved seven different
times during the 1975-1979 interim, fleeing the shelling by the Syrians and the
Palestinians, and now my family lives in a town with which they have no roots.
For reasons having to do with the high quality education they receive and their
ability at succeeding in their countries of exile, Lebanese refugees never
settle in tents and wait for handouts. But deep down, despite the appearances,
we are all refugees and exiles.
The road from and to the only functioning airport still goes through the hotbed
of anarchy and violence known as the Southern Suburbs of Beirut. In the 1970s
and 1980s, it was the Palestinians who robbed, killed, sniped, kidnapped, and
since the 1990s, it became Hezbollah's turf for killing, kidnapping, blowing up
bombs and setting up checkpoints.
During the Syrian occupation, the Mukhabaraat - the not-so-intelligent
Intelligence Services of the Assad criminals - controlled the airport. Their men
had large accounting books with lists of wanted people, and after you finished
going through Lebanese-manned passport checks and customs, there was this final
door where the filthy Baathist criminals checked your name against their lists.
Year after year, it's been like this for 50 years. Never once did it feel
good to come home, and worse was the feeling of leaving. Many Lebanese never
really wanted to emigrate. They had to. And this exile never heals. Why should
this tiny country have to go through this endless tragedy? Because of religion,
of course, but more so because of the games that Syria, Israel, Palestine, Iran,
Saudi Arabia, Lybia, Kuwait, the United States and others have been playing on
its soil.
And today, we are again at one of those moments where those who came to visit
relatives during the summer vacation have to leave in a hurry for fear of being
trapped because Muslim Shiite Iran might retaliate against Jewish Israel, in
which case the Israeli thugs respond by bombing the airport, thus cutting off
the country from the rest of the world. I remember one
trip in particular in the mid-1980s when the airport had been closed for a few
months and people took the boat between Cyprus and the town of Jounieh to
commute in and out of the country. We flew from the US (Chicago) to Francfort,
took the train to Munich, flew from Munich to Larnaca, Cyprus, and boarded a
Lebanese Army helicopter from Larnaca to the locality of Adma, just north of
Jounieh. The helicopter shuttle was mostly used to ferry diplomats and
politicians, and we were lucky to have someone book us the helicopter flight
from Larnaca. "We" consisted of myself, my wife and my 7-months old daughter
whom we wanted baptized in Lebanon. While in Lebanon, the helicopter shuttle was
the target of an anti-aircraft attack, and the shuttle operation stopped. So
there was no way to return except on a 12-hour nightly boat ride to Larnaca,
which we did.
Here is the testimony of one such family experiencing the same trauma in 2024,
49 years since the start of the war. At least, the airport is still functioning,
but not for long.
Those leaving Lebanon hold their families extra tight as
they say goodbye
Ivan Watson, CNN/Mon, August 5, 2024
When our plane finally took off from Beirut, it was nearly an hour late.
The mood in the sold-out cabin was grim. Like many of the passengers, my family
and I had been on vacation in Lebanon last week, trying to enjoy a long-awaited
reunion with my in-laws. Instead, we watched with growing dread and absolute
powerlessness, as day by day, rocket strikes and assassinations pushed this
beautiful corner of the eastern Mediterranean ever closer to all-out war.
On Saturday, the US Embassy in Beirut joined a growing chorus of diplomatic
missions urging their citizens to purchase any airplane seat possible to get out
of Lebanon, before it was too late. Airlines were already cancelling flights
left and right, leading to a scramble for tickets.
Everyone remembers the 2006 war between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite militia
Hezbollah, when Israeli jets bombed Beirut airport less than 24 hours after
hostilities began. It stranded tens of thousands of foreigners, forcing
governments to send warships to evacuate their citizens.
On Sunday, we left behind my 11-year-old niece Angelina, who just had her first
surf lesson; my sister-in-law Ghenwa, a librarian at a university in Beirut who
recently trained in her spare time to be a reiki healer; and my brother-in-law
Hussein, who runs a flower shop. Before departing for the airport, we held each
other extra tight, not sure when we would see each other again.
I spent months planning this trip, the first time my wife would see her sister
and mother in more than a year.
The day we landed in Beirut, a rocket hit an ethnic Druze village in the
Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, killing at least 12 children.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Hezbollah for the attack and
rushed home from a visit to the US, vowing retribution. The Lebanese militant
group “firmly” denied responsibility.
Tuesday evening, minutes after my 3-year-old daughter Katya returned from eating
ice cream on the Beirut waterfront with her cousins, Israel carried out an
airstrike in the southern Beirut suburb of Harat Hraik. It killed a senior
Hezbollah commander Fu’ad Shukr, as well as at least 2 women and 2 children
according to Lebanese authorities. From the rooftop swimming pool of the hotel
where we were staying, I could see a cloud of smoke billowing over the densely
populated neighborhood. In fact, an hour before the Israeli missiles struck, I
had been driving my rental car down a highway just a few blocks from the 5-story
building that had just been destroyed.
The next morning, we awoke to learn that the political leader of Hamas, Ismail
Haniyeh, had been mysteriously assassinated in Tehran. Iran and its ally
Hezbollah were now making their own declarations, calling for revenge against
Israel. The drumbeat for war had begun. Unfortunately, Lebanese are no strangers
to chaos and conflict. This little country bears deep scars following decades of
civil war, invasion, occupation, and chronic mismanagement.
Much of the population lost its savings in a 2021 financial crisis when the
banks all but collapsed. There hasn’t been a president for year and a half, due
to gridlock between rival political factions. And Sunday marked the 4-year
anniversary of a devastating explosion in the Beirut port caused by the
warehousing of 2,750 tonnes of the industrial chemical ammonium nitrate.
The blast killed more than 200 people, and yet no one has been prosecuted for
this deadly negligence. And then, there is the nearly 10-month war on Lebanon’s
southern border between Hezbollah and Israel, which has killed hundreds and
displaced tens of thousands of Lebanese and Israeli civilians. Hezbollah began
launching rocket attacks on Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, the
day after Hamas’ deadly assault on Israel on October 7 – a vivid example of this
complicated region’s tangled web of alliances. One might wonder, what sort of
fool would bring his wife and daughter on vacation to a place like this? The
fact is, Lebanon was enjoying a big tourist season this summer, with reports of
more than 600,000 tourists arriving in May and June. Most of these travelers
were likely members of the country’s enormous and relatively well-off diaspora;
their summer pilgrimage testament to the magnetic pull of family and homeland.
And so, even as officials in Tel Aviv, Washington, Tehran issued their threats,
families in Beirut packed restaurants and beaches, determined to make the best
of a terrible situation. Lebanese dance troupe Mayyas performed on an outdoor
stage in Beirut on Thursday, August 1 before an audience of thousands. - Ivan
Watson/CNN
On Thursday night, my wife and I joined thousands of people at an outdoor stage
performance of the Lebanese dance troupe Mayyas, winners of the 2022 season of
America’s Got Talent. Meanwhile, the airwaves of Lebanon’s Virgin Radio haven’t
stopped promoting an endless succession of parties and club nights, some hosted
by its own DJ Jack Sleiman.
But despite the “you only live once” reputation of Lebanon, people here know all
too well the pain and suffering that a war may bring.
My wife’s family are moving her grandmother, an 88-year-old stroke victim who
can’t walk, out of her home in Beirut’s southern suburbs to her sister’s
apartment in another, “safer” part of town. Other acquaintances in southern
Beirut called my brother-in-law Hussein, desperate to find other homes to rent,
knowing that in 2006 Israeli warplanes repeatedly bombed the neighborhood.
The growing exodus of visitors from overseas will likely have a devastating
effect on the Lebanese economy. As I paid the bill at our hotel, the manager
sadly told me occupancy plunged from 80% to 40% in just two days.
“If I were you, I would leave Lebanon now,” he warned me.
Instead, we took the kids up to a little cabin in the mountains for the weekend.
After all, I couldn’t get plane tickets out until Sunday afternoon.
There, Katya splashed in a little pool with Angelina and 9-year-old cousin Taym,
as the adults took in panoramic views of a wide valley and villages on distant
ridges. But on Saturday afternoon, the alpine peace was suddenly shattered by an
enormous boom, which shook the cottage walls and echoed across the mountains.
Seconds later, a second boom erupted.
The children barely noticed, but my adrenaline spiked, and I looked for smoke on
the horizon. “It’s just the planes,” my brother-in-law laughed.
The CNN team in Beirut later confirmed reports that Israeli warplanes had broken
the sound barrier in skies over Lebanon. Those sonic booms have become part of
the sound of summer.
We flew away from Lebanon, leaving behind so many innocent people who may soon
be plunged into a situation that is far, far worse. The worst part is there is
little any of them can do to stop it.
The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on August 05-08/2024
A rocket attack at an Iraqi military base
injures US personnel, officials tell AP
Lolita C. Baldor/WASHINGTON (AP)/August 5, 2024
Several U.S. personnel were injured in a suspected rocket attack at a military
base in Iraq, U.S. defense officials said Monday, in what has been a recent
uptick in strikes on American forces by Iranian-backed militias. The attack
comes as tensions across the Middle East are spiking following the killings last
week of a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and Hamas’ top political leader
in Iran, in suspected Israeli strikes. Both groups are backed by Iran. The U.S.
defense officials said troops at al-Asad air base were still assessing the
injuries and damage, and it appeared that military troops and civilians were
injured. Earlier Monday, Iraqi security officials confirmed the attack, but no
group has claimed responsibility. The officials spoke
on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations. The White House said
the president and vice president were briefed on the attack.
In recent weeks, Iranian-backed Iraqi militias have resumed launching
attacks on bases housing U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria after a lull of several
months, following a strike on a base in Jordan in late January that killed three
American soldiers and prompted a series of retaliatory U.S. strikes. Between
October and January, an umbrella group calling itself the Islamic Resistance in
Iraq had regularly claimed attacks that it said were in retaliation for
Washington’s support of Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza and were aimed
at pushing U.S. troops out of the region.
US sends messages urging Iran to de-escalate: State Department
Reuters/August 05/2024
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday that the United
States is sending messages through diplomatic channels urging certain countries
to inform Iran that escalation in the Middle East is not in its interest.
Miller added at a press conference that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
spoke on Monday with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al
Thani and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty regarding the tensions in the
Middle East. Miller did not specify whether Washington's messages had reached
Iran.
Proxy forces armed by Iran could take part in
retaliation against Israel over Hamas leader's killing
Jon Gambrell/DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)/August 5, 2024
As Iran threatens to respond to the suspected Israeli assassination of Hamas
leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, the regional militias that the Islamic Republic
has armed for decades could play a role in any attack.Here's a look at Iran's
history of arming militias, its allies in the region and what part they could
play.
Why has Iran armed proxy forces?
Iran's policy of arming militias took root in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic
Revolution. Before it, the U.S. provided major weapon systems including F-14
Tomcat fighter jets to the government of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. After the
revolution and the U.S. Embassy hostage crisis, those shipments and needed
maintenance programs stopped. Iran's eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s
destroyed much of its arsenal. International sanctions on Iran, including over
its nuclear program, also have kept it from receiving new arms while Israel and
Gulf Arab states allied with the U.S. have received advanced weapons. While
developing its own missile program, Iran can't match those sophisticated
weapons. It relies on militias as an asymmetric threat to squeeze both Israel
and the United States.
Who are Iran's regional allies?
Iran's arming began in earnest in the 1980s with Shiite forces in Lebanon
fighting against Israel. They became the Hezbollah militia. The arming expanded
with the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein, a
longtime foe of Tehran. Iran strongly backed Syrian President Bashar Assad in
his country's long war. And Iran has continued when the opportunity has arisen,
even arming Sunni militants while viewing itself as the world's defender of
Shiite Muslims. Those relationships are managed by Iran's paramilitary
Revolutionary Guard, one of the most powerful armed groups in the Middle
East.The militias in Iran's self-described “Axis of Resistance” include these:
Iraqi militias
In Iraq, Iran supported a slew of forces that mobilized in 2014 to battle the
Islamic State group. Those state-sanctioned, mainly Shiite militias, known as
the Popular Mobilization Forces, have grown into a powerful political faction,
armed with rockets, drones and other weaponry. The International Institute for
Strategic Studies puts their strength at some 180,000 fighters. Other smaller or
little-known militant groups have emerged and claimed attacks against U.S.
forces as well amid this Israel-Hamas war. Iran-backed armed groups attacked
U.S. personnel in Iraq more than 60 times between October and Feb. 4, according
to the Congressional Research Service. The deadliest came on Jan. 28, when the
U.S. said a drone launched by Iranian-backed Iraqi militias hit a facility known
as Tower 22 in Jordan on the Syrian border, killing three American troops and
wounding dozens of others. In response, U.S. airstrikes hit more than 85 targets
at seven locations, including command and control headquarters, intelligence
centers, rockets and missiles, drone and ammunition storage sites and other
facilities connected to the militias or the Guard's expeditionary Quds Force.
Lebanon's Hezbollah
Hezbollah formed in 1982 amid Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon. Israel
remains highly wary of Hezbollah, particularly over the vast missile arsenal it
is believed to possess and its battle-hardened forces who also supported Assad
in Syria. While Israel has sophisticated missile defenses including its Iron
Dome system, a mass barrage of fire from Hezbollah and others at the same time
could overwhelm the country. Estimates suggest Hezbollah has an arsenal of
150,000 rockets and missiles, including precision-guided missiles. The militia
also has been blamed for suicide bombings in the past, including a 1983 bombing
in Beirut that killed 241 American servicemen, though the group maintains it
wasn't behind the attack. Hezbollah also has drones and surface-to-air missile
systems. Hezbollah's forces number as many as 25,000 full-time fighters, with
additional tens of thousands in reserves, according to an Israeli military
assessment. Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah in 2021 said the group had
100,000 trained fighters.
Palestinian militant forces
Despite being Sunni, both the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Islamic Jihad
have received weaponry and other materiel from Iran. The groups, however, have
been struck hard by Israel since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that began the war,
which saw militants kill 1,200 people and take 250 others hostage. Israel's war
on Hamas in the Gaza Strip since has killed at least 39,580 Palestinians,
according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between
civilians and combatants in its count. Israel's military says it has killed
roughly 15,000 militants in the war.
Yemen's Houthi rebels
The Houthis have held Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, since 2014 as part of that
country’s ruinous war. They follow the Shiite Zaydi faith, a branch of Shiite
Islam that is almost exclusively found in Yemen. While broadly an insurgent
force, the group with Iran's support is now
able to launch drone and missile attacks that have drastically disrupted
shipping in the Red Sea corridor and now even reach Israel. The U.S. Navy's
efforts at stopping the shipping attacks have led to the most intense continuous
combat its sailors have faced since World War II, but has yet to end the
assaults. The amount of direct command Iran wields over the Houthis, however,
remains a matter of debate among experts. The Houthis' attacks have raised their
international profile while cracking down on dissent at home. The rebels claim
they've recruited 200,000 additional fighters since launching their attacks. The
rebels and their allies have a fighting force of some 20,000 fighters, according
to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
What could any retaliatory strike look like?
In April following an Israeli attack on the Iranian Embassy compound in Syria,
Iran launched 170 bomb-carrying drones, more than 30 cruise missiles and more
than 120 ballistic missiles toward Israel. Israel, the U.S. and other nations
shot down many of the projectiles, some of which came from Yemen. Iran could
launch a similar assault, but this time Hezbollah may get involved as the
militia seeks revenge for the Israeli strike last week killing senior commander
Fouad Shukur. Such an assault could strain Israeli air defenses, meaning more
missile strikes raising the risk of casualties — and of a further escalation
experts fear could lead to a wider regional war. *Jon
Gambrell, The Associated Press
At least 4 Palestinians killed in Israeli raid in West
Bank, health ministry says
Reuters/August 5, 2024
At least four Palestinians were killed and seven others injured by Israeli fire
in the town of Aqaba, Tubas District, in the occupied West Bank early on
Tuesday, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Two of the injured were
in critical condition."Israeli forces stormed the town of Aqaba, surrounded a
house, and clashed with young men, after which Israeli soldiers fired live
bullets," reported the official Palestinian news agency WAFA. The dead include a
36-year-old man, two 19-year-olds, and a 14-year-old boy, a health ministry
spokesman said."Special units of the (Israeli) army initially stormed the town
and surrounded a house, followed by the arrival of occupation military
vehicles," WAFA added, quoting local residents.There was no immediate comment
from the Israeli military.
Israel returns 80 Palestinian bodies to Gaza, keeps up
military pressure
Reuters/August 05, 2024
CAIRO/GAZA: Israel returned the bodies of more than 80 Palestinians killed in
its military offensive in the Gaza Strip, as Israeli airstrikes killed at least
18 more people on Monday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said. Yamen Abu
Suleiman, the director of the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service in Khan Younis
in southern Gaza, said it was unclear whether the bodies had been dug up from
cemeteries by the army during the ground offensive, or whether they were
“detainees who had been tortured and killed.” “The occupation provided us with
no information about the names, or ages, or anything. This is a war crime, a
crime against humanity,” Abu Suleiman said. The bodies will be screened and
examined in an attempt to determine the causes of death and in an attempt to
identify them. They will later be buried in a mass grave at a cemetery near
Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
The 84 bodies arrived in more than 15 bags, each containing several bodies, Abu
Suleiman added. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the
return of the bodies. In the past, Israel has said it returned bodies after
checks they were not Israeli hostages who had been held by Hamas since the Oct.
7 attack on Israel.
No ceasefire deal
In Jerusalem, the Israeli Hostages Families Forum asked why Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would allow the handover of Palestinian bodies
without a ceasefire deal with Hamas. “Why are bodies being returned outside the
framework of a comprehensive deal? Such an agreement could bring back living
hostages for rehabilitation and the deceased for proper burial,” they said in a
statement. In southeast Khan Younis, residents said Israeli aerial and tank
shelling continued overnight, including in areas for which Israel had issued
evacuation orders, saying militants had been waging attacks from there. An
Israeli air strike killed eight Palestinians in a vehicle on the road near Khan
Younis on Monday, medics said. The Israeli military said on Monday it had killed
Abdel-Fattah Al-Zriei, whom it said was involved in the weapons manufacturing
department in Hamas. The strike took place on Sunday, it added. Palestinian
health officials said Zriei, who was deputy minister of the economy in the Gaza
Strip, was “assassinated” in an Israeli strike on his house in Deir Al-Balah, in
central Gaza, that also killed his mother. According to Israeli tallies, 1,200
people were killed in Hamas’ attack on southern Israel and 250 taken hostage. At
least 39,550 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli military campaign in
Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between
fighters and civilians. Palestinian health officials say most of the fatalities
have been civilians. Israel, which has lost around 330 soldiers in Gaza, says
around a third of the Palestinian dead are fighters.
Israel braces for Iranian retaliation as US General
Kurilla arrives for coordination
Walla/Jerusalem Post/August 05/2024
Israel is preparing for a potential Iranian retaliatory attack following recent
high-profile assassinations, with US General Michael Kurilla arriving for
coordination. Following recent high-profile assassinations, Israel braces for a
potential Iranian retaliatory attack, with US General Michael Kurilla arriving
to aid coordination, an Israeli official said on Sunday. Days after the
assassination of Hamas's political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and
senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut, Israel is preparing for a
retaliatory attack. US Central Command Commander General Michael Kurilla will
arrive in Israel on Monday to complete coordination with the IDF in anticipation
of a possible Iranian attack. Kurilla, who commands US forces in the Middle
East, arrived in the region on Saturday night amid preparations for a
retaliatory response by Iran and Hezbollah against Israel. His trip was planned
before the recent escalation, but he is expected to use it to rally the same
international and regional coalition that defeated the previous Iranian attack
on April 13, according to an American official. Three American and Israeli
officials said that they believe that an Iranian attack could occur as early as
tomorrow.
The IDF spokesperson stated in a public announcement that “the defense is not
airtight – every citizen must act responsibly.” He added, “There is no change in
the Home Front Command policy. We will update on any changes in preparedness.”
Additionally, the IDF spokesperson informed the public about the launch of new
technology that allows for receiving personal messages during large-scale
emergencies, which will be delivered directly to mobile phones without any
action required from the citizen.
Heavy price for Iran as IDF prepares
The IDF spokesperson was asked why Israel is not carrying out a preemptive
strike and responded, saying, “We will follow any instruction from the political
leadership.” Netanyahu also addressed the possible attack while speaking at the
annual memorial ceremony for Ze'ev Jabotinsky. “We are preparing to fight every
scenario, on every front. Our far-reaching strikes in the Gaza Strip, in Yemen,
in Beirut – and wherever necessary," Netanyahu stated. "Iran and its proxies
seek to encircle us with a stranglehold of terror. We are determined to confront
them on every front and in every arena – near or far. Anyone who harms us will
pay a very heavy price," Netanyahu added – and after his speech, he left the
venue "for security discussions."On the other hand, a senior Iranian official
clarified in remarks to Al Jazeera that Iran's response to the assassination of
Hamas's political bureau chief, Ismail Haniyeh, on its soil last week will be
“harsh and painful.” "It is inconceivable that Tehran will not respond to the
assassination or that it will only respond symbolically against Israel," he
stated, emphasizing that any response would be severe. The journalist Ben Caspit
reported that the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) prepared the underground
command bunker in Jerusalem, where senior political leaders are expected to stay
during a state of emergency. "The bunker is equipped with all command and
control facilities, connected to the bunker in the Kirya [military headquarters]
and all other war rooms. It allows for extended stays and is fortified against
all types of weaponry," Caspit noted.
Iran says it does not want regional escalation but must
‘punish’ Israel
Reuters/August 05, 2024
DUBAI: Iran is not looking to escalate regional tensions but believes it needs
to punish Israel to prevent further instability, the foreign ministry
spokesperson said on Monday, following the killing of Hamas leader Ismail
Haniyeh in Tehran last week. “Iran seeks to establish
stability in the region, but this will only come with punishing the aggressor
and creating deterrence against the adventurism of the Zionist regime (Israel),”
Nasser Kanaani said, adding that action from Tehran was inevitable.
Kanaani called on the United States to stop supporting Israel, saying the
international community had failed in its duty to safeguard stability in the
region and should support the “punishment of the aggressor.”The Islamic
Revolutionary Guards Corps’ top Commander Hossein Salami on Monday reiterated
the elite group’s threat that Israel “will receive punishment in due time.”
Tehran and Iran-aligned groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah have accused Israel
of killing Haniyeh on 31st July. Israeli officials have not claimed
responsibility.
President Biden hopes Iran backs down from conflict with
Israel - after Hezbollah fires rocket barrage from Lebanon
Sky News/August 05/2024
US President Joe Biden has said he hopes Iran will back down from threats of
retaliation against Israel to avert a serious war in the Middle East. Tensions
are rising further in the region after Hamas's top political leader Ismail
Haniyeh was killed in Iran's capital, Tehran. Iran has pledged to avenge his
death, with its proxies already escalating attacks against Israel. Hamas and
Iran both accuse Israel of carrying out the killing. The assassination came a
day after the Israeli military claimed to have killed a senior commander of
Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in Beirut.
Analysis:
It seems inevitable assassinations will expand war zone
As Iran continues to threaten a retaliatory strike against Israel, the US
president was asked if he thought there was a chance they would stand down.
Mr Biden said in response: "I hope so. I don't know."
Hezbollah rockets fired
Hezbollah fired around 30 rockets from Lebanon towards upper Galilee overnight.
Videos showed Israel's Iron Dome defence system being activated over its
territory early on Sunday. In a statement claiming
responsibility for the rocket attack, Hezbollah made clear it was not in
response to the assassination of their senior commander.
The group said the barrage was a response to Israeli strikes which killed
civilians in two villages in the south of Lebanon.
Hezbollah's statement read: "In support of our steadfast Palestinian people in
the Gaza Strip and in support of their valiant and honourable resistance, and in
response to the Israeli enemy's attacks on the steadfast southern villages and
safe homes, especially the attacks that targeted the villages of Kafr Kila and
Deir Siryan and injured civilians, the Islamic Resistance included the new
settlement of Beit Hillel in its fire schedule and bombarded it for the first
time with dozens of Katyusha rockets." The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said on
Sunday it had intercepted most of the rockets, with no injuries reported.
Shortly after, its air force "struck the Hezbollah launcher from which
the projectiles were launched and additional terrorist infrastructure in the
area of Marjaayoun in southern Lebanon", the IDF said in a statement.
Artillery fire also targeted "threats" in the Odaisseh area, it added.
It comes after the Pentagon said on Friday it would deploy additional
fighter jets and Navy warships to the Middle East, and after US and UK officials
told its nationals to leave Lebanon.
Before Hezbollah fired its rockets, an Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering
displaced people in Gaza City killed at least 15 people on Saturday, according
to local health officials. That followed two strikes
in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli military said
the first of the West Bank airstrikes hit a vehicle in a town near the city of
Tulkarm, targeting a militant cell it said was on its way to carry out an
attack. Five people were killed. A Hamas statement said one of those killed was
a commander of its Tulkarm brigades, while its ally Islamic Jihad claimed the
other four men who died in the strike as its fighters. Hours later, a second
airstrike in the area targeted another group of militants who had fired on
troops, Israel's military said, during what it described as a counterterrorism
operation. Palestinian news agency WAFA said four people had died in that
strike. Hamas said all nine of those killed in the two
Israeli attacks in the West Bank were fighters. At least 39,550 Palestinians
have been killed in the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, according to Gaza
health officials.
Hamas attacked southern Israel on 7 October, killing around 1,200 people and
abducting 250, according to Israeli tallies.
Biden, Harris head to Situation Room as Iran threatens
attack on Israel
Miranda Nazzaro/Nexstar Media/ August 5, 2024
President Biden and Vice President Harris will meet with national security
officials in the White House Situation Room on Monday, as Iran reiterates its
intention to punish Israel for the apparent assassination of top Hamas political
leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. The meeting will focus on developments in the
Middle East, the White House said. Concerns about a wider regional conflict have
escalated with the assassination of Haniyeh. Although Israel has not
acknowledged the strike in Iran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to
seek revenge against Israel after Haniyeh’s death. Attacks by Iran and the
Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group could come as soon as Monday, Secretary
of State Antony Blinken told leaders with the Group of Seven on a conference
call Sunday, Axios reported, citing three sources briefed on the call.
The call was arranged in a last-minute effort to urge Iran and Hezbollah to
limit their attacks as much as possible to prevent an all-out war, Axios added.
G7 members have reached out to Iran to minimize the retaliation for the
sake of preventing a regional war, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar
with the matter. A spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry told reporters
Monday that the Islamic Republic does not want to deepen tensions but has the
right, within the framework of international law, to punish Israel, according to
Bloomberg. “Reinforcing stability and security in the
region will be achieved by punishing the aggressor and creating deterrence
against Israel and its adventurism,” the spokesperson said, per Bloomberg.
Haniyeh’s death followed an already tense week in the region, after Israel
killed Fuad Shukr, the top military leader of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah
militant group in Lebanon’s capital of Beirut. Several
foreign policy experts suggested last week the consecutive deaths of the
militant leaders are sure to escalate already rising tensions, coming just more
than three months after Iran directly fired at Israel with hundreds of missiles
and drones in an unprecedented attack. Some experts, meanwhile, told The Hill
that Tehran most likely does not have the resources to repeat April’s massive
attack on Israel and may instead respond through its proxies, including
Hezbollah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
told a Cabinet meeting Sunday that his nation is already in a “multifront war”
with Iran and its proxies. Tensions have been rising since early October, when
Hamas launched a surprise assault on southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people
and kidnapping about 250 others. Israel’s subsequent
war in Gaza has killed nearly 40,000 people, as Netanyahu pledges to eliminate
the threat of Hamas. Israel has also faced rocket attacks from Hezbollah in
Lebanon for the past 10 months. “We are doing everything possible to make sure
that this situation does not boil over,” White House deputy national security
adviser Jon Finer told ABC News on Sunday.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Putin ally holds talks in Iran as Middle East teeters on
brink of wider war
Reuters/August 05, 2024
MOSCOW: A senior ally of President Vladimir Putin arrived in Tehran on Monday
for talks with Iranian leaders including the president and top security
officials as the Islamic Republic weighs its response to the killing of a Hamas
leader. Russia has condemned the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the
Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Iran last week and called on all parties to
refrain from steps that could tip the Middle East into a wider regional war.
Sergei Shoigu, the secretary of Russia’s security council, was shown by
Russia’s Zvezda television station meeting Rear Admiral Ali Akbar Ahmadian, a
senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander who serves as
secretary of the Supreme National Security Council.
Shoigu, who was Russia’s defense minister before being moved to the security
council in May, will also meet President Masoud Pezeshkian, Zvezda said.
“In Tehran, the secretary of the Russian Security Council is scheduled to
meet with the president, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council
and the head of the General Staff,” according to Zvezda TV.
Though Putin has yet to comment in public on the recent escalation of
tensions in the Middle East, senior Russian officials have said that those
behind the killing of Haniyeh were seeking to scuttle any hope of peace in the
Middle East and to draw the US into military action. Iran has blamed Israel and
said it will “punish” it; Israeli officials have not claimed responsibility.
Iran backs Hamas, which is at war with Israel in Gaza, and also the Lebanese
group Hezbollah whose senior military commander Fuad Shukr was killed in an
Israeli strike on Beirut last week. Russia has
cultivated closer ties with Iran since the start of its war with Ukraine and has
said it is preparing to sign a wide-ranging cooperation agreement with the
Islamic State. Reuters reported in February that Iran had provided Russia with a
large number of powerful surface-to-surface ballistic missiles. The US said in
June that Russia appeared to be deepening its defense cooperation with Iran and
had received hundreds of one-way attack drones that it was using to strike
Ukraine, something Moscow denies. Russia said last Friday it joined Iran in
condemning the assassination of the Hamas leader and pointing out “the extremely
dangerous consequences of such actions.”Washington said it did not have any
expectation that Russia would play a productive role in de-escalating tensions
in the region. “We haven’t seen them play a productive
role in this conflict since Oct. 7. They have, for the most part, been absent.
Certainly we’ve seen them do nothing to urge any party to take de-escalatory
steps,” US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told a daily briefing.
The US did not know why exactly Shoigu’s trip took place now, Miller
said, but said one possibility might have been to further Moscow’s relationship
with Tehran to seek support for its invasion of Ukraine.
“Certainly we have seen that with the security relationship between Iran
and Russia before,” he added.
Jordan says it foiled drug smuggling attempt from Syria
Reuters/August 05, 2024
AMMAN: Jordan said it had foiled an attempt to smuggle drugs into the country
from Syria on Monday, according to the state news agency Petra.
Quoting a military source, Petra said several smugglers were injured in
clashes with security forces before retreating back into Syrian territory. The
amount of the seized drugs was not disclosed. War-ravaged Syria has become the
region’s main site for the mass production of the addictive, amphetamine-type
stimulant known as captagon, with Jordan a key transit route to the oil-rich
Gulf states, Western anti-narcotics officials say. Jordanian officials, like
their Western allies, say that Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group and
pro-Iranian militias who control much of southern Syria are behind a surge in
the multi-billion-dollar drugs and weapons trade. Iran and Hezbollah deny the
allegations. Since last year, Jordan’s army has conducted several pre-emptive
airstrikes inside Syria that Jordanian officials say targeted militias linked to
the drug trade and their facilities, in a bid to stem a rise in cross-border
incursions.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards: powerful group with wide regional reach
Reuters/ August 5, 2024
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards are likely to play a central role if the
country retaliates for the assassination of its close ally Hamas leader Ismail
Haniyeh in Tehran last week. Following are some questions and answers about the
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC), Iran's dominant military force, which
has its own army, navy, air force and intelligence wing.
WHAT IS THE IRGC?
It was set up shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the Shi’ite
Muslim clerical ruling system and provide a counterweight to the regular armed
forces. The IRGC answers to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The IRGC has
an estimated 125,000-strong military with army, navy and air units. It also
commands the Basij religious militia, a volunteer paramilitary force loyal to
the clerical establishment that is often used to crack down on anti-government
protests. Basijs mounted “human wave” attacks against Iraqi troops during a war
in the 1980s. In peacetime, they enforce Shi'ite Iran’s Islamic social codes.
Analysts say Basij volunteers may number in the millions, with over 1 million
active members. The Quds Force is the IRGC's overseas arm , which heavily
influences its allied militias across the Middle East, from Lebanon to Iraq,
Yemen and Syria. Its members have fought in support of President Bashar al-Assad
in Syria’s civil war and have backed Iraqi security forces in their battle
against Islamic State militants in recent years. The Quds Force handles Iran's
relations with the "Axis of Resistance" composed of Tehran's Middle East proxies
Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, Yemen's Houthis and armed groups in Iraq.
Commanders from Iran's Guards and Lebanon's Hezbollah group, sources told
Reuters in January, were on the ground in Yemen helping to direct and oversee
Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping since Palestinian militant group Hamas' Oct.
7 attack on Israel, which triggered the war in Gaza.
The Guards' top commander, Major-General Qassem Soleimani, was killed by the
United States in a drone attack in Iraq in 2020 that raised fears of a major
conflict. The IRGC, branded a terrorist group by the United States, has sought
for years to shape the Middle East, according to Iran's interests. In 1982, it
founded the heavily armed Shi'ite political movement Hezbollah in Lebanon as a
vehicle to export Iran's Islamic Revolution and fight Israeli forces that had
invaded Lebanon that year.
WHAT ARE THE IRGC’S MILITARY CAPABILITIES?
The IRGC oversees Iran’s ballistic missile programme, regarded by experts as the
largest in the Middle East. The Guards have used the missiles to strike Sunni
Muslim militants in Syria and Iranian Kurdish opposition groups in northern
Iraq.
The United States, European powers and Saudi Arabia blamed Iran for a 2019
missile and drone attack that crippled the world's biggest oil processing
facility in Saudi Arabia, though Iran denied any involvement. Former U.S.
President Donald Trump pointed to Iran’s missile programme as one of the points
not addressed in its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and cited that as a
reason for pulling out of the agreement in 2018. The Guards have extensive
conventional combat hardware and capabilities, which were showcased in their
involvement in the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.
WHAT IS THE IRGC’S POSITION IN IRAN'S POLITICAL SYSTEM?
Former Revolutionary Guards officers occupy key positions in Iran's
establishment, from the government to parliament. Most of former President
Ebrahim Raisi's cabinet were former IRGC officers.The IRGC’s mandate to protect
revolutionary values has prompted it to speak out when it felt the system was
threatened.
WHAT ABOUT BUSINESS INTERESTS?
After the 1980s war with Iraq, the IRGC became heavily involved in Iran’s
reconstruction. It has since expanded its economic interests to include a vast
network of businesses worth billions of dollars, ranging from construction and
telecommunications to oil and gas projects.
British minister cites Islamophobia as motivation for
far-right violence in UK
Arab News/August 05, 2024
LONDON: The UK’s home secretary on Monday pointed to Islamophobia for the first
time as a motivation for far-right violence in several cities that has seen
widespread damage and nearly 400 arrests. Yvette Cooper was appearing on ITV’s
morning television show “This Morning” and was asked why the Labour government
had not used the term when talking about the violence, which broke out on
Tuesday following a stabbing in which three children were killed.
“You’re right that there has been a range of different things driving
this, including far-right extremism,” Cooper told the program. “We have
certainly seen some targeted attacks on mosques, and that clearly reflects
Islamophobia, and people shouldn’t be targeted for their faith or for the color
of their skin. “We’ve also seen some looting, some response of local criminals
just getting involved at the periphery on streets as well. None of these people
speak for Britain,” she added. Cooper’s department,
the Home Office, said over the weekend it would deploy extra police and security
for mosques under new emergency measures, The Telegraph reported. A suspended
Labour MP, Zarah Sultana, also appeared on “This Morning” and pushed the
government to do more to call out hatred against Muslims. “This question about
naming it as Islamophobia is really important, because that allows us to shape
our response,” she said. “If we’re not identifying what is happening, the
language that is being used and what this is about, we’re not going to be able
to address this fundamentally,” she added. Also on Monday, the head of Amnesty
International UK said the government must get serious about tackling the “root
cause of racism that plagues” British society. “The
widespread violence and hate crimes we’ve witnessed over the last few
days are utterly unacceptable,” Sacha Deshmukh said. “It’s disgusting to see
hotels housing people seeking sanctuary set on fire, mosques and businesses
attacked, and people targeted because of the color of their skin, their faith or
their country of origin,” he added. He said the violence was inspired by the
rhetoric of politicians who had “scapegoated” refugees and migrants.
“Events of the last few days have been reported as ‘anti-immigration
protests’ or ‘pro-British demonstrations’ and they should not be labeled as
such. What we are seeing are clearly violent racist attacks targeting specific
communities,” he said.
“Above all, the government must address the root causes of racism, Islamophobia
and xenophobia that plagues our society — and this includes actively calling out
and addressing the dangerous rhetoric of politicians and commentators on social
media and elsewhere.”
Israel's claims that Hamas is nearly destroyed are false, battalions are
rebuilding - CNN
Jerusalem Post/August 05/2024
While Israel has killed thousands of Hamas terrorists, including senior
commanders, several units have regained fighting capacity in areas previously
cleared by the IDF.
Despite nearly ten months of fighting, forensic analyses of Hamas’ al-Qassam
brigades, drawing on Israeli and Hamas military statements, footage, and
interviews with experts and eyewitnesses, cast doubt on the validity of
Netanyahu’s “victory is in sight” speech at Congress.
While Israel has dealt blows to Hamas, killing multiple terrorists and
eliminating top commanders, several units have regained fighting capacity in
areas previously cleared by the IDF, CNN said. Hamas’ military wing, the al-Qassam
Brigades, is composed of 24 battalions disseminated across the Gaza Strip. At
the beginning of last month, the IDF had only successfully destroyed three of
the 24 battalions, according to the assessments by CTP and ISW. For a unit to be
destroyed, it has to be unable to complete its objectives, CNN continued. Of the
24, eight remain combat-effective and can fight against IDF troops. CTP and ISW
rated units as combat-effective when they were able to defend the ground using
sophisticated methods and weapons. The other 13 battalions have had moderate
reduction in their combat capabilities and can conduct smaller but less
successful guerilla-style attacks. “The Israelis would say that they cleared a
place, but they haven’t fully cleared these areas. They haven’t defeated these
fighters at all,” said Brian Carter, Middle East portfolio manager for CTP, who
led the joint research. “[Hamas] are ready to fight and want to fight.”
Regions of Gaza
The central Gazan Hamas battalions are the least damaged by the IDF, CNN
continued, citing Israeli military sources. The sources claim that it is these
battalions that Israel believes are holding the majority of the remaining
hostages.
CTP, ISW, and CNN found that the 16 battalions in central and north Gaza
reconstituted the best. Seven of these 16 battalions have successfully rebuilt
at least once in the last six months. The stratus of the eight battalions in
southern Gaza is incomplete due to a lack of robust data. CNN said they
geolocated videos showing battles in Gaza and analyzed the findings.
What caused this resurgence?
US military experts told CNN that the “heavy-handed bombing campaign, and the
absence of a post-war plan has helped trigger Hamas' resurgence.” One key area
of resurgence is the Jabalya refugee camp, which the IDF bombed for three months
in late 2023. Despite this, on returning in May, the IDF was met with strong
resistance from 3 battalions. “If the Hamas battalions were largely destroyed,
Israeli forces wouldn’t still be fighting,” said retired US Army Col. Peter
Mansoor. “The fact that they’re still in Gaza, still trying to rout out elements
of the Hamas battalions, shows me that Prime Minister Netanyahu is wrong,” he
added. “The ability of Hamas to reconstitute its fighting forces is
undiminished.”Israel says that it has killed around 7,000 of Hamas’ 14,000
commanders, however Hamas disputes this. “Everywhere Hamas rears its head, we
will enter,” said one Israeli army officer to CNN. “Can this ping pong stay
forever? No. Our society is not built for this. And neither is the international
community.”US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has expressed concern that
Israel will leave a power vacuum in Gaza, which could lead to chaos in the short
term and a Hamas resurgence in the longer term. The US has, therefore, been a
strong proponent of Israel having a solid plan for the ‘day after.’ “Don’t make
the same mistake America made after [al Qaeda leader, Osama] bin Laden,” Biden
told Netanyahu in July. “There’s no need to occupy anywhere. Go after the people
who did the job.”
Rebuilding in the ashes of Northern Gaza
Palestinians told CNN that Hamas dressed in plain clothes, in burnt buildings,
and with hidden weapons so as to blend with the local civilian population.
“Hamas’ presence in northern Gaza is stronger than you can imagine,” said one
Palestinian. “They’re among civilians. It helps them rebuild their forces.” On
January 7, the IDF claimed to have incapacitated Hamas’ command structure in
northern Gaza, however there were soon reports of attacks carried out from the
same location. Hamas has boasted of recruiting “thousands” of new fighters since
the war began. “They [Israel] have certainly killed a lot of Hamas fighters, but
they’re still out there, and they’re going to be recruiting like crazy based on
the kinds of things that Israel has done,” said Emily Harding, director of the
Intelligence, National Security and Technology Program at the Center for
Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC told CNN.
Hamas has been recruiting new commanders to replace those who have been killed.
“Recruitment started three or four months ago, and they got a few thousand. I
don’t know exactly how many,” said one retired high-ranking Israeli officer. As
a result, the al-Qassam brigades are drawing the IDF into continuous combat.
“It’s a game of whack-a-mole,” said Robert Pape, a professor of political
science at the University of Chicago. “Israel tells the population to go to the
center, to the south, and then a large number ultimately do ... They keep moving
these people around ... and guess who moves with the population? Almost all
Hamas fighters.”Some Hamas brigades have merged so as to create stronger and
more elite battalions and are creating improvised weaponry from explosive
material left by the IDF. But without experienced commanders, CNN says, they
largely rely on guerilla tactics, such as booby traps and staging ambushes. “The
growing lawlessness, the growing anarchy that feels very deliberately
orchestrated, is going to allow Hamas or its reincarnation to reemerge,” said
one expert to CNN. “Once these bombs stop falling, people are going to be
desperate for the rule of law.”The Iraqi 2007 “surge” strategy is not possible
in Gaza. Its principles involve clearing the territory of insurgents, holding on
to it, and building relations with local communities. “The only way this
conflict will end is with a Palestinian state,” said retired Col. Mansoor. “But
the Palestinians, for their part, need to realize that Israel’s not going
anywhere ... right now, you have an Israeli government that refuses to
countenance any sort of state for the Palestinians.”“This conflict will only end
with a political solution. It won’t end with a military victory.”
The US Navy is on its fourth aircraft carrier as its
warships react to fighting in the Middle East
Jake Epstein/Business Insider/August 5, 2024
The US on Saturday dispatched an aircraft carrier, USS Abraham Lincoln, to the
Middle East. It will be the fourth US carrier sent to respond to ongoing crises
in the Middle East since October. The change comes as the region braces for a
potential attack on Israel by Iran and its proxies. The US Navy is sending
another aircraft carrier to the Middle East. It will be the fourth sent to
respond to ongoing crises in the tumultuous region in the past 10 months. With
this move, over a third of the carrier fleet will have been involved at one
point or another. The Pentagon on Saturday announced
that the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, which was recently in the
Pacific, is moving into the Middle East amid a broader shake-up of the US
military's force posture in the region. The change
comes as the US, its allies and partners, and the broader Middle East brace for
a potential attack on Israel by Iran and its proxies. They have blamed Israel
for the stunning assassination of Hamas' political chief in Tehran last week and
vowed to take revenge for the killing. It's not immediately clear when the
Lincoln and the other ships in the strike group will arrive in the region. When
it does, it will be the fourth carrier strike group to be dispatched to the
Middle East or nearby Eastern Mediterranean since Hamas staged its brutal
October 7 attack in Israel, igniting a war and fueling regional tensions.
The massacre triggered a retaliatory war in Gaza
and sparked conflict involving other Iranian proxy groups across the region,
including the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and various militias in
Iraq and Syria. The US, in October, initially directed the USS Gerald R. Ford
Carrier Strike Group to the Eastern Mediterranean to prevent the fighting from
spiraling and signal its support for Israel. A carrier strike group consists of
a carrier, its air wing, and other warships like destroyers and cruisers. It is
a tremendous and flexible show of force that provides lots of firepower for both
offensive and defensive operations. The US also
deployed the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group to the Eastern
Mediterranean as regional tensions flared. It then pivoted to the Middle East to
defend merchant shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden from Houthi
attacks. The Ford returned home in January. And after months of battling the
Houthis in what has been described as the Navy's most intense combat operations
since World War II, the Eisenhower finally left the Middle East in June,
returning to the US. The carrier was replaced last
month by the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group, which was previously
operating in the Indo-Pacific region, where the US does not currently have a
forward-deployed carrier presence. Now, the Lincoln
carrier strike group is slated to replace the Roosevelt, which was operating in
the Persian Gulf as of last week, according to the USNI News Fleet and Marine
Tracker. It's unclear where the Roosevelt is headed next.
"The United States' global defense is dynamic and the Department of
Defense retains the capability to deploy on short notice to meet evolving
national security threats," a Pentagon spokesperson said on Saturday. The
Pentagon said that the US is dispatching additional warships capable of
intercepting ballistic missiles to the US Central Command and US European
Command areas of responsibility as tensions soar between Israel and Iran and its
proxies. US warships helped down Iranian ballistic missiles during Tehran's
massive attack on Israel in April. It's unclear what a potential retaliatory
Iranian attack might involve, but experts say Iran and its proxies could modify
that strike package as they continue to signal their intent to retaliate against
Israel in the coming days.
Netanyahu says already in 'multi-front war' with Iran
Associated Press/August 5, 2024
Israel is already in a "multi-front war" with Iran and its proxies, Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Cabinet meeting Sunday, as the United
States and allies prepared to defend Israel from an expected counterstrike and
prevent an even more destructive regional conflict. Tensions have soared
following nearly 10 months of war in Gaza and the killing last week of a senior
Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and Hamas' top political leader in Iran. Iran and
its allies have blamed Israel and threatened retaliation. Hamas says it has
begun discussions on choosing a new leader. Netanyahu said Israel was ready for
any scenario. Jordan's foreign minister was making a rare trip to Iran as part
of diplomatic efforts — "We want the escalation to end," Ayman Safadi said —
while the Pentagon has moved significant assets to the region.
"We are doing everything possible to make sure that this situation does
not boil over," White House deputy national security adviser Jon Finer told ABC.
In Israel, some prepared bomb shelters and recalled Iran's unprecedented
direct military assault in April following a suspected Israeli strike that
killed two Iranian generals. Israel said almost all the drones and ballistic and
cruise missiles were intercepted. A stabbing attack on Sunday near Tel Aviv
killed a woman in her 70s and an 80-year-old man, according to Israel's Magen
David Adom rescue service, and two others were wounded. The police said the
attack was carried out by a Palestinian militant, who was "neutralized."Inside
Gaza, the Health Ministry said at least 25 people were killed and 19 others
injured when Israel struck two schools in Gaza City. AP video showed at least
one child among the dead. Israel's military, which regularly accuses Palestinian
militants of sheltering in civilian areas, said it hit Hamas command centers.
"As you can see, there is no equipment to recover the injured. Rescuers are
digging with their hands," said one man, Yusuf Al-Mashharawi. Earlier, Israeli
strikes killed at least 18 people. One hit a tent camp for thousands of
displaced Palestinians in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, killing
four people, including one woman, the Health Ministry said. The Israeli military
said it targeted a Palestinian militant in the strike, which it said caused
secondary explosions, "indicating the presence of weaponry in the area."The
hospital in Deir al-Balah is the main medical facility operating in central Gaza
as many others in the territory no longer function. A separate strike on a home
near Deir al-Balah killed a girl and her parents, according to the hospital.
Another strike flattened a house in northern Gaza, killing at least eight,
including three children, their parents and their grandmother, according to the
Health Ministry. Another three people were killed in a strike on a vehicle in
Gaza City, according to Civil Defense first responders.
Palestinian militants in Gaza fired at least five projectiles at Israeli
communities near the border without causing casualties or damage, the military
said. The military later told people in some parts of the southern Gaza city of
Khan Younis to evacuate. The Health Ministry also said an Israeli strike on
Saturday at a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City killed at least 16 people.
Israel's military said it struck a Hamas command center. The war in Gaza was
triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack into Israel that killed some 1,200 people,
mostly civilians, and took around 250 people hostage. Israel's massive offensive
in response has killed at least 39,580 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health
Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Heavy
airstrikes and ground operations have caused widespread destruction and
displaced the vast majority of Gaza's 2.3 million people, often multiple times.
Hezbollah and Israel have continued to trade fire along the Lebanon
border since the war began, with the severity growing in recent months. The
Lebanese state-run National News Agency said an Israeli strike targeted a house
in Beit Leef, and the Lebanese Health Ministry said two people were critically
wounded. Hezbollah says it's aimed at relieving
pressure on fellow Iran-backed ally Hamas. A growing number of countries,
including the U.S., are encouraging citizens to leave Lebanon after last week's
killing of a senior commander.
Fears of Iranian attack on Israel keep tension high in
Middle East
Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY/August 05/2024
WASHINGTON – Tensions remained high between Israel and Iran Monday as the
Pentagon rushed submarines, planes, warships and a top military officer to the
region to head off a major conflict, according to U.S. officials. The Middle
East has been on edge since the recent assassinations of senior, Iranian-backed
militant leaders in Beirut and Tehran. Iran’s top leaders have vowed to avenge
the killings. Israel has not taken responsibility for the killing of a Hamas
leader in Iran but acknowledges it killed the Hezbollah militant in Lebanon in
an airstrike. Gen. Erik Kurilla, who commands all U.S.
forces in the Middle East, traveled to the region to shore up support among
allies, according to a U.S. government official who was not authorized to speak
publicly. In April, a U.S.-led coalition helped Israel thwart an attack by Iran
with 300 missiles and drones. It’s unclear how many
Middle Eastern countries will be willing to help this time, the official said.
Some don’t want to be seen as aiding Israel because of the war in Gaza, launched
after the Hamas attack Oct. 7 attack that killed about 1,200 Israelis. Some
countries have pointed to the protection of their own airspace as cover for
allowing U.S. and allied forces to intercept missiles over their territory.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic
nominee for president, met Monday afternoon with the administration’s national
security team in the White House Situation Room to discuss the latest
developments in the Middle East. Earlier in the day,
Biden spoke on the phone with King Abullah II of Jordan. “The leaders discussed
their efforts to de-escalate regional tensions, including through an immediate
ceasefire and hostage release deal,” The White House said.
Late Friday, the Pentagon announced that it was dispatching more
warships, submarines and fighter aircraft to the Middle East to support Israel
and help protect the tens of thousands of U.S. troops stationed there. F-22s,
the most sophisticated warplane in the Air Force arsenal, have been sent to the
region. U.S. officials had worried Friday that an
attack by Iran was imminent, but that fear had subsided a bit over the weekend.
On Monday, there was no change to the threat level, according to two U.S.
officials who were not authorized to speak publicly. A
wild card, however, is Iran’s proxy groups in the Middle East, said U.S. Rep.
Adam Smith, D-Wash., and the ranking member of the House Armed Services
Committee. They could launch attacks on Israel without warning.
Smith told CNN Monday that Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthi
militants in Yemen have been “turned loose” by Iran. Smith termed that
“extraordinarily risky” given their fanaticism.“It is a very nervous situation,
and I think it’s a huge problem,” Smith said.
Iran issues flight warning notice to pilots ahead of expected attack on Israel
Jeusalem Post/August 05/2024
Antony Blinken said that an attack carried out by Iran and Hezbollah against
Israel could begin as early as Monday. Iran has issued a NOTAM, a notice
alerting an aircraft of dangers en route, for the center, west, and northwest of
the country, advising aircraft to change their routes. Attack may occur Monday,
sources say US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a G7 conference call on
Monday that an attack carried out by Iran and Hezbollah against Israel could
begin as early as Monday. According to Barak Ravid on Axios on Sunday, citing
three US and Israeli officials, the attack could occur on Monday.
In comparison to Iran's April 13 attack, Israel was anticipating a “more
aggressive” attack this time around, an Israeli official also told CBS News.
Mathilda Heller, Walla!
Extreme scenarios: Israel prepares for Iranian missiles, drones and strikes on
major cities
Amir Bohbot/Jeusalem Post/August 05/2024
Despite the incessant threats against Israel, it can be estimated that the
Iranians will carefully consider the scope and strength of the military
response. Against the backdrop of the blow Iran suffered with the assassination
of Ismail Haniyeh in the heart of Tehran and the damage to its dignity, the
assessments in Israel are that Iran is planning and coordinating its response
with its partners. These include Hezbollah, whose commander Fuad Shukr was
eliminated in the heart of Beirut; the Houthis in Yemen, whose Hodeidah port was
attacked and left only with a single crane for unloading goods from ships out of
four and suffered tremendous damage to fuel depots; the Shiite militias in Syria
and Iraq, and the Hamas headquarters abroad; which was hit hard with the
assassination of Saleh al-Arouri in the heart of Beirut. However, despite the
incessant threats against Israel, it can be estimated that the Iranians will
carefully consider the scope and strength of the military response since
disproportionate attacks, especially after it has been hinted that Haniyeh was
eliminated with an explosive device, may lead to IDF attacks deep inside the
territory of Iran, Lebanon, and Yemen. According to security sources, the last
thing the Iranians are interested in is seeing how the IDF erodes its proxies in
the Middle East. These proxies have been cultivated over the years for several
main tasks, including deterring the IDF from attacking the Iranian nuclear
project and wearing out the power of fighting. A disproportionate hit may lead
to a disproportionate response by the IDF against various targets.
Preparing for extreme scenarios
The security establishment is preparing for a number of extreme scenarios,
including attacks on IDF bases on an unprecedented scale by unmanned aircraft,
missiles, and rocket attacks on targets ranging from national infrastructure to
the northern border to Haifa and even Tel Aviv. For each of the scenarios, the
IDF has a response in defense and attack.The IDF has active defense systems that
are among the best in the world - Iron Dome, Magic Wand, and the Arrow 2 and 3
systems. Most of the country's citizens have spaces protected from missiles and
rockets. In an attack, the IDF has an overwhelming, accurate, and extensive fire
capability. The Israel Air Force is trained and is on high alert, combined with
the capabilities of the Navy.Commander of the United States Central Command
CENTCOM, General Michael Kurilla, will arrive in Israel on Monday for final
coordination and to examine the options for the response to an attack on the
Israeli home front, similar to Iran's attack in April in which coalition forces
led by the US and the IDF worked together to repel the attack even before it
reached Israeli airspace.The US-led coalition's addition to the Israeli front
adds a very significant defensive force. Also, the home front command emphasizes
that there is no change in the instructions.
Jordan's king warns in call with Biden of Israeli
'hostile acts' in Jerusalem
Reuters/August 5, 2024
Jordan's King Abdullah, in a phone call on Monday with U.S. President Joe Biden,
warned of what he called "hostile acts" by Israeli settlers against Palestinians
and "unilateral measures" that threaten the status quo of Jerusalem's holy
sites. King Abdullah's Hashemite dynasty is custodian of the Muslim and
Christian holy sites in Jerusalem. Last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu said there was no change in policy regarding a Jerusalem site also
sacred to Muslims, after a far-right cabinet minister said Jews could pray
there.
The compound, in Jerusalem's walled Old City, houses Islam's third-holiest
shrine, Al-Aqsa mosque, and is also revered in Judaism as the Temple Mount, a
vestige of two ancient temples. Under a delicate decades-old "status quo"
arrangement with Muslim authorities, Israel allows Jews to visit but refrain
from prayer. The site is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and
suggestions that Israel would alter rules about religious observance there have
led to violence in the past. "His Majesty warned of extremist settler violence
against Palestinians, as well as unilateral Israeli measures that undermine the
prospects of peace and target the historical and legal status quo of Islamic and
Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, which may fuel violence in the region," the
Jordanian royal court said in a statement. King Abdullah also discussed with
Biden the need for de-escalation in the region and "establishing comprehensive
calm to prevent a regional war", the royal court added.
The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from
miscellaneous sources on August 05-06/2024
The three assassinations that changed the
Middle East - analysis
Yonah Jeremy Bob/Jerusalem Post/August 05/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/08/132904/
Taking out Haniyeh while he was in Tehran was an unmistakable signal to disabuse
Iran of the notion that it has immunity when it uses proxies to harm Israel. In
a dizzying three weeks, Israel has assassinated three titans of terror (though
only officially taking credit for two), with these operations in and of
themselves altering the trajectory of the ongoing war and of the Middle East
even beyond the current war. Jerusalem's hope has been to reshape the balance of
power to restore a more secure ceasefire and regional quiet, but these moves
have also put the region closer to spiralling into a larger war than at any
other moment to date. The first was Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif who was
assassinated by Israel by airstrikes in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza on July 13,
though the IDF only officially confirmed his death as certain on Thursday of
last week. Intelligence information, likely from human spying or electronic
spying - though the IDF declined to divulge details - picked up the key
confirmation only on Thursday morning.
Deif's killing is not only a bodyslam to Hamas's morale for the immediate
future, as he was their most "heroic" military figure for more than the last
decade, but there is a much more significant long-term impact. Deif's death,
more than any other Hamas official, leaves the Gazan terror group without a
national military manager to retrain and reconstitute its forces if and when the
current war ends Being that the IDF has killed between two-thirds to 75% of
Hamas's senior and middle management in its military, Deif had become more
important than ever as one of the few remaining living top Hamas military
strategists who would have had the capability to quickly retrain the next
generation of Hamas commanders. Hamas could still reconstitute itself as a
military force if Israel fails to replace it as a political force in Gaza, but
the process would take it much longer, possibly years longer, without Deif.
Hezbollah and the death of Shukr
Last week, Israel took credit for assassinating Hezbollah military chief Fuad
Shukr by drone strike in Beirut. Shukr was Hezbollah Chief Hassan Nasrallah's
lead military adviser. As with Hamas, Israel has eliminated more than half of
Hezbollah's commanders in southern Lebanon. In addition, around 90% of Hezbollah
forces in southern Lebanon have fled and close to 100% of its lookout posts
there have been eliminated, some lookout positions multiple times when Hezbollah
tried to rebuild. So killing Shukr was not just a blow to Hezbollah's morale and
immediate operations, but also to its long-term capabilities for rebuilding its
forces in southern Lebanon near Israel's border. Moreover, killing Shukr was a
message to Nasrallah that he could easily be next and that Beirut will no longer
be an area receiving immunity if Hezbollah kills any sizable number of Israeli
civilians. This lays much clearer redlines down for Hezbollah for what kinds of
attacks Israel will or will not "tolerate" on its soil in the current low
intensity conflict standoff. The third assassination, Hamas political chief
Ismail Haniyeh, was killed within hours of Shukr, while visiting top Iranian
officials in Tehran. While Israel has not taken credit for the assassination
formally, many Israeli officials commented on the killing in a way which left
little doubt of who was responsible. Unlike the killings of Deif and Shukr,
which could have also made an Israeli-Hamas hostage deal and ceasefire more
likely by taking off the board two of Hamas and Hezbollah's top officials who
were seen as potentially often against a deal, killing Haniyeh delays any deal
and ceasefire.
Hamas post-Haniyeh assassination
Haniyeh was the primary negotiator with Qatar and the US, even as Hamas Gaza
Chief Yahya Sinwar makes the final decisions because he controls the Israeli
hostages deep in his underground tunnel world in Gaza. Also, while there is a
disagreement about who was more pragmatic, some argued that at least recently he
was seen at more pragmatic than Sinwar. Since the Israeli government does still
want to get the hostages back through a deal, Haniyeh's killing was only
partially directed at Hamas, in the sense of trying to convince Sinwar that all
of Hamas's leadership could be killed if he does not compromise soon on some of
the issues still in dispute. However, the much more
important address of killing Haniyeh was in fact Iran. Israel, presuming it
killed Haniyeh, wanted to send a message to the Islamic Republic that its
patience is wearing thin for Tehran using proxies to try to bloody Israel, while
the ayatollahs think they can sit watching from the sidelines untouched.
Until now and although experts universally agree that Hamas and Hezbollah's
confrontations with Israel have been bankrolled, inspired, and often planned in
Tehran, the only time since October 7 that Israel struck Iran in its territory
was on April 19 in what most considered a modest response to a massive attempted
attack by Tehran five days earlier. Iran had launched around 350 aerial threats,
including ballistic missiles, drones, and cruise missiles, whereas Jerusalem's
retaliation sufficed with one pinpoint strike to destroy the Islamic Republic's
S-300 anti aircraft missile system, central to protecting its nuclear site at
Natanz. Observers were split about whether Israel's pinpoint attack, which
showed that it could easily have struck Iran's nuclear program at Natanz as a
warning shot, had restored a balance of deterrence with Tehran or whether the
ayatollahs' viewed the Jewish state's counter strike as weak in light of the
vast attack they had brought down on Israel.
After Iranian proxies from Yemen recently killed an Israeli in a Tel Aviv drone
strike and Hezbollah killed 12 Israeli-Druze, it seemed that Iran had not gotten
the message and felt that it still had impunity. Taking out Haniyeh while he was
in Tehran was an unmistakable signal to disabuse Iran of the notion that it has
immunity when it uses proxies to harm Israel. So Israel has in three weeks with
three attacks, set back Hamas and Hezbollah's current, and more importantly,
future military rebuilding capabilities, and threatened the ayatollahs that if
their proxies cross redlines, the price may end up on Tehran's doorstep and not
just against their proxies. Whether these high stakes attacks will lead to a
much larger war between Israel, Iran and Hezbollah, or whether it will finally
eventually bring Tehran to help bring its proxies to a ceasefire with Israel is
still an open question.
Palestinians ❤ Hamas
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/August 5, 2024
By hailing Haniyeh as a "great leader," Abbas and his Palestinian Authority
cohorts are sending a message to all Palestinians that the murderous Hamas
leader is their role model.
[T]he Biden-Harris administration and those who continue to talk about the
creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.... must be reminded that
Haniyeh, who is being praised by Abbas and the PA as a "great leader," belongs
to a group that has long been waging a Jihad (holy war) to murder Jews and
destroy Israel – and that does not have the slightest intention of being
"revitalized."Abbas and other Palestinian Authority leaders have once again
demonstrated their preference to ally with Islamist terror groups such as Hamas
rather than to secure a brighter future for their own people. Abbas and the PA
have also once again served as a reminder that they share the same goal as Hamas:
glorify terrorism and destroy Israel. By hailing as a
"great leader" the late Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of the
Iran-backed Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas and his cohorts are sending a message to all Palestinians that the
murderous Hamas leader is their role model. Pictured: Abbas (R) and Haniyeh in
Gaza City, on April 5, 2007. (Photo by Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images)
The Palestinian Authority (PA) should have been happy over the assassination of
Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of the Iran-backed Palestinian
terrorist group Hamas.
PA President Mahmoud Abbas appears to have forgotten that Haniyeh represents a
group that carried out a violent and brutal coup against his loyalists in the
Gaza Strip back in 2007.
Instead, the PA and its leaders have been mourning the death of Haniyeh, who was
killed during a visit to Tehran on July 31. They have, in addition, used the
assassination to step up their incitement against Israel.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) reported in 2007 that at least
161 Palestinians were killed and more than 700 wounded during fighting between
Hamas on one side and members of Abbas's security forces and Fatah faction on
the other. According to the PCHR:
"[T]he two parties of the conflict perpetrated grave breaches of the provisions
of international law concerning internal armed conflicts, especially common
article 3 of the Geneva Conventions of 1949. The fighting included:
extra-judicial and willful killings of combatants who laid down their arms;
killing a number of wounded persons inside hospitals; abduction and torture;
using houses and apartment buildings in the fighting, endangering the lives of
civilians; obstruction of access of medical and civil defense crews to areas of
clashes."
In response to the 2007 coup, Abbas denounced Hamas leaders as "traitors" and
called on the terrorist group to apologize for the fighting in the Gaza Strip.
He accused Hamas of "killings and massacres," as well as being behind a plot to
assassinate him during a visit to the Gaza Strip.
Abbas also seems to have forgotten the number of times Hamas leaders condemned
him as a "traitor" for meeting with Israelis and purportedly expressing a desire
to make peace with Israel. When Abbas attended the funeral of late Israeli
President Shimon Peres in 2016, Hamas condemned the move as "a betrayal of
Palestinian blood."
A year later, senior Hamas official Marwan Abu Ras described Abbas as "the
biggest traitor in the history of the Palestinian cause" and called for
executing him in a public square in the Gaza Strip.
For Abbas, Haniyeh and Hamas were not only political rivals, but ferocious
enemies as well. In 2017, Abbas imposed a series of sanctions on Hamas,
including refusal to pay for the electricity Israel supplies to the Hamas-ruled
Gaza Strip, as well as slashing funding for the coastal enclave and cutting
salaries of thousands of PA employees.
Since the 2007 coup, Abbas has avoided setting foot in the Gaza Strip out of
fear that Hamas would murder him. His aides have accused Hamas of plotting to
assassinate him during the same year. They revealed that four large explosive
devices were uncovered by Abbas's security officers on a road where his convoy
was about to pass through the northern Gaza Strip. Upon discovering the devices,
Abbas's security officers instructed him to return to Ramallah, the de facto
capital of the Palestinians in the West Bank.
This same Abbas is now crying over the death of Haniyeh. Almost immediately
after the news of the death of the Hamas leader broke, Abbas was quick to issue
a statement "strongly condemning the cowardly assassination of the great leader
Ismail Haniyeh." The statement was followed by another in which Abbas "declared
a day of mourning in protest of the assassination" of Haniyeh. Abbas also
ordered that "flags be flown at half-mast in official Palestinian institutions."
As if that were not enough, Abbas late that day phoned Hamas leader Khaled
Mashaal to offer his condolences over the assassination of the "great national
leader Ismail Haniyeh."
One of Abbas's top aides, Hussein al-Sheikh, also mourned the death of the Hamas
leader:
"I called our brother [Hamas leader] Khaled Mashaal by phone and offered him
warm condolences on the martyrdom of the head of the [Hamas] Political Bureau,
the national leader Ismail Haniyeh, whose martyrdom constituted a great loss for
the Palestinian people."
The Biden-Harris administration evidently considers both Abbas and al-Sheikh as
legitimate leaders and partners for a future peace agreement between Israel and
the Palestinians. For the past four years, Biden administration officials have
been meeting with the two on a regular basis. On May 20, 2024, US National
Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with al-Sheikh and PA Prime Minister Mohammed
Mustafa, who has also been shedding tears over the killing of the "great" Hamas
leader.
In addition to exposing the Palestinian Authority's duplicity, all this grieving
over Haniyeh, its bitter adversary, should serve as a warning to the Biden-Harris
administration and those who continue to talk about the creation of a
Palestinian state alongside Israel. They must be reminded that Haniyeh, who is
being praised by Abbas and the PA as a "great leader," belongs to a group that
has long been waging a Jihad (holy war) to murder Jews and destroy Israel – and
that does not have the slightest intention of being "revitalized."
The Biden-Harris administration and other supporters of the "two-state solution"
also need to be reminded that Haniyeh was the first Palestinian leader to
celebrate the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the
murder of 1,200 Israelis and the abduction of more than 240 others.
During the attack, Israelis and others were beheaded, raped, tortured, and
burned alive. In a video broadcast by Al-Jazeera, the Qatari-owned mouthpiece of
the Muslim Brotherhood organization and its affiliate Hamas, Haniyeh is seen
leading a prayer of thanks over the October 7 atrocities.
By hailing Haniyeh as a "great leader," Abbas and his PA cohorts are sending a
message to all Palestinians that the murderous Hamas leader is their role model.
It is no wonder, then, that thousands of Palestinians took to the streets of the
PA-controlled areas of the West Bank, including Ramallah, to mourn the killing
of Haniyeh and voice support for Hamas murderers and rapists. It is no wonder
that Hamas remains extremely popular among the Palestinians.
It is obvious why Abbas has not condemned the October 7 massacres against
Israelis: he respects the "great" leader of the murderers and rapists and has
even observed a day of mourning for the killing of Haniyeh. If you are so fond
of the slain Hamas mass-murderer, it shows that you support the atrocities of
October 7. Abbas and other Palestinian Authority
leaders have once again demonstrated their preference to ally with Islamist
terror groups such as Hamas rather than to secure a brighter future for their
own people. Abbas and the PA have also once again served as a reminder that they
share the same goal as Hamas: glorify terrorism and destroy Israel.
Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East. The work of Bassam Tawil
is made possible through the generous donation of a couple of donors who wished
to remain anonymous. Gatestone is most grateful.
© 2024 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Shifting Paradigms
Charles Chartouni/This is Beirut/August 05/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/08/132901/
The concomitant assassination of Ismail Haniyeh and Fouad Shukr is a major
turning point in the surrogate war which opposes Iran and Israel. This came at
the heels of a deadly attack on Israeli territory, whereby the children of
Majdel Shams, a Druze town in the Golan Heights were deliberately targeted by
Hezbollah. The sudden attack pinpointed Iran’s determination to challenge
Israel’s security and complement the encirclement strategy attempted on the
triangular fronts of Gaza and the West Bank, South Lebanon, and East-West Syria.
The intelligence and operational masterstroke have demonstrated Israel’s
preparedness and ability to act swiftly and effectively when challenged and
forced to do so. Otherwise, it highlights the fact that the adjustment to the
fait accompli is no longer part of its political repertoire.
Since the October 7, 2023 pogrom, existential threats have created a strategic
divide between what has happened and what is yet to come. The current strategic
balances have been severely tested. US and European diplomatic efforts have been
limited to truce-making, humanitarian aid facilitation, and logistical
problem-solving. The assertive US mediation efforts, focused on negotiating
truces and resuming peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, failed to
bridge the divide and overcome the challenges of irredentism on both sides. One
wonders whether imperial politics are likely to adjust to self-limitation and
bend to the overpowering sway of international pressure especially since Iran is
in a bind: the withering legitimacy of the Islamic regime, the deadweight of a
bankrupted economy, the disillusions of a discredited dystopia, and the impact
of international sequestration. The Islamic regime’s survival overrides the
reformist agenda’s imperatives based on international normalization and internal
liberalization and their dialectical relationship.
The combined assassinations convey a strong Israeli message whereby the State of
Israel is unwilling to abide by the enduring state of uncertainty, open
hostility, and perpetuating strategic imponderables: zero tolerance towards the
hazardous borders, the Lebanese fictitious sovereignty, the lackluster peace
monitoring in South Lebanon and Iranian free-roaming, the moldering conflict in
Gaza, and the endless diplomacy shuttling between warring factions who were
never able to overcome their mutual distrust, their moral disagreements, the
demonization of the State of Israel, and their inability to build a working
partnership towards peace. The whole legacy of peace-making and agreements
adjudicated by the international community is at a nadir and disappeared from
the diplomatic landscape.
The Iranian sabotaging strategy is based on strategic and ideological
considerations that perceive Israel as a major impediment to its regional
domination strategy and projects itself as the ultimate winner of a long-haul
war of attrition. On the other hand, Israel’s political landscape has
radicalized under the spur of ideological and strategic shifts, and Israelis, by
and large, have pulled away from the two-state solution. The Palestinians have
failed, so far, to forge a working internal consensus and have fallen into the
pitfalls of political manipulation by competing Islamic power politics. The
cycles of violence are no happenstances, they are the outcomes of a state of
pervasive insecurity, and mutual anathematization, paired with ideological,
political, and strategic choices.
These observations suggest two possible scenarios: either the pursuit of
open-ended mediations with no further expectations than dampening the intensity
of conflicts rather than eradicating them, or the reconfiguration of power
balances and the redrawing of geopolitical coordinates. Iranian imperialism is
vocal about its nihilism and Turkish power politics reiterate the same
incendiary rhetoric about the annihilation of the State of Israel. Israelis,
notwithstanding their political and ideological differences, are hell-bent on
securing their borders, and challenging the narratives featured by Iran and
Turkey. Nonetheless, the US truce proposal should be used as a springboard to
initiate direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians and put an end to
the politics of denial on both sides. In addition, the looming strategic
landscape in the Middle East reflects the rising global power rivalries, their
meandering courses, and their detrimental effects on achieving a negotiated
solution.The mutating strategic landscape pursues the corroding course that
followed the twilight of the “Arab Spring” challenged by Islamic imperialism and
its de-territorialized coordinates and worldviews (The Islamic Ummah),
discretionary interventionism, and a decaying State and inter-state system.
This volatile geopolitical and geostrategic context is subject to unchecked
power politics, geopolitical re-engineering, and potential civil conflicts.
Israel is resolute in addressing strategic threats and aligning with actors who
are willing to reshape the Middle East’s political landscape. The management of
chaos and the border patrolling of decaying countries transformed into
operational platforms for Iranian imperialism are obsolete stratagems and
dysfunctional political and strategic schemes. One wonders whether ongoing
shuttle diplomacy can effectively contain current conflicts, restore peace
dynamics, prevent state collapse, and help fractured political entities rebuild
their national and state structures. The aim would be to establish a consensual
national legitimacy and set the Middle East on a path toward active diplomacy,
democratic reforms, and constitutional statehood.
The prospects are not that bright and the course of events is of bad omen.
https://thisisbeirut.com.lb/world/279125
‘Radical Islamic Terrorism’ No Longer Exists, Decrees
Kamala Harris
Raymond Ibrahim/The Stream/August 05/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/08/132914/
In a recently released video of Kamala Harris speaking at the Islamic Center of
Southern California, the vice president declared that, “We must have the courage
to object when they use that term, ‘radical Islamic terrorism.’”While there is
much to be said about this asinine statement, the first thing that struck me is
how Harris’s approach perfectly conforms to the Left’s ancient strategy, one
that few on the Right still comprehend. The Leftist
agenda has always been multigenerational, requiring patience and lots of subtle
subversion and gaslighting. It began with small, seemingly reasonable requests;
but with each victory — that is, every time normal, rational people acquiesced
to what they instinctively knew was wrong — the bar was raised higher, preparing
the way for more unreasonable requests-turned-demands.
Take sexual depravity. In the beginning, we were told that homosexuals wanted
nothing more than to be treated with full equality and acceptance, without
experiencing discrimination or worse. That request was
granted as people willingly forsook the truth about sexuality—but did it stop
there? No. Now, decades later, if you do not “celebrate” and allow your children
to be immersed and indoctrinated in the most perverse and vile sorts of sexual
depravity, you are deemed to be a threat to society.
Now, consider how Kamala’s assertion about “radical Islam” perfectly fits within
this Leftist paradigm of making a small, seemingly innocent request, only to
make greater, more insane ones once it’s embraced.
Dumb and Dumber
Back in 2001, when Americans by and large first took notice of Islam, a debate
quickly developed: Were Muslim terror groups acting in keeping with or against
Islamic teachings? Did Islam promote terrorism or was it the “religion of
peace”? Out of this debate, the phrase “radical Islam”
emerged triumphant, and was initially seen as something of a compromise. It came
to mean that, while Islam itself is innocent, Islamic teachings could
nonetheless be manipulated or “twisted” in a fashion that supports the beliefs
and goals of terror groups like al-Qaeda. This, of
course, merely opened the door to more relativism and paved the way for the
mainstream and widely accepted idea that “Islam is peace,” to quote former
President George W. Bush. The only problem was that there were “bad guys” out
there who cleverly manipulated Islamic teachings and scriptures to say and
support what they believed and did. Now, more than two
decades later, here is Kamala Harris saying that even that politically correct
and highly sanitized formulation is no longer acceptable. Not only are we
expected to reject the idea that Islam itself sponsors violence and intolerance
— which was the net result of acquiescing to the phrase “radical Islam” — but
now we cannot even accept that there are any “radical” versions of Islam out
there.
And so we continue to go from dumb to dumber.
Jihad Is Necessary
Doing away with “radical Islam” by necessity nullifies “radical Muslims,” as the
latter are based on the former’s existence, thus paving the way to yet another,
even more absurd falsehood: If there is no such thing as “radical Muslims,” then
whenever Muslims lash out, and regardless of what they say (cries of “Allahu
akbar” and the like), they are really motivated by factors that have nothing
whatsoever to do with Islam, or even their own reading of it (grievances,
economics, climate change, Israel, etc.). Meanwhile,
back in the real world, Islam itself — not radical Islam — is hostile to
everything Western civilization represents. The Koran and Muhammad repeatedly
praise terrorism. Jihad, defined as warfare against non-Muslims for no other
reason than that they are non-Muslim, is a standard aspect of the faith. Before
the age of relativism and political correctness set in, even the most
prestigious and staid authorities maintained this.
Thus, the original version of the British Encyclopaedia of Islam’s entry for
“jihad” (by Emile Tyan) states that the spread of
Islam by arms is a religious duty upon Muslims in general … Jihad must continue
to be done until the whole world is under the rule of Islam … Islam must
completely be made over before the doctrine of jihad can be eliminated.
Such is the importance of words and the need for precision, which I’ve
been (vainly) arguing for since 2009, including once before a congressional
committee.
The Boiling Frog
Had American society openly and vocally stood against the normalization of
homosexuality and sexual depravity in general — the way 90 percent of the
world’s population have done and continue to do — the buck would have stopped in
the 1960s. And it’s the same with Islam: Had people
rejected politically correct terms such as “radical Islam” as deceptive
whitewashers of its dangers, the matter would have ended in the early 2000s, and
so many negative developments — such as the flooding of the West in general and
Europe in particular with Muslim “refugees” who behave more like terrorists —
would not have occurred. The lesson? Acceptance of one
small lie always opens the door to the inevitable acceptance of more lies and
their negative ramifications. But because it happens slowly and subtly, the
boiling frog that is America fails to notice.
**Raymond Ibrahim, author of Defenders of the West and
Sword and Scimitar, is the Distinguished Senior Shillman Fellow at the Gatestone
Institute and the Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
Middle East braces for week that could determine the course of the Gaza war
Sarah El Sirgany, Nadeen Ebrahim, Mike Schwartz and Eugenia Yosef, CNN/Mon,
August 5, 2024
Middle Eastern nations are bracing for the potential widening of the
Israel-Hamas war amid threats by Iran to avenge the killing of Hamas’ political
leader in Tehran last week. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed
to retaliate against Israel for the assassination of the head of Hamas’
political bureau Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday. The country’s Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps has warned that “blood vengeance” for the killing is
“certain.”Both Tehran and Hamas blame Israel for the killing but Israel hasn’t
confirmed or denied involvement. Hundreds of Lebanese prepared to flee the
country as nations called on their citizens to leave Lebanon. The US embassy in
Beirut on Saturday encouraged citizens who wish to depart “to book any ticket”
as several airlines suspended or canceled flights to the country. In Israel, the
government evaluated its preparedness and options should Iran and its regional
proxies attack, while citizens stocked up on supplies in anticipation of an
Iranian assault. This week’s events could determine
the course of the war in Gaza and significantly shift the focus away from the
besieged enclave if retaliation by Iran escalates into a wider regional conflict
involving the United States and other nations. Such escalation could also
jeopardize efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and release hostages, despite
recent progress in negotiations. Iran and Israel
exchanged direct fire for the first time in April after a decades-long shadow
war during which the two sides avoided striking each other’s territory. Iran
launched 300 projectiles at Israel on April 13, accusing it of attacking its
diplomatic building in Syria earlier that month. Israel responded with a limited
strike on Iran. While the unprecedented exchange was contained at the time,
another round of fighting may be harder to keep from escalating.
The US has boosted its preparedness to defend Israel in case of another Iranian
attack. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd
Austin discussed comprehensive security strategies to protect Israel, according
to a statement on Monday. The discussions included detailed scenarios outlining
both defensive and offensive capabilities. And Michael Kurilla, the commander of
US Central Command, is in the Middle East, according to a US defense official,
who would not say what country Kurilla was in or whatever other countries he
would be visiting. In a last-ditch effort at diplomacy, regional countries have
reached out to Iran to try to calm tensions. Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman
Safadi flew to Tehran on Sunday, a rare trip for a top official from the
US-allied monarchy. Separately, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatti called
Iran’s Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani to discuss the “unprecedented
and very dangerous” regional escalation, according to the Egyptian foreign
ministry.
‘A major mistake’
But Iranian officials are not relenting. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian
told Safadi that Haniyeh’s assassination was a “major mistake by the Zionist
regime (Israel) that will not go unanswered,” according to Iranian state TV. In
a weekly news conference in Tehran, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser
Kanaani said on Monday that the country is determined to deter Israel and that
“no one should doubt” its resolve in doing so. Israel could also face an attack
from its northern front. Israel assassinated Fu’ad Shukr, a high-ranking
Hezbollah commander, last week in response to the killing of 12 children with a
rocket on the town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Shukr’s killing “crossed red lines” and
will be met with an “inevitable” response, hinting at coordination with other
regional groups. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu warned Iran “and its minions” on Sunday that his country was
determined to “stand against them on every front and in every arena – far and
near.”“Anyone who harms us will pay a very heavy price,” Netanyahu said during a
speech in Jerusalem. He reiterated his assertion that increasing military
pressure on Hamas was the only way to achieve the goals of the war in Gaza and
bring the hostages home. Israel and Hamas have blamed each other for failure to
reach a deal. Anti-government rallies took place in several cities across Israel
on Saturday, demanding a deal to secure the release of all hostages held in Gaza
despite regional security threats. Speaking at a weekly cabinet meeting on
Sunday, Netanyahu said he instructed an Israeli delegation to leave for Cairo on
Saturday to continue negotiations for a ceasefire and the exchange of hostages
for Palestinian prisoners. He said Israel had an “ironclad commitment” to return
all hostages, adding that he’s “ready to go a long way” to win the release of
all hostages while maintaining Israel’s security.
Israel was considering its options to prepare for a regional attack over the
weekend. The government “is reviewing possible actions that would exact a price
in the case of attempts by Iran and its proxies to attack Israel,” the Israeli
defense ministry said in a statement on Sunday. Gallant said Israel was
“prepared very strongly in defense - on land and in the air and we are ready to
move quickly to attack or to react,” insisting on the importance of readiness
for a quick transition from defense to attack. On Thursday, IDF spokesperson
Daniel Hagari said that while the country had “very good defense systems” and
international partners who have reinforced their deployment in the region,
Israel’s defenses were “not hermetically sealed.”
Business as usual in Beirut
Meanwhile, residents of both Israel and Lebanon are preparing for a wider
conflict. Major airlines suspended flights to both countries, leaving some
Israeli travelers stranded abroad, and residents of Lebanon scrambledto get on
flights out of the country. The US embassy in Beirut said that some commercial
options out of the country remained available despite several airlines
suspending or canceling flights, and other flights selling out. In the summer
months, Lebanon is usually packed with visitors from abroad, mainly from the
Lebanese diaspora, giving the country a much-needed economic boost. Many such
travelers are considering cutting their vacations short and taking the first
flight back home. But even as the specter of war looms
over the country, many are operating normally. Along Beirut’s seafront on
Sunday, Arabic pop music blared through speakers as groups of men, beers in
hand, sunbathed. Behind them, younger men practiced their diving skills in the
Mediterranean Sea as children in floaties swam in the rocky sea. Samer Othman,
51, said he doesn’t think the region is on the brink of an expanded war. “If we
were to have war, it would have happened 10 months ago,” he said, referring to
October, when Hezbollah launched cross border attacks on Israel after Israel
launched a devastating assault on Gaza following the Hamas-led October 7 attack
during which 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage. Walking
shirtless on the corniche with his elderly father, Othman said a lifetime under
multiple wars had strengthened him and his countrymen. “The country is used to
problems and shocks. We can’t live in fear. Fear can only prevent you from
living but it won’t prevent death.” Others, however,
were more jittery about the situation. A family was posing for pictures by the
rooftop pool of a luxury Beirut hotel when two sonic booms sent them running for
cover. They returned to the pool without the children when it turned out there
was no airstrike. Israeli jets violating Lebanese airspace often break the sound
barrier. The country braces for war in its own way and
tends to pick up after itself. Hours after Hezbollah supporters held a funeral
procession for Shukr, the Hezbollah commander, Beirut’s skyline was lit with
colorful fireworks coinciding with a concert on the other side of town. On
Sunday, thousands marched to Beirut port to mark four years since an explosion
ripped through the city, killing more than 200 people. To this day, no one has
been brought to justice. And with the prospect of war on the horizon, many say
they don’t have confidence in their leaders or a choice in what comes next.
“This is not a leadership. It’s an existence-ship (sic). This is a
situation that we have to live with unfortunately,” Liz Nicholas, 31, said,
lowering the placard she’s holding at the march. “They don’t represent me. I
don’t think of them as my government or my leadership. They just exist. And for
some reason we have to be ok with it or live outside the country like most of us
are doing.”
Israelis stock up on essentials
In Israel, supermarkets reported a spike in shopping for basic goods on Friday.
The Victory supermarket chain told CNN that sales of some goods were up 30%
compared to regular sales, adding that people bought canned food, cereals,
pasta, toilet paper, frozen meat, bottled water and hygiene wipes.
The Jerusalem municipality last week issued instructions on what to do in the
event that the city comes under attack, distributing a file with a list of
parking lots that will be used as shelters, and a list of bomb shelters. It said
residents must be able to reach bomb shelters in 90 seconds. “Residents are
advised to clean and prepare their bomb shelters in advance,” the file said.
Residents were advised to stock enough water and food for three days and to buy
batteries and flashlights in addition to medications. Several Israeli agencies
and services have stepped up readiness. The emergency services Magen David Adom
(MDA) said it was prepared for every scenario after a three-day exercise “aimed
at preparing for a potential war in the north and blackout scenarios. The
exercise involved handling casualty events and “teams practiced a ‘blackout
scenario’ with a focus on using satellite communication tools.”Despite the
preparations, many Israelis are continuing with their daily business.
In Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Circus square, Rony Be’er, 75, walked with his friend,
Ivana Reiser, 73, on Monday. “They could hit us any minute now,” Be’er said.
Asked what they are doing to prepare for a potential attack, he said: “We don’t
do anything. We just walk.”Baer and Reiser say that, like many Israelis, they
have ready-made shelters at home used in other conflicts. Many of Israeli
apartment buildings have built-in “safe rooms,” reinforced with concrete as
thick as two feet, as well as heavy steel doors. All Israeli buildings erected
after 1993 are required to have bomb shelters. Cinemas, libraries and malls are
also equipped with bomb shelters. Some remain closed but open automatically when
sirens go off. Theater students Roy Dror, 23, and Ron
Heckmann, 26, say they’re not doing much to prepare for an attack, but know
exactly where the shelters are should the sirens sound.
Dror was meant to take a flight to London on Tuesday, but it was cancelled. “So
we’re a bit terrified I guess,” he told CNN. “We’re very scared in a way, but
life in Tel Aviv and in Israel (is) quite regular.”Heckmann, who grew up in the
northern Israeli town of Nahariyah on the border with Lebanon, said he and his
family “used to suffer a lot of bombs.” Compared to the north, he said, Tel Aviv
feels safe. At MDA, Israel’s main emergency services organization, staff are on
high alert. The decades-old establishment has expanded its ambulance fleet since
October 7, operating some 1,500 ambulances. The organization has also stocked
the country with medical kits and blood bags, spreading them across the state
should medics struggle with obstructed roads or network blackouts, MDA chief of
staff Uri Shacham told CNN at the organization’s headquarters in Tel Aviv.
A non-governmental body, MDA is in close contact with the Israeli
military, Shacham said, adding that while it is unclear when an attack might
take place. “We are prepared for it to happen in the next five minutes,” he
said.
*CNN’s Mostafa Salem, Salma Arafa, Oren Liebermann, Larry Register, Dana
Karni, Ben Wedeman, Tim Lister, Lauren Izso, Mohammed Tawfeeq and Duarte
Mendonca contributed to this report.
How a spate of terrorist attacks by a ‘resurgent’ Daesh
threaten to push Syria deeper into chaos
ANAN TELLO/Arab News/August 05, 2024
LONDON: Just when Syrians thought they could finally put the horrors of the past
decade behind them, the first half of 2024 bore witness to a series of savage
attacks by an Islamist group that many hoped had been vanquished for good.
Daesh claimed responsibility for 153 terrorist attacks in Syria and Iraq in the
first six months of this year, according to US Central Command — already
surpassing the 121 attacks reported over the entirety of 2023. At its peak in
2015, the terrorist group controlled roughly 110,000 sq. km of territory — a
third of Syria and 40 percent of Iraq, including major cities like Raqqa in
Syria and Mosul in Iraq, according to the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh. It
also commanded an army exceeding some 40,000 militants and had at its disposal a
formidable arsenal captured from local forces. However, after an international
effort, Daesh met its territorial defeat in the village of Baghuz, eastern
Syria, in March 2019.
Five years on, and on the 10th anniversary of the group’s 2014 blitzkrieg of
Iraq and Syria, there are fears that Daesh could be about to stage a comeback,
at a time when the world’s attention is distracted by crises elsewhere.
On July 22, Geir Otto Pedersen, the UN special envoy for Syria, told the
Security Council that the “resurgence” of terrorist activities posed a
significant threat to Syrian civilians, especially amid a deepening,
country-wide humanitarian crisis. Highlighting that Syria “remains in a state of
profound conflict, complexity and division,” he said the country is “riddled”
with armed actors, listed terrorist groups, foreign armies and front lines.
Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies and the Farzaneh
Family Center for Iranian and Arabian Gulf Studies at the University of
Oklahoma, told Arab News the group’s lack of territory meant its militants had
to content themselves with low-level insurgent activity. “(Daesh) has remained a
threat in Syria and the number of people that ISIS has killed and the number of
attacks in 2024 has risen compared to last year,” said Landis, using another
acronym for the group. Daesh “is also trying to reconstitute itself, although it
remains without territory and must carry out hit-and-run attacks and
assassinations,” he added. Ian J. McCary, deputy special envoy for the Global
Coalition to Defeat Daesh, confirmed in March that the threat of Daesh continued
to lurk in Syria and Iraq. “We continue to see a real threat in Iraq and Syria,
where ISIS at one point controlled a region with a population of approximately
10 million people,” he told the Washington Institute.
“We have seen the emergence of ISIS affiliates — the so-called ISIS Khorasan
inside Afghanistan, which poses a clear external threat — and in Sub-Saharan
Africa where several ISIS affiliates have emerged.”
Established in early 2015 as the regional branch of Daesh in South-Central Asia,
the Islamic State — Khorasan Province, also known by the acronym IS-K, initially
focused on transferring fighters from Afghanistan and Pakistan to Syria,
according to the Warsaw-based Center for Eastern Studies.
The group has a history of attacks that extended far beyond Afghanistan,
including one that targeted the Crocus City Hall in Russia’s capital Moscow on
March 22 this year, killing at least 133 people and injuring more than 100.
In January, IS-K also claimed responsibility for twin blasts in Iran that killed
at least 100 people and injured 284 more during a memorial for the slain Quds
Force commander Qassem Soleimani.
In Syria, the group has staged attacks in central and northeastern Syria,
targeting both the armed forces of the Bashar Assad regime and the US-backed
Syrian Democratic Forces in the country’s semi-autonomous region.
Throughout much of 2020 and 2021, Daesh sleeper cells in the northeast were
building an intelligence network and raising money through theft, extortion and
smuggling, according to a 2022 report by the International Crisis Group.
However, analysts are particularly concerned about northeast Syria’s prisons and
detention camps, where militants and their families have been held since their
capture in 2019.
Some 50,000 Daesh suspects and their family members are currently held by the
SDF across 27 detention facilities, CNN reported in June. With local forces
overstretched, many inmates have either escaped or been released.
According to Landis, the SDF “has amnestied a lot of detainees and converted
many death sentences to 15-year prison terms. This means that many detainees are
being freed from prisons in northeastern Syria.”Human Rights Watch reported last
year that there remain some 42,000 foreign Daesh supporters and their family
members, the majority of them children, from 60 countries detained in northeast
Syria. The New York-based monitor said the children in those camps are “held in
conditions so dire they may amount to torture, and face escalating risks of
becoming victims of violence or susceptible to recruitment by (Daesh).”
Local authorities warn these detention camps have become breeding grounds for
radicalization, potentially contributing to a Daesh revival. Such a reemergence
would be devastating for a country already brought to the very brink.
Thirteen years of civil war and sanctions, the twin earthquakes of February
2023, and the spillover of the Gaza conflict have traumatized and impoverished
the Syrian people. In early 2024, the UN said some 16.7 million people in Syria
— nearly three-quarters of the population — required humanitarian assistance.
This came at a time when international aid budgets were already stretched to
their limit. According to a July report by the UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs, the Humanitarian Response Plan for Syria remains
significantly underfunded, with just $871 million of its $4.07 billion budget
secured as of July 25.Ramesh Rajasingham, director of the OCHA Coordination
Division, described the situation in Syria as the “worst humanitarian crisis
since the start of the conflict,” made worse by ongoing clashes among various
armed actors in northeast Syria.
“Another reason that (Daesh) has grown is because of the infighting in northeast
Syria between the Arab tribes and the SDF and Kurdish militia,” said Landis.
“The chaos and internecine fighting in northeast Syria have been replicated by
infighting inside Syrian government-controlled territory and northwest Syria,
which is ruled by opposition militias under Turkish sponsorship and protection.
“The general poverty in Syria and declining humanitarian aid combined with
ongoing sanctions is having a bad impact on stability.”He added: “So long as
Syria is divided and suffers from a shrinking economy, (Daesh) will find
recruits in Syria. Police forces in all the various regions have been weakened
by the lack of funds, bad government, and poverty.”Syria has experienced a sharp
economic decline since 2022, according to the World Bank’s Syria Economic
Monitor for Spring 2024. The report projects that the real gross domestic
product will contract by 1.5 percent this year, exceeding the 1.2 percent
decline of 2023.
According to UN figures, more than 90 percent of the Syrian population lives
below the poverty line, and more than half lack access to nutritious food,
resulting in more than 600,000 children suffering from chronic malnutrition.
Despite growing concerns of a Daesh resurgence in the region, Karam Shaar, a
senior fellow at the Washington-based Newlines Institute for Strategy and
Policy, does not foresee the terrorist group regaining control over large areas
in Syria and Iraq as it did a decade ago. “Because of the deterioration in
living conditions and the fact that the grievances of many Sunni Muslims in that
region remain unanswered, there will always be an appeal for (Daesh),” he told
Arab News. “Yet, I don’t think they could ever control large swathes just
because of the current situation on the ground and them being too weak to do
so.” One reason for this is that Daesh’s “modus operandi has actually changed,”
he said. “They are now a borderline criminal group as opposed to being a
terrorist group. The distinction between the two is whether there is a political
message to their activities or not.”He said Daesh leaders “know full well that
if they decide to control large areas, there would be a serious response from
multiple actors on the ground, including the Kurds backed by the US, the Syrian
regime backed by Russia and Iran.”
In Iraq, the group may be deterred by “the Iraqi army, also backed by the US,”
he added.
Both Shaar and Landis believe a redeployment of foreign troops to eliminate
Daesh insurgents is unlikely. “I don’t see this happening given the current
circumstances,” said Shaar. Landis concurred that “more foreign troops are
unlikely to be sent to Syria” to combat a resurgence. “Turkiye is seeking a deal
with Assad. The US is likely to want to withdraw from Syria in the future, not
increase its military position there.” And far from involving itself in fighting
Daesh, “Israel is likely to continue, if not increase, its regular attacks on
state military forces in order to decrease their capabilities” as part of its
shadow war with Iran and its proxies.